The US and the EU are concerned that Russian forces may punch through Ukrainian defensive lines in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg.
Russian troops are continuing to advance thanks to an advantage in ammunition, the agency acknowledged in an article on Thursday.
At the same time, Ukrainian forces “struggle because of delays in US and European military aid and personnel shortages,” it added.
Ukraine also faces daily Russian missile, drone and bomb attacks that are knocking out key energy infrastructure and striking military positions, due to its lack of air defenses, according to Bloomberg.
Because of this, “concerns are mounting that Russia may make major gains in the coming weeks by punching through overstretched Ukrainian lines,” sources in the US and Europe told the agency.
Russian forces have now reached the outskirts of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a crucial town for Ukraine’s defenses in the area due to its elevated position, the article continued.
In a video address to EU leaders on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky warned his foreign backers that “the Russian army feels its strength in almost everything related to the armed component. And it is precisely because of this strength – in artillery, in equipment, in the ability to operate in the sky – that they are putting pressure on us at the front and are gradually moving.”
Zelensky said that his country needs more Western aid, urging the EU to finally fulfill its promise to supply Ukraine with a million artillery shells.
The attempts by the administration of US President Joe Biden to push through another $60 billion in assistance for Kiev have been fruitless since the fall amid the standoff between Democratic and Republican lawmakers over immigration and border security. US House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he will put a standalone Ukraine aid bill to a vote on Saturday.
In early April, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that the country’s forces have captured another 403 square kilometers of land from Ukraine since the start of the year. The Ukrainian army has been losing around 800 personnel and some 120 units of equipment on a daily basis during the period, he said.