We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Brigadier Chris King, from 104 Logistic Support Brigade, said it is a “generational moment”, adding: “If we don’t do enough, we will sow the seeds of future conflicts.” More than 100 troops from 30 different countries are planning, plotting and tracking almost every Western bullet heading to Ukraine.

British and American troops have established a nerve centre – dubbed “the attic” – in Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, to supply weapons, ammunition and equipment to the frontline.

Ukrainian military chiefs tune in to an 11am conference every single day to tell Western allies about their priorities and what they urgently need.

The troops utilise a shared database where the Ukrainians log their requirements and Western nations can select which weapons, ammunition or pieces of equipment they are able to provide. 

An “operations cell” then tracks the weapons as they are picked up by Ukrainian troops in eastern Europe and taken into the war zone. 

Intelligence specialists are tracking the Russians to make sure they will not target Western shipments as they cross into Ukraine.

The allies utilise ports, roads, railways and airports to move the weapons through Europe.

As soon as a donor is identified, troops inside the coordination centre begin planning how to get it into the country.

The operations have become increasingly difficult as Kyiv is increasingly asking for heavy artillery, tanks or planes instead of the handheld anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons the Ukrainians needed at the beginning of the invasion.

And they are now sending Western weapons systems and ammunition as supplies of Soviet-era weapons are running low.

There are multiple top-secret routes in case the Russians successfully target one of them.

The most senior British officer at the base, Brigadier Chris King said troops are proud they have kept the Ukrainians “in the fight”.

The senior British Army officer, from 104 Logistic Support Brigade, said: “It changed over Easter when we saw the massacres in Bucha.

“You see the scenes and you feel that you want to help. It is a generational moment.

“We either help Ukraine to fight or we accept that maybe not straight away, but in the next few years we are going to be fighting somewhere else.

“If we don’t do enough, we will sow the seeds of future conflicts.

“We are planning into the years to come. 

“I don’t think it is going to be over quickly. But how the conflict evolves is too early to tell.

“As we saw in 2014, it never really stopped. 

“We have got to get to a position where we sustain Ukraine otherwise we might have to do it somewhere else.”

British troops admit the types of weapons they will send into Ukraine will likely change again in the future.

Brigadier King said: “We are doing everything we can right now. But that will evolve over time. 

“It takes time to deliver complex capabilities.

“It is about making the Ukrainian forces more impactful, more lethal and to buy time for other things to come online.

“We always work to get them equipment as fast as possible.

“There is always a balance of less haste, more speed, making sure what we give them they have the ammunition, they have the training, they have the means to sustain it and it doesn’t break as soon as we give it to them. 

“We can move things very very quickly.”

Brigadier King said Western nations can get weapons into Ukraine within 48 hours. 

He said: “The key for this is to ensure the flow continues and it doesn’t stop anywhere. When you have got things that are highly explosive, you can’t afford to have it sat in any one location for too long. 

“We have gradually had to supply them with Nato-standard or Western equipment in order to sustain the supply of ammunition that goes with it. 

“It was initially anti-tank weapons, then it moved into artillery. Now there is a big focus on artillery and ammunition. 

“At the moment, there is no sign of them running out. The resolve of the international community, which has been demonstrated through this operation, is just a small part of it and is providing what it needs. 

“Certainly, the Russians didn’t think it would before the conflict started. I’m confident we will continue to give them what they need.”

Brigadier King, 48, who served in Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Kosovo, admitted he has spoken to the Ukrainian troops about the atrocities being committed by Russian forces.

He said: “Sitting with Ukrainians and having them talk through what is going on, and we talk to them, does give you an insight you may not have had sat anywhere else.

“I can see the reality of what is going on, which keeps you focused.

“We have got  really good team here. It is what we were designed to.”

American military chiefs revealed they are providing their Ukrainian counterparts with CDs and videos of how to operate the equipment.

Rear Admiral Richard Heinz revealed troops are Kyiv have “executed outstanding operational security” to protect the delivery of weapons.

Describing how weapons are prioritised, Rear Admiral Heinz added: “What we have done is work very closely with the defence digital services, both in the UK and the US to track security assistance, to understand the magnitude, volume and effect and then we’ve developed a database the Ukrainians can prioritise their requirements.

“Nations can go in and look at those requirements and figure out what they may be able to contribute to.

“The ability to digitise everything will really help us to understand if we are giving them what we need and the amounts they need.”

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has echoed Ukrainian demands for heavier weapons to be sent to the frontline.

Rear Admiral Heinz added: “In Poland, the Ukrainians come and get it. How it goes across the border, what border crossing it goes across, when it goes across, they drive that.

“I’m confident we are responsive enough to run quickly to the Ukrainian priorities – long range fires. This is what this cell does.

“Every day at 11 o’clock, the Ukrainians are in it with 26 other nations in a conference saying ‘what are the urgent needs’, ‘how are we trying to meet those demands?’ 

“Everybody said Kyiv would be taken within a week and the Government would fall. That didn’t happen.

“Their will, their unity and their pride in their country. They are very proud to be Ukrainians and they are showing it every day on the battlefield.

“Do I think Russia will take Ukraine? No.”

Source: Read Full Article