Biden approves new $675 million military aid package for Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that President Joe Biden has approved $675 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.

The announcement was made at a meeting with allied officials to reaffirm their commitments to military support for Ukraine “in the long term.”

Opening a meeting of senior allied officials at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Austin said Biden approved a new tranche of U.S. aid Wednesday.

He said the package includes howitzers, artillery ammunition, Humvee vehicles, armored ambulances, anti-tank systems and other items.

According to Austin, “an important key moment in the war has arrived,” as Ukrainian forces have launched a counteroffensive in the south of the country.

“We are now seeing a clear success of our common efforts on the battlefield,” he said.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said there was “good news” from the Kharkiv region, where he said Ukrainian forces managed to recapture several settlements from Russian forces.

Zelensky also said that Ukrainian artillery has carried out successful strikes against Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

The U.K. Defense Ministry said Thursday that the Ukrainian military may have succeeded in destroying a military pontoon bridge in the village of Daryevka in the Kherson region, which the Russian military used after damaging a nearby bridge.

The ministry noted that by striking the crossing sites, the Ukrainian military is weakening Russia’s ability to deploy troops and re-equip them.

“The Daryevka crossing is one of the main routes between the northern and southern sectors of the Russian military presence along the Dnieper River. Ukraine’s systematic high-precision strikes against vulnerable crossings are likely to continue to put pressure on Russian forces as they attempt to deter Ukrainian attacks,” the military said.