Staggering arms flow to Ukraine statistics

Every day we hear from either President Volodymyr Zelensky or one of his ministers that they need more weapons, bigger weapons and much much faster to fight off the Russians. You might get the impression that the West is being dilatory in providing weapons but you only have to look at the amazing statistics of the amount of stuff being delivered almost on a daily basis to realise what an incredible package of military support is being sent to Ukraine. The one I liked most was refered to by General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who revealed that 97,000 anti-tank weapons had now been sent by the US and the other countries engaged in the arms programme which is more than the total number of tanks in the whole world. The tank total is reliably said to be around 73,000. It is true of course that the Russians have a bigger supply of pretty well everything and until the HIMARS long-range multiple-launch rocket systems are in operation, the Ukrainians are outgunned and facing defeat in the Donbas region to the east. But here are a few more statistics: The Kyiv government asked for 10 battalions of artillery, the West sent 12 battalions, they asked for 200 tanks, they got 237, they wanted 100 infantry fighting vehicles, they got more than 300; plus 1,600 air defence systems, 1,500 Stinger anti-air missiles, 700 deadly Switchblade armed drones, 20 Mi-17 helicopters etc etc. The list goes on and on. And while there has to be a degree of bureaucracy involved in sending so much stuff to Ukraine via the secret back routes through Germany and Poland and other east European countries, generally speaking it has only been a matter of days for the arms to be delivered following a Kyiv request. That's pretty impressive by any standards. But it still may not be enough to stop Russia winning in Donbas.