According to Russia Today, Danilov, secretary of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Affairs Commission, quoted NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg as saying, "If a shell, or a bullet hits a convoy of weapons delivered by NATO countries to Ukraine, this behavior will trigger NATO's collective defense provisions." ”
NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said that while NATO countries impose severe sanctions on Russia, NATO will continue to support Ukraine and continue to provide military, financial and humanitarian assistance. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said Russia had warned the United States about the consequences of sending weapons to Ukraine, and convoys carrying foreign weapons would become legitimate targets for Russian troops.
Stoltenberg also claimed that NATO has hundreds of aircraft on high alert, operating in more than 30 different locations, and more than 120 ships from the north to the Mediterranean, "to prevent attacks and avoid the spread of war in Ukraine to any NATO member state." NATO has for the first time deployed land, sea and air with the "NATO Rapid Reaction Force" to strengthen prevention and emergency response.
The number of U.S. troops massed in Europe now stands at nearly 100,000, and more F-35 stealth fighters are being deployed to Europe. Now in the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, the Russian army has destroyed about half of Ukraine's heavy weapons.
According to the latest information released by the Russian Defense Ministry, 3920 Ukrainian military infrastructure has been paralyzed since the start of the special military operation. These include 143 drones, 1,267 tanks and armored vehicles, 124 multiple rocket launchers, 457 artillery and mortars, and 1,028 special military vehicles.
It can be seen that about 40-50% of the tank armored vehicles of the Ukrainian army and about 30% of the artillery force have been destroyed, while 90% of the strength of the Ukrainian Air Force has been destroyed. On March 14 alone, the Russians destroyed 86 Ukrainian targets, including: 4 command posts and communication hubs, 3 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1 radar station, 1 electronic countermeasure station, 3 ammunition and fuel depots, 68 military equipment concentrations, and the air defense forces shot down 2 Ukrainian UAVs, including 1 TB-2 armed UAV produced in Turkey.
According to NATO analysis, the Russian army lost 2,000 dead, 6,000 wounded, lost 149 tanks, about 280 armored vehicles, and 22 aircraft. There are support for Russian media analysis that Ukraine has killed 15,466 people, captured 860 people, lost 354 tanks, 722 armored vehicles, lost 133 aircraft and so on.
It can be seen that the loss of Ukraine's main weapons and equipment is very serious, and at the same time the ammunition depot, fuel depot and material reserve depot have also been seriously hit. As a combat unit, the Ukrainian Army has lost the ability to fight large-scale battles. On the battlefield, although Russia also suffered heavy losses, Ukraine suffered even greater losses. For now, Ukraine can still insist on relying entirely on U.S. and NATO aid.
Judging from the entire war, the Russian army only invested a small number of troops in the first stage, hoping to seize Kiev in one fell swoop by means of air assault, forcing the other side to quickly abandon resistance. At the same time, the Russian army entered Ukraine from the north and the south, and Russia expected that most of the Ukrainian army would give up resistance as in 2014, and the Russian army only needed to solve a small number of the most die-hard Ukrainian troops.
However, although the Ukrainian army has many shortcomings, such as weak command ability, relatively low organizational ability, and lack of field mobile combat capabilities. However, what is more surprising is that the fighting willpower of this Ukrainian army does exceed that of the Ukrainian army in 2014-2015. By now, only more than 860 people have been captured and surrendered.
With the support of the United States and NATO, the Ukrainian army fought ambush warfare with small units and supported by US military intelligence, with weapons such as javelin anti-tank missiles and stinger missiles, and carried out flexible defense tactics of small units to delay the depletion of the capabilities of the Russian army.
The best way to break the deadlock now is to knock out a well-defended Ukrainian city. For example, Mariupol, which has been fighting for 15 days, has cut off the logistics supply lines between the United States and NATO to Ukraine. Only in this way can the main force of the Ukrainian army be given a shocking psychological blow.