FLASH
Shkruar nga Mark Stone
The calculation is that there is now a 10-1 advantage for Russia, as its industrial base is fully operational producing weapons with a capacity close to...
I've had numerous conversations with diplomats and military officials in Washington, DC, and they've all said the same thing: the situation in Ukraine is dire, Russia has the upper hand, and the prospects for Kiev, without more weapons, are bleak.
The Ukrainians have run out of all kinds of weapons, even small arms - bullets for their soldiers' rifles.
Before the House of Representatives approved the $60.8 billion aid package on Saturday, it had been more than 480 days since Congress last passed a bill allowing US weapons to be sent to Ukraine.
Earlier this year there was a White House budget fiasco that freed up a little more money from an existing bill and allowed some more weapons to be shipped. But it wasn't enough.
Analysts say that the recent successes of Russian airstrikes are a consequence of the lack of Ukrainian air defense interceptors.
And on the front line, the imbalance of artillery and shells has increased day by day. The calculation is that there is now a 10-1 advantage to Russia, as its industrial base is fully operational with the production of near-capacity weapons.
Ukraine's energy supply is also under threat as Russia bombs power plants. Current supply is said to be up to 12 gigawatts, far below what the country needs.
The blockade in America has also affected Ukrainian morale. The impact on soldiers on the front line is huge.
Sources closely watching the front line tell me it is not too late to turn things around, but only if an urgent and sustained injection of funds and weapons comes now.
And realists admit that "turning things around" no longer means a complete victory for Ukraine.
It is now widely accepted that all this probably now ends with a solution that would see the conflict frozen somewhere along the front line.
The unknown is where that first line will be placed at the point where a solution becomes possible.
The further west the line is, the more land Russia has taken.
It is also important that the district is wider - from north to south - in the middle, and so the further west the settlement line ends, the longer the border and the more difficult it is for Ukraine to strengthen and defend in the following years. / Adapted Pamphlet from Sky News
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