Each mission equips Ukrainian troops on the ground, enabling them to continue the fight against a much larger Russian army. To date, the US has committed $13.5 billion in security spending to Ukraine since the Biden administration took office. On Wednesday, that was announced another tranche of military aid — mostly arms and equipment — worth nearly US$3 billion. President Joe Biden touted the contribution as the “largest tranche of national security assistance to date,” while the Defense Department said the package underscored its long-term commitment to Ukraine. As Ukraine’s biggest financial backer in its conflict with Russia, Biden has previously said the US will maintain a firm commitment to provide aid “for as long as it takes”. Firefighters work to put out a fire after a Russian attack damaged a technical school building in Sloviansk, Ukraine, on Friday. Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in the now six-month-old war – a grim figure that does not include the number of civilians. (Leo Correa/The Associated Press) Ukraine relies heavily on financial and military support from Western nations to sustain its struggle, which this week passed the six-month mark. But some experts say support could begin to wane, given the possibility of an economic downturn, rising food prices and a looming energy crisis that could spell a tough winter for Europe. For now, however, there are no signs of slowing down at Dover Air Force Base. While the US base is a small cog in the overall war machine, its impact is not lost on Capt. Annika Sims, the flight commander for airlift operations at Dover. “It’s to see airmen know that they have a role in defending the freedom of a country. That’s why we’re here, that we’re a country that can support that range,” Sims told CBC News, during a visit to the authorities August. . “And we do that through logistics.” Pallets of 155mm artillery shells are ready to be loaded onto a plane at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. (Osama Farage/CBC) Given all the cargo headed for Ukraine, business at Dover has tripled since the start of the conflict, Sims said, and continues to be “extremely busy”. In the past six months, Sims said the base has moved millions of pounds of weapons and ammunition, as well as non-explosive and non-hazardous supplies. Recent US deployments include long-range weapons such as Javelin shells and anti-armor systems, meant to penetrate armored material, and the High Mobility Artillery Missile System, or HIMARS, which offers long-range accuracy.
“Thousands of artillery rounds a day”
When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, many expected a quick victory. Six months later, it has largely turned into a war of attrition. The Russian offensive has bogged down as Ukrainian forces increasingly target key installations far behind the front lines. The battle has also become an artillery war, with Ukraine expending up to 6,000 rounds a day. Russia — with an army roughly 10 times larger — is said to be shooting far more. While the economic cost of the war has not been completed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO leaders in June that his country needed about $5 billion a month to keep his government afloat. WATCHES | A look at the weapons sustaining Ukraine’s fight against Russia:
The weapons sustaining Ukraine’s fight against Russia
CBC’s David Common takes a rare look at some of the weapons the US is sending to Ukraine from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to learn more about the critical role Western nations are playing in Ukraine’s fight against Russia. “That’s thousands of rounds a day of artillery alone — and that’s a fraction of what the Russians are firing,” said Dan Lamothe, who covers the military beat for the Washington Post. “So what they fire on the Ukrainian side, they have to be careful with it. They have to use it wisely. They have to make sure they don’t waste it.” That means Ukrainian forces are trying to hit very specific targets with their supply, he said. “One thing we’ve seen a lot lately is that the Ukrainians are actually targeting, not necessarily just the combat forces that Russia is throwing in front of them, but they’re trying to shoot behind them and hit … ammunition and fuel depots, and things that really make it difficult prosecuting a war without,” Lamothe said. Dan Lamothe, who covers the military beat for the Washington Post, says that with thousands of artillery rounds used a day, Ukraine must use its supply wisely. (Ousama Farag/CBC) This is also why continued Western support is so vital to Ukraine. From his side, Canada is committed or surrendered $626 million in military aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. (The number does not include loans or other humanitarian support.) That puts Canada’s military contribution fifth in the world, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economywhich monitors international aid to Ukraine. And earlier this week, Canada announced it was moving its military air force from the Middle East to the UK in light of ongoing efforts to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.
Preparation for a long war
Former senior US diplomat Dan Hamilton doesn’t see US support changing, at least not in the near future. “I don’t think it’s just about money. It’s an investment in our security — and I think that’s how President Biden has portrayed it,” said Hamilton, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “I think prime minister [Justin] Trudeau, other leaders have all done that.” Dan Hamilton, a former senior US diplomat, says Ukraine will continue to need Western aid to maintain its conflict with Russia. (Laura Clementson/CBC) The next six months are likely to be very uncertain, Hamilton said, but as long as Ukraine has Western support, he predicts the conflict could continue for some time. “I don’t see a real end to it, in any real sense,” he said. Both sides are betting that the other will tire and begin to back down or back down, Hamilton said, but the devastation and casualties suffered by Ukraine, as opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to back down, are likely to they mean a long battle. “There is fatigue,” Hamilton said. “Putin is absolutely betting that the West will not be able to support Ukraine — and that the Ukrainian people will not be able to support the war. And that is his ultimate calculation.” The best thing to deal with Putin, then, is to “show that we can maintain this and provide assistance to Ukraine in the future,” he said. According to a poll published last week by the Chicago Council on World Affairs71 percent of Americans polled supported financial aid to Ukraine and 72 percent supported providing additional weapons and military supplies. With midterm elections looming, however, analysts say the tide may be turning. What is ultimately still needed, Hamilton said, is even more military aid. “To sustain the conflict, taking all the massive losses they’ve had, they need help from the West. There’s just no doubt about it.”
Maintaining unity
According to Keir Giles, a UK-based expert on Russia and security, the war may not actually be won on the battlefield, but rather by Russia’s economic stranglehold on Ukraine — and the rest of Europe. “We always knew that winter would be difficult to maintain support for Ukraine, because that’s when the price of energy goes up, fueled by this blackmail by President Putin,” Giles said. “Ukraine’s primary task remains as it was on Day 1 and even before the war: To ensure that its international supporters remain on side and that the international unity that keeps it in the fight is maintained.” People walk around damaged Russian military vehicles parked in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, August 24. (Evgeniy Maloletka/The Associated Press) As for unity from Ukraine’s allies, Giles said “we’ve always seen cracks in support” and Europe, in particular, has been divided along traditional lines. “There are those countries that recognize the importance of standing up to Russia and stopping Russia in its tracks; these are the front-line states, those bordering Russia, the Nordic countries and the Baltics and of course the United Kingdom.” , he said. But that leaves central European Union countries, at a distance from Ukraine’s borders, believing it may be more important to return to business as usual with Russia, he said. “That’s where we hear the urging of Ukraine to find some kind of settlement, some kind of concession to end the fighting. Because then, of course, the economic pain ends,” Giles said. But any concessions, ceasefire or territorial surrender would be “disastrous” for Ukraine, Giles said.
Reports of prisoners who participated in the struggle
As in any war, there is a human toll. On Monday, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces said nearly 9,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in the war – a grim figure that does not include the number of civilians. More than 6.8 million people have also fled Ukraine since the start of the conflict, according to the United Nations Refugee Agencywhile millions more are displaced within the country. Although Russia has not confirmed its military casualties, some estimates put the number from 20,000 to 25,000. Recent reports state that Russian POWs are now being recruited for the front lines as the war continues. WATCHES | Captured in Mariupol, this mother fears she may never see her son again:
