The Battle of Donbass is changing Russian warfare in Ukraine and is beginning to affect the composition of Western arms supplies.
In the largely open terrain of eastern Ukraine, the Russian armed forces can better implement their military doctrine with heavy artillery fire and advances by larger formations than in the more densely populated north around Kyiv, which is why the first Western states have announced that they will support the Ukrainian defenders with weapons that have been taboo up to now: Howitzers, anti-aircraft systems and combat drones, armored vehicles, helicopters and tanks.
In other words, heavy weapons, which in the first weeks of the war there was concern that they could provoke Russia and thus lead to an escalation of the conflict.
Lorenz Hemicker
Editor in Politics
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Majid Sattar
Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.
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The most significant preparations have so far been made by the United States.
Joe Biden was scheduled to meet with military leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss details.
In the Cabinet Room will be Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, along with other senior military officials.
On Tuesday it was said that the US President wanted to provide Ukraine with another package of military aid worth around $800 million.
American military aid of this magnitude had already been launched last week.
Government officials said on Tuesday that military aid could be approved within 36 hours.
American battle tanks should not be there.
In the coming days, Biden would like to announce which armaments Washington will make available in detail, it said.
The aid package announced last week already included 155mm field howitzers with 40,000 artillery shells.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Americans are training members of the Ukrainian armed forces outside of Ukraine on modern weapons systems.
Great Britain also announced that it would provide an unknown number of artillery systems.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs in London that the second battle since the outbreak of war on February 24 would become "an artillery conflict".
Ukraine will need additional artillery to help.
"That's what we're going to give them, in addition to many other forms of support." Similar announcements to those in the UK came from Canada and the Netherlands.
However, the scope of the deliveries should not come close to that of the Americans.
The Bundeswehr does not provide heavy weapons
The Czech Republic is supplying dozens of NVA-owned BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles and Cold War-era T-72 main battle tanks produced under license.
Slovakia has already delivered an unspecified number of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, also from former Warsaw Pact inventories.
Poland is said to be ready to supply Soviet rocket launchers and artillery systems.
The delivery of a hundred T-72 main battle tanks is also apparently up for debate, but Warsaw is silent on this.
Old Soviet systems are considered particularly suitable for the Ukrainian armed forces because they are familiar with them and can use them immediately.
Heavy weapons from Bundeswehr stocks are currently not being used in the Battle of Donbass.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said in Berlin on Wednesday that the main weapon systems of the German armed forces would continue to be needed for the defense of the country and the NATO alliance area.
The Federal Government is also of the opinion that the systems of the Bundeswehr can neither be deployed quickly nor managed by the Ukrainian troops.
The Ukrainian side denies that. There are also problems with logistical supply and maintenance.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only promised on Tuesday evening that Germany would be "helpful" if NATO partners in Eastern Europe wanted replacements for weapons that they wanted to deliver to Ukraine from their old stocks.
All heavy weapons supplied to Ukraine are intended to help repel the Russian attack in the east.
Last week, the American President said that the previous deliveries had already contributed to Vladimir Putin's failure in his original war goals.
Tens of thousands of rocket-propelled grenades and shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, firearms, hand grenades and large quantities of ammunition and fuel were involved.
One should not rest now, said Biden.
The American government is now ignoring warnings and threats from Moscow.
According to information from American government officials, the Russian leadership last week demanded that Washington stop equipping Kyiv with modern weapons systems.
She threatened "unpredictable consequences".
The threat was taken by the US government as an admission that the weapons are severely limiting Russia's military capabilities.
From the Berlin government district it was said on Wednesday that nothing was known of any corresponding letters to the federal government.
With the change of course, Biden is not only responding to appeals by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
There are also calls from Congress to get more involved.
The US government stressed the importance of getting the material to Ukraine as soon as possible as the war is now at a crucial stage.
It is particularly important to get artillery and long-range systems into the country.
The Russian offensive in the Donbass differs from the failed advance on Kyiv in that the Russian border is closer and the supply routes are therefore shorter.