The Pentagon announce on Friday that the United States is sending Ukraine two NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems, four additional counter-artillery radars and up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunitions as part of its latest weapons packages being paid for by, we the people taxpayers.
The assistance package, worth about $820 million, was broadly announce by President Joe Biden on Thursday inMadrid following a gathering of NATO leaders that was focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement about the assistance, “Ukrainians continue to face brutality highlighted once again this week by an attack that struck a shopping mall filled with civilians. They continue to fight for their country, and the United States continues to stand by them and their just cause.”
Ukrainian officials have said a Kh-22 missile fired by a Russian bomber hit a crowded shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk last Monday, killing at least 19 people. Russia rejected Ukraine’s account, saying the missile had struck a store of Western supplied weapons next to the mall, causing it to catch fire.
The Pentagon offered more details on Friday as it formalized the announcement, and said the latest round of security assistance also included additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
The counter artillery radars being sent are the Raytheon-Technologies AN/TPQ-37 systems, a senior defense official told reporters. This is the first time these systems are being sent to Ukraine which have about triple the effective range of the previously sent AN/TPQ-36 systems.
Will this be considered an act of war by Russia?
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