US announces more missiles, ammunition for Ukraine
In this file photo taken on March 06, 2022 US military personnel stand by a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) during Saudi Arabia’s first World Defense Show, north of the capital Riyadh. The Pentagon announced July 1, 2022 $820 million in additional weapons and ammunition for Ukraine as it battles Russian forces along the eastern and southern fronts. PHOTO/AFP
What you need to know:
- The new package of arms, which draw on the US military's own stockpiles, took to $6.9 billion the total amount provided by Washington to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
The Pentagon announced Friday $820 million in additional weapons and ammunition for Ukraine as it battles Russian forces along the eastern and southern fronts.
The 14th package of armaments for Ukraine forces includes two air defense systems, more ammunition for the Himars precision rocket launchers the US began supplying in June, up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition, and four additional counter-artillery radars.
The air defense systems, known as NASAMS, are a short and medium-range surface-to-air missile system developed by Raytheon and Norway's Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
The remote-operated launchers are to help Ukraine forces defend against piloted and drone aircraft and cruise missiles.
"The United States continues to work with its allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its evolving battlefield requirements," said Defense Department Press Secretary Todd Breasseale in a statement.
The Pentagon "recognizes Norway's cooperation to enable the historic provision by the United States of modern air defense systems that will help Ukraine defend against Russia's brutal air attacks," he added.
The new package of arms, which draw on the US military's own stockpiles, took to $6.9 billion the total amount provided by Washington to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Ukraine leader accuses Russia of 'terror' in missile strike that killed 21
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday accused Russia of engaging in state "terror" as he blamed Moscow for missile strikes on a southern resort town that left 21 dead and dozens wounded.
Missiles slammed into an apartment building and a recreation centre in the town of Sergiyvka about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the Black Sea port of Odessa, which has become a strategic flashpoint in the now more than four-month-old war.
The attacks took place a day after Moscow abandoned positions on a strategic island in a major setback to the Kremlin's invasion.
The dead included a 12-year-old boy, Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation, adding that some 40 people have been injured and that the death toll could rise.
"I emphasize: this is an act of deliberate, purposeful Russian terror -- and not some kind of mistake or an accidental missile strike," Zelensky said.
"Three missiles hit a regular nine-storey apartment building, in which nobody was hiding any weapons, any military equipment," he added. "Regular people, civilians, lived there."
Sergiy Bratchuk, Odessa deputy chief of district, said on Ukrainian television the strikes were launched by aircraft that flew in from the Black Sea and fired "very heavy and very powerful" missiles.
