US Sends Ammo It Seized From Iran to Ukraine

(RepublicanPress.org) – Recent reports from PBS show that the United States has given over $75 billion so far to Ukraine since Russia invaded the sovereign country in early 2022. While some of the aid has been financial and humanitarian, the bulk of the assistance fits in the security, weapons, and equipment categories. The Biden administration has promised to assist Ukraine for the remainder of the war.

On October 3, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a press release stating the US government sent 1.1 million 7.62mm rounds of ammunition to the Ukrainian military the previous day. The command said it received the munitions in July, but they were originally seized in December 2022 by CENTCOM naval forces.

The U.S. sent Ukraine more than a million rounds of seized small-arms ammunition that Iran had sought to ship to fighters it supports in Yemen https://t.co/ELxMoVCFE4

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 4, 2023

The rounds were being transferred by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to Yemen when they were intercepted. That transfer was meant for the Houthis — a violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

Director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, Frederick Kagan, said Ukrainian military forces need “all categories of munitions” to fight Russia. He said the 7.62mm rounds would really help the infantry make gains in the south.

This transfer comes at a time when Ukrainian aid from the US is in flux. Although President Joe Biden assures the United States will continue to support the country during the war, turmoil in the House of Representatives is making the prospect a challenge. The clean resolution passed to keep the government open until November didn’t include funding for Ukraine.

Now, with no speaker, business in the House has come to a grinding halt. Until the GOP can agree on who will lead the majority for the remainder of the current Congress in former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) stead, the Lower Chamber cannot allocate funding — even to Ukraine.

This munitions transfer keeps America on track with continuing to keep its promise to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his country.