US to send $375 million in military aid to Ukraine, including medium-range cluster bombs

WASHINGTON – The United States will send Ukraine an undisclosed number of medium-range cluster bombs and a mix of rockets, artillery and armored vehicles as part of a military aid package totaling about $375 million, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Officials expect an announcement Wednesday, as world leaders gather at the United Nations General Assembly, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is using his presence to drum up support and persuade the United States to allow its troops to use long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russia. The next day, Zelenskyy meets with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington.

The aid includes air-to-ground bombs, which contain cluster munitions and can be fired by Ukrainian fighter jets, as well as munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelin and other anti-armor systems, mine-resistant vehicles, bridging systems and other military vehicles and equipment, according to U.S. officials. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been publicly announced.

The latest batch of weapons, provided through the presidential withdrawal authorization, is one of the largest approved in recent times and will allow the Pentagon to draw down its stockpile to deliver weapons more quickly to Ukraine.

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

Ukrainian and Russian forces are engaged in fighting in the east of the country, including hand-to-hand combat in the Kharkiv border region, where Ukraine has driven Russia out of a massive processing plant in the city of Vovchansk, which has been occupied for four months, officials said Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground in Russia’s Kursk region, after a daring incursion there last month.

The aid announcement comes days after Zelensky made a highly guarded visit Sunday to a Pennsylvania munitions plant to thank workers who produce 155mm shells, one of the most critical munitions in his country’s fight against Russian ground forces.

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

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Lee reported from the United Nations.