Biden to announce $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine: Report

US President Joe Biden will reportedly announce an additional $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine as the eastern European country holds off a Russian invasion.

As part of the new assistance package, Ukraine will be provided with anti-tank missiles according to a CNN report which cited unnamed US officials familiar with the plan. However, the plan will not include the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which President Volodymyr Zelensky has described as essential to continuing the fight against Russia.

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The new infusion would bring the total amount pledged by the US in the last week to $1 billion, while it would take the total pledged since the beginning of the invasion to $2 billion.

Since the beginning of the invasion the Joe Biden administration has supplied Ukraine with advanced weapons systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS).

The Javelin is a shoulder-mounted anti-tank missile launcher that uses a computer-guided lock on system for deadly accuracy. The launcher can be operated by a single person and has a massive effective range of up to 4 kilometres in most operating conditions. According to Seattle-based news outlet Kiro7, the US has already sent more than 17,000 Javelin missiles to Ukraine, although the White House has not released any numbers yet.

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Stingers, meanwhile, are sophisticated shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems that can be operated by a single person and have a distinguished combat record. Inducted into service in 1981, Stingers wreaked havoc on Russian forces in the Soviet-Afghan War and according to EurAsian Times, is regarded as one of the defining factors of the outcome of the war.

The US-supplied armaments appear to be working too, and several videos have and reports have surfaced on social media of Ukrainian defence forces downing Russian helicopters and planes, and even destroying entire tank convoys.