War Invasion of Ukraine News Megathread - Thread is only for articles and discussion of articles, general discussion thread is still in Happenings.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the United States will impose sanctions “far beyond” the ones that the United States imposed in 2014 following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said in a White House speech, signaling a shift in his administration’s position. “We will continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates,” he added.

Russian elites and their family members will also soon face sanctions, Biden said, adding that “Russia will pay an even steeper price” if Moscow decides to push forward into Ukraine. Two Russian banks and Russian sovereign debt will also be sanctioned, he said.

Also in his speech, Biden said he would send more U.S. troops to the Baltic states as a defensive measure to strengthen NATO’s position in the area.

Russia shares a border with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to go into the separatist Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine after a lengthy speech in which he recognized the two regions’ independence.

Western powers decried the move and began to slap sanctions on certain Russian individuals, while Germany announced it would halt plans to go ahead with the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

At home, Biden is facing bipartisan pressure to take more extensive actions against Russia following Putin’s decision. However, a recent poll showed that a majority of Americans believe that sending troops to Ukraine is a “bad idea,” and a slim minority believes it’s a good one.

All 27 European Union countries unanimously agreed on an initial list of sanctions targeting Russian authorities, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and EU foreign affairs head Josep Borell claimed the package “will hurt Russia … a lot.”

Earlier Tuesday, Borell asserted that Russian troops have already entered the Donbas region, which comprises Donetsk and Lugansk, which are under the control of pro-Russia groups since 2014.

And on Tuesday, the Russian Parliament approved a Putin-back plan to use military force outside of Russia’s borders as Putin further said that Russia confirmed it would recognize the expanded borders of Lugansk and Donetsk.

“We recognized the states,” the Russian president said. “That means we recognized all of their fundamental documents, including the constitution, where it is written that their [borders] are the territories at the time the two regions were part of Ukraine.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Putin said that Ukraine is “not interested in peaceful solutions” and that “every day, they are amassing troops in the Donbas.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday morning again downplayed the prospect of a Russian invasion and proclaimed: “There will be no war.”

“There will not be an all-out war against Ukraine, and there will not be a broad escalation from Russia. If there is, then we will put Ukraine on a war footing,” he said in a televised address.

The White House began to signal that they would shift their own position on whether it’s the start of an invasion.

“We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine,” said Jon Finer, the White House deputy national security adviser in public remarks. “An invasion is an invasion and that is what is underway.”

For weeks, Western governments have been claiming Moscow would invade its neighbor after Russia gathered some 150,000 troops along the countries’ borders. They alleged that the Kremlin would attempt to come up with a pretext to attack, while some officials on Monday said Putin’s speech recognizing the two regions was just that.

But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Tuesday that Russia’s “latest invasion” of Ukraine is threatening stability in the region, but he asserted that Putin can “still avoid a full blown, tragic war of choice.”

Article

 

[Fanatical Pragmatist]

When everyone is saying "Why don't we just give Ukraine TacNukes and power armor?" its very key to remember a few things.
Chiefly, Ukraine is populated by slavs.

And that I mean there is deep and ingrained corruption, fiefdom, nepotism, and immediate-thinking that has not been rooted out, only reduced.
Daily reminder
- Ukraine in the 90s (when they were still a russian puppet) sold soviet cruise missiles to Iran that they had been paid to destroy which is the only reason Iran (and N Korea) have the missiles they do.
-Ukraine has not always been kind to its neighbors
- Even in the current conflict there are cases of weapons going missing or reported "lost", probably to turn up in the Middle East or Africa.

The government and military got a bit shake up in 2014, and the upper brass got another cleaning post invasion, but you can only go so far.

I guess tl;dr, when you give something to Ukraine, you have to trust them to give it back or to trust them with it after. You have to trust that some general isn't going to sell the high-speed bits to Iran or China (or Russia). You also have to count on the not impossible chance Ukraine suffers defeat or a fresh Russian assault doesn't push the lines forcing Ukraine to abandon weapons - weapons Russia would be all to happy to sell.

Let's pretend that in the ultimate example of Top 10 Anime Master Plans that Lockheed martin has run the F-16 line full tilt, as hard as they have ever run it, while Ukrainian pilots have been covertly training, and suddenly on May 9, the skies are filled with 400 F-16s. With ground crews trained to Seven Days War levels of 'get those fuckers back in the air', over the next month they just hammer every russian position and Russia gives up, returns seized territory, and Ukraine joins NATO.

