According to the former commander of the US Army in Europe, retired general Ben Hodges, within the next few months, the criminal army of the Russian Federation may launch a new large-scale offensive in Ukraine.
When to expect a new large-scale offensive of the Russian army
Hodges assumed that the Russian occupiers would be able to step up offensive actions on one of the front lines in Ukraine within a few months.
However, the retired American general noted that Russian war criminals will not be able to advance a significant distance at this time.
I am talking about the so-called operational maneuver. They only have the ability to continue to completely exhaust their own strength for limited results, Hodges noted.
He assumed that the criminal army of the Russian Federation would continue to follow such tactics.
What is known about Ukraine's solution to problems in the absence of help from Western partners
According to The Wall Street Journal journalists, Ukraine began to manufacture parts for Western armoured vehicles and weapons systems independently due to a shortage of necessary components for military equipment caused by delays in assistance from Western partners.
The article notes that the Ukrainian military currently uses many different models of Western weapons systems, the components of which are not always interchangeable.
In their comments to journalists of the publication, Ukrainian engineers note that currently, Western partners do not provide Ukraine with the required number of components for their equipment.
At the same time, components from the US are transferred only as part of military aid packages, which may not be available if Congress does not approve the request for additional funding.
The US and its allies are increasingly concerned about Ukraine's ability to maintain its stockpiles of Western weapons on the battlefield. Conserving weapons is critical to Kyiv's fight amid uncertainty over future U.S. military aid and as Russia ramps up weapons production, the publication said.
The authors of the publication emphasise that the need for spare parts is now such that the Ukrainian military sometimes pays for their delivery on their own.
Although the US has said it intends to provide three months of spare parts for the equipment sent to Ukraine, according to the published report, the Pentagon has no maintenance plan for the Bradley, Stryker and Abrams provided to Ukraine.
In addition, it is noted that damaged German Leopard tanks must be taken outside Ukraine for repair.
When equipment breaks down or is damaged near the front lines, mechanics or soldiers in the field first try to fix it there. If they can't, they send engineers from the frontline units to repair or bring them to their workshops. More comprehensive repairs are further carried out at bases similar to the one that repairs the M777, or the weapon is taken out of the country altogether, the publication says.
To speed up the repair of damaged Western equipment, some European arms manufacturers seek to move their repair centres closer to the front lines.
For example, the British company BAE Systems, which produces the M777, said that it is negotiating to repair its weapons in Ukraine.
The German company Rheinmetall, which produces parts for the Leopard tank, also announced that it plans to start repairing its machines in Ukraine.
