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KYIV — Ukraine has been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in Donetsk, amid an intensifying Russian push in the region and the slow flow of military aid to Kyiv.
The commander in chief of Ukraine’s army, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced in a statement Sunday that Kyiv’s forces had “moved to new frontiers west of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka to preserve the lives and health of our troops.” Syrskyi cited Ukraine’s dwindling supplies, in the face of the better-equipped Russian forces.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the slow pace at which his country’s allies have delivered the military assistance they’ve pledged, stressing the need for speed to allow Kyiv to hold its positions and to disrupt Russia’s expected summer offensive.
“We are still waiting for the supplies promised to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Sunday, adding that Kyiv urgently needed the promised arms so that it can “change the situation on the battlefield.”
The U.S. finally approved a $61 billion supplemental aid package for Kyiv last week. But questions have been raised about whether that’s enough to swing the momentum back in Ukraine’s favor, after six months of delays saw Kyiv’s forces suffering severe shortfalls while Russia, boosted by supplies from its allies including Iran and North Korea, made territorial gains.
Ukraine also needs stronger political support from its Western allies, Zelenskyy said, calling for a strong signal that Kyiv belongs in the EU and in NATO at the military alliance’s summit in Washington this summer. “The alliance should not be afraid of its own strength or shy away from its own foundations — every country that shares common values and is willing to actually defend them deserves an invitation to join,” Zelenskyy said.
In his statement, Syrskyi said the situation has worsened for Ukraine’s troops over the past week, as Russia attempts to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line. Moscow plans to take full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and has concentrated attacks near Avdiivka, which Vladimir Putin’s forces captured in February, and Chasiv Yar.
In Ukraine’s south, Russian forces have intensified attacks around Robotyne and Verbove, which Kyiv recaptured from the invaders in 2023. But Ukrainian troops did manage to make some battlefield gains, advancing near the village of Veletens’ke and establishing control over the island of Nestryha on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.
