Even before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, western governments – and especially the United States – were providing the country with military aid. This followed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict which has ranged since then in the Donbas province in the east of the country. Western assistance has included advanced weapons systems and training for Ukraine’s military.
The Biden administration has provided more than US$53 billion (£43 billion) in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and highly advanced drones specially designed for Ukraine and this conflict. These have all played a significant part in Ukraine’s so-far robust defence against Russian aggression.
Given the intensity of the fighting and the scale of the attacks on Ukrainian cities and villages by the Russian armed forces, the continued supply of increasingly heavy weapons to Ukraine faces several obstacles. The most immediate is logistics, most weapons are transferred to Ukraine through Poland either by rail or air transport and these supply lines are vulnerable to attack.
