Washington, June 16 (Representative) Germany will send three M270 multiple rocket launchers and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) munitions to Ukraine complementing similar pledges by the United States and the United Kingdom, the US Defense Department and the German and UK defense ministries said in a joint statement. “The United States announced on June 1, 2022 that it would provide four M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and GMLRS munitions. On June 6, the United Kingdom announced it would donate three M270 MLRS launchers with GMLRS munitions,” the statement said on Wednesday. “Today, at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, Belgium, Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht announced that Germany would transfer three M270 Mittleres Artillerie Raketen System (MARS) launchers and GMLRS ammunition from Bundeswehr stocks.” The three countries said that the transfer of the multiple rocket launching systems and the associated training they will provide to Ukrainian troops “is crucial to Ukraine’s self-defense.”
”The necessary training has already begun on the US HIMARS and UK M270 systems for their deployment in the coming weeks, and training on the German MARS launchers will begin very soon so the systems and their Ukrainian crews can be deployed urgently and without delay,” the statement said. Earlier on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said he had notified Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States will provide Ukraine with a new $1 billion security aid package. The new package includes guided MLRS munitions, 18 Howitzers, 36,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and two additional Harpoon anti-ship missile systems, according to the Defense Department. The package also includes $650 million in Ukraine security assistance initiative funds, including two additional Harpoon coastal defense systems and thousands of secure radio and night vision devices and thermal weapon sites, the Defense Department added.
Last Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a military aid package for Ukraine that would include 1,000 anti-tank Javelin missiles, 50 command launch units and four Mi-17 helicopters, as well as four HIMARS. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have used some of the supplied weapon systems, specifically artillery pieces, to extensively shell civilian areas. The city of Donetsk endured on Monday the most intense shelling by Ukrainian forces since 2015 in which six civilians were killed and more than 30 others were injured. Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said the civilians in Donetsk were killed by 155mm artillery rounds given to Ukraine by the United States, Canada, Netherlands, France and other countries. Those supplying Ukraine with the weapons used to kill civilians will be held to account, Nebenzia added. On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. Russia has said the special operation aims to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine and operations solely target the country’s military infrastructure.