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Russia: does the 2nd army in the world still have the means for its ambitions in Ukraine?
Audio 14:12
Russian armored vehicles destroyed in the town of Bucha, west of kyiv, on March 4, 2022. © ARIS MESSINIS / AFP
By: Alexandra Cagnard Follow
3 mins
On the first day of the war in Ukraine, the military arsenal deployed by the Russians made people shudder.
Despite everything, the Ukrainian soldiers put up strong resistance to the 2nd World Army.
Faced with the stagnation of his troops, Vladimir Putin announced that he was refocusing his objectives on the east of the country.
Franck Alexandre, specialist in defense issues at RFI, explains in this episode why the Russian army is encountering so many difficulties.
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In this episode of
Witnesses d'actu
,
Franck Alexandre
begins by detailing the Russian contingent: "
900,000 people, including 280,000 for the army forces and about 45,000 paratroopers
".
“
Russia
, continues Franck,
is for example, the first army in terms of armour, with 13,000 pieces, it is considerable.
We must add to this the aviation with more than 1000 combat planes of all kinds and helicopters
”.
When Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, launched his offensive in Ukraine, he mobilized about 150,000 men.
“
The first objective he aimed for was Kiev, the capital.
He was convinced that the Ukrainian President,
Volodymyr Zelensky
would leave, that the cities would fall very quickly and that the Ukrainians would not fight.
He had then planned the operation over a week
.
Why didn't it work?
“
The Russians did not achieve their surprise effect.
The 150,000 soldiers deployed were made up of small battle groups with about 1,000 men and the logistics chains did not follow.
Very quickly, these units ran out of fuel, but also of lubricant for the vehicles
”.
Franck also explains that intelligence is failing: “
This notion of intelligence is very important in a fight like this and the information transmitted to the troops was not good.
They therefore intervened in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Communications, for example, were not encrypted and Ukrainians could read Russian decisions like an open book
”.
A month after the start of his offensive, Vladimir Putin gave the order to refocus
the objectives on the east
: “
The Russian army finds itself cornered.
Siege warfare on a city is one thing, taking it is another.
It takes a lot of men.
For a defender, you have to oppose him between five and eight attackers.
The Russians don't have enough manpower
.
Opposite, this weakness of the Russian army therefore benefits the Ukrainians: “
They act with small, very independent, very mobile groups and it is very effective.
They are also very well armed.
The West has also provided them with portable missiles, which prevents the Russians from committing their air force as they would like.
The Ukrainians also have a formidable weapon, it is American intelligence.
They give them their satellite images and their plays.
This allows us to be one step ahead of the Russians
”.
And Franck Alexandre concludes: “
The Russians put almost all their forces into the battle.
If they want fresh troops, they'll have to implement some form of conscription.
It is not the few thousand
Chechen or Syrian
auxiliaries that will make the difference
”.
►Also listen: Drone Bayraktar: Ukraine's aerial asset
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Ukraine
Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky
Vladimir Poutine
Defense
Our guests
Frank Alexander
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