US begins training Ukrainians on howitzer artillery

A small number of Ukrainian forces have begun US training on howitzer artillery systems, a senior United States defense official said, as Ukraine continues to call for more weapons to respond to a Russian offensive in the east of the country. Speaking on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, the US official said the howitzer training was taking place outside Ukraine and would take about one week.

“It’s a smallish number of Ukrainians, a little bit more than 50,” the official said, as reported by the Reuters news agency. The 155mm howitzer cannons are part of an $800m weapons package the Biden administration announced last week that also includes armored personnel carriers, helicopters, and tens of thousands of artillery rounds. US President Joe Biden had said the weapons aimed to help bolster Ukrainian forces against the Russian military’s push into the eastern Donbas region, whic...