US to send Ukraine another $800m in military aid

Aid to include helicopters, armoured personnel carriers and artillery systems

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President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced an additional $800 million in US security aid for Ukraine that will include helicopters, armoured personnel carriers and artillery systems, marking a deepening American military commitment toward the war-torn country.

The latest tranche of materiel means the US has sent nearly $2 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24.

"The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect," Mr Biden said in a statement.

"As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself."

The latest package will for the first time include 18 155 mm Howitzer artillery systems, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The US will also send 10 counter-artillery radar systems, 200 M113 armoured personnel carriers, 100 Humvees and 300 more Switchblade drones, according to a list released by the Pentagon. Ukrainians will need some training on radars and artillery systems, Mr Kirby said.

The Pentagon will also send unmanned surface vessels for coastal defence as well as individual chemical-biological protective suits and detection systems.

Mr Biden made the announcement after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has for weeks been pushing western nations to quickly increase weapons supplies.

The White House said last week that it has provided more than $1.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine that Russia calls a “special military operation.”

Previous weapons shipments have included defensive anti-aircraft Stinger and anti-tank Javelin missiles, as well as ammunition and body armour.

Mr Biden said the steady supply of western weapons to Ukraine has been "critical" in sustaining its fight against the Russian invasion.

It has helped ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin "failed in his initial war aims to conquer and control Ukraine," Mr Biden added.

At the Pentagon, a senior US defence official said another delivery of Javelin missiles was set to arrive in Ukraine in the next 24 hours.

The US also helped "two airlift deliveries from two different nations," the official said elaborating.

Russia has now fired more than 1,550 missiles into Ukraine and assessed that the city of Mariupol remains contested, the official said.

"We still hold that Ukrainian forces are in Mariupol and they're defending it," the official said.

Following seven weeks of fighting, the US official continued to point to low morale on the Russian side.

"We do have indications... of frustration, not only at the enlisted level, with what they're being asked to do, but with their officers, their leadership, frustrated with their troops performance, frustrated with their colleagues performance," the official said.

The new shipment of aid will add to more than $2.4 billion in security assistance the US has provided to Ukraine since MrBiden took office last year, including more than $1.7 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Agencies contributed to this report

A boy rides a bicycle past a house that was damaged by shelling in Andriivka village, not far from Kyiv. EPA

A destroyed residential building in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters

Firefighters at work on the outskirts of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. EPA

A torn Ukrainian flag in front of a ruined Mariupol apartment building. Reuters

Residents who cleared debris after Russian shelling eat lunch outside a damaged building in Makariv, near Kyiv. EPA

Children play with a therapeutic dog at a shelter organised by volunteers in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Reuters

A girl stands by the door of a bunker in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol. AFP

A firefighter at work following a missile attack near Kharkiv International Airport. Reuters

A Ukrainian fighter walks in front of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Two women hug outside a heavily damaged apartment block following an artillery attack in Kharkiv. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers guard the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues. Reuters

Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander, stands next to destroyed vehicles outside Barvinkove. Reuters

A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

A Russian soldier collects weapons from inside the Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine. AFP

Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Andriy Matviychuk, 37, who served as a territorial defence soldier, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother, Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home in Bucha during the Russian invasion. AP

Nadiya, 65, shows a hole in a wall of a building after shelling in Zalissya, Ukraine. EPA

A booby trap found by locals near their home in Zalissya. EPA

Debris of a school bus near a damaged school that was a base for Russian troops in Bohdanivka, Ukraine. EPA

A man examines the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka. EPA

President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, en route to Washington. AP

Valentina Saroyan sits in the basement of a school in Yahidne, near Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP

Vasyl Cherepenko stands next to a mass grave at a cemetery in Yahidne, near Dnipro, Ukraine. AP

Oksana, second from left, and Yevhen, right, talk with police officers next to their apartment building damaged by shelling in Irpin, Ukraine. AP

Women bid farewell to relatives as they leave the Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine, hit on March 16 by an air strike. AFP

A man embraces his wife as she prepares to board a train at Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

A woman walks through a damaged apartment building after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

A missile pierces the road in front of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Reuters

A boy walks by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka close to Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian tanks move down a street in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A man walks past a storage place for burned armed vehicles and cars, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Local residents stand on top of a Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian families, who have fled Kherson amid the Russian invasion, watch a dolphin show at a hotel in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

Residents stand outside their apartments as shops burn after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Irina Szymanska holds her baby in a temporary shelter at the central train station for displaced people heading to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A man walks in his yard, damaged by shelling, in the village of Andriivka, Ukraine. EPA

Sixty-two-year-old Luba hugs a Ukrainian servicewoman in Andriivka. EPA

A woman washes clothes in the yard of a ruined house in Andriivka. EPA

Russian soldiers patrol a street in Volnovakha, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The picture was taken during a trip organised by the Russian military. AFP

Russian mine clearers search for explosive objects in a building the Russian authorities say was damaged by Ukrainian shelling. AFP

A woman reads a book as residents find shelter from shelling in a metro station in Kharkiv. Reuters

Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant in Kharkiv following Russian shelling. Reuters

Farm owner Zlobina Lubov tends to her animals in the village of Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Reuters

A bathtub is seen inside a building that was heavily damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man looks out of his window, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodianka. Reuters

Soldiers 'came to my house and said go to the basement' Zinaida Makishaiva, 82, said, before they started to shoot around her. 'God saved my life,' she said. Reuters

A mother waits for police officers to exhume the body of her son from a well at a fuel station in Buzova, Kyiv region. According to the head of the village, he was killed by Russian soldiers. Reuters