Russian President Vladimir Putin confidently expected his invasion of Ukraine to be over in a very short period of time. Nearly a year later, Ukraine continues to fight, embarrassing the Russian dictator on the world stage even as he tries to rally domestic support by harkening back to long-ago victories.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s entreaties to NATO and the West for help finally resulted in commitments to provide tanks, armored vehicles and weapons — but there are worries it’s not in time to defend against Putin’s expected spring offensive. “The arrival of the tanks immediately begs for more combat aircraft overhead, particularly Soviet-era MIG-29s and American F-16s,” writes James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of NATO. “So far, the West has held off supplying aircraft, but that debate is going to heat up soon.”
