Russia is now unable to counter Western weapons in Ukraine. ATACMS missiles will be unbearable burden for Russian army, - Zaluzhny advisor Rice
Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to wage war in Ukraine because of the effective use of Western weaponry by the Ukrainians.
This was stated in an interview to Ukrinform by American combat veteran and adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Dan Rice, noting that Russia is unlikely to be able to significantly counter this weaponry in the short term, reports Censor.NЕТ.
Rice recently returned from Donbass, where he observed changes on the battlefield and assessed Ukraine's needs to achieve victory in the war.
"It appears that Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to wage war in Ukraine. Ukraine has done an excellent job striking control points, supply trains and troop concentrations," he said.
The expert explained that the Russian Army's logistic support system requires centralized trains, which is due to the "palletized" type of logistics. This makes warehouses excellent targets for high-precision HIMARS and M777s, he noted.
"If - and hopefully when - Ukraine gets ATACMS missiles (missiles that fly up to 300 kilometers - ed.), Russia has nowhere in Ukraine to hide its command and control systems or supply formations," Rice said. .
"There should be an agreement between NATO and Ukraine that no ATACMS will be launched outside Ukrainian territory. The maintenance of an army that does not control the skies and will be bombarded anywhere in the occupied territories will probably prove to be a burden for the Russian army that it is not capable of carrying," the adviser emphasized.
He noted that the maintenance of the army, which does not control the sky and will experience shelling in any place in the occupied territories, will probably prove to be "a burden that the Russian Armed Forces are not able to bear".
According to Rice, most of the Western weapons – the NLAW, Stinger, Javelin, HIMARS, Switchblade, M777 precision munitions, Gray Eagle and Harpoon – have proven incredibly effective against the Russian military.
"Russia has known about most of these platforms for a long time and yet cannot successfully counter them elsewhere. It is unlikely that Russia will be able to significantly counter these platforms in the near term - within the next few years. In my view, with enough of these weapons, it is only a matter of the time when Ukraine will achieve victory and expel the Russians from its land," said adviser of Valeriy Zaluzhny.
