MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. NATO is preparing Kiev for a war of attrition as Russia unpacks its tank reserves, Russian envoy to London says Moscow won’t leave the UK’s violations of international law unanswered, and Turkey starts thinking about withdrawing its troops from Syria. These stories topped Friday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: NATO preparing Kiev for war of attrition as Russia unpacks tank reserves
After Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s trip to the city of Bakhmut (Artyomovsk), Kiev is no longer hiding its plans for a counteroffensive in the area. On March 23, Ground Forces Commander Colonel General Alexander Syrsky said that Ukraine could be on the verge of launching an offensive operation, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.
NATO officials say that the offensive is unlikely to be successful without heavy artillery support. Efforts are being made to solve this problem byway of Ukraine launching the production of Soviet standard munitions. This won’t be a quick fix because the process requires specialists, industrial sites and resources. That said, the Ukrainian armed forces will continue to be starved of ammunition for some time, perhaps, for a long time, until the end of the conflict, military expert retired Colonel Nikolay Shulgin said. He pointed out that in Russia, ammunition production had significantly increased, according to official statements. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the same, adding that the domestic defense industry will produce 1,500 tanks in 2023. The 1,500 tanks will be enough to form five tank divisions in Russia. They will be a force to be reckoned with, military expert retired Lieutenant General Yury Netkachev said.
The T 54, T 55 and T 62 tanks are in demand for the ongoing special operation, Netkachev noted. According to open sources, there are up to 10,000 tanks of this type at the Russian Armed Forces’ storage depots. There are also several million shells for them. Under the operating instructions adopted back in the Soviet era, they were put away for long term storage across the country’s military districts. The tanks’ components were maintained to be combat ready, the expert added.
Upgraded, advanced tanks such as the T 72, T 80 and T 90 will be used for the breakthrough. However, the Soviet armored vehicles of the past century will play an important if not decisive role on the second and third lines in the tactical order of battle, Netkachev explained. Ukraine does not have such Soviet tanks because the country received only modern military equipment after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. However, this equipment was destroyed in the first year of the special military operation, which is why Kiev keeps asking NATO to send its tanks and other weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces. Meanwhile, Russia is only beginning to unpack its Soviet era reserves, which are immense, the general emphasized.
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