The first shipments of the latest round of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, which includes heavier weapons systems, began arriving in the region over the weekend, according to the Pentagon.
The recently approved $ 800 million in security assistance includes shell artillery systems, 40,000 rounds of artillery, armored personnel vehicles and other weapons.
A senior U.S. defense official said Monday that four flights of assistance package shipments arrived in the region over the weekend and that a fifth was expected in the next 24 hours. The official did not detail which weapons from the recent package first landed in the region.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news conference that the Department of Defense hopes to begin training Ukrainian coaches outside Ukraine on how to use the shells provided by the United States in the coming days. Then the Ukrainian coaches will return to Ukraine and train more troops.
Photo of the US Army
According to Kirby, training is not expected to take long, as Ukrainians already know how to use artillery systems and only need to become familiar with American systems. The Ukrainians use 152 mm artillery systems, and the US provides 155 mm artillery systems.
The Russians have returned to focus on the Donbas region after being unable to control Kyiv. The Pentagon assesses that they are now conducting “staging operations,” which involves “setting the conditions for more aggressive, more open, and larger ground maneuvers” in the east, according to Kirby.
The imminent fighting in the east is expected to depend more on armored vehicles and artillery systems than in the north, as the terrain in southeastern Ukraine is flatter and more open.
“Artillery is a specific item that Ukrainians ordered because of the specific fighting they expect to take place in the Donbas,” Kirby said Monday. “And we know that the Russians also believe the same thing because we see them moving artillery units to the Donbas as well.”
The recently approved $ 800 million in assistance in Ukraine also includes Switchblade drones, more Javelin anti-tank missiles and armored personnel carriers. In all, the United States has provided $ 2.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in late February.
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