The balance of the Ukraine war rests on aid
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
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Summary
Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we talk about the state of the war, and the role foreign aid – or lack thereof – could play in Ukraine’s ability to keep holding off Russia.
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A little over two years ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion into neighboring Ukraine. At first, many thought it would be a brief and brutal defeat, but two years later Ukraine is still hanging on after a series of wins that exceeded expectations. Now, low on ammunition and troops, Ukraine is facing a pivotal moment, as Russia amps up weapon manufacturing.
Today, national security reporter Missy Ryan explains why military aid to Ukraine matters so much, and what’s at stake if Russia wins.
Today’s show was produced by Ariel Plotnick, with help from Sabby Robinson. It was mixed by Sean Carter. It was edited by Maggie Penman. Thank you to Ben Pauker.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm currently at a drone position about 15 kilometers from the front line. |
| 0:11.1 | We have been inside of a small makeshift dugout where a bunch of |
| 0:15.7 | Ukrainian soldiers are monitoring a drone feed. We watched them launch it. It's a |
| 0:22.0 | reconnaissance drone. |
| 0:26.0 | Was that outgoing? |
| 0:27.0 | It's okay? |
| 0:29.0 | Ukrainian? |
| 0:30.0 | Okay. |
| 0:31.0 | I moved quickly. |
| 0:34.0 | That's my colleague, Chavano Grady, reporting from the front lines of the war in Ukraine. |
| 0:39.3 | We watched them launch a large Laleika drone from this position and it was flying about 30 or 40 |
| 0:47.8 | kilometers away to Russian held territory to try to find specific targets. So this drone is not actually targeting specific |
| 0:59.3 | systems, it is just providing better reconnaissance. Chivan has spent two years reporting on this war. |
| 1:08.0 | This weekend marked the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 1:16.0 | It's hard to even remember this now but at the time many signs pointed to this being a brief and brutal war. |
| 1:23.9 | U.S. intelligence and Russian intelligence |
| 1:26.8 | predicted Ukraine would fall in a matter of days. |
| 1:30.0 | Yeah, what strikes me the most is the extent of which |
| 1:32.3 | this has really been a roller coaster in terms of expectations for the outcome of the conflict and really the performance and ability of Ukraine to hold off this far larger military. |
| 1:44.0 | Miss E Ryan covers national security for the post and she says at first |
| 1:49.0 | Ukraine was exceeding everyone's expectations. |
| 1:52.0 | Ukraine was |
... |
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