{"id":2269510,"date":"2024-06-17T11:41:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T15:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/artillery-hunger-feeds-ukraine-fear-that-biden-wont-back-victory\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T11:46:39","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T15:46:39","slug":"artillery-hunger-feeds-ukraine-fear-that-biden-wont-back-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/artillery-hunger-feeds-ukraine-fear-that-biden-wont-back-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Artillery hunger&#8217; stokes Ukrainian fears of losing Biden&#8217;s support for victory"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fartillery-hunger-feeds-ukraine-fear-that-biden-wont-back-victory%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2269510&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Recent U.S. ammunition shipments to \u2064Ukraine \u200chave resumed after delays \u200ccaused by political disputes in the U.S., addressing some urgent needs but still falling short of the \u200ddemands of Ukrainian forces engaged in Europe&#8217;s largest conflict since World\u2064 War II. Despite the arrival\u200b of these \u2064shipments, Ukrainian commanders, including Mamuka Mamulashvili of the Georgian Legion, express persistent concerns about the \u2062quantity and timely delivery of\u200c military aid. They emphasize the need for sufficient resources to transition from defensive to offensive operations against Russian forces.<\/p>\n<p>The hesitation of the U.S. \u200dadministration to provide more robust \u200csupport, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/4-hostile-regimes-testing-joe-biden-during-his-first-months-in-office\/\" title=\"4 Hostile Regimes Testing Joe Biden During His First Months In Office\">long-range missiles<\/a> and fewer restrictions on military aid, stems from concerns about escalating the conflict to a broader war. This cautious \u200bstance is \u200ccriticized by some U.S.\u2064 and Ukrainian military officials who believe it undermines the potential for a Ukrainian military victory.\u200b Meanwhile, \u2063discussions at a \u2063security forum in\u200c Odesa highlighted successes in areas like the\u200c Black Sea, where Ukrainian innovations such as naval drones have proven effective. These developments suggest a shift in warfare dynamics, underscored by the increasing role of low-cost drones as a significant element in modern conflicts.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>ODESA, Ukraine \u2014<\/strong> New shipments of U.S. ammunition have begun to flow into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Ukraine\">Ukraine<\/a> after a political dispute led to months of painful shortages, but Ukrainian forces still feel a \u201chunger\u201d for ammunition and have misgivings about the quality of American support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart of it has arrived, but the thing is that the U.S. does not really understand how much artillery shells we need on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/war-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"front line\">front line<\/a>,\u201d Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian Legion in Ukraine, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> on the sidelines of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obssf.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Black Sea Security Forum<\/a>. \u201cWe are using the artillery shells that are given to us a lot faster than they think we could use them. So, [there is] so-called artillery hunger, and we\u2019re having the problems because of that, because when we don\u2019t have enough ammunition to shoot, more professionals are dying, and we are getting weaker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mamulashvili, the son of a Georgian general and founder of Ukraine\u2019s largest foreign fighting force, attested to the costs of Western defense industry shortcomings as Russian forces enjoy a substantial artillery advantage in Europe\u2019s largest conflict since the Second World War. Those difficulties were exacerbated by House Republican attempts to use the Ukraine aid legislation as leverage to demand border security policy changes. Yet the White House\u2019s victory in that protracted political dispute hasn\u2019t allayed misgivings that President Joe Biden is hesitant to authorize the kind of assistance required to give Ukrainian forces a real chance at victory.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3046228\/ukraine-debates-whether-to-conscript-clergy-as-russia-war-rages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"UKRAINE DEBATES WHETHER TO CONSCRIPT CLERGY AS RUSSIA WAR RAGES\"><strong>UKRAINE DEBATES WHETHER TO CONSCRIPT CLERGY AS RUSSIA WAR RAGES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever they send should be on time \u2026 because when it\u2019s later, [then] there is no guy who knows how artillery works at all, and we\u2019re going to lose the war this way,\u201d Mamulashvili said. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t want a weapon just, you know, to stop [the Russians] and hold the front line. We need a weapon to [go on] offense and to kick them out of the occupied territories.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Risk-averse White House<\/h2>\n<p>Biden\u2019s willingness to support such an effort remains in doubt. Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted during a recent visit to Kyiv \u201cthat the United States is committed to helping ensure Ukraine winning this war,\u201d but White House officials have a reputation in Central and Eastern European policy circles for taking a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/soccer-raspadori-gives-italy-1-0-win-to-relegate-stodgy-england\/\" title=\"Soccer-Raspadori gives Italy 1-0 win to relegate stodgy England\">risk-averse approach<\/a> to support for Ukraine. For instance, Biden lagged behind Poland and the Czech Republic in sending tanks and artillery to Ukraine and has hesitated to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nato-backs-ukraine-as-western-leaders-argue-war-going-better-than-realized\/\" title=\"NATO supports Ukraine as Western leaders see war progress exceeding expectations\">transfer long-range missiles<\/a> to Ukraine while requiring Ukraine to promise not to use American-made weapons against most Russian targets in Russian territory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA military victory is not going to be