If we want to pretend 50% losses, Ukraine now has 200 advanced fighters, nearly more than any nation in Europe. Russia is also battered, and Ukraine has more western weapons than it will ever get again; who says they don't want a little revenge, and decide that Novogrod needs to stop existing, or that Belgorod would be sufficient reparations? Who says they don't decide Belarus should now be Northern Ukraine?

Again, this isn't a reason to let Russia just steamroll them because Muh Greater Russian Empire or w/e, but in addition to logistics issues its something to think about when wondering why certain weapons/systems are being held back.
(Not applicable to the Leopard; Germany doesn't want to give them the Leopard because they are eurocucks and concerned what a smoldering hulk will do to sales)

For some stuff yeah, maybe, but for stuff like ATACMS its definitely not the case.
Russians already have Iskandr, which even if you don't believe Russian propaganda hype is arguably a much more advanced and capable system (albeit due to different doctrinal requirements).

A captured ATACMS missile in the hands of Russia gives them nothing new they don't already have, and it certainly doesn't divulge intel about the forthcoming PrSM; and given currently zero HIMARS/M270/LRU which launch the thing have been captured so far (thanks to Ukraine fighting 10x harder and 20x smarter than any of our goatfuckistan proxies); so its really an all-around low risk situation.
The only reason the US won't do it is because politicians still fear Russian escalation and the big N-word if we send Ukraine a *gasp* ballistic missile which is *double gasp* "nukulur capable!"

Which if I were Ukraine I'd be scrubbing up every possible long-range munition I can right now and hitting deep into Russian territory whenever possible to show that - once again - Russia's red lines are hot bluffs.

 

[AgendaPoster]

Add Bulgaria to Serbia, countries traditionally aligned with Russia that have sizable populations choosing to help Ukraine instead.
Article is longer, just posting the first part.

--------

Bulgaria to the rescue: How the EU’s poorest country secretly saved Ukraine​

Sofia provided fuel and vital Soviet specification arms to Kyiv, but had to keep supplies secret because of pro-Moscow politicians in government.​

Last spring, Ukraine’s army was running desperately low on the fuel and Soviet caliber ammunition it needed to fight the Russians.
Salvation came from an unexpected quarter: Bulgaria.
Thanks to its fractured domestic politics — and the pro-Russian leanings of much of its elite — Sofia has been at pains over the course of the invasion to stress that it is not arming Ukraine.
That was, however, a smokescreen, according to an investigation by German daily WELT, a sister publication of POLITICO in the Axel Springer Group. Thanks to exclusive interviews with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and his finance minister, Assen Vassilev, WELT has pieced together a picture of how Bulgaria stepped into the breach and used intermediaries to provide Kyiv with vital supplies of weapons, ammunition and diesel at a critical juncture of the fighting last year.
While Petkov, who was Bulgarian prime minister at the outbreak of the war, was attempting to pull the country in a more westward, pro-NATO trajectory, he had to grapple with intense blowback from pro-Kremlin politicians, including among his coalition partners, the Socialists, who are the successors to the old Communist Party. He even had to fire his own defense minister for parroting Russia’s spin on the war. In public, at least, Petkov sought to play down any idea that Bulgaria — despite considerable stocks of Soviet-era weaponry — would step up and arm Ukraine.
Given these sensitivities, Bulgaria’s official stance toward the war has seen it lumped in the same basket as Viktor Orbán’s Hungary — too politically in hock to Moscow to pull its weight.
But Petkov and Vassilev, now opposition politicians seeking a path back to power in expected upcoming elections, have broken their silence on the true scale of Bulgaria’s role last spring.
While the Socialist Party in Sofia called Bulgarian arms deliveries to Ukrainian forces a “red line,” Petkov’s officials avoided government-to-government transactions and used intermediary companies in Bulgaria and abroad to open up supply routes by air and land through Romania, Hungary, and Poland.
“We estimate that about a third of the ammunition needed by the Ukrainian army in the early phase of the war came from Bulgaria,” Petkov told WELT.
Just as sensitively, the diesel that Bulgaria supplied to Ukraine was processed from Russian crude oil at a Black Sea refinery, which at the time belonged to the Russian company Lukoil. “Bulgaria became one of the largest exporters of diesel to Ukraine and at times covered 40 percent of Ukraine’s needs,” former Finance Minister Vassilev told WELT.
The government in Kyiv confirmed that version of events. Kuleba told WELT his country was in danger of running out of ammunition last April. “We knew that Bulgarian warehouses had large quantities of the ammunition needed so President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy sent me to obtain the necessary material,” Kuleba said.
It was a matter of “life and death” at that time, Kuleba explained, because otherwise the Russians would occupy more villages and towns, “kill, torture and rape” more Ukrainians.
Faced with Kyiv’s requests, Kuleba said Petkov replied that his domestic situation was “not easy” but that he would do “everything in his power.”
“Kiril Petkov has shown integrity, and I will always be grateful to him for using all his political skills to find a solution,” Kuleba continued. The story, he said, was simple: While some members of the Bulgarian coalition sided with Russia, Petkov decided to “be on the right side of history and help us defend ourselves against a much stronger enemy.”

