Ukraine’s partners speed up military aid supplies to stop Russian advance

The situation in Ukraine’s combat zone remains very difficult, with Russian troops continuing to attack in all parts of the frontline.

The United States announced a new $275 million package of weapons and equipment for Ukraine on May 24 to help it repel Russia’s assault near Kharkiv, the State Department said.

The package contains urgently needed capabilities, including ammunition for HIMARS, 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, missiles, anti-armor systems, and precision aerial munitions, the department said.

On the same day, the German government also announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine, which includes, inter alia, 8,500 155mm artillery shells and ten Leopard 1 F5 battle tanks provided jointly with Denmark, the German Federal Ministry of Defense said.

According to the information on the ministry’s website, the assistance package also includes one armored recovery vehicle, the Bergepanzer 2, with spare parts; one bridge-laying tank, the BEAVER, with spare parts; one armored engineer vehicle, the DACHS; 16 tankers, the Zetros; and four mine clearing tanks.

The new German assistance package includes WISENT 1, 34 reconnaissance drones RQ-35 HEIDRUN, 20 reconnaissance drones VECTOR with spare parts, 1.75 million rounds of ammunition for fire arms, 111 rifles CR 308, 80 precision rifles HLR 338, 540 assault rifles MK 556, 20 machine guns MG3 for Leopard tanks, infantry fighting vehicles MARDER, and engineer vehicles.

The continuous supply of military aid is highly important to repel the invaders’ attacks, Kyiv says. The previous deliveries have already had some effect, as Ukrainian President Zelensky recently stated that for the first time since the start of the full-scale war, Ukrainian forces have enough artillery shells.

The Ukrainian military has also confirmed this estimation on social media. And on May 25, Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces had now established “combat control” over an area where Russian invading troops had pushed into the Kharkiv region, opening a new front.