Last Monday, the Biden administration announced an additional $200 million military assistance package for Ukraine to provide more munitions and tactical vehicles, bringing the total in security assistance to Ukraine to approximately $43 billion, The Hill reported.
The $200 million aid package is the first installment from the $6.2 billion in funding that was previously authorized but overlooked due to an accounting error. It will include more munitions for advanced weapons systems including Patriot missile defense systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
In a post on X (AKA Twitter) last Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the air defense and anti-armor munitions will enable Ukraine’s forces to continue the fight for the country’s people, territory, and sovereignty.
In addition to the advanced munitions, the security package also includes small arms ammo and grenades, mine-clearing equipment, and 105mm and 155mm artillery rounds. It will also include 37 tactical vehicles for equipment hauling and towing.
US officials told Reuters last week that the US would start doling out the $6.2 billion in funds that were discovered after a Pentagon accounting error overvalued billions in Ukraine aid.
The Pentagon announced in May that it inadvertently assigned a higher value to the US weapons sent to Ukraine by using the replacement value rather than the depreciated value in tabulating billions in missiles, ammunition, and other equipment shipped to Ukraine.
During his evening address last Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US for the additional $200 million security package, saying the munitions for advanced weapons systems were “much-needed things.”
The $6.2 billion in discovered funds is the last of the $25.5 billion authorized by Congress from the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) that the Biden administration can use to send weapons from US stockpiles in the event of an emergency.
