New Ramstein: What Ukraine Needs Now and Who Is In the Way of Its Obtaining Weapons

Ivan Sichen, an expert of the Independent Analytical Center for Geopolitical Studies “Borysfen Intel”, for Gazeta.ua

 

Ukraine needs modern armored vehicles, tanks and air defense systems. In particular, Abrams and Leopard tanks. These machines will help strengthen the country’s defenses, but the political games of Moscow and Berlin are in the way of our getting them. This was told in a comment to Gazeta.ua by military expert Ivan Sichen.

“We need air defense systems to close our sky. That’s the most important thing right now. Because, as you can see, Russia is trying to destroy our civilian infrastructure, critical infrastructure. But there is an interesting trend. At the beginning of the war, they struck our military units with missiles. That was our mistake. Because there were several cases when they destroyed entire military units with those missiles. Then they attempted to destroy the transport infrastructure, there were strikes on railway stations, railways. Then they moved to destroying our energy infrastructure. They hoped to break us through the winter. That did not work either”, says Sichen.

Now the Russians are trying to buy missiles from Iran, as they cannot produce them themselves, the expert emphasizes.

“Therefore, of course, we need air defense systems in order to prevent new strikes. We need armored vehicles in order to launch a counterattack in the spring. Our partners are still somehow afraid to provide it. This is the position of the German government. It does not want to quarrel with Russia, they are trying to negotiate. But one way or another, we will get tanks and everything else. Both Germany and other countries are step by step getting inclined to provide Ukraine with military assistance”, adds Sichen.

Ukraine needs Leopard tanks, the expert explains.

“They outperform by all characteristics the T-72, which is Russia’s main combat tank. And now also ours, because we received them from our partners from Central and Eastern Europe or as a trophies. However, this tank has problems. It has an automatic charging system. There is a conveyor belt on the turret of the tank and there are shells there, and when a projectile or a grenade hits it, it tears off the turret immediately. The western tanks do not have this problem. That is why we need them”, Sichen clarifies.

Ukraine will receive a large package of military assistance. This was stated on Friday by the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a press conference following the eighth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format.

In general, Ukraine is satisfied with the results of the meeting in Germany. In addition to military aid packages already known, “some were voiced behind closed doors”. This was stated in an interview with the Voice of America by Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov.

Author: Anastasiia Prokaieva

Source: Gazeta.ua

The article is available in Russian

 

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