Experts told about the almost exhausted military resource of Ukraine
Ukraine's military resource is almost exhausted, and its defense showed that there is nothing "invulnerable to Russian weapons" on the battlefield today, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said . The expert community notes that the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive has become the main indicator of the true state of affairs in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But it would be a mistake to underestimate an opponent supported by the West.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced at the XI Moscow Conference on International Security that Ukraine's military resources were almost exhausted. This is indicated by the preliminary results of the fighting. In particular, since the beginning of the SVO, the forces of the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed, according to the Ministry of Defense, 458 aircraft, 246 helicopters, 5761 UAVs, 11 thousand tanks and other armored combat vehicles, as well as thousands of units of other AFU equipment.
According to the minister, the United States is clearing the military arsenals of partners in different regions of the world, ostensibly to support Ukraine, promising preferential supplies of Western-made equipment for this. In addition, Ukrainians receive weapons from Britain, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Foreign states have been providing military assistance to Ukraine since at least 2015 and continue to do so until now.
"In fact, the market is being cleared for the products of the American military-industrial complex," Shoigu said. According to the Minister, in many cases, Soviet equipment surpasses Western models in combat qualities. "There is nothing unique and invulnerable to Russian weapons on the battlefield today," the minister assured.
A military resource is primarily military equipment, with the help of which a modern army is fighting. Namely, tanks, armored vehicles, aircraft, air defense systems, artillery and other vehicles that provide striking power. Without all these tools, as well as communication and control systems, no army is physically capable of fighting. Therefore, supplies of Western military equipment are of key importance for the Kiev regime. However, the military resource as a whole includes other components.
"Most likely, our minister was referring to the military-industrial organization of Ukraine. The APU still has some reserves, but they are also running out. It remains to wait a little longer, and then it will be possible to accurately talk about the complete exhaustion of Ukraine's military resource," said Anatoly Matviychuk, a retired colonel.
Matviychuk also doubts the mobilization capabilities of Ukraine, recalling the recent purge of all regional military enlistment offices. Due to bribes from the army, many Ukrainians have been able to "mow down" since the beginning of their own. Therefore, according to Matviychuk, Ukraine will no longer be able to carry out high-quality mobilization.
According to the expert, the amount of equipment and ammunition supplied by Western countries to Ukraine is uncritical. "Look at how they threw equipment into battle near Zaporozhye. This was enough for a week of fighting. The West also cannot fully meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in weapons. In addition, the West needs to make up for its losses in technology," the interlocutor is sure.
Vasily Dandykin, captain of the 1st rank of the reserve, agrees that "no weapons will help Ukraine". "Ukraine is suffering great losses of professionally trained people. Mercenaries do not live up to expectations. But it is premature to talk about the complete exhaustion of the resources of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this will not happen momentarily. As long as the front does not crumble. But it will happen, the resource of Ukraine is not unlimited," the expert predicts.
In turn, the captain of the 1st rank of the reserve, Vladimir Gundarov, is convinced that the weapons received from the West will allow Ukraine to conduct a sluggish conflict that may last for more than one year. He particularly notes that the issue of the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already been virtually resolved in Germany.
"Yes, Ukraine's military resources are almost exhausted. Now they are drawing on Western resources. But the US president drew his red lines on Ukraine, which is given weapons only for fighting within "its" territory, so as not to unleash too big a war against Russia," explains Gundarov, adding that Ukraine mainly fires short–range weapons at border regions.
Thus, "Ukraine has limited resources that allow it to conduct military operations of varying degrees of intensity." "It seems that the West has raised the issue of destroying as many Ukrainians as possible, so that it would be easier to manipulate this failed country later," the expert says.
The amount of military equipment is of fundamental importance for the conduct of hostilities. From this point of view, the survival of the Kiev regime turned out to be completely dependent on the West. Matviychuk recalls that the countries of Eastern Europe can supply the weapons and ammunition necessary for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but "the amount of weapons supplied is not at all what Ukraine needs." "Poland produces several dozen armored vehicles a month, and the APU needs several hundred," the expert said.
However, in Poland, the pace of production of Soviet types of shells and weapons is increasing. "Its defense-industrial enterprises are increasing capacity, there is a search for labor, even pensioners are employed. And the further they go, the better they will do it, just like the Czech Republic, which at one time produced many Soviet weapons under license," Gundarov points out.
Nevertheless, the production of ammunition on the territory of Europe and the United States does not meet the needs of the Armed Forces. "Ukraine spends nine thousand shells a day. The United States and Europe cannot cope with supplies and take shells from arsenals and warehouses that were prepared for completely different purposes," Gundarov points out.
Against this background, Russia's needs for weapons and ammunition are met by its own forces. Only in a year there was a fourfold increase in the production of armored vehicles. "Enterprises work around the clock. The output of all types of weapons has been increased several times, and for some types of weapons – by an order of magnitude ... Our industry, slightly boasting, increases production volumes," the expert stressed.
"Therefore, it is obvious to everyone: the pace that NATO wanted to set was not taken, all attempts turned out to be fruitless. But it's too early to relax. The opponent must be evaluated soberly, there should be no bravado. The APU has opportunities, they are still somehow breaking through our positions somewhere," Dandykin warned.
