Putin announces "partial" mobilization, US-made weapons ensure Ukrainian Armed Forces' superiority over invading Russian forces: Serhii Zgurets' column

Will "partial" mobilization save the Russian army?

In response to the successes of the Ukrainian army at the front and criticism in Russia caused by the defeats, Putin announced a partial mobilization. In his speech, the main aggressor of Russia emphasized that it is necessary to help the people of Donbas to liberate the territories, but in the conditions when Ukraine is constantly pumped with weapons, certain solutions are needed. That is why he accepted the proposal of the Russian Ministry of Defense to make a decision on mobilization. At the same time, Putin accused the West of nuclear blackmail and threats to use nuclear weapons against Russia, and that in response, Russia, under certain conditions, will use all means at its disposal, including its nuclear weapons, to protect its territorial integrity. This, of course, was said in the context of planning pseudo-referendums that the Russian enemy wants to hold in the occupied territories. So, in his speech with outright lies, everything turned upside down once again, both in facts and in argumentation.

Actually, as in the speech of the Russian Minister of Defense, Shoigu, who stated that Ukraine had already lost half of its army in the war with Russia, while Russia's losses in the war were only 5,937 soldiers. And 90% of the wounded have already returned to the ranks. So, 6,000 have been lost, so we urgently need to get another 300,000. This is the iron logic of the Russians. Let me remind you that as of September 21, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff, more than 55,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and three times as many have been wounded.

To compensate for these colossal losses in the Russian Federation, different approaches were previously used. There were also volunteer battalions, battalions of reservists, and private companies were also involved, which in turn hired prisoners to fight. We are also talking about newly formed associations, but all this was not enough to really compensate for these catastrophic losses that the Russian Federation has in manpower and equipment.

By the way, there are a number of comments about Putin's decision from the countries that help Ukraine in the war with the aggressor. In particular, Ben Wallace, the UK Minister of Defense, said that no amount of threats and propaganda will be able to hide the fact that Ukraine will win the war, the international community will unite, and Russia will become an exile. The German government stated that this is a clear sign that Ukraine is very effective in protecting its territorial integrity and sovereignty, not least because of large-scale and serious support from many countries around the world. There have been a number of statements made in the US, but I will single out only the statement from the US National Security Council and Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby, who pointed out an undeniable sign that Putin is facing difficulties, and we are sure that he has suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Kirby said that the Russians have terrible morale, lack of cohesion on the battlefield, and the problems of command are still unresolved. There are also many deserters in the Russian army, and the Russian authorities force the wounded to return to battle. So, Kirby says that Putin's decision to mobilize 300,000 Russians is a lot, because this number is almost twice as many as participated in the invasion of Ukraine in February of this year.

About weapons

A significant number of American-made weapons are already actively used on the battlefield and provide a significant advantage over the Russian enemy. In addition to the fact that weapons are actively used, they require repair and maintenance. The US and Ukraine are now implementing new formats of cooperation so that these weapons remain operational for a long time. The Pentagon has deployed a new unit in Poland, which can be called a rapid remote assistance center for the maintenance and repair of weapons and military equipment that the US has already transferred to Ukraine. This is the first experience in modern military history. This unit has 40 US military personnel who help the Ukrainian soldiers remotely maintain and repair M777, Javelin, and HIMARS howitzers. For interaction, they use secure digital chats, where there is communication between Ukrainian and American specialists. There are 14 such chats, each for a separate type of weaponry and equipment. Also, the American military helps ensure the supply of spare parts for armaments, because Ukraine's Armed Forces do not have direct contacts with arms manufacturers in the US. 

Combat actions in Ukraine set a new standard for the types of weapons that were created before this period of the war with the Russian Federation. These standards should be taken into account in the subsequent samples of weapons that will be supplied both to the Ukrainian army and to other countries.