Kyiv:

Ukraine’s new army chief said on Wednesday that the situation on the frontline was “extremely difficult” as delays in much-needed U.S. military aid cast a shadow over how long Kiev’s troops can hold out.

The 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) frontline has barely moved in more than a year, with Kiev’s army back on the defensive after a failed counteroffensive last year and military leaders acknowledging Russia’s manpower advantage.

The warning came as Kiev said it had destroyed another Russian warship in the Black Sea, the latest in a series of successful attacks against the Russian naval fleet.

“The operational environment is extremely complex and stressful. The Russian occupiers continue to increase their efforts and have numerical superiority in personnel,” Commander-in-Chief Alexander Silsky said on Wednesday.

It was Sirski’s first visit to the front since he replaced the popular Valery Zaluzhny last week in a major military reshuffle.

Shirsky, along with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, inspected troops fighting around Avdievka, a major flashpoint in Russia’s ongoing campaign to seize the city.

“Do whatever it takes”

“We are doing everything possible to prevent the enemy from penetrating deep into our territory,” Shirski said in a social media post, adding that his troops were operating in “extremely difficult conditions.”

Russian military bloggers and local officials said the Ukrainian military appeared to be conserving ammunition due to a shortage of supplies.

Ukraine relies on Western, mainly U.S., support to fund and equip its armed forces with the artillery shells, bullets, rockets, tanks and air defense systems needed to defend against Russian attacks.

But the latest multibillion-dollar aid package has been stalled in the U.S. Congress since last year amid political wrangling, threatening to weaken Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

The U.S. Senate this week approved $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, but it’s unclear whether it will win support in the House of Representatives.

boat was hit

Kiev insists it remains strong in the face of a new Russian offensive, although doubts remain about the future of Western support.

“Despite the difficult situation, the Ukrainian defense forces inflicted heavy losses on the enemy,” Silsky said on Wednesday.

One of the losses occurred seemingly overnight in the Black Sea, where Ukraine said it sank a Russian warship off the southern coast of Crimea.

Kiev’s military intelligence service and its armed forces said they “destroyed” the landing ship Kaiser Kunikov in an attack using naval drones.

The attack “created a serious hole in the left side and (the ship) began to sink,” the GUR intelligence agency said.

It released a video of what it said was a maritime drone approaching a Russian ship, followed by an explosion and fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment and typically does not respond to Ukrainian claims that the operation was successful.

But Russian military bloggers with close ties to the armed forces said the ship was likely hit by Ukrainian forces.

As the land conflict stalls, Ukraine has found success in the Black Sea – sinking several Russian warships near the annexed Crimean peninsula and reopening commercial routes for its agricultural exports.

“The Black Sea Fleet has proven time and time again to be incompetent and unable to repel attacks by Ukrainian formations,” blasted the Rybar Telegram channel, one of Russia’s largest pro-war accounts.

Separately, Ukrainian officials said a Russian rocket struck a hospital, killing at least three people, including a pregnant woman and a child.

Ukraine’s general prosecutor said the attack in the eastern town of Selidov killed a 38-year-old pregnant woman, another woman and her 9-year-old son.

About a dozen people were also injured in the strike, including a six-month-old child.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)