US president Joe Biden has announced another package of military assistance for Ukraine as dozens of civilians were evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged steelworks, the last pocket of resistance against Russian troops in the pulverized port city.
Worth $150m, the latest US security assistance for the “brave people of Ukraine” would include artillery munitions and radars, Biden said. A senior US official said it included counter-artillery radars used for detecting the source of enemy fire, and electronic jamming equipment.
Officials were quotes as saying that US intelligence had helped Ukraine hit the Moskva with anti-ship missiles last month.
Friday’s new batch brings the total value of US weaponry sent to Ukraine since the invasion began to $3.8bn – and the president urged Congress to further approve a huge $33bn package including $20bn in military aid, “to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table”.