 

[Fatniggo1488]

US has moved munitions stored in Israel for use by Ukraine​

The United States has transferred American munitions stored in Israel for use in Ukraine and plans to send more soon, US and Israeli officials told CNN Wednesday.

A US official told CNN they have moved “some” of the 300,000 155-millimeter shells that the US and Israel agreed would be transferred, and that there are plans to move the remaining amount in the coming weeks.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Richard Hecht told CNN that the Americans notified the Israelis a while ago they were transferring munitions. Hecht said the munitions are US-owned, that their movements are “American business” and that they don’t need Israeli permission to move the munitions.

The New York Times first reported the American military is tapping into its munitions stockpile stored in Israel for use in Ukraine, noting Israeli officials had initially expressed “concerns about appearing complicit in arming Ukraine.”

Israel has been walking a fine diplomatic line during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Israeli leaders have condemned the invasion, supported Ukraine in the United Nations, sent humanitarian aid and taken in refugees, Israel has drawn a hard line at sending military aid, citing its own security sensitivities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before he took office at the end of December that he would review Israel’s policy on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The strain on weapons stockpiles – and the ability of the US industrial base to keep up with demand – is one of the key challenges facing the Biden administration as the US continues to send billions of dollars of weapons to Ukraine to support its fight against Russia. CNN previously reported a US official said the stockpiles of certain systems are “dwindling” after months of sending supplies to Kyiv during the high-intensity war, as there’s “finite amount” of excess stocks which the US has available to send.

CNN reported in November that the US intended to buy 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition from South Korean arms manufacturers to provide to Ukraine as part of a broader effort to find available weaponry for the high-intensity battles unfolding in Ukraine.

US has moved munitions stored in Israel for use by Ukraine | CNN Poli…

archived 18 Jan 2023 12:43:52 UTC

archive.ph

Brovary crash helicopter "repeatedly involved" in transporting personnel to emergency sites​

The helicopter which crashed in Brovary on Wednesday "was repeatedly involved in the transportation of personnel to emergency sites," said the State Emergency Services of Ukraine (SES).

The SES added in a Facebook post that these "Super Puma" ES-225 aircraft are used "often due to the ability to transport a sufficient number of people at the same time."

"The crew of the aircraft was trained to perform tasks in difficult conditions and had the required number of hours of flying time on ES-225 helicopters," it added.

(3) Brovary crash helicopter "repeatedly involved" in transporting personnel to emergency sites | Ghostarchive

ghostarchive.org

Meeting between heads of Russian and US intelligence agencies was "useful," says Lavrov​

A meeting between Russian and US intelligence chiefs in November was "useful" but did not produce any "breakthroughs," said Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday.

Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, and William Burns, CIA director, met at the headquarters of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization in Ankara on November 14.

"They know that we will respond seriously to serious requests: Biden asked Putin for Naryshkin to meet with Burns, and the meeting took place," Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference on the results of Russia’s diplomatic activities in 2022.

"Yes, it was quite serious and useful, although it did not bring any breakthroughs," he said.


On Tuesday, Naryshkin said that another meeting with Burns was possible, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Asked whether another such meeting could take place, Naryshkin said "this is possible," adding the time for a new potential meeting would be determined "by agreement" between the parties, according to TASS.

(4) Meeting between heads of Russian and US intelligence agencies was…

archived 18 Jan 2023 12:41:32 UTC

archive.md

I know it's not going to happen, but it would be absolutely hilarious if this ends up causing Israel a major problem.

 

[Ghostse]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/us/politics/ukraine-israel-weapons.html

Archive is being fucky right now but the US has started to pull war reserve stocks from Israel then handing it to Ukraine and our greatest ally is worried it will upset their Russian buddies.

I know it's not going to happen, but it would be absolutely hilarious if this ends up causing Israel a major problem.

Daily reminder: Both the US and the USSR used arms supplies to try to keep any side in the middle east from gaining too much advantage in the 50s/60/70s (and see how well that turned out). The US refused to sell fighters and newer model tanks to Israel, so they went to France for arms. basically any county in the eastern corner of the Mediterranean is very cognizant of not doing anything to fuck with their ability to get future arms sales from the major suppliers.

