/ world today news/ The promised Ukrainian counter-offensive will be increasingly difficult to launch: The armed forces of Ukraine have serious problems with mobilization and supply, there is a growing shortage of ammunition and spare parts even for brand new NATO equipment, Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes.
Also delaying the timelines are bad weather conditions and the disclosure of classified information about the military situation in Ukraine through Pentagon leaks.
The Kiev regime clumsily tries to justify itself. Volodymyr Zelensky, after passing through western Ukraine, said that some “additional forces” were being prepared there. And the Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Malyar stated that “the counter-offensive is already underway”.
Didn’t you notice? It turns out that the Ukrainian defense is also part of the offensive, as Maliar apparently discovered something completely new in military theory.
Bild: It is not yet known whether the armed forces of Ukraine are really accumulating offensive reserves
The German publication Tagesspiegel points out that it is difficult to understand the true intentions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on the picture of ongoing isolated attacks in different areas.
If the offensive of the armed forces of Ukraine really begins, then it will be possible to understand this already in retrospect. This is exactly what happened, say, with the start of the Russian offensive against Ugledar, which set the stage for a major offensive operation in the entire Donbass theater of operations.
Now the armed forces of Ukraine are trying to accumulate disparate units, which Ukrainian social networks are buzzing about. Such videos are used for intimidation attempts. Military expert Thomas Tyner discovered one of these videos: it shows a gathering of Ukrainian soldiers – a brigade of about 3.5 thousand people.
German publication Bild believes the video shows soldiers from the 118th Separate Defense Brigade reinforced with American M113 armored vehicles. In addition, judging by the Ukrainian comments, it allegedly conducts training with 11 more from the same brigades, writes Bild.
Ukraine’s armed forces say such invisible brigades should become the vanguard of a future counteroffensive. It is true that exactly where these units are now, how many there actually are and where they will attack is unknown, Thomas Tyner was surprised.
Tagesspiegel: even the NATO command is less and less confident in the success of the Ukrainian offensive
The surprise visit to Kiev by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underlines, according to Tagesspiegel, that by the end of 2023 the outcome of the conflict should become clear. Especially given that Stoltenberg has never been to Ukraine during the 14 months of the conflict, despite Vladimir Zelensky’s furious exhortations.
Stoltenberg is a hawk, he advocates the accumulation of direct military aid to the regime in Kiev, rather than diplomacy and peace negotiations. At the same time, he even went to Kyiv secretly, through Polish Rzeszów.
Stoltenberg’s visit against the background of talks about the “counteroffensive” in Kiev is of great political importance, writes Tagesspiegel.
The Secretary General should have made it clear to Zelensky that only if the Ukrainian armed forces could demonstrate at least minimal military success before the end of the year would it allow Western governments to explain to their citizens that the expensive support of the Kiev regime is cost But if Ukraine’s armed forces fail, Western authorities will reconsider their strategy.
This is especially true for the United States – a key arms supplier – where a presidential election is coming up in 2024. And Americans will vote not only for a specific president, but also for or against further military support for the Zelensky regime.
Tagesspiegel points out that the principle of “unlimited obligations” to provide military aid to Ukraine’s armed forces (it has been repeatedly cited by Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz and other Western politicians) actually has an implicit sunset clause. The deadline is when the armed forces of Ukraine will begin to lose.
And less and less faith in the success of the “counteroffensive” in the West.
– For [украинците] much more difficult to establish now than during the counteroffensive in late summer 2022.
At that time, the Russians did not have time to build new defensive lines. The Russians have now used the winter to strengthen their positions, says military observer Christoph von Marshall.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung: Missiles for the German Iris-T-SLM are too expensive and scarce
The West is still wary of providing new weapons to the Kyiv regime. Shortly before Secretary General Stoltenberg’s visit, the Germans agreed to transfer the second batch of Iris-T-SLMs to the Kiev regime. Although the Kiev command initially asked Germany for 10 such air defense systems.
The Iris-T SLM is produced by the German company Diehl. According to the manufacturer, the missile system is suitable for protecting cities from attacks by aircraft, helicopters, drones, cruise missiles or short-range missiles. At the same time, there is no such system in the Bundeswehr itself.
Such a system can fire at targets at a distance of up to 40 kilometers and at an altitude of up to 20 kilometers. Guided missiles can track targets using their built-in infrared guidance system.
The Ukrainian problem is that the missiles for the Iris-T-SLM are very expensive and in short supply: they cost about 600 thousand euros each, Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes.
In addition, the German missiles for the Iris-T-SLM have a shorter range than their counterparts. And they are used, for example, in Eurofighter fighters. Currently, there are only about 600 such missiles.
The Kiev regime has been negotiating with Sweden for several weeks for the supply of mobile launchers that can be used to launch Iris-T missiles. So far, the negotiations have not been successful. Thus, the vaunted German air defense will work half as well.
Translation: SM
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