As Congress debates additional support for Ukraine, the anti-Ukraine echo chamber will peddle myths and half-truths, including these four:
Myth: Washington is writing Kyiv “blank checks” that Americans cannot afford.
Myth: There is not enough oversight of US aid to Ukraine.
Myth: America is exponentially the largest donor to Ukraine.
Myth: Russia is a distraction. The US must focus on China.
The U.S. did not accidentally send Ukraine $6 billion in military aid, as some online have alleged. This claim misinterprets a Pentagon announcement in June that the agency had overestimated the value of weapons it sent to Ukraine.
Social media users are claiming a video shows Ukrainians in Kyiv cooling off under a water spray system set up during the war. This is false; the city's use of sprinklers predates Russia's invasion in February 2022.
Social media posts claim photos show a multimillion-dollar property recently purchased by the daughter of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. This is false; the luxury villa in Cannes, France has been on the market since October 2021, according to a real estate firm and the owners of the house.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told CBS News' "Face the Nation" he does not believe concerns over a lack of accountability and oversight on U.S. military aid to Ukraine hold water.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul: "It’s imperative the American people know about the existing accountability mechanisms [on US assistance to Ukraine], including third-party monitors such as Deloitte, and the robust oversight being conducted by Congress, and in particular, this committee."
The U.S. did not accidentally send $6.2 billion to Ukraine. An overestimation of the cost of some military hardware meant that $6.2 billion was not spent in the transfer of U.S. stocks to Ukraine.
While the DOD has said that this can now be used toward future stock drawdowns authorized by the president, that does not mean $6.2 billion has been sent accidentally, and all that implies, to Ukraine.
There is no evidence that any weapons provided to Ukraine by Western
partners were used during the recent protests in France.
Our rating: False
The U.S. did not mistakenly send extra money to Ukraine. The Defense Department said it overvalued military equipment shipped there from existing stockpiles. The error means the U.S. can supply more equipment than previously thought, not that it overspent.
The U.S. committed about $78 billion in humanitarian, financial and military assistance to Ukraine from January 2022 to February 2023, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German-based research organization that tracks nations' support of Ukraine, reported.
The U.S. total included $47 billion in military aid. That figure ranked highest among all nations and 14th as a percentage of gross domestic product.
A Pew Research Center poll in June of U.S. adults age 18 and older found that 31% of respondents said the U.S. is providing the right amount of aid to Ukraine, 28% said too much and 16% said not enough.
The Pentagon did not say that it mistakenly sent Ukraine $6.2 billion in cash.
We rate the Facebook post False.