US to send $375 million in military aid to Ukraine

The U.S. will send Ukraine an undisclosed number of medium-range cluster bombs and an array of rockets, artillery and armored vehicles in a military aid package totaling about $375 million, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Officials expect an announcement on Wednesday, as global leaders meet at the U.N. General Assembly, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses his appearance there to shore up support and persuade the U.S. to allow his troops to use long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russia. The following day, Zelenskyy meets with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington.

The aid includes air-to-ground bombs, which have cluster munitions and can be fired by Ukraine’s fighter jets, as well as munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, Javelin and other anti-armor systems, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, bridging systems and other vehicles and military equipment, according to officials. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been publicly announced.

The latest package of weapons, provided through presidential drawdown authority, is one of the largest approved recently and will take stocks from Pentagon shelves to deliver the weapons more quickly to Ukraine.

It comes as nearly $6 billion in funding for aid to Ukraine could expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts to extend the Pentagon’s authority to send weapons from its stockpile to Kyiv. Congressional leaders announced they reached an agreement Sunday on a short-term spending bill, but it’s unclear if any language extending the Pentagon authority to send weapons to Ukraine will be added to the temporary measure as negotiations with Congress continue.

Ukrainian and Russian forces are battling in the east, including hand-to-hand combat in the Kharkiv border region where Ukraine has driven Russia out of a huge processing plant in the town of Vovchansk that had been occupied for four months, officials said Tuesday. At the same time, Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground in Russia’s Kursk region after a daring incursion there last month.

The aid announcement comes on the heels of Zelenskyy’s highly guarded visit on Sunday to a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.

Including this latest package, the United States has provided more than $56.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.

Lee reported from the United Nations.

美国官员周二表示，美国将向乌克兰提供数量不详的中程集束炸弹以及一系列火箭弹、火炮和装甲车，这笔军事援助总额约为 3.75 亿美元。

官员们预计将于周三宣布相关消息，届时各国领导人将在联合国大会上齐聚一堂。乌克兰总统泽连斯基将利用此次机会巩固支持，并说服美国允许其军队使用远程武器打击俄罗斯境内更远的目标。第二天，泽连斯基将在华盛顿会见美国总统拜登和副总统哈里斯。

据官员透露，援助物资包括空对地炸弹（装有集束弹药，可由乌克兰战斗机发射）、高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）、标枪导弹和其他反装甲系统的弹药、防地雷反伏击车、架桥系统以及其他车辆和军事装备。由于援助尚未公开宣布，这些美国官员要求匿名。

最新一批通过总统撤军授权提供的武器是近期批准的最大一批武器之一，将从五角大楼的库存中取出武器，以便更快地将武器交付给乌克兰。

除非国会采取行动延长五角大楼向基辅运送武器的授权，否则近60亿美元的对乌克兰援助资金可能在本月底到期。国会领导人周日宣布，他们已就一项短期支出法案达成一致，但目前尚不清楚，在与国会的谈判仍在进行之际，是否会在这项临时法案中加入延长五角大楼向乌克兰运送武器授权的条款。

乌克兰和俄罗斯军队正在东部地区交战，包括在哈尔科夫边境地区爆发的肉搏战。官员周二表示，乌克兰已将俄罗斯军队从沃夫昌斯克镇一家被占领四个月的巨型加工厂中驱逐出去。与此同时，乌克兰军队在上个月大胆入侵俄罗斯库尔斯克地区后，继续坚守阵地。

就在泽连斯基周日对宾夕法尼亚州一家弹药厂进行了高度保密的访问之后，援助声明随即发布。泽连斯基此行是为了感谢工人们为他的国家抵御俄罗斯地面部队的战斗生产最关键的弹药之一。

包括这笔最新援助在内，自俄罗斯军队于 2022 年 2 月入侵乌克兰以来，美国已向乌克兰提供了超过 562 亿美元的安全援助。

李从联合国报道。