Making toothless motions in the UN will just create political slapfighting, but If they are sending bullets to Ukraine will be an issue the next time Israel needs to bypass UN sanctions and strike a deal with Russia.

This won't change anything - it was US arms & ammo simply being stored by our greatest ally - but Israel has to at least go through the act of being pissed.

Well, for one, Putin's government might have an excuse for full mobilization without any pretenses at that point, and that's not a good thing. Russia IS an authoritarian state, but they still have to think about how to sell this war to the populace, and it's harder to do when people who's used to peaceful daily life are suddenly called up to die en masse. They're walking on eggshells here, risking to piss people off.
They're used to not having to contend with public opinion because said public didn't care - "Do whatever you want, just leave me alone" sorta thing. It's hard not to care when your very life is at stake, and far more people realize who's really threatening their life in this situation than you might think.

I'm going to tl;dr this as both sides are avoiding a "Fuck around and find out " scenario. Russian mobilization is less a fear than Uzbek mobilization.

The US doesn't fear Russia going full mobilization so much as they fear Russia tapping their alliances and expanding the conflict.

Belarus has allowed Russian forces to transit their territory, and used their facilities to train Russian troops, and iirc allowed Russia flights to leave their bases, but that's not too different from weapon shipments being allowed through Poland, or France training Ukrainian soldiers. Belarus has not become an active combatant and has limited the use of their territory, and Russia has been reluctant to use Belarus directly, i.e. a second push on Kiev, because if Belarus becomes an active belligerent in the conflict, that means the door is now open for another country to come in on the side of Ukraine and invade Belarus.

So if Ukraine is now able to deep strike into Russia, Putin will need to be seen as doing something and may get open support in the form of troops from the *stans. That means its now open for other countries to openly send troops to Ukraine... And that's how World Wars get started. And as the front line would be their homes, this is why Ukraine has been pushing for arms but not ground troops.

As @Fanatical Pragmatist points out the red lines for both sides have been shown to be more pink, but NATO had been reluctant to allow that one to get pushed, since giving Ukraine long-ranged weapons is a double edged sword.
Either you give them to Ukraine and hope you don't regret arming the brave fighters of the Yookajideen later, or you lease them in which case your are more responsible to every strike because you green lit each launch.

For some stuff yeah, maybe, but for stuff like ATACMS its definitely not the case.
Russians already have Iskandr, which even if you don't believe Russian propaganda hype is arguably a much more advanced and capable system (albeit due to different doctrinal requirements).

And advanced is less important than having the thing, being able to pull it apart and work on novel countermeasures.

Additionally, there is the issue is that someone else gets an Iskandr derivative, Russia's fingerprints are all over the deal. If Russia sells them a captured ATACM on the d/l, its easier for Russia to disavow their hand in it happening.

 

[RodgerDodger]

And now for something completely different, one my favorite types of news: reporting on battlefield competitions. Team Hilux decides to up their technical game in the ongoing race with the Rocket Raptor & Gradzilla.

View attachment 4286444

The red blooded American Male in me really really wants one of those SUV's. It would make Atlanta traffic much more tolerable.

 

[Corette]

The red blooded American Male in me really really wants one of those SUV's. It would make Atlanta traffic much more tolerable.

Before or after rocket pod strike?

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Scholz ready to deliver battle tanks – on one condition

Most recently, however, the pressure from the partners in the traffic light coalition had increased. The Chancellor is now open to supplying "Leopard 2" battle tanks to Ukraine. Under one condition.

According to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is apparently ready to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, but on one condition. In a telephone call with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, Scholz made it clear that Germany could only give in to the pressure to deliver if the US in turn delivered Abrams-type main battle tanks.

Scholz has always emphasized that Germany will not go it alone when it comes to providing military support to Ukraine. Biden apparently did not commit himself to the conversation. The USA apparently demands that the Chancellery not only allow other countries to supply Leopard 2 main battle tanks, but also deliver some itself if it is involved in such a main battle tank delivery. This Friday, a meeting of the Ukraine contact group will take place in Ramstein at the invitation of the USA. The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) will take part on behalf of Germany. It is not yet clear whether there will be an agreement. Most recently, the pressure on Germany from other EU countries had increased significantly, since the Leopard tanks were German-made and Berlin therefore had to give its approval for each delivery.

