Ukraine Begs for Soviet-Era Weapons as West's Air Defense Systems 'Disgraced'

Ukraine Begs for Soviet-Era Weapons as West's Air Defense Systems 'Disgraced'

Sputnik

As Ukraine's summer counteroffensive has failed to break through Russia's defensive lines, with the Russian military estimating that Kiev has lost over 43,000 troops and more than 4,900 pieces of military equipment since June 4, President Volodymyr Zelensky recently entreated the West to send Ukraine missiles for Soviet-era anti-aircraft systems.

The fact that Ukraine’s president is imploring Western countries to dip into their warehouses and seek out remaining stocks of Soviet-era weapons for anti-aircraft defense is a sign that Kiev’s much-heralded counteroffensive is failing, Andrey Koshkin, a veteran Russian academic specializing in military and international affairs, told Sputnik.

One of the reasons for the Ukrainian military’s inability to turn the tide of the counteroffensive, despite all the billions' worth of weaponry fueling NATO’s proxy war against Russia, is the fact that Western arms have not turned out to be as effective as they were extolled as by the military leaders of the Kiev regime’s partner states and politicians, he underscored.

In a change of rhetoric, after touting the "effective" US and German air defenses - the Patriot and IRIS-T, respectively - supplied to Kiev as part of the West's military assistance to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky recently pleaded for more missiles for Soviet-era anti-aircraft systems. Ukraine needs additional missiles for "outdated, but still effective Soviet equipment. We have some such systems, but a shortage of missiles is a fact," Zelensky stated during a press conference following talks in Kiev with visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

The second thing to bear in mind, Andrey Koshkin added, is that the amount of Western-gifted weaponry has fallen far short of the expectations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and, specifically, Zelensky. It is no coincidence that White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in spring that the United States had given Ukraine nearly 100% of the military aid it had requested for its counteroffensive, adding that Washington had “handed over almost everything on that list.” That was clear evidence of “shifting the responsibility for the failure of the counteroffensive to the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Andrey Koshkin said.

"They [the West] also understand that the supplied weapons did not ensure the success of the Ukrainian Army. It turned out that our [Russian] air defense systems are the best in the world, more reliable and efficient than all others. Compare them with the Patriots [a US-made surface-to-air missile (SAM) system], which simply disgraced themselves in Ukraine. In terms of price vs. quality, they lose out to our S-400s. But the Americans are forcing everyone to buy this particular system," Koshkin noted.