US to Send Ukraine $1Bln Package With Harpoon Missile Launchers, Howitzers: Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is expected to announce a $1 billion defense package for Ukraine that includes Harpoon missile launchers, howitzers and ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), Politico reported on Tuesday.
Sputnik
The anticipated package will include two truck-mounted Harpoon launchers, 18 howitzers, 36,000 artillery rounds, ammunition for HIMARS and optics, the report said.
The $1 billion in funding for the equipment comes from $650 million in congressional Ukraine assistance passed by the US Congress last month and $350 million in drawdown authority, the report added.
Russia
US to Send $1.5Bln to Ukraine Monthly Amid Its Own Rising Inflation, Soaring Gas Prices
Last Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a military aid package for Ukraine that would include 1,000 anti-tank Javelin missiles, 50 command launch units and four Mi-17 helicopters, as well as four HIMARS.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have used some of the supplied weapon systems, specifically artillery, to shell civilian areas. The city of Donetsk endured on Monday the most intense shelling by Ukrainian forces since 2015 in which six civilians were killed and more than 30 others injured.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said the civilians in Donetsk were killed by 155mm artillery rounds given to Ukraine by the United States, Canada, Netherlands, France and others. The countries supplying Ukraine with the weapons used to kill civilians will be held to account, Nebenzia added.
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