The West Leaves Ukraine Outgunned Against Russia

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 12, 2022 1:12 pm ET | Jillian Kay Melchio

[Zhang Fei]

But Russia has adjusted during the second phase of the war by hiding its men behind its fearsome artillery. “Russian artillery has been the decisive factor, but only because it’s had to be the decisive factor,” says Mason Clark, a senior analyst and Russia team lead at the Institute for the Study of War.

Russia has at least 10 times as many artillery and missile systems as Ukraine, and in some places on the front line the disparity is closer to 20 to 1, former Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk says.

With a range of hundreds of miles Russian missiles can strike anywhere in Ukraine. Recent attacks in the western region of Lviv were a short distance from the Polish border. On June 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that Russia had used “almost 2,800 different cruise missiles” and “hundreds of thousands” of air bombs and rockets against Ukraine.

In contrast, Ukraine’s Western partners have imposed political constraints on the use of donated systems for attacks on Russian territory, and the range of Ukraine’s weapons is limited even on its own soil. Ukraine’s surface-to-surface systems can reach some 75 miles away at maximum with its Vilkha and Tochka missiles, but those are in short supply, Mr. Zagorodnyuk says. Along much of the front line, Ukraine fights with howitzers that have a range of only some 15 miles. Russia often relies on similar systems, but its ground-based rockets can also reach much farther into Ukrainian-controlled territory.

With less ammunition to use, “the Ukrainians have to be much more careful, much more selective, and they can’t hit the same number of targets”. The Russians often have multiple posts behind the front line performing the same supportive functions, so even a successful Ukrainian strike on a target may not cause much disruption.

[Krosan]

Ukraine is poor because it was distrustful of the free economy. Only post-commie countries embracing freedom became successful in their own right and then there are those who have oil and gas like Russia or Kazakhstan, who don’t need to.

[Seruzawa]

Don’t be so sure. Lol.

[alexander_busek]

Even the WSJ headline writers can’t use proper English. They are outgunned BY Russia, not AGAINST Russia. smh

In their fight AGAINST Russia, the Ukrainians are outgunned.

By whom? By the Russians, of course!

The article's title would NOT be improved by replacing "against" with "by."

Regards,

[CatHerd]

>>>”In their fight AGAINST Russia, the Ukrainians are outgunned.”<<<

Correct

>>>”By whom? By the Russians, of course!”<<<

Correct again. They are outgunned by the Russians.

>>>”The article’s title would NOT be improved by replacing “against” with “by”<<<

Wrong. You just proved my point. “By” not “against” is grammatically correct. Ukraine may be fighting against Russia, but Ukraine is outgunned by Russia.

[Travis McGee]

Amen to every word.

[Kazan]

You're admitting Ukraine is getting its ass kicked? No amount of weapons will change that fact.

We certainly shouldn't be risking a single American life in Ukraine, giving money to it for weapons or engage in sanction war with Russia we're getting the worst end of.

It's time of the "liberal world order" and neocons to admit defeat and for us to cease involvement in Ukraine.

[libertylover]

Neither side seems to have an air force. Seems like they’re back to WWI artillery duels.

[dmzTahoe]

“Neither side seems to have an air force.”

Russia has the Second largest Air Force in the world. They have not fully utilized it in this battle, having rendered the Ukrainian Air Force nul and void within the first few days.

Russia refuses to do the shock and awe, destructive carpet bombing that is typical of a US battle using the US Air Force.

[ConservativeMind]

Ukraine leaves Ukraine outgunned.

If you can’t defend your borders against your likely invader, you shouldn’t be surprised when you are successfully invaded.

If you don’t spend on defense and you don’t train, or at least encourage, your populace to know how to shoot, you get what you deserve.

It is only on Ukraine to fight back.

[dennisw]

“Outgunned against” is also OK to use.

[CatHerd]

No it’s not. It’s bad English. Look it up yourself.

[saintgermaine]

The West Leaves Ukraine Outgunned Against Russia

Maybe this will help for this war to come to an end sooner and the current president of the Ukraine can retire to Florida and enjoy his wealth.

[Zhang Fei]

You're admitting Ukraine is getting its ass kicked? No amount of weapons will change that fact.

If no amount of weapons will change that fact, why is Russia making continuous threats against the West for supplying that weaponry? Surely they should welcome the influx of weaponry so they can capture, study and reverse-engineer it. Or perhaps the extended fireworks displays in Russian-held territory are actually a setback to the Russian war effort.

Maybe when Igor Ivanovich (alias Girkin alias Strelkov), Putin's henchman in the Donbass, says Russians are taking huge losses, he's telling the truth - that the West's weapons, while inadequate in quantity, are making a dent.

[Glad2bnuts]

Maybe Ukraine should prosecute the Nazis in the country, hold a real election, and not try and become a NATO country. They cannot afford it, and they are losing infrastructure and people.

If I were in charge of any NATO country, including the US, I would tell Ukraine they are ON THEIR OWN, and refuse to add more countries to that ancient and dangerous organization.

[Glad2bnuts]

What ryderann says should be law.

[Glad2bnuts]

Two THUMBS UP, for your comment.

[dennisw]

15000 hits at google is good enough for me as vernacular.

[Jim Noble]

What business is it of “the West”?

[Miguk]

But Russian propagandists will tell you that “Ukraine” paid Biden to get US aid. In reality, Putin may have funneled bribes to Biden using Burisma’s owner as a middleman.

Interesting take, but it would not at all surprise me that PedoClown, TheWhore, the US Congress, oligarchs, drug cartels, the M.I.C., the EU, and now Russia are all passing the hat to each other.

Or that PedoClown is not unsurprisingly also on the Russia Russia Russia payroll, in some 10% way (owned by China and the mafia and intelligence agencies, may as well get his cut from Russia, too).

[Bobalu]