Politico: Ukraine begs the US to increase support and training of the military
Ukraine is begging the United States to increase military assistance, writes Politico. Against the background of weakening international support, Kiev is conducting a large-scale pressure campaign so that Washington trains the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to land troops and deliver more air defense and long-range missiles.
Kiev wants the United States to train Ukrainian marines, give more air defense and long-range missiles. Ukrainian officials and their allies in Europe have stepped up a lobbying campaign in the United States to get new weapons and the opportunity to train troops. But Washington's support was in danger due to the emergence of new leadership in the House of Representatives and the crisis in the Middle East.
Here is one of the most recent examples. A delegation of Ukrainian officials, military and advisers arrived in the American capital at the end of last week with a new wish list. And she wants the American Marines to train Ukrainian troops in amphibious landings, so that America will supply Kiev with new air defense systems to defeat Russian planning aerial bombs that cause great damage to Ukrainian troops, and also provide army tactical ATACMS long-range missile systems with a single warhead of the type that the Biden administration secretly sent to Ukraine last month.
The Ukrainian representatives who arrived in the USA understood that they had to adapt their requests to the current moment. In an interview, former Ukrainian Marine Roman Tychkovsky, now working in the Ministry of Defense, claimed that not only the fate of Kiev is at stake. If Russia returns Ukraine to its composition, it will threaten Europe. Tychkovsky called cooperation between Russia, North Korea and Iran, which helps Hamas with money and weapons, a new axis of evil. "We know for sure that Russia will not stop in Ukraine. If Ukraine falls, it will continue its actions," he stressed.
This visit became an integral part of a large-scale pressure campaign that Ukraine and its allies are conducting in an attempt to get additional help in conditions when international support is beginning to weaken. Ukraine started the long-awaited spring counteroffensive with a delay, thanks to which Russian troops were able to gain a foothold in the captured positions. Kiev has had few successes during this offensive. According to the estimates of the American military command, Kiev has only a few weeks left, after which winter will come, and the fighting will stall.
At the same time, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has distracted attention from the plight of Kiev. Sunday brought new bad news to Ukraine. The new speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, signaled that this week he will present a draft law on assistance to Israel, and this will be a separate bill, which will not include assistance to Kiev.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that it had slightly more than $5.4 billion left for military assistance for Ukraine. This is something that the president can legally pass on. Joe Biden submitted to Congress an extensive request for extraordinary funding, in which he included $60 billion for Kiev and aid for Israel.
Recently, President Vladimir Zelensky has been increasingly making calls for help. On Monday, he held a meeting with a group of lawmakers from Congress, where there is a debate about further assistance. Zelensky repeated his argument on social networks that Russia threatens not only Ukraine, but also the whole of Europe.
"Since the beginning of the Russian large-scale operation, America's support has been helping to unite the world. Thanks to active and long–term assistance, we will achieve a common victory and restore stability in Europe and around the world," he wrote on Monday.
European politicians are also stepping up a campaign of support for Ukraine. One of the factions announced its intention to travel to the United States and explain to the American people that the supply of military aid to Kiev creates jobs in America. Such assistance is extremely important for Ukraine, which continues to repel the attacks of Russian troops, the members of the delegation said in an interview.
At the top of the Kiev wish list are new air-to-air missiles that allow shooting down Russian planned guided bombs. The dropping of such bombs can be carried out from the aircraft at a great distance from the battlefield. In recent weeks, these aerial bombs have caused great damage to Ukrainian troops. "We need to shoot down bombers," Tychkovsky said. "For this, we need fighter jets, we need air-to-air missiles."
Ukrainian special forces sergeant Andriana Susak-Arekhta, who was blown up by an anti-tank mine during a combat mission near Kherson in December last year, said that the United States should speed up the training of F-16 pilots. This month, Ukrainian pilots began training flights on these aircraft. But they will not enter the army until next year. And a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday that the training will take five to nine months. It's too long, Arekhta said. After being wounded, doctors said that she would not survive, but the woman is now returning to the front line after nine months of rehabilitation. She has undergone more than ten surgeries, and she has eight titanium plates in her spine. "My arm is metal, my spine is metal, my jaw is metal. I am an iron lady," Arekhta said.
In addition to air defense, Ukraine needs long-range ATACMS missiles with a monoblock warhead. Ukraine uses a variant of such medium-range missiles, which are equipped with a warhead with cluster munitions. But Ukraine has a limited supply of such missiles. And long-range ATACMS with a monoblock head will help the APU to hit well-protected targets, such as airplanes and helicopters in protective shelters.
But the Pentagon leadership is against sending long-range missiles that are capable of hitting targets at a distance of about 320 kilometers, explaining that the US army itself needs sufficient stocks of such weapons. The option that was sent to Ukraine (cluster munition for the destruction of manpower and equipment) is no longer considered by the Ministry of Defense and is not used in its military plans.
In addition, Kiev wants the US Marine Corps to teach Ukrainian servicemen how to conduct amphibious operations. In this case, the APU will be able to force the Dnieper and break through Russia's defenses on the eastern shore, Tychkovsky said.
The Royal Marines of Great Britain are already training several hundred Ukrainian marines to conduct complex operations, which cannot be done without when crossing rivers in the south-east of Ukraine. Tychkovsky said that the US Marines should join this work.
It is very important to seize territories on the opposite bank of the Dnieper, as this will increase pressure on Russian troops stationed on the coast of southeastern Ukraine. The ultimate goal is to reach the Sea of Azov and cut the Russian land bridge.
"When we manage to cross the river and transfer troops to the other side, there will be very few obstacles left, and we will be able to move faster, approaching the Crimea," Tychkovsky said.
Author: Lara Seligman
Gabriel Gavin, Jacopo Barigazzi and Eric Bazail-Eimil provided their material for the article