The hesitation in literally everything screwed them. It makes no sense to me why countries postured and bickered so much on cold war era junk being used in probably the only chance they'll have to be dusted off.

From the article:

U.S. officials reject criticisms that F-16 fighter jets or longer-range missile systems such as ATACMS would have resulted in a different outcome. “The problem remains piercing Russia’s main defensive line, and there’s no evidence these systems would’ve been a panacea,” a senior administration official said.