With depleted Soviet arsenal, Ukrainians embrace NATO weapons
The US is sending its arms in stages.
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Ukraine has depleted its Soviet and Russian-designed weaponry and is now completely dependent on allies for arms to defend against Russia’s invasion, United States (US) military sources say.
Once part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s army and its defense industry were built around Soviet and Russian-standard equipment, small arms, tanks, howitzers and other weapons not interchangeable with those of neighbors to the west.
More than three months into the conflict sparked when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, that equipment has been used up or destroyed in battle, the US sources said.
Now, Kyiv’s forces are using, or learning to use, arms wielded by the US and European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies.
The US is sending its arms in stages.
The latest $700 million package announced on 1 June includes four Himars artillery systems, 1,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles and four Soviet-standard Mi-17 helicopters.
It also includes 15,000 howitzer shells, 15 light armored vehicles and other ammunition.
Himars is a “very sophisticated long-range system,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told reporters. “We have to certify these guys to make sure that they know how to use the system properly.”
‘Holding on’
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were “holding on” in the flashpoint eastern city Severodonetsk where intense street battles with Russian troops could determine the fate of the Donbas region.
Moscow has concentrated its firepower on the industrial city, which it now mostly controls, with the area’s governor saying on Friday that Russian forces had destroyed a major sports arena.
Zelensky said in his evening address on Thursday night that Ukrainian forces have made positive strides in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, and are in the process of “liberating our land.”
Up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers were being killed every day in frontline fighting and as many as 500 wounded, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
Western countries have provided weapons and aid for Ukraine since the invasion, while several people from abroad have joined the fight against Russian forces.