SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — As Russian troops closed in on the metropolis of Avdiivka final week, Ukrainian forces have been hunkered down and making life-and-death calculations with their dwindling shares of ammunition: Ought to they fireplace extra artillery shells to fend off the Russians – or guard their shares earlier than they ran out? Ultimately, Russia’s firepower proved an excessive amount of for the Ukrainians; the Russians gained two footholds in Avdiivka, forcing commanders to desert a place their troops had held at the price of hundreds of lives. Late final week, they ordered a full retreat from the battered metropolis, handing Russia its most important battlefield victory in additional than a yr.
The lack of Avdiivka was maybe the conflict’s most profound instance of what Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan has referred to as a “math downside” for Ukraine: the truth that the variety of artillery shells its forces use in a given day has challenged the power of Western supporters to maintain up the provision. However with the destiny of all U.S. navy help now up within the air, Avdiivka’s fall additionally presents a case examine for what could comply with.
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