MOSCOW, 28 Mar - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz.Railway trains and automobile convoys with Western weapons are moving to Ukraine across the Polish border almost daily. NATO is trying to hastily restore the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and thereby slow down the Russian special operation. However, it is very difficult to do this — during a month of fighting, the Ukrainian security forces suffered huge losses in heavy equipment, which simply has nothing to replace.
Restore air defense
NATO does not spare money for the APU. In the coming days, the United States plans to begin deliveries within the framework of the largest package of military assistance worth $ 800 million: small arms, anti-tank and portable anti-aircraft systems, radars for counter-battery warfare, ammunition, personal protective equipment. Something was sent before, but now Washington has expanded the range.
According to the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing sources in the Pentagon, Kiev will be provided with heavy equipment for the first time. So far, we are talking about Soviet air defense systems that were in service with the Warsaw Pact countries and are well known to Ukrainian specialists. Over the decades, the Americans have collected a good "collection": dozens of Osa, Tor-M2, Buk, S-300V air defense systems.
The United States is persuading its allies to help with modern air defense systems. For example, they asked Turkey to transfer the Russian-made S-400 air defense system to Kiev. In exchange, they promised their own, as well as the return of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter to the program. Ankara refused, explaining that it did not want to spoil relations with either Russia or Ukraine.
Russian paratroopers demonstrate portable NLAW anti-tank guided missiles captured in combat against Ukrainian servicemen in Ukraine. Freeze frame video
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The European Union is also actively arming the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which has allocated a billion euros from the European Peace Fund for this. Germany plans to ship two thousand Panzerfaust grenade launchers from the reserves of the Bundeswehr. On the eve of the EU, G7 and NATO summits, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the dispatch of six thousand NLAW and Javelin anti-tank missile systems. Earlier, London has already delivered about four thousand ATGMs. According to the local press, this threatens a shortage in the British army itself.
Destroy on the way
Of course, Russia is reacting. The ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, pointed out that Kiev receives lethal means in a simplified manner and this threatens "the spread of missile weapons transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine across the European Union and neighboring regions." For example, terrorists with Stinger MANPADS will become a big problem for civil aviation.
Ukrainian military in protective suits
Image Source: © AP Photo / EFREM LUKATSKY
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in turn, stressed that any military cargo arriving in Ukraine is considered as legitimate targets. There is no doubt that the Russian army is capable of striking at the western part of the country. Thus, the Yavorovsky test site in the Lviv region, which was used for cruise missiles in March, is located just 25 kilometers from the Polish-Ukrainian border.
"The strike on the Yavorovsky training ground clearly showed that we are serious," military expert Alexey Leonkov notes. — And we will not allow any indulgences in the issue of supporting military operations on the territory of Ukraine with weapons or mercenaries. When our intelligence finds camouflaged warehouses or columns, they are destroyed. And Western countries should clearly understand this."
Colossal losses
However, there are few arms supplies to President Vladimir Zelensky. At the NATO summit, he said: Kiev needs military assistance without restrictions. And he added that the alliance could share one percent of its tanks and aircraft with Ukraine. It is unlikely that his wish will be fulfilled. Ukrainian tankers and pilots do not know how to handle Western equipment. And NATO will not risk sending crews, as this is a direct clash with Russia.
Zelensky can be understood. During the month of hostilities, the AFU lost thousands of units of military equipment, which there is nothing to replace in combat units. According to the reports of the Russian Defense Ministry, 1,572 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles have already been destroyed. That's a lot. According to the annual analytical report of The Military Balance, until February 24, Ukraine had about 2,400 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers.
Artillery also suffered heavy losses: 160 multiple rocket launchers, 633 guns and mortars (there were about 1770). In addition, 189 out of 320 anti-aircraft missile systems were hit. The vast majority of the surviving SAMs are not combat-ready and do not threaten Russian aviation in any way.
The Ka-52 helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces during a combat mission during a special military operation in Ukraine. Freeze frame video
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
But the Ukrainian Air Force actually ceased to exist. Of the 215 planes and helicopters, 184 will never take off. In addition, the VKS and the Russian military air defense shot down 246 drones of various purposes in the air, including the Bayraktar TB2 strike of Turkish production.
