Ukraine tells US it needs 500 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 500 Javelin anti-tank missile launchers
A Ukrainian soldier holds the FGM-148 Javelin, a US-made man-portable anti-tank missile at a checkpoint near Kharkiv on March 23. (Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images)
Ukraine updated its extensive wish list for additional military assistance from the US government in recent days to include hundreds more anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles than previously requested, according to a document provided to CNN detailing the items needed.
The Ukrainians have come up with similar lists in recent weeks, but a recent request provided to US lawmakers appears to reflect a growing need for US-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles, with Ukraine saying it urgently needs 500 of each on a daily basis. .
In both cases, Ukraine is requesting hundreds more missiles than were included in a similar list recently provided to US lawmakers, according to a source with knowledge of both requests.
The new list comes as the Ukrainians have claimed they face a possible weapons shortage amid an ongoing Russian attack, prompting some pushback from US and NATO officials who stress that it is already being entered. more military aid to the country.
By March 7, less than two weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and other NATO members had sent some 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.
Since then, NATO countries, including the US, have kept up the flow of weapons and equipment, even as Russia has threatened to attack the shipments.
The most recent $350 million security assistance package approved in late February arrived in Ukraine in recent days, a senior defense official said, while the next two packages totaling $1 billion have already begun shipping. reach.
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that “armor systems, ammunition and our weapons are arriving in Ukraine as I speak.” The defense official said there would be “multiple flights over many days” to get the equipment to Eastern Europe before it enters Ukraine through multiple land border crossings.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the UK announced it would send a further 6,000 missiles, including anti-tank and high-explosive weapons, to Ukraine, along with around $33 million in financial backing for the Ukrainian military.
The list provided to CNN details several other urgent needs, including: jets, attack helicopters and anti-aircraft systems like the S-300.
Two types of Russian-made aircraft are listed in the document, including one designed to provide close air support to troops on the ground. Ukraine has ordered 36 of each aircraft, according to the list provided to CNN.
Some lawmakers in Congress believe the United States should provide Ukraine with the weapons it requests as quickly as possible.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada, visited Poland and Germany last weekend to meet with civil society organizations helping Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in those countries, as well as U.S. troops stationed abroad helping with humanitarian efforts.
Rosen said his biggest lesson from the trip was a “sense of urgency” on the ground.
“They need all the tools to not only survive the war, but to win it, so we provide them with air-to-ground missiles, drones, all the military support,” Rosen told CNN.
