The US military is considering transferring to Ukraine thousands of intercepted weapons and more than 1 million rounds of ammunition that Iran allegedly planned to transfer to militants in Yemen. About this on Tuesday, February 14, wrote the newspaper The Wall Street Journal.
Washington is currently discussing the possibility of transferring 5,000 assault rifles, 1.6 million rounds of small arms ammunition, a number of anti-tank missiles and more than 7,000 fuses to Kiev, sources said.
The WSJ noted that we are talking about weapons that were seized from smugglers off the coast of Yemen. They were suspected of working with Iran.
At the same time, the National Security Council at the White House refused to comment on this information to journalists.
Earlier on the same day, it became known that during training, mobilized servicemen in Ukraine were given branches instead of real weapons. A possible reason for this was the shortage of small arms in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
Also on February 14, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak announced Warsaw’s plans to deliver Leopard tanks to Kyiv in March. According to him, the Ukrainian military is already being trained to work on this technique in Poland. In addition, the Norwegian Defense Ministry announced its intention to transfer eight Leopard tanks and up to four support vehicles to Ukraine. Oslo also plans to transfer money to Kyiv for ammunition and spare parts for equipment.
On February 7, the Financial Times reported that the Ukrainian conflict has caused a crisis in the supply of ammunition and its components in Europe. As specified in the material, record demand for ammunition creates a huge burden on industrial capacity. Kyiv requires more than 5,000 shells daily, the same amount as a small European state orders for a year.
Prior to that, on February 3, the Pentagon announced a $2.175 billion military aid package for Ukraine, which included HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and ammunition for Javelin man-portable anti-tank missile systems. In addition, the United States included GLSDB projectiles in the package, which can fly about 150 km.
On February 2, the South China Morning Post wrote that weapons supplied by Western countries to Ukraine are later distributed to unstable regions through black markets. And the policy of pumping weapons into Ukraine will only exacerbate the endless cycle of violence in Europe and beyond.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted on October 20 that the weapons supplied to Ukraine are on the black market, their monthly smuggling turnover reaches $1 billion.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of a Russian special operation to protect Donbass. The decision to hold it was made in February 2022 against the backdrop of an aggravation of the situation as a result of shelling by Ukrainian forces.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
