The latest package will include additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars), tens of thousands of rounds of artillery and mortar ammunition, anti-armor systems and armored medical care vehicles. Including this package, the US has now given about $9.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since President Joe Biden took office. The new US aid comes as Kyiv prepares to launch a new offensive in the south, where it hopes to retake the city of Kherson and end Russia’s use of the Dnipro River as a natural barrier. “The United States stands with allies and partners from more than 50 countries in providing vital security assistance to support Ukraine’s defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russian aggression,” the US secretary of state said. Antony Blinken in a statement. “As this war drags on, the courage and strength of the Ukrainian military and its people become even more evident and even more extraordinary. Together, we will continue to consult closely with Ukraine and increase additional available systems and capabilities carefully calibrated to make a difference on the battlefield and strengthen Ukraine’s eventual position at the negotiating table,” he added. Separately on Monday, the US Agency for International Development announced it would provide an additional $4.5 billion to the Ukrainian government to cover part of its budget deficit. The Ukrainian government will receive the first tranche of $3 billion in new funds in August. Once disbanded, the US will have provided $8.5 billion in direct fiscal support to Kyiv. The latest package will include additional munitions for High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems, or Himars © EyePress News/Shutterstock Ukrainian forces have already retaken some territory in the southern regions in recent months. But neither side has gained much ground in a war of attrition that has amounted to bloody artillery duels in both the south and the far eastern Donbas region since Russian forces failed to capture the capital Kyiv early in the invasion. Colin Kall, US undersecretary of defense for policy, said Moscow had recently reported some “incremental gains” in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, but at a heavy cost to the Russian military, which reported heavy casualties. That was a result of “how well the Ukrainian military performed and all the help the Ukrainian military had received,” he said. “Now the conditions in the east have stabilized since then and the focus is really shifting to the south, and part of that is because the Ukrainians are starting to put some pressure to the south and the Russians have had to redeploy their forces down there,” he added. . . Kahl said the Russians had an “enormous number” of casualties: “I think it’s safe to assume that the Russians had probably 70,000-80,000 casualties, that is killed and wounded.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, said the West needed to provide much more artillery and longer-range rockets, as well as tanks and aircraft, for Ukraine to retake Kherson. “We need to significantly increase the number of multiple launch missile systems, Himars or M270,” Podolyak said in an interview before the US announcement. “If today we have 20-30, then there should be 80-100 to be effective.” “Otherwise, it will be a protracted war. . . it will be a costly war,” he added.