West sends arms as determined Ukrainians blunt Russian push into Kyiv

Ukraine has surprised Russia with its stiff resistance, as the US and its Western allies continue to deliver arms into the country.

Russian forces are frustrated by stiffer-than-expected Ukrainian resistance since Saturday as they seek to capture Ukraine’s capital and topple its pro-Western government.

The US and Western allies are still able to deliver arms into the country to bolster the Ukraine military, and Washington plans to send more in the coming days to help the Ukrainians fight Russian armour on the ground and assaults from the air, a US defence official said on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

“We continue to believe, based on what we’ve observed, that this resistance is greater than what the Russians expected,” the official said.

“We have indications that the Russians are increasingly frustrated by their lack of momentum over the last 24 hours, particularly in the north parts of Ukraine.”

The Russian push into Kyiv has been slowed by the resistance posed by Ukrainian anti-air and anti-tank weapons that have so far foiled an invasion into the city, the official said.

Most of the resistance is around the northern city of Kharkiv, and Russian forces on Sunday were about 30km north of Kyiv, the official said.

Those air and anti-tank defences may have blunted the Russians’ ability to take over any major Ukrainian cities, not just Kyiv, officials said.

There has been no indication any cities have been taken, and Russia has yet to achieve superiority of the air.

“Ukrainian air defences, including aircraft, do continue to be operable and continue to engage and deny access to Russian aircraft in places over the country,” the ­official said.

Russia has made about 250 short-range ballistic missile launches, officials said, and civilian areas have been hit by some of the barrages.

In all, about half of the forces that Russian President Vladimir Putin arrayed around Ukraine for the invasion have entered the country, the official said, up from about 35 per cent on Friday.

TOPSHOT – A fragment of a destroyed Russian tank is seen on the roadside on the outskirts of Kharkiv, during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Picture: AFP

US ­officials declined to quantify the size of the forces, but had said before the invasion last week that there were as many as 190,000 Russian troops amassed around Ukraine, including Russian-led separatists in the Donbas region in the southeast of the country.

The additional forces deployed since Friday would mean that tens of thousands more troops had poured into Ukraine in the 24 hours to Saturday.

That includes an amphibious landing of naval infantry forces from the Sea of Azov.

Ukraine’s army said on Saturday it had held back an assault on the capital but was fighting Russian “sabotage groups” that had ­infiltrated the city.

Ukrainian resistance remains “viable”, and Western allies are still able to get weapons and other supplies to them despite the Russian attack.

The Russians have been more successful in the push from ­Crimea and the Black Sea in the south.

In the meantime, the US State Department said on Saturday that it would provide up to $US350m ($485m) in additional military ­assistance to Ukraine.

President Biden Joe authorised the fresh ­delivery of military aid on Friday night (Saturday AEDT) and approved up to $US250m for overall assistance to Ukraine.

A person familiar with the matter said the administration had asked congress for $US6.4bn in additional funding for Ukraine aid and defence needs.

The $US350m package announced on Saturday included ­lethal defensive assistance such as Javelin antitank weaponry, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, small arms and ammunition, US officials said.

Delivery of the assistance would be expedited, the officials said, but they declined to say how or when it would arrive except that it would come in distinct tranches.

Russian and Ukrainian forces are still battling for control of Ukraine’s airspace and Russian forces dominate the Black Sea.

“We have continued to flow ­assistance to the Ukrainians even since the airspace has become disputed and contested,” the defence official said on Sunday. “And we’re going to continue to look for ­additional venues to do that.”

The last military assistance, ­before the new package was ­announced, had arrived on Friday, a defence official said.

The Wall Street Journal