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Kyiv under fire as Western support wavered
Summary
A look back at 13 December 2023, when a missile attack on the capital coincided with doubts over aid from Washington and Budapest.
What did Ukraine's partners offer on 13 December 2023, and what did the country face while they debated? On that date, a Russian ballistic missile attack in Kyiv injured more than 50 people, part of Russian strikes against infrastructure.
The attack came as the politics of support abroad grew harder. On 11 December 2023, United States Senator JD Vance said Ukraine should be willing to give up part of its territory to end the war. Vance and other Republicans opposed the aid package proposed in the United States Congress for Ukraine.
Pressure from the right
The same day, representatives of Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán met United States Republicans in Washington. The subject of their talks was ending EU and US military support to Ukraine. Seen together, the two developments showed opposition to aid taking shape on both sides of the Atlantic while missiles were still hitting the capital.
A naval gift with a catch
Support did continue elsewhere. On 11 December 2023, the United Kingdom announced it would donate two Royal Navy Sandown-class minehunters to Ukraine. The Sandown class is a group of fifteen minehunters built primarily for the Royal Navy, with a primary mine countermeasures role and a secondary role as offshore patrol vessels.
Doubts were raised at the time over the logistics and timing of their arrival, because Turkey controls access to the Black Sea through the Bosphorus. A donation could be announced quickly; delivering the ships was a separate question.
What the day showed
The picture on 13 December 2023 was one of contrast. Kyiv was absorbing another ballistic missile strike that left dozens injured. Meanwhile, the aid that Ukraine relied on was being questioned by Republican politicians in Washington and by envoys of the Hungarian prime minister, while one concrete British pledge faced questions about how it would reach the Black Sea. The stakes of the debate over assistance were set against the physical damage inflicted on the capital.
