US announces $400 million in additional military aid for Ukraine

The US Department of Defense has announced it will fund T-72 tanks sent to Ukraine, deepening its involvement in the war in defiance of repeated warnings by Russia.

The refurbished T-72 tanks are part of a $400 million military assistance package by the US that also includes armored vehicles, drones and a budget to refurbish air defense missiles. It will bring the Biden administration’s total commitment to Kiev to nearly $19 billion.

The additional military, ground and air capabilities come as Ukrainian forces are reportedly pushing forward on an offensive to retake the Moscow-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced that civilians need to be evacuated from Kherson, where Russian forces have been evacuating since mid-October.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for NATO to supply tanks.

On Friday Zelensky tweeted that Ukraine is “thankful to [President Biden] and the people of [the United States] for another $400 military assistance package.”  

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the T-72 tanks will all come from the Czech Republic. The United States will pay for 45 of them to be refurbished, while the Netherlands will pay to refurbish the other 45.

Singh said some of the tanks are expected to be delivered by the end of December.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday that Ukraine is making “incremental progress” in the south.

“There is some incremental progress by the Ukrainians in the south and, quite frankly, up in the northeast as well, as they continue to try to push the Russian lines back even further,” he said.

Kirby added that the Russian lines are “largely static and deepening”.

Kirby said part of the $400 million will be directed to manufacturers to refurbish HAWK air defense missiles

​​“We’ll spend the money to get these HAWK interceptors back up to code, and then in the future presidential drawdown we’ll deliver them right to Ukraine. That’s an example of evolving to meet the needs,” he said.

The package also includes 250 M1117 Armored Security Vehicles and 1,100 new Phoenix Ghost drones.

Kirby added that the Biden administration is working with Congress to sustain military, financial and economic support for Ukraine.

The United States has provided more than $18 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since February. The US Agency for International Development has provided $9.88 billion in development and humanitarian assistance.

Putin: Civilians in Kherson need to be evacuated

Russian President Vladimir Putin says civilians need to be evacuated from the Moscow-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly warned that supplying Kiev with more and more weapons will only exacerbate the conflict, which is now in its ninth month.

Continuously flooding Ukraine with weapons "will only drag the conflict out and make it more painful for the Ukrainian side, but it will not change our goals and the end result," the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier this month.

Peskov insisted that the US was in reality engaged in the Ukraine conflict. "The US de facto has become deeply involved," he said.

His remarks echoed those of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said that Washington had "been participating de facto in this war for a long time."

"This war is being controlled by the Anglo-Saxons," Lavrov said.

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