Russia has warned the United States that armed shipments to Ukraine could bring “unpredictable consequences.” This comes as the administration authorizes the delivery of more sophisticated weapons than in previous shipments.
- Ryan Evans, founder of War on the Rocks and chief executive officer of Metamorphic Media, said the large artillery pieces in the U.S. aid package are “crucial” for Ukraine and will be useful in what is now “more of a war of attrition,” as Putin consolidates efforts towards the east.
- Evans said he thinks Russia’s focus on Donbas “is really Putin trying to salvage something out of the wreckage of this disastrous war.”
- He said the U.S. did not initially provide the weapons it is sending now because it expected Ukraine to fall faster and because the weapons would not have been useful early on.
- A M109A6 Paladin Howitzer with Alpha Battery, 1-5 Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division participates in a training exercise, Dec. 14, 2021. The latest U.S. weapons shipment to Ukraine includes howitzers. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Dana M. Clarke/U.S. Department of Defense)
- The Retroville trade center on April 3, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)