WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Friday announced a $2.1 billion military aid package for Ukraine that focuses on the country’s need for air defense and ammunition to support the counteroffensive it launched this week against Russian invaders.
The Ukrainians’ task will be formidable. A report issued Friday assesses the defenses Russia has erected to thwart the Ukrainian counteroffensive are the most extensive in Europe since World War II.
The military aid includes missiles for the Patriot air defense system, the most sophisticated in the Pentagon’s arsenal, that has been credited with shooting down Russian missile barrages on Ukrainian cities. There are also missiles for HAWK, shorter-range air defense systems. Artillery rounds and laser-guided rockets to attack Russian forces also round out the aid package.
Russia has dug trenches, created minefields, and erected barriers known as dragon’s teeth — concrete pyramids to keep out tanks, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
“Russia’s goals in building these defenses are to solidify its territorial gains in Ukraine and to prevent Ukrainianforces from liberating additional territory,” the report says.
Ukraine has been preparing its counteroffensive for months, adding western tanks and armored personnel carriers to its arsenal. Ukrainian soldiers have been training in Germany to synchronize their attack with artillery and air support. Heavy fighting has been reported in recent days in southern Ukraine near Zaporizhzhya.
Russia has fortified its defenses along more than 600 miles inside Ukraine, according to the report. The most heavily fortified is the province of Zaporizhzhya. Pushing through those defenses would allow Ukraine to threaten Russia’s lines. The Russian military wants to funnel Ukrainian forces into areas where they can be attack with artillery and possibly warplanes.
The report notes that, while extensive, the fortifications are not insurmountable. In large part that is due to the poor performance of Russian forces in the war who have been badly led, equipped and supplied. Since December, 100,000 Russian troops had been wounded or killed in fighting, the White House said in May.
MORE COVERAGE:Read the latest Ukraine, Russia war coverage from USA TODAY
“Fortifications are only as good as the forces defending them,” the report notes.
The Biden administration tapped funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays contractors to produce the weapons. Most of the Pentagon’s aid has come under Presidential Drawdown Authority, which sends Ukraine military aid from existing Pentagon stocks.
In all, the Pentagon has provided nearly $40 billion in military assistance since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
