NEWS FROM UKRAINE: JANUARY-MARCH 2024
The first quarter of 2024 has been an intense one. On February 8, Zelensky replaced troop-favorite Valerii Zaluzhnyi with Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ten days later, the Ukrainian army, under threat of being encircled, withdrew from Avdiivka. Throughout the year, Ukrainian Defenders have held the line, even though their shells are being rationed in anticipation of a June russian offensive. russia has been ruthlessly attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, civilian targets, and is using phosphorus and chemical weapons on soldiers in trenches, where they cannot escape lest attack drones take them out. Even as russia violated one international rule after another, American decision-makers let politics get in the way of providing life-saving financial aid–a delay that put amazing pressure on Ukraine and cost thousands of Ukrainian lives.
The barrage of tragedies cast a shadow over recent Ukrainian military successes, which have been many: Ukraine has disabled more than a third of russia’s Black Sea fleet using sea drones; it also has inflicted heavy damage to more than a dozen oil refineries as deep as 560 miles into russia, causing a 10 percent decrease in production capability; and anti-kremlin military units made up of russian volunteers have engaged russian forces in border regions in Belgorod and Kursk oblasts. Such successes in the face of dwindling US aid and increased russian aggression are a testament to the will of the Ukrainian people, the dedication of Ukraine’s Defenders, and its military ingenuity.
While much of the $60 billion in US aid that was just passed is expected to make its way to the Ukrainian front lines in increments, knowing that the ammunition and artillery are on their way will allow Ukraine to immediately release the artillery shells it has been rationing. Yes, the aid should have come sooner, but just imagine how we’d feel right now had the aid package not passed this week. Our American system of governance may be on the brink right now, but our country still has some leaders and the economic might to turn a tide that at this time last week was feeling ominously like a riptide.
