US expected to bolster Ukraine’s defense with $150M in munitions

The U.S. is expected to announce Tuesday it is sending an additional $150 million in critically needed munitions to Ukraine, as Russia accuses Ukraine of using U.S.-provided munitions to strike inside Russia or Russian-held territory, according to two U.S. officials.

On Monday, Russia summoned the American ambassador to protest what it says was the use of U.S.-made advanced missiles in a Ukrainian attack on Crimea on Sunday that reportedly killed four people and wounded more than 150.

Crimea, which Russian seized from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that most of the world rejected as unlawful, long had been declared a fair target for Ukraine by its Western allies.

However, the Pentagon said last week that Ukraine’s military is also now allowed to use longer-range missiles provided by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia if it is acting in self-defense. Since the outset of the war, the U.S. had maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it provided to hit targets on Russian soil for fear of further escalating the conflict.

The continued flow of U.S. munitions , which will be drawn from existing stockpiles , is intended to help Ukrainian forces repel intensified Russian attacks.

The upcoming shipment is expected to include munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. That system is capable of firing the longer-range missiles from the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which Russia has said would prompt retaliation and risk escalating the conflict. One of the U.S. officials said they could not verify whether this aid package included ATACMS munitions, but said the aid did not include cluster munitions.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public.

The package also includes antiarmor weapons, small arms and grenades and the highly sought after 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, among other support.

Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.

据两名美国官员透露，美国预计将于周二宣布向乌克兰额外提供价值 1.5 亿美元的急需弹药，此前俄罗斯指责乌克兰使用美国提供的弹药袭击俄罗斯境内或俄罗斯控制的领土。

周一，俄罗斯召见美国大使，抗议乌克兰周日对克里米亚发动袭击时使用了美国制造的先进导弹。据报道，此次袭击造成四人死亡，150多人受伤。

克里米亚于 2014 年被俄罗斯从乌克兰手中夺取，这一举动被世界大多数国家视为非法，而俄罗斯的西方盟友长期以来一直宣称克里米亚是乌克兰的合理目标。

然而，五角大楼上周表示，如果乌克兰军队出于自卫目的，现在也被允许使用美国提供的远程导弹打击俄罗斯境内的目标。自战争爆发以来，美国一直奉行不允许乌克兰使用其提供的武器打击俄罗斯境内目标的政策，担心这会进一步加剧冲突。

美国将持续向乌克兰提供弹药，这些弹药将来自现有的库存，目的是帮助乌克兰军队击退俄罗斯日益猛烈的进攻。

即将到货的这批物资预计将包括高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）的弹药。该系统能够发射陆军战术导弹系统（ATACMS）的远程导弹，而俄罗斯方面曾表示，这将引发报复并可能导致冲突升级。一位美国官员表示，他们无法核实这批援助物资是否包含ATACMS弹药，但表示援助物资中不包含集束弹药。

这些官员在匿名的情况下透露了一些尚未公开的细节。

该物资包还包括反装甲武器、小型武器和手榴弹，以及备受追捧的 155 毫米和 105 毫米炮弹等支援物资。

塔拉·科普是美联社驻五角大楼记者。她此前曾担任Sightline媒体集团驻五角大楼分社社长。