Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia is six to nine months behind schedule due to delays in Western weapons deliveries, a top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
Mykhailo Podolyak, known for his blunt remarks on defense, recently told Channel 24 that weapons deliveries were delayed by three to four months due to the slow approval of Western nations.
He blamed Western allies for not reacting soon enough to Ukraine’s pleas, which he said “seriously hampered” the country’s defense capabilities.
“If Ukraine had received weapons faster, we could have defended ourselves better and launched a counterattack,” Podolyak stated, as quoted by Kyiv Post.
He added that the promised defense items only arrived when the counteroffensive was already underway.
Podolyak sparked controversy when he criticized India for its “weak intellectual potential” and lack of understanding of the modern world. He also slammed a Chinese diplomat for an “absurd” statement about the status of former Soviet states.
‘Well Below Pledges’
Podolyak’s remarks supported Zelensky’s previous statement about slow weapons deliveries hampering the spring counteroffensive.
He admitted to wanting the offensive to start much earlier to prevent the Russians from laying anti-tank mines in larger areas.
According to Ukraine support tracker the Kiel Institute, actual weapons deliveries to the war-torn nation have been well below what was initially pledged by Western allies.
It further stated that only about half of the equipment promised actually arrived in Kyiv as of July 2023.
“Military pledges gain in importance with the duration of the war and Ukraine’s offensive plans,” Kiel Institute head Christoph Trebesch said. “But the gap between promised and delivered military aid is wide.”
Specific Countries Identified
Despite being Ukraine’s top donors, the tracker said the US, the UK, and Germany were fast to increase their aid commitments but slow on actual deliveries.
In contrast, Eastern European countries like the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, and Slovakia have delivered at least 80 percent of their promised weapons.
Denmark has also fulfilled most of its pledges, including the 14 MiG-29 fighter jets that are now operational in Ukraine.
““If Ukraine had received weapons faster, we could have defended ourselves better and launched a counterattack,” Podolyak stated, as quoted by Kyiv Post.”
100% true. When Ukraine had the orcs on the retreat in Kharkiv and Kherson, it was crying out for more weapons so Ukraine could drive the orcs out of Ukraine while they were in disarray. I believe the thought of Ukraine actually winning this war scared the life out of the appeasers in the West, so they deliberately stalled the delivery of weapons. There can be no other excuse, especially as events in Israel had the US falling over themselves with the promise of aid, plus a huge flotilla of warships for support.
Tough questions need to be asked about Biden’s foreign policy regarding Ukraine and Israel, and why he doesn’t want Ukraine to win this war.
That great supporter of Ukraine; General Ben Hodges, got some sneery comments for predicting that Ukraine would be in Crimea this year.
Of course that is still a possibility, but he made that prediction on the basis that Ukraine would actually get what they requested in a timely manner.
As it stands now, Ukraine must take back whatever it can this year, consolidate and prepare for a second, God willing, decisive counteroffensive next year.
But this time they have to factor in not only the recalcitrance of the allies, but the agents of putler who are so diligently performing their duty of stopping, delaying or reducing the aid package.
Had Ukraine received what they wanted, namely long range missiles to take out the Kerch Bridge, I believe this war could have even been over with by now. Instead, Ukraine received what the West wanted to give us, mainly defensive weapons, not weapons to win a war.
“He added that the promised defense items only arrived when the counteroffensive was already underway.”
And, the offensive would’ve moved MUCH faster to boot, because the cockroaches wouldn’t have had the time to mine the crap out of the landscapes, and dig a thousand miles of trenches.