Having failed in an assault on Kyiv in the north of Ukraine last month, Russia is now trying to fully capture two eastern provinces known as the Donbas.
Ukraine has acknowledged losing control of some towns and villages there since the assault began last week, but says that Moscow’s gains have come at a massive cost to a Russian force already worn down from its earlier defeat near the capital.
“We have serious losses, but the Russians’ losses are much much bigger … They have colossal losses,” presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said, without elaborating. Western officials said that Russia had been suffering fewer casualties after narrowing the scale of its invasion, but numbers were still “quite high”.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia was pounding the whole frontline in the eastern Donetsk region with rockets, artillery, mortar bombs and aircraft to stop the Ukrainians from regrouping.
However, the Russian offensive in Donbas appeared to be behind schedule, a US official said.
“Due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian territorial gains have been limited and achieved at significant cost to Russian forces,” the British defence ministry said.
By pledging tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, Biden has dramatically increased US involvement in the conflict. The United States and its allies are now sending heavy weapons including artillery, with what Washington says is an aim not just to repel Russia’s attack but to weaken its armed forces so that it cannot menace its neighbours again.
“We need this Bill to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” Biden said. “It’s not cheap – but caving to aggression is going to be more costly.”
Zelenskyy thanked Biden and the American people in a tweet.
“We defend common values – democracy and freedom. We appreciate the help. Today it is needed more than ever!” he said.
While the proposed US aid amounts to more than 20 per cent of Ukraine’s 2020 gross domestic product, the World Bank estimates that the war will cut more than 45 per cent off Ukrainian GDP this year and hit growth elsewhere around the world. Some of Russia’s neighbours say they fear that Moscow could target them next.
Russia has said that the arrival of Western arms into Ukraine means it is now fighting a “proxy war” against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). President Vladimir Putin threatened unspecified retaliation this week, while his foreign minister warned of a threat of nuclear war.
A senior US defence official said that the United States did not believe that there is a threat of Russia using nuclear weapons or attacking NATO territory despite the escalation in Moscow’s rhetoric.
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