PERSPECTIVE: U.S. MILITARY AIDAs War Loomed, U.S. Armed Ukraine to Hit Russian Aircraft, Tanks and Prep for Urban Combat

The United States substantially augmented its shipments of lethal military aid and protective equipment to Ukraine as the prospect of a Russian invasion became more apparent and then a reality, according to a declassified accounting of transfers and sales reviewed by the Washington Post.

Karoun Demirjian and Alex Horton write in the Washington Post that

The list indicates that as early as December, the Pentagon was equipping Ukrainian fighters with arms and equipment useful for fighting in urban areas, including shotguns and specialized suits to safeguard soldiers handling unexploded ordnance. Over the last week, the Biden administration has increased such shipments, sending Stinger antiaircraft missile systems for the first time and further augmenting Kyiv’s supply of antitank Javelin missiles and other ammunition.

Taken together, the variety, volume and potency of firepower being rushed into the war zone illustrate the extent to which the United States sought to prepare the Ukrainian military to wage a hybrid war against Russia, even as President Biden has expressly ruled out inserting American troops into the conflict.

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bout $240 million of the $350 million in military assistance that was approved in late February has already been transferred to Ukraine, according to a senior defense official.

Those shipments are in addition to about $200 million in military assistance approved for Ukraine in late December that included M141 single-shot shoulder-launched rocket launchers, M500 shotguns, Mk-19 grenade launchers, M134 mini guns typically used for firing from helicopters, and protective suits for explosive ordnance disposal.

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The United States has committed about $3 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.