Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will visit a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank workers
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on sunday the Ammunition factory in Pennsylvania that is producing one of the most urgently needed ammunition for his country’s struggle to repel Russian ground forces.
He is expected to go to the Scranton Army Munitions Plant to begin a busy week in the United States bolstering support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy’s schedule, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. He will also address the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York and travel to Washington on Thursday for talks with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Scranton plant is one of the few plants in the country that 155mm artillery shells. They are used in howitzer systems, which are large guns with long barrels that can fire at different angles. Howitzers can hit targets up to 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground troops for taking out enemy targets from a protected distance.
Ukraine has already received more than 3 million 155mm shells from the US
Now that the war has been going on for three years, Zelensky is pressing the US for permission to use longer-range missile systems to shoot deeper into Russia.
So far, he has failed to convince the Pentagon or the White House to ease those restrictions. The Defense Department has stressed that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian drones, and there is hesitation about the strategic implications of a U.S. missile hitting the Russian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155mm shells per day. That rate was beginning to deplete U.S. supplies and raised concerns that the available level would not be enough to support U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as a potential conflict over Taiwan.
In response, the US has invested in restarting production lines and is now producing more than 40,000 155mm rounds per month, with plans to reach 100,000 rounds per month. During his visit, Zelenskyy is expected to meet and thank workers who have increased production of the 155mm rounds over the past year.
Two of the Pentagon leaders who pushed for the increased production — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — are also expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant, as is Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa.
The 155mm rounds are just one of dozens of munitions, missiles, air defenses, and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has supplied to Ukraine — everything from small arms rounds to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraineproviding more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion raised by NATO and partner countries to support defense.
Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, many European countries see its commitment to its defense as a must to prevent Putin from further military aggression, which could threaten neighboring NATO members and lead to a much larger conflict.
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Associated Press editor Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.