A consignment of military hardware provided by the United States as defense assistance has been delivered to Ukraine on Oct. 22, according to the country’s Defense Ministry.
The load included medical equipment, weapons, and munitions. This is the third delivery in recent weeks, with the previous shipment arriving as recently as Oct. 18. The first shipment, received on Oct. 10, contained medical facilities, high-precision weapons, and radars.
Kyiv received military hardware valued at some $60 million in total, which is coming in addition to the $250 million allocated as U.S. aid in 2021.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed a memorandum allocating an up to $60 million military aid package that includes military education and training to assist Ukraine, the White House announced on Aug. 27.
The additional assistance was agreed on during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the U.S. in September.
The U.S. has provided Kyiv with defense assistance, including lethal weaponry, to the total value of over $2 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, sparking a war in Donbas that has killed more than 14,000 people and displaced at least 1.5 million people.
Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have intensified during 2021, with the Kremlin massing troops and rattling sabers near Ukraine’s borders since late March. There has been a formal ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia-backed militants since July 27, 2020, but Ukraine reports ceasefire violations almost every day.
Most recently, on Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of Defense placed an $84.2 million contract to build six Mark VI patrol boats for Ukraine’s navy.
In late September, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules also endorsed allocating $300 million as Ukraine assistance in the financial year 2022.
