The US military said yesterday that it had transferred small arms and ammunition to Ukraine last week. The latter were originally sent from Iran to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but were seized by Washington and its allies.

This arms delivery is expected to help Kiev, which is severely short of ammunition in its war against Russia, but does not solve the Ukrainian military’s heavy weapons (projectiles, missiles) shortage, as the US Congress has not been able to agree on the authorization of a new military aid package.

The shipment, which took place on April 4, includes more than 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns, precision rifles, rocket launchers, and more than 500,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, the US Military Middle East Command (Centcom) said.

Those weapon shipments had been transferred by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Yemen’s Houthis in violation of a UN Security Council resolution when they were seized by US forces and their allies, Centcom added.

The seizures were made on four vessels from May 2021 to February 2023, the US military said.

In October, a similar transfer took place from the United States to Ukraine: 1.1 million rounds of ammunition seized between Iran and the Houthis.

Tehran supports Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who since last fall have targeted maritime traffic in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, destabilizing world trade.

The day before yesterday, Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his country will lose the war if the expected $60 billion in US aid remains blocked in Congress as Russia steps up pressure in the eastern part of the country.

The $60 billion US military and economic aid program to Kyiv has been blocked in Congress since last year due to opposition from Republican lawmakers as November’s presidential elections are close.

Also read: USA | Weapons seized from Iran shipped to Ukraine