Defense politicians in the SPD also expect an early agreement on the issue. It is seen with concern that Russia could be planning new offensives. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Scholz kept a low profile in public. Germany is already supplying Ukraine "in coordination with our partners on a continuous basis in large quantities - including anti-aircraft systems such as Iris-T or Patriot, artillery pieces and armored personnel carriers." This is part of a far-reaching turning point in German foreign and security policy. For the war to end, "Russia's aggression must fail," said Chancellor Scholz. Above all, the G-7 countries would support Ukraine "financially, economically, humanitarianly and militarily" for as long as it was necessary.

Scholz offenbar zu Lieferung von Leopard-2-Panzern an Ukraine bereit …

archived 18 Jan 2023 19:32:09 UTC

archive.md

 

[No. 7 cat]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/us/politics/ukraine-israel-weapons.html

Archive is being fucky right now but the US has started to pull war reserve stocks from Israel then handing it to Ukraine and our greatest ally is worried it will upset their Russian buddies.

The (un)funny about Jew hating Putinboos is that Israel has a huge constituency of Russian ziggers. Apart from intermittent sperging over ROCOR churches in Jerusalem and West Bank (churches in Israel itself were transferred to the NKVD Patriarchate in gratitude for what the USSR did for Jews, altho uncle Joe didn't reciprocate the love), plus claims Putin is a crypto-Jew, Israel and Russia get on like a house on fire, if that isn't a tasteless metaphor nowadays.

Interview with a two time conscript and now POW, which is probably a luckless man whose luck has turned a little

Denys Davydov on Bakhmut. He tries his best to be accurate, even if his military analysis can be a bit limited:

Artur Rehi interviews the Estonian FM on the Ukraine situation. At least he doesn't advertise for those Chinese 'laird of Scotland' scammers anymore.

Mr Davydov is an airline pilot so his view on a rescue helicopter from Canada being used for a trip ten miles from Kyiv, reminiscent of Pres Zelenskyi using a state helicopter for a friends birthday birthday, plus this craft flying low in fog in a civilian area, is of interest. He patently sees a degree of vanity contributing to the tragedy.


Davydov telegram posts on Brovary crash

 

[SilentDuck]

Scholz ready to deliver battle tanks – on one condition

Most recently, however, the pressure from the partners in the traffic light coalition had increased. The Chancellor is now open to supplying "Leopard 2" battle tanks to Ukraine. Under one condition.

According to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is apparently ready to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, but on one condition. In a telephone call with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, Scholz made it clear that Germany could only give in to the pressure to deliver if the US in turn delivered Abrams-type main battle tanks.

Scholz has always emphasized that Germany will not go it alone when it comes to providing military support to Ukraine. Biden apparently did not commit himself to the conversation. The USA apparently demands that the Chancellery not only allow other countries to supply Leopard 2 main battle tanks, but also deliver some itself if it is involved in such a main battle tank delivery. This Friday, a meeting of the Ukraine contact group will take place in Ramstein at the invitation of the USA. The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) will take part on behalf of Germany. It is not yet clear whether there will be an agreement. Most recently, the pressure on Germany from other EU countries had increased significantly, since the Leopard tanks were German-made and Berlin therefore had to give its approval for each delivery.

Defense politicians in the SPD also expect an early agreement on the issue. It is seen with concern that Russia could be planning new offensives. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Scholz kept a low profile in public. Germany is already supplying Ukraine "in coordination with our partners on a continuous basis in large quantities - including anti-aircraft systems such as Iris-T or Patriot, artillery pieces and armored personnel carriers." This is part of a far-reaching turning point in German foreign and security policy. For the war to end, "Russia's aggression must fail," said Chancellor Scholz. Above all, the G-7 countries would support Ukraine "financially, economically, humanitarianly and militarily" for as long as it was necessary.

Scholz offenbar zu Lieferung von Leopard-2-Panzern an Ukraine bereit …

archived 18 Jan 2023 19:32:09 UTC

archive.md

The WEF supervillain club plans to finalize discussions on this in Davos pretty well in real time.

Justin Trudeau and the liberal party wants to give away all of Canada's tanks to Zelensky (even training tanks) ~82+ which are Leopard2. Canada is under contract not to export them without Germany's permission which Germany has not given.

Germany is waiting for UK to deliver the Challengers so they are not the first. Making the Leopards conditional on America giving away the iconic Abrams at least gives a 50/50 chance that German tanks will not become the face of a surfire Ukranian offensive. The one that Zelensky totally promises not to do if he gets hundreds of free tanks.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Putin says has ‘no doubt’ Russia will win in Ukraine​

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he had “no doubt” Moscow would emerge victorious in Ukraine, despite military setbacks in the nearly year-long offensive.


Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February last year, and in September announced a military mobilisation to prop up Moscow’s forces in the pro-Western country.


