US keeps up weapons shipments to Ukraine with new $500 million package

The package will include ground vehicles as Ukraine presses its counteroffensive, US officials said. Expected to be included are 30 Bradley fighting vehicles and 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers

 A Ukrainian serviceman looks out from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV), as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 19, 2022. (photo credit: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)
A Ukrainian serviceman looks out from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV), as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 19, 2022.
(photo credit: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)

The United States plans to announce as soon as Tuesday a new military aid package for Ukraine worth up to $500 million, keeping up US  resolve to help Ukraine against Russia as Moscow deals with a mutiny by some of its soldiers.

The package will include ground vehicles as Ukraine presses its counteroffensive, two US officials said. Expected to be included are 30 Bradley fighting vehicles and 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers, one of the officials said.

As a part of the aid package, Ukraine will receive munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), anti-tank weapons including Javelins and munitions for Patriot and Stinger anti-aircraft systems, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The package was still being finalized and could change, they said

US Marines with Bravo Battery, BLT 1/1, 11th MEU, prep HIMARS for training at a joint drill near the Red Sea. (credit: 1st Lt. Austin Gallegos)
US Marines with Bravo Battery, BLT 1/1, 11th MEU, prep HIMARS for training at a joint drill near the Red Sea. (credit: 1st Lt. Austin Gallegos)

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The package would be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval during an emergency. The material will come from US excess inventory.

The security assistance package would be the 41st approved by the United States for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, for a total of more than $40 billion.