The first shipments of US military equipment to Ukraine will take place as early as Wednesday. President Joe Biden said this when signing the aid package, which was approved by the US Congress after much wrangling.
Biden said he is ensuring “shipments begin immediately, in the next few hours.” The president praised the Ukrainian armed forces, which he said have “the will and the ability” to win. He also lashed out at Republicans for blocking the aid package for a long time.
The support package for Ukraine amounts to 61 billion dollars, equivalent to 57 billion euros. Although the support is desperately needed on the Ukrainian frontlines, it will not solve the biggest problem facing the army: a lack of soldiers.
“The main source of Ukrainian weakness is the lack of manpower,” Konrad Muzyka, director of Polish military consultancy Rochan, told Reuters.
Oleksandr, a Ukrainian commander, told The Washington Post that his unit has only 35 percent of its normal number of troops left.
With this major manpower shortage, Ukraine is facing increasingly intensive attacks from Russia, because the Russians are trying to significantly weaken the Ukrainians before crucial aid from the US arrives, according to the American think tank The Institute for the Study of War.
It is unclear how long it will take to get enough new Ukrainian troops to the front to make progress again. According to a Ukrainian parliamentarian, this could take months, The Associated Press writes.
In the strategically crucial town of Chasiv Yar in Donestk, eastern Ukraine, the situation is becoming increasingly desperate for the Ukrainian army, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Russia is heavily bombarding Ukrainian troops in the city and for every Ukrainian soldier there are 10 Russians stationed in Khasiv Yar. Russian drone attacks are preventing crucial supplies and reinforcements from arriving.
“Soldiers are left without food, water and medicine. Russian drones hunt vehicles that bring equipment and new troops to the front line. Soldiers with treatable wounds die because they have to wait for days for evacuations, no one can reach them,” writes The Wall StreetJournal.
The American weapons will help the Ukrainian forces counter the attacks. In addition, the Ukrainian government has lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25, meaning that thousands of new recruits will soon be deployed to the front.
This week, Ukraine suspended consular services for male Ukrainians of that age abroad. It is an attempt to bring back young men who have fled the country for military service.
Meanwhile, Russia is fighting a weak enemy.
“I expect that the situation will probably continue to deteriorate over the next three months, but if mobilization goes according to plan and US aid arrives quickly, the situation should improve from the autumn,” Muzyka, the Polish analyst, told Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is happy with the support from the US. “Regardless of what anyone says, we will get the support we need to continue protecting lives from Russian attacks,” he wrote on X.
