MOSCOW, 5 Aug. The Russian army is rapidly advancing in the western part of the Lugansk People's Republic, creating serious problems for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes Forbes columnist David Ax. The 21st mechanized unit with Swedish-made combat vehicles and the 44th with Polish equipment,» the article says.
According to Ex, Kiev is experiencing an acute shortage of artillery, which seriously affects the combat capability of the Ukrainian security forces.
On June 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the Zaporozhye, South-Donetsk and Artemivsk directions, throwing units trained by NATO and armed with Western equipment into battle. Nevertheless, they did not succeed in any of the sectors of the front and suffered heavy losses.
According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on July 26 and 27, Russian troops thwarted a large-scale enemy attack in the Orekhovskoye direction. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 400 servicemen and over 60 pieces of equipment there, including three German Leopard tanks and two French ones.