Ukraine is already preparing for a long war of attrition in the face of Russia’s inability to achieve its military goals in the first 11 months of the campaign, awaiting backing this week from NATO, whose members have promised kyiv tanks.
“Russia’s preparations for a protracted war mean the enemy’s understanding that his plan for the rapid conquest of Ukraine is not achievable. That is why (Russian President Vladimir) Putin now values a long war of attrition,” he reported. Ukrainian military intelligence on Monday.
kyiv believes that the battle of Soledar, a Donetsk town assaulted a few days ago by Russian troops after several months of offensive, is an example of this new Russian strategy.
Solding, The First Step
The Ukrainian Intelligence spokesman, Andrei Yusov, explained that Russia is designing a “war economy” and trying to make its citizens aware that the conflict is going on for a long time.
Instead, he stressed, both Ukraine and the Western powers are not interested in dragging out military actions. In fact, kyiv is looking for a victory or, at least, a turning point on the battlefield in 2023.
After the withdrawal, first from the eastern region of Kharkov and then from southern Kherson, Russian troops have dedicated themselves to fortifying their positions fearing a new Ukrainian offensive against the territories annexed by the Kremlin.
In this strategy of buying time until the mobilized reservists can fight, the role of the private military company Wagner is crucial, which was the one that took Soledar with small assault units and the invaluable help of inmates.
Although kyiv assures that his troops continue to resist in that town, Wagner reported today that, after the victory in Soledar, he is now advancing towards the important Ukrainian bastion of Bakhmut.
Ukraine, Guest Of Nato
The Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine meets on Friday at the Ramstein air base (Germany) chaired by the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
The main guest is Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who will meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
kyiv needs several hundred tanks and main battle tanks to retake the occupied territories. After the US (50 Bradley), Germany (40 Marder) and France (AMX-10 RC), the UK also promised 14 Challenger 2 tanks over the weekend.
Germany is the most criticized by the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, and his allies for its reluctance to supply kyiv with the quintessential European tank, the Leopard. Amid the controversy, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced her resignation on Monday.
Precisely, one of the tasks of her successor will be to decide on sending these tanks to Ukraine after Berlin already delivered the Gepard and Marder tanks to kyiv.
In this regard, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, today in Berlin urged the German government to supply all kinds of weapons to Ukraine and stated that there is no reason to block support for kyiv.
“The defeat of Ukraine could become the prelude to World War III. Therefore, today there is no reason to block support for kyiv and delay it indefinitely. I call on the German government to act decisively and supply all kinds of weapons to Ukraine,” he said.
Morawiecki recalled that “Ukrainians are not only fighting for their freedom, but also to defend Europe” and described relations with Russia as a “devil’s pact”.
Suddenly, Ukrainian soldiers have begun training on US soil, specifically in Oklahoma, in the use of the Patriot anti-aircraft batteries that Washington has promised to send to Ukraine.
Kremlin Warnings
The Russian leader criticized this Monday in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine.
“Putin drew attention to the destructive line of the kyiv regime, which is betting on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors increasing supplies of weapons and military equipment,” the Kremlin reported.
This same Monday, the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, warned that the British Challenger 2 tanks “will burn like the rest” of Western weapons.
The Kremlin added that new arms supplies to Ukraine will not be able to influence “the situation on the ground” and “may only lengthen the story and cause greater harm to the Ukrainian state.”
Ukraine, which has been using T-72 tanks for decades, has received more than 230 modernized Soviet tanks from Poland and the Czech Republic, but has yet to receive Western main battle tanks.
This article is originally published on cooperativa.cl