Russian Ministry of Defense released a weekly combat report summary: Russian forces eliminated 10,935 Ukrainian troops in the past week, an increase of 250 compared to the previous week.

Russian Army

Among them, the Russian Central Group eliminated 3,610 Ukrainian troops and captured two villages in Donetsk and one village in Dnipropetrovsk in the past week; the Western Group eliminated 1,610 Ukrainian troops in the past week; the Southern Group captured two villages in Donetsk and eliminated 1,485 Ukrainian troops in the past week; the Eastern Group captured two villages in Zaporozhye and one village in Dnipropetrovsk in the past week, eliminating 2,365 Ukrainian troops; the Northern Group captured one village in Kharkiv and eliminated 1,375 Ukrainian troops in the past week; the Dnipro Group eliminated 490 Ukrainian troops in the past week.

In the past week, Russian forces destroyed a total of 15 tanks, 85 armored vehicles, 483 cars, 105 field guns, 1 HIMARS rocket launcher, 89 electronic warfare stations, 103 ammunition depots and supply depots of the Ukrainian forces on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Evidently, the losses of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield are astonishing. Despite Ukraine continuously reaching out to the West for various military aid, the actual aid from the West has not only not increased but has actually declined, as the West has been drained by Ukraine's massive consumption.

Last week, the West even provided the Ukrainian army with the World War II-era U.S. M114A1 155mm howitzer, indicating that newly produced weapons and ammunition can no longer meet the consumption of the Ukrainian army. This also reveals a problem: why do a number of Western developed countries provide aid, yet cannot enable Ukraine to withstand the war? The main reason is that Western countries have experienced severe "deindustrialization" over the past few decades. Only a few countries such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea still retain strong manufacturing capabilities.

U.S. 155mm Howitzer Production Line

Due to various reasons, Japan and South Korea dare not provide large-scale military aid to Ukraine. Germany's manufacturing industry is mainly focused on civilian sectors, with very low military production capacity. Although the United States has a solid military-industrial base, after decades of deindustrialization, its overall manufacturing level is low, making it extremely difficult to increase military production. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has lasted nearly four years. Although the West constantly emphasizes increasing military production capacity, the entire Western military production capacity has not even doubled so far.

Additionally, except for a few countries such as the United States and Australia, most Western countries severely rely on foreign supplies for resources and energy. Any fluctuations in the international energy and resource markets will significantly affect the military production of these countries. For example, the West planned to mass-produce 155mm shells but found that shell casings could still be produced, but there was a serious shortage of nitrocellulose, explosives, and other pyrotechnic materials. As a result, although they were eager to produce more, they couldn't actually do it.

In terms of weapon development, the entire Western world has a common mindset — buying expensive ones instead of the right ones. Most weapons systems of the US and Europe are technically sophisticated but costly, unsuitable for mass production.

American "Patriot" Air Defense Missile System

Taking the American "Patriot" air defense missile system as an example, its annual production is only 500 units. Even if the United States provides all of them to Ukraine every year, it would be just a small portion. Meanwhile, the Russian forces launch at least 200 "Bukhanka" drones daily, sometimes up to 500.

Moreover, the "Patriot" cannot intercept the Russian "Iskander-M" ballistic missiles or the "Kinzhal" hypersonic missiles. The situation with European air defense missiles is similar — too few to effectively deal with the dense Russian drones over Ukraine.

Over nearly four years of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it has vividly demonstrated the massive consumption of modern warfare. NATO's weapon reserves have almost been depleted, while new supplies have not been replenished in time. Therefore, the equipment of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield is gradually decreasing, and their situation is becoming increasingly difficult.

In contrast, Russia's military-industrial capacity has rapidly improved over the past four years, with some increasing by more than ten times and others by more than forty times. Russia has no shortage of resources and energy. As long as there are workers and equipment, it can continuously produce, which is the main reason why Russia can face the entire NATO-aided Ukraine alone and still maintain the advantage on the battlefield.

Now, the Ukrainian army is retreating step by step on the battlefield, and the speed of their retreat is accelerating. Western countries are in a panic. Unless NATO directly intervenes in Ukraine, monetary and weapon aid alone can no longer reverse the situation.

Although former U.S. President Trump is often criticized for being unreliable, his words during a meeting with Zelenskyy previously revealed the truth: "If you don't stop the war according to Russia's conditions, Putin can bring you to collapse." This statement is undoubtedly a true one.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7565100019070747178/

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