Against the background of the fruitless four rounds of talks, the speed of the Russian offensive accelerated on March 15, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict lasted until the 20th day. Russian forces increased their activity around Nikolayev, and the northward army continued to attack Kafbas, and the Russian army occupied a number of settlements along the north bank of the Dnieper River in the direction of Kavbas and Nikopol/Zaporizhia.
In addition, the Russian army carried out continuous attacks on military targets in Kiev in the air, Kiev repeatedly sounded red alarms, and the Kiev Sviatosinski district was shelled. In Poloch, Zaporozhye Oblast, Russian troops blew up ukrainian conscription office buildings. In the direction of Donbass, the Russians shelled the Ukrainian Lugans Krubezhinoye, and the Russians also shelled Kharkov.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces are trying to occupy Mariupol. Ukrainian soldiers continued to fight the Russians in this direction, causing 150 Russian casualties and destroying 2 tanks, 7 infantry fighting vehicles and an armored personnel carrier.
In the direction of Donetsk and Tavriya, Clashes broke out with Ukrainian forces in the areas of Borova, Dernov, Novo Krasnyanka, Luhansk, Hollivka, Pantelemonivka, Mikirsk, Juliapol, Orishov and Kamensk settlements.
It can be seen that in the context of the fruitless 4 rounds of talks, Russia's goal of "forcing talks by war" has been challenged, and Russia is bound to force Zelenskiy to the negotiating table and give sufficient pressure to the Ukrainian authorities at the level of powerful military means. In the direction of the Sea of Azov, the Current Russian Chechen Armed Forces have entered the urban area near the Sea of Azov and have advanced 1.5 kilometers at the meeting.
At the international level, U.S. officials say Russia has applied to China for assistance on five types of equipment, namely surface-to-air missiles, drones, intelligence-related equipment, armored vehicles, and vehicles used for logistics and support. However, it was denied that only the United States would do this kind of thing.
An adviser to the Ukrainian president's office also said that Russia was going to run out of food and support for less than May.
China has also expressed its own attitude: the United States has been spreading malicious false information against China on the Ukraine issue, and China has been playing a constructive role in promoting peace talks, and the top priority is to ease the situation, not to add fuel to the fire, and to strive for a diplomatic solution, not a further escalation.
Yesterday, some Western scholars also said that this kind of information looks more like fake information created by the CIA. China also called on Russia to negotiate with the EU to cool the situation down as soon as possible. China is a peace-loving country and will not add fuel to regional issues as the United States did. The reason why the United States spreads such news is obviously to remind its allies that even the United States has plans to take the next step.
So, has Russia really begun to lack weapons and ammunition?
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is only 20 days, if Russia's weapons and equipment against Ukraine can not persist for 20 days, how can it be regarded by NATO as a thorn in the eye, obviously the United States is putting pressure on Russia, and even deliberately doing it for the Russian people to see.
First, Russia is a missile power and an artillery power, and its manufacturing capabilities of various types of air-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and medium- and long-range rockets should not be underestimated. Moreover, Russia is still an energy power, and there is no shortage of basic materials for manufacturing missiles. Coupled with the fact that the intensity of this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not very high, and Russia mainly relies on the ground warfare near Belarus, Crimea, and Donbass, material supply is relatively easier, and at the level of air combat, Russia uses a large number of third-generation aircraft, fourth-generation aircraft are also only later, and strategic bombers have not yet appeared on a large scale, it is conceivable that Russia's inventory of ammunition must be sufficient.
Second, the number of Russian armored vehicles is huge, whether it is tanks or infantry fighting vehicles Russia has a considerable inventory, and Russia in the Ukrainian battlefield does not use many new tanks, it can be seen that Russia still has a back hand, saying that the shortage of Russian armored vehicles is not credible, if Russia's land combat capabilities fall to the point where they cannot meet their own, it will not be able to transfer to more than 30,000 horses in Belarus in a short period of time.
Third, it is true to say that Russia lacks drones. But Russia is not short of drone technology, and Orion is preparing equipment for mass service, but the number is indeed small. It is possible for Russia to introduce drones in the future, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict may have ended long ago. Russia's performance in the war this time, intelligence control ability and response to the battlefield is indeed unsatisfactory, if there is a long voyage of unmanned aerial vehicles, many Russian fighters, fighter-bombers and helicopters, can completely avoid being shot down and injured by shoulder man-portable missiles.
The UAV can track and monitor the specific military target area for a long time, and the slightest wind and grass will be discovered, if it is a reconnaissance UAV, it can guide ground missiles or air fighters to bomb hostile targets, and if it is an attack type UAV, it can completely solve itself. Imagine if Russia had destroyed Ukraine's main air defense radar system with missiles in the early stage, used unmanned aerial vehicles to target targets, and then began to send fighter helicopters and ground troops, which could minimize casualties.
Fourth, Russia's opponent Ukraine this time, in fact, a lot of weapons and Russia are at the same level, especially ground equipment. Looking at Russia's ground equipment is really not much ahead of Ukraine, if Ukraine has a certain size of air force anti-aircraft missiles, Russia will fight this battle very hard. So what is most lacking in Russia? It is actually a stealth fighter with precision strike capabilities. If Russia can have 20 stealth fighters involved in combat, it is believed that its attack power will be stronger, and Ukraine's ground air defense system may be difficult to find stealth fighters.
On the other hand, if Russia has a certain scale of stealth fighters to participate in the war, it will definitely cause a great deterrent to NATO, not just rely on nuclear arsenals, which will make Russia look more powerful. A country that is not only strong by nuclear weapons can win more allies. Imagine a war in Libya that sold French Rafale fighter jets. And in the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict, what weapons does Russia have that stand out? Will it give weapons a publicity?
It really isn't, it's actually a failure. It has to be said that Russia's current update speed of emerging equipment in the air force and army field is still too slow. The United States already has two stealth fighters, bombers have two stealth fighters, the B-21 has come out, service is only a matter of time, and russia's stealth strategic bomber has not yet been tested.
From the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, can we see the gap between Russia's military strength and the United States?
First, it can be fully seen that if we put aside the nuclear arsenal, Russia is not only backward in weapons and equipment compared with the United States in terms of conventional military strength, but also quite backward in tactical thinking and command. It is even said that Russia's level of advanced fighting in this war is not as advanced as the Gulf War at that time. At that time, the United States already had electronic warfare aircraft, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, long-range cruise missiles, and stealth fighters. It can be said that Russia's development in the past 20 years has achieved breakthroughs in some fields, but it has not yet formed a scale. For example, the Su-57 fighter already has the actual combat capability, but the number is not enough, if there can be 100, then NATO has to look up to Russia.
Second, the frequency of the Russian Navy's appearance this time is too low, and it can be imagined that the US operation mode, the first wave of precision strikes can not only be launched in the air, but also at sea. In the direction of the Black Sea, the Russian Navy has complete room to play. Anyway, Russia lacks large surface ships, relies too much on the ground, of course, Crimea is actually equivalent to a huge aircraft carrier, where fighter jets, tanks can also be deployed long-range missiles. But imagine if Russia's opponent today was not Ukraine, but the stronger Britain, could Russia win?
Third, the Russian military is also very lacking in information-based combat capabilities, and whether the data links of fighter jets can feedback each other and whether intelligence can be shared are all problems. After all, the Russian army put into battle with the Su-35S and su-24 and su-34, and these types of fighters are not even the products of an era.
The Conflict between Russia and Ukraine is still continuing, and perhaps the inadequacy of more Russian armies will become the target direction of Putin's future reforms.