Ukraine is ‘Stretched Thin Across Multiple Fronts’ After Patriot Loss
U.S. troops from 5th Battalion of the 7th Air Defense Regiment are seen at a test range in Sochaczew, Poland, on Saturday, March 21, 2015, to demonstrate the U.S. Army’s capacity to deploy Patriot systems rapidly within NATO territory.
Throughout NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine, Russia’s military-industrial complex has been displaying its superiority when it comes to both tanks and aircraft over Western-supplied equipment, laying bare the latter’s vulnerability in the special military operation zone.Ukraine is scrambling to protect its air defenses, as it is being stretched thin across multiple fronts, The National Interest (TNI) has acknowledged.The recent loss of a German-supplied Patriot system – touted as a key asset in Kiev’s aerial defense strategy – “underscores the ongoing intense warfare and strategic implications for Ukrainian air defense capabilities,” the US publication wrote.As a result of the loss, the Ukrainian Air Force may now have to be even further stretched, the author summed up.Germany supplied two full Patriot batteries to the Ukrainian Air Force, along with two spare launchers, while the United States donated one battery.Two Patriot systems were among the military hardware destroyed by a strike carried out by a Russian Iskander hypersonic surface-to-surface missile in the Donetsk People’s Republic town of Pokrovsk on March 9, a security source earlier told Sputnik. The Russian Defense Ministry also shared footage of the destruction of an S-300 air-defense missile launcher, which was part of a Ukrainian military convoy tracked in the DPR. Sputnik later obtained footage suggesting there were three missile systems destroyed in the Iskander strike.Each Patriot PAC-2 air-defense system is believed to cost around $400 million, the outlet pointed out, and was one of the most sophisticated weapons that Washington had provided to Kiev.
Russia’s Special Operation in UkraineWhat Helped Russia’s T-72B3 Tank Destroy Ukraine’s Abrams?7 March, 16:17 GMTWhether American military officials like to admit it or not, Ukraine is becoming a graveyard of sophisticated NATO weaponry.This is a fact that Kiev’s patrons are increasingly being forced to reckon with. Three US-made M1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) were obliterated by Russia within a single week with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as kamikaze drones. The Western tanks failed to become the “game changer” they were touted to be, as proven by Ukraine’s failed summer 2023 counteroffensive. At the time, the Ukraine conflict zone was deftly dubbed a “graveyard of tanks.”With the Patriot system now also shown to be vulnerable, it has become evident that no matter how sophisticated and costly, weaponry sent to Ukraine becomes “just additional corpses” littering the battle zone, the US publication underscored.
❗️ The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the destruction another US-made Abrams tank in the Avdeyevka area
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) March 11, 2024
The destruction of the first Abrams tank supplied to Kiev showed that Russian soldiers are determined to demilitarize Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time.”From the very beginning, our fighters said that these tanks would burn as well as others,” Peskov told reporters.The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to the Kiev regime, warning they would lead to the prolongation of the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his part, cautioned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.
MilitaryUkraine ‘Can’t Easily Replace’ Patriot Air Defenses Destroyed by Russia – Report10 March, 11:59 GMT
