Russian forces are surrounding Kyiv, and the United States and its allies will race against time to deliver humanitarian aid and weapons to the country, members of Congress said Monday after briefings on Ukraine.
“The possibility of maintaining supply lines to Ukraine remains alive, but Russia will try to encircle and cut off Kyiv in the next few weeks,” tweeted Senator Chris Murphy (D., Connecticut). “The struggle for Kyiv will be long. and the bloody and the Ukrainians are quickly preparing for street-to-street battles. “
Mr Murphy and other senators were briefed on the events in Ukraine by officials from the Biden administration.
They told lawmakers that Ukrainians have weeks, not months, to successfully resist Russian progress and may need to include guerrilla warfare, according to someone familiar with the matter.
Democrats said they are considering including a package of aid to Ukraine and relief for Covid-19 in the annual bill on public spending until March 11, when the current law on spending expires.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Florida), a senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said after the briefing that March 11 may be too late.
“If you just look at how the troops are deployed … [Mr. Putin] is advancing towards a siege, like the medieval siege of Kyiv, at which point you will have millions of starving people in the city, “Mr Rubio said.
“And my opinion is that we should try to get help as soon as possible. We should not wait until the last second to tie it in the normal course of business,” he said.
Then the challenge is how to get help for Ukrainians.
“Even if you provide help, how do you get it from them? If Western Ukraine, if west of Kyiv is closed, surrounded, how do you provide logistical support in a city like this? How do you provide logistical support to the east of this city? ”Mr Rubio said.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R., South Carolina) called for “air support from Berlin” for the Ukrainian economy and for the supply of weapons to the country. After the end of World War II, the United States and the United Kingdom transferred air supplies to Berlin from Allied air bases in West Germany.
“Don’t be fooled here. Ukrainians have fought bravely. They are 21st century freedom fighters. But Russia’s unused military capacity is huge,” Mr Graham said.
He said he expects the “scorched earth policy” to unfold in the coming days.
“I expect a massacre of Ukrainian citizens by the Russian military … The worst is yet to come militarily,” he said.