In the absence of Western aid, Ukraine will have to face a less-resourced Russian army, risking a retreat, a senior NATO official told the Financial Times.
“For the Ukrainians, this is a desperate situation on the front line, much worse than they make it out to be,” the publication’s source added.
The situation is indeed serious and official statements by Western officials are not exaggerated, confirmed a representative of the US Department of Defense.
He recalls that Washington has run out of funds to send weapons to Kiev. Therefore, there are fears that the Ukrainian armed forces will run out of ammunition for artillery and air defense systems. “This is a very dark scenario,” the Pentagon source emphasized. Another military source warned that a prolonged lack of aid would lead to a significant shortage of arms supplies.
“It will not be easy for the Europeans to replace the United States. This is not entirely realistic,” a high-ranking European diplomat admitted to the publication. According to him, it will not be easy for the Ukrainian armed forces to maintain their current positions, and Ukrainian commanders are already aware of the prospect of very heavy offensive battles.
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, already in January, in a letter to the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, recalled the “old truth”: “Usually, the country that has the most ammunition for the battle wins.” He emphasized that the shortage of ammunition “is getting worse every day”, and the superiority of the Russian army is only growing.
The United States cannot agree on a new financial package for Ukraine from the fall of 2023. The White House and the Pentagon have exhausted the means of providing assistance – the last package of weapons worth 250 million dollars was transferred to Kiev in late December.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that without Western support, the Ukrainian army will be forced to retreat. In early February, the Ukrainian army began to experience an “acute shortage” of artillery and began to conserve ammunition on the battlefield due to the cessation of military aid. The Ukrainian armed forces can respond to ten shots from the Russian side with only one.
The White House is looking at ways to pay for weapons for Ukraine’s armed forces without Congress approving a $61.4 billion aid package. In particular, the United States could “force” Europe to pay for the delivery of American weapons to Ukraine. A comprehensive arms exchange with Japan and South Korea could also be arranged, in which they would transfer weapons to Washington for Kiev.
The US Senate decided to fund Ukraine and Israel unrelated to immigration policy
A four-month Republican bill that would have tied US border reform to military aid to Washington’s allies failed in the Senate on Wednesday. Concerned about the worsening situation in Ukraine, the congressmen went back to where they started: by removing the border clauses, they put to a vote those parts of the national security bill that provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
This approach found support in the Senate: 67 members of the chamber agreed to it on Thursday (50 Democrats and 17 Republicans), while the day before only 58 voted for the full bill (60 of the 100 necessary votes). Among the Republicans who opposed the second time, there are both those who do not support the allocation of new funds for Ukraine and those who still try to tie the funding to the issue of fighting illegal immigration, notes The Wall Street Journal.
This is the first procedural decision, the final document, after the details are agreed, will be voted on later. Senators expect this to take at least a week, the publication said.
The bill, totaling $95 billion so far, specifically earmarks about $60 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel and nearly $9.2 billion for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and other conflict zones. From the funds intended to support Ukraine:
$19.9 billion will be used to replenish the Pentagon’s weapons stockpile, which was reduced due to previous deliveries to Ukraine’s armed forces;
13.8 billion – for the purchase by Ukraine of weapons and ammunition from the USA;
13.8 billion – for various types of support from the US, for example, training of Ukrainian military personnel;
Almost 8 billion dollars – in the form of budget support for Ukraine, to finance government spending. Republicans may push to cut that portion so that the funds go mostly to support the armed forces.
If the bill passes the Senate, it will go to the House of Representatives, where conservative Republicans have a stronger position. But Speaker Mike Johnson, who after the deal was released immediately called it a failure and refused to even consider it, now leaves himself with a choice: He did not respond to a question about whether he would be willing to bring a new version of the bill up for debate.
The new Ukrainian commander-in-chief said that success depends on constant innovation
A day after he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Oleksandr Sirsky laid out a “clear plan” today to push back Russian forces, France Press reported.
The agency notes that against this background, Moscow has stated that changes in the leadership of Ukraine’s armed forces will not affect the course of the war.
“Only the change and continuous improvement of the means and methods of waging war will allow us to achieve success,” General Sirski said in Telegram in his first public appearance as commander-in-chief.
