Ukraine has recaptured 50% of the territory that Russia seized, Blinken says
www.reuters.com
Ukraine has recaptured some villages in the south and territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east, but has not had a major breakthrough against heavily defended Russian lines.
  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlEnglish
    01·
    1 year ago

    This is a perfect example of naked propaganda. Blinken distracts from the fact that the main offensive that’s been talked up for like half a year now failed to make any progress in over two months by talking about the gains Ukraine managed to make last year against territory Russia didn’t actually contest at the time.

    The real question everybody should be asking is what happens once this offensive burns itself out. NATO basically sent all it could for this offensive, and turns out it was already known before the offensive started that this would not be enough https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraines-lack-of-weaponry-and-training-risks-stalemate-in-fight-with-russia-f51ecf9

    New equipment has to be produced now, and given the woeful state of western industry it’s going to take months and years to do that. Here’s what the latest DoD statement had to say:

    Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced a new security assistance package to support Ukraine’s battlefield needs and underscore unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine. This package, which includes critical air defense capabilities and munitions, will be provided as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

    This USAI package highlights the continued U.S. commitment to meeting Ukraine’s pressing requirements by committing critical near-term capabilities while also building the enduring capacity of Ukraine’s Armed Forces to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the mid and long term.

    Unlike Presidential Drawdown authority, which DoD has continued to utilize to deliver equipment to Ukraine from DoD stocks at a historic pace, USAI is an authority under which the United States procures capabilities from industry or partners to then send to Ukraine. This announcement represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional priority capabilities to Ukraine.

    NYT is now reporting that the Ukrainian army is becoming exhausted and it’s already suffering shortages https://web.archive.org/web/20230723093205/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/23/world/europe/weary-soldiersunreliable-munitions-ukraines-many-challenges.html

    So, what exactly do people think is going to happen when the Russian army starts an offensive of their own against an exhausted and depleted Ukrainian army?