Russia can offer an effective response to the broad array of military support gifted to the Kiev regime, Boris Rozhin, a military expert at the Center for Military-Political Journalism, an independent Russian military affairs think tank, told Sputnik.
The West continues to supply Ukraine with military assistance to strengthen the offensive capabilities of the Ukrainian Army, to create a “mechanized fist in order to try to ram” Russia’s battle formations, and achieve some operational results, he said, but the latest developments show otherwise.
"On June 4, the enemy made an unsuccessful attempt at a large-scale offensive in the South Donetsk direction ... [Due to] active actions of the units of the Vostok group of troops, air strikes and artillery fire in ... the Donetsk People's Republic and in ... Zaporozhye region, the enemy suffered significant losses," the ministry said, adding that Ukraine had "failed to achieve its goals."
Broad Array of West-Supplied Weapons
The Kiev regime currently has at its disposal quite an array of various types of offensive weapons supplied by the West, Yuri Knutov, a military historian and publicist, told Sputnik.
These include an arsenal of various long-range artillery systems: M777 howitzers, French Caesar howitzers, Swedish wheeled 155mm Archer guns, German Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled, long-range howitzers, the Polish Krab and Czech Dana howitzers, and so on. In addition, the director of Russia's Air Defense Forces Museum said, Ukraine has been provided with multiple launch rocket systems, like the HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), with a range of up to 80 kilometers and the possibility of GPS guidance. These systems are actively being resorted to by the enemy to strike command posts, headquarters, and individual targets behind enemy lines.
Since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the US, NATO, and their allies have also sent Kiev armored vehicles, primarily Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks. The regime in Kiev has been shipped armored vehicles of various types, ranging from those produced between the late 1950s and early 1960s, to modern ones. And most importantly, Kiev has air defense systems. These include Britain’s short-range Starstreak man-portable or vehicle mounted air defense system, capable of hitting targets at a distance of around seven kilometers and an altitude of about five kilometers. There are also US systems mounted on Humvees boasting approximately similar characteristics.
Boris Rozhin weighed in on the broad array of military support being sent to Kiev, singling out missiles such as the UK-supplied Storm Shadow, missiles for HIMARS, Western air defense systems of various operational and tactical levels, like the American-made Avenger, or the US Patriot missile defense systems. The latter are all being sent to the authorities in the Ukrainian capital to compensate for the huge losses already sustained by Ukraine’s air defense, he stated.
Various engineering equipment geared towards clearing minefields and building pontoon crossings is being also sent. As to aviation, there have been deliveries of several dozen MiG-29 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft from Eastern Europe. Next on the menu appear to be supplies of Western-made fighters, ostensibly by late summer-autumn of this year. Meanwhile, work continues on expanding the range of long-range missiles that will be delivered to Ukraine, with discussions underway on the supply of weaponry with a range of 500 kilometers [310 miles] or more from France and Germany, the military expert clarified.
Furthermore, over recent time an international coalition has been formed to provide Ukraine with F-16s, the fighter jet of its choice, and training. Several countries have volunteered to host the training of Ukrainian pilots, but it has not yet been decided which of them will provide the aircraft and when.
With these vast amounts of weapons shipped to Kiev, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told a US broadcaster earlier that Ukrainian Armed Forces are "very well prepared" for a counteroffensive.
However, Russia has been successfully repelling attempts by Kiev to gain an edge with such weaponry, said Boris Rozhin, as an example pointing to how the much-hyped US-made Patriot defense systems, supplied to Ukraine have been successfully destroyed with the use of Russia's Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
The Russian Armed Forces can rely upon various howitzers, both towed and self-propelled, Rozhin stated. Regarding tanks, there is the main one, the T-72, along with boosted numbers of T-90s, as well as various older tanks, such as the T-52 and T-55, he said.
"Then there are various types of Russian infantry fighting vehicles, and MRAPs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) armored fighting vehicles. As far as aviation is concerned, it is clear that we retain a serious technical superiority due to the Su-34, Su-35 and so on. In terms of missiles, of course, we [Russia] boast significant superiority, with the Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system, or the hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile Kinzhal, and Kalibr cruise missiles."
These have all demonstrated excellent results during combat operations as part of the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.
A modernized frigate from the Russian Pacific Fleet, the Marshal Shaposhnikov, carries out the first test of the Kalibr cruise missile in the Sea of Japan, 6 April, 2021
Russia has the required arsenal to resist any counteroffensive by Kiev, Yuri Knutov said. He added that Russia's artillery has been fitted with software, installed in tablets, phones, which allows hitting closed-position targets with the first strike.
"We also actively use gliding corrected or guided aerial bombs weighing up to 500 kilograms, which can cover a considerable distance without the aircraft entering the enemy's air defense coverage area, and destroy targets with an accuracy of about 7-10 meters," Knutov said
Whether its air defense systems, like the Kub-M2, Kub-M3, Buk-M2, S-300 complexes, the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile system, or electronic warfare systems that jam quadrocopters and communication channels, etc., everything is available to "wear down the enemy," to bleed it white, and then start moving forward, Yuri Knutov said.
Footage released by the Russian MoD showing Iskander operational-tactical missile systems during the special military operation in Ukraine
© Sputnik
'West Seeks to Recoup Weapons Deliveries'
Weighing in on the constant clamor of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for more weapons amid US assertions that Kiev has been given enough for a counteroffensive, Boris Rozhin underscored:
“Ukraine as it is today is completely dependent on the West. Therefore, the West decides whether it has enough [weapons] for THEIR purposes. As for Ukraine’s goals, the West, in general, is not particularly interested in them. The West is confident in its own goals, and now wants to recoup all those weapons deliveries with some specific operational results. Therefore, the regime is now being egged on towards an offensive, in order to show the paymaster that there will be a return on these investments.”
America is "using" Ukraine, Yuri Knutov agreed.
"Ukraine does not understand that it is fighting for the interests of Washington and Brussels. The fate of the Ukrainians does not bother NATO, and therefore everything is being done to make the most of all the 'human resources' of Ukraine to fight against Russia, to weaken it and then divide it according to the Yugoslav scenario," Knutov said.
The West continues to push the Kiev regime towards an escalation of the conflagration by gifting it new weaponry, while at the same time blatantly dismissing any responsibility for the use of its armaments. A case in point is the wielding of such "military assistance" by Ukrainian saboteurs that infiltrated Russia's Belgorod region in late May, Yuri Knutov underscored.
In response, Belgian media reported that the country's Foreign and Defense Ministries would turn to Kiev "at the first opportunity" for an explanation due to the use of Belgian-made weapons in the Belgorod region by a Ukrainian sabotage and intelligence group.
Such "chatter" should not be taken seriously, Boris Rozhin said, adding that it is common knowledge who, for what purpose, and where West-supplied weapons are used.
"This is a purely propaganda action to show the population of Western countries that, supposedly, Brussels can control the Kiev regime, and can even stop the supply of weapons," Knutov added.
"The Kiev regime will answer that these weapons were recaptured from the Russian troops, although the Russian troops have nothing of the kind in service. With that, the entire discussion will end," he added.
As for the West ostensibly having any sort of control over the weapons that are being funneled to Kiev, it is far from the truth, Yuri Knutov underscored, pointing to reports of weapons supplied to the Ukrainian regime ending up on the black market.
Russia has repeatedly slammed Washington and its allies over their continued arms deliveries to the Kiev regime, pointing to the danger they pose in escalating the crisis and facilitating weapons smuggling.