War in Ukraine Ukraine must defend itself with a patchwork

War in Ukraine: Ukraine must defend itself with a patchwork army

Ukrainian soldiers with Russian T-72 tanks

The Ukrainian army shows a lot of flexibility within its hodgepodge of weapons, but it also needs to deploy a lot of personnel.

(Photo: AP)

Brussels, Berlin, Paris In the first phase of their attack on Ukraine, the Russian military relied on speed – and failed. Now they are getting big. After partial mobilization in the fall, the Russians have about 300,000 recruits.

In view of this military strength, Ukraine is increasingly under pressure. The army experimented, but quickly exhausted forces.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday that the intensity of Russian attacks would continue to increase. Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for more wars and new offensives.

“It’s clear that we’re in a logistical race,” analyzes Stoltenberg. In particular, Ukraine needs ammunition. This must reach the country “before Russia can take the initiative on the battlefield”. However, in the “logistics race” Ukraine has another disadvantage: it received very different weapons systems from the western allies. And this variety requires completely different types of ammunition.

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