Frustrated by the lack of urgency, Ukrainians are asking the United States and other partners for more decisive support for the invaded nation, amid delays in military and financial aid and in the face of intensifying Russian pressure on the front lines and the attacks against residential areas.
The recent wave of Russian drone and missile attacks has highlighted Ukraine’s limited ability to thwart its enemy’s preparations, caused largely by the excessive and short-sighted caution of its foreign partners, several commentators note.
“It is very important for us to finally obtain permission from our partners to use the weapons they provide us against military installations on Russian territory,” military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko underlines to EFE. By destroying logistics centers, warehouses and military bases there, Ukraine could significantly undermine Russia’s ability to continue its pressure on the front lines, the expert argues.
Ukraine could also limit deadly missile and drone attacks by being able to destroy Russian S-300 and Iskander missile launchers, as well as hit some airfields and missile depots used by Russia to attack residential areas.
Ukraine is also suffering from the reluctance of Germany and the United States to supply it with Taurus missiles and more long-range ATACMS, which would help further undermine Russian logistics and prevent more Ukrainian deaths. Instead, he has received “excuse after excuse” as to why it can’t be done, Kovalenko argues. “Russia perceives this as a weakness, which only encourages it to continue its bloodbath in Ukraine,” he underlines. According to him, Russia only understands “the language of force”, while the West “does much less than it is capable of.”
“Until now, the United States has provided Ukraine with what it needs to avoid defeat, but not what it needs to win,” Oleksí Melnik, from the Kiev-based Razumkov Center, underlines to EFE. Insufficient and slow arms supplies hampered the chances of success of the Ukrainian summer counteroffensive, the expert says.
Adding to the frustration is the fact that in the years after its independence in 1991, Ukraine gave up not only nuclear weapons but also its ballistic missiles and strategic bombers, under pressure from the United States. All he received in return were empty statements and no major security guarantees, writes Mikola Bielieskov, an analyst at the “Come Back Alive” foundation. This decision proved “disastrous” once Russia recovered from the dissolution of the USSR, he notes.
As a result, while Russia has allegedly used North Korean ballistic missiles and has been launching hundreds of Iranian Shahed drones for more than a year, Ukraine has fewer means to defend itself and does not receive adequate help from its partners abroad, the experts consulted maintain.
Detaining Russian President Vladimir Putin should be a priority for the coalition that supports Ukraine, since Russia not only threatens Ukraine, but is also working to create a new “axis of evil,” spokesman Yuri Ignat recently stressed to EFE. of the Ukrainian Air Force. For now, despite the West’s overwhelming superiority over Russia in terms of economic might, even maintaining current levels of support hangs in the balance.
The provision of military aid by the United States is currently blocked by Republicans in Congress, while financial support from the European Union (EU) is also uncertain due to opposition from Hungary.
The Ukrainian military has already had to reduce some operations due to ammunition shortages, after the EU failed to deliver the promised one million artillery shells on time.
Ukrainians are not asking anyone to fight for them, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba recently stressed, but they need “timely and adequate help” to be able to repel Russian aggression. It is not a question of “a question of resources,” he stressed, “but of the West believing in itself and defining a clear objective of victory over the enemy that threatens us all.”
