A Ukrainian artillery unit fires at Russian infantry troops advancing around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on Wednesday. Credit… David Guttenfelder for The New York Times
As the war drags on, Ukraine has been able to hold off Russian gains over the past month thanks in large part to continued support from the United States and its European allies and help on the ground from guerrillas.
After months of agonizing war in which Ukraine has lost territory, Kyiv has been able to halt recent Russian advances and force Russia to take heavy casualties, with some estimates killing or injuring up to 500 Russian soldiers each day.
John Spencer, a retired Army officer and head of urban warfare research at the Madison Policy Forum think tank, said that while Ukraine has lost tactical ground in some regions, its troops have been able to weaken the Russian military.
“They have also caused the Russians to use up resources they cannot replenish,” Mr Spencer said. “You don’t want to say they’re winning the war because there’s so much fighting to do, but by really every measure you can think of, especially geopolitically and militarily, they’re making superior gains.”
Russia still maintains a huge advantage in the size of its weapons arsenal, and Ukraine has suffered badly in the course of the war. Up to 200 soldiers were killed every day at one point; the number of civilian casualties exceeded 5,000, according to UN estimates; and several of the cities of the country are compared to the ground. But Moscow has made no major territorial gains since the capture of eastern Luhansk province in late June.
Ukraine received a boost on Thursday when the defense ministers of 26 countries, including Britain and Denmark, pledged about $1.55 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Ben Wallace, Britain’s defense secretary, said the aid would include additional multiple-launch missile systems and long-range missiles.
“We are not tiring,” Mr. Wallace said of his country’s continued support for Ukraine.
Morten Bodskov, Denmark’s defense minister, said his country would not only help with weapons, but also help train soldiers. Mr Bodskov said Denmark’s position on supporting Ukraine was “unwavering”.
Before the aid was announced, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the 26 countries and said the weapons sent to Ukraine must be of “such air power and such range that Russia will be forced to finally think for a peaceful solution”.
The aid, which Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for since the war began, was added to another package from the United States that was announced earlier this week. The Pentagon said Monday it will send more munitions in a new shipment of up to $1 billion worth of weapons and supplies. This will bring the United States to more than $9 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Mr Spencer said maintaining such constant support from Western countries took “as much fighting as actually fighting the Russian forces as far as showing the world they are fighting a just war”.
Support for the country comes not only in the form of aid packages, but also through aid on the ground in the form of guerrillas, resistance fighters who assist the Ukrainian army in Russian-occupied territory.
At least five fighter-bombers and three multi-role aircraft were “almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged” this week in explosions at an air base in Crimea, according to a report by British military intelligence on Friday. Crimea – which Moscow annexed in 2014 – has largely avoided attacks since February and the base was far from any recognizable front line.
A senior Ukrainian official said the attacks were carried out with the help of guerrillas, but the government did not claim responsibility for the attack.
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