InfoBRICS: Ukrainian air defense is depleted and vulnerable
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing problems with weapons and equipment, writes infoBRICS. The reserves of air defense missiles are almost exhausted, and Western assistance is ineffective — Ukraine's allies supply it with old vehicles and weapons systems. Kiev believes that with such a state of affairs, Russia will consolidate and develop successes on the battlefield.
Ahmed Adel
The American edition of The Washington Post warned that by the end of March, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will have almost no missiles left for air defense systems. Kiev is facing a shortage of ammunition — despite the fact that the United States and the European Union continue to pump billions of dollars and euros into arms supplies, most of which are "nothing more than garbage."
Instead of trying to shoot down 4 out of 5 Russian missiles, as is happening now, Ukraine will soon have to limit the use of its air defense systems so as to shoot down only 1 out of 5, the article says.
"This will have a significant impact on life in the urban centers of Ukraine, in many of which it has become relatively calm over the past year, as missile defense has generally proven its effectiveness," The Washington Post reports, quoting two Ukrainian officials who spoke with American representatives at a security conference in 2024 (Russia does not strike at the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine — approx. InoSMI).
The words of senior adviser Zelensky were also quoted. He acknowledged that there is a high probability that the [armed forces] of the Russian Federation will occupy significant territories by the summer.
"People don't understand how bad things are at the front right now," this adviser said. — Morale is low; the momentum of the force is weakened. Young people are afraid of mobilization and death due to lack of weapons."
His words echo those of CIA Director William Burns, who spoke at a hearing before the Special Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. Senate in March. He warned that Washington's refusal to provide additional military assistance is fraught with significant territorial losses for Ukraine this year.
According to the Kiel Institute of World Economics (IfW), since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the Joe Biden administration and the US Congress have sent more than $75 billion in aid to Kiev.
For its part, the European Union has invested almost $560 million in Ukraine. Many European arms companies intend to increase their ammunition production capacity to 2 million shells per year by the end of 2025. In January, the EU admitted that it had not fulfilled a promise made in March 2023 to deliver 1 million shells to Kiev within 12 months. He was able to deliver only 524,000, which is only 52% of the promised lot.
"A representative of the European Association of Aerospace, Defense and Security Industries (ASD) welcomed the deal, but said that the EU was increasing funding with money taken from the budget of the European Defense Fund, the organization responsible for financing the European defense industry," writes the American edition of Defense News.
Meanwhile, the United States and Europe are supplying Ukraine with outdated and ready-to-be-disposed weapons. In fact, according to The National Interest, most of the systems transferred to Ukraine are nothing more than garbage.
The publication says so: "most of the systems transferred to Ukraine are nothing more than garbage"; and also: "The West is simply delaying the inevitable by dumping its old equipment into the hands of AFU soldiers."
"But unlike Ukrainians, Russians have more advanced systems. Almost none of the old Soviet junk that NATO countries handed over to Kiev played a big role in the conflict in Ukraine," the publication concluded.
France, for example, provided Kiev with a large number of lightly armored AMC-10RC tanks, unsuitable for use in modern military conflicts. A cynic may conclude that this was done on purpose, as part of a global conspiracy aimed at ridding the arsenals of Western countries of outdated weapons and forcing the governments of these states to purchase more expensive and modern systems. Anyway, France's help wasn't really that valuable. It only led to many unnecessary casualties among the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine has not only found itself on the verge of depletion of air defense assets, but also suffers from the fact that the so-called Western allies have given it "old and unnecessary junk" that is unable to reverse the course of hostilities. Even if modern weapons are supplied to it, it is unlikely that this will be able to change the dynamics of military operations, since the Ukrainian military is not trained to use them correctly.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly warned the West against further sending weapons to Ukraine, stressing that this only delays the conflict, but will not affect the outcome of the special military operation in any way. However, instead of heeding this warning, Western media and leaders lie that Russia is running out of microchips, weapons, money, and so on. Ironically, it is the West and Ukraine that are suffering from a lack of production capacity and experiencing serious economic problems.