As the war drags on, Ukraine has held off Russian gains for the past month thanks in large part to continued support from the United States and its European allies, and help from partisans on the ground. The Ukrainian government lost territory after months of grinding war in which it lost territory, Kyiv has been able to stem Russian advances and force Russia to sustain heavy losses, with up to 500 Russian troops killed or injured every day, according to some estimates. John Spencer, a retired Army officer and chair of urban warfare studies for the Madison Policy Forum research institute, said that Ukraine has lost ground in some areas but its troops have succeeded in weakening Russia's military.
They have made Russians expend resources that they can't replenish, according to Spencer. You don't want to say that they are winning the war because there is so much fighting to be done, but from every measure you think about, especially geopolitically and militarily, they are achieving outweighed gains. Russia still maintains a huge advantage in the size of its weapons arsenal, and Ukraine has suffered heavily over the course of the war. As many as 200 soldiers were killed every day, the civilian death toll has topped 5,000, according to United Nations estimates, and several of the country s cities have been flattened. Moscow has had no major territorial gains since the capture of the eastern Luhansk province in late June. On Thursday, Ukraine was bolstered by the defense ministers of 26 countries, including Britain and Denmark, who pledged about $1.55 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Ben Wallace, Britain's defense minister, said the aid would include additional multiple-launch rocket systems and long-range missiles. Wallace said his country's continued support for Ukraine is not getting tired. Morten Bodskov, Denmark's defense minister, said his country would not only help with weapons but it would also assist in training service members. The aid, which Mr. Zelensky has called for repeatedly since the war began, was added to another package from the United States that was announced earlier this week. The Pentagon said on Monday it would send more ammunition in a new shipment of up to $1 billion worth of weapons and supplies. Since Russia invaded the country on February 24th, the United States will have sent more than $9 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Support for the country has come in the form of aid packages, but also through help in the form of partisans, who aid the Ukrainian military on Russian-occupied territory. Five fighter bombers and three multi-role jets were almost certainly destroyed or damaged this week in blasts at an air base in Crimea, according to a British military intelligence report on Friday. Since February, Crimea — annexed in 2014 — has largely avoided attacks, and the base is far from a recognizable front line. One senior Ukrainian official said that the attacks were carried out with the help of partisans, but the government has not taken responsibility for the attack. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, has stated that the Kremlin is trying to find any reinforcements to replenish its decimated ranks of troops. It said on Saturday there were growing indications that Moscow would continue to expand the Kremlin's control over Russia's weapons manufacturers and other military-related industries as it tries to bolster a prolonged war effort.