THE FIRST glimmer of hope for Ukraine might have emerged from Istanbul, however nobody’s taking any probabilities in Rzeszow. This small city in southeastern Poland, with a inhabitants of simply 2 lakh and a metropolis about 10 km broad, continues to be the hub of a large navy switch operation that has enabled Ukraine to place up an unexpectedly resolute protection in opposition to Russia.
At the center of Rzeszow is City Hall, which has Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flag within the entrance together with the white-and-red of Poland. And, it is by Rzeszow’s civil airport, barely 100 km from the border, that weapons shipped from the West are transported to Ukraine, which then make their solution to the frontlines — from Kyiv to Mariupol.
Marek Swierczynski, a high navy analyst in Poland, advised The Indian Express that Rzeszow “has become the main spot” for the switch of weapons which have stalled Russia’s advances throughout the entrance. Once navy gear lands at Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, it’s loaded onto vans and different native autos, and brought to Ukraine by E40, the longest east-west freeway in Europe.
Swierczynski says that is additionally the rationale why there may be all the time the specter of a Russian assault on Rzeszow or the convoys from there. “The operation from Rzeszow is potentially dangerous even though there has not been any attack yet,” Swierczynski, who writes for “Polityka Insight”, stated.
Barely ten days in the past, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had warned: “We clearly said that any cargo moving into Ukrainian territory, which we would believe is carrying weapons, would be fair game.”
Rzeszow can also be the place US President Joe Biden landed on his go to to Poland final week and met with American troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, which is a part of NATO’s japanese flank.
According to a navy analyst in Lviv, round 90 per cent of Ukraine’s weapons are nonetheless of Soviet or Russian origin. “Artillery is about 100 per cent Russian or Soviet, as are 90 per cent of tanks. When it comes to other military vehicles, because Ukraine has started building its own, 70 per cent are Russian. When it comes to anti-tank guns, it’s split half between Ukrainian and Western-made. But all sniper guns with Ukraine are of Western origin,” the analyst stated.
Most of what Western nations are sending to Ukraine, the analyst stated, are anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, like Man-portable air-defense (MANPAD) programs. Because of the Soviet previous, essentially the most refined weapons inside Ukraine are unable to “talk” to Western weaponry. Hence, the West can solely ship “independent” weapons that do not should be built-in with different programs.
But since Poland was a part of the Eastern Bloc, its historic hyperlinks with the Soviet Union are of immense assist to Ukraine for the time being. “Only countries like Poland, which used to have Soviet caliber weapons, can help send munitions to Ukraine,” Swierczynski, the analyst in Poland, stated.
He stated the precise variety of weapons despatched by every nation just isn’t recognized, however the US has despatched the biggest share, in “double-digit thousands”, having spent greater than US$ 1 billion already. The UK, too, has despatched anti-tank programs in “double-digit thousands”, he stated. Poland has Piorun MANPADS and ammunition to supply.
Swierczynski emphasised that not one of the weapons are despatched by NATO as an organisation, however by a few of its member states.
Michael Bociurkiw, a worldwide affairs analyst and Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council who has been in Lviv for the previous few weeks, advised The Indian Express: “The Western allies are providing NATO weaponry. Everything from flak jackets to helmets, to surface-to-air missiles. Things to help Ukraine defend itself. But what Ukraine is really asking for is more of it. But also more advanced weapons to shoot down high-flying and fast Russian missiles and aircraft.”
He stated “switchblade drones, also called Kamikaze drones”, are additionally being despatched by the US now.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Bociurkiw stated, is asking for a “lot more, and that they are running out of some weapons”. He stated the “rate at which they are shooting lethal weaponry, you have to re-supply on a very robust basis”. Even the Territorial Defense forces, made up fully of volunteers, “are desperately in need of simple things like flak jackets and helmets”.
“A lot of money is being raised in the West, but the bottleneck is getting it to the frontline,” he stated.
According to consultants, the EU and NATO have positioned navy and non-military personnel in Poland to share their logistical expertise for an operation of this scale. And, other than street routes, there are studies that a number of the gear is being despatched by trains, which officers aren’t keen to touch upon.
Incidentally, the longest broad gauge observe that hyperlinks Poland to Ukraine is Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line, which was constructed through the communist interval of the Seventies — and passes by a city about 60 km north of Rzeszow.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
