Ukraine’s missile breakthrough

Friday’s major Ukrainian missile strike that devastated the headquarters in occupied Crimea of Vladimir Putin’s prized Black Sea Fleet, reportedly killing several top Russian commanders, was highly significant. More than delivering an embarrassing, symbolic bloody nose to Mr Putin’s ill-starred war strategy, the British- and French-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles that slammed into the heavily defended headquarters served up a timely warning that Trump Republicans in the US congress foolishly seeking to cut off further military aid to Ukraine should heed. This is not the time to give in to isolationism or to grow weary of the US commitment to a war that is vital to its interests and those of the free world.

Doing so would be exactly what the Russian tyrant wants. His Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, may well bleat, as he did after the attack, that it showed “Western powers were de facto fighting against us, using the hands and bodies of Ukrainians” but the real message of the strike is that contrary to the faint hearts and nervous Nellies in the US congress who would have that country cut off all further help for Kyiv, and have Western allies do the same, Ukraine’s counter-offensive is making real progress. The Kremlin’s illegal occupation of Crimea is now itself under unprecedented attack.

Demolition of the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters was preceded, remarkably, by the audacious destruction of a Russian submarine and large landing ship in the heavily defended port of Sevastopol. The Black Sea Fleet’s crucial communications backup centre in a fortified bunker was also destroyed. So was a key battery of Russia’s much-vaunted S-400 air defence system, degrading Moscow’s ability to defend the entire Crimea peninsula.

President Joe Biden, to his credit, in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington last week, gave no ground to those in congress wanting to cut aid to Ukraine. Instead, he announced his determination to seek approval for another package of $US24bn ($37.3bn) in military help. That adds to the $US43.9bn already provided. Doubtless it will add further to the opposition of Trump supporters wanting to thwart further military aid. It would be a disaster for the West, in its battle against the world’s dictatorships, if they succeeded. Ukraine’s successful attacks in Crimea and advances in other areas are potentially a watershed moment in the war. They demand continued, unflinching support for Kyiv in a battle it is fighting for the entire free world.

Mr Biden rarely wins praise from fierce critics such as the New York Post but he did last week after he spoke at the UN of the “sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights” of all nations that lie at the heart of the war. Mr Putin, he warned, hopes the world will “grow weary” and eventually let him “brutalise Ukraine without consequences”. If that happened, Mr Biden added, no nation could “feel confident” about its security. Allowing Ukraine to be “carved up” would imperil the independence of every nation. He was right.

The success of Ukraine’s weekend strikes in Crimea leaves no doubt about how utterly wrong the shortsighted isolationists in the US congress are in seeking to block further help. They would helping Mr Putin in a war he must not be allowed to win.