QuoteThe race was on—between Russian forces trying to capture Chasiv Yar and Ukrainian and allied logisticians rushing American-supplied ammunition to the embattled town.
The good news, for friends of a free Ukraine, is that the Ukrainians seem to have won the race. The garrison in Chasiv Yar is now flush with ammo, apparently—and wreaking havoc on Russian assault groups.
On Friday, a battalion of around 20 Russian armored vehicles emerged from Bakhmut and rolled toward Chasiv Yar. As recently as a few weeks ago, a Russian assault group might've traveled much of the three-mile distance from Bakhmut to Chasiv Yar relatively unmolested by Ukrainian attacks.
QuoteWith precious few anti-tank missiles and artillery shells, the Ukrainians relied on first-person-view drones to bombard the Russians. But those two-pound drones range just two miles or so, and pack just a pound of explosives—too little to pierce the layers of do-it-yourself armor the Russians have been adding to their vehicles.It's all about layered defenses. Having only short-range defenses may be adequate against probing attacks, but don't fare well against heavy assault. But if you add some medium and long-range defenses in the mix, the enemy attackers weather fire earlier, longer, and more intensely - incurring larger losses and much more likely to have their attack falter. Basically, US aid (and aid from other countries) keeps the Ukrainian defenders' biggest guns firing longer, ultimately foiling Russian assaults.
By mid-May, the Ukrainians were much better-armed. So when that assault group tried to cross miles of open fields on Friday, it got hit the whole way—with 100-pound shells, 50-pound missiles and two-pound drones. The few Russians who reached the canal district didn't last long.