The Battle of Soledar illustrates Russia’s continued superiority in artillery and firepower in general, and confirms Ukraine’s need to acquire more Western weapons, although the Ukrainian army will have logistical difficulties to deal with operating and maintaining the various tanks and armored vehicles promised NATO, according to the assessment of some experts quoted in articles published by AFP and EFE agencies, transmitted to Agerpres.

In recent days, the Russian and Ukrainian armies have claimed control of the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, which, along with the neighboring town of Bakhmut, has been the scene of fierce fighting that an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as the bloodiest since the start of the Russian invasion.

The development of the battles near Soledar and Bakhmut clearly shows that Russia is still able to massively focus fire in one direction and continue the fight, despite the large loss of life among its own troops, says Mykola Beleskov, military analyst of the NGO “Return Alive”. “.

Tactics of “Human Waves”.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian mercenaries from Wagner’s group, who significantly participated in the Battle of Soledar, are now attacking Ukrainian positions in small groups in successive waves. Those who are in the first wave are less prepared, often die in battle, but manage to discover the enemy’s positions and exhaust them; a second wave follows, consisting of soldiers who are better trained and more capable of neutralizing Ukrainian forces.

This “human wave” tactic shows that Russia no longer relies as heavily on artillery as it did in earlier stages of the war against Ukraine, and is instead willing to lose large numbers of soldiers in infantry-led attacks.

“We knew that life in Russia had little value, but it still surprises us how far they have come,” says Oleksiy Melnyk, a former Ukrainian soldier. According to him, faced with such tactics of the Russian troops, the Ukrainian troops are forced to counterattack with infantry or special forces, which also leads to significant human losses among the Ukrainian troops, and the alternative is withdrawal.

• Read also: Battle for Soledar shows how Putin adopted Stalin’s tactics

Commenting on the debate about whether it makes sense for the Ukrainian army to continue defense in the Bakhmut-Soledar section, Melnyk believes that it is difficult to draw a conclusion, and for this the Ukrainian leadership must decide whether the price of human lives of soldiers is worth paying.

As for counteroffensive operations, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, said that losses during the recovery of lost territories may be greater than those caused by their defense.

The need for Western tanks

Therefore, although Ukraine has received a large amount of Western weapons since the beginning of the Russian invasion, it remains insufficient, and the lack of tanks from this military aid is now showing its effect in the battles of Bakhmut and Soledar.

“The situation is very difficult, the equipment is breaking down,” and there is not enough ammunition, complains the commander of a Ukrainian tanker who interviewed France Presse at the front. “We don’t have spare parts for tank maintenance and the tracks break, so when our repair crew sees knocked-down tanks, they take everything they need from them,” says a Ukrainian military man near an old Soviet T-64. a tank modernized by Ukraine, a model that before the Russian invasion made up the majority of about 900 tanks of the Ukrainian army.

Since then, Ukraine has received from European countries, especially from Poland, about 300 T-72 tanks, also of the Soviet model, in service with the Ukrainian army, and in addition, captured in battles hundreds of tanks of all types used by the Russian army (T-62, T -64, T-72, T-80, T-90).

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba this week renewed pressure on Western countries to increase military aid to Ukraine, which has so far received ammunition, artillery, anti-aircraft systems and armored vehicles.

More effective than the Soviet ones

Kyiv’s interest is directed at the German Leopard 2 tank, which Poland has shown readiness to offer to Ukraine from its own supplies, if Germany agrees.

This tank is superior to the Soviet ones in several parameters, the main of which is the space for storing ammunition, Ukrainian captain Volodymyr Tchaikovskyi explained to AFP.

“In a Soviet tank, the crew sits on the ammunition, so if they hit the tank, the crew will die for sure,” and in the Leopard tank, the ammunition is stored behind the armor panel, the Ukrainian military notes. “This is the main reason why we need Western tanks. The rest – GPS, night vision, thermal imager – is secondary,” he adds.

And the analyst of the American think tank CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) Mark Kanchian emphasizes the importance of this moment, adding that Western tanks also have better target identification systems and can strike at a greater distance.

However, he believes that Western tanks “will not be a miracle cure”, since even if they reach Ukraine, their reduced number “will mean something more symbolic than real military potential”, so he rather suggests a rapid modernization of Ukrainian T-72 tanks. with systems in the equipment of Western tanks.

“Logistics headache”

In addition, the acquisition of Western armored vehicles and tanks presents the Ukrainian army with logistical problems due to the variety of these vehicles.

France, Germany and the US last week promised to supply Ukraine with 40 German Marder armored vehicles, 50 American Bradley armored vehicles and several French AMX-10 RC light tanks, according to a source in Paris, the French government is ready to give up about 40 such vehicles. Britain, in turn, said that it can offer Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

But “giving all this equipment is one thing, and using it is another,” commented an American military source. “Soviet tanks are very simple, they have less electronics on board. Given the variety of promised Western tanks and armored vehicles, this risks becoming a logistical headache for the Ukrainian army, given that each type of vehicle has its own systems, engines and weapons of different calibers, warns the French officer in turn.

Thus, “Britain sending 10 Challenger 2 tanks would be a poisoned gift. This will require the mobilization of the entire training and maintenance chain for limited availability and therefore minimal impact on the ground,” says Léo Périat-Pénier, an arms expert at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

However, he clarifies, “Ukraine is in a state of general mobilization, so it has a considerable human resource” and “internal structures and devices to master all this diverse technology.”

In any case, Russia will not win this war, for his part, Oleksiy Melnyk appreciates. “However, the problem is that the longer it lasts, the more Ukrainians will die and the more destabilizing effects will be around the world, which will require more effort and time to overcome,” he concludes.

___

• Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro