The US Department of Defense authorized a $480 million presidential drawdown of security assistance for Ukraine on Monday, hours after US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv.
Biden’s unannounced visit to Ukraine marks the first time he has visited the country since the start of the invasion just a little under a year ago. Biden is also the first US president to visit Ukraine in 15 years.
The event is also unprecedented in the terms of a US president visiting a country involved in an active conflict without a heavy presence of US troops.
Biden said his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy was aimed at reaffirming the United States’ “unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” while his Ukrainian counterpart said this was the most important visit in the history of Ukrainian-American relations.
The latest presidential drawdown, which allows the US to transfer equipment directly from US military stocks, includes more ammunition for US-provided HIMARS and howitzers that Ukraine is using to defend their country.
It also includes more Javelins, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars.
This is the Biden Administration’s thirty-second drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
The full list includes of equipment includes HIMARS ammo, additional 155mm artillery rounds, additional 120mm mortar rounds, four air surveillance radars, additional Javelin anti-armor systems, and approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets.
Moreover, four Bradley infantry fire support team vehicles, two tactical vehicles to recover equipment, Claymore anti-personnel munitions, demolition munitions, night vision devices, tactical secure communications systems, and medical supplies are on the list.
