Biden administration to announce $275 million Ukraine weapons package this week

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It’s important for Ukraine to be able to defend themselves: Panetta

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta discusses President Biden permitting Ukraine to fire long-range U.S. missiles into Russian territory on ‘Your World.’

The Biden administration is expected to announce a $275 million weapons package for Ukraine this week, a U.S. official tells Fox News.

The package is from the presidential drawdown authority (PDA) money, meaning the weapons will come from U.S. stockpiles and will be delivered to Ukraine quicker than a Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package.

The weapons package will include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMAR) system, but not HIMAR ammunition, and 155 mm artillery shells, drones and Javelin surface-to-air missiles, the official said.

Once the announcement on the weapons package is made, the U.S. will have a remaining $6.9 billion in PDA funding and $2.21 billion in USAI funding for Ukraine.

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A Ukrainian soldier fires a howitzer near Chasiv Yar in Ukraine on Monday. (Handout via Reuters)

Last month, the U.S. provided Ukraine with an additional $425 million in supplies and weapons using PDA money to help Ukraine meet its most urgent needs at the time in terms of air defense, air-to-ground weapons, rocket systems, artillery munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

The latest package comes in a timely fashion as just two days ago President Biden approved Ukraine to use American long-range missiles on Russian soil. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously indicated that any such act would be considered an act of war.

On Tuesday, Moscow said Ukrainian forces took advantage of Biden’s green light and launched six U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or simply ATACMS, into Russian territory.

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A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP/File)

Russia claims it shot down five of the missiles while damaging a sixth. It added that debris landed in the area of a Russian military facility and that there were no casualties or damage beyond a small fire.

Fox News received confirmation of the overnight strike from a U.S. official.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday that Russia escalated the war with Ukraine by bringing in more than 11,000 soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, to fight alongside Russian soldiers in the Kursk region.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Kremlin Pool Photo via AP/File)

She also said the Biden administration has a commitment to continue arming Ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield.

"We don't see that as escalatory," Singh said. "We see that as a commitment that we set out from the very beginning of this administration."

When asked if the Department of Defense (DOD) has reason to believe that more North Korean troops are headed to Russia, she said the DOD thinks it could certainly see more moving into the area but that there are more than 11,000 DPRK soldiers already embedded with Russian forces.

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"I mean, they’re moving into the … Kursk region for a very specific region, which is clearly to engage Ukrainian forces," Singh said.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.