The United States will supply Ukraine with depleted uranium munitions, which are highly effective against tanks and armored vehicles, the Pentagon announced.

These 120mm missiles are used by US Abrams tanks, which Washington has promised to Kiev as part of a new $175m military aid package.

According to the White House spokeswoman, this new package also includes HIMARS rocket launchers, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Abrams tanks and other weapon systems.

It is the first time the US has said it plans to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium missiles, which have more penetrating power but are considered controversial because of the toxic risk they pose to both soldiers and the population. Britain had already announced, several months ago, its intention to send depleted uranium munitions, an initiative denounced by Moscow.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is on a two-day visit to Ukraine, said during his meeting with the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky that Kiev had made “significant progress” in the counteroffensive launched in June. He even said he was encouraged by the results of the counteroffensive and looked forward to hearing Zelensky’s account of the two days he spent near the front lines this week. “But we certainly see the significant progress that has been made on the counter-attack and that is very, very encouraging,” he added.

For his part, Zelensky warned that the coming winter will be “difficult”. “But we are happy because we will not go through it alone. We will do it together with our partners,” he continued, thanking the US for its help in the energy sector, which has been systematically targeted by Russian forces in the past year.

Earlier, Blinken met with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. “We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counterattack but also in the long term, to make sure that it has sufficient deterrents,” he noted.

Blinken’s visit was overshadowed, however, by the Russian attack on the city of Konstantinivka, where at least 17 people were killed and 32 others injured. President Zelensky condemned the attack, noting that a child was among the dead. “This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible,” he said, referring to a deliberate attack on a “quiet city.”

Presidential advisers have released videos in which a sound reminiscent of a rocket is first heard, followed by an explosion, as people run for cover or fall to the ground.

Russia has not commented on the attack and denies that it deliberately targeted civilians. However, Germany’s defense minister, Analena Burbock, called the attack on “innocent people who were shopping in a market” “inhumane”. In her post on Platform X, the head of German diplomacy states that the attack on Konstantinivka proves that Russia’s aggressive actions constitute “an attack against international law and humanity”.

White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said Russia’s “brutal attacks underscore the need to continue to support the Ukrainian people to defend their territory.”