A few days ago, the U.S. Congress passed a $60.8 billion military aid bill to Ukraine. In the more than 2 years since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Ukrainian army's consumption on the battlefield has only been about 75 billion US dollars.
However, now that US aid has not yet arrived, the situation of the Ukrainian army is no longer optimistic. According to a news release by AFP on April 28, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, said: "The Russian army has recently made some progress on the battlefield, and the situation on the front line of the Ukrainian army has deteriorated. At the same time, he also said that the Ukrainian army is retreating "tactically" and retreating to a more solid line of defense to hold on.
When the two armies are fighting, the most taboo is to "increase the prestige of others and kill their own morale", Syrsky made this pessimistic remark, which may mean that the Ukrainian army is actually facing a worse situation than he said.
U.S. Congress
Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed great "lack of confidence" in interviews, and over the past month, he has revealed pessimism in front of journalists more than once. At the end of March, an American reporter asked Zelensky: "Will Ukraine lose this war?" Zelensky did not hesitate in the face of this "proposition": "Yes, we will lose this war." But considering the impact of his words, Zelensky added: "I mean, if the aid of the United States and the West dries up, the Ukrainian army will suffer a defeat." ”
In the past week, the Russian army has intensified its strikes on railway infrastructure in Kharkiv, Odessa, and other regions, aiming to delay the arrival of Western supplies to Ukraine on the front line.
At present, the situation facing the Ukrainian army is not optimistic, and the military bases of the Ukrainian army in Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Chasov Yar, and Seversk have become the key targets of the Russian army. These areas will be given "special care" by the Russian Air Force every day, and the Ukrainian army loses an average of nearly a thousand people per day.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky
Judging from the recent performance, the Ukrainian army is a little powerless in response to the Russian army's air strikes. Even if most of the air raids carried out by the Russian Aerospace Forces are old models such as the Su-25.
Developed in 1968 and commissioned in 1984, the Su-25 is the same period fighter as China's J-8. The Su-25, a "veteran aircraft", is like a no-man's land when it strikes Ukrainian positions, which also reflects the weakness of the Ukrainian army's air defense forces today. This is mainly due to the fact that most of the "Patriot" air defense systems assisted by the US military are deployed near Kyiv and are running out of ammunition.
According to the Spanish media newspaper El País, Russia is currently stronger militarily than it was at the beginning of the conflict. Earlier this month, the commander-in-chief of NATO's Allied Forces in Europe, Cavalli, also said that the Russian army is five times more than the Ukrainian army in terms of ammunition supply, and Russia produces three times as many shells as the entire NATO bloc.
The Western media deliberately sang about the Ukrainian army, perhaps in order to unite Western countries and put aid to Ukraine into action as soon as possible. After all, if Ukraine is defeated, Europe will have to face even more pressure.
Now that the $60.8 billion aid bill has been passed, the first batch of supplies worth about $1 billion has arrived in Poland, in addition to the 155 mm, 105 mm howitzer shells and "Javelin" anti-tank missiles urgently needed by the Ukrainian army, this batch of supplies also includes "Sea Sparrow" air defense missiles, "Sidewinder" surface-to-air missiles, "Stinger" portable air defense missiles, etc., which will improve the air defense of the front line in eastern Ukraine.
However, these materials came later, and now the population of Ukraine has dropped sharply from more than 40 million before the war to more than 20 million. After more than two years of fierce fighting, the Ukrainian army has begun to face the problem of insufficient soldiers, and the contradictions between the conscription office and the people are becoming increasingly acute.
NATO and Russia
Although NATO countries are shouting that they want to send troops to intervene, such as France, only some retired personnel have entered Ukraine to assist in the war, and have not sent troops to fight in Ukraine, so Ukraine can only rely on itself. After all, this war is very different from the previous wars launched by NATO, not only in terms of the intensity of the war, but also in terms of the objects of the war. Even the Afghan Taliban and Iraqi militias have made the US military anxious, not to mention the more powerful Russian army.
Including the United States, France, and all NATO countries are currently looking at each other, and everyone knows in their hearts what the consequences will be once they get involved in this war. The situation has developed to this point, in fact, the Ukrainian army is no longer the protagonist, and the next thing is to see whether NATO has the determination to end, if the determination is insufficient, even if another 60 billion US dollars in aid to Ukraine will not help, and it will not change the outcome that Ukraine will still fail in the end.