Ukrainian Defense Minister gives reasons for failure on the battlefield

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that continued delays in arms deliveries from Western countries supporting Kiev were playing a key role in the loss of soldiers and territory.

“Right now, commitments do not mean implementation, 50% of the commitments are not delivered on time,” Mr. Umerov said on February 25 at a forum in Kiev. “Basically, whatever is promised and does not arrive on time, we lose people, we lose territory,” he added.

Mr. Umerov spoke as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia enters its third year, with Kiev running low on ammunition and struggling to get US lawmakers to approve a new $60 billion aid package. Kiev has suffered setbacks on the battlefield in recent days, including the fall of Avdeevka, a key Donbass stronghold, to Russian forces last week. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky responded to the defeat by warning that “man-made weapons shortages” were giving Moscow the upper hand.

While Western countries have pledged more than $230 billion in aid to Ukraine since February 2022, Mr. Umerov claimed that the Russian government is spending more than $150 billion a year on the conflict. He added that Ukraine is defending itself without superiority against a larger enemy, making timely deliveries of weapons all the more important.

“The allies have a duty to provide timely aid in this war. We have a plan. We are working to implement it. We are doing everything we can – and what we cannot – but we are having trouble without timely supplies,” Mr. Umerov said.

Speaking at the same forum on February 25, Mr. Zelensky gave his first estimate of Ukrainian casualties since the conflict began, saying 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. According to RT, this figure is only a fraction of Russian and third-party estimates of the number of people killed on the battlefield in Kiev.

The Russian Defense Ministry said last month that Ukraine had lost about 400,000 troops, including 215,000 in 2023 alone. US officials told the New York Times that as of August last year, about 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died.

Ukrainian General Aleksandr Syrsky, who was promoted to commander-in-chief after his predecessor was sacked earlier this month, admitted that Kiev forces faced “very difficult and tense” conditions on the front line. Mr Umerov also replaced his sacked predecessor when he was appointed defence minister last September.