Sitrep: Defend its cities or fight the war? Ukraine may face some hard choices
The Trump administration's decision to freeze military aid and intelligence to Ukraine may force Kyiv to prioritise critical infrastructure over the lives of its population, an expert has warned.
Maria Avdeeva, a security analyst in Kyiv, said. At the same time, Washington had frozen its support to Ukraine in the apparent pursuit of negotiations to end the conflict, and Russia had shown no intention of seeking such a deal.
"Russia did not stop attacking Ukraine for a second since they invaded more than three years ago," she said. "On the contrary, Russian attacks have intensified.
"And if you look at the frontline soldiers to whom I talked to, they say that Russian attacks only intensified in the last weeks.
"They are doing their best to hold their positions because they say 'we defend our country, our families, which are behind us',"
Ms Avdeeva said Ukrainian troops had told her the Russians were now trying to be more active in grabbing more Ukrainian territory.
Ms Avdeeva explained that Kyiv is coming under attack, leaving the city's residents with long, stressful, and potentially fatal nights ahead.
However, it is not just the chance of Iranian-made Shahed drones clattering into their buildings that Ukrainian civilians have to worry about.
A new fear has emerged since the US freeze - that Ukrainian military leaders may be faced with choosing between protecting lives and keeping the country running.
She said the Ukrainian people were "quite stressed" by the situation as a lot of US military aid was used to defend Ukrainian cities.
"People now say… when there will be a shortage of ammunition, which we will face very soon, then the Ukrainian armed forces will have to decide what they have to defend first," she said.
"Whether this will be residential areas or cities or energy infrastructure or some military side.
"Because when you don't have enough, you have to make priorities, and people feel vulnerable because of this uncertainty if Ukraine will have enough to defend itself."
Washington has made its stance clear, with the aid and intelligence freeze an attempt to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table.
But Ms Avdeeva said Ukraine needs to secure lasting peace in terms that benefit the country – and that cannot happen without military strength.
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