New Ukraine War Phase Is 'Death by a Thousand Cuts': Former General

The numerous daily Russian attacks on Ukraine are having a cumulative impact on the latter's fighting force, according to a former general who has called for Kyiv's allies to step up their support in the fight against Vladimir Putin's aggression.

The comments by Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major general, came as Russia continues with its "meat grinder" assaults and a push in the north of the Kharkiv region that has seen a spike in casualties among Moscow's troops.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Sunday that the situation near Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast is "tense," and that the heaviest fighting is near Pokrovsk as heavy fighting between the cities has expanded the active front line.

But Ryan told Forces.net that every day, Ukraine's troops had to defend "against dozens and dozens...of individual attacks across hundreds of kilometers of the frontline every day."

"That does slowly but surely weigh down a military and a nation," he told the outlet which published the interview on July 9, "it really is this death by a thousand cuts."

He outlined how Ukraine's ability to fight Russia will be determined by the capacity of its allies in Europe to supply it with weapons and ammunition.

Following the widely condemned Russian missile attack on Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv, Ryan wrote on Substack on July 10 many of Ukraine's allies "act like they are undertaking a large-scale goodwill gesture for a distant, eastern European nation."

"Trickle-feeding support to Ukraine, as has been the case for the last 28 months, is not stopping the war," and this was "not scaring Putin into stopping his aggression."

Despite many countries' generosity in helping Kyiv, "the level of diplomatic, military and financial support is barely meeting the rhetoric of 'defending Ukraine for as long as it takes,'" Ryan said, adding, "that strategy is failing."

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian defense ministry for comment.

At the NATO summit last week, alliance members pledged long-term security assistance of at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) which over the next year will purchase military equipment and pay for its maintenance, logistics, and transportation of military equipment as well as fund training for Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced a bilateral security agreement with Romania which see a Patriot air defense system transferred to Ukraine at an unspecified future date.

Zelensky has also signed deals with Poland and announced on Sunday that security agreements were also being negotiated with the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Ireland.

Meanwhile, the European Commission announced on Saturday that 21 countries and the European Union had formed the Ukraine Compact that backed Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

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