«Russia has ammunition for years to come»

Military expert on Putin’s army

Russia has ammunition for several years – but one problem

Russia has enough ammunition and skillfully solves its personnel problem. At least that’s what British military expert Jack Watling believes. He is critical of the West’s approach to arms deliveries.

Published: 44 minutes ago

Russia has been at war in Ukraine for more than four months. And although Putin’s troops were recently able to conquer the Luhansk region of Ukraine, many are surprised by the lack of superiority of the invaders.

The Russian army, following a lack of successes, had to withdraw from areas like Kyiv to concentrate on eastern Ukraine. Military expert Jack Watling is interviewed by the «Spiegel» certain: “Since the advance on Kyiv failed, there has been a chronic shortage of personnel.”

According to the British military expert, the Russian troops are now using mercenaries and volunteers. But that is not the only reason. “It’s less politically costly if they get killed,” Watling explains. In this way, the risk of losing personnel might be skilfully passed on to foreign fighters.

Delivered weapons hardly help Ukraine

In any case, the Briton believes that the Russian armed forces are better positioned than is believed in the West. Putin’s troops would have “unguided artillery ammunition for years to come”. The only thing the Russians lack is precision-guided ammunition. There is no shortage of material. But the Russians have a different problem. “The risk lies in their logistics.” That means actually bringing the weapons and ammunition to the front.

Many military experts believe that western arms supplies can give Ukraine an enduring advantage. However, Jack Watling is critical of this.

“We’ve seen countries give away almost everything they have in stock, piecemeal,” explains the Brit. “What we haven’t seen, except for a few countries, is the deployment of a single critical-scale military capability.”

Watling believes that many of the weapons delivered from western Ukraine are of no use. Because of the low numbers, Ukraine uses the weapons permanently. But because then you can’t rotate, it’s also not possible to maintain the war equipment.

“A logistical nightmare”

The main problem for the military expert is therefore “the insufficient scope and the lack of coordination between the allies”. Because Western war machines require different ammunition, training and maintenance procedures, this is “a logistical nightmare” for Ukraine.

Jack Watling is certain that Ukraine now needs supplies on a larger scale from the west. Above all, MLRS rocket launchers and the associated ammunition are important. Otherwise there is a risk of a long battle of attrition, “in which many Ukrainian soldiers will die”. (obf)