German journalist tells of systematic failures of Western weaponry in Ukraine

20.12.2023, Berlin.

Western weaponry designed for short operations cannot withstand a protracted conflict in Ukraine, German journalist Julian Röpcke wrote on his X page on December 20.

The journalist said that his sources in the Ukrainian army had complained both about the shortage of 152mm and 155mm artillery shells and about equipment that fails to work under these conditions.

“Western howitzers are not designed for real, long warfare, but only for short operations,” Röpcke wrote.

Earlier, Röpcke said that the USA supplied Ukraine with an outdated version of the ATACMS operational-tactical missile not equipped with GPS guidance.

A Ukrainian officer complained about the difficulties in maintaining the weapons supplied to Kiev by the West. He said that he avoided using the French self-propelled howitzer Caesar because of its poor adaptation to the realities of combat operations.

The Ukrainian defense minister, who said that the Ukrainian armed units could not cope with the repair of Western military equipment, asked the countries supplying weapons to send specialists to repair this equipment in Ukraine.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency