Russian Ops in Ukraine Update – Ammo shortages and other Shortcomings Ukraine Faces

Update for Russian Operations in Ukraine for April 25, 2022
– Russia continues to make gains in south and eastern Ukraine;
– Russia is concentrating additional forces in these regions;
– US has sent 50 million rounds of small arms ammunition to Ukraine;
– this is not enough to sustain combat operations in a modern armed conflict;
– US officials and media struggle to match previously optimistic reports on Ukraine’s military operations versus the reality now taking shape on the battlefield;
– Western “analysts” are producing war propaganda which may help explain why the Western media’s messaging is so divergent from reality;
– Ukraine is being used by the West as a proxy against Russia and signs of it being disposed of like Afghanistan, Libya, and other Western-sponsored opposition movements in the past are beginning to appear;
– Austria’s foreign minister has outright said he would prefer Ukraine did not join the EU.

References:

US Department of Defense – Pentagon Secretary John F. Kirby Holds a Press Briefing, April 22, 2022:
https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcri…

Independent Institute – If You Miss the First Time, Try Firing Another 300,000 Rounds:
https://www.independent.org/news/arti…

Small Arms Survey – Beyond the Kalashnikov: Small Arms Production, Exports, and Stockpiles in the Russian Federation (2003):
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc…

Small Arms Survey – Surveying Europe’s Production and Procurement of Small Arms and Light Weapons Ammunition (2010):
https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/sites…

WSJ – U.S. Asks Allies to Provide Ammunition to Ukraine to Avoid Stock Shortage:
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russ…

Daily Beast – They Want to Fight for Ukraine. They Just Need Guns:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-u…

The Hill – Here’s everything the US is sending to Ukraine’s military:
https://thehill.com/policy/internatio…

Institute for the Study of War – Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 23:
http://www.iswresearch.org/2022/04/ru…

Critical Threats – Frederick Kagan:
https://www.criticalthreats.org/team/…

ISW – Karolina Hird;
https://www.understandingwar.org/pres…

ISW – Kateryna Stepanenko;
https://www.understandingwar.org/pres…

Washington Post – Russia has killed civilians in Ukraine. Kyiv’s defense tactics add to the danger.:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/…

Guardian – Dozens of Bucha civilians were killed by metal darts from Russian artillery:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202…

AFP – Surgeons in Ukraine’s rebel Donetsk confirm cluster bomb usage (2014):
https://news.yahoo.com/surgeons-ukrai…

ABC (Australia) – Ukraine ‘disappointed’ as Austria says besieged nation shouldn’t be offered EU membership:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-2…