Biden announces $2.5B in Ukraine military aid

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday said the United States would be giving Ukraine nearly $2.5 billion worth of security assistance. Biden also promised that he would continue to make the United States support Ukraine throughout his remaining three weeks in office. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday thanked the United States for the aid package and expressed his gratitude to Biden and other U.S. officials for their support for his country.

What sort of security assistance is Biden providing? The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday listed the items headed for Ukraine’s front lines: artillery shells, a variety of rockets, anti-air defense systems, and air-to-ground munitions. It also included small arms, ammunition for those small arms, grenades, and shoulder-fired rockets.

Is that all they got? Also on Monday, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen announced that $3.4 billion would be dispersed for direct budget support, or economic assistance, for Ukraine. 

Dig deeper:Read Lauren Canterberry’s report in The Sift about how Russia unleashed a barrage of missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure on Christmas Day.