Ukrainian servicemen unload a plane with US Javelin anti-tank missiles at Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport, February 11, 2022 (Sergey Supinsky/AP/Getty)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Can Putin Sustain His Invasion to Conquer Ukraine?

Tuesday’s Coverage: North Korea Celebrates Its Role in Russia’s Invasion

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1309 GMT:

Ukraine has summoned the US Deputy Chief of Mission in Kyiv, John Ginkel, over the Trump Administration’s sudden halt of weapons and other military aid.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha​ told Ginkel, “Any delay or hesitation in supporting Ukraine’s defence capabilities only encourages the aggressor to continue the war and acts of terror, rather than seek peace.”

A Ukrainian official explained, “We counted on many of those systems as they were promised.” He noted the exposure of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure to attack, “That significantly affects our planning.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov applauded the cutoff, “The less weaponry is supplied to Ukraine, the sooner the [invasion] will end.”

UPDATE 0843 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says Col. Serhiy Zakharevych, commander of Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade, was killed in a Russian missile strike near the southern frontline on Tuesday.

There were other fatalities among military personnel and civilians, and 30 people were injured.

The attack came as military commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi announced ban on the concentration of personnel and military equipment, including on training grounds, and on the placement of soldiers in tent camps at training centers.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

Russian forces shelled a hospital in Kherson in southern Ukraine late Tuesday, heavily damaging the building and injuring five patients and three medical staff.

A 44-year-old hospital worker was hospitalized with blast trauma, a concussion, and shrapnel wounds to the chest.

UPDATE 0623 GMT:

Russian forces have likely executed another Ukrainian prisoner of war, says Kyiv’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

Lubinets said in a statement, “A video is circulating on social media showing a man being tied to a motorcycle and dragged along the road. It is a clear act of demonstrative cruelty and yet another war crime by the Russian Federation.”

The ombudsman has sent official letters to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross: “Russia is acting as a terrorist state. And it must be held fairly accountable for every crime.”

Ukrainian officials have documented the execution of more than 150 POWs by the Russians. On Monday, the UN human rights office reported that at least 35 POWs were executed between December and May.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Trump Administration has again halted deliveries of US arms to Ukraine.

Administration officials confirmed Tuesday that they halted shipments of weapons, authorized by the Biden Administration, claiming that there were concerns about American stockpiles.

The supplies reportedly include dozens of Patriot air defense missiles, thousands of 155-mm high-explosive Howitzer munitions, more than 100 Hellfire missiles, more than 250 GMLRS rockets, and dozens each of Stinger surface-to-air missiles, AIM air-to-air missiles, and grenade launchers.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said, “This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe. The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran.”

The Administration has not authorized any new US military aid to Kyiv. At the start of March, days after a verbal ambush of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, it cut off the previously-authorized assistance.

At the start of May, as some Administration officials worked with Ukraine and its European partners to maintain resistance against Russia, the US allowed the shipment of items such as .50-caliber ammunition and parts for F-16 fighter jets.

A US official claimed that a Pentagon review had determined that stocks were too low on some pledged weapons. However, “three people familiar with the issue” said the decision was driven by the Pentagon’s head of policy, Eldridge Colby, a long-time sceptic of aid to Ukraine.

Colby said in a statement, “The Department of Defense continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end.”

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell insisted, “America’s military has never been more ready and more capable….Our weapons and defence systems are modernized to protect against 21st century threats for generations to come.”

At the NATO summit in the Netherlands last week, Donald Trump, empathizing with a Ukrainian journalist whose husband is on the frontline, said he would consider sending Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv.

But the Administration has made no further reference to that statement.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told legislators in June that some US security assistance for Ukraine was still in the pipeline. However, he proclaimed that the aid would be reduced.

The Biden Administration had provided more than $66 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized the Trump suspension:

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus said:

US-made air defense systems, including the Patriot platform, are the centerpiece of Ukraine’s defenses….They work. They save lives every day.

If this reporting is true, then Mr. Colby…is taking action that will surely result in the imminent death of many Ukrainian military and civilians.