Despite a number of military defeats, victory was “guaranteed, I have no doubt about it,” Putin told workers at a factory in Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg.


“The unity and solidarity of the Russian people, the courage and heroism of our fighters and, of course, the work of the military-industrial sector” will secure victory, he added.


Putin also praised the Russian defence industry as he spoke at the plant, which is part of Russian missile manufacturer Almaz-Antey.


“We have something to rely upon and this cannot but inspire that victory will be ours,” he said.


Putin was visiting his native Saint Petersburg to mark the 80th anniversary of Soviet forces breaking the siege of Leningrad as the city was known at the time.


His comments came a week after he replaced Russia’s top commander in Ukraine, a move that followed a string of defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine last year.


There is some concern in Russia over how long Moscow’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine has gone on for, with the offensive’s anniversary approaching.


Putin once again defended his goals in Ukraine, where he initially sent troops to “de-Nazify” the pro-Western country.


“We are absolutely justified in saying that we are fighting neo-Nazism,” he said.

Putin says has 'no doubt' Russia will win in Ukraine - Insider Paper | Ghostarchive

ghostarchive.org

 

[Snekposter]

Didn't see this one.
These don't necessarily need to hang against modern MBTs. Russia is refurbing their stock of T-62s, and nearly anything post-WWII is going to have a gun that'll take out a BMP.

This new phase of the conflict is absolutely bonkers. You've got both sides hauling out museum pieces that should be getting their golden senior cards. If Tom Clancy had written a book about Ukraine and Russia entering a conflict over Ukraine joining NATO, and Russia's tank divisions getting so eaten up they had pull T-62s out of storage, and Ukraine was getting supplied by central europe with modified T-55s, everyone would have said he'd have lost his mind.

That's because prior to this everyone assumed the Russians would be competent enough to just steamroll the place with their initial assault. If you operate from a premise of "What if the initial invasion is botched and Ukraine is able to form some sort of defensive line", then everything you're talking about becomes far more plausible given the attrition-heavy nature of the Russian military.

Christ, most people would just call it in if they had to haul museum pieces out of storage to fight a rump state of their once-great empire because it clearly isn't worth it anymore... except the Russians aren't most people.

I figured the Germans are cucking out because they're still hung up on WW2 guilt and don't want to see German made tanks kill poor Russians. They still put this pathetic show every year:

View attachment 4289233
"Russia, thank you so much for raping our grandparents and stealing Konigsberg!"

Na, the Leopard 2 did pretty badly when the Turks sent it into Syria. On the one hand, yes its Turks, but on the other hand it was left a twisted wreck with total crew casualties after hits that would have had an Abrams need to be towed away with at least some of the crew not needing to be rinsed out with a hose.

Tbh I'm going with accident. Those things do happen, and I'd be more likely to believe it was an assassination if it was shot down, Operation Vengeance-style (context: the US Air Force sent fighters to intercept and shoot down a plane carrying a Jap Admiral). And a purge wouldn't have needed a helicopter to get wrecked, after all, there are plenty of windows on upper floors.

Plane crashes were by far the number one killer of US generals during WW2.

Before or after rocket pod strike?

Since he's talking about the Atlanta commute I'd rather have a Bradley since that thing is immune to small arms fire.

https://twitter.com/faytuks/status/1615819287343816708?s=46&t=a7mBlT6g5TUoXgP-g4lbGg

German newspaper BILD reports that there is a "high chance" Leopards will be sent to Ukraine "The pressure from the USA is increasing," a foreign politician says "insiders believe a 'yes' from the federal government is becoming increasingly likely"

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/18/major-military-package-ukraine-russia-00078331

U.S. prepping major military package for Ukraine​

More Strykers! Pity to any Ukrainians expected to take them near the front lines but they'd do great work as armored ambulances and cargo haulers.

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1615716771620585472?s=46&t=XfG7X2VJKtEuxqEFB1o0eg

#Ukraine will soon receive a batch of Stinger man-portable air defense systems from #Latvia According to the country's Defense Minister, Ināra Mūrniece, in addition to these, helicopters, machine guns with ammunition and drones will also be sent.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Russia goes back to footwraps; after discontinuing their issue back in 2013, and switching to normal socks:

Portyanki, the squares of cloth (cotton for summer, flannel for winter) in which Russian soldiers have wrapped their feet since the days of Peter the Great, have lost their last and greatest battle – against socks.
...
In fact, the cloths – common everywhere before the industrial revolution – were eminently practical: far cheaper to make than socks, quicker and easier to wash, dry and mend, and (providing they were properly bound) fit for purpose. They allowed Russia's hard-pressed factories not to be distracted by making socks, and soldiers in the field to improvise replacements if need be.

