The Department of Defense today announced the authorization of a new security assistance package to Ukraine, valued at $625 million, as part of the 22nd round of presidential drawdown authority. Short-term focused equipment constitutes the new package, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia said.

“Ukraine has demonstrated the ability to use these capabilities to degrade Russian logistics and command and control, creating opportunities for Ukraine to maneuver and to advance,” said Laura Cooper. “This has created, as [Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III] said recently, a change in battlefield dynamics.”

The package contents included:

• Four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and associated ammunition;
• 16 155mm Howitzers;
• 75,000 155mm artillery rounds;
• 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
• 1,000 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems;
• 16 105mm Howitzers;
• 30,000 120mm mortar rounds;
• 200 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles;
• 200,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
• Obstacle emplacement equipment;
• Claymore anti-personnel munitions.

In total, the United States has committed more than $17.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since January 2021. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $19.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and more than $16.8 billion since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on February 24.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed “accession treaties” claiming that the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are now part of Russia through a process of illegal annexation.

Ukrainian efforts on the ground, using equipment provided by both the U.S. and allies, demonstrate a different reality, Cooper said. “The Ukrainian armed forces continue to reclaim territory and to consolidate their gains,” Cooper said. “The liberation of Lyman was a significant operational accomplishment, and Ukrainian forces continued to make deliberate progress in the Kharkiv region, and also further south around Kherson. [The] Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kherson has made significant advances over the last 24 hours, and Ukrainian forces continue to liberate villages as they press forward.” Cooper noted the packages were considering “consumption rates for ammunition to make sure that they have what they need for the counter-offensive.”

Warfighting materiel provided under presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, is pulled directly from U.S. military stocks. The U.S. has also provided support to Ukraine through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Under USAI, the U.S. purchases materiel directly from defense contractors, and that material must be manufactured first before being sent overseas.