US to send advanced missiles to Ukraine

The missile systems are part of the new military aid package worth $700 million the US has allocated for Ukraine. This package will include helicopters, reverse Yavelin systems, tactical vehicles, spare parts for other weapons, said American officials, who added that this aid package will officially be made public Wednesday.

The US decision to send these missile systems aims to create a balance between the desire to help Ukraine fight Russia's artillery attacks, as it ensures it does not send weapons to Kiev that could strike targets deep inside Russia's territory, as such is believed to constitute a escalation of war.

In a script published in The New York Times, President Biden confirmed that he has decided to give the Ukrainians the most advanced missile and ammunition systems that will enable them to conduct more precise attacks on key targets on the battlefields in Ukraine”.

At the beginning of the week, President Biden said the US would not send <x0-> missile systems that could strike within Russia”. Any weapons system can hit targets in Russia if the same are near the border. In the new US aid package, Washington is expected to include semi-range missiles, which can generally fly about 70 kilometers.

Ukrainians have assured the US that they will not launch missiles within Russia's territory, some senior US administration officials said, the Associated Press reported. One official stressed that advanced missile systems will enable Ukrainian forces to conduct more precise attacks on Russian targets within Ukraine.

Ukraine can use missiles in the eastern region of Donbas, even to prevent Russian artillery attacks or to remove Moscow's forces from positions where there is fierce fighting, such as the town of Severoneck.

Severrodnjeck is important in Russia's efforts to obtain Donbas before reaching Western weapons that would strengthen Ukrainian defence. The city is located 90 miles [140 km] south of the Russian border and is the largest city under Ukrainian control in the Luhansk region.

Biden said in his writing to the New York Times that “we are not encouraging or allowing Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We don't want to prolong the war just to cause Russia” pain.

This is the eleventh aid package approved so far in the United States and is the first aid from the $40 billion package Congress has allocated for economic and security assistance to Ukraine.

The weapons will be taken from the American Army inventory and Ukrainian soldiers must be trained at least a week or two to use these new missile systems.

American officials said the plan is to send the high-powered Arterial weapons system or HIMARS, which can be placed on a truck and can hold up to six rockets. This system could hit with medium-range action missiles, but it's also capable of operating with long-range missiles, but the model for long-term attacks is not part of the US plan.

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, the US and its allies have helped Ukraine with weapons to fight Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky has recently increased calls for the West to send missile systems to his country so Kiev's forces can stop the Russian offensive in Donbas.