After Kherson withdrawal order, US announces $400 mn assistance for Ukraine

A day after Russia ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the city of Kherson amid the ensuing battle between Russia and Ukraine, the US on Thursday announced the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance, worth of $400 million for Ukraine.

Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, while addressing the media said the package includes "important air defense contributions" such as missiles for Hawk air defense systems as well as US Avenger air defense systems that come equipped with Stinger missiles.

Other than it, the package also includes, ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 21,000 155 mm artillery rounds, 500 precision-guided 155 mm artillery rounds, 10,000 120 mm mortar rounds, 100 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, or Humvees, 400 grenade launchers, small arms, optics and more than 20,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, demolition equipment for obstacle clearing, Cold weather protective gear, the statement further stated.

Sullivan also said the United States has detected some signs that Russian forces may be planning to withdraw from the Ukraine city of Kherson.

Notably, the announcement by the US came just a day after Russia ordered withdrawal of troops from the crucial city of Kherson, which also happened to be the only city Russia was able to capture since February's invasion.

The order came at a meeting in Moscow between Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, as the Ukrainian forces were making further advances towards Kherson city from two directions, media reports said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed an unprecedented support package for Ukraine of up to EUR18 billion for 2023. This will come in the form of highly concessional loans, disbursed in regular instalments as of 2023.

This stable, regular and predictable financial assistance - averaging EUR1.5 billion per month - will help cover a significant part of Ukraine's short-term funding needs for 2023, which the Ukrainian authorities and the International Monetary Fund estimate at EUR3 to EUR4 billion per month. The support put forward by the EU would need to be matched by similar efforts by other major donors in order to cover all of Ukraine's funding needs for 2023.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict which started eight months ago has jolted Europe. The European Union and its Member States have shown solidarity with people fleeing the war.

The Union has immediately mobilised support to the Ukrainian government to keep its essential functions going, on top of the emergency and humanitarian assistance, and military aid provided to Ukraine.