Update on the conflict in Ukraine for April 8, 2024…
- Ukrainian forces continue losing territory as arms, ammunition, and manpower shortages continue to grow;
- Ammunition "initiatives" across Europe claiming to have found "millio…
Update on the conflict in Ukraine for April 8, 2024…
- Ukrainian forces continue losing territory as arms, ammunition, and manpower shortages continue to grow;
- Ammunition "initiatives" across Europe claiming to have found "millions" of artillery rounds gloss over important factors such as caliber, interoperability, and the condition of rounds held in storage;
- At best, the initiatives will temporarily provide Ukraine with enough ammunition to match previous rates of fire, but other critical shortages will continue to grow meaning the vector sum of the fighting will still favor Russian forces;
- Attempts by the US and Europe to intervene in Ukraine as a means of checking Russian advances may end in even worse defeat for the collective West;
- Attempts by Ukraine to target Russian oil refineries have led Western analysts to falsely conflate fuel export bans with perceived damage and repair efforts;
- Claims that Russia is unable to repair energy production infrastructure are based on the same flawed reasoning that led many Western analysts to assume Russia's military industrial base would be crippled following Western sanctions;
References:
BBC - Barrage of Russian attacks aims to cut Ukraine's lights:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68703356
The Independent - ‘Building destroyers’: The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war on Ukraine’s eastern front:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/glide-bomb-russia-ukraine-air-strikes-b2521301.html
Forbes - Estonia Just Found Another Million Shells For Ukraine (April 6, 2024):
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/04/06/estonia-just-found-another-million-shells-for-ukraine/?sh=26a6a2195ba1
Reuters - NATO pushes for common standards to tackle shortfalls in artillery munitions (June 2023):
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nato-pushes-common-standards-tackle-shortfalls-artillery-munitions-2023-06-13/
WSJ - Ukraine’s ‘Mad Max’ Trawls Swamps and Minefields f..
