The US is sending a major new $2.2 billion military aid package to Ukraine, which for the first time includes long-range HIMARS packages, something the Ukrainians have been asking for for a long time, but something the Washington administration has strongly refused to offer until now.
The US is also sending Javelin anti-aircraft systems, HAWK systems, ammunition for howitzers, and many others, so we are talking about a very important aid that the Americans are sending now, after supporting Ukraine with military aid worth many billions of dollars -over time.
“The Biden administration announced a new $2,2 billion military aid package for Ukraine on February 3rd, including long-range precision-guided HIMARS missiles. The package includes ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDMs) that will increase the range of HIMARS to 151 km from about 80 km.
The package also includes Javelin anti-armor systems, two HAWK air defense firing units, HIMARS regular ammunition and 120 mm mortar rounds and 155 mm artillery. Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued his campaign against certain opposition voices in the domestic information space while continuing to give platforms to critical nationalist milbloggers.
Moscow authorities announced the arrest of Alexander Gusov, the alleged administrator of the Novyi Vek and VChK-OGPU Telegram channels, on charges of extortion on February 3. Independent Russian station OVD Info claimed Russian authorities had also arrested Oleg Seliverov on terrorism-related charges after Moscow authorities recently investigated Seliverov for links to opposition station Nexta Live.
Seliverov is an anti-war activist, and the VChK-OGPU characterizes itself as revealing "secrets of officials, oligarchs, gangsters, security officials." Gusov denied affiliation with Novyi Vek and VChK-OGPU on January 26, and Seliverov denied associations with Nexta Live on January 28.
The VChK-OGPU condemned the arrests and claimed that Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov and Chemezov's associates influenced the crackdown. Putin censored several major opposition institutions in late January 2023, as ISW previously reported.
Putin likely wants to crack down on opposition agencies that directly oppose the regime or Putin's goals, including voices against the war, while supporting voices such as nationalist milbloggers who support Putin's regime and war, even as the milbloggers criticize the regime for poor execution of the goals of war. they consider insufficient."
NEW: The Biden administration announced a new $2.2 billion military aid package to # Ukraine, including precision long-range missiles for HIMARS, while Russian President Putin continued his campaign against certain domestic opposition voices.
Our latest: https://t.co/1euhwllnXK pic.twitter.com/B523qPIDB7
- ISW (@TheStudyofWar) February 4, 2023
