US bolstering Ukraine as Russia sets sights on Kharkiv

The United States is working around the clock to provide Ukraine with supplies to defend itself against an intensified Russian attack that could target Kharkiv, the White House said on Friday (10 May).

Russian forces launched an armored ground attack on Friday near Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

“It is certainly possible that the Russians are setting themselves up for a larger assault on Kharkiv,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. He said it was concerning signs that Russia appears to be preparing to use long-range fire within range of Kharkiv.

“You’re not going to do that if you’re not also thinking about some other larger assault directly on the city,” Kirby said.

The United States is preparing a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine, as the US returns to a regular pace of supplying weapons to Kyiv after lawmakers passed a $95 billion bill, the White House said on Friday.

The Ukraine aid package includes artillery, munitions for NASAMS air defenses, anti-tank munitions, armored vehicles and small arms that can immediately be put to use on the battlefield, a US official told Reuters.

The weapons aid will utilize Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from US stocks without specific congressional approval during an emergency. As a part of the $95 billion aid bills, Congress authorized $60.8 billion worth of various forms of aid to Ukraine, including $8 billion worth of PDA items.

Focus on Kyiv?

The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, in an interview published on Friday, said he expected the 26-month-old war against Russia to enter a critical phase in the next two months as Moscow tries to exploit delays in supplying weapons to Kyiv.

“Russia knows that if we receive enough weapons within a month or two, the situation could turn against them,” General Oleskander Pavliuk told The Economist magazine.

The Economist said Pavliuk believed Moscow would stay focused on its slow advance through Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east. Ukraine needed more air defence, he said, and would get a boost with the anticipated delivery of F-16 fighter jets.

Russia, Pavliuk told the magazine, “is testing the stability of our lines before choosing the most suitable direction”.

Russian forces have taken a string of villages in the east after capturing the town of Avdiivka in February.

Pavliuk appeared to play down the significance of possibly losing the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, described as a gateway to other cities that Moscow is targeting, like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

The loss of Chasiv Yar, he said, would have no “decisive significance” as it was just “a regular urban settlement”.

Pavliuk also said he believed there should be a renewed focus on Kyiv, from where Russian forces pulled back early in the invasion after initially trying to advance on the capital city.

“Defending Kyiv remains one of our main concerns, no matter how tough it is in the east,” he told The Economist. “It is the heart of Ukraine, and we know the key role defence of the capital will play in the future.”

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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