UK military advisor, Ian Stubbs, says the Kremlin’s
intellectually bankrupt recourse to attritional warfare shows its
appalling willingness to sacrifice the Russian people.
"Thank you, Madam Chair. In the early hours of yesterday morning,
the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant suffered
significant damage. Reports indicate that an explosion occurred
at the dam causing the entire eastern portion of the dam and much
of the hydro and utilities infrastructure to be swept away
resulting in significant flooding in the local area. We note that
the water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir was at a record high
before the collapse, resulting in a particularly high volume of
water inundating the area downstream. The dam’s structure is
likely to deteriorate further over the next few days, causing
additional flooding.
We express our deepest concern regarding the potential impact of
this damage on communities living in the downstream areas, the
provision of clean water supplies, the longer-term safety of the
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and the wider ecological
consequences from the destruction of the dam. Reports that
Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson during evacuation
efforts, if correct, are particularly egregious. We are clear;
the destruction of the Kakhovka dam is yet another devastating
example of the terrible consequences of Russia’s unprovoked,
illegal and full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Madam Chair, Russia’s continued attempts to break the will and
resolve of the Ukrainian people with repeated barrages of missile
and drone strikes on towns and cities across Ukraine are
deplorable and heinous acts. They are the desperate actions of
Russian military leaders who have run out of ideas, consistently
overestimated their force capabilities and underestimated the
strength and resolve of the Ukrainian people.
Over the course of May, Russia launched over 300 of the Iranian
Shahed one-way attack UAVs against Ukraine. This is its most
intense use of this weapon system to date. But Russia’s attempts
to deplete Ukraine’s advanced air defences, including those
gifted by international partners, through these “swarm” tactics
are unlikely to have been notably successful. Ukraine has
neutralised at least 90% of these UAVs mostly using its older and
cheaper air defence weapons and with electronic jamming.
Madam Chair, over the last 72 hours there has been a substantial
increase in fighting along numerous sectors of the front,
including those which have been relatively quiet for several
months.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the 24
February 2022 one of its objectives appears to have been the
complete capture of the whole of the Donbas region within 10-14
days. Over 15 months later, Russia’s grinding offensive in the
Donbas has stalled at a cost of extraordinarily high casualty
rates. Since May last year, up to 60,000 Wagner and regular
Russian forces have been killed or wounded in the area around
Bakhmut alone. Russia has suffered nearly half of those
casualties, almost 30,000 killed or wounded, in the last three
months since March. These staggering losses have achieved at
total advance of just 29 kilometres. That is for every 48
centimetres of ground Russia gained, one of its soldiers was
killed or wounded.
Madam Chair, it is well over a year since Russia’s military
leaders were forced to abandon their aspirations to deliver an
overwhelming decisive victory through modern combined arms
manoeuvre warfare. For over a year, we have watched those
decision makers double down on their similarly ill-fated
contingency plan - the blunt edged, intellectually bankrupt
recourse to attritional warfare. This has resulted in an
appalling demonstration of the Kremlin’s willingness to sacrifice
the Russian people, including its mobilised citizens, by the
thousands in the name of Putin’s horrendous and contrived war of
choice.
Last week, our Russian colleague continued to insist on the
delusion that the so called “Special Military Operation” was
going to plan, that all objectives would be achieved. We all know
that Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine is built on lies but the
reality: Russia’s stalled invasion, the thousands of Russian
casualties, and the significant degradation in Russia’s combat
effectiveness, clearly demonstrates this is anything but true.
Madam Chair, the UK and its international partners are steadfast
in our support for Ukraine as demonstrated by the continued
provision of military assistance. Ukraine has regained territory
and liberated thousands of Ukrainian people thanks to the
awe-inspiring bravery of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the
resilience of the Ukrainian people and overwhelming international
support. Together, the UK and partners are ensuring that Ukraine
will win. Our united approach of providing Ukraine with the
support it needs to defend itself and push Russia out of
Ukraine’s sovereign territory is the swiftest, and only, path to
a just and lasting peace. Thank you."
