"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (7 Viewers)

[Admiral Beez]

View: https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1616127790314668037

If there was ever a time for Russia to redirect its land attack missiles from civilian energy and housing to the railways and bridges on the Ukraine-Poland border, now is it.

My first thought, admittedly juvenile: "Bring it, bitch."

I wonder if any of the Russian nukes even work. Not that I want the world to test that line of inquiry.

 

[SaparotRob]

That is something that puzzled me from the very beginning. I remember having lunch with some coworkers on May 1 and of course we where talking about the brand new war. At some point I made a comment about how incompetent Russian AF was, in the sense that they did no had Air superiority yet. I even remember adding something on the line of ... "Unfortunately its a matter of 1 or 2 months before they do, by sheer attrition, no matter how incompetent they are."

It seems I underestimated Ukrainians and overestimated Russia by several orders of magnitude.

Same.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I wonder if any of the Russian nukes even work. Not that I want the world to test that line of inquiry.

Agreed on both counts ... but caving to bullying has never ended bullying. What to do? I believe that this is more bluster from one who owes his career to Putin and therefore thinks he must say the right things. There's a "boy who cried wolf" vibe to these constant nuclear threats, especially considering that the Russians damned well know Ukraine and NATO aren't existential threats.

If NATO wanted to curbstomp Russia, 1993 would have been the perfect year. That we didn't bespeaks our intent. The only existential threat in this war is the existential threat to Putin's regime, and that he brought upon himself.

 

[Dimlee]

Quite a number of announcements today.
11 countries with new military aid packages.
All in one day...
Estonia will provide new assistance of 113 mln eur which include FH-70 howitzers and 155 mm ammunition, artillery support systems and anti-tank weapons.
Sweden commits to provide 50 CV90 AFVs and Archer SPGs.
UK: 600 pcs of Brimstone missiles, unspecified number of AFVs, including Bulldog and 3 batteries of AS-90 SPGs, 155 mm ammunition, UAVs, etc. This is on top of Challenger 2 MBTs announced earlier.
Denmark: 19 Caesar SPGs.
Poland: S-60 anti-aircraft guns with ammunition. Further shipments of Krab SPGs will continue.
Lithuania: L70 anti-aircraft guns with ammunition, two Mi-8 helicopters.
Latvia: Stingers, two M-17 helicopters, "dozens of" UAVs, spare parts for M109 artillery.
Czechia: another batch of equipment, details to be disclosed later.
Additionally, several countries announced further funding of the training programs.
And new US aid package of 2.6 bln USD is expected to be announced soon.

View: https://t.me/harris_and_the_whirlwind/149

News about Leopard 2 tomorrow?
Lithuania's defence minister, Arvydas Anušauskas, has said several countries will announce sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at Friday's meeting of defence ministers at the Ramstein airbase in Germany. The total number of armoured vehicles pledged at tomorrow's meeting would go into hundreds, Anušauskas told Reuters.

Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv to receive ‘hundreds’ of tanks from several nations, says Lithuania – as it happened

Lithuanian defence minister says formal announcement will be made on Friday

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dimlee]

Mar'inka. It was a home for 9,000 residents before the invasion.


View: https://youtu.be/V2HNFyme_cU

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Mar'inka. It was a home for 9,000 residents before the invasion.


View: https://youtu.be/V2HNFyme_cU

Very reminiscent of pictures of Belgian and French towns taken during WWI. Heartbreaking.

 

[SaparotRob]

Is it really reparations if we already have the Russians' $300 billion?

 

[buffnut453]

Very reminiscent of pictures of Belgian and French towns taken during WWI. Heartbreaking.

GoogleEarth still has satellite imagery showing what it looked like before it was obliterated. Absolutely awe-inspiring level of destruction. Comparison with WW1 are very apt. Truly heartbreaking.

 

[RogerdeLluria]

That is the way to proceed with Switzerland restrictions too.

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[buffnut453]

Meanwhile, Serbia is bent out of shape by Wagner trying to recruit its citizens:

Ukraine war: Serbia uproar over Wagner mercenaries recruiting for Russia

A Russian news video showing Serbians being trained to fight in Ukraine prompts fury in Belgrade.

www.bbc.com

 

[Admiral Beez]

Meanwhile, Serbia is bent out of shape by Wagner trying to recruit its citizens:

Ukraine war: Serbia uproar over Wagner mercenaries recruiting for Russia

A Russian news video showing Serbians being trained to fight in Ukraine prompts fury in Belgrade.

www.bbc.com

You're a nation of Russophiles and Putin apologists. Serbs you right.

 

[Admiral Beez]

poland-says-it-might-go-rogue-and-send-german-made-leopard-tanks-to-ukraine-without-berlins-approval

I don't believe Poland has it in them to go rogue. If they did Poland would have donated their MiG-29s in 2022 rather than pursue a ridiculous diplomatic smokescreen.

'Surprise move': U.S. stunned by Poland's fighter jet offer

“We do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,” Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said.

www.politico.com

 

[SaparotRob]

Things change. Who knew how inept Russia was? Things seemed a bit scarier then.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Is it really reparations if we already have the Russians' $300 billion?

I'd imagine that the butcher's bill from the last eleven months far exceeds that.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

That is the way to proceed with Switzerland restrictions too.

MSN

www.msn.com

And let Berlin agonize over the lost sales. If I buy a Windows computer, does that give Microsoft the power to determine how and where I use it? Fine, I'll go Apple, or Linux.

Germany and Switzerland should both think long and hard about this. Standing on principle is fine, no arguments from me, but they should understand that it does come with costs.

ETA: Can you tell this shilly-shallying about MBTs/ Gephard ammo/other support to Ukraine is irking me? If I sat in the Oval Office I'd be knocking heads together, yeah.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I don't believe Poland has it in them to go rogue. If they did Poland would have donated their MiG-29s in 2022 rather than pursue a ridiculous diplomatic smokescreen.

'Surprise move': U.S. stunned by Poland's fighter jet offer

“We do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,” Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said.

www.politico.com

Things change. Who knew how inept Russia was? Things seemed a bit scarier then.

I think Rob's reading of this is right. The Poles have less to fear in donations, and at the same time would not want to labor under German restrictions on how they use the hardware they've bought. They're getting Korean and American tanks anyway, and can afford to kiss German support goodbye.

The easiest solution is for the American government to send some Abrams and call Schulz's hand. We should force his hand. But bravo Poland all the same if they choose to go rogue in selling or donating Leo IIs. It's the right thing to do.

 

[SaparotRob]

I'd imagine that the butcher's bill from the last eleven months far exceeds that.

It's a start.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I do hope that the hundreds of Leopard 2s expecting to be shipped to Ukraine have already completed Any necessary overhauls and that the logistics of getting them to Ukraine have already been planned.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

It's a start.

Those assets are also something we can hold hostage. If they're held -- and thus lost -- by billionaire kleptocrats who are supporting Putin, giving those assets to Ukraine might, repeat might, undermine Putin's support from the billionaires supporting him at home.

 

[SaparotRob]

I have a feeling that the drop in oligarchs might be freeing up some cash for Putin.