easy, but we haven\u2019t even, frankly, tried,\u201d the Foreign Policy Research Institute\u2019s Robert Hamilton, a career Army veteran and former Army War College professor, said during one of the weekend\u2019s panel discussions. \u201cThe amount of equipment, the type of equipment we\u2019ve given, and the restrictions we\u2019ve put on it have made a military victory impossible for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those complaints have rumbled around the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-gives-update-on-military-aid-shipments-to-ukraine\/\" title=\"Pentagon gives update on military aid shipments to Ukraine\">military aid shipments<\/a> from the earliest weeks of the full-scale invasion, as Biden weighed U.S. interests in supporting Ukraine against his stated fear that the conflict could give rise to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2571858\/biden-defends-opposition-to-ukraine-nato-membership-wed-be-in-third-world-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>\u201cthird world war.\u201d<\/a> Russian President Vladimir Putin regards his arsenal of relatively low-yield atomic bombs as a possible battlefield weapon, according to Western officials, but Ukrainian personnel and Western proponents of more assistance to Ukraine believe the Biden team is overanxious about that risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to nuclear weapons, it\u2019s not just [a matter of] Putin opens some box and just pushes some button. At least five, seven other people should be involved,\u201d Ukrainian Col. Mykhaylo Tretiak said at the conference. \u201cThese are just knowledgeable people, and they understand perfectly well the consequences. That\u2019s why it is not enough to have the will of one person in the leadership of the Kremlin. \u2026 There is a threat, but there are a lot of factors for these weapons to be used.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. officials have signaled they perceive Putin is most likely to use nuclear weapons in a scenario in which Ukrainian forces were able to threaten his hold on Crimea, the traditional home of Russia\u2019s Black Sea Fleet that Russian forces seized from Ukraine when they began the war in 2014. Tretiak is an officer in Ukraine\u2019s naval drones program, a new weapons system that Ukrainian forces have developed and deployed to devastating effect against Russian ships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook at the Black Sea. Look at [the] huge success that Ukraine has in the Black Sea where our hands are untied, where we can show our creativity, where we can fight in the way we want to,\u201d Oleksii Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker from Odesa and the lead organizer of the forum, told the assembled guests on Friday. \u201cNobody would believe in this several years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Low-cost drones a watershed moment<\/h2>\n<figure><figcaption>The emergence of drones as a low-cost and effective weapon of war strikes officials and observers as a watershed in military history. Pictured is a drone at the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa, Ukraine. (Joel Gehrke\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The emergence of drones as a low-cost and effective weapon of war strikes officials and observers as a watershed in military history. Tretiak proposed that \u201cwe are standing on the [threshold] of the drones war [era], when drones will fight against each other.\u201d And the rapid pace of innovation could continue to change the balance of military power in the current war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a totally new war,\u201d former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=t4BEq7aXS3E&#038;t=580s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> last week at a Carnegie Endowment event. \u201cThe proliferation of the unmanned systems is just completely unprecedented. \u2026 And so, all our strategies which we need to develop, internally and with our allies, they need to reflect the fact that the war is not going to be like it was two years ago, probably never [again].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mamulashvili\u2019s battalion, a component of Ukraine\u2019s Defense Intelligence directorate, already has internalized that lesson. \u201cIt is [the] future of the war, and we are modernizing whatever we have,\u201d he said. \u201cGuys are even inventing drones themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, those drones are not yet a substitute for U.S.-made long-range missiles. Ukrainian commanders aspire to destroy Russian forces and military supplies well before they approach the front lines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we [want] to win this war, we have to get ATACMS, we need operational freedom,\u201d Mamulashvili said. \u201cWe need to shoot them on Russian territory because most of the logistics for Russian artillery shells and ammunition are on a border with Ukraine, on [the] Russian side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Biden has banned the use of American weapons in Russia, although he softened the restriction recently after Russian forces began a protracted assault on Kharkiv, a major city near the Ukrainian border with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe disease of our age is that we don\u2019t have any more Reagans,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have guys who are not scared that Putin will use nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ODESA, Ukraine \u2014 Following a political dispute, new U.S. ammunition shipments are arriving in Ukraine, ending months of shortages. However, Ukrainian forces still express a strong need for more supplies and question the quality of American support. &#8220;Part of it has arrived, but the issue is that the U.S. does<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2743,"featured_media":2269511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/IMG_0262-1024x768.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2269510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/IMG_0262-1024x768.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2743"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2269510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2269511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2269510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2269510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2269510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}