Ukraine is at great risk of its front lines collapsing, Politico reports, amid ongoing critical shortages of weapons and ammunition in the Ukrainian military.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently warned that if a $60 billion package blocked by the US Congress soon does not reach Kiev, the Russian army will launch an offensive and Ukrainian forces may have to cede more territory, including major cities.< /p>
Essentially everything now depends on where Russia decides to direct its force in the offensive expected to begin this summer. According to senior Ukrainian officers who served under General Valery Zaluzhny, the military picture to date is bleak. They warn that Ukrainian frontline defenses may collapse.
Russia has been attacking for weeks with guided bombs, and it also has much more manpower. According to them, at the moment “nothing can help Ukraine”, because Kiev does not have the technological superiority with which to compensate for the vast majority of enemy troops.
Only Ukrainian courage and resilience, as well as the mistakes of Russian commanders, can now change the dark dynamics. Mistakes like the one made on Saturday, when Russia launched one of its biggest tank attacks on Ukrainian positions since the start of its full-scale invasion. Ukraine routed the Russian column, with the Russians believed to have lost 1/3 of their tanks in this attack, as well as dozens of soldiers.
Senior Ukrainian military officials, speaking to Politico on condition of anonymity, said both the West and Ukraine have made mistakes in this war. According to them, it is wrong to think that the Russians are just throwing their soldiers into the meat grinder at the front. Yes, they do, but they are also very successful at learning from their mistakes and correcting themselves.
The big problem for Kiev is that it is not getting weapons from the West on time and when they need them most. For example, Ukraine has yet to receive Western fighter jets, and the full-scale war launched by Vladimir Putin is now in its third year. “Each weapon has its own exact time,”, says a Ukrainian military officer. “We have been telling the Western partners all along that we have combat experience, we have an understanding of the battlefield for this war. [They] have the resources and should give us what we need,” said the military official, who requested anonymity to speak freely about Ukraine's problems.
Now Kiev needs artillery shells and drones. Europe has been trying to help Ukraine compensate for its colossal shortfall in artillery shells, but so far to no avail. Ukraine, for its part, has not yet mobilized, as authorities worry about the political consequences of such a decision. And Zaluzhny, before he was fired, said that the army needs fresh blood, at least 500,000 people.
Russia is now gathering resources and will be ready to launch a major attack around August, perhaps earlier.