As of: February 8, 2024, 5:13 p.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck
Comments
Press
Split
Western arms deliveries to Ukraine are only arriving slowly.
A German soldier in Ukraine shares his leopard impressions.
Kiev – Without the support of the West, Ukraine will find it difficult to win the war against Russia.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock recently emphasized the urgency of arms deliveries to Ukraine.
The consensus on this seems to be crumbling among Ukraine's Western allies.
Due to domestic political disputes, the USA did not approve a further US aid package for Ukraine.
A German soldier fighting in the Ukraine war also reports missing materials from the West.
German soldier in Ukraine: “One Leopard tank there, the other one here”
“The support from the West always came very, very piecemeal.
It was very difficult to discover really large amounts of material here,” a German soldier told the
Bild newspaper
.
According to Bild,
the man is
a former Bundeswehr soldier who is fighting in a special unit against Russia in Ukraine.
“You saw one Leopard tank there and the other one here and an offensive just doesn’t work that way,” he added.
Ukrainian soldiers ride a Leopard 2 tank in the Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine (symbolic image).
© Funke Photo Services/IMAGO
The arms deliveries from the West are very significant.
“If Ukraine gets enough fighter jets from the West, this war would change significantly,” said the soldier.
However, in his estimation, Russia also has “an infinite number of material and also an infinite number of soldiers.”
But Russia also suffered heavy losses in the Ukraine war.
German soldier about Ukrainian troops in the war: “Not powerful enough”
Speaking about the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive, the soldier said that from a tactical perspective, many decisions were made too slowly.
He also spoke about the problems of the Ukrainian armed forces with the Russian troops.
He reported that mines had played a major role.
“The Russians had almost a year and a half to build up their facilities, especially in the Kherson and Zaporizhia areas,” said the ex-Bundeswehr soldier.
“And the big problem is that if you’re not powerful enough, something like that just can’t really work,” he added.
However, the minefields are also an obstacle for Russian troops.
Due to a lack of communication within the Russian armed forces, the commanders sometimes do not know where the minefields are.
(vk)