Ukrainian forces suffered considerable territorial losses over the weekend despite receiving a large military aid package from the U.S. in April, according to The New York Times.
From Friday to Sunday, Russian forces captured more square miles per day than they have at nearly any point of the war other than its earliest days, taking nine villages in Ukraine’s north while defending fighters fell back, according to the Times. The Russians’ advances came just weeks after Congress approved a $61 billion infusion of military aid for the Ukrainian forces on April 21, proponents of which argued that the aid was essential for Ukraine to withstand the invasion.
“The first line of fortifications and mines just didn’t exist,” Denys Yaroslavsky, a Ukrainian reconnaissance commander, wrote in a post on Facebook. “The enemy freely entered the gray area, across the border line, which in principle should not have been gray!” (RELATED: It Would Only Take Months For Ukraine To Burn Through New Weapons Provided In Congress’ $60 Billion Aid Package)
Biden signs the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. pic.twitter.com/jKVslCj4kI
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The $61 billion aid package passed in April contained funding for weapons, arms purchases, training and more, according to the Center for Strategic International Studies. That round of funding supplemented four earlier aid packages, bringing the topline number of U.S. aid sent to Ukraine since the war’s outbreak to $175 billion, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks about authorizing a special military operation in Ukraine’s Donbass region during a special televised address on Russian state TV, in Moscow, Russia, February 24, 2022, in this still image taken from video. Russian Pool/via REUTERS TV
“We are focused on supporting Ukraine’s defense in the Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian forces are fighting hard. On Friday, we warned that we had been anticipating that Russia would launch an offensive against Kharkiv and were anticipating that Russia would increase its attacks in an attempt to establish a shallow buffer zone along the Ukrainian border – and we have been coordinating closely with Ukraine to help them prepare,” a spokesperson for the Department of Defense (DOD) told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We are also working on another aid package to get urgently needed aid to Ukraine – and the Department of Defense has been moving heaven and earth to deliver all of these supplies to Ukraine as rapidly as possible. As we have said previously, Congress’ months-long delay in passing the supplemental put the Russians at an advantage, and it will take Ukraine time to regain the initiative.”
A view shows destroyed Russian Army multiple rocket launchers with the letter “Z” painted on their sides in Kharkiv, Ukraine February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Maksim Levin
The U.S. is currently working on another aid package for Ukraine, and the DOD is expecting that the influx of American assistance will position Ukraine to withstand Russian attacks through the year despite any gains that Russian forces may be making now, the DOD spokesperson added.
While it is currently unclear if the Russian advances are a minor and isolated development or the start of a sustained period of greater success, the exhaustion of many Ukrainian soldiers on the front, limited amounts of ammunition and dwindling manpower could combine to cause serious problems for the Ukrainian army, according to the Times. Thousands of civilians have fled their homes to take shelter in Kharkiv, the largest city in the region where the Russians had success over the weekend.
Russian forces are beginning to reach or attack towns and villages outside of Kharkiv, according to the Times. It is possible that the Russians are pressing on in the Kharkiv region to divert Ukrainian troops, attention and resources away from other areas in hopes of creating conditions for a wider breakthrough.
“The Russians have understood, just as a lot of analysts have, that the major disadvantage that Ukraine is currently suffering from is manpower,” Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst based in Austria, told the Times. “By thinning out the front line, you are increasing the odds of a breakthrough.”
To date, the war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, but the front lines of the conflict have not moved much in recent months, according to the Times. Manpower is becoming a problem for Ukraine, which has a much smaller population than Russia and is starting to mobilize convicts to join the fight despite criticizing Russia for doing the same earlier in the conflict.
The State Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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