The United States will comply with kyiv’s request and send long-range missiles to Ukraine, which is preparing a spring offensive to retake territory conquered by Russia last year, US officials said Thursday.
These new weapons will have roughly twice the range of any other offensive weapon supplied by the Americans to kyiv, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The Government led by Joe Biden will provide small-diameter bombs launched from the ground, as part of a 2.17 billion dollar aid package (about 2 billion euros) that should be announced this Friday, according to several US officials.
The military package will also for the first time include equipment to connect all the different air defense systems that the Western allies have delivered to kyiv, allowing it to integrate them into Ukraine’s own air defenses, to help better defend against continued missile attacks. From Russia.
For months, US officials hesitated to send long-range systems to Ukraine, fearing they would be used to attack Russian territory, escalating the conflict and dragging the United States into war.
The long-range bombs are the latest advanced system launched by the Americans, after initially saying no, along with the Abrams tanks and the Patriot missile defense system.
The sources quoted by AP guarantee, however, that the US continues to reject kyiv’s requests to send F-16 fighter jets.
This weapon has a range of 150 kilometers, and currently the longest-range US-supplied missile is about 80 kilometers.
In addition to the amount of this military material, it was also not clear on Thursday how long it will take to reach the battlefield.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused 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 latest data. recent reports from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
Right now, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing Russia from the political point of view and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the start of the war 7,110 dead civilians and 11,547 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
