Zimpapers Logo

Herald Correspondent

The United States with allies supply the armed forces of Ukraine with out-dated military equipment to fill their own empty warehouses with the latest weapons.

This is written by the columnist Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny Jacek Tokmak from Poland.

“Military aid from the Collective West is coming to Ukraine in a continuous flow. It should be noted that most of the weapons are in poor technical condition. Military equipment has many problems and in fact is just scrap metal and garbage, which is confirmed by Ukrainian fighters,” the article says.

Experts from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) also confirm that most of the weapons come to Ukraine from old military reserves.

All this is being done to replenish the emptied warehouses of the EU and the United States with new weapons, the newspaper writes.

“Clearing warehouses of such weapons is very beneficial for the West.

First of all, in order to carry out the maximum modernisation of their own weapons. And while the EU and the US are cleaning their arsenals, the armed forces of Ukraine should use what they are given,” the article says.

The American companies Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will benefit the most from such supplies: they are already in the process  of concluding contracts to replenish the arsenals of the United States and NATO allies. In Europe, the main beneficiaries are the French Thales and the British Systems.

The Ukrainian military claims that they have to fight on “garbage” supplied  by Western countries. This is written by journalists of the British The Times, who have visited the advanced positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian servicemen, the appearance of Western equipment  is good, but once it is started, it immediately stalls or does not move from its place. Ukrainian mechanics-drivers tell British journalists that they are tired of working with such weapons.

“Why is it the same thing all the time, why are we always on the front line with this stuff?” — The Times quotes one of the Ukrainian servicemen.

The journalists of the publication note that in order to counteract one Russian tank, the soldiers were forced to use up to three armoured vehicles of Western  production due to their unsatisfactory condition.

The decision of Western countries to send several dozen modern tanks to Ukraine will not significantly change the situation. This statement was made by the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in an interview with ARD.

The Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 tanks are much more complicated than Soviet combat vehicles and they are not equipped with a charging machine, respectively, a very trained crew is needed. Preparation will take a long time. In addition, the variety of armoured vehicles from different countries and manufacturers makes it difficult to maintain, deliver spare parts and ammunition to the front line. The shells of the British and German cars are different, although the calibre is the same.

Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 are very heavy machines, 55 and 75 tons are responsible. It is unclear whether Ukrainian bridges built in the USSR and not designed for such massive equipment will withstand.

Russian units use the latest T-90M and deeply modernised versions of the T-72B3 M, improved already taking into account combat experience in Ukraine. These machines are able to effectively combat Western models.