As the war continues, Ukraine has been able to hold off Russian gains over the past month thanks in large part to continued support from the United States and its European allies and help on the ground from rebels. After months of intense warfare in which Ukraine has lost territory, Kyiv has been able to halt Russian advances recently and force Russia to suffer heavy casualties, with up to 500 Russian soldiers killed or wounded each day, according to some estimates. John Spencer, a retired Army officer and chair of civil war studies for the think tank Madison Policy Forum, said that while Ukraine has lost tactical ground in some areas, its troops have succeeded in weakening the Russian military. “They’ve also made the Russians spend resources they can’t make up,” Mr Spencer said. “You don’t want to say they’re winning the war because there’s so much fighting to be done, but by every measure you think about, especially geopolitically and militarily, they’re making more than offset gains.” Russia still maintains a huge advantage in the size of its arsenal, and Ukraine has suffered greatly during the war. About 200 soldiers were killed every day at one point. The civilian death toll has exceeded 5,000, according to United Nations estimates. and several of the country’s cities have been leveled. But Moscow has not made significant territorial gains since seizing eastern Luhansk province in late June. Ukraine was boosted on Thursday when the defense ministers of 26 countries, including Britain and Denmark, pledged about $1.55 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Ben Wallace, Britain’s defense secretary, said the aid would include additional multiple-launch missile systems and long-range missiles. “We are not tiring,” Mr. Wallace said of his country’s continued support for Ukraine. Morten Bodskoff, Denmark’s defense minister, said his country would not only help with weapons, but would also help train service members. Mr Bodskov said Denmark’s position on supporting Ukraine was “unwavering”. Before the aid was announced, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the 26 countries and said the weapons sent to Ukraine should be “of such air power and such range that Russia will be forced to finally think about a peaceful solution.” The aid, which Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for since the start of the war, was added to another package from the United States announced earlier this week. The Pentagon announced Monday that it will send more ammunition in a new shipment of weapons and supplies worth up to $1 billion. With this, the United States will have sent more than $9 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24. Mr Spencer said maintaining such continued support from Western countries took “as much fighting as actually the Russian forces, until they show the world they are fighting a just war”. Support for the country was not only given in the form of aid packages, but also through aid on the ground in the form of rebels, resistance fighters who assist the Ukrainian army in Russian-occupied territories. At least five fighter-bombers and three multi-role aircraft were “almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged” this week in explosions at an air base in Crimea, British military intelligence said on Friday. Crimea – which Moscow annexed in 2014 – has largely avoided attacks since February and the base is far from any recognizable front line. A senior Ukrainian official said the attacks were carried out with the help of rebels, but the government has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
