DONETSK, January 15. /TASS/. Washington’s move to send 18 self-propelled howitzers and 18 support vehicles to Kiev shows that Ukraine is seeking to build a howitzer squadron from scratch to make up for a few destroyed ones, an officer with the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic told TASS.
On January 6, the United States announced the Biden administration’s commitment of over $3 billion in additional military assistance for Ukraine, including 18 155mm self-propelled howitzers and 18 ammunition support vehicles.
"The amount is distinctive, for it implies building a howitzer division from scratch. In fact, one or even several divisions have been destroyed so heavily that it would be easier to transition the remaining personnel to a new squadron than to rebuild the previous one," the militia officer explained. According to him, delivering a full armament and equipment is necessary to compensate for what was destroyed.
The Pentagon has estimated that the US has provided more than $24.2 billion in military assistance to Kiev since Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials have repeatedly warned that the Western-supplied weapons for Ukraine could spread to other regions. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said that Western actions to militarize Ukraine were posing a direct threat to European and global security.