The sudden visit of the Russian president to the southern front in Ukraine indicates the seriousness of the situation.
If the statement of Deputy Minister of Defense Hana Maljar is to be believed, the Ukrainian spring offensive has already begun. As she stated, “complex measures” of Ukraine’s planned offensive “are already being implemented” in the eastern part of the country. However, according to her statement, it is an ongoing process. Offensive operations are by their very nature intensive campaigns, not long-term processes. They have objectives, zones and priority directions of attack, forces to carry out the operation and all other elements that define mass offensive actions.
Based on the current actions of the armed forces of Ukraine, no elements of the “great spring offensive” can be discerned, or whatever the attempt of the Ukrainian forces to continue the liberation operations could be called. At the moment, several Ukrainian tactical attacks have been observed on the part of the front in the Zaporozhye region. Ukrainian units entered the so-called gray zone, between the two warring parties, and occupied some Russian forward defense positions.
The Ukrainians are not yet ready for a counterattack
Therefore, they have not yet reached the first line of defense of the Russian forces on this part of the front. Also, the activities of Ukrainian engineers on clearing minefields on a small segment of the front in Zaporozhye were observed. All this is insufficient to make the difference between performing violent reconnaissance or, say, camouflage. However, it can be said with certainty that intensive preparations are being made for a new wave of offensive actions by the Ukrainian army.
It is obvious that the weather conditions, the number of forces and resources gathered, as well as the ammunition reserves, do not yet meet the necessary conditions for launching a large-scale counterattack, if it happens at all. Maybe the Ukrainians will surprise us again with the place, time and method of carrying out offensive actions?
The commander-in-chief has been written off
The surprise visit of the Russian President and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation Army, Vladimir Putin, to the southern front in Ukraine indicates the seriousness of the situation that the Russian occupation force could face. It is indicative that the commander-in-chief was not met by army general Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the main staff of the Russian army and the operational commander of the Russian occupation troops in Ukraine. That’s to be expected. After the failed Russian winter offensive, the president of all the Russians does not want to meet with the loser, General Gerasimov.
His three-month term had already expired on April 11. It is obvious that the ruler from the Kremlin will not give him the opportunity for “corrections”. How he will be formally sidelined is already a technical question. With his departure, of all the high-ranking officers and officials in charge of the implementation of the “special military operation”, only Sergei Shoigu, Putin’s long-time defense minister, would remain..
As expected, the hardened commander of the Russian paratroopers, Lieutenant General Mihail Teplinski, returned to the scene. General Teplinski, who was driven off the battlefield by General Gerasimov at the end of January, was seen in the company of the commander-in-chief at the command post of the military “group” Dnieper. It is now clear that the Russian forces that will defend the occupied part of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are united under one command headed by Lieutenant General Mihail Teplinski.
It is also interesting that Putin’s visit did not refer to Bahmut. It only shows the real importance of this city where the Russian army bled to death.
Stoltenberg went a step further
Ukrainian preparations for the offensive are taking place gradually and thoroughly. The statement of the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that Ukraine has a place in NATO further strengthened Ukraine’s position. With his statement, Jens Stoltenberg removed from the Ukrainian political and military leadership the artificially created pressure that Ukraine must conduct a successful offensive as soon as possible in order to “earn” the continuation of Western aid.
The prominent Norwegian politician, now on the post of secretary of the most powerful military alliance in the world, went one step further. He offered Ukraine, even before full membership in the NATO alliance, help in achieving full interoperability with the armed forces of the NATO alliance members. In short, interoperability means the ability of two different systems, devices or products to function together without additional adaptation efforts.
Simplified, in a military sense, it refers to the ability of units of different countries, their weapons and equipment, to plan, organize and carry out combat operations together, including logistics. Therefore, the interoperability of the armed forces of a country means that it is capable of providing, as well as receiving, military assistance from an allied country without technical and procedural obstacles.
Does this mean the intervention of NATO members in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict? It’s hard to say. However, this certainly means building the capacity for joint action of the armed forces of NATO countries and Ukraine. Interoperability is not achieved overnight. It is an ongoing process because it requires the standardization of all vital components of weapon systems. However, priorities can always be defined. In the specific case of Ukraine, this means the continuation of the process of transitioning Ukrainian artillery from Soviet to NATO caliber weapons.
Modern fighter jets will fit in easily
One of the critical requirements for interoperability may be the ability of Ukrainian aircraft to use the NATO electrical identification system to distinguish friendly from enemy aircraft. Also, the F-16 aircraft, which the Ukrainians will most likely get their full value in air defense, can be realized if they receive data from NATO’s AWAC flying radars.
For that, they need a special connection, Link 16, through which the F-16 fighter pilot receives a picture of the situation in the air, information about possible threats, as well as information about the target that needs to be neutralized.. Although Ukraine will not be politically integrated into the North Atlantic Alliance and will not be able to participate in command structures, achieving full interoperability allows receiving direct military support in the war against Russia.
(WORLD)