Donbass Official Reports Dwindling Deliveries of Western Military Equipment to Ukraine

The US and its allies have given Ukraine close to $100 billion in weapons, military equipment and ammunition over the past 18 months – more than what Russia spends on defense in a whole year. The support has not helped Ukraine’s military punch through Russian defensive lines, with some NATO officials openly starting to blame Kiev for its tactics.

A Donbass official has reported a noticeable drop in deliveries of Western military equipment to Ukraine, appearing to confirm reports that the US and NATO are running out of weapons to send, that Ukraine has faced heavy losses over its two month-long counteroffensive, or both.

“As far as equipment deliveries are concerned, they have indeed declined. I have big doubts that Ukraine will receive American-made aircraft, because the loss of such aircraft would be a big blow for the US military-industrial complex,” Yan Gagin, an advisor to Donetsk People’s Republic head Denis Pushilin, told Sputnik.

Gagin said that with Ukraine’s counteroffensive bogged down, their forces usually “do not even reach the line of contract, but are destroyed on the outskirts by our artillery and aviation.”

“By and large, it’s serious everywhere [on the front, ed.] at the moment, with the enemy continuing to attack in small groups, reinforced by armored vehicles. But at the moment, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ so-called counteroffensive itself has slowed down somewhat and has become less intense than before. This is most likely due to the heavy losses that the enemy has suffered in manpower and equipment,” he added.

Gagin also revealed that the Donbass People’s Militias are prepared to go on the counteroffensive, having ground down Ukrainian troops and equipment.

Separately, Donbass People’s Militia Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Marochko told Sputnik that Ukrainian forces have faced heavy losses in fighting near Artemovsk/Bakhmut, with Russian forces repelling Ukrainian forces in the settlement of Klesheevka.

“Ukrainian positions are regularly being fired on along the tactical heights which they are occupying. Precision strikes by the Russian military are leading to heavy losses not only in personnel, but also weapons and equipment,” Marochko said.

The US and its allies sent close to $100 billion in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine since February 2022, with the dollar amounts continuing to rise, even as Washington and European NATO countries admit growing difficulties sustaining deliveries, or equipping their own militaries. Last week, US media calculated that American support for Ukraine over the past year has reached the equivalent of 12 consecutive years of spending in Afghanistan, and that by the end of 2023, assistance to Kiev will surpass that of the entire Marshall Plan for Europe after WWII.

Gagin’s comments seem to confirm earlier reports in US media that Ukraine lost up to 20 percent of its NATO-provided equipment the first stage of the counteroffensive in June, and separate reports about Ukrainian forces pulling their more expensive and advanced NATO heavy tanks from the front to prevent them from being damaged, destroyed or captured.