Pentagon to send $1 billion in air defense weapons and artillery shells to Ukraine within HOURS after Senate passes $61 billion relief bill for Kiev

The US will send a massive $1 billion package of military weapons – including long-range missiles, munitions, drones and vehicles – to Ukraine now that Congress has approved the funding.

The Senate approved a foreign aid package Tuesday evening that includes $61 billion for war-torn Ukraine. The first tranche of arms is expected to land in Kiev within days.

“I’m going to make sure that shipments begin immediately,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday shortly after signing the bill at the White House. “In the next few hours, literally, a few hours.”

Within minutes of Biden’s announcement, the Pentagon released a detailed list of weapons and equipment headed to Kiev.

The new round of aid comes as it was revealed that the Biden administration secretly shipped long-range missiles to Ukraine last month for the first time.

Kiev has already used the weapon twice to strike deep behind Russian lines. Last week, Kiev bombed a Russian military airfield in Crimea and overnight Russian forces in another occupied territory.

The new missiles give Ukraine almost double the strike distance – up to 300 kilometers – that it had with the mid-range version of the weapon it received from the US last October.

More long-range missiles are expected to be shipped as part of the latest aid package.

Biden approved delivery of the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, in early March, and the US included a “significant” number of them in a $300 million aid package announced at the time, a US official said.

The aid package also includes Bradley fighting vehicles, Stinger air defense ammunition, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems, 155-millimeter artillery ammunition, TOW and Javelin anti-tank ammunition, demolition weapons and other weapons that can be immediately deployed to the battlefield, officials told Reuters .

The total foreign aid package of $95 billion, including billions for Israel and Taiwan, was passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday after months of frustration.

Speaker Mike Johnson assembled a bipartisan coalition to pass the legislation as several members of his conservative wing opposed it.

President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on Wednesday

Ukrainian soldiers of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire a BM-21 Grad multi-launch missile system at Russian forces

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the U.S. has a robust logistics system in place and is “doing everything we can to respond quickly” once the bill is signed.

Ryder said the US has warehouses of military equipment in Europe and could tap them to get aid to Ukraine within days.

“We certainly understand and appreciate the urgency and are ready to take action quickly,” he said.

Russia has stepped up its bombing of Ukraine in recent weeks. US military officials have described the situation in Ukraine as “serious.”

CIA Director Bill Burns testified before Congress earlier this month that Ukraine could lose the war by the end of this year without U.S. support.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently told lawmakers that Russia is making gains as Ukraine faces ammunition shortages.

“We are already seeing things on the battlefield starting to shift a bit in Russia’s favor. We see them making incremental gains. “We see that the Ukrainians are being challenged when it comes to holding the line,” he said.

Ukrainian soldiers carry grenades to fire at Russian frontline positions – now getting a billion-dollar injection in their efforts thanks to Congress

A man removes shards of glass from broken windows of a store damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine

The latest wave of weapons will be delivered through the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which takes systems and ammunition from existing US stockpiles and quickly sends them to the war front.

Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the US has sent more than $44 billion in weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Britain on Tuesday pledged another $620 million in new military supplies for Ukraine, including long-range missiles and 4 million rounds of ammunition.