By David Sole
February 24 marks the end of the fourth year of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine. On that day in 2022 military units of the Russian Federation moved decisively against a Ukrainian pro-fascist regime, installed in 2014 by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. For those eight years following the “Maidan” coup, Kiev was armed and encouraged to attack ethnic Russians inside Ukraine as well as Russia itself. The goal was to get Russia embroiled in a proxy war to force a regime change in Moscow or at least weaken Russia.
However, despite giving Ukraine hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including long range missiles, providing Ukraine with military advisors, intelligence information and targeting data, the Russian Federation has decisively shifted the situation on the ground against the Ukrainians, while Russia has withstood economic sanctions and maintained the support of its population for the goals of the military intervention.
A recent article in the New York Times reluctantly admitted the devastating cost to Ukraine in this bitter war of attrition. The title says it all: “Ukraine Can’t Defend the Entire Front. Russia is Finding the Gaps.” It reveals “Ukraine lacks enough troops to defend every sector equally, creating gaps where Moscow’s forces can advance more easily.”
A Finnish military analyst told the Times “The Ukrainians simply don’t have the resources to defend everywhere.” This is shown where “Russian forces made their biggest advances in [the southern province of] Zaporizhzhia and the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, seizing nearly 170 square miles of territory.”
It was also reported that Ukrainian military commanders were not reporting loss of positions to Russia for “fear of retribution” from the high command. Most Ukrainian units are hindered by the lack of personnel. One commander revealed “A battalion is supposed to have around 500 soldiers. In reality, we’re lucky to have 100. Out of those 100, perhaps only 50 are actually combat-ready – those not wounded or exhausted.”
Huge numbers of Ukrainians are dodging the draft either inside Ukraine or having fled to neighboring countries. Desertions are also a big problem. According to the Ukraine Defense Minister “two million Ukrainians were ‘wanted’ for avoiding military service, while 200,000 soldiers were absent without official leave.”
Meanwhile the U.S. and NATO allies in Europe continue to push their proxy to keep fighting supplying weapons and other military support. The Kiev Independent reported on December 11 that the Pentagon budget “reauthorizes the use of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a Pentagon-led program that supplies arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies. It stipulates that Ukraine will receive $400 million per year via the USAI for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. This spending is scheduled despite President Trump’s oft repeated promise to end the Ukraine war.
The European Union also continues its role in the proxy war. On December 18 the New York Times reported “European leaders agreed early on Friday morning to keep Ukraine funded for two years with a loan of 90 billion euros, or about $105 billion.”
Peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have received much attention in the media, but the talks have not yielded any noticeable results. As long as Ukraine continues to be a proxy for the western imperialist powers, the war will drag on with continuing Ukrainian losses.
