The United States announced on Tuesday another package of military aid to Ukraine to help it in the war with Russia, AFP, Reuters and Agerpres report.

Black Hornet microdronePhoto: Ben Stansall/PA Images/Profimedia

This is a new tranche of military aid INCLUDES Ammunition for Patriot and NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems, ammunition for HIMARS salvo fire systems, Hornet drones, 60 mm and 120 mm mortars, Hydra air-to-surface missiles, armored vehicles, anti-tank missiles and other equipment taken from US Army warehouses, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Hornet drones stand out among this equipment, which are being offered to Ukraine for the first time.

This aid is intended to help “Ukrainians restore” territories occupied by Russian forces, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a separate statement.

After Russia’s attack on Ukraine and occupation of new territories last February, Washington offered Kyiv dozens of military aid packages that together exceed $43 billion.

The Ukrainian army recovers from the territory, but with significant losses, including Western equipment

The new package of military aid comes as Ukraine’s army continues a counteroffensive launched in early June to recapture Russian-held territory, with the primary goal of breaking through the front in the south and reaching the Sea of ​​Azov to divide Russian forces and cut off their land corridor to Crimea, but results have so far been modest.

Almost devoid of air support, while the Russian army uses its attack aircraft and helicopters, the Ukrainian army has recovered only a little more than 200 square kilometers of territory, at the cost of significant losses, including Western equipment (tanks, armored vehicles, howitzers, etc.), and faces resistance from Russian forces deployed on several defensive lines, fortified and protected by dense minefields.

According to The New York Times, in the first two weeks of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian army lost about 20% of its heavy weapons, and later the level of losses decreased after the Ukrainian command changed tactics, resorting more to artillery attacks to wear down the Russian forces, but the latter benefited from a numerical superiority in artillery, which they, in turn, used extensively.

Read also: Biden does not succumb to pressure. The US is in no hurry to supply Ukraine with ATACMS missiles, which can turn the tide of the war

____

  • Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro