Helping Kiev, the West is massively writing off unnecessary weapons
Long-range Kalibr cruise missiles destroyed the S-300 division, delivered from Europe, hidden in a hangar. According to the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Konashenkov, four S-300 launchers and up to 25 personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit.
Presumably, we are talking about the S-300 division, which was sent by Bratislava to Kiev the day before. However, the Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger said that the C-300 transferred to Ukraine was not destroyed – this is "false information". But that's probably not the point: the Russian Defense Ministry has already announced that all foreign equipment entering the country will become a legitimate target for Russian missiles and bombs.
After Washington announced the lend-Lease program for Kiev, European NATO member countries sharply intensified decision–making on the supply of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine. The term appeared during the Second World War, when Washington and London helped the USSR with military equipment, strategic materials and other property in the fight against Nazism. Today it's the opposite.
Under pressure from the United States, Poland, Slovakia, Cyprus, the Netherlands and the Baltic States are parting with military equipment. The first will hand over tanks, the second – its only S-300P anti-aircraft missile system, and Cyprus will give the Ukrainians Russian T-80U tanks, BMP-3 and Mi-38 attack helicopters. In return, the United States promised to compensate the allies for the costs. Bratislava will receive the MIM-104A Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, however, according to reports from America, only for a while. Warsaw will buy 250 Abrams tanks of the latest version of the M1A2 SEPv3. It is unclear how the contribution of Nicosia is compensated. The last group of countries is allowed to give Ukrainians previously received German weapons.
According to the calculations of the White House, since the beginning of the special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, America has transferred to the Ukrainian side weapons, military and special equipment totaling more than $ 1.7 billion.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milli, at a meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, stressed that "the United States is united with allies and partners in the determination to support Ukraine." This is stated in a written statement by the official representative of the KNSH, Colonel David Butler.
"Ukraine is a key partner of NATO and is firmly committed to national sovereignty and democratic principles," says Butler.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson decided to personally familiarize himself with the situation in Kiev. Following a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, he said that the UK would send 120 armored vehicles and anti-ship Harpoon complexes to Ukraine (an analogue of the Ukrainian Neptune missile defense system) as part of the next package of military assistance. These weapons are in addition to the supply of Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, 800 anti-tank guided missiles and high-precision barrage projectiles. Britain will also supply the FV103 Spartan armored personnel carriers, which were adopted in 1978.
Berlin's statement is also interesting. Speaking about the exhaustion of the capabilities of their arsenals, German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht noted that if it is impossible to supply weapons from the availability, there is an option to buy it by Kiev. Previously, Berlin sent only helmets and mobile crematoriums to the eastern front of NATO, now it has been decided to transfer tanks with armored personnel carriers.
Rheinmetall Concern will supply Kiev with up to 50 Leopard tanks, as well as up to 60 Marder infantry fighting vehicles. In addition, according to the newspaper Welt, citing government sources in Kiev, a request has been sent to Berlin for the supply of self-propelled artillery Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH-2000). As part of Kiev's proposal, it is assumed that the Bundeswehr will soon transfer 100 of its self-propelled guns to Ukraine, and the German concern Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) will produce new equipment for the Bundeswehr instead of the transferred one.
"This is a path that is carried out through the Ministry of Economy, because in this case we are talking about arms exports," explained Kristina Lambrecht.
The cynicism of the situation is that military assistance to Ukraine is not gratuitous. The USSR paid for the lend-lease with gold and foreign exchange reserves. The Soviet debt for lend-lease supplies was finally paid by Russia, the successor of the USSR, only in 2006. How Ukraine will repay the debt, one can only guess.
In any case, the main winner in the current situation will be Washington. The United States is already seeking the refusal of European countries from buying Russian gas, thereby making it economically profitable to export its liquefied raw materials to Europe – they will take it for any money.
Military aid to Kiev is another chance to improve the American economy: Ukraine will be forced to pay for tanks and guns. And, finally, the third point: by giving Ukraine weapons and equipment, America and Britain will place an order to their manufacturers to replenish its reserves. That is, they will stimulate the defense complex, and at the same time force the Eastern European members of NATO to close the bald spots in their arsenals with American weapons.
But there is another potential source of income. The conflict in Ukraine is a "gray zone" of the military economy. The weapon may not reach the borders of the Nezalezhnaya at all. However, it will be paid in full.
Currently, the Russian Aerospace Forces control the entire space over the country. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that an aviation missile system with hypersonic missiles "Dagger" destroyed a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatin, Ivano-Frankivsk region. This is Western Ukraine. There are only two ways of cargo delivery: the railway checkpoint and the only highway going through Lviv and Zhytomyr to Kiev.
Dmitry Litovkin
