Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent her to Washington to address the US Congress directly on air defense systems. The call came on Wednesday as Russia suggested it plans to seize wider areas beyond the industrial region of eastern Ukraine known as Donbas, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressing that Moscow also claims the Kherson region and part of Zaporizhzhia and will be “continuously and persistently” expanded. his earnings elsewhere. Billions of dollars in Western military aid have been vital to Ukraine’s efforts to fend off Russian aggression, but officials in Kyiv say the numbers are still too small to turn the tide of war. Here’s what Ukraine has received so far: HIMARS MISSILE LAUNCHER US-supplied HIMARS systems and similar M270s from Britain have significantly enhanced the Ukrainian military’s precision strike capability. The HIMARS and M270 have longer range, much better accuracy and a faster rate of fire compared to the Soviet-designed Smerch, Uragan and Tornado multiple rocket launchers used by both Russia and Ukraine. The truck-mounted HIMARS launchers fire GPS-guided missiles capable of hitting targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles), a distance that puts them beyond most Russian artillery systems. Mobile launchers are difficult for the enemy to detect and can quickly change position after firing to escape airstrikes. The Ukrainian military has so far received a dozen HIMARS systems and several M270 systems, but has already used them to successfully target Russian ammunition and fuel depots in eastern Ukraine, essential to support Moscow’s offensive. On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces reportedly used HIMARS to strike a strategic bridge in the Russian-held southern region of Kherson. “The HIMARS hardly rested day or night. Their capabilities have been used to the maximum,” Ukrainian military expert Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press. “The results were impressive. Over 30 major Russian targets have been hit with high precision in the past two weeks.” U.S. authorities have so far avoided providing Ukraine with longer-range missiles for HIMARS launchers that can reach targets up to 300 kilometers (186 miles), allowing the military to strike areas deep inside Russian territory. HEAVY ARTILLERY Ukraine has received more than 200 heavy artillery systems from the US and its NATO allies. They include the US M777, the French CAESAR, the German PzH 2000 and some other long-range towed and self-propelled artillery systems. Western howitzers have some advantages over older Soviet-designed systems in the Russian and Ukrainian arsenals, but it takes time for Ukrainian crews to learn how to operate them. Their wide range poses obvious logistical challenges. “Ukraine has received an enormous amount of … artillery equipment that is very diverse,” said Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military and program director at the Virginia-based think tank CNA. “What they’ve ended up with is an artillery zoo, and it’s very difficult to maintain, maintain and logistics.” A more serious problem is that the number of Western weapons is still very small. Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said last month that the country needs at least 1,000 heavy howitzers, 300 multiple rocket launchers, 500 tanks and 2,000 armored vehicles — far more than the West has offered. “Western weapons are superior to their Soviet-era counterparts, but the numbers were too small to turn the tide of the war,” Zhdanov said. ARMOR Ukraine has asked the West for more armored vehicles to make up for heavy battlefield losses. The country has reportedly received over 300 Soviet-made T-72 tanks from Poland and the Czech Republic and has already used them in combat. The long-promised delivery of German Leopard tanks is on hold, however, a delay that has sparked an angry reaction in Ukrainian media and social networks. Ukraine has received several hundred armored personnel carriers from the US and some NATO allies, a motley collection of vehicles that has not fully compensated for what it has already lost. Western allies have also provided Ukraine with large numbers of portable anti-tank weapons, which have been instrumental in helping Ukrainian soldiers decimate Russian armored convoys. DRONES Early in the war, Ukraine made extensive use of its stockpile of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 laser-launched drones to strike large Russian troop convoys and supply columns. The Bayraktars, however, have become less effective in the face of denser Russian air and electronic defenses in eastern Ukraine. Since the start of the war, the US and Western allies have sent hundreds of other drones, including an unspecified number of Switchblade 600 “kamikaze” drones that carry tank-piercing warheads and use artificial intelligence to track targets. But their range is limited and they can only stay aloft for about 40 minutes. Ukraine has pushed hard for more advanced long-range drones that can survive radio and GPS jamming and rely on satellite communications for control and navigation. AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS The US and other NATO allies have provided Ukraine with more than 2,000 man-portable air defense missile systems, or MANPADS, such as Stingers and other similar weapons. Such compact systems are effective against helicopter gunships and low-flying aircraft, and the Ukrainian military has used them to inflict significant casualties on the Russian air force, limiting its ability to provide close air support to ground forces and helping to slow the pace of Moscow’s offensive. At the same time, Ukraine has also pushed the West to supply it with medium- and long-range air defense systems that could shoot down cruise missiles and high-flying aircraft. It has received several Soviet-made S-300 long-range air defense systems from Slovakia, the type of weapons that the Ukrainian military has long used. The US has also committed to giving Ukraine two NASAMS medium-range air defense systems. Germany has promised to supply Ukraine with 30 self-propelled Gepard anti-aircraft guns, but they have not yet arrived. Air Force planes Since the start of the invasion on February 24, Ukraine has urged Western allies to provide it with warplanes to challenge Russia’s air superiority. But the US and its allies are reluctant to give Ukraine the fighter jets it is asking for, fearing it would trigger an escalating response from Moscow, which has warned NATO that supplying Ukraine with fighter jets could amount to involvement in the conflict. In March, the Pentagon rejected Poland’s proposal to deliver Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine via a US base in Germany, citing a high risk of triggering a Russia-NATO escalation. Ukraine has its own fleet of MiG-29s, but it is unclear how many of these and other jets are still in service. Earlier this month, Slovakia announced its intention to give its MiG-29 fleet to Ukraine as it awaits the delivery of US F-16 jets, but no action has been taken.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at
