Ukrainians on the front line dismiss new aid from US saying it will only prolong the war.

 

Ukrainians mourn a dead soldier. The Daily Beast/Reuters.

Ukrainians on the front line dismiss new aid from the United States saying it will only prolong the war. The Daily Beast. One civilian said "are you serious? Now this war will just continue" when informed that Congress had passed a new aid package. Another said that the money would be a drop in the bucket and doubted new weapons would stop the Russians from winning. A third man lamented the corruption in Ukraine and said the money from Congress will go to the wrong people, and detailed a personal experience with corruption. A woman said that she actually supported Russia and didn't care which side won. Finally a soldier who was in treatment in a mental ward for PTSD and a psychotic break said with tears in his eyes that the new weapons would not help. The interviews by The Daily Beast occurred in Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, a city that is likely to be Russia's next target and is under heavy attack. 

My Comment:

Some rare real journalism from the Daily Beast. They are not an outlet I use often since they are mostly biased, but in this case it's a good viewpoint that you rarely see in western media. I will give the Daily Beast credit for showing another side of the conflict and being fair to both sides as they also gave the more mainstream opinion that the aid will actually do something. 

Is this opinion widespread in Ukraine? It's hard to tell. It's important to note that Kharkov is a city that mostly speaks Russian and has a lot of Russian people. It's also near the front lines and is under frequent attack, unlike cities in Western Ukraine. Even Kiev has been less affected by the war than Kharkov has been. 

I am guessing that the people in Kiev don't share there views, for what should be obvious reasons. Those folks are mostly sheltered from the worst effects of the war and are where much of the graft and corruption is being sent too. And many of them are racists that hate both Russia and Russians and want the war to continue at all costs. 

But I think that the people The Daily Beast interviewed are pretty much right. Russia is pretty obviously winning the war and a few billion dollars in aid and weapons is not going to matter. Russia has a huge advantage in manpower and technology and has been steadily rolling back Ukrainian lines since their failed offensive last year. 

I do have to say that the human tragedy here is immense. Most of the folks interviewed by The Daily Beast had a rough time of it. The soldier interviewed was clearly traumatized and broken and probably had some serious physical damage along with the mental damage. He said he had 30 concussions and was still fighting on the front lines, which just shows how bad Ukraine's manpower issue is. And everyone seems to have lost someone...

I also think that they are right, peace talks should be happening. There is no reason for this war to continue until the last Ukrainian soldier is dead. And Ukraine itself would probably get a better settlement if they negotiate an end to the war instead of a unconditional surrender, which is now the most likely outcome for this war. But the Biden Administration won't allow any serious discussion with Russia to end the war, which means that everyone interviewed in this story will probably end up dead or crippled...