Germany has handed over a new aid package to the Ukrainian army, which includes vehicles, drones and ammunition, the press service of the German government has reported.
Thus, according to the published list, the new aid package includes 10 tracked all-terrain vehicles Bandvagn 206 (BV206), 13 reconnaissance drones Vector, 20 reconnaissance drones RQ-35 Heidrun, 6 anti-aircraft self-propelled launchers Gepard and 15 thousand ammunition for them, 2.6 thousand smoke shells of 155 mm caliber.
In addition, 8 ambulances and 8 dental sterilizers were handed over.
Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klimenko thanked his Polish colleague Mariusz Kaminski for his assistance in eliminating the consequences of the occupants blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, discussed humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.
The ministry’s message in its Telegram channel on Monday stated that Klimenko met in Rzeszow, Poland, with Polish Interior and Administration Minister Mariusz Kaminski.
“The main issue of the meeting of the ministers with the participation of the heads of border services, police and rescue services of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland was the issue of assistance to Ukraine – humanitarian and military,” the report says.
“Klimenko thanked his Polish colleague for assistance in eliminating the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP. From the first hours of elimination of the consequences of the tragedy Ukrainian rescuers used boats, generators, tankers and pumps, immediately after the explosion of the HPP provided Poland,” – informs the Ministry of internal Affairs.
“Help was needed exactly in those days. Our Polish colleagues responded quickly and provided it in time. So once again we want to thank all the Polish people for the help they have given us since the first day of the war, and in any problems accompanying the war,” the words of the Minister are quoted in the message.
As previously reported with reference to the Minister of Interior and Administration of Poland, Poland will send the Ukrainian security forces, which are subordinate to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine – the National Guard, police and State Border Service – thousands of machine guns and millions of cartridges.
“The most important thing at the moment is weapons. Soon we will begin supplying weapons for the National Guard of Ukraine, for the assault brigades of the Ukrainian police and the Border Guard Service. These will be thousands of assault rifles, millions of rounds of ammunition that will allow Ukrainian defenders, defenders of Europe, to fight effectively,” Kaminsky said during a joint media briefing with Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko in Rzeszow on Monday.
Kaminsky also announced additional measures to support military medicine in Ukraine. According to him, wounded Ukrainian servicemen can count on medical care in hospitals subordinate to the Polish Defense Ministry. “We will also build and equip field hospitals for officers of the National Guard, Ukrainian police officers and border guards who were wounded during combat operations,” the minister said.
A new military aid package was announced at a meeting between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden at the G7, President Andrei Yermak, head of the office, wrote in his Telegram channel Sunday.
“There is a new military aid package for Ukraine. It includes: additional ammunition for HIMARS; artillery shells; TOW anti-tank guided missiles; Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems; bridge systems; armored medical vehicles; trucks and trailers to transport heavy equipment; thermal imaging systems; spare parts and other field equipment. A $375 million package. thanks to allies,” he wrote.
The U.S. authorities on Monday may announce the allocation of another package of military aid to Kyiv, this time in the amount of $2.6 billion, according to Western media, citing U.S. officials.
The package, among other things, will include various types of ammunition, anti-tank weapons, air surveillance radar, equipment for crossing water barriers, recovery vehicles, and missiles for NASAMS air defense systems.
The reports note that work on this military assistance in the United States has not yet been completed, and therefore changes may occur in the list of transferred weapons.
German authorities are planning to allocate another EUR12 billion for military support to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported, citing sources on Wednesday.
The Bundestag budget committee is expected to approve the plans of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Wednesday. Thus, in case of approval of such a step, the total amount of funds, directed by Berlin for military aid to Kiev, will increase up to EUR14.2 billion.
In particular, the amount planned for 2023 will more than double and reach EUR5.4 billion. The rest of the funds – EUR8.8 billion – will be available if necessary in the coming years. The money will not come from the Defense Ministry’s budget or the special EUR100 billion fund for the modernization of the Bundeswehr.
In addition, on Wednesday, the Bundestag budget committee is expected to approve the purchase of 10 self-propelled rapid-fire howitzers from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG worth EUR 185 million; these guns are to replace the howitzers transferred by Germany to Ukraine.
The head of the US Department of State’s Interagency Assistance Department, Daphne Rand, has confirmed that Washington intends to provide Ukraine with an additional $9.9bn in budget support.
“The U.S. has provided $13 billion in budget support to the government of Ukraine, and we are working with Congress to provide another $9.9 billion in the coming months,” Rand told reporters.
She added that Washington “remains committed to working with the government of Ukraine to maintain its operational capacity and provide additional budget support as needed.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the U.S. government is working to have Congress approve an additional $10 billion military aid package for Ukraine.
The newspaper noted that the next military aid package is expected to be announced next week, almost simultaneously with the announcement of additional sanctions against Russia.
At the same time, the newspaper wrote that a number of U.S. officials who visited Ukraine recently told Kiev that despite promises to support Ukraine “as long as necessary,” Washington expects to use the aid already provided more effectively.
Rand did not say what was planned to be included in the new aid package to Kiev. At the same time, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on the sidelines of a contact group meeting on Ukraine’s defense in Brussels that the West’s current urgent task is to provide Kiev with air defense equipment.
“We know that Russia has a significant number of aircraft and a lot of capacity,” he told reporters. – That’s why we stressed that we need to do everything in our power to provide Ukraine with as much air defense capability as possible.”
