The United States has begun training more than 50 Ukrainian military service members on the howitzers Washington is providing, according to a senior American defense official.
The training is expected to take approximately a week, the official told reporters on Wednesday, while the Pentagon has been tight-lipped about where it’s happening. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Monday the training would take place “outside” of Ukraine. The Ukrainian soldiers will then return to Ukraine, where they will train additional soldiers.
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“The training of some small number of Ukrainians on the howitzers has begun,” the official explained. “It has begun in the country outside Ukraine. I am not going to tell you — be able to detail where this is happening, but it has happened. And we expect the training to last for about a week. And this is training the trainers. It’s a smallish number of Ukrainians, a little bit more than 50.”
“They will get trained on how to use the howitzers, and then, they’ll be able to go back into Ukraine and train their colleagues,” the official continued.
The U.S., in the most recent military aid packages sent to Ukraine, included 40,000 rounds of ammunition. The howitzer rounds, a type of artillery ammunition, have arrived in Europe and will be sent to Ukraine “in the coming days,” the official added.
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Late last week, President Joe Biden authorized another $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, bringing the total U.S. military aid provided to approximately $2.6 billion since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. The U.S. previously taught Ukrainian service members how to use Switchblade drones.
