Ukraine: More Weapons to Deal With the Russian Invaders

"This is a drone war. Every drone is armed and they are used every minute of the day. Most deaths are from drones either directly or from corrective fire from mortars. We will not move without drone surveillance."

"If we didn't have them, we'd have lost already."

"I can't believe Canada opted not to send the best drones on the market and instead spent $400 million on NASMs [National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems]."

"Do you know how many drones they could have sent [instead]?"

"I know that when I see a drone with no munitions on it, the artillery is coming, so there is no standing still anymore. It has changed the art of defensive lines."

"The Russians are mobilizing and we have seen double [the numbers] in these past few days. This is a lot bigger than usual."

James Challice, Cdn.Forces veteran fighting with a Ukrainian Army brigade in the Donetsk oblast 

 

"Give us more military equipment, more weapons, and we will deal with the Russian occupier, we will destroy them."

"There were cases when anti-tank mines were detonated, and the soldiers only received contusions [in Bushmaster armoured vehicles]. There were no serious injuries to the soldiers. It has worked very well."

Dmytro, Ukrainian serviceman near Bakhmut

"Negotiations can begin when Russia withdraws its troops from the territory of Ukraine."

"Other options only give Russia time to regroup forces and resume hostilities at any moment."

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

"The American warmongers -- supply weapons in huge quantities, provide intelligence and participate directly in the planning of combat operations."

Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman

A general view shows an apartment building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline city of Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine February 19, 2023. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov

 

February 24 draws near, the one-year anniversary of Moscow's 'special military operation' violent invasion of Ukraine. There have been ample indications on the ground of yet another Russian buildup of troops and war machinery at the border with Ukraine, echoing the earlier strategy prior to the Russian invasion. Mr. Putin is restless and inwardly raging at the lack of progress at a tremendous cost in his goal of annexing Ukrainian territory into Greater Russia. 

The buildup presages a desperate ploy to overwhelm Ukrainian forces with the sheer volume of the Russian servicemen prepared to re-invade along with a renewal of gear and above all a suspected massive air assault dwarfing in numbers the aerial bombing that Ukraine's towns and cities and civilian infrastructure have already in the past year been bombarded with as Russia deliberately and with full malice targeted civilian enclaves and the nation's energy infrastructure. An energy-deficit siege as a winter gift.

 

Ukrainian troops are doggedly holding onto Bakhmut amid fierce Russian attacks BBC/Goktay Koraltan 

 

The strategic Donbas city of Bakhmut whose original 75,000 population has mostly fled, has been under siege for months by the Russian military, with Ukrainian soldiers fighting to hold off Russia's push. Pleas for more weapons from the world outside -- from nations supporting Ukraine's existential battle against a merciless Kremlin assault on Ukrainian independence echo loudly even as senior Western leaders met in Munich for an assessment of this debilitating European war.

The obvious preparations to intensity assaults on Ukraine targeting its vast eastern geography sees Ukraine planning its response in a spring counteroffensive. For this plan to have any significant measure of success Ukraine is in need of more weaponry; heavier and longer-range weapons from its allies in the
West that have been steadily feeding Ukraine's responsive need for the machinery of war. 

Ukrainian servicemen have been impressed with the service on their freezing battlefield of Australia-provided Bushmaster armoured vehicles serving an area where Russian soldiers have been bogged down in the months of fighting in their determination to take Bakhmut. These are vehicles highly prized by Ukraine for their efficacy in shielding soldiers from bullets, enabling evacuations of the wounded, and offering cover for reconnaissance.

 

Ilya and Oleksii use drones armed with grenades to attack Russian troops a short distance away

 

Russia claims a barrage of missile strikes around Ukraine had achieved expected goals, hitting facilities that provide fuel and ammunition to the Ukrainian army. For its part, Kyiv reported that 36 missiles were fired at the capital and 16 were shot down. Ukraine's largest oil refinery, Kremenchuk, was struck by missiles. 

 

Bakhmut has become yet another destroyed city in Donetsk province. According to the Ukrainian 80th Air Assault Brigade's press officer, Russia had paid a heavy price following waves of assaults around the city. "There are places where their bodies are just piled up. There is a trench ... They just don't evacuate their wounded or killed", said spokesman Taras Dzioba standing by a howitzer battery outside a defensive bunker.

 

Two larger cities in Donetsk further west, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are identified as the targets to follow should Russian forces succeed in capturing Bakhmut. Its possession by Russia allowing it to advance further would be but a Pyrrhic victory, according to Ukraine, in assessment of the losses sustained in the prolonged effort and the time it has taken thus far.

A year earlier, the three-day Munich Security Conference hosted senior Western officials who urged Vladimir Putin to rethink plans to invade Ukraine, warning of dire consequences should he proceed. This year sees them grappling with the consequences of the invasion, the resulting sanctions on
Russia, the near-global condemnation and isolation it now faces in Europe and abroad.

"[The battle is far from over.] Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder is working."

"We will not be celebrating in the near future."

"[Ukraine is] becoming more active, pulling up more and more new reserves."

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head, Wagner mercenary group

Ukrainian gunners firing at Russian positions in Bakhmut. Photograph: Adrien Vautier/Le Pictorium Agency/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock