Villages fall as Russian forces gain momentum
After taking the strategic northeast Ukrainian town of Avdiivka two weeks ago, Russian forces have seized three more villages in the past few days, suggesting a growing momentum in their advance even as Western officials warn of the ammunition shortages Kyiv’s military is facing.
Russia’s Defence Ministry announced yesterday that its troops had captured the village of Stepove, 11km northwest of Avdiivka. Ukrainian officials said the previous day that Kyiv’s forces had pulled back from Stepove and the neighbouring village of Sieverne.
Ukrainian forces also withdrew from the village of Lastochkyne “to organise defences” along a new line of settlements, “aiming to prevent further enemy advancement to the west”, Dmytro Lykhoviy, a military spokesman, said on Ukrainian television.
The villages had little strategic importance, and Stepove and Sieverne had populations of fewer than 100 people even before Russia’s invasion two years ago.
But the gains indicate that Russia is pushing its advantage after taking Avdiivka – its first major victory since seizing the eastern city of Bakhmut last May.
Ukraine’s situation was “undoubtedly a tough one”, made more acute because its military was “struggling with its ammunition and its stockpiles”, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of Britain’s armed forces, said at a conference in London.
“At a tactical level, you’re seeing some Russian success, gaining relatively small amounts of territory,” he said. “I think that’s a predicament that is likely to last at least for the next few months.”
House Republicans are blocking some US$60 billion (NZ$98.4b) in American military assistance to Ukraine, part of a larger package that includes aid to Israel and Taiwan. A meeting on Wednesday between United States President Joe Biden and congressional leaders failed to break the impasse.
US officials attribute the loss of Avdiivka to the shortage in ammunition, and warn that circumstances could become markedly worse if Congress does not approve the aid package.
“The situation is extremely serious right now,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We have seen Ukrainian frontline troops who don’t have the ammo they need to repel Russian aggression.
“They’re still fighting bravely. They still have armour and weapons and ammunition they can use, but they’re having to ration it now because the United States Congress has failed to act.”
Russian forces had “started taking some other towns and villages”, White House spokesman John Kirby said. “They’re on the move. The situation is very dire.
“[The Ukrainians] are certainly beginning to lose territory – territory that they had clawed back from the Russians, and now they have to give it back.”
Meanwhile, Germany has been accused of a “flagrant abuse of intelligence” after revealing that British soldiers are supporting Ukrainian forces launching long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this week that he would not deliver the Taurus, Berlin’s equivalent of the Storm Shadow, as it would require soldiers assisting on the ground, citing the British and French approach with their own systems. He argued that following Britain would make Germany a “participant in the war”.
Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the Commons defence committee, said: “This is a flagrant abuse of intelligence deliberately designed to distract from Germany’s reluctance to arm Ukraine with its own long-range missile system.”
Scholz is under mounting pressure to deliver the long-range missile to disrupt Russia’s supply lines and prevent Moscow taking further territory. Britain is known to provide intelligence on Russian targets, but it is unclear what level of support is given to Ukrainian troops firing its missiles.
The British government announced this week that it had a “small number” of soldiers deployed in Ukraine, specifying only that some were involved in medical training.
Scholz’s speculation on the role played by British troops in Ukraine had heightened concern for the safety of diplomats and other personnel stationed in the country, defence sources told The Telegraph.
Taurus missiles are capable of deeper strikes, and contain more sophisticated bunker-busting technologies than the British Storm Shadow and French Scalp cruise missiles delivered last year.
The German missile, which has a range of 500km, could easily strike politically sensitive targets, such as Moscow or the Kerch bridge linking Russia with occupied Crimea.
Scholz had a deep mistrust that Ukraine would ignore his orders not to strike those targets, analysts said.
Experts say Germany could overcome its fears of escalatory strikes by pre-programming donated Taurus missiles to prevent such attacks. The US is known to have installed geo-blocking software on its Himars rocket launchers sent to Ukraine, preventing Kyiv’s forces from firing rockets into Russian territory. – Washington Post, Telegraph Group