Washington [US], April 20 : The United States on Wednesday announced USD 325 million in new military aid for Ukraine in a package that is expected to include more artillery rounds and rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). This comes as Ukraine continues to burn through artillery munitions at a high rate, Voice of America (VOA) reported.
Ahead of the package's release, defence officials told VOA that the latest aid also includes TOW anti-tank guided missiles, anti-tank mines and AT-4 anti-armour weapons needed to push back Russian ground forces that have dug into occupied areas of Ukraine.
The package marks the 36th authorized presidential drawdown of military equipment from Defence Department inventories.
According to VOA, the aid comes as battle lines in Ukraine have become static, exposing the larger Russian power's weaknesses and Ukraine stubbornly defending its territory, according to a senior US official.
As per the head of Ukraine's ground forces, Russia was increasing its use of heavy artillery and airstrikes in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, even as Russia continued to sustain significant losses in the battle.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently made an appeal to the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Wednesday and renewed his call to confiscate Russian Central Bank assets held around the world and use them to help rebuild Ukraine.
"To charge the aggressor with compensation for damages...Russia must feel the full price of its aggression," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said by video link.
At a virtual roundtable hosted by the World Bank and the IMF on Wednesday (local time), Zelensky stood and called for a moment of silence for a Ukrainian soldier who appears to have been beheaded. A gruesome video that purports to show the beheading spread quickly online and drew outrage in Ukraine, in the latest accusation of atrocities said to have been committed by Russian troops.
Also, the World Bank announced today USD 200 million in grant financing for a project that will repair Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
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