More than 220 Ukrainian soldiers have completed their training on the M777 howitzers, while another “150-plus” are currently going through the training, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Friday.
The United States is training Ukrainian forces on how to use some of the weapons Washington is providing them to fight against the Russian military.
Another 15 Ukrainian soldiers have completed training for the Q-64 mobile radar system. Sixty have been trained on the M113 armored personnel carriers, and another 50 soldiers are undergoing training for the M113. Additionally, 20 Ukrainian soldiers are finishing up their training on the newly developed Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems.
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President Joe Biden, who has designated nearly $4 billion in military aid to Ukraine, announced a new raft of aid Friday, though the details have not been released.
In addition to training Ukrainians on the weapons they're providing, the U.S. is also sharing intelligence with the Ukrainian military, which has proved to be a vital part of the Ukrainians' defense. Kirby denied that the U.S. provided intelligence on the location of senior Russian military officials after the New York Times reported that intelligence the U.S. has provided led to the killing of as many as 12 Russian generals. The number of generals killed was attributed to unnamed Ukrainian officials.
"We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military," Kirby told reporters Thursday. "This is their country, their territory, and they have capable intelligence collection abilities of their own. Ukraine combines information that we and other partners provide with the intelligence that they themselves are gathering on the battlefield. And then they make their own decisions, and they take their own actions."
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There was also a report that the U.S. provided Ukraine with the intelligence it used to attack the Movska, a Russian battleship.
“We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out. We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship,” Kirby said Friday, “[We] do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military.”