U.S. Department of Defense Spokesman John KirbyWASHINGTON, May 21 Ukraine needs funds the most long-range firepower that the United States is helping them achieve, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
"The main need, which the Ukrainians continue to emphasize, is long-range firepower. We are working on it and helping them get (such) systems", Kirby said at the briefing.
He recalled that the United States handed over dozens of 155-mm M777 howitzers to Ukraine, and the allies are helping with Soviet-style artillery. The head of Vladimir Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, said earlier that Ukraine needs multiple rocket launchers most of all, but Western countries are not yet providing them. On Monday, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin is convening a virtual meeting on Ukrainian needs with the participation of four dozen military aid donor countries. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on 24 February. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» escalation in the allocation of new military assistance to Kyiv. For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. How Ukraine will pay for US military assistance