When the pro-Putin MAGA Republican arms blockade of Ukraine ended last month, the rush was on to provide weapons and ammunition to Ukraine to enable it to defend itself from drone and missile attacks and to push back the Russian assault. It's reported that the needed munitions have reached front line Ukrainian forces, and it's making an immediate impact. For example, Chasiv Yar is an objective for the Russians, and it appears now their goal of capturing it failed:
"Ukraine’s fortunes are improving. Nowhere is this more evident than in Chasiv Yar, the industrial town west of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine that’s the main objective of the Russian offensive in the area.
In the early days of the Russian attack, Russian armored units were steadily advancing north and south of Chasiv Yar while Russian infantry probed the town’s most vulnerable district—its canal district, which lies on the exposed far side of the canal that threads north to south along the eastern edge of Chasiv Yar.
At the time, Ukrainian defenses in Chasiv Yar were thin—and getting thinner. [snip]
The race was on—between Russian forces trying to capture Chasiv Yar and Ukrainian and allied logisticians rushing American-supplied ammunition to the embattled town.
The good news, for friends of a free Ukraine, is that the Ukrainians seem to have won the race. The garrison in Chasiv Yar is now flush with ammo, apparently—and wreaking havoc on Russian assault groups.
On Friday, a battalion of around 20 Russian armored vehicles emerged from Donetsk and rolled toward Chasiv Yar. As recently as a few weeks ago, a Russian assault group might’ve traveled much of the three-mile distance from Donetsk to Chasiv Yar relatively unmolested by Ukrainian attacks. [snip]
By mid-May, the Ukrainians were much better-armed. So when that assault group tried to cross miles of open fields on Friday, it got hit the whole way—with 100-pound shells, 50-pound missiles and two-pound drones. The few Russians who reached the canal district didn’t last long." (our emphasis)
In addition to the infusion of arms and munitions, Ukraine's mobilization will reinvigorate the armed forces and add new fighting brigades to deter Russian advances. We and especially our NATO must continue the pipeline of weapons to support a democratic Ukraine's fight against Russia's imperial plan to make Ukraine a vassal state.
(photo: 155mm artillery shells during the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, PA /Brendan McDermid, Reuters)
