If NATO were truly interested in supporting Ukraine to win the war, they would have supplied all the necessary weapons - retired U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Agent DeBatto

David DeBatto is a geopolitical analyst, retired U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Agent and Iraq war veteran

18 months have passed since Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. During this time, Ukraine proved that it can stand up to the Russian army, which called itself "the second in the world." How do you assess the operations carried out by the Ukrainian special services during this time and do you feel progress in their professionalism and desire for the victory of Ukraine?

The actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and by extension, the Ukrainian Special Services, has been nothing short of extraordinary. At the risk of seeming arrogant, I am one of the few Western analysts that have not been surprised by the performance of Ukrainian forces since 24 February 2022. I had visited Ukraine several times between Independence in 1991 and the first Russian invasion in 2014, so I was somewhat familiar with the training and motivation of Ukrainian soldiers as well as the spirit of patriotism within the Ukrainian people. I had developed friendships with several Ukrainians during that time and still maintain those relationships. Of course, since the full-scale invasion in February 2022 Ukraine has received a lot of foreign aid for the military and intelligence services, to include advanced training in combined arms operations. The nation has also been the recipient of far more detailed intelligence and intelligence gathering equipment from the U.S. and other NATO allies, intelligence that has greatly assisted Ukraine in both planning military and intelligence operations, and targeting Russian force concentrations, as well as command and control and logistical centers.

As for singling out Ukrainian Special Services