Following the third meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraineʼs defense in Brussels, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced what kind of weapons Kyiv will receive from the United States.
These weapons include:
- 18 units of 155-mm howitzers;
- 36 thousand 155-mm shells;
- 18 tactical vehicles for transporting howitzers;
- additional shells to HIMARS;
- 4 cars for the repair of military equipment;
- two coast guard systems with Harpoon missiles;
- thousands of protected radio stations;
- thousands of optical devices, including night vision.
In addition, Germany has promised to provide Ukraine with three MLRS Mars, Slovakia — with Mi-17 helicopters, and Canada, Poland, and the Netherlands — with artillery.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explained that military aid is now focused on what Ukraine needs right now, because the needs at the front are changing every minute.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milli, said Russia now has more arms than Ukraine, but is in worse position regarding military morale and leadership. Also Russia has arms and ammunition logistics challenges. Also, according to Milli, the Russians use artillery to simply shoot — without achieving military objectives. Ukrainians, in turn, use the best artillery approaches to attack the Russians to fight them more effectively. Thus, the Russians have already lost about 30% of all their military resources.
"The struggle in Donbas has been going on since April 16. Russia is moving slowly and imperceptibly. Now the Luhansk Oblast, where the most hostilities are taking place, is in question. Yes, 3/4 of the city of Sievierodonetsk is currently occupied, but Ukraine is winning back street after street," Milli added.
- On June 15, US President Joe Biden announced that the United States was providing Ukraine with a new $1 billion military aid package. This package will include artillery and coastal defense systems, as well as ammunition for artillery and modern missile systems.