According to analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) the situation in Ukraine is “grave” and Russian troops are making gains.
The gains that Russian forces have made so far are “very limited an extremely costly” and the ISW have said that the situation in Ukraine is “grave, but far from hopeless.”
The ISW added, “More Russian soldiers have likely died to seize Avdiivka than died in the entire Soviet-Afghan war.”
Despite the situation being grave, once Ukraine receives the multirole F-16 fighter jets their air force will instantly be strengthened which is a worry for Moscow.
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The ISW highlighted the impact of the US aid being held up, the analysts said, “Only the United States has the resources to give Ukraine right now what Ukraine most needs.
“If the United States, in the end, withholds that aid, then the situation can become very grave indeed.”
The analysts said that Russian forces have “many flaws” and Ukrainian troops are exploiting this, meaning the war is “far from over.”
“Ukraine has not lost and there is no reason for Ukraine to lose.
Russians are adapting for a long war effort in Ukraine, but they are not the Red Army hordes wrapped in the triumphant banners of World War II victories that Putin and his propagandists pretend them to be.
Ukrainian forces need more” ammunition” and European leaders are set to be facing difficult questions as to how they will be able to solve the next year to provide Kyiv with what they need to win.
Kyiv has been warning over the past months that their forces are outgunned and outmanned and they have a severe shortage of ammunition and after a year of stalemate Ukraine are now on the defensive.
Ukraine are desperate for more long-range missiles and artillery shells in order to maintain the fight to push the Russians back.
“This is a dangerous moment for Ukraine and European security,” Oana Lungescu, Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Euractiv.
Lungescu added, “The loss of Avdiivka shows the real impact that delays in delivering Western ammunition and weapons have on the ground.
“NATO and EU member states have done a lot to support Ukraine, including with contracts for ammunition worth $1.2 billion concluded by NATO in January, but it’s not enough and not fast enough.”
“[Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro] Kuleba has put it well – the fall of Avdiivka is the result of us not providing ammunition,” an EU official told Euractiv, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“They [the Ukrainians] really feel – and we know that they feel – the stage when supplies are drying out, and we really need to feel the urgency to provide them with all we can,” they added.
