Ukraine's conflict with Russia has been going on for almost two years, and the Ukrainian army, facing the dilemma of running out of missile stockpiles, has not been able to receive military support from the West. At the same time, Russia, with 610,000 troops and 5,000 suicide drones, is ready to attack at any time. It is said that Ukraine ** is anxious, on the one hand, there is a long wait, and on the other hand, the threat of enemy troops. In just 7 days, Ukraine suffered three blows. First of all, according to Russian media reports, the United States claims that the United States will not be able to sustain the interceptor missiles needed for the Patriot air defense system. Secondly, US assistance to Ukraine's vital air defense systems may be interrupted for quite some time. NATO's Agency for Support and Procurement is planning to purchase up to 1,000 Patriot missiles for member states with an order value of up to $5.5 billion, while Ukraine can only wait for free anti-aircraft missile aid because of the higher priority of NATO's paid orders. The third worrying news comes from the United Kingdom, which has already provided $5.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine, which has been emptied and its arsenal is almost depleted.
To make matters worse, Ukraine's inventory of 6,000 Beech, S-300 and S-200 series anti-aircraft missiles has been largely depleted, dozens of radars have been damaged in frequent battles, and electronic components have been severely damaged. In stark contrast to the state of the Ukrainian army, the Russian army remains combative and has plenty of ammunition. On the eastern front line of Ukraine, the Russian army has deployed more than 800 tactical missiles and more than 5,000 suicide drones, and it is clear that Putin seems to be brewing a big move! According to the analysis, Putin's primary goal is to consume the Ukrainian army's anti-aircraft missiles through a large number of cheap suicide drones, and then use cruise and ballistic missiles to destroy Ukraine's military-industrial complex, transportation hubs, supply lines and energy facilities. The ultimate goal of the Russian army is to weaken Ukraine's logistical support for the front-line troops in the Donbass and completely cut off the supply chain of ammunition and materials on the Ukrainian army's front. In this case, the Russian army launched another large-scale offensive, thereby trapping the Ukrainian army to death. The long-term tug-of-war has not only cost Ukraine, but also caused huge losses to Russia. Therefore, it is only through a quick decisive battle that the reduction of losses can be achieved and significant results can be achieved in a short time. On the contrary, an all-out war of attrition is undoubtedly a bitter and brutal ordeal.
Russian forces have amassed 610,000 troops in pro-Russian areas of Ukraine in preparation for a large-scale offensive with the intention of ending the protracted war quickly. Despite the fact that the area is just over 80,000 square kilometers, it is reported that the chances of Ukrainian air defense forces successfully intercepting Russian missiles have reached 703%, which means that about 30% of Russian missiles could cause damage to Ukraine. In particular, the Russian army's Kh-22 cruise missiles are known as the strongest breakthrough capabilities, and Ignat, an adviser to the Ukrainian Air Force Command, pointed out that Russia has sent more than 300 Kh-22 cruise missiles in the past two years, and Ukraine's multiple Western air defense systems have failed to intercept one, resulting in Russia dominating with an astonishing record of 300:0. Obviously, in the face of a powerful missile threat, Western air defense systems also seem to cease to be invulnerable. On the battlefield, the Russian army launches a wide variety of missiles, including stealth cruise missiles, high-precision cruise missiles, high-altitude and high-speed missiles, as well as flexible and maneuverable suicide drones, which are combined to strike with the aim of maximizing the breakthrough of the Ukrainian army's air defenses.
Ukraine's main weakness at the moment is the lack of reliable on-site air defense support, and its armored units are bogged down by targeted killings by artillery and Ka-52 armed ***. Ukraine's previous stockpiles of Soviet-era anti-aircraft ammunition have apparently been depleted, so NATO assistance in field air defense systems is urgently needed. However, NATO does not have reliable field anti-aircraft missiles at the disposal of Ukraine. In addition, Ukraine's claim to have shot down 3,800 Russian air targets in 2023 sounds impressive, but it unexpectedly exposes three major flaws. According to the war report of the Ukrainian air defense forces, they shot down a total of 887 cruise missiles, 15 Dagger hypersonic missiles, 41 ballistic missiles, 2,691 Iranian suicide drones, 35 Lancet cruise missiles and 131 other drones. The data exposed three key problems with the Ukrainian army. First, out of 3800 downed targets, 2691 ** were suicide drones of Iranian production. In other words, most of the ** shot down by the Ukrainian army are actually low-speed small flying vehicles. Although the Ukrainian army boasts of its achievements on **, in reality it only relies on numerical superiority, after all, shooting down drones is not much of a challenge.
The Ukrainian army faces a serious lack of air defense systems on the front line, which makes the M777 howitzers and Leopard 2 tanks seriously threatened by Russian Lancet cruise missiles, while the Ukrainian army is difficult to effectively defend against. Over the past year, the Ukrainian army has managed to shoot down only 35 Lancet cruise missiles, suggesting that most of the Lancet missiles have successfully hit their targets, inflicting heavy losses on the Ukrainian army. In addition, Ukrainian forces have shot down a total of 3,800 targets in the past year, but most of them are cruise missiles, and the interception rate of ballistic missiles is relatively low, showing that Russian ballistic missiles have better penetration capabilities. Obviously, although the Ukrainian army managed to shoot down a certain number of targets, the real effect did not eliminate the threat of mass destruction**. The Ukrainian army is currently facing a crisis of possible interruption of the first chain, and the lack of its **equipment** has also caused people to worry, and how the Ukrainian army can obtain more **equipment in the future has also become a matter of great concern.