Ukraine: On Monday, the United States unveiled a fresh batch of weapons for the Ukrainian forces battling Russia, including ammunition for artillery and rocket launchers of growing strategic importance.

According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, the new US$550 million package will "include more ammunition for the high mobility advanced rocket systems, otherwise known as HIMARS, as well as ammunition" for artillery.

According to a Pentagon statement, the shipment contains 75,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition.

The statement read, "The United States will continue to work with its allies and partners to provide Ukraine with key capabilities to meet its evolving battlefield requirements.

Since US President Joe Biden took office, Ukraine has received more than $8.8 billion in military assistance, according to the Pentagon.

In the past, Washington has given Kyiv counter-artillery radars, Javelin anti-tank missiles, helicopters, shells, and light armoured vehicles made in the Soviet Union.

Additionally, Kirby praised the first grain shipment from Ukraine that departed from the port of Odesa on Monday.

It was the first since the start of the conflict and a crucial agreement to lift Moscow's Black Sea naval blockade was mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.

Kirby told reporters, "We obviously welcome this significant step and we hope to see more ships depart in the coming days to travel onward to international markets with agricultural products like grain, wheat, sunflower oil, and corn."

The world's poorest countries have been particularly hard hit by the five-month suspension of deliveries from war-torn Ukraine, one of the largest grain exporters in the world.

On February 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Since then, there have been thousands of fatalities, millions of evacuees, and fears of a nuclear catastrophe.

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