After a long wait, American aid to Ukraine, voted for at the end of April at the end of a long political series, is perhaps arriving at the front at the end of May. In any case, this is what certain signals picked up in recent days suggest.
American vehicles on the Eastern Front
Western observers have noted that Ukrainian troops were able, in certain sectors of Donbass, to carry out effective tactical counterattacks. Offensive actions for which American equipment would have been used.
“There are obviously Bradleys (American infantry fighting vehicles) that have arrived”, explains Stéphane Audrand, international risk consultant. At the end of April, Pentagon officials indicated that vehicles of this type were part of the first tranche of aid released.
More ammo
“Presumably, there is also ammunition that arrived”, continues Stéphane Audrand. Thibault Fouillet, scientific director of the Institute for Strategy and Defense Studies, talks about “a lack of ammunition which is starting to ease”.
On May 16, Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainian reporters, including The Kyiv Independent , “that none of the Ukrainian brigades (had recently) complained about the absence of artillery shells”. Not without reason, the assertion seemed exaggerated to many Western observers. But it could still symbolize an improvement in the situation.
A long delivery time
This one month delay between the announcement of the sending of aid and its probable arrival on the front is not a surprise. “From the moment the aid crosses the Polish border, it is estimated that it takes three weeks for it to reach the units, for logistical and transport reasons”explains Stéphane Audrand.
Why such a delay? Because the difficulties are numerous. “It takes a long time to transport this aid to the front in complete safety: we must not take the same route each time, we often have to transport it at night, sometimes we lack trains…”, Stéphane Audrand list.
The F16 ecosystem is being established
The deployment of Western F16 planes in Ukraine is just as long, if not longer, than that of recent American aid. But, decided last summer, the sending of these multi-role aircraft, eagerly awaited to the front, should be effective in the coming weeks.
Proof of this is that on May 22, Illya Yevlash, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, indicated, in comments relayed by the agency Ukrinform And The New Voice of Ukraine , that the first specialists trained in the maintenance of these planes were back in Ukraine. The 23, Politico noted that the first group of Ukrainian pilots trained in the handling of F16s had completed their training cycle in Arizona. When will they actually be able to fly over and help secure Ukrainian skies? Nobody knows. But the date of this first flight has, it seems, never been so close.
