'If we stop, we die': Ukraine's struggling soldiers emboldened by renewed U.S. support NBC News Top Stories By: Richard Engel and Marc Smith and Natasha Lebedeva and Keir Simmons and Freddie Clayton 17 June 2024 at 06:50 For the Ukrainian soldiers battling Russiaβs offensive in Donetsk and Kharkiv, signs of renewed Western support are more than just diplomatic results to combat Putin's peace plan. Β© Marc SmithDmytro Pryimak onboard an Abrams tank close to the front lines in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Β© Jose ColonUkrainian soldiers fire artillery in the direction of the Russian border in the Kharkiv region earlier this month. The decision to let Ukraine strike some targets inside Russia with American weapons has bolstered the country's defenses in the area. Β© Sedat SunaZelenskyy at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Switzerland on Sunday.