"It's good, but a little earlier would have been better", says Oleksiy, a Ukrainian servicemen reacting to the passing of a long-stalled US package of military aid. The package, worth 61 billion dollars, comes after months of political wrangling in the US Congress, with Ukraine's army struggling with shortages of manpower and ammunition. "We are very dependent on artillery shells and armoured vehicles", Oleksiy explains. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES