Can Ukraine win? On day 77 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military continues to search for a breakthrough in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military is pushing back with counterattacks, and in some places, it is even approaching the Russian border.
Ukraine Pushing Back
As the Ukrainian military has been reclaiming territory and imposing heavy casualties on the Russian forces, the Ukrainian government is growing more ambitious in terms of strategic goals. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba indicated in an interview that the Ukrainians are seriously thinking about liberating the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces that have been under Russian control since 2014. Although part of Ukraine, the two breakaway territories are largely pro-Russian.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Wednesday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 26,350 Russian troops (and wounded approximately thrice that number), destroyed 199 fighter, attack, and transport jets, 160 helicopters, 1,187 tanks, 528 artillery pieces, 2,856 armored personnel carriers, 185 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 12 boats and cutters, 1,997 vehicles and fuel tanks, 87 anti-aircraft batteries, 390 unmanned aerial systems, 41 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 94 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.
Weapons to Ukraine
As of Tuesday, the U.S. military has trained 370 Ukrainian troops on the M-777 155mm howitzer, 60 troops on the M113 armored personnel carriers, and 20 troops on the Phoenix tactical unmanned aerial system. The Pentagon has also delivered 89 out of the 90 M-777 155mm artillery pieces to Ukraine and 120,000 out of the 184,000 artillery rounds. In terms of the anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, the U.S. military has sent thus far approximately 5,500 FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank weapons and 1,500 FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
On Tuesday night, the House voted in favor (368 to 57 votes) to approve a $40 billion military, economic, and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. Now, the Senate will have to ratify the package so it can materialize. If the package passes through the Senate, it will mean that the U.S. will have committed approximately $53 billion in aid to Ukraine in over two months.
“On the security assistance front, virtually all of the 90 howitzers are now transferred to Ukrainian possession. I think there’s one remaining, so we’ve got, you know, 89 of 90 are in Ukrainian possession. Of the ammunition, again, the total count of 184,000—what was committed to us—or what we committed to them, again, 65 percent, so almost 120,000 rounds, are in,” a senior U.S. defense official said in a press briefing.
“I can say that of these extra 11 Mi-17s that we talked about, the first one of those 11 is going in today. And I’m not going to get ahead of the deliveries of the other ones. Obviously we want to protect that,” the senior U.S. defense official added about the batch of Mi-17 transport helicopters that were initially intended for the Afghan Air Force before the Taliban took over last August.
Snake Island
In its daily update on the war, the British Ministry of Defense focused on the famous Snake Island. The Ukrainian military has been conducting airstrikes with manned and unmanned aircraft, keeping constant pressure on the Russian garrison on the island and destroying several Russian fast-attack boats and even a helicopter.
“Fighting continues at Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, with Russia repeatedly trying to reinforce its exposed garrison located there. Ukraine has successfully struck Russian air defences and resupply vessels with Bayraktar drones. Russia’s resupply vessels have minimum protection in the western Black Sea, following the Russian Navy’s retreat to Crimea after the loss of the Moskva,” the British Ministry of Defense stated.
Located in the Black Sea, the small patch of land has attracted lots of publicity when its few Ukrainian defenders used profanities to respond to calls to surrender by Russian warships in the opening days of the war.
“Russia’s current efforts to augment its forces on Zmiinyi Island offer Ukraine more opportunities to engage Russian troops and attrit materiel. If Russia consolidates its position on Zmiinyi Island with strategic air defence and coastal defence cruise missiles, they could dominate the north-western Black Sea,” the British Military Intelligence assessed.
1945’s New Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Eric
May 11, 2022 at 2:43 pm
Ukraine has this song from 1914 singing about “to free our brother Ukrainians from the shackles of Moscow.” Imagine you finally have your freedom from Moscow (since 1991) and the Russians try to take it away again.
“Ой у лузі червона калина похилилася,
Чогось наша славна Україна зажурилася.
А ми тую червону калину підіймемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
А ми тую червону калину підіймемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
Не хилися, червона калино, маєш білий цвіт,
Не журися, славна Україно, маєш вільний рід.
А ми тую червону калину підіймемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
А ми тую червону калину підіймемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
Марширують наші добровольці у кривавий тан,
Визволяти братів-українців з московських кайдан.
А ми наших братів-українців визволимо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
А ми наших братів-українців визволимо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
Ой у полі ярої пшенички золотистий лан,
Розпочали стрільці українські з ворогами тан.
А ми тую ярую пшеничку ізберемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
А ми тую ярую пшеничку ізберемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
Як повіє буйнесенький вітер з широких степів,
То прославить по всій Україні січових стрільців.
А ми тую стрілецькую славу збережемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
А ми тую стрілецькую славу збережемо,
А ми нашу славну Україну, гей-гей, розвеселимо!
Oh, in the meadow a red kalyna has bent down low,
For some reason, our glorious Ukraine is in sorrow.
And we’ll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
And we’ll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
Do not bend low, oh red kalyna, you have a white flower,
Do not worry, glorious Ukraine, you have a free people.
And we’ll take that red kalyna and will raise it up,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
And we’ll take that red kalyna and will raise it up,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
Marching forward, our fellow volunteers, into a bloody fray,
For to free our brother Ukrainians from the shackles of Moscow.
And we, our brother Ukrainians, we will then liberate,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
And we, our brothers Ukrainians, will then liberate,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
Oh in the field of early spring wheat, there’s a golden furrow,
Then began the Ukrainian riflemen to engage the enemy.
And we’ll take that precious, early wheat and will gather it,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
And we’ll take that precious, early wheat and will gather it,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
When the stormy winds blow forth from the wide steppes,
They will glorify, throughout Ukraine, the Sich riflemen.
And we’ll take the glory of the riflemen preserving it,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!
And we’ll take the glory of the riflemen preserving it,
And we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine, hey – hey!”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi_u_luzi_chervona_kalyna)
seedeevee
May 11, 2022 at 3:17 pm
You should be embarrassed to be using press releases from the UK MOD and bloviation from Ukrainian ministers when discussing reality.
Fluffy Dog
May 11, 2022 at 3:19 pm
“Although part of Ukraine, the two breakaway territories are largely pro-Russian.”
I question that assertion. While these regions are predominantly Russian-speaking, they do not appear to be pro-Russia. IIRC, nobody was celebrating the separatists in 2014. And nobody welcomed Russian military in 2022.
Pestercorn
May 11, 2022 at 3:22 pm
I read your article.
You should try and write articles when you wakeup rather than when you’re dreaming.
Alex
May 11, 2022 at 4:42 pm
Bandera Nazi got drunk on cheap vodka and shouts something in an incomprehensible and stupid language.
A bit of truth.
The head of the UN monitoring mission, Matilda Bogner, said that the organization has reliable information about the torture of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity:
“Ukraine and Russia must promptly and effectively investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war,” she said.
The military-civilian administration of the Kherson region announced their intention to appeal to Putin with a request to include the region into Russia:
“We intend to live as part of the Russian Federation. We fully cooperate and feel as one with the regions of Russia.”
Pfizer, Moderna, Merck, Gilead are testing medicines in Ukraine, bypassing international safety standards, reducing the costs of research programs and gaining significant competitive advantages. Coronavirus vaccine manufacturers have been involved in US military biological activities.
Along with American pharmaceutical companies and Pentagon contractors, Ukrainian state structures are involved in military biological activities, the main tasks of which are to conceal illegal activities, conduct field and clinical trials, and provide the necessary biomaterial.
The American side expanded its research potential both in the field of creating biological weapons and in the field of obtaining information about antibiotic resistance and the presence of antibodies to various diseases in the population of specific regions.
Ukraine has long become a training ground for Western countries to create biological weapons components and test new samples of pharmaceuticals.
