A former Ukrainian defense minister on Monday said the conditions on the front line in his country’s ongoing war against Russian occupiers are “extremely tense,” but pushed back against the suggestion that two sides are mired in a stalemate.
Andriy Zagorodnyuk, who heads the Center for Defense Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank, said Ukrainian forces over the weekend beat back 85 attacks by Russian forces.
The front line stretching over 650 miles across eastern Ukraine “is full of action,” he said during a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council. The Russians “are progressing a little bit right now. But the progress is quite limited.”
He said Moscow is trying to take advantage of the ongoing debate in Washington over whether to provide significant new amounts of military aid to Ukraine. Russian commanders are even willing to sacrifice large numbers of their own troops in order to keep the momentum going.
“They are willing to pay any price and are using that window of opportunity to advance as much as possible,” Mr. Zagorodnyuk said. “These movements are happening all over the front. Ukraine repels most of these attacks.”
John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said he takes Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at his word when the Louisiana Republican says wants to move a stalled $60 billion aid package for Ukraine forward when the House comes back into session next week.
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“If he doesn’t put the package on the floor, there are enough Republicans and a whole lot of Democrats who will sign a discharge petition. They’ve made clear their intention to do this,” Mr. Herbst said.
A discharge petition is a parliamentary procedure to force a floor debate and full vote by the House on blocked legislation.
“Speaker Johnson would like to provide the aid but is afraid of losing his job,” said Mr. Herbst, now a senior director with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
Mr. Herbst also criticized what he said was the “timidity” of the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with sufficient air power to counter the Russian forces. That likely played a part in Russia’s recent ability to capture Avdiivka, a crucial city in the disputed Donetsk Oblast, he said.
“Although that was a very costly ’success’ for the Russians,” Mr. Herbst said.
Ukrainian troops on the front lines have reached the stage where they are forced to ration individual rounds of ammunition, Mr. Zagorodnyuk said.
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“I have friends on the front line and I’m speaking to them almost on a daily basis. “They’re basically saying, ’Five [rounds] for this guy and six [rounds] for this guy,’” he said. “I’m finding it very difficult to keep calm when I’m discussing this.”
He said Washington’s unwillingness or inability to provide additional security funding for Ukraine is a strategic mistake of historic proportions.
“The U.S. is losing authority in Europe. People don’t say that when there is a U.S. delegation in the room but they say it very loudly when the U.S. delegation is not in the room,” Mr. Zagorodnyuk said. “What’s happening in Ukraine is terrible but there is a paralysis of power to make a decision and send the weapons.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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