Witness denounces ‘fictional’ Ukraine election interference

Avdiivka, Nov. 21: USmade medical equipment, night-vision devices and countermortar radar make a difference for Ukrainian troops fighting Kremlin-backed separatists on the front line of the standoff between Russia and the West. Sometimes, it’s the difference between life and death. So when $400 million in US military aid to Kyiv was held up this year, Ukrainians got nervous. Every little bit of assistance helps in the World War I-style trenches of Avdiivka, where conscripts and volunteer soldiers use shovels to shore up mud walls, chop wood for makeshift stoves, and cook their own food from local vegetables and canned supplies. As impeachment hearings play out in Washington, Ukrainian troops at the front described their hopes and fears in the five-year conflict that has taken 13,000 lives and still simmers on, sporadic gunfire punctuating the autumn calm.

The holdup in aid wasn’t something palpable that immediately affected the Ukrainian troops in action; it had more of a psychological impact, raising fears here that the US was turning its back on Ukraine. The aid was later released, but the scandal has effectively frozen US-Ukrainian relations and thrown longterm US backing into doubt.

While the US aid helped fill some of the gaps in Ukraine’s military capability, with countermortar radars being one highly welcome addition, its army continues to rely on aging Soviet-era weapons and often lacks essential supplies.