Former lieutenant colonel on Ukraine aid: Wars not won by ‘equipment,’ but by ‘troops and soldiers’
Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis criticized recent moves by the U.S. to provide military aid to Ukraine, saying that sending just equipment into the country will not “help as much as people might think.”
Davis, a senior fellow and military expert for Defense Priorities, called the
$150 million security assistance package for Ukraine announced by President
Biden last week and a
bill the president signed Monday to expedite the process of sending the country military equipment “deceptive.”
It may look like the moves to send equipment and weapons into Ukraine, as well as to expedite the process, would help the country amid the Russian invasion because “if you get enough of them in, you’ll be able to stop the onslaught,” he said during an appearance on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
“But here’s the problem with that,” Davis said. “Wars aren’t won by equipment, they’re won by troops and soldiers.”
“And just getting lots of equipment in while the Ukrainian forces are continuing to suffer casualties is not going to help as much as people might think because you have to have trained soldiers [that know] how to fight this stuff and its so difficult to incorporate new equipment in, while you’re under fire from the enemy onslaught,” he continued.
Davis also noted that Ukrainian leaders, such as Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, are now aiming for the “complete eradication” of Russian troops from Ukraine’s soil and said claims that those troops are slowing down or are stalled are “premature.”
He said that Russia has in reality made “significant territorial gains” and is “moving Ukraine back bit by bit in the Donbas” region.
“If they complete some of these tactical operations that Russia is doing right now, they could actually surround and destroy thousands of Ukrainian troops and continue the march in the direction of Kyiv,” Davis warned
Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis criticized recent moves by the U.S. to provide military aid to Ukraine, saying that sending just equipment into the country will not “help as much as people migh…
thehill.com
Might be worth listening to the video in the article. A two part one it seems.