Russia cannot win

IT seems that the US TOW missile system, which dates back to the 70s, is knocking out even more Russian tanks than the latest missiles!

We hear a lot about the NLAW and Javelin missiles, not so much about the TOW. Around 2,300 Russian tanks have been destroyed by Ukraine. A lot of these will have been destroyed by TOW missiles.

Before we know it, the Russian armour will be badly depleted and then the Ukrainian new armoured brigades can punch through the Russian defences. The Challenger, Leopard and Abrams tanks are of a different order to the Russian ones. They can stand off and fire and destroy the Russian tanks at a longer range.

What will the Russian tanks do? If they mass and charge, they get destroyed. If they sit and wait, they get destroyed. The best thing they can do is to leave Ukraine. Maybe when the Ukrainian offensive starts, they will turn around and retreat.

And the much-vaunted Russian attack missiles are being shot down by western anti-missile systems. These are saving civilian lives in Ukraine.

Russia cannot win in Ukraine and the best thing they can do is to leave the land they invaded. Then the Ukrainians can rebuild. We are going to see a lot more dead Russian soldiers unless this happens.

Putin sent in those waves of exconvict soldiers knowing they would die – he has wanted to grind down and sap the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians in a “meat grinder” war, but the Ukrainians just keep mowing them down. Soon the Russians will run out of men.

John Prentice

Bristol