This caused a rift between the Ukrainians and their [[Western alliance|Western backers]], who were frustrated at Ukrainians’ desire to keep their people alive. A mid-July 2023 ''[[New York Times]]'' article<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/us/politics/ukraine-war-cluster-munitions.html</ref> reported that US officials were privately frustrated that Ukraine had become too afraid of dying to fight effectively. The officials worried that Ukrainian commanders “feared casualties among their ranks”, and had “reverted to old habits” rather than “pressing harder”. A later ''Times'' article<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/us/politics/ukraine-russia-war-casualties.html</ref> repeated [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]’s worries that Ukrainians were too “casualty-averse”. | This caused a rift between the Ukrainians and their [[Western alliance|Western backers]], who were frustrated at Ukrainians’ desire to keep their people alive. A mid-July 2023 ''[[New York Times]]'' article<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/us/politics/ukraine-war-cluster-munitions.html</ref> reported that US officials were privately frustrated that Ukraine had become too afraid of dying to fight effectively. The officials worried that Ukrainian commanders “feared casualties among their ranks”, and had “reverted to old habits” rather than “pressing harder”. A later ''Times'' article<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/us/politics/ukraine-russia-war-casualties.html</ref> repeated [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]’s worries that Ukrainians were too “casualty-averse”. |