Ukrainians are grateful for U.S. military aid. But some ask whether they deserve thanks too

Some Western analysts have been outspoken in their view that as Ukraine struggles on the battlefield, a lack of urgency in providing weaponry has contributed to an inability to break through a maze of deeply entrenched Russian fortifications. “It has obviously been quite slow going,” said Nick Reynolds, a land-warfare expert at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank. “Probably expectations were set too high beforehand, and the Ukrainian government did play into that, as well as pressure from outside.” With the largest war in Europe since World War II unfolding, Reynolds said, “one would have thought more urgency could have been adopted — we’re seeing the results of significant delay.”