They did, though, need to be worn correctly. Oleg Dimitriev, a Russia Today journalist who spent two years – or, as he puts it, "695 days" – in portyanki on military service, writes that they could be torture until you got the technique right.

"The most crucial aspect is that one can only wear portyanki that are wrapped tightly," Dimitriev says. "If the soldier doesn't follow the procedure exactly, he could hurt his feet and get painful blisters."

How hard could it be?

You also had to be able to put your portyanki on fast: Red Army regulations stipulated soldiers had to be fully dressed within 45 seconds. The rags, which inevitably got pretty rancid, were changed weekly, at the same time as the soldier's shower, and then boiled at 100C.
Partially abandoned in military reforms of 2007, portyanki have now definitively reached the end of the road. Defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered that "by the end of 2013 … we need to finally, fully reject this concept in our armed forces".

Those mobiks are fucked, especially if they're not bright enough to google "how to wear footwraps" with those smartphones (which they're not supposed to have).

 

[Snekposter]

Those mobiks are fucked, especially if they're not bright enough to google "how to wear footwraps" with those smartphones (which they're not supposed to have).

Poor bastards. I wouldn't wish blistered fleet and rancid footwraps on my worst enemy.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

In the immediate short term, yes. But it's pulling healthy young men out of their jobs in industry or finance or research or whatever, and sending them to die for a few centimeters of land. It's slowly gutting Russia's economic potential and thus ultimately its ability to wage war. And that's not to mention the longer term: a generation of potential fathers is being thrown away.

I’d argue that Russia never really recovered from WWII. Consider all the potential that was lost on the battlefields of WWII, the Winter War, and the following purges.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/us/politics/ukraine-israel-weapons.html

Archive is being fucky right now but the US has started to pull war reserve stocks from Israel then handing it to Ukraine and our greatest ally is worried it will upset their Russian buddies.

It’s interesting to see how complex the whole arrangement is with Iran sending drones to Russia.

 

[Snekposter]

I’d argue that Russia never really recovered from WWII. Consider all the potential that was lost on the battlefields of WWII, the Winter War, and the following purges.

That, and as much as I hate to repeat one of Darth Vader's talking points, no-limits abortion.



Only thing keeping the USSR afloat was the rural areas still having kids.

 

[Haramburger]

I'm starting to see some of the articles here(and A&N in general) showing up in the algorithm of Chrome when I open it up again on my tablet after a few hours; it recommends a bunch of bullshit like an MSN front page instead of just being on whatever you were last looking at. It got me wondering, what sources are you guys following in general to find articles to post, or where do you go looking to find content in general?

Also thanks for the tank question answered by several posters, I forgot which thread I posted that in. Very informative though

 

[Snekposter]

It got me wondering, what sources are you guys following in general to find articles to post, or where do you go looking to find content in general?

I'm part of a Discord server about this whole thing that's very slanted in favor of Ukraine but I do try to avoid posting from Ukrainian sources on stuff that isn't easily verified for obvious reasons.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

That, and as much as I hate to repeat one of Darth Vader's talking points, no-limits abortion.

Only thing keeping the USSR afloat was the rural areas still having kids.

And after the collapse as well, it looks like some recovery was being made five years later; even as the urban oblast denizens were yeeting their unborn useless eaters, and their elderly great Patriotic War elsers started dying off en masse.

Their losses in the Caucasus conflicts didn't make much of a dent, but now they've been almost exclusively sending their rural breeding stock into the meatgrinder; and all the rest who are young, childless, but have left the country. I seriously wonder what the graph is going to look like for the next five years.

I'm starting to see some of the articles here(and A&N in general) showing up in the algorithm of Chrome when I open it up again on my tablet after a few hours; it recommends a bunch of bullshit like an MSN front page instead of just being on whatever you were last looking at. It got me wondering, what sources are you guys following in general to find articles to post, or where do you go looking to find content in general?

For Ukraine news, if it's from the western US/UK media, the information is usually already old & reposted from local Ukrainan or Russian sources on Twitter, Telegram, VK, subreddits, etc. That's where the majority of my notifications come from.

A lot of breaking local battlefield news is posted to FRGs & FB groups for individual Ukrainian units, but most of them have gone private. When the war started I joined as many as I could before they locked down, hunting for fresh combat footage. Otherwise the starting point for everything else I search for or source is ISW, Bellingcat, mil.ua, Covert Shores, Oryx, ukrinform, etc.

