Published: 07.03.2022 – 20:55
Several governments have announced the sending of military aid to Ukraine, in particular, almost twenty European countries have responded to Kyiv’s calls. Military assistance, including missiles capable of countering the threat of armored vehicles.
The images are amazing. Columns of Russian armored vehicles are advancing for tens of kilometers towards Kyiv. On the roads side by side, forming traffic jams, military trucks for supplies, infantry fighting vehicles. And to break through the lines of defense, heavy armor. The famous T72. This is the most common tank model in the Russian army. Quite an old car, as it dates from the end of the Cold War, but is regularly upgraded. It remains very efficient.
These last weeks Western armies nevertheless provided Ukraine formidable technique to deal with these motorized battalions. Starting with the portable Javelin missile. With a range of one and a half kilometers, he has proven himself in Iraq against T72 tanks. The United States and Estonia have delivered several hundred Javelins to Ukraine. The United Kingdom, for its part, has supplied a large stock of NLAW man-portable anti-tank missiles, also known by the Swedish name Robot 57. If their range does not exceed 800 meters, they are nevertheless very suitable for urban areas.
Berlin and the Netherlands, for their part, have donated more than 1,000 Panzerfaust HEAT missiles. As for France, it could supply SMRs, medium-range missiles. Effective up to 5 kilometers, its guidance allows the shooter not to reveal his position.
If the dominance of the skies belongs to the Russian army, then Ukraine is nevertheless capable of countering an air threat, in particular a helicopter one, with the help of the American Stinger anti-aircraft missile, which became famous during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Germany and the Netherlands have authorized the delivery of 700 missiles of this type. Thanks to these missiles of all types, the numerically superior Ukrainian army has the ability to slow down the Russian roller.
Total guerrilla war
Asymmetry, the reaction of the weak against the strong, is the art of guerrilla warfare. And the Ukrainian forces are excellent in this regard. On the twelfth day of the war, failures are accumulating on the Russian side. Logistics tries to keep up. The spearhead of the offensive stalled north of Kyiv. Thanks to Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Ukrainians shot down nine Russian aircraft on Saturday, March 5, which partly explains the slowdown in aviation activity.
On the ground, thanks to Javelin missiles, they were able to destroy about twenty armored vehicles every day. At this rate, without indiscriminate aerial bombardment of cities and without a massive use of artillery, the Russian army could lose a third of the troops brought in within a few weeks.
The strength of the Ukrainian army is to have very experienced special forces, soldiers trained in 2015 by the United States and ready to resist the Russian invasion. Ukrainian special forces are equipped with recognized snipers. According to Kyiv, a few days ago these shooters were supposed to liquidate the commander of the 7th airborne division, as well as the deputy commander of the 41st combined arms army.
British and Canadian commandos have also been sent in recent months to train Ukrainians in sabotage techniques. The Ukrainian army, modeled on Russia, can also count on a few hundred special forces, elite soldiers who prefer harassing combat. Ukrainian forces know their enemy well, which is an important advantage for the effective conduct of guerrilla warfare.
► See also: War in Ukraine: Donbas veterans return to duty to defend Kyiv