Ukraine is forming new brigades, but cannot supply them all due to lack of military aid

The Ukrainian Defence Forces are creating several new brigades, but are unable to arm all of them, military experts say.

Here's What We Know

In a May interview with The Economist, Ukraine's Land Forces commander, Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, said that Ukraine plans to create at least 10 new brigades to prepare for a Russian offensive.

"Ukraine is addressing manpower issues and forming several new brigades, but the delay and lack of Western weapons will likely prevent Ukraine from equipping all of these new brigades," the Institute for the Study of War said on Wednesday, 3 June.

The report also states that "timely and appropriate Western military assistance continues to be a critical determinant of when and to what extent Ukrainian forces will be able to challenge the initiative on the battlefield and conduct operationally significant counter-offensives in the future."

A similar assessment was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Bloomberg. He told the publication that Ukrainian forces are in a better state of manpower than a few months ago, but they still lack the necessary equipment.

"The problem can be solved if there is a will and there are tools. We have the will, but the tools have not yet arrived," the President explained.

As a reminder, in April, the United States allocated $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine after months of delays due to Republican opposition. However, according to Zelenskyy, most of the weapons take too long to reach the front line.

"This is the biggest tragedy of this war, that between the decision and the real fact we have a real long, long, long wait," he said.

Source: Business Insider