The US Senate’s release of a $61 billion aid bill on Tuesday is a huge boost for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
According to the New York Times, American weapons could begin arriving in Ukraine within days. But on some parts of the front line, Ukraine’s situation is desperate. And there remains one major problem that aid cannot solve: the lack of troops.
“The most important source of Ukrainian weakness is the lack of manpower,” Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland, told Reuters.
Oleksandr, the battalion commander, told the Washington Post in February that his unit’s companies were manned at about 35 percent of normal strength.
With this labor shortage, Ukraine is battling intensifying attacks as Russia seeks to exploit this window before crucial aid arrives, think tank The Institute for the Study of War.
US President Joe Biden said he would sign the US aid bill on Wednesday, meaning US military equipment from bases in Europe could start arriving in Ukraine within days.
But it’s unclear how long it will take to arrive in sufficient quantities to the front lines to make a difference, with one Ukrainian lawmaker telling The Associated Press it could take months.
In the strategically crucial town of Chasiv Yar in Donestk, eastern Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the situation for the Ukrainian military was becoming increasingly desperate.
Russia has used glide bombs to devastating effect on Ukrainian positions in the city, and Ukrainian forces are being bombed at a ratio of 10 to one, the report said.
Russian drone strikes, the report says, mean essential supplies and reinforcements are not arriving.
“Meanwhile, soldiers sometimes lack food, water and medicine. Attack drones track vehicles bringing equipment and fresh troops to the front line. Soldiers whose wounds can be treated die in waiting for days to be evacuated because no one can reach them,” The Wall reported. Street Journal.
American weapons will help Ukrainian forces counter attacks. At the same time, the Ukrainian government has reduced the conscription age from 27 to 25, meaning thousands of new recruits will soon be deployed to the front lines.
This week, Ukraine announced that it had suspended consular services for male Ukrainians of foreign service age abroad, in an apparent attempt to get tougher on young men who have fled the country to avoid being sent into combat.
Meanwhile, Russia is fighting a weakened enemy.
“I expect that the situation will probably continue to deteriorate over the next three months, but if the mobilization goes as planned and US aid is released, then the situation should improve from here on out. “fall,” Muzyka, the Polish analyst, told Reuters.
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