The United States will comply with Kiev’s request and send long-range missiles to Ukraine, which is preparing a spring offensive to regain territory captured by Russia last year, US officials said Thursday.
These new weapons will have about twice the range of any other offensive weapon delivered to Kiev by the Americans, the Associated Press reported.
The administration led by Joe Biden will provide small-diameter bombs to be launched from the ground as part of a $2.17 billion aid package that several US officials said would be announced this Friday. must be made.
The military package will also, for the first time, include equipment to link all the various air defense systems supplied to Kyiv by the Western Allies, enabling it to integrate them into Ukraine’s own air defenses, to counter Russia’s continued missile strikes. better defense.
For months, US officials hesitated to send long-range systems to Ukraine, fearing they would be used to target Russian territory, escalate the conflict and draw the US into the war.
The long-range bombs are the latest advanced system to be provided by the Americans after initially saying no, along with Abrams tanks and the Patriot missile defense system.
However, the sources quoted by the AP guarantee that the US continues to reject Kiev’s requests to send F-16 fighter jets.
This weapon has a range of 150 kilometers and currently the US-supplied missile with the longest range is about 80 kilometers.
In addition to the amount of this military equipment, it was also not clear on Thursday how long it would take to reach the battlefield.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the most recent data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Currently, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed 7,110 civilian deaths and 11,547 wounded since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the actual ones.
Source: DN
