Ukraine has been waiting for that important decision of the US Senate for a long time – it is a new aid package in the amount of 60 billion dollars (56 billion euros). On the front in the eastern part of the country, the Ukrainian troops are under heavy artillery fire from the Russian forces, to which the Ukrainian soldiers, due to the lack of ammunition, can barely respond.
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“The Ministry of Defense has been working hard in recent weeks to get everything ready.” says former Commander-in-Chief of US Ground Forces Europe Ben Hodges in an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW). This means that the Pentagon has already prepared the weapons, so now everything can be quickly transferred across the border,” explains German security expert Nico Lange in an interview with DW.
Dispersed logistics in Ukraine
There is already an elaborate transport system on the Ukrainian border, ready to protect transport from Russian airstrikes.
– Since the beginning of the great Russian invasion two years ago, the country has established dispersed logistics for the delivery of Western military equipment.. The goods are not put on one train, which could be a tempting target, but are distributed on different ones, which often travel to their destinations at night – says Lange.
Ukraine now has at its disposal a fleet of Western heavy transporters for road traffic. U A curfew was imposed on Ukraine overnight, making it difficult for Moscow’s intelligence service, especially spies on the ground, to locate the route.
Former U.S. Lt. Gen. Hodges says the Russian Air Force, while having much better aircraft, has so far failed to destroy any train or convoy carrying ammunition or equipment from Rzeszów, Poland, through Ukraine.
From Germany to Rzeszow in Poland
The regional airport in the small town of Rzeszow in southeastern Poland is the main transit point for Western aid. Hodges assumes that American planes from Germany will land there. Regardless of whether it’s rail or C-17 planes flying to Poland and then dropping cargo in Rzeszow – US military logistics can act quickly.
Hodges points out that Germany is a key hub for American deliveries to Ukraine “because of its geographical position, developed infrastructure and, finally, because of the almost 80-year presence of the USA and cooperation with Germany”.
In the southwestern part of Germany, there is also the largest storage of ammunition of the American military forces outside the USA. The warehouse is located in the immediate vicinity of the largest American military base in Europe, in Ramstein.
ATACMS with a range of 300 kilometers
Hodges says the new aid package includes for the first time ATACMS artillery missiles with a range of 300 kilometers. Until now, American President Biden had only allowed the delivery of these weapons with a range of 150 kilometers – similar to the Scalp or Storm Shadow missiles from France and Great Britain.
Hodges believes that Ukraine could target command structures and warehouses of Russian ammunition and weapons with new weapons.
– Instead of waiting for Russian missiles and planes to be launched, and then trying to intercept or shoot them down, it is much more efficient to destroy the place from which these missiles are coming – says Hodges.
Preparations to the Krim bridge
Niko Lange, who also works for the Munich Security Conference, says: – When we look at the situation in the south, the situation is still such that the three approaches to the Crimean peninsula represent key military objectives.
He expects that in the coming months, Ukraine will try to eliminate more and more sensitive points of the Russian stockpile in Crimea – up to the most important route, the Crimean bridge connecting Russia with Crimea.
– There are a number of types of ammunition that currently only the US can supply – says Lange. Especially since starting ammunition production in Europe takes a very long time.
Christian Mehling, director of the Center for Security and Defense at the German think tank DGAP (German Society for Foreign Policy), believes that the aid package, now approved by the US Senate, has largely bought the Europeans time. He believes that this new US aid is “the end of the story” on this scale.
For months, supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump in the Senate blocked aid to Ukraine.
– The Americans are buying us time, but European aid must be activated soon – Melling told DW. Europe must arm itself, because of the danger from Russia, but also to help Ukraine.
(Deutsch Vela)
