'They are winning.' Himes and Blumenthal hopeful after visit to Ukraine
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Jim Himes told Ukrainians in Stamford on Monday that momentum is shifting in the war. The two leaders spent five days on the front lines this month.
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The tide is turning in Ukraine's war with Russia after four long years, according to two Connecticut leaders who just returned from the front lines.
On Monday, Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Richard Blumenthal told Ukrainians in Stamford that there is reason for hope – but the U.S. war with Iran is complicating the situation.
TIDE IS TURNING?
Blumenthal has long advocated for additional funding for the war. Although this was his tenth trip to Ukraine, the human toll remains stunning.
“We met with children who have been abducted,” he said. “Nothing is more heartbreaking than to meet with children who’ve been kidnapped by Russians, put in ‘education camps.’”
But Blumenthal and Himes noticed something else on their trip earlier this month - Ukrainians feel hopeful.
“They sense that they are winning,” Himes said. “Their development of drone technology. Their ability to strike targets deep in Russia.”
Ukraine is now developing its own drones commanded from multiple locations, inflicting damage on Russian supply lines and even striking targets in Moscow.
“It’s our biggest advantage and why it’s so hard for Russia to destroy this program, because we split up,” Ukraine’s deep strike commander, “Vector,” told CNN earlier this month. “We don’t have any command centers, and we use dozens of places.”
MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY
Both leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who asked for more anti-ballistic weapons systems.
“He wants additional interceptors to try to protect his cities from incoming missiles, where they are landing on schools and hospitals,” Himes said.
A massive Russian barrage last Monday severely damaged the centuries-old Monastery of the Caves.
President Donald Trump has openly questioned whether Ukraine can win the war – but he may soon let American companies build air defense missiles there, according to the Kyiv Independent.
“Everyone agrees that we currently have all the technical capabilities to start producing missiles for the Patriot systems. For this, we need licenses from the United States," Zelenskyy told the newspaper. “President Trump plans to ask American defense companies to manufacture missiles for air defense systems under licenses in Europe and Ukraine.”
WAR IN IRAN
Getting more weapons into Ukraine faces a big complication – the U.S. war in Iran.
“We used so many of the interceptors that we might have otherwise given the Ukrainians to save lives in Kyiv, we used them in the Persian Gulf,” Himes said.
The U.S. stockpile is so depleted that Trump invoked the Defense Production Act last week to force defense companies to manufacture more weapons.
“Those last two days were brutal. $200 million worth of bombs,” Trump said at the G7 Summit last week.
Blumenthal believes that, with help, Ukraine will be less dependent on the U.S.
“It is becoming more and more self-sufficient,” he said, “It is now manufacturing its own drones. It will begin its own air defense munitions, [but] the war in Iran is a setback for Ukraine because it has absorbed some of the air defense and other munitions that could have gone to Ukraine.”
