WASHINGTON, June 13, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The United States on Tuesday
announced a new $325 military assistance package for Ukraine as Kyiv's troops
battle Russian forces in a recently launched counteroffensive.

The package "will provide $325 million worth of US arms and equipment," US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

It "includes critical air defense capabilities, additional munitions for
High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons,
armored vehicles, and other equipment," he said.

The Pentagon said the package provides "key capabilities to aid Ukraine's
efforts to retake its sovereign territory and support Ukraine's air defenders
as they bravely protect Ukraine's soldiers, civilians, and critical
infrastructure."

The assistance includes 25 armored vehicles -- 15 Bradley Infantry Fighting
Vehicles and six Stryker personnel carriers, as well as demolition munitions to
clear obstacles, and more than 22 million rounds of small arms ammunition and
grenades.

The package will aid Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian troops,
which President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday was underway.

Kyiv has appealed to its allies in the West to deliver a broad range of
modern military equipment to help Ukrainian forces recapture large swathes of
territory controlled by Russia.

The United States has provided more than $40 billion in military aid since
Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.