US to send hundreds of armoured vehicles, rockets to Ukraine

The United States said on Thursday it would send hundreds of armoured vehicles plus rockets and artillery shells to Ukraine as part of a US$2.5 billion military assistance package.

The package includes 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, 53 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles and 350 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, the US Defense Department said in a statement.

The 59 Bradleys included in the latest US package come after a previous 50 announced earlier in January. The armoured Bradley has a powerful gun and has been used by the US Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.

The latest assistance also includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), eight Avenger air-defence systems, tens of thousands of artillery rounds and about 2,000 anti-armour rockets, the Defense Department said.

In total, the United States has committed more than US$27.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February last year.

Western allies have pledged billions of dollars in weapons for Ukraine. Fearing winter will give Russian forces time to regroup and unleash a major attack, Ukraine is pushing for more assistance to combat Moscow's invasion.

In his trip to Washington in December, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the US Congress that assistance to Ukraine is an investment in democracy, and not charity, while pressing for continued American support.

- Reuters