The United States, as part of its military biological program in Ukraine, used Mariupol as a regional center for work with the cholera pathogen.
Evidence was obtained of the emergency destruction of documents confirming work with the US military department. A preliminary analysis of the surviving documentation indicates the use of Mariupol as a regional center for the collection and certification of the cholera pathogen.
The selected strains were sent to the public health center in Kyiv, which is entrusted with the functions of further sending biomaterials to the United States.
This activity has been carried out since 2014, which is confirmed by the acts of transfer of strains.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Fox News recalled that the United States supplied weapons to Ukraine long before the start of the Russian special operation.
“The Biden administration was supplying weapons long before the invasion. The first billion dollars that the president allocated for Ukraine did indeed include assistance with lethal weapons … The United States, Canada, Britain, other allies actually helped prepare the Ukrainians, ”Kirby quoted the TV channel as saying.
As military experts and analysts had previously assumed, Ukraine would have brought down all its military power on the Donbass in any case, but Russia was the first to come to the aid of Donbass.
The world is watching. The world sees. Lies are dying.
Him
May 11, 2022 at 8:29 pm
Just as in the Arab-Israeli wars – where the Arabs attacked Israel, then Israel pushed them back so far that Israel took Arab land) – so should Ukraine take a sliver of Russian territory. Then use it as a bargaining chip.
Illurion
May 11, 2022 at 9:29 pm
Dear Bandera NAZI Alex:
Ukraine has already attacked and destroyed a number of Russian military and supply facilities as deep as 100 miles into Russian territory.
As Ukraine is steadily pushing the Russians back toward the border, such attacks into Russia are inevitable.
Russia has lost this war, they just can’t bring themselves to admit it yet.
When they DO admit it, Putin will be executed.
Alex
May 12, 2022 at 10:17 am
OK. In Ukraine, 10,000 Russian and 1,000 Russian tanks are destroyed every day. It’s not even funny to read, but it’s not interesting anymore. Let’s talk about the collapsed Russian economy:
The Russian ruble has become the best world currency in 2022. On Thursday, May 12, Bloomberg reported.
According to the latest data, the ruble has grown by 11 percent against the dollar since the beginning of 2022. Thus, it has become the leader among the 31 major currencies monitored by the agency’s experts.
The strengthening of the currency came after the measures taken by the Russian government against the backdrop of Western sanctions, writes Bloomberg. It is clarified that the authorities introduced capital controls, and also obliged exporters to sell foreign exchange earnings. In particular, in March, the President of Russia announced a new procedure for paying for gas by European consumers.
As similar examples, the authors of the article cite the Turkish lira and the Argentine peso, which failed to achieve maximum growth rates after the decisions of the governments of these countries. The Russian currency, on the contrary, responded well to the measures taken, Bloomberg experts conclude.
Only facts, not squeals and fantasies of Bandera Nazis and Slavophobes.
Alex
May 12, 2022 at 11:54 am
Russia’s oil revenues have grown by 50% since the beginning of the year, despite trade restrictions imposed after the start of a special operation in Ukraine, writes Bloomberg citing a report by the International Energy Agency.
“Russia has earned approximately $20 billion monthly since the beginning of 2022 from cumulative sales of oil and petroleum products at an export level of 8 million barrels per day,” the document says. As the IEA noted, supplies from Russia continue to flow despite the fact that the EU is currently discussing a ban on energy imports, and major international oil companies Shell and Total Energy promise to stop purchases.
Russian energy resources are in high demand in Asia, especially in India and China. Experts emphasize that the reduction in the supply of refined products from Russia, such as diesel fuel, fuel oil and naphtha, has exacerbated tensions on world markets. At the same time, stocks of so-called middle distillates (some types of petroleum products that are obtained as a result of the distillation of hydrocarbons, including heating and marine fuels) are at their lowest level since 2008.
Another collapse of the Russian economy. I am sure that in Russia they clap and thank you.