Will Schryver
@imetatronink
19h
“During intense fighting in the eastern Donbas region this summer, Russia used more ammunition in two days than the British military has in stock.”
In a stunningly unforeseen geopolitical development, Russia has *significantly* demilitarized NATO.
Military briefing: Ukraine war exposes ‘hard reality’ of west’s weapons capacity
Nations have been slow to sign contracts companies need to boost supply to Kyiv
https://www.ft.com/content/a781fb71-49bb-4052-ab05-a87386bf3d5e?shareType=nongift
Nearly 10 months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the allies that have backed Kyiv’s war effort are increasingly concerned by the struggle to increase ammunition production as the conflict chews through their stockpiles.
At stake is not only the west’s ability to continue supplying Ukraine with the weapons it needs but also allies’ capacity to show adversaries such as China that they have an industrial base that can produce sufficient weaponry to mount a credible defence against possible attack.
“Ukraine has focused us . . . on what really matters,” William LaPlante, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, told a recent conference at George Mason University. “What matters is production. Production really matters.”
After sending more than $40bn of military support to Ukraine, mostly from existing stocks, Nato members’ defence ministries are discovering that dormant weapons production lines cannot be switched on overnight. Increasing capacity requires investment which, in turn, depends on securing long-term production contracts.
The US has sent about a third of its stock of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine and a third of its stockpile of anti-aircraft Stinger missiles. But it has little prospect of being able to replace these quickly. “There’s no question that . . . [supplying Ukraine] has put pressure on our defence industrial base,” Colin Kahl, US under-secretary of defence for policy, said last month.
The UK has turned to a third party, which it has declined to identify, to restock its depleted stores of NLAW anti-tank missiles. “There are some really hard realities that we have been forced to learn,” James Heappey, armed forces minister, said in October.
“In a stunningly unforeseen geopolitical development, Russia has *significantly* demilitarized NATO.”
I’m almost thinking that’s why they dragged on the war so long. They knew if NATO could be demilitarized, then they would be in a better position for concessions, some of which will likely go beyond Ukraine.
There’s an old adage in the Chess world: “Don’t play against Russians, you’ll lose”.
express.co.uk
“The Ukrainian commander of the Svoboda battalion, Petro Kuzyk, whose unit is one of those holding Bakhmut said his soldiers are staying in trenches full of corpses, fighting in extremely cold conditions and in knee-deep water against Russia’s attacks.
Asked by NV news how big the human losses are so far, he replied: “They are colossal. They don’t even count bodies.”
🇷🇺🇺🇦 The commander of the neo-Nazi Svoboda battalion, Petro Kuzik, whose unit is trying to hold Bakhmut, told Western media that the fields and forests around are littered with the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers, and they have to defend themselves in extreme cold and knee-deep in water.
“They [the Russians] sensed a weakness in our defenses because there are units that are less motivated than ours. And yesterday they slightly weakened our defenses in the area immediately around Bakhmut. Some units could not withstand this artillery onslaught and retreated.”
Asked how serious the loss of life is, he said: “They are colossal. We don’t even count the bodies.”