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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
The Washington Post warned that Ukraine could run out of missiles for air defence systems by the end of March. This desperate situation emerged despite the fact that the United States and the European Union continue to dump billions of dollars and euros into weapons for Ukraine’s futile war efforts against Russia, most of which have been described as “little more than junk.”
Due to the current low number of missiles, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will soon be forced to shoot down just one in every five Russian missiles instead of trying to shoot down the majority, the American newspaper reported on March 15.
“That would have a significant effect on life in Ukraine’s urban centres, many of which have assumed a relative normalcy over the last year as missile defence has generally proved effective,” The Washington Post quoted two Ukrainian officials as telling US officials at a security conference this year.
The newspaper also cited a senior adviser to Zelensky as saying that Russia will likely make significant territorial gains against Ukraine by the summer.
“People don’t understand how bad the front is right now,” the adviser said. “The morale is low; the momentum is low. Young men are afraid they will be mobilised to die because of a lack of weapons.”
This aligns with what US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said when speaking to lawmakers earlier in March. He warned that without US aid, Ukraine’s territorial losses this year will be “significant” and that time is running short as the summer is approaching.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research organisation, the Biden administration and the US Congress have directed about $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s special military operation.
At the same time, the EU is dumping almost $560 million towards Ukraine again after naming a host of local ammunition firms that will expand production in an attempt to achieve an annual output of two million shells by the end of 2025. It is recalled that the EU admitted in January that it had not fulfilled the promise made in March 2023 to supply one million shells in a year to Ukraine, with the total number standing at 524,000, just 52% of the promised batch.
Defense News reported that “a spokesman for the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) welcomed the deal but claimed the EU was bulking up the funding with money taken from the budget of the European Defence Fund – the EU body charged with funding defence technology in the bloc.”
In the meantime, the US and Europe supply Ukraine with obsolete weapons that must be retired. In fact, according to The National Interest, most of the platforms being given to Ukraine are little more than junk.
The article’s author points out that “most of the platforms being given to Ukraine are little more than junk” and that “the West is just prolonging the inevitable by dumping their old equipment into the laps of the Ukrainians.”
He admits that “the Russians also possessed more advanced systems” than the Ukrainians and that “almost none of the old Soviet-era junk that NATO nations handed over to Ukraine made much of a difference in the Ukraine War.”
After pointing out how France flooded Ukraine with the “unsuitable” and “flimsy” AMC-10RC armoured vehicles, the author says, “A cynical person might conclude this was purposeful, part of a larger plot to drain Western arsenals of weapons platforms deemed obsolete to force those governments to purchase more expensive, modern systems from the defence contractors of the West,” adding that “France’s help wasn’t really all that helpful. It just got many Ukrainians needlessly killed.”
In effect, not only is Ukraine on the verge of running out of weapons, crucially missiles, the weapons it has been receiving from its so-called Western allies have been obsolete and junk that are not capable of changing the course of Russia’s final victory. Even if advanced weapons were to be supplied, it is unlikely that even top-quality Western weaponry would turn the tide of the conflict since the Ukrainian military is not trained to use them properly.
Since the start of the war, Russian authorities have warned the West against sending military supplies to Ukraine, stressing that they only fuel and prolong the conflict and are incapable of affecting the course of Russia’s special military operation. Yet, instead of taking this warning on board, Western media and leaders spread lies that Russia was running out of microchips, weapons, money and more. Ironically, it is the West and Ukraine that have crippled industries and are experiencing significant economic issues.
germans are already eager to supply ukraine with taurus cruise missiles, i bet they are already programming them to attack crimea bridge. and as russian formally dismissed the law from 1954 when crimea was unlawfully transferred to ukraine, it will be considered as an attack on russian territory with the wamd.
i hope that this (imbecile) putin already prepared some retaliation target in germany of similar importance for that scenario. not like his “asymmetrical” response for blowing nord streams, when he decided don’t do anything and start crying in un like a 5 years old girl. it made so bad impression on possible russian allies that this will not be repaired even in 50 years.
it wasn’t a ‘law’. it was an unconstitutional ‘edict’ by a communist dictator.
strange how the us always seems to back the edicts of rulers of the former ‘evil empire’. you’d think there were a bunch of former trotskyites running the show.
former trotskyite nuland and her wizard of oz flying banderite monkies.
germany must have death wish because they will be one of the first targets that will be hit with nukes if they continue on this path. russia is not going to allow a repeat of what the nazis did.
probably no nukes, there will be a new kremlin european alliance greater than nukes, its a last resort, when the mongols side up with usa, haha. the euros and americans are the new-whites (new-white is a complex color) are resisting their governments and freeing themselves from bondage. political capital is forming, and its much worse than a nuke for the elites who send their poor helpless souls to die on the streets.
get ready for the countries that were on nazi germany side and occupied by nazi germany to seek direct confrontation with russia and then ordinary citizens from eu countries will find out what it means to live under martial law and the consequences of it. if you thought covid lock downs were hard wait until you see what is coming next.
it’s been that way since the early nineties in the balkan wars. former nazi ally? nato welcomes you with open arms.
there are only three countries in european nato who were no former nazi allies to some degree. poland, greece and britain.
so, they decided it’s better late than never?
well, they ran out of brains a decade ago, so i guess everything in its time.
but now france is entering the war … who run out of missiles against lybia in record time together with britain and called for uncle sam. ;-)
no problem. plenty of pickle jars still left.
zelensky’s close to empty & running on crack fumes.