The clip is reminiscent of a video game: surrounded by hard techno beats, a Russian tank flies into the air on Telegram. This should give Ukraine courage.
Bakhmut – Carlo Masala is now more cautious about the course of the Ukraine war. He sees a turning point approaching or at least the “momentum” of the Ukrainian offensive against Vladimir Putin’s troops fading: “Russia has switched to a war economy and is producing tanks and ammunition on a large scale. It is capable of throwing a lot of material to the front. This leaves something to be desired in terms of quality. But the old Russian strategy is that quantity becomes a quality in itself over time,” writes the political scientist in Hamburger Abendblatt.
Reported against the background of increasing doubts about the outcome of the material battle between Russia and Ukraine Newsweek via a clip on the social media channel Telegram, which looks like it comes from the tank shooter “World of Tanks”: A Ukrainian drone kills a Russian T-72B2 tank. This is said to have happened around the embattled city of Bakhmut. However, also reports Newsweek cautiously: “In a clip shared by Yuriy Fedorenko, the commander of Ukraine’s Achilles drone company within the country’s 92nd Assault Brigade, a first-person view (FPV) drone shoots straight toward what appears to be a Russian T -72B2 tank looks like. The feed then cuts out as the drone hits the tank, before the video cuts to a moment that appears to show the smoldering remains of the vehicle.”
At least the scenario is realistic – even the Western tanks that are repeatedly touted as game changers look old compared to the threats from the hardware store, as Ralf Ketzel, the managing director of Leopard producer Krauss-Maffai Wegmann, told the magazine cpmDefenseNetwork makes it clear: “We have to deal intensively with the topic of drones. For example, we have to ask ourselves how drones should actually be combated. After all, when it comes to the threat, we are talking about cheap mass-produced products. So there will have to be additional solutions, which I only see to a limited extent on the Leopard, but rather on other protected tracked vehicles. In my opinion, we need to get rid of the idea that all tasks can be carried out in one system. The Leopard provides penetrating power, the Puma – or another vehicle – provides protection from drones.”
Video: Food for Ukraine’s perseverance and fighting spirit
If that applies to high-tech weapons like the Leopard or a chain-rattling fortress like the American Abrams M1, then the same applies to a Russian tank of any type. However, this is a possible fallacy that literally raises doubts about the outcome of the war in Ukraine: the Russian leadership is completely indifferent to individual tanks, and is equally indifferent to the number of lost armored vehicles – Carlo Masala’s statement that quantity means Russian quality, is also supported, for example, by military historian Ralf Raths, director of the German Tank Museum in Munster: According to him, the Russian leadership in land warfare always counts on the performance of the unit, never on the value of the individual vehicle.
In this respect, the statement by Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, is put into perspective Newsweek: “The Russians lose more than $7 million worth of equipment in one evening,” he said in a statement. The publication of such a claim puts observers, scientists and journalists in a dilemma “between patriotism and objective reporting”. daily News means. “Such legends arise in wars in order to maintain perseverance and fighting spirit.” This is also served by exaggerating successes and concealing information, for example about one’s own losses.
Drones: Deadly and inexpensive means even against tanks
Ultimately, the choice of weapons is primarily a question of cost – the drone is as deadly as it is cheap. This winter, however, both opponents will have to test their drones for durability. At the same time, the need for FPV drones for the Ukrainian armed forces is extremely high. The minimum number of drones required for a brigade – approximately 1,500 soldiers – is 1,000 units, while operational teams can use ten to 15 FPV drones per day of operation, the magazine calculates Defense Express before. In any case, Ukraine is preparing to become the world’s leading manufacturer of drones and even set up a “drone army,” as Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has announced.
The winter that is now approaching is pushing high-tech and FPV drones to their limits – “first-person view” drones send the pilot an image to his cell phone or tablet via an on-board camera, and the operator on the ground sits virtually in the cockpit, so to speak. Defense Express quoted as drone expert, Mykola Volokhov, the commander of the Terra air reconnaissance unit of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade: “FPV drones are an extremely effective but situational tool. For example, if the defense is based solely on the use of FPV drones, the occupiers only need to wait for a sufficiently thick fog to destroy the defensive line with armored vehicles.”
Bakhmut: The city remains in the stranglehold of Vladimir Putin’s troops
The devastated city of Bakhmut has been under Russian control since May 2023, but Ukraine continues its efforts to break Moscow’s control over the settlement. Russia claims, according to Newsweek, that Russian troops “destroyed camouflaged positions” and killed an unspecified number of Ukrainian soldiers with their T-72B3 tanks around the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk – one of the tanks in the Ukrainian clip may be among those described Russian units.
“Ukraine has become a drone power in recent years and especially since the beginning of the war,” said Ulrike Franke, from European Council on Foreign Relations compared to the ZDF. And she is pretty sure: “It is likely that Ukraine will emerge from this war as an important drone producing country.” However, that says little about the outcome of the war.
After all, Bakhmut is still being fought over, although various media outlets had already reported in March 2023, a year after the outbreak of the war, that the city was surrounded by Russian troops and was therefore on the verge of falling. According to current information from… Institute for the Study of War (ISW) Both parties could not have made any profitable moves around Bakhmut: Ukrainian forces carried out offensive operations near Bakhmut, but did not make any major advances, but rather engaged in more or less fierce skirmishes with Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian General Staff recently reported that the Ukrainian armed forces continued their offensive operations south of Bakhmut. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully attacked near Klishchiivka – seven kilometers southwest of Bakhmut – towards Bakhmut.
War economy: Experts advise NATO to make more efforts
After all, many reports from both warring parties about the situation around Bakhmut deal with Russian offensives – without being able to identify any significant successes on the part of Ukraine: Russian mibloggers claimed that Russian forces had advanced to the eastern outskirts of Bohdanivka – six kilometers northwest of Bakhmut; south of the Berkhivka reservoir – approximately two kilometers northwest of Bakhmut – and Khromove – immediately west of Bakhmut – in the heights north of Klishchiivka and towards Ivanivske – six kilometers west of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian General Staff also reported that Russian forces had unsuccessfully attacked near Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, Klishchivka and Andriyivka – ten kilometers southwest of Bakhmut.
Colonel Markus Reisner, officer in the Austrian Armed Forces, historian and board member of the Clausewitz Network for Strategic Studies opposite the Daily News: “I think the situation is even more precarious than last year. Russia was on the defensive for a long time. The Russian side was afraid of losing the occupied territories. That’s why she started digging in. Ukraine then went on the offensive with the equipment at its disposal and failed. After this defensive success, the Russian mood changed for the better. And now the Russians even believe that over time they can bring the Ukrainians to their knees.”
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