Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish, but in July he approved a law moving Christmas in Ukraine from January 7, the date in the Eastern Orthodox calendar, to the Western celebration day of December 25. See that, Moscow? All the indications are, however, that while Christmas may come sooner in Ukraine this year, it is going to be a bleak one.

Mike McCord, the comptroller of the U.S. Department of Defense, informed Congress on December 15 that $1 billion of military aid will be released by the end of the month but, without legislative authorization, there is no more money for Ukraine.

A supplemental appropriations package before Congress contains an additional $61 billion, as well as funding for Israel and for border security, but it was blocked by Senate Republicans and, with the House already in recess, there will be no movement before Christmas. Zelenskyy travelled to Washington to plead in person for continued aid but left empty-handed.

It is increasingly clear that Ukraine is facing a crisis. The counteroffensive that began amid bullish defiance in June has made pitiful progress. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, admitted last month that the front line has become a First World War–style stalemate. Minefields and withering barrages from Russian artillery meant that Ukrainian forces were only able to advance 17 kilometers in five months. They had........

© The Hill