The Ukrainian government desperately needs billions more in aid from the US, the Pentagon has claimed in a briefing to media outlets, citing the critical situation in Avdeevka, a frontline town in Donbass.
Earlier this week, the US Senate approved a $95 billion aid package that includes $61 billion to fund Ukraine’s war against Russia, but the House of Representatives failed to sign off on the measure before a two-week recess.
“We do see that Ukrainians are running short on critical supplies, particularly ammunition, and we see this as something that could be the harbinger of what is to come if we do not get this supplemental funding,” an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Without this money, the official said, Ukraine won’t stand a chance against the “superior” Russian military and “we also will find many other locations along the forward line of troops that will be running low on supplies, on critical ammunition.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday that “Avdeevka is at risk of falling into Russian control,” also citing this as the reason Congress should approve Ukraine funding.
Numerous Western outlets have been reporting for the past several weeks about Ukraine’s frontline problems. The New York Times predicted a “cascading collapse along the front” at some point this year without the Western billions, the Financial Times spoke about the lack of artillery ammunition, while the Washington Post highlighted Kiev’s manpower deficit, which no amount of Western funding can fix.
The latest reports from Avdeevka, a fortified Ukrainian stronghold since 2014, spoke of Russian troops reaching several key locations in the city and coming close to trapping the already badly mauled Ukrainian 110th Mechanized Brigade.
The Ukrainian military has called the situation “difficult but under control” and said its units were “maneuvering in threatened directions” to relieve the 110th. One of the units that has reportedly been sent to the city is the 3rd Assault Brigade, a Western-armed unit consisting of many fighters from the neo-Nazi ‘Azov’ regiment.