The U.S. on Wednesday announced a new $1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine as the country continues to endure brutal pounding from Russian artillery in the country’s disputed Donbas region, now the focus of Moscow’s unprovoked invasion that began in late February.
The latest tranche of firepower — the twelfth such drawdown from Department of Defense inventories since August 2021 —includes artillery rocket munitions; 18 additional M-77 howitzers and the tactical vehicles to tow them; and 36,000 rounds of 155 mm howitzer ammunition. Ukrainian officials have been openly appealing for more Western military firepower as Russian forces make slow by steady progress in the east.