These are the new weapons that could prove decisive in the Ukraine war

Forewarned and re-armed, Ukraine has had time to prepare its soldiers and has been able to equip them with new weapons. But will its new arsenal of NATO guns, tanks and ammunition be enough to repel the Russian invaders as the war enters its next phase?

Matthew J Schmidt, an associate professor in political science and international affairs, at the University of New Haven, has been assessing how the two sides shape up and what may have to change for the war to take a decisive turn.

“Both of them have been fighting a Soviet-style artillery war,” he said. “What we have seen on the battlefield is that they’re pretty evenly matched.”

However, since the Russia’s full-time invasion in 2022, NATO allies have supplied Ukraine with new weapons systems and have stepped up their training and support. This has included advice on tactics, but also on the wider strategy. Ukrainian soldiers have been shown how to operate tanks or big guns, but also on how what NATO calls combined arms manoeuvre.

“And that is the capacity to coordinate fire from artillery, from infantry, from armour, from special forces, and to do these things in a highly-synchronised manner in order to maximise the force being applied at any given point to the enemy,” said Schmidt.

“The question is if Ukrainian troops have learned it well enough to implement it now for this offensive. If they have, it will be a game changer. They will have a devastating impact on Russian troops because they will be able to break through the defensive line and get into Russia's rear areas and attack their artillery depots and their fuel depots and limit the ability of Russian troops to retreat and manoeuvre.”

However, this new phase of the war may also see Russia using more advanced weapons