Anxiety grips Ukraine as Russia gains ground before pivotal U.S. election

Eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border — Former President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he would "very quickly" end Russia's war on Ukraine. He even promised that, if he wins the U.S. election in November, he'll "get it settled before I even become president."

Many leaders in Ukraine and Europe fear that would mean cutting off the supply of U.S. weapons and trying to force Ukraine's leaders to give up Russian-occupied parts of the country in return for a truce.

From F-16 fighter jets to Patriot missile defense systems and artillery, the U.S. has been the chief supplier of weapons to Ukraine, providing more than $60 billion in military assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in late February 2022.

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CBS News met the troops of Ukraine's 80th Air Assault Brigade in October, close to the Russian border. They were using a birch forest to help cover their positions, and their American-supplied Stryker fighting vehicles armed with .50-caliber American-made machine guns.

Ukrainian forces used the Strykers — each one an 18-ton hulking beast of armor-plated steel — to launch their incursion into Russia's Kursk region in August. The brazen offensive was aimed at weakening Moscow's relentless missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. But just two months later, by some estimates, Russian troops are gaining ground in eastern Ukraine faster than at any other time since the early months of the war.

President Vladimir Putin's forces now control an estimated 20% of territory across eastern Ukraine's Donbas region.

Viktor Zakarov was a truck driver before the war. Now he's a soldier, driving a Stryker. He told CBS News that he was deeply grateful to the U.S. for the Strykers and the other aid.

Asked if he had seen the armored vehicles save Ukrainian lives, he didn't hesitate.

"Seen it, heard it and felt it," he said.

"We never had anything like this before," he said of the vehicles. "It's much more protected."

American weapons have helped hold the Russians back, but any Ukrainian will quickly say they need more weapons, with more reach, to actually push them in the other direction.

"First of all, I want to say a big thank you to all Americans for what we already have," added Zakarov. "Of course, if you ask me what we need? More vehicles, more armored vehicles, to stop Russians slightly further away — hit deeper inside Russia."

The U.S. was supporting Ukraine long before the full-scale war erupted. In 2014, when Ukrainians rose up to topple their pro-Russian government, Sen. John McCain was in Kyiv, telling the country's people: "This is your moment!"

John McCain Street in Ukraine's capital was named in the late senator's honor.

But Putin responded to the toppling of his close ally in Kyiv a decade ago by sending troops into eastern Ukraine. It was then that Russian-backed forces seized control of the Crimean Peninsula and parts of the Donbas, despite protestations from Washington and its European allies. Russia has held those areas ever since — and taken significant new ground around them.

With the results of the U.S. presidential election too close to call and the future of vital American support equally uncertain, the mood in Ukraine has turned gloomy, and anxious.

Halina, who sells fruit and vegetables in Kyiv and worries about her husband off serving on the front lines, told CBS News that Ukraine's forces would hang on, but she hopes they won't have to do it without American backing.

She said she was worried that Trump, if he wins another term in the White House, will cut off the vital American support.
"For us, it's a matter of survival," she said, wiping away tears. "My personal family story — my husband's family is living under [Russian] occupation in the Kherson region… To my family, it matters a lot, this war."

"We are really strong. We will hold on," she said. "We hope America will keep helping us, and not abandon us."

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