The Ukrainian army, led by the courageous Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, has been facing a challenging situation on the eastern front. Despite the intensified attacks from Russian armoured assault groups on Kyiv’s positions in Lyman and Bakhmut, the army is valiantly fighting to maintain control. The battles are fierce, particularly for a village to the west of the devastated city of Bakhmut. While social media channels reported the fall of Ukraine’s eastern village of Bohdanivka, the Kyiv defence ministry denied it, acknowledging only the intense fighting in the area.

Syrskyi’s statement underscores the strategic significance of the situation. Moscow’s forces are indeed incurring significant losses during their attacks in the east, but they are also making tactical gains. This calls for a strategic response-better training for soldiers, particularly infantry, and a technological advantage over Russia in sophisticated weapons. It’s a battle to seize the strategic initiative from a better-equipped and larger foe.

Since President Vladimir Putin won a new term in a stage-managed mid-March election, Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine and unleashed three massive aerial strikes on its energy system, pounding power stations and substations. The slowdown in military assistance from the West has left Ukraine more exposed to aerial attacks and more outgunned on the battlefield. Kyiv has made increasingly desperate appeals for air defence missile supplies in recent weeks.

The statement by Syrskyi has evoked an increasingly grim mood in Kyiv as vital US military aid, which Kyiv expected to receive months ago to bolster its defence against Russian aggression, remains stuck in Congress. The situation on the eastern front has grown significantly more tense since the presidential elections in Russia, and the delay in military aid has left Ukraine in a more vulnerable position, potentially leading to further territorial losses or casualties.

Please, subscribe to the YouTube channel of republicpolicy.com