Ukrainian navy receives two former U.S. coast guard patrol boats

Cargo ship Ocean Grand, carrying two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats intended to bolster the Ukrainian navy, sails in the Ukrainian territorial waters near the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 23, 2021. Press Service of the Ukrainian Naval Forces Command/Handout via REUTERS

Two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats intended to bolster the Ukrainian navy have arrived at the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa, the Ukrainian navy said on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the contribution of the United States to deter the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine," naval commander Oleksiy Neyizhpapa was quoted as saying.

The two new boats are part of a package of assistance to Ukraine that has been worth over $2.5 billion since 2014, the year Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine.

Former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats refitted for the Ukrainian navy are seen on board the cargo ship Ocean Grand arriving at the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Sergey Smolentsev

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Cargo ship Ocean Grand, carrying two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats intended to bolster the Ukrainian navy, arrives at the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Sergey Smolentsev

Cargo ship Ocean Grand, carrying two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats intended to bolster the Ukrainian navy, arrives at the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Sergey Smolentsev