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As U.S. officials in Europe prepare for a major new move expected by the invading Russian forces of Kiev, they are holding training programs to show Ukrainian soldiers how to use some of the military supplies sent to them, as part of the just-approved $800 million security aid package. .
On Thursday, a senior defense official said Ukrainian troops would likely receive instructions to use the listed artillery and radar systems. Ukraine It will receive 18 towed howitzers, along with 40,000 artillery shells, 10 AN/TPQ-36 counter-artillery radars and two AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air surveillance radars. The United States and its allies are known for helping the Ukrainians in their surprisingly tough resistance to a larger and better-armed Russian occupying force thus far.
“We don’t think it will take more than a few days to train them on these systems,” the senior defense official told reporters.
Wearing two hats as both head of US European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Air Force Gen. Tod D. Wolters is responsible for training requirements. Pentagon officials said they will likely select Ukrainian soldiers with some level of experience in artillery and radar to train in the features of the American systems in the package.
“It’s a ‘train the trainers’ approach. we don’t pull through Ukraine an exorbitant number of warriors. “They don’t think it will take very long for this training to run,” the senior defense official said at the Pentagon’s background briefing.
The government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly pushed for more weapons to continue the fight against Russia, which launched a massive land invasion on February 24. President Biden and other NATO leaders have already refused to add troops or make no (no) to the war. -Flight zone over the former Soviet republic for fear of starting a direct shooting war with Moscow.
A training operation is planned even as US officials continue to find items on the last list, which includes aircraft such as 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers, 500 Javeline missiles and thousands of other anti-armor systems.
“Not every item will have to come from the United States. “Some may come from predetermined stocks located elsewhere,” the senior defense official said.
Officials said the first weapons and tactical equipment on the list could be in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers in about a week.
The briefing came on a day when both U.S. and European officials said claims that Kiev had hit a Russian flagship with a missile strike sound credible, but it’s unclear how much damage Russia’s Moscow had taken. UkraineThe Southern military command said that the Ukrainian-made Neptune missile fired by its forces directly hit the cruiser and the cruiser began to sink.
Russian defense officials acknowledged that the ship was hit and caught fire in the Black Sea, but said the crew were rescued and the ship was withdrawn from the combat zone for repairs.
US officials said they were still trying to get information, but Russian sailors were still struggling to contain the fires on board.
“We currently do not have the capacity to independently verify this, but the way this has developed is a major blow for Russia,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday morning.
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