Helping Ukraine to resist the Russian invasion is not just a political decision, it is a duty of every European country. We cannot and must not accept the Kremlin’s deliberate and nefarious attack on Kiev, Mariupol, Karkhiv and in every corner of Ukraine.

Since the start of the conflict, many states have sent military aid to Ukraine. According to data from the Ukraine Support Tracker compiled by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the greatest support came from the United States, which provided Kiev with the equivalent of 7.6 billion euros in aid in the four weeks following the start of the invasion, of which 4 billion and 366 million in military aid. The data in the report cover the first month of the war, from February 24 to March 27.

US President Joe Biden announced that the United States has approved another round of military aid to Ukraine. A White House official said the next military assistance package will be similar to the $ 800 million Biden announced last week, and will include mostly heavy artillery and ammunition.

Russia’s reaction was not long in coming. If weapons and means continue to arrive at the Ukrainians “there will be unforeseeable consequences”, threatens the Kremlin. A warning also sent to Italy, which in March sent a first tranche of weapons to Ukraine.

Italy is in sixth place in the ranking of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy for aid sent to Ukraine – 260 million euros in total – and in fourth place considering only military aid, which amounts to about 150 million.

A few days ago Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that Italy has “allocated around 500 million euros to support Ukrainians arriving in Italy and 110 million in financial assistance for the Ukrainian government”, demonstrating the commitment made.

At the beginning of the conflict, the Council of Ministers had unanimously given the green light to a decree which envisages, among other things, the transfer of military vehicles, materials and equipment to Kiev. Then Italy sent anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, light and heavy machine guns and mortars with an estimated value of between 100 and 150 million euros. To which must be added a contribution of 110 million euros paid to the Ukrainian government at the end of February.

In the first tranche of aid, as Repubblica reports, there were, among other things, the MG 42/59 heavy machine guns “that is the updated version of the weapon of the Third Reich, famous for its volume of fire, which our infantrymen exploited in the clashes with the Taliban ». The flights departing from Pratica di Mare and Pisa also brought several Stinger surface-to-air missiles to Poland, then to Ukraine: “Surface-to-air missile system used against the air threat conducted at very low altitudes”, reads the website of ‘Italian army. Then there are also the Panzerfaust anti-tank rockets, which however arrived in low quantities because Italy did not have large resources: since the end of the Cold War there has not been much attention to the tools to deal with traditional conflicts. And only last October it was decided to buy a thousand Panzerfaust with a warhead capable of piercing the armor of the new Russian tanks.

Not only that: thanks to an allocation of 12 million, always part of the first tranche of aid, “equipment for the individual protection and the civilian population” was also sent to Kiev, including helmets and bulletproof vests, devices for detecting mines and other devices explosives.

The aid decided at the beginning of the conflict was added to that of the days immediately preceding, when Palazzo Chigi had approved another decree that allocated 174 million euros between 2022 and 2023 for the strengthening of the military presence in Eastern Europe, with the strengthening of the three missions already underway: in Romania, Latvia and the Eastern Mediterranean. A measure that mobilized 1,350 soldiers until September 30 and another 2 thousand for any need for reinforcements or to replace the first soldiers.

According to rumors, next week Italy could approve and guarantee a second package of military aid based on the requests of the Ukrainian leaders: “We need weapons as soon as possible,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said several times in recent weeks. and he reiterated this again in his meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

Palazzo Chigi is working on a new decree that can renew support for the resistance of the Ukrainian people with new weapons. Also because the resources allocated several weeks ago are no longer sufficient.

A new provision that would involve several ministries (Economy, Defense, Foreign Affairs) and would not need the approval of the Parliament, which has already expressed itself in a favorable manner. The lists of materials sent will be classified, but there is talk of new anti-tank weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles.

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Philip Owell

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