The White House, in a statement issued over the name of President Joe Biden, announced today a “surge” of military support to the Kiev regime, just prior to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House. The package includes the remaining $5.5 billion in presidential drawdown authority (PDA) to send weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine from Pentagon stocks, and $2.4 billion in contracting authority under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative “which will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements.”
The PDA part of the package includes the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), an air-launched glide bomb armed with cluster munitions that has a range of up to 130 km; an additional Patriot battery and Patriot missiles; training for an additional 18 Ukrainian pilots, next year, to fly the F-16, along with other weapons and equipment.
“To counter Russian sanctions evasion and money laundering, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Secret Service have taken action today to disrupt a global cryptocurrency network, in coordination with international partners,” the announcement continued. “The United States will continue to raise the costs on Russia for its war in Ukraine and to deprive the Russian defense industrial base of resources.”