 

[Blatant hypocrite]

I'm starting to see some of the articles here(and A&N in general) showing up in the algorithm of Chrome when I open it up again on my tablet after a few hours; it recommends a bunch of bullshit like an MSN front page instead of just being on whatever you were last looking at. It got me wondering, what sources are you guys following in general to find articles to post, or where do you go looking to find content in general?

Also thanks for the tank question answered by several posters, I forgot which thread I posted that in. Very informative though

Whenever I need to pay the article tax:
DuckDuckGo->"Ukraine News"->Results from Past Day

Then I scroll until I see an article that isn't about a tweet or some other bullshit. Then I google the article text to find out where it's actually from.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The International Atomic Energy Agency is placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of severe accidents as Russia’s war against the country rages on, agency head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday.

The IAEA, which is affiliated with the United Nations, already has a permanent presence at Ukraine’s — and Europe’s — largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia that is held by Russian forces.

The IAEA’s permanent presence at all of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, with at least 11 staff in total, marks an unprecedented expansion for the agency. IAEA technicians will also be at Chernobyl, the now-closed nuclear plant that was the site of a deadly nuclear accident in 1986 that spread fallout over much of Europe.

“From tomorrow, there will be two flags at all of the nuclear facilities in Ukraine; one of Ukraine and the second of the international nuclear agency,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a joint press conference with Grossi at the government headquarters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Grossi’s pledge of IAEA support to Ukraine comes as the country reels from a weekend Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern city of Dnipro which killed 45 civilians, and a helicopter crash Wednesday at a kindergarten in the Kyiv area killed the country’s interior minister and about a dozen others.

Grossi arrived in Ukraine this week to raise the IAEA flag and install staff at each nuclear facility, visiting Chernobyl on Wednesday and Rivne Tuesday. Staff will remain at the facility for “as long as they are requested” by the Ukrainian government, he said.

The IAEA flags flying in Ukraine are “not just symbolic” said Grossi. “They reflect and they will signify the presence of some of the best-renowned experts in safety and security who will provide advice, and technical support during this very difficult time to each facility facing different challenges and problems depending on the situation.”

Shmyhal also said he requested that the IAEA imposes sanctions on Russia’s Atomic Agency, deprives Moscow of rights and privileges within the IAEA and halts any form of nuclear cooperation with the country. Grossi said that decision would fall on member states to discuss.

The IAEA experts will deepen the technical expertise at each plant to prevent nuclear accidents as Russia’s war, now in its 11th month, continues, and to monitor nuclear safety and security systems. Grossi said the missions are being installed at the request of the Ukrainian government.

The Ukrainians made the plea because “quite simply there are attacks on (the facilities),” the prime minister said. “We want to avoid any nuclear accidents, therefore we turned to the IAEA for security and protection.”

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located on the frontline of ongoing battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Russian forces captured the facility in March, and it has repeatedly come under fire since. All six reactors there are now shut down, though the plant is still connected to the electricity grid for safety reasons.

Grossi is pressing to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone around Zaporizhzhia, where the IAEA has been present for more than four months.

“I remain determined to make the much-needed protection zone a reality as soon as possible. My consultations with Ukraine and Russia are making progress, albeit not as fast as they should,” Grossi said in an earlier statement on Tuesday. At the press conference he said the IAEA was still in consultation with the Ukrainian government about establishing the zone. “We are closer to a good outcome,” he said.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...nergy-agency-8116e0d65181b81c57cb5eca55353946
https://archive.ph/uqi7z

A lot of breaking local battlefield news is posted to FRGs & FB groups for individual Ukrainian units, but most of them have gone private. When the war started I joined as many as I could before they locked down, hunting for fresh combat footage. Otherwise the starting point for everything else I search for or source is ISW, Bellingcat, mil.ua, Covert Shores, Oryx, ukrinform, etc.

I can't really recommend ISW anymore. They seem to have abandoned neutrality in favour of "The Russians continue their useless attacks that cruelly endanger civilian lives in their illegal assault blah blah blah"

 

[DumbDude43]

SS High Command hoped would die somewhere on the front but for some fucking reason they kept surviving

they didn't really keep surviving tbh, they had absurdly high causalty rates, the soldiers in the unit were dying like flies
the only thing that kept the unit from disappearing completely was that they were constantly reinforced with fresh 'recruits' that were either prisoners taken from the camps or former soldiers who had been convicted of major crimes by the army. it was basically a death sentence, instead of shooting war criminals on the spot they put them into this unit and threw them at the enemy, to at least get a little bit of utility out of them before they die