A US source familiar with the provision of military aid to Ukraine said much of it is already pre-positioned in storage facilities in Germany and Poland, which would obviously cut down on the amount of time needed to get it into Ukraine. The source also said artillery shells would be among the first materials moved forward, CNN reports.
Due to the large quantity of material involved, it will take some time before the much-needed artillery ammunition and other supplies reach the frontline.
As was reported, the US House of Representatives adopted the new aid package for Ukraine on 20 April 2024, worth a total of $60.8 billion, including the resupply of US own stocks. The law is expected to be supported by the US Senate and signed by President Joe Biden in days. After that, the new deliveries of US aid for Ukraine, which had been paused for almost half a year, can start again.
US passes long-awaited Ukraine aid package. Here is what it contains
The supplies are crucial, given the current 10 to one that Russia currently enjoys in terms of artillery shells fired daily, as well as the lack of Ukraine’s air defense to counter Russian missile attacks deep in the country as well as extensive Russian bombing campaign along the frontline.
Lack of ammunition didn’t allow Ukrainian forces to hold the defense line firmly. This allowed Russia to capture 505 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since the beginning of its latest offensive campaign in October 2023, which is about 0.09% of the Ukrainian territory. Most importantly, after the fall of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, Russian forces reached the second defensive line along the river in Berdychi and Semenivka and also penetrated the Ukrainian defense in the village of Ocheretyne, causing the risk of breakthrough resulting in additional gains. Moreover, Russian troops have also reached the town of Chasiv Yar in Uraine’s Donetsk Oblast and started pressing on it from the flanks. If they capture Chasiv Yar, located on the hill, they will open their way towards the last Ukrainian-controlled big agglomeration in Donbas of the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Indirectly confirming the CNN report about the possibility of rapid deliveries of ammunition to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder, speaking last week ahead of the House vote, said the US Department of Defense was “poised to respond quickly” once any order was given. “As you know, we have a very robust logistics network that enables us to move materiel very quickly. As we’ve done in the past, we can move within days,” he said.
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