As the war in Ukraine grows more intense, Ukrainian officials are calling for Western aid, saying they cannot hope to push the Russians back without an expeditious shipment of heavy weapons.
After Russia’s inability to capture the capital city of Kyiv, Russian forces reorganized their efforts and have since been focused on capturing Ukraine’s Donbas region. Ukraine’s defeat in the Donbas region would allow Russia to pursue the cities of Odessa and Kharkiv, allowing a complete landbridge from Russia to Moldova.
While Sievierodonetsk, a pivotal city that faces Lysychansk, has not fallen entirely to Russian forces, they took out its last standing bridge on Tuesday.
Russia has been utilizing heavy showers of artillery as its primary strategy. To gain control of Sievierodonetsk and others like it, Russian forces are reportedly leveling whole towns.
According to Maksim Fomin, a military officer in the Russian proxy force in the Donetsk region who goes by the pen name Vladlen Tatarsky, Russian troops cannot directly pinpoint the locations of Ukrainian soldiers, so they bombard entire areas with gunfire and shelling.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, commented, “In this war, the victory will be with the side that has more and better weapons. And, if Ukraine doesn’t obtain enough weapons in time, it will bleed out.”
The WSJ reports that for every artillery weapon Ukraine possesses, Russian forces have 10 to 20 weapons and the ammunition to supply them.
Russian forces control roughly 80 to 90% of the Donbas region, according to the New York Times.
War strategists, however, do not think it is impossible for Ukraine to regain its lost territory.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander for the U.S. Army in Europe and current worker for the Center for European Policy Analysis, noted, “I do believe that by the end of this calendar year, the Ukrainian forces are going to drive the Russian forces back to the February 23 line.”
However, he noted specific conditions must be met for that to happen. Primarily, Ukraine must get enough Western long-range artillery, rocket systems, and ammunition.
He continued, “If we fail to do that…then this is going to go on for potentially years.”
Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak published a list of desired weapons on Monday. It included 1000 howitzers, 300 multiple-launch rocket systems, and 500 tanks. He stated that obtaining those weapons promptly would help Ukraine end the war.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration agreed to send four high-mobility artillery rocket systems, also known as Himars; it will also send platforms and guided, multiple-launch rocket system rockets with a range exceeding 40 miles. The UK has agreed to supply three M270 MLRS systems with a 50-mile range.
However, Ukraine will require more if it has a reasonable attempt to hold off and push back Russian forces.
Ukraine’s former defense minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, now an adviser to President Zelenskyy’s government, gave insight into the onslaught that will continue if Ukraine does not receive weapons promptly.
He stated, “They will keep going until someone stops them. Some people still think that the Russians can be stopped with talks, with concessions. No, they can only be stopped with weapons—of which we are not receiving enough. This is the crux of the problem.”
Mr. Zagorodnyuk continued his sentiment by stating, “They (the United States) are giving us four pieces, but what is needed is a couple of hundred. We don’t know how many more will come when they will come, and so we cannot plan ahead, which is a problem.”
The United States has pledged more aid, but the Biden administration has not specified what additional weaponry it will send nor when it will do so.