Passiamo un anno e mezzo a preparare 14 brigate e solo 3 di loro hanno promesso l’equipaggiamento. Altre non hanno niente ed è per questo che abbiamo problemi con le rotazioni in prima linea

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the Russian troops are able to advance, in particular due to the fact that it takes a long time to equip the brigades that were supposed to replace the tired fighters on the front line.

He said this in an interview with French media.

The President noted that 14 brigades were being prepared, which wanted to be equipped with Western weapons. “Do you think if 3 of the 14 have equipment, it’s possible to stop them [the Russians]?” Zelensky asked.

He noted that the multibillion-dollar aid packages voted by the partners were intended for equipping units, which were supposed to be reserves for the ability to rotate units on the battlefield. And also served for brigades that are already on the battlefield and need shells.

“At the same time, reserves were being prepared. We have already spent a year and a half on this. It’s just an ongoing process as you rebuild your army. When we talked about all these packages from the EU and the USA, this was about equipping 14 brigades. At least 10, frankly. Because there are guys on the battlefield and there must be rotations, they must rest. And how will you carry out rotations if the brigades that are supposed to replace them are empty?” said Zelensky.

He added that the Defense Forces of Ukraine “definitely” can stop the advance of the Russians, but the price is people’s lives and time while the brigade’s staffing continues.

In addition, Zelensky noted that the Russians are also advancing due to the fact that Ukraine has restrictions on strikes by Western weapons deep into Russia, on installations and aircraft that fire at the Ukrainian border.

We should really just start flooding those thousands of Bradleys we have in storage to Ukraine. No need for a trickle flow of an IFV we have no intentions of using again.