2023-08-12 11:44:28
It has been ten weeks this weekend since the Ukrainian army launched its long-awaited counter-offensive in the south and east of the country.
But with the liberation of only ten small villages in the Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions from the hands of the Russian invaders, the Ukrainian army has not only fallen short of its own expectations.
“Ukraine and its partners were too optimistic and I have to admit, so am I,” Nico Lange (48), former head of the German Defense Ministry’s management team, told BILD.
Lange explains: “Breakthroughs against the huge minefields and Russian air superiority make it very difficult. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is progressing, but only very slowly.”
But why is that?
BILD situation center Injured Russians lie in the sun for hours
Source: PICTURE 08/11/2023
According to the Ukrainian military, it is primarily the lack of modern weapons that makes success against Russia’s huge invasion force impossible.
The USA wants F-16 fighter jets, and Germany wants Taurus cruise missiles. But the signs are not good for either western weapon system.
︎ After extensive training and the green light from Washington, American F-16 jets would not be available until summer 2024 at the earliest, and the traffic light is also still red for German cruise missiles.
︎ “There has been no change in the current status of the issue of MAW Taurus to Ukraine. A political decision to submit was not made,” said a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Defense on Friday when asked by BILD.
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But there are other explanations for Ukraine’s lack of success on the battlefield.
According to an internal Bundeswehr paper, it is “the Ukrainian operational doctrine” itself that is having a negative impact on the effectiveness of the combat brigades, which are mainly trained in Germany.
“Their own units are sometimes divided up into such small parts that although each unit does something, there is no discernible joint command of the battle,” says the “classified information” paper available to BILD. “The maneuvering elements are then missing in the focus to build up your own momentum or establish fire superiority.”
However, the continued hesitant supply of weapons should also play a major role in the lack of success.
From 2019 to 2021 Nico Lange was a manager at the Federal Ministry of Defence. Since then he has been advising politicians on security issues
Photo: Nico Lange
The allies have so far delivered far fewer than 100 Western battle tanks to the Ukrainian army – in total. On the other hand, a Russian armaments industry is working at full speed, adding 50 tanks a month (!) to the armada in Ukraine, which is estimated at more than 1000 tanks.
Military expert Nico Lange, who has been working for the Munich Security Conference since July, no longer believes in a quick victory for Ukraine and appeals: “The best thing we can do is prepare ourselves for long-term and systematic support for Ukraine.”
After heavy Russian attacks, the Ukrainian government has been evacuating 37 towns and villages in the Kupyansk district of the Kharkiv region since Thursday
Photo: Kupyansk City Hall
His criticism of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD): “Unfortunately, we are still lagging behind in the implementation of the Chancellor’s turnaround speech. Because we took too long with the armored personnel carriers and main battle tanks, for example, the Russians had the time for the huge minefields and defensive positions.”
According to Lange, the federal government must “act faster, harder and more consistently” in order not to be “continued to be considered too weak” by the Russian warlord Vladimir Putin (70).
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