Syrsky was appointed yesterday to replace the very popular General Valery Zaluzhny, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky deemed a change necessary after two years of war and with the situation at the front looking stalemated.
Zelensky immediately asked the new commander-in-chief for a “realistic battle plan” for 2024, at a time when Kiev is worried about declining Western support caused by internal divisions in the US and the European Union.
Colonel-General Oleksandr Sirsky, described yesterday by Zelensky as “the most experienced Ukrainian general”, said: “It is a matter of clear and detailed planning of the actions of all bodies” to enable “victory”.
A major problem at the moment is the shortage of ammunition for the Ukrainian army. Nevertheless, “the quick and rational distribution and delivery of everything necessary for the combat units was and remains the main task of military logistics”, Sirski pointed out.
The general, who until now commanded the Ukrainian Ground Forces, also assured that the limitation of human losses is his priority.
“The life and health of soldiers has always been and remains the main value of the Ukrainian army,” he assured.
Military officials, however, claim that Sirski does not care enough about the lives of his subordinates, AFP notes.
Zelensky awarded the former commander-in-chief Zaluzhny with the title “Hero of Ukraine”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today awarded former commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces Valery Zaluzhny with the title of “Hero of Ukraine”, after the popular general was replaced in the most serious leadership change since the start of the war, Reuters reported, citing a decree published on the president’s website.
Zaluzhny, considered a national hero for the way he led Ukraine’s efforts to repel a full-scale Russian invasion, was yesterday replaced by the former commander of the ground forces, Oleksandr Sirsky.
Medvedev called the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces a “traitor”
Former Russian President and Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has called the Russian-born new commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Sirsky, a “traitor,” Reuters reported.
The agency notes that in a Telegram post, Medvedev accused Sirsky, who has not served in the Russian army since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, of violating his officer’s oath.
The deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia said in his post in “Telegram”, quoted by TASS, that he felt a sense of hatred, contempt and disgust, looking at the biography of the new commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ukraine.
Medvedev declared that he felt hatred for those “who participated in the collapse of the former Soviet Union (and indeed the Russian Empire), as a result of which a huge state that balanced the world order disappeared, and millions of people were condemned to suffering and death.” .
He also expresses a feeling of contempt for the Western countries, “which maniacally, violently, by all possible means pushed the peoples of Russia and Ukraine (or rather the united Russian people) to a new civil war”.
Medvedev added that he also felt “disgust for the man who was a Soviet Russian officer but became a Banderian traitor, breaking his oath and serving the Nazis, destroying his loved ones.”
“Let the earth burn under his feet!”, summarizes Medvedev in his post.
At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the change of command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not affect Russia’s “special military operation” in the country, Reuters reported.
“We do not think that these are factors that can change the course of the special military operation. It will continue until its goals are achieved,” said the Kremlin spokesman, quoted by TASS.
Russia said it had neutralized 19 Ukrainian drones that night
Russia said today that it had neutralized 19 Ukrainian drones in four Russian regions and over the Black Sea that night, AFP reported.
“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with 19 aerial drones against objects on Russian territory was thwarted,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“Air defense systems intercepted and destroyed drones in the Kursk (2), Bryansk (5), Oryol (4) and Krasnodar (2) regions, as well as over the Black Sea (6),” the department specified.
In the Oryol region, the attack was directed against objects of the energy infrastructure, Governor Andrey Klichkov wrote in the communication application “Telegram”.
A fire broke out at an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region last night, local emergency services said in a statement. However, there is no reported link between the fire and the drone attack. AFP notes that the refinery where the fire broke out was the target of a drone attack last year.
Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian territory has frequently been the target of strikes and drone attacks, which Moscow claims are the work of Kiev.
In this context, the Russian army said today that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is inspecting the command center of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
Shoigu is reported to have listened to reports on the situation at the front and thanked the soldiers for their successful actions on most fronts. It is not said when exactly the inspection was carried out.
Ukraine shot down 10 of the 16 drones launched by Russia that night
The Ukrainian Air Force said today that Russia launched 16 drones against Ukraine last night, 10 of which were destroyed by air defenses, Reuters reported.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the drones damaged “mostly civilian infrastructure” in the eastern part of Kharkiv. One person was injured.
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