Amidst Russia’s loud sabre-rattling, U.S. delivers military hardware to Ukraine

Over the past ten days, two US military transport aircraft and a cargo ship chartered by the Pentagon have unloaded military supplies in Ukraine. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports that both sides are preparing for a joint training exercise to repel aggressive attacks if Russia launches an offensive.

At least three large military cargoes have been delivered by American aircraft and ships to Ukraine over the past few days. On 25 March, the general cargo ship Ocean Glory arrived at Odesa from Charleston, USA; it was chartered by the Military Sealift Command ( organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the US Navy – Ed ). According to Odesa newspaper Dumskaya , the roughly 350 tons of cargo included 35 Humvee military vehicles.

On 2 April, a US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft flew to Kyiv from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. On April 4, another C-17A Globemaster III took off from the US and landed in Lviv. The C-17A Globemaster III can carry 102 troops and 77 tons of cargo.

This massive transport of military hardware coincided with the announcement of the upcoming Kozak Bulava training exercise designed to repel any large-scale offensive against Ukraine.

“The operational strategy of these exercises will take into account possible developments of the military-political situation around Ukraine. The training scenario calls for the involvement of headquarters, command stations and multinational brigade units in repelling a large-scale offensive by the armed forces of the aggressor country,” announced the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian Command clarified that they would be working on specific defence actions and possible offensive strategies in order to restore Ukraine’s border and territorial integrity.

According to the General Staff of Ukraine, more than a thousand servicemen from five NATO countries will take part in the Kozak Bulava exercises, which are yet to be scheduled. The General Staff has reported that the exercises will take place in a few months, while the main conference has already been held in Mykolayiv Oblast.

The Kozak Bulava exercise and the supply of weapons to Ukraine are part of a large-scale exercise that is being organized by the United States in Europe.

In April, as part of Defender-Europe 21 , the Pentagon plans to deliver equipment and personnel from the United States to twelve airports in Europe, and designate four countries as logistics centres. In May, the US military is planning six exercises in Europe.

Defender-Europe 21 activities began across Europe in March and continue through June.

Defender-Europe is an annual large-scale US Army, Europe and Africa-led, multinational, joint exercise designed to build strategic and operational readiness and interoperability between US, NATO allies and partners.

Building on the success of last year’s exercise, Defender-Europe 21 includes a greater number of NATO ally and partner nations conducting activities over a wider area than what was planned for in 2020. More than 30,000 multinational forces from 27 nations will conduct nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in a dozen countries.

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