Is it impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield? What Putin said about the war and the real situation on the front – #impossible #defeat #Russia #battlefield #Putin #war #real #situation #front

BBC: Not really. USA President Barack Obama authorized the supply of weapons to Kiev.of Ukraine in 2014, he signed the “support for freedom” act. But in 2015-2017, only non-lethal weapons (drones, armored vehicles, radar stations, field hospitals) were given to this country.

The delivery of lethal weapons was approved by the Donald Trump administration in December 2017, but then it was only about weapons that could stop a possible Russian attack. 2018– in 2021 Ukraine Anti-tank “Javelin” missile systems, grenade launchers, ammunition, “Stinger” were given to the Armed Forces. All this is recorded in the SIPRI database.

Before the Russian offensive, many military experts said that foreign military aid could only be useful for guerrilla warfare.

Such predictions were voiced a little before the war – at that time, it seemed that the Ukrainians could simply ambush Russian equipment and complicate the activities of the occupying army by using “Javelins” and “Stingers”. Even representatives of the unrecognized DPR of Ukraine Donetsk region free When talking about the plan to do, only this portable weather they mentioned the attack defense systems.

Maybe, Armed Forces of Ukraine Western planes and even weather even without anti-aircraft defense systems, it could cope with the armed formations of “DPR” and “LXR”, because “DPR” did not have aviation. But it was not worth attacking the Russian army with such weapons – it would be an operation doomed to failure from the very beginning.

The weapons supplied from Canada and Europe were of the same type: Canada sent Ukraine body armor, helmets and night vision devices; Great Britain armored vehicles, communication devices and GPS navigators; France provided helicopters and grenade launchers. Germany generally refused to supply Kiev with lethal weapons.

Putin: “The more the supply of long-range Western systems to Ukraine increases, the more we will be forced to move the threat away from our borders.”.

BBC: Since the start of the full-scale war, Russian leaders have reiterated this thesis to varying degrees. Recently, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeated the same idea almost verbatim. In fact, after the start of military operations, Russia’s Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk provinces were regularly fired upon. The Russian army failed to capture Zaporozhye, which Putin considers Russian territory, abandoned Kherson, and could not even move the front line away from the borders of Donetsk. In addition, Kaluga, Saratov and Rostov regions, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, came under fire.

In his address to the Federal Assembly, Putin also said that one of the goals of the “special operation”. NATOaway from the borders of Russia. But as a result, Putin brought him closer. Finland and Sweden NATOAcceptance to is actually a solved issue and already of Ukraine too NATOstarted to talk about membership.

Putin: “Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield”.

BBC: The end of the history of the Russian Empire, the USSR, and then the Russian Federation 20In 0 years, there were quite a lot of unsuccessful and even defeated military operations: the Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, the First World War, Afghanistan, and the first war in Chechnya.

In addition, in the one-year war in Ukraine, we saw the Russian army from Kiev, Sumy and Chernigov regions, Kherson, Liman, Kharkiv, Izyum, we saw the retreat from the cities of Balakleya and the island of Zmeyin. The strange reasoning behind these decisions created a meme – the Russian army is not retreating, it is regrouping.

Officials repeating the thesis that “Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield” most likely mean that the country has nuclear weapons. According to their logic, it should be concluded that the enemy army can neither invade Russia nor capture Moscow. But Ukraine and its allies have never set themselves such a goal. Moreover, the American experience in Vietnam refutes the thesis that “nuclear states do not lose the war.”

Putin: “We will actively apply the most advanced technologies to ensure the improvement of the quality potential of the army and navy.”We have new samples of weapons and equipment in every direction. Many of them are significantly superior to their foreign counterparts in terms of their characteristics.”.

BBC: The issue of modernization and rearmament of the Russian army is included in all the speeches of the President, Vladimir Putin talks about it in every address.

In his speech in 2021, he gave more detailed information about the rearmament program, promising that “by 2024, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the army will reach almost 76 percent.” But during this year of the “special military operation” it became clear that the share of modern weapons on the front is decreasing; Russia has to send old Soviet-era tanks to war zones and hit Ukraine’s infrastructure with old Soviet missiles.

For example, Russia last summer Ministry of Defence announced that “Aerospace forces of Russia USA and Europe shot the weapons and ammunition sent from other countries, stored in the territory of Kremenchuk’s road machinery factory, with a high-precision weapon. In fact, the Ukrainian Air Force Command was successful, but very, of the Soviet military-industrial complex of Russia at that time outdated He announced that the “X-22” cruise missile was used.

The anti-ship version of this missile has difficulty hitting ground targets. The missile fell about 300 meters away from the coordinates announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense – at the “Amstor” Shopping Center in Kremenchuk. 20 person perished had been

Ukraine says that Russia used hypersonic “Daggers” in this war and “Iskander” tactical missiles, which Ukraine’s old Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile systems could not hit. Russian troops also have modern T-90M tanks, but in very limited numbers.

One of the main objections of war supporters in Russia to the Ministry of Defense is that, although the military desperately needs it, many of the examples of technology shown in the demonstrations in Moscow are not found at all on the front.

In general, the Russian army needs various types of unmanned aerial vehicles, high-quality communications and other high-precision systems.

The lack of quality means of communication and intelligence is also reflected in the more ineffective operation of Russian artillery, although it is superior in quantity to Ukrainian artillery.

Putin: “We were engaged in the “witch hunt” both before and now Kyiv we will not behave like the regime and Western elites; we will not punish those who step aside, those who renounce their homeland.Let it remain on their conscience, let them live like this – they are doomed to live with it”.

BBC: Russian authorities use various means to punish those who oppose the war. Two of them since March of last year crime (“discrediting the army” and “false military information”) And in December, new about “external influence”. law accepted and even those who are not financed from abroad are declared “foreign agents”.

Politicians Alexey Gorinov and Ilya Yashin (declared a “foreign agent”), including journalist Maria Ponomarenko, were sentenced to 6-8.5 years in prison for “fake military news”. About two “foreign agents” who are not in the country – blogger Veronika Belotserkovskaya and publicist Alexander Nevzorov – 9 and 8 years in absentia imprisonment the decision was made.

Officials about the citizens who criticized the government and opposed the war and left Russia – from limiting the possibility of working remotely, tax punishment mechanisms ranging from raising their rates, confiscating their property, and depriving them of citizenship offer they do.

Putin: “In our time, they started to turn Ukraine into “anti-Russia”. In fact, this is not a new project..

BBC: Putin has said before that there are forces in the world that deliberately oppose Russia and want to stop its development, and that Ukraine has become a tool of these forces. When the President of Russia talks about this, he ignores one fact – Ukraine is a sovereign state, it has the right not to ask Moscow how to live and develop.

Vladimir Putin has been repeating for several years that someone is trying to implement an “anti-Russian” project in Ukraine. BBC Russian Service investigated who “invented” this term back in 2021. In short, political consultant and fantasy writer Lev Vershinin published this conspiracy idea for the first time in 2012 – on the website of the “Odnako” magazine of Mikhail Leontiev, the current press secretary of “Rosneft”.

• Ilya Barabanov, Daria Napeyeva, Pavel Aksyonov
• BBC