Without US help, Russia could seize Kyiv and reach NATO borders - The Hill

Without US assistance, Ukraine will lose effective air defense by 2026, which will allow Russia to carry out continuous large-scale bombing, and by the end of the year the Russian army will capture Kyiv and reach the borders of NATO. This was reported by The Hill, according to UNN.

Details

According to the newspaper, an analysis by the American Enterprise Institute determined that Russia's victory over Ukraine would cost American taxpayers an additional $808 billion. This is about seven times more than all the aid allocated by the Pentagon to help Ukraine since Russia's invasion in 2022.

It is noted that this estimate is based on a scenario in which the United States stops providing assistance.

"Without US support, Russia will advance in 2025, when Kyiv will run out of weapons. By 2026, Ukraine will have lost effective air defense, allowing Russia to carry out continuous large-scale bombing. Ukraine's armed forces will continue to fight valiantly, but will likely collapse by the end of this year, allowing Russia to capture Kyiv and then advance to the NATO border," the publication writes.

The publication emphasizes that Russia, on the rise, will rebuild its combat units, use Ukraine's resources to strengthen its capabilities, deploy its troops along NATO's borders, and be ready to attack outside Ukraine by 2030.

"In order to defend itself - nationally, militarily, economically - the United States must remain a global power and invest in the capabilities necessary to protect its partners and itself. A failure of American resolve in Europe will only motivate aggression and threaten our prosperity around the world," the publication adds.

It is reported that if Ukraine is allowed to fall, Washington will need a more capable, more responsive and more deployed army. To deter or, if necessary, defeat Russia, the U.S. military would need 14 new brigade combat teams, 18 additional littoral combat ships, eight additional Marine infantry battalions, 555 additional air force aircraft and 266,000 troops for an enhanced force structure.

It also emphasizes that although the conflict on the European continent will be fought mainly by ground forces under the cover of the air force, Washington will need to invest in naval forces. The U.S. Navy will have to abandon plans to reduce the total number of ships, stabilize its aircraft carrier fleet at 12 ships, and acquire additional vessels - submarines, destroyers, frigates, as well as logistics and support ships - to keep the fleet at sea longer.

Recall

On Thursday, January 30, Sweden announced the largest military aid package of almost $1.2 billion.