by Andrea Marinelli and Guido Olimpio
The war pendulum swings constantly. Zelenskyy demands the recapture of Makariv, the Pentagon speaks of Ukrainians on the offensive and repeats the Russian problems, the United States and NATO wonder how they can help Kyiv
Zelenskyy calls for the recapture of Makariv, the evercautious Pentagon speaks of Ukrainians on the offensive to regain lost territory, and reiterates Russia’s problems. The pendulum of war and assessments swings constantly, while the fate of the civilians relentlessly bombarded by the invaders does not change.
These developments are accompanied by one question: how can we help Ukraine at this crucial moment? The United States and NATO allies, as in intelligence work, walk the thin red line that allows them to provide defense assistance without becoming active combatants in the conflict and try to do what they can without crossing it .
Against this background, according to the Wall Street Journal, Washington is sending some SA 8 antiaircraft batteries made in the Soviet Union to Ukraine: they are old equipment, acquired a few decades ago to analyze the technology used by the Russian army, and are it is also now taken in bases scattered throughout American territory.
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In the large polygon of Fort Irwin in the southwestern United States between Nevada and California, the means of Russian conception in the hands of the Americans are clearly visible and used by the units playing the role of the enemy: some are really Soviet, others modified, to imitate them. There is an area in the Nellis base in Las Vegas that houses many of them: the area known as the petting zoo, and when you are inside the gigantic installation your eyes can only touch a wall, behind which components are sprouting. And then there’s the center of Redstone, Alabama, which welcomes Pieces from the East: a secret Pentagonfunded $100 million program that emerged in the 1990s and became public when a Soviet plane skidded off the freeway was sighted near Huntsville.
Later they will probably send similar systems. In the hangars, for example, there are also S300s of Belarusian origin, but for the time being they do not seem destined to go: this segment will be covered by the missiles promised by Slovakia. The message brings together two aspects. The first: the paths of weapons are endless. Second: what to do now? In Washington there are those who are pushing to equip Kyiv with equipment capable of not only slowing down the intruder, but also launching counterattacks: reflections in the context of the debate on sending offensive and defensive apparatuses to Ukraine. The difference depends on usage. Certainly those in Congress who want more substance are thinking of tanks, artillery, longrange rocket launchers, gunships, even airplanes. However, there is a problem that the resistance must know how to use the means: The Patriots of the United States would need American personnel or months of training to be able to use them.
Hence the need to fish in those countries that already have material used by Ukraine: Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and other states could contribute. Against this background, too, the idea arose to hijack the few specimens that exist in US bases and that the Ukrainian army already knows about, having inherited them after the collapse of the Soviet Union. If the Stingers the antiaircraft equivalent of the Javelins, a shoulder weapon can hit helicopters and lowflying aircraft, these defense systems would allow Ukraine to effectively impose a nofly zone on the Russians and expand the missile shield.
Along with the swords there is a deeper element. Some analysts believe that a stalemate has emerged and that Kyiv’s reinforcements can make Putin’s special operation even more complex. This party points out the weaknesses of the army every day: the smart missiles that don’t work, the shortage of supplies (Zelensky claims the Russians had hardly any for three days), the low morale, the first signs of the troops freezing to death, the Refusal of some units to fight, the losses in thousands of elements, the high number of par and commandos killed, the unprepared and outdated replacement forces. This list is based on solid data, but also on inevitable propaganda: a New York Times article describes the achievements of Ukrainian aviation nearly fifty planes which not only protected their own space but destroyed many enemy planes in duels.
A few more technical observers correct the shot, the invader has adapted, conducting night missions both on the ground and with Sukhoi jets, exploiting the defenders’ weaknesses and meanwhile hitting the cities hard with longrange guns. the Grads, the thermobaric warheads. Kremlin time, writes former naval officer Andrew Milburn, fresh from a site survey. There is always a fear that in any case the Tsar has the will to smooth things over, even achieving the dreaded use of unconventional weapons, the danger invoked by Joe Biden.
March 22, 2022 (Change March 22, 2022 | 19:44)
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