The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-10)

A18 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, APRIL 10 , 2022

houses of old Soviet and po-

st-Soviet tanks — the T-72s and

even earlier T-64s — and Alberque

said Ukrainian forces know how

to drive and repair those tanks.

In some cases, the White House

has agreed to send new equip-

ment to Central European coun-

tries if those countries give their

old equipment to Ukraine. So a

steady stream of their defense of-

ficials have passed through Wash-

ington in recent weeks, seeking

assurances that the United States

would backfill them with more

modern equipment in short order.

President Biden said in a state-

ment Friday that the United

States would reposition a Patriot

missile system to Slovakia, after

that country sent an S-300 air

defense system to Ukraine.

Will weapons from the West

escalate the war?

The debate about weaponry

has evolved along with the con-

flict, although there remain divi-

sions about the risks of NATO

involving itself too deeply in the

fight.

The Ukrainians say it no longer

makes sense for Western govern-

ments to debate whether arms

sent to Ukraine are “defensive” or

“offensive” — or might somehow

“escalate” the war, which has seen

dense urban centers indiscrimi-

nately shelled by Russia, along-

side charges that Russian forces

have committed war crimes by

deliberately targeting civilians.

At the NATO meeting in Brus-

sels this past week, the distinction

between offensive and defensive

weapons appeared to be falling

away.

“This is about defending Ukrai-

nian territory, therefore they need

all the types of equipment that we

are able to supply,” a NATO official

told The Post, speaking on the

condition of anonymity to discuss

defense decisions.

“I have urged allies to provide

further support of many different

types of systems, both the light

weapons but also heavier weap-

ons,” NATO Secretary General

Jens Stoltenberg said.

But there is still wariness

among Western allies. Russia has

warned that it will treat arms

shipments to Ukraine from NATO

countries as “legitimate targets”

for military action, potentially

setting up more-direct confronta-

tions between Russia and NATO.

At the same time, supplying

Ukraine with long-range artillery,

for example, includes the risk of

the conflict spilling over borders.

Germany, which was chided for

offering to send 5,000 protective

helmets in January, has embraced

the need for lethal aid, though it

has been reluctant to see larger,

more offensive weapons sent to

Ukraine. NATO countries, too,

have so far agreed that they will

not send warplanes to the Ukrai-

nian air force.

But backers of arming Ukraine

more vigorously say that if Kyiv

doesn’t win now, the next battle

will be with NATO anyway.

“In the beginning, we were sup-

plying weapons to sustain their

fight. Now we are supplying weap-

ons to advance and win,” Abukev-

icius said.

How fast can weapons get to

Ukraine?

Ben Hodges, who served as

commander of U.S. Army Europe

during the Obama and Trump ad-

ministrations, said there is a nar-

row window to arm Ukrainian

forces as the war enters a new

phase.

“The next three weeks are criti-

cal,” he said, and “will determine if

Ukraine can break the back of the

Russian forces, or if this goes for

months, maybe years.”

Ukraine has expressed frustra-

tion with the speed of weapons

delivery.

Reznikov warned this past

week that “procrastination with

the provision of weapons leads to

the death of our children, to the

depletion of our country.”

Booth reported from London, Rauhala

from Brussels and Birnbaum from

Washington. David Stern in

Mukachevo, Ukraine, contributed to

this report.

mored combat vehicles, including

tanks, and a tremendous amount

of ammunition.

Reznikov ticked off a longer

list: air defense systems and com-

bat aircraft to protect citizens and

Ukrainian troops from missiles

and airstrikes; long-range artil-

lery to keep Russian forces at a

distance; tanks and armored vehi-

cles to break through Russian de-

fenses and liberate the occupied

territories; and anti-ship missiles

to beat back the Russian naval

siege and unblock ports on the

Black Sea.

Western governments have

been reluctant to send such heavy

weaponry. But the Czech Republic

has become the first NATO coun-

try to contribute tanks, a senior

Czech official confirmed to The

Washington Post on Saturday,

speaking on the condition of ano-

nymity to discuss a transfer that

hasn’t been announced officially.

“Hopefully, that will start a race

to who can supply more,” said

William Alberque, director of

strategy, technology and arms

control at the International Insti-

tute for Strategic Studies.

“It’s hard to be the first one” to

send tanks, “but when someone

breaks the ice, it’s much easier,”

said Margiris Abukevicius, a Lith-

uanian vice minister of defense

who was in Washington this past

week to discuss military coopera-

tion with the United States.

What can Ukrainian forces

use?

In the opening weeks of the

war, Ukraine’s backers were most-

ly focused on providing weapons

that Ukrainian forces already

knew how to use or that could be

deployed with minimal training.

A soldier could learn how to fire a

Javelin, for instance, by watching

a short video. And formerly com-

munist countries in Central and

Eastern Europe could share their

stockpiles of Soviet- and Russian-

made equipment that integrates

easily with Ukraine’s existing

stock.

But European defense officials

told The Post that their thinking

about the number and types of

weapons they are willing to send

has evolved, as Ukrainian forces

have shown the ability to fight —

and have bought themselves time

to train on more complicated

Western-made equipment.

