Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has published a bold shopping list to address major equipment shortages and repel Russian forces pounding Ukrainian troops with heavy artillery barracks in the eastern Donbas region. “To be honest – we need a heavy weapons exchange to end the war,” Podolyak said Monday, explaining what that means in a list posted on Twitter that included 1,000 155mm shells, 300 multi-launcher missile systems and 500 . Western countries have promised plenty of military as well as humanitarian aid since Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine 100 days ago. However, much less than the allocated funds have been spent on military equipment, while logistics and training issues mean that the kit has reached even less in the front line of Ukraine. “For months now, the United States and other allies have been aware of the situation,” said Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister who advises the government on security, referring to Kiev’s forces not having enough help to prevail. “I sincerely hope we hear something on Wednesday.”
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In the first round of so-called Ramstein defense talks held in April at a US air base in Germany, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin vowed that Western countries would “continue to move heaven and earth” to supply Ukraine with weapons for to defend. A new round of such arms co-ordination talks will take place in Brussels on Wednesday on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers. However, Ukrainian fighters no longer have basic ammunition, such as artillery missiles. A stockpile of 152mm missiles it has used in its artillery since Soviet times has been depleted, leaving it to rely on NATO 155mm equipment. Ukraine now has an abundant supply of 155mm missiles, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said last Friday, but does not have enough artillery to fire them. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says Ukraine does not have the artillery needed to repel Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region © Oleksandr Klymenko / Reuters Podolyak estimates that Ukraine needs 1,000 155 mm projectiles – long-range artillery launchers – to defeat Russian forces. However, the West has provided or promised only about 250 shells, according to Oryx, a reputable open source intelligence team that monitors casualties and supplies on the battlefield. On Sunday, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, requested in a telephone conversation with General Mark Milley, Chief of General Staff, more and faster deliveries of military aid. “Nevertheless, we continue to hold our ground,” he told his US counterpart, reiterating Kiev’s need for “more 155mm artillery systems as soon as possible.” There is a similar difference for other heavy weapons, such as tanks and multiple missile launchers, which have a longer range than conventional artillery. Earlier this month, the United States and the United Kingdom pledged a handful of advanced MRLs to each other. “The skilful use of artillery by the Ukrainians enabled them to keep the Russians under control,” said a Western defense adviser. “They show great ingenuity in incorporating new policy technology,” such as Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system, to enable companies on the battlefield. But he added: “The problems with the supply of weapons and their ammunition are intense.” Ukraine says its casualty figures have skyrocketed to as many as 200 soldiers killed in just a few days. Allow the wounded or missing in battle and the daily score can reach 800. In daily monitoring of the clashes, Rochan, a military consulting firm, wrote that it believed Ukraine’s broadcast of such alarming casualties, coupled with its cries for more military supplies, was designed “to force the West to speed up deliveries.” military equipment and ammunition “. Ukrainian officials disagree with the idea that he is losing. “We are not doing badly at all,” Zagorodnyuk said. “We are holding on [the Russians] in [the Donbas] with a equipment ratio of at least 10 to one. . . they are still unable to move and they are losing people as well. “ To be honest – to end the war we need a parity of heavy weapons: 1000 155 mm caliber projectiles, 300 MLRS, 500 tanks, 2000 armored vehicles, 1000 drones. The meeting of the Contact Group of Defense Ministers takes place in #Brussels on June 15. We are waiting for a decision. – Michael Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) June 13, 2022 Even so, defense officials and analysts agree that Ukraine needs more weapons and more time to train reserves if it is to maintain the fight. Among the difficulties he faces, said Michael Kofman, chief analyst at Russia at the think-tank CNA in the United States, are the supply problems of Western countries themselves, the reluctance of some countries to supply weapons and the time it takes to deliver weapons. in the forehead. lines and for Ukrainian fighters to learn how to use them. “A lot of equipment has been promised in Ukraine and you see a lot on the battlefield,” Coffman told a War on the Rocks podcast. “But there are also significant growing pains in its assimilation and use. . . “First of all, maintenance is a real issue in the maintenance of this equipment.”
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Such issues could contribute to the feeling in Moscow that it could win the war, analysts added. Western differences over military aid and Russian progress in Donbas are based on “brutal violence and [by] “high casualties” among its own troops reinforce that impression, the defense adviser said. The West is also struggling to cope with the cost-of-living crisis, as many European countries also absorb large numbers of Ukrainian refugees. Russia has caused so much economic pain in the West through higher energy and food prices that “Western leaders are thinking about how to persuade him to allow the export of Ukrainian grain – a valuable lever of power,” he said. “Nothing unpleasant has happened yet to cancel it [Vladimir Putin] “Russia can win,” he said. Video: The battle of the radio waves of Ukraine
