The war in Ukraine may be entering a critical new stage, with a new focus by Russia’s military, a last stand in a major Ukrainian city, and the promise of additional US firepower to help Ukraine react.
New focus: Russia’s military is now focused on the disputed eastern portion of Ukraine, which was thought to be its objective before the invasion began. British intelligence suggests that Ukrainian forces have repelled numerous attempts by Russian forces to advance in the area – but US officials warn that the Russians may be preparing for a larger attack in southeastern Ukraine.
Ukraine poplar: Russian advances in the south against besieged defenses in the besieged city of Mariupol, a key supply hub, are dampening hope for Ukraine’s military after the commander made a desperate plea for help. Ukraine’s government says women and children are also seeking refuge at a steel mill that is the stronghold of the military. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his armed forces would not raid the factory.
More weapons on the way: A new US arms shipment is on the way to help Ukraine adapt to a different stage of the conflict.
President Joe Biden said the war was at a critical stage and the United States was looking for ways to support Ukraine’s military.
Another $800 million in assistance: On Thursday, Biden announced another military assistance package of around $800 million to Ukraine – on top of the $800 million already announced last week.
“We have to accelerate this assistance package to help prepare Ukraine for Russia’s offensive, which will be more limited in geographical terms but not in terms of brutality,” he said, adding that he would soon ask Congress for more money to help. arm Ukraine.
Separately, the replacement parts have helped Ukraine add about 20 planes to its air force, a senior US defense official said on Wednesday, although it is unclear where those parts came from.
Grand total: That adds up to about $3.4 billion in US assistance to Ukraine since the invasion began.
What is being sent to help in the East? Artillery and long-range systems may be more useful in more open terrain. This is the same contested region of Donbass where Russian-backed forces have been fighting the Ukrainian military for years.
What happens to all that firepower? It’s not entirely clear. An interesting CNN report shows how the US loses control of the arms it sends to Ukraine.
CNN’s Oren Liebermann, who has helped write recent articles on US military aid, was asked what to do with all these additional weapons likely to be shipped from the US to Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare against Russians on the Donbass front line
Why wasn’t more artillery sent at this point?
LIEBERMANN: Because artillery was not the kind of weapon needed to defend Kiev. In the swamps and forests of northern Ukraine, not to mention the Chernobyl exclusion zone, artillery was not a critical part of the battle. With the focus now on southeastern Ukraine, artillery and other long-range weapons are absolutely critical.
Is this a new technology or a game-changer in the struggle?
LIEBERMANN: Let’s be clear – artillery is not a new technology. Perhaps the systems are newer and offer a little more accuracy or more firepower, but artillery is not modern military equipment that has never been seen before. Quite the contrary – it has been an integral part of wars for many, many decades, if not for centuries now.
And yet it is seen by the US and its partners/allies as one of the most important pieces of weaponry to reach Ukraine. […] is fast. Ukraine can burn artillery ammunition quickly, so it is important to get a very large supply as soon as possible.
How does the Pentagon view its responsibility for these weapons once they are in Ukraine?
LIEBERMANN: This is not seen as critical. It’s the US Department of Defense’s job to get them to the border, so Ukraine takes it from there to where they believe it’s needed. Ukraine has an almost insatiable appetite now for more weaponry, and that’s what the US is trying to meet, along with help from other countries.
What do we know about what has been sent so far?
According to Ellie Kaufman of CNN, a high-ranking US defense official told reporters on Wednesday that the first of 40,000 howitzers, a type of artillery shell, had arrived in Europe to be sent to Ukraine. These are part of the $800 million package announced last week.
The US is training around 50 Ukrainians in a country outside Ukraine (it is unclear which one) on how to use the howitzers.
“This is to train the coaches; it’s a small number of Ukrainians, just over 50 – they will be trained on how to use the howitzers and then they will be able to go back to Ukraine and train their colleagues,” the official said.
The NATO question looms: Finland and Sweden are now actively considering joining NATO, so if Putin’s plan was to impede the alliance’s growth, it officially backfired. Russia has warned that such measures could lead to a more aggressive stance towards its hypersonic or nuclear weapons.
Alert: An intercontinental ballistic missile test carried out by Russia on Wednesday is a message to countries trying to threaten it, according to Putin.
Stampede: Russia has become even more isolated from the world community after Western financial officials, including the US Treasury secretary, walked out of a closed-door meeting of the Group of 20 industrialized countries in Washington rather than listening to a Russian presentation.
What is the nuclear threat in Ukraine? Barbara Starr and Zachary Cohen, both of CNN, report that the US military is constantly watching Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
The US has not seen any indication that Russia has moved to prepare its nuclear arsenal for use, and Starr and Cohen say US officials still feel there is only a very remote likelihood that Putin will cross that line.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last week that the world should prepare for the possibility of Putin using nuclear weapons.
According to Starr and Cohen: The highly classified US military plans continue to be updated on what everyone believes is an almost unthinkable scenario: the use of a nuclear weapon. The US military “planned all of this,” a senior defense official said.
Life on the Frontline of the Russian Army
Phil Black, from CNN, went to an abandoned Russian military camp on the outskirts of Kiev. When soldiers failed to take Ukraine’s capital, they were left to live in primitively dug holes. Black spoke to civilians who were captured and tortured by the Russians, as well as a priest who was asked to bury the people they killed.
See 10 images that mark a month of war in Ukraine
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