At the outset, “we were supply-

ing weapons only if we knew the

Ukrainians were able to operate

them from the first moment. Now

we are seeing more advanced

weapons and a willingness to in-

vest some time to help them use

it,” Abukevicius said.

At NATO meetings in Brussels

this past week, the focus was on

getting Ukrainian forces more ad-

vanced weapons systems as

quickly as possible.

“Countries indicated they are

willing to go further, because we

recognize that this is a new offen-

sive, that the Russian forces are

more concentrated and that more

advanced weapons will be re-

quired,” said a Western official at

the NATO sessions who spoke on

the condition of anonymity to

freely discuss the talks.

The British prime minister on

Saturday said his country will be

providing Ukraine with 120 heavi-

ly armored troop carriers called

Mastiffs — and that British troops

will help train the Ukrainians in

their operation. Britain will also

supply anti-ship weapons for the

first time.

Ukraine’s president welcomed

Britain’s “decisive and significant

support” and urged other allies to

keep the pressure on Russia.

The latest package from the

United States, Sullivan said, in-

cludes laser-guided rocket sys-

tems, Puma drones and armored

high-mobility multipurpose

wheeled vehicles.

More arms shipments from the

United States are coming soon,

Sullivan said, promising that the

types of advanced weapons head-

ed to Ukraine will be “extraordi-

nary” and “unprecedented,”

though he declined to offer specif-

ics.

For tanks and air defense, the

focus remains on older systems.

Central Europe holds ware-

war in ukraine

fired antiaircraft Stingers and an-

titank Javelins that have been

shipped to Ukraine.

Now, as the war pivots to the

east, the numbers and types of

weapons supplied by the United

States and Europe will again

prove critical for Ukraine. Its forc-

es need to quickly rebuild, to re-

place equipment lost in six weeks

of fighting and to supply the re-

serve units that the Ukrainian

military is now trying to put into

the field. They also need to pre-

pare for a new sort of war, with the

ultimate aim of not only defend-

ing cities but also turning out

Russian forces.

“So antitank missiles alone are

not going to cut it,” said Michael

Kofman, research program direc-

tor in the Russia Studies Program

at CNA, a think tank based in

Arlington, Va.

Kofman estimated that

Ukraine needs “hundreds” of ar-

The question is whether those

will come as fast as Ukrainian

officials want — to stop Russia’s

advance and push out Russian

troops.

What do Ukrainian forces

need?

Since the Feb. 24 invasion,

Western governments have sup-

plied Ukraine with billions of dol-

lars worth of weapons, including

thousands of easy-to-use, shoul-

der-fired missile systems, which

proved especially deadly, in the

hands of small Ukrainian com-

mando groups, in slowing, stop-

ping and then reversing the Rus-

sian assault on Kyiv.

These “shoot-and-scoot”

launchers were decisive, accord-

ing to military analysts. “We know

that military assistance is having

a critical impact on this conflict,”

Sullivan said Monday, highlight-

ing the U.S.-produced, shoulder-

sii Reznikov, in a video appeal

released Thursday. “We want to

liberate the enemy-occupied ter-

ritories as soon as possible. To do

this, we need other weapons.”

In the early days of fighting,

NATO countries worried that the

weaponry they gave to Ukraine

might be quickly captured by su-

perior Russian forces, or that

Ukrainian troops did not have the

time to train to use new equip-

ment effectively, or that sending

offensive weapons would escalate

the conflict and enrage Russian

President Vladimir Putin, who

was rattling his nuclear sword.

Weapons are easier to give than

to take back.

But as the war has gone on,

those concerns have begun to re-

cede. Now, some NATO countries

are preparing to supply Ukraine

with more lethal, sophisticated,

long-range and heavily armored

weapons.

in generations.
On Saturday, Britain’s Prime
Minister Boris Johnson made a
surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with
Zelensky. His main message was
about weapons: that Britain
would supply 120 more armored
vehicles, in addition to anti-ship
missile systems to support
Ukraine in the Black Sea.
This next phase of war in
Ukraine could be “protracted” —
“measured in months or longer,”
national security adviser Jake Sul-
livan warned at a White House
briefing. It could look like some-
thing from World War II, with two
large armies facing off, Kuleba
told NATO foreign ministers earli-
er this week.
“To win such a war, we need
different help than what we have
been receiving before,” said
Ukraine’s defense minister, Olek-

WEAPONS FROM A

West shifts stance weaponry for Kyiv

HEIDI LEVINE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Ukrainian soldiers conduct live-fire training last month in Kyiv.

The Czech Republic has become the first NATO country to donate

tanks to Ukraine as the war’s focus s hifts to the country’s east.

See it.

Choose it.

Love it. That’s it!

Bathroom Remodeling Made Easy.

Introducing Ibby; an entirely new way to remodel. Select

from one of our twelve beautifully curated bathrooms

from our professional design team, built by in-house CASE

craftspeople, and you’re on your way to a new look that’ll

take the pain out of your bathroom renovation project. No

muss, no fuss. That’s It!

For more information, browse our gorgeous designs,

or to connect with one of our dedicated team, visit:

ibby.com

800.750.

MD MHIC #1176 | VA # 2701039723 | DC #

@Team_Ibby

Ibby is a Division of Case Architects & Remodelers