DOD announces $250M in military aid to Ukraine

The Defense Department announced today it plans to provide $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of small arms, maritime surveillance systems, night vision equipment and electronic warfare detection and secure communications systems.

"This reaffirms the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and Ukraine and will bring total U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $1.5 billion since 2014," the Pentagon said.

In February 2014, Russian-backed forces invaded Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, ratcheting up military tensions with the Europe and the United States.

The new military aid has been approved because of Ukraine's "continued progress" in adopting institutional military reforms that "align" with Euro-Atlantic principles, according to DOD.

"The United States remains committed to helping Ukraine implement provisions of Ukraine's 2018 Law on National Security to strengthen democratic civilian control of the military, promote command and control reforms, enhance transparency and accountability in acquisition and budgeting, and advance defense industry reforms," DOD said. "These reforms will bolster Ukraine's ability to defend its territorial integrity in support of a secure, prosperous, democratic, and free Ukraine."