The US government on Thursday announced new military aid to Ukraine worth $600 million, including mine removal or disposal equipment and various types of ammunition.

This aid is intended to cover “Ukraine’s needs on the battlefield” and shows Washington’s “unwavering support” for Kiev, the US Pentagon said in a press release.

However, the items announced to be available should not be expected immediately in the field, since they were included in the program (“Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative”) through which the US government supplies the Ukrainian military with material through the defense industry or its partners, not drawing it from the surplus in the warehouses of the US military.

The US Department of Defense announced the next day a $1 billion aid package, including depleted uranium anti-tank shells, to give “new momentum” to the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces.

This latest package was presented to Ukraine during US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s surprise trip to the country.

It is the first time that the US has announced that it will give such munitions – which are highly controversial because of the toxic risks to military and civilians – to the Ukrainian military.

Their use in the past “led to a frantic rise” in cancers, so this is “bad news” and “the responsibility lies with the US,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

The US, head of an international alliance backing Ukraine in its war with Russia, has already pledged or delivered more than $43 billion worth of military aid to Kiev since the conflict erupted in late February 2022.