Ukraine is set to receive at least 60 F-16 fighter jets from allies in Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Ukrainian forces have already begun employing the ATACMS artillery systems against Russian air defense batteries, with several recent successful strikes against the elite Russian Belbek S-400 air defense systems.
Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan argues that these strikes are laying the groundwork for what may become a significant blow to Putin’s regime.
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The following is an excerpt from Peter’s June 18 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
Ukraine is gearing up for one of its most important offensives to date, but what makes this one so different from the rest?
The main driver of this offensive is a delivery of F-16s from NATO, which was preceded by some large arms packages from Europe and the U.S. Now this is all very exciting, but we’re still a little ways out from this going down. In the meantime, Ukraine will be laying down the groundwork to help ensure that this offensive can successfully break through the stalemate that has defined much of the battlefield this year.
So what does that groundwork look like? You can expect to see Ukraine ramp up its strikes on Russian air defenses all throughout the occupied territory and even deep into Russia and Crimea. This will (hopefully) allow the Ukrainians to establish regional air superiority and use those F-16s to their full capabilities.
It doesn’t mean Ukraine will be flying into Moscow tomorrow and ending the war, but cutting off Russian logistics in Crimea and other areas could cause significant losses to Russia — and Putin’s ego. Expect further updates once all of this kicks off.