US announces $125 million military aid package for Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending Ukraine an additional $125 million in weapons to assist in its military operations against Russia, including much-needed air defense capabilities, radars to detect and counter enemy artillery and anti-tank weapons, the White House announced Friday.

The latest package comes as Ukraine has launched its largest ground offensive on Russian soil since the war began in February 2022. The offensive in the Kursk region has prompted Moscow to declare an emergency and send reinforcements there.

National security spokesman John Kirby said Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided weapons in the offensive was in line with administration policies. The Biden administration has approved their use in cross-border counterstrikes against Russia but not against targets deeper inside Russia, although the specific distances are not clear.

The weapons in this latest aid package will be drawn from existing U.S. stocks and will include Stinger missiles, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) ammunition and vehicles. It brings the total amount of U.S. aid to Ukraine since 2022 to $55.6 billion.

July saw the heaviest civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Friday. Conflict-related violence killed at least 219 civilians and injured 1,018 in July, the mission said.

On Friday, a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, killing at least 14 people and wounding 44 others.