Ukraine needs 60 volley systems – much more than a handful so far promised by the United Kingdom and the United States – to have a chance to beat Russia, according to an aide to the country’s presidency.
Alexei Arestovich, a military adviser to the chief of staff, told the Guardian that while he believed the missiles were a “weapon to change the game”, he was not engaged enough to turn the tide of the war.
“The less we get, the worse our situation will be. “Our troops will continue to die and we will continue to lose ground,” Arestovic said, especially if countries with dozens of systems “decide to donate only four or five.”
On Monday, Britain said it would donate several M270 cruise missiles carrying missiles with a range of about 50 miles, days after the United States said it would donate four similar truck-based high-mobility artillery missile systems (Himars).
Arestovich said Ukraine needs many times more multiple rocket launchers (MLRS), which have a range far greater than anything in the country’s existing arsenal.
“If we get 60 of these systems, the Russians will lose any ability to advance anywhere, they will be stopped dead. If we get 40, they will progress, albeit very slowly, with great sacrifices; by 20 they will continue to advance with greater sacrifices than now, “he said.
The U.S. military has 363 Himars and 225 M270 missiles, and the U.S. Marine Corps has another 47, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, while the UK has 35 of its M270 versions – indicating it may have the capacity to deliver more to Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly said it will step up its offensive in Ukraine if longer-range missiles are delivered. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday: “The longer the range of weapons you supply, the farther the line is from where neo-Nazis [the Ukrainians] may threaten, the Russian Federation will be pushed out. “
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin said Moscow would hit “new targets” in Ukraine if the West increased arms supplies. Early Sunday morning, Russia struck cruise missiles at a railway depot in the eastern suburbs of Kyiv, for the first time in more than five weeks.
The latest public lobbying from Ukraine came after a battle for control raged in the small eastern town of Severodonetsk, with Kyiv forces trying to counterattack after Russia nearly captured it late last week.
Sergei Haidai, the city’s governor of Luhansk, said on Monday morning that “the situation has gotten a little worse for us” as he has reached the point where Ukrainian forces have “liberated almost half of the city”.
Later on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed a more pessimistic note, telling reporters in Kyiv that as long as his country’s forces hold out, “there are more of them [Russians] and they are stronger. ” Ukraine’s military losses are estimated by insiders at 150 deaths a day and 800 wounded.
Haidai said shelling had increased tenfold in Severodonetsk and neighboring Lisichansk, still held by Ukraine, and there were other reports of intense fighting, including machine gun, mortar and artillery fire and thousands of troops.
During the night, it became clear that Zelenski had visited the nearby front lines on Sunday to raise the morale of the soldiers. The president revealed that he had taken a risky trip to Lisichansk and nearby Soledar, which at one point took him several kilometers from Russian positions.
“We also brought you some of them,” Zelenski added in a selfie video posted in the wee hours. “It’s important. We brought confidence. And strength. I wish them health. A low bow to their parents. I wish victory to all of us.”
Vladimir Zelensky with servicemen during his visit to the Bakhmut and Lisichansk regions. Photo: press service of the Ukrainian president / AFP / Getty Images
Arestovich said Zelenski wanted to “show support for the troops” because the fighting in the Donbas region is “quite difficult for us”. The president also wanted to reject “Russian disinformation” that he was “sitting in his bunker in Kyiv and could not be less interested in the front line.”
Ukrainian strategists said they had tried to entice Russian forces to get tired of Severodonetsk, hoping to blunt the operational effectiveness of the invading forces. Although 120 Russian battalions remain in Ukraine, Kyiv believes they are operating with 40% or 50% force at the moment.
However, Russia has made slow but steady progress in the Donbass region, advancing at a speed of about 500 meters to 1 km a day in recent weeks, largely by focusing its efforts on a dwindling part of the front line: around Severodonetsk, where there is a prominence in the positions of Ukraine.
Arestovich said Ukraine’s main problem was that while it was able to inflict casualties on the Russians and blunt their progress in the Donbas and on the 800-mile (1,300 km) front line, it was much harder to repel the occupiers. The military usually has to give the battlefield a 3-1 advantage or more in order to have a chance of winning.
“We need four to five heavy weapons brigades so that we can conduct a proper counter-offensive and make it successful. We have manpower, we have no weapons, “Arestovic said. “Being on the offensive is about five times harder than being on defense.
The adviser said his biggest fear was that the West would stop sending weapons to Ukraine, “because it will return to the pre-war situation, on long and static fronts, this time three times as much as our land.” conquered than before “.
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Elsewhere, Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had killed more than 450 “nationalists” in Horlivka and Kodema, north of Donetsk, and destroyed parts of an armored vehicle repair facility in the Kharkiv region. There were no reports of Ukrainian deaths.
In Russia, Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit said the village of Tiotkino, near the border with Ukraine, came under fire from Ukraine, which was aimed at a bridge and some businesses Monday morning.
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