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The United States on December 27 announced the final drawdown of weapons and military equipment for Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles under existing presidential authorization.
The $250 million package includes air-defense munitions, additional ammunition for High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155 mm and 105 mm artillery ammunition, and anti-armor munitions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
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“Our assistance has been critical to supporting our Ukrainian partners as they defend their country and their freedom against Russia’s aggression,” Blinken said, adding that the arms and equipment was being provided under previously directed drawdowns for Ukraine.
White House national-security spokesman John Kirby said last week that President Joe Biden was planning one more military aid package in December, but that further assistance after that would require an agreement in Congress, where the prospects for a deal are uncertain.
“When that one’s done…we will have no more replenishment authority available to us and we’re going to need Congress to act without delay,” Kirby said on December 18.
Blinken urged Congress to “act swiftly” on new aid for Ukraine, “to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine defend itself and secure its future.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in Washington last week to speak with U.S. lawmakers about Ukraine’s needs as Biden’s proposed $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, along with additional military aid for Israel and Taiwan, has been stalled by Republican demands that the administration address border security.
Senate leaders said after Zelenskiy’s visit that negotiators were “making encouraging progress” but “challenging issues remain.”
The announcement of the aid package came as the Ukrainian military said its troops fought 49 combat clashes along the front line. In addition, the General Staff said on December 27 in its evening summary that Russian forces carried out 67 air strikes and fired 12 rocket salvos at Ukrainian troop positions and populated areas.
The main hotspot remains the area near Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian troops repelled nearly 30 enemy attacks, the General Staff said, adding that about 10 settlements, including Avdiyivka, were hit by enemy artillery and mortar fire during the day.
The Ukrainian military also repelled attacks in the areas near Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Maryinka, and Zaporizhzhya.
In the Kherson region, the General Staff said Russian forces “do not give up their intention to knock out our units from the bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnieper.”
Russian forces carried out 10 unsuccessful assaults on the positions of Ukrainian troops during the day and “received a decent repulse and suffered significant losses,” the General Staff said, adding that Ukrainian forces were “firmly holding” their defensive positions.
WATCH: As Russian forces try to push west of the city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers are dug into their positions in barren, mine-strewn battlefields.
Also on December 27, the country’s minister of strategic industry told RFE/RL that long-range drones were now being mass produced in Ukraine. Oleksandr Kamyshin said this includes “analogs” of Iranian-made Shahed drones.
He also announced a new version of a Ukrainian-made drone that flies as far as 1,100 kilometers but did not provide details.
“The product that previously worked for 1,100 kilometers will soon have a new version, you will hear about it over time, based on the results of use,” he said.
With reporting by Reuters
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