Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for January 6, 2023:

- After over a week, the Western media continues talking about Ukraine’s HIMARS strike on assembled Russian troops;
- The focus on political optics inadvertently reveals the lack of strategic and tactical importance of this strike and highlights the lopsided nature of fighting against Ukraine;
- Russia possesses many times more means and opportunities to carry out such strikes and does so nearly daily;
- Western pundits are resorting to increasingly fantastical thinking to solve what they admit is Ukraine’s inability to defeat Russia;
- France has agreed to send an unspecified number of its aging AMX-10 RC light tanks;
- The light tanks are wheeled, have light armor, and will not be able to replace the main battle tanks Ukraine has lost over the last year of fighting;
- The US is contemplating sending Bradley infantry fighting vehicles - even less capable than France’s AMX-10 RC;
- Both Western systems will require special ammunition and maintenance provisions including shipping them to the Polish border each time they break down;
- The Western systems including future transfers of even main battle tanks do not address the real deficiency Ukraine suffers from - lack of artillery and long-range weapons that Russia has in abundance;

References:

Politico - Ukraine grinds down Russian morale with deadliest strike in the war:
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-grinds-down-russian-morale-with-deadliest-strike-in-the-war/
Foreign Policy - Ukraine Needs Long-Range Firepower for Victory:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/04/ukraine-long-range-firepower-victory/
France24 - Macron promises 'first Western tanks' for Ukraine:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230104-macron-promises-first-western-tanks-for-ukraine
French Ministry of Defence - Defence Key Figures 2021 Edition:
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/ministere-armees/Chiffres%20clés%20de%20la%20Défense%202021%20UK%20%28pdf%20version%20anglaise%29.pdf
Washington Post - U.S. edges closer to sending armored weaponry to Ukraine:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/04/ukraine-bradley-fighting-vehicle/
The Duran - Turkey, Syria coming together. Bolton fumes, wants Turkey out of NATO:
https://youtu.be/YjkjteDPwSQ
Al Jazeera - Turkey, Syria, Russia defence ministers hold talks in Moscow:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/28/turkey-syria-russia-defence-ministers-hold-talks-in-moscow

How to Support The New Atlas' Work (and thank you!):

Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheNewAtlas
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/landdestroyer
PromptPay: 0851547235
PayPal: [email protected]

Cryptocurrency Donations:
Ethereum (ETH): 0xee6ed93c3adc474450011e9af22939a0b9b312c7
BitCoin (BTC): 1AfGnbmHxA6cy9YKUSxysXvpJPyecpBKrr
Monero (XMR): 845TCXx3pchSBXuDL7FHG679gbWD2wkHS6MJxuq7jFVsVFj7T6xsry747uhhGZUdkaRXbbrMfo5c8RnGfzGZ13KxQUdHVLR

Mirrored - The New Atlas