The US approved a new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine after Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv Oblast, according to a White House statement.
The new assistance includes Patriot missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Bradley fighting vehicles, mine-protected vehicles, and Javelin anti-armor systems, US officials told Politico anonymously.
Ukraine has met Russian occupiers on the Kharkiv front “with our troops, brigades, and artillery,” Zelenskyy said on 10 May, adding that the country’s allies should speed up its weapons deliveries. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced it is swiftly sending reserve units to Kharkiv Oblast to help repel the Russian attack.
The US has secretly sent a large number of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine following the delivery of similarly long-range missiles from the UK and France. Also, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced his government would send three more HIMARS systems to Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyy, say that there are delays in delivering weapons by its partners despite previous pledges, especially essential amid the new Russian offensive.
On 9 May, Admiral Antony Radakin, UK’s chief of the Defense Staff, said that by June, Russia will have lost 500,000 soldiers killed or wounded in Ukraine. He added that despite the possibility of losing some territory in 2024, Kyiv retains “the strategic upper hand” now after Western military aid is flowing to Ukraine.
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