Wither the War? Russia, Ukraine, and the United States
Prof. Stephen Eric Bronner
As the third year of the Russo-Ukraine War continues, Ukraine is increasingly imperiled. Shoved off the front pages by the crises in the Middle East, there is mounting opposition in the United States to extending further aid to Ukraine. Its valiant resistance against a seemingly far more powerful fascist invader has been tainted by shake-ups in its military general staff, corruption scandals, criticisms of its battlefield strategy, and the counter-offensive of 2023 did not dislodge Russia from the territories it conquered. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of buildings have been destroyed, Ukraine’s infrastructure is in tatters, public services are in disarray, its economy is a wreck, and the United Nations fears that 90% of its citizens could “freefall into poverty.” American officials put the number of Ukraine’s war casualties as somewhere between 120,000-131,000 with 31,000 dead, 3.7 people are internally displaced, and 14.6 million require humanitarian assistance. Young men are fleeing the country, Ukraine is short of recruits, and the draft age has been lowered from 27 to 25. All of these numbers are likely to increase, and morale is sinking
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