The Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday that its forces used a US-made GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb in a strike on a Russian platoon in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Reuters reported.
The GBU-39 is a 250-pound bomb that’s typically fired from an aircraft. The US has also provided Ukraine with a land-based version that can be fired by the HIMARS rocket systems, known as the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces said its soldiers were using US-provided HIMARS systems to destroy pontoon bridges and engineering equipment inside Kursk.
While the US claims it was unaware of Ukraine’s plans to invade Kursk until the assault started on August 6, Washington is still strongly backing the operation by allowing the use of US-provided weapons. The US says it won’t support long-range strikes, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing hard for all restrictions to be lifted.
The US is expected to announce a new weapons package for Ukraine on Friday amid the fighting in Kursk. US officials told AP that it would be worth $125 million and include munitions for the HIMARS systems, air defense missiles, artillery shells, Javelin anti-tank weapons, and other types of equipment.
Heavy fighting continued in Kursk on Thursday and also along the eastern front in Ukraine’s Donbas region, where Russian forces have been making steady gains. There’s no end in sight to the violence, as Russia has ruled out peace talks with Ukraine following the assault on Kursk.