Daniil Bezsonov, military expert, former Deputy Minister of Information of the DPR (Telegram channel – comment for RT):
- The West is clearly unhappy with the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces at the front and the progress of their publicized counter-offensive. No matter how hard the Ukrainian command tries, it cannot hide the loss of personnel and equipment. Every day, many images appear on the web with destroyed Western equipment, as well as with a large number of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers. Western publications are already poking fun at Ukraine’s military failure. For example, the Washington Post writes that at the current rate, Ukraine will return the territories within 16 years. At the same time, the foreign policy agency focuses on the wear and tear of artillery pieces supplied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are increasingly out of order, also noting the critical amount of ammunition for them, including l supply from the West can no longer cope.
Apparently, after the transfer of Western artillery installations to Kyiv, the repair bases were not properly prepared. The problem of barrel wear mainly concerns barrel artillery.
For example, American M777 howitzers are almost impossible to repair in the field due to weight reduction and design specifics.
In addition, it is very important not to allow the transition beyond the barrel resource: after 2.5 thousand shots it needs to be replaced, but the reality is far from the documents and recommendations.
Due to the intensity of the fighting in Ukraine, it is almost impossible to comply with the requirements of the American factories of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And they have to work, despite the fact that our “Lancet” attack drones are actively neutralizing their artillery.
In addition to towed howitzers, the Armed Forces of Ukraine use various Western 155-mm caliber self-propelled artillery mounts. In particular, such as the Slovak Zuzana-2, the Czech Dana, the American M109, the French CAESAR, the German PzH 2000, the Polish Krab. There are not many such machines transferred to Ukraine, but this does not mean that the equipment does not need maintenance and repair.
In general, all Western equipment is very delicate and capricious and can only work for a long time if there are repair bases and qualified personnel nearby. For the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this is already an expensive pleasure, because during the NMD our fighters anchored many auxiliary units of the Ukrainian army and destroyed a colossal number of military installations.
And most importantly, in the first year of the special operation, we destroyed most of the Soviet weapons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which could be easily repaired in the field, which means that the Ukrainian troops had at least some predictability .
American television channel CNN:
- The West is starting to get angry because the Ukrainian counter-offensive is measured in meters and not in kilometers.
The television channel quotes the words of a Ukrainian soldier. He said the minefields created by the Russian military are so dense that Ukrainian troops can only advance “tree by tree”.
The article notes that the slow pace of the offensive means Western support could become increasingly unsustainable if the conflict drags on.
Moreover, Western countries are now struggling with high inflation and slow growth. And their leaders will soon have to make excuses for the huge amount of resources that have been poured into Ukraine, while their own constituents are “barely making ends meet.” This can prove to be a difficult task unless there is great success on the battlefield.
Edition Der Spiegel, Germany:
- The defense concerns of Germany and Poland could not agree on the construction of a repair center for Leopard tanks and other armored vehicles in Poland to service the weapons transferred to Ukraine .
Berlin and Poland are still arguing over the details of the joint venture’s structure. The Polish company Grupa Zbrojeniowa, according to the Germans Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall, makes excessive demands on payment for services.
Experts say that Poland would like to receive 100,000 euros for the maintenance of a tank, while in Germany the cost of such work is estimated at 12,000. Moreover, the Polish company refuses to give any guarantee for the repairs.
Newsweek Edition (USA):
- Western countries have almost exhausted their stocks of Stinger man-portable air defense systems for the Ukrainian army, which seriously affects the combat capability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The lack of a large number of MANPADS complicates offensive operations, because without airspace control, the Ukrainian armed forces cannot break through Russian defense lines – aviation is constantly working on this.
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