"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again."

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re Chechens fighters in Ukraine

Ramzan Kadyrov is currently the nominal Head of the Chechen Republic, and is a friend/associate of Putin. Fairly early on in the war in Ukraine he sent 4x battalion size units and some SOF units to the Ukraine to fight on the side of the Russians. It has been reported that at least some of the Chechen SOF were deployed in order to assassinate Zelenskyy. All of the original units have been pretty much used up, with casualties variously reported as anywhere upto 70%, with at least 2x of the battalions withdrawn back to Chechen Republic and 1x battalion who's whereabouts/continued existence is unknown.

Kadyrov recently (early September) sent his "personal" bodyguard/battalion to Ukraine. These are the Chechens I mentioned in my post# 10,492

""All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again.""

and #10,559

""All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again.""

We will have to see if they do better or worse than the previous units.


OTOH, there have been 2x Chechen 'battalions' fighting on the side of the Ukraine since early on, the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion and the Sheikh Mansur Battalion. I do not have any details on how well they have done, but they have earned the respect of the Ukraine AF. See:

"Chechen and Tatar Muslims take up arms to fight for Ukraine | DW | 24.03.2022"

and

""
 
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Some discussions between Washington and Ottawa on Canada producing ammunition.

As Ukraine war rages on, U.S. examines whether Canadian firms can replenish ammunition stockpiles

The U.S. wants to gather information on firms to determine which might be able to help build 12,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition a month.
ottawacitizen.com

It's only fair that Canada produce rather than just procure its military stocks where possible. That said, I didn't know that Canada had any capability whatsoever to produce ammunition beyond rifle caliber. So, here we go, a list of Canada's artillery projectile firms...

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada

PROJECTILES | IMT Defence

imtdefence.com
 
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Dimlee said:
Nothing is better than a combat report presented with a German(Austrian) accent. It cool down my nerves. I'll play it again instead of a soothing music at night.
Click to expand...
I was thrilled to hear of the success with the Kharkiv offensive but troubled with progress in the Kherson area. The Austrian commentator stated that the "Russians effectively counter attacked and inflicted high losses in key areas" The counterattack in the Kherson area appears stalled although information is scanty. This analyst below describes Ukrainian progress in the Kherson counteroffensive as slow, steady and moving forward, which I find encouraging.

 
Mike Williams said:
I was thrilled to hear of the success with the Kharkiv offensive but troubled with progress in the Kherson area.
Click to expand...
The slower progress is a result of Ukraine and the West announcing that Kherson was Sept's planned UAF offensive. It worked, Russia sent much of its army to Kherson, allowing the UAF to liberate Kharkiv. But the UAF must now shift the same large Russian force that they encouraged to move to Kherson. The 10-15,000 newly trained arrivals from Britain will help.
 
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A mass burial site was found in the recaptured Ukrainian city of Izyum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Thursday.

Zelensky told the Ukrainian people that more "clear, verified" information about the site should be available on Friday, but the necessary "procedural actions" have begun. He said Ukrainian and international journalists will be in Izyum on Friday.

"We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to. Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum … Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for that," Zelensky said, referencing other cities in Ukraine that have come under intense Russian attacks that have killed many Ukrainians.


Sad to say, this is entirely unsurprising.

Regarding the latest aid package:


"Yesterday, President Biden approved the latest tranche of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. It's valued at up to $675 million," Austin told reporters following a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

A list later released by the Pentagon detailed the contents of the package, which includes four 105mm Howitzers and 36,000 accompanying artillery rounds, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), additional High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARM), 100 Humvees, 50 armored ambulances, anti-tank systems, small arms and more.


 
Thumpalumpacus said:
A mass burial site was found in the recaptured Ukrainian city of Izyum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Thursday.
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And yet still NATO won't release Abrams or Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Spain has a warehouse full of Leopard 2 tanks that they would send if the Germans would support the move with spare parts. Canada would likely send its Leopard 2 tanks as well, if nudged by the USA and supported by Germany with spares. If you're used to T-72s, a modern MBT does take some learning, but this isn't akin to an Su-25 driver moving to an F-16. If the UAF can figure out HIMARS, they can sort out a Leopard 2 PDQ.

What the heck are the Germans waiting for? If they want to keep their own Leopard 2 tanks, fine, but don't block the Spanish and others from sending theirs. What's Germany up to?


Germany promised Ukraine weapons but hasn't delivered. Now, anger toward Berlin is rising

Germany's reticence has prompted critics to look for ulterior motives for its reluctance — with some citing World War II.
www.cnbc.com
 
GrauGeist said:
Spain's 2A4s are in poor shape and in need of extensive repair. Even if Germany allowed Spain to send them, it would take some effort and time to get them into battle ready condition.
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It's a shame Spain didn't already start to refurb these tanks, if only due to rising threats to NATO for their own needs. Were Spain's Leopards stored outside, under a tarp? What's their true condition? Assuming the Spanish (with NATO help) started today, how long does it take to refurb forty Leopard 2s?

Heck, ship all forty to Quebec to refurb at Rheinmetall Canada's dedicated Leopard 2 maintenance facility (shown below) and give Ukraine forty of Canada's operational Leopard 2s in exchange.





Or just start repairing Spain's donated Leopard 2s now so that they can be transported to Poland in time for Ukraine's spring 2023 offensive. Just do something with these tanks FFS.
 
Poland is receiving 116 US M1A1 Abrams, with deliveries starting last July.

This is to replace the 200 or so T-72s they sent to Ukraine.

The numbers are a bit hazy, but it appears that Ukraine has more tanks than the Russians at the moment - between their initial force, donated AFVs and captured units, they are doing well in that respect.

What they need, is to establish air superiority and exploit that aspect.
 
Admiral Beez said:
And yet still NATO won't release Abrams or Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Click to expand...

I know I'm being pedantic but NATO doesn't have any Abrams or Leopard 2 tanks. The only forces NATO owns are the fleet of AWACS and, IIRC, a few Global Hawks. All other forces are owned and operated by NATO member nations.

It's a subtle distinction but it needs to be made because it's down to the member nations to decide how they manage their own defence assets. NATO (the Organization) can't mandate anything regarding provision of military aid to Ukraine.

I'll now go back to my other hobby....databasing instances of apostrophe misuse on the internet. It's a job for life!
 

My understanding is that the Spanish Leopards are in such disrepair that they're essentially useless.

As for why Germany is dragging its heels on most arms shipments, I asked that question on another forum I attend in their Ukraine thread. One of our German members there was pretty caustic in his dismissal of Scholz as lacking the spine or gumption to take more action.

However, it should be noted that I've read reports that one reason the Russian air force did so little to stop Ukraine's recent offensive was the worry about the 16 Gepards which the Ukrainians deployed to provide point defense for its offensive columns. If true, that would represent a significant contribution in operational terms if not sheer numbers.
 
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