Thread by @jseldin

NEW/BREAKING: Day 177 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine - US prepping another $775 million security pkg for #Kyiv in the tradition of w/"what they need, when they need it" per a senior US defense official

NEW US $775 million pkg for #Ukraine will include:

- more ammo for #HIMARS, which have "really changed the dynamic on the battlefield"
- 16 105mm #Howitzers & 36,000 artillery rounds

per a senior US defense official

US pkg will also boost #Ukraine's surveillance capabilities with 15 #ScanEagle drones, per a senior US defense official

Another part of the new US security pkg for #Ukraine includes #mine clearing capabilities - inclu mine-resistant vehicles, per a senior US defense official

More from $775 million pkg:

additional High Speed AnitRadiar Missiles (#HARM) to "seek & destroy" Russian radar

1,000 TOW missiles to counter #Russia|n armor

- per a senior US defense official

NEW: 1,000 additional #Javelin missiles headed to #Ukraine as part of latest US security pkg, per a senior US defense official

Also includes 2,000 anti armor rounds

Latest pkg bring total of US security assitance to #Ukraine to $10.6 billion since start of the Biden administration

"This isn't the end" per a senior US defense official

US seeing "a complete and total lack of progress by the #Russia|ns on the battlefield" per a senior US defense official

#Moscow "paying a high price from Ukrainian attacks" especially from the #HIMARS, per the official "They are incurring these costs & not able to advance"

#Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - "This is a situation that the US gvt ... is watching very very closely" per a senior US defense official

"We are very concerned abt military operations...any reports of damage"

"We have been very clear the fighting near a nuclear power plant is dangerous, irresponsible" per a senior US defense official

"We've seen #Russia showing a willingness to fire on a nuclear power plant...the height of irresponsibility"

US expects #Russia to comply with @iaeaorg safeguards & requests when to comes to the #Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, per a senior US defense official

#NASAMs delivery to #Ukraine expected in the next 2-3 months, per a senior US defense official

#PhoenixGhost drone supply being constantly replenished, per official

"We are seeing the #Ukrainians on a daily basis successfully weakening the #Russia|n forces" per a senior US defense official

But "we haven't seen a significant retake of territory" per the official

US seeing an overall picture of #Russia|n forces being "much more vulnerable" that they had been, including in #Crimea, per a senior US defense official

#ScanEagle recon drones - "This is the 1st time that the #UnitedStates has provided this capability but there is another ally..." that has been providing them - though they may not have been fielded yet by #Ukraine's forces, per a senior US defense official

Items in this latest $775 million security pkg - "These are capabilities that are enhancing the #Ukrainian's abilities...in southern #Ukraine in particular" per a senior US defense official

#ScanEagle drones "will enable the targeting of the whole host of artillery capabilities" for #Ukraine
per a senior US defense official

#Wagner Group - "#Russia paying more & more to get the human capital it needs for this operation" in #Ukraine, per a senior US defense official

"Wagner is in part a numbers game" the official says, adding Wagner is also "a tool that also has its limitations"

Assessment of the #Russian invasion of #Ukraine - US sees "how little #Russia has been able to achieve" of its original war objectives, per a sr US defense official

"You're seeing this hollowing out of Russian forces in Ukraine w/implications" for overall sustainability

#Ukraine air force - "We have been pleased to see how well they can incorporate spare parts, sustain their equipment...& now integrate US #HARM missiles" per a sr US defense official