by Corey Dickstein at Stars and Stripes
The United States will send four rocket artillery systems to Ukraine and advanced howitzer rounds in a new $400 million security assistance package approved Friday by President Joe Biden, Pentagon officials said.
With the new round of aid, the Pentagon has now provided the Ukrainian military with 12 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, for its war against Russia. Since their arrival on the battlefield in recent weeks, HIMARS, which can strike targets about 50 miles away, have bolstered Ukraine’s efforts to attack Russian targets — including command and control nodes — behind enemy lines, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday.
The White House announced last month that it would send eight HIMARS to Ukraine to help the country’s battle for its eastern Donbas region, which has been controlled largely by Russian troops since shortly after their February invasion. The fighting in the Donbas has been largely an artillery battle that has seen few major changes in territorial control, despite large numbers of casualties, according to the Pentagon and outside war observers including the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.
The HIMARS have proven “especially important and effective in assisting Ukraine in coping with the Russian artillery battle in the Donbas,” said the Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the new assistance package ahead of the White House’s expected announcement Friday afternoon…
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