The United States has passed a Ukraine aid bill and is sending more than a billion dollars worth of weaponry to Ukraine. So, that means Ukraine can finally win the war with Russia, right? Well, no. Not at all really.
“This aid is not aimed at achieving victory, but rather at avoiding a clear loss,” said Irina Tsukerman, a human rights and national security lawyer, as well as a geopolitical analyst.
Tsukerman said while Congress debated whether to send more aid for months, Ukrainian soldiers were forced to ration everything, even bullets.
Once President Joe Biden signed the over $61 billion aid bill into law, he immediately used his drawdown authority to put together an initial aid package totaling more than $1 billion. However, not all of that money is going to Ukraine; around three-quarters of the funds from the package will be spent in the U.S. to restock its own supplies.
What is included for Ukraine in this first tranche is ammunition for pretty much every kind of U.S. weapon in Ukraine — small arms rounds for rifles, several types of missiles for air defense systems, artillery — including high explosive and cluster rounds, more Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and the long-range variant of the ATACMS missile, which is designed to be used against more hardened targets like buildings and bunkers.
Many in Congress thought this would be the first time the long-range ATACMS would be sent to Ukraine. But, after Biden signed the aid deal into law, National Security advisor Jake Sullivan revealed the U.S. had already secretly sent some long-range ATACMS to Ukraine in February and March, and that they were used against a Russian airfield in Crimea.
The attack proves Ukraine can use the ground-launched weapons to strike hardened Russian targets up to 200 miles away. So, more Russian logistics hubs, command centers and other sensitive sites are now at much greater risk.
Tsukerman emphasized that while Ukraine will find ways to ration its new supply of ATACMS effectively, the weapons won’t be enough to secure a Ukrainian victory.
“All [the ATACMS are] doing is offsetting a very serious disadvantage that [the Ukrainians] have had since the end of their own counter-offensive until the present day,” Tsukerman said.
Tsukerman suggested that significantly more ammunition and more Patriot batteries should be sent over. Germany indicated it may send another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. Tsukerman also said Israel may have some air defense systems to spare.
Israel’s relationship with Russia is complicated, and there were some concerns that Israel’s air defense systems may not be able to stop Russian weapons since they were designed to counter Iranian threats. However, since Russia is relying more and more on Iranian weapons to attack Ukraine, Israeli air defenses would likely work just fine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.