The Epoch Times, July 2023
The United States said it’ll provide Ukraine with $400 million in additional military aid, which will include Black Hornet spy drones for the first time, to help Ukraine in its ongoing fight against Russian aggression. The Pentagon announced the new security aid package on July 25, which marks the Biden administration’s 43rd drawdown of equipment from Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
The package includes munitions for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, Stinger antiaircraft systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Stryker armored personnel carriers, and Hydra-70 aircraft rockets, among others. It also includes U.S.-furnished Black Hornet surveillance drones, which are tiny nano-drones used largely for intelligence gathering that the Ukrainian military could use to monitor and fend off any potential Russian offensive.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Russian military has continued to attack Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure after Moscow terminated the Black Sea Grain Initiative last week.