The United States has bolstered Ukraine’s defensive capabilities against Russia by transferring thousands of seized Iranian weapons, including machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition. Announced by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday, this assistance comes at a critical time as Ukraine faces weapon and munition shortages on the battlefield.
This recent transfer is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to support Ukraine amidst its conflict with Russia. The equipment, sufficient to arm approximately one Ukrainian brigade of around 4,000 personnel, was originally confiscated by the U.S. military and partner forces from stateless vessels between May 2021 and February 2023. The U.S. government gained ownership of these weapons in December of the previous year through the Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture process against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which had intended to ship the weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen..
This action by the U.S. is not unprecedented. In October, over one million rounds of seized Iranian ammunition were also transferred to Ukrainian forces.
U.S. Government Transfers Captured Weapons
On Apr. 4, 2024, the U.S. government transferred over 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces. This constitutes enough materiel to equip one UKR BDE… pic.twitter.com/Ydecq6OFAo
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 9, 2024
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