Ukraine’s counteroffensive could also be progressing extra slowly than hoped, however Russia’s forces have additionally been stymied — one in every of a number of indicators that Britain’s protection minister on Wednesday stated confirmed that “Russia is not as strong as you think it is.”
Defense Minister Ben Wallace described how Russia’s troops have retreated in some locations alongside the entrance line in Ukraine, with little backup from reserve forces.
He stated Russia just lately misplaced an estimated 2,500 tons of ammunition when a depot was blown up by one of many long-range missiles that Britain gave to Ukraine. He didn’t elaborate, and the declare has not been independently verified.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Mr. Wallace additionally made a sequence of off-the-cuff, sometimes stinging remarks in regards to the battle in Ukraine. He derided the officers overseeing Russia’s battle effort — Sergei Ok. Shoigu, the protection minister, and Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, the chief of normal employees — as “Laurel and Hardy.” And he stated that China, which has maintained a detailed partnership with Moscow, seen Russia as “the embarrassing uncle you don’t really want to get too close to.”
He additionally advised that Ukrainian officers tone down a few of their calls for for army help and specific extra appreciation for Western allies which have spent tens of billions of {dollars} to provide Ukraine with weapons and coaching.
“There is a slight word of caution here, which is, whether we like it or not people want to see gratitude,” Mr. Wallace stated.
“You know, we’re not Amazon,” Mr. Wallace went on. He stated Britain has given Ukraine so many mine-clearing autos that “I think there’s none left.”
He rapped Ukraine for renewing its request for American long-range missiles “within minutes” of being given cluster munitions final week. The munitions have been banned by greater than 100 nations as a result of they’ve been proven to kill kids and different civilians who by chance detonate them years after they’re deployed.
Referring to subsequent 12 months’s presidential elections within the United States, Mr. Wallace advised that the Ukrainian officers do not forget that they have to “persuade doubting politicians in other countries that it’s worth it” to proceed bankrolling Kyiv’s battle effort.
In his personal remarks to journalists in Vilnius a short while later, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine expressed “gratitude” for the assist he has obtained from the United States and different NATO nations — however that he nonetheless deliberate to resume his request for the long-range missiles often called ATACMS at a gathering with Mr. Biden in a while Wednesday.
Source: www.nytimes.com