A new batch of American weapons has reached Ukraine’s front line, but it won’t be enough to immediately push the Russians back, according to a Ukrainian commander.
Lt Gen Ivan Havrylyuk, first deputy defence minister, said that while artillery shells had arrived, most of the equipment and ammunition pledged by the US in April was still in transit.
“It takes time to load ships that must then cross the Atlantic,” he said. “But we are already seeing the results.”
The war in Ukraine has turned into a war of attrition, with artillery shell stocks determining who has the advantage.
In April, US president Joe Biden signed a long-delayed military aid package that he said Ukraine would need “to keep them in the fight”.
“In the next few hours we will begin sending air defence munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems, and armoured vehicles,” Mr Biden said. “I’m making sure the shipments start right away.”