Ukraine secures aid, downs ‘undefeatable’ missiles
What happened
Ukrainian forces shot down a slew of Russian missiles over Kyiv this week and launched a string of counterattacks in Bakhmut, evidence that Western weaponry has substantially bolstered the country’s ability to resist the Russian invasion. Using two Patriot air-defense systems supplied by the U.S., the Ukrainians thwarted an intense, multidirectional overnight barrage on the capital Kyiv, downing six of Moscow’s showpiece long-range Kinzhal missiles. Those missiles, which Vladimir Putin once called “undefeatable,” can travel at five times the speed of sound and had previously blown past Ukrainian defenses. One of the Patriot batteries was damaged slightly. Ukrainian forces also reclaimed a 1-mile slice of territory south of Bakhmut that they say will protect a key supply chain, although Russia still controls 90 percent of the city.
With the Russian onslaught continuing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Berlin, London, Paris, and Rome over the past week to ask European leaders for more assistance.
The pledges he received included hundreds more long-range attack drones from the United Kingdom, light tanks and armored vehicles from France, and offers from both nations to train Ukrainian pilots. Germany promised an additional $3 billion—effectively doubling its commitment—in an aid package to include ammunition, armored vehicles, and 30 Leopard tanks. Zelensky thanked Europe for its support but said even more was needed, particularly fighter jets. “Russia is trying very hard to improve its ability to kill,” he said. “We are trying very hard to improve the protection of our people.”
What the columnists said
The Kremlin “must be reeling,” said Marcel Plichta in The Daily Beast. Earlier this month, it mocked a Ukrainian report of the interception of one of their Kinzhal superweapons as “wishful thinking,” only to launch six at Kyiv and see them obliterated. Small wonder Ukraine so badly wanted the Patriots. They’re making Russia “look weaker by the day.”
Ukraine was wise to delay its spring counteroffensive, long telegraphed but not yet begun, said Tom Rogan in the Washington Examiner. Zelensky’s European tour has reaped significantly more weapons “than his military had even two weeks ago,” while the open-ended wait “deprives Russian soldiers of easy rest.” Cracks in Russian morale are already showing: A leaked Pentagon report suggests that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who recently denounced Russian generals in a profanity-laden series of videos, may have offered to give Ukraine intelligence on Russian army positions in return for sparing his forces.
“It’s time to make Prigozhin, Putin, and everyone else in the Kremlin start swearing even more,” said Tom Nichols in The Atlantic. The Ukrainians “are burning through ammunition at a high rate,” and the $48 billion in U.S. aid approved in December will likely be depleted by midsummer. We need to replenish that weaponry and go further, including supplying fighter jets, until the Ukrainians “inflict so much damage” that Russia has no choice but to give up. The longer this war drags on, the greater the chance of a “delusional miscalculation inside the Kremlin.”