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

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That's only beneficial, by in large, to people outside of Russia. In Russia, the ability to determine which way's up is probably very difficult owing to propaganda techniques used.

VPN usage in Russia is up significantly since the start of the war. That indicates to me that many Russians do not trust the government narrative and are therefore seeking outside sources of information.

Leaks usually happen faster than dams, especially when they're crowd-sourced.
 
The Saab Gripen has frequently been thrown out there as a possible fighter for Ukraine. This recent article suggests that production could be constrained. Does anybody have any informed speculation as to how many Gripens could realistically be exported to Ukraine within, say the next 6 months?

It doesn't look to me that the United States is going to be in any position to supply a large quantity of F-16s to Ukraine. There are only 329 F-16s total in storage at the boneyard at Davis-Monthan as of the time I looked this up. Of that number, only 137 are C or D models. While 137 seems like a lot, remember that the main reason for keeping these aircraft in storage is to have them available for spare parts, and these planes have been cannibalized for spares for decades at this point, and the need for spares is ongoing. A more likely source of F-16s would be units from US or other countries which have just swapped out their falcons for F-35, but I have no info on these.
 
If Ukraine is willing to launch drone attacks into Russia doesn't this support the concerns of some that if NATO provides long range missiles, such as the MGM-140 to Ukraine they'll fire those into Russia?

 
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From The Hill:

Ukrainian officials are signaling a potential retreat from the embattled town of Bakhmut, which would give Russia a symbolic victory and deliver Moscow its largest advance in months but wouldn't significantly change the dynamic of the wider war, experts told The Hill.

A top Ukrainian presidential adviser hinted at a potential withdrawal on Tuesday, telling CNN that Kyiv was weighing the costs and benefits of holding the city.

"So far they've held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back because we're not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing," said Alexander Rodnyansky.

That followed Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky saying in mid-February that the battle for Bakhmut was becoming increasingly difficult amid a new Russian offensive and that Ukraine wouldn't pay "any price" to hold the city in the eastern Donetsk region.



... and:


Two Americans were arrested Thursday in relation to an alleged scheme to supply Russia with aviation equipment in violation of U.S. export laws amid the war on Ukraine, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ alleged in a release that two men from Kansas — 59-year-old Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky and 55-year-old Douglas Robertson — have conspired to shirk U.S. export laws since 2020 as they sent Western avionics equipment to Russian companies and offered repair services for equipment used in Russian-built aircraft through their Kanrus Trading Company.

Buyanovsky and Robertson allegedly concealed and misstated where and to whom the equipment and services were being delivered, according to the DOJ.


 
In german media are reports of Germany/Rheinmetall asking Switzerland to buy back Leo2 tanks they are not using anymore. The Swiss have ~90 of them in storage but they are not decommissioned yet which is required to sell them. Let's see what comes out of that. The intention is claimed to rebuild/upgrade these to replace the Leo2s sent to Ukraine.
 
I think the worry is that if it's made in the USA there will be problems. If it's Ukrainian, have at it.
 
A joke or the XXI century mosquito?
Anyway I don't think a $1000-$5000 cardboard drone held together by ruberbands is cheap I expected something around $100-$500

Cheap Australian drones made of cardboard helping Ukrainian troops

Cheap Australian drones made of cardboard and rubber bands are helping Ukrainian troops fight off Russian invaders ....


paywall free: https://archive.ph/SvzUw

It looks like its real.

View: https://twitter.com/AmbVasyl/status/1631449005015326720
And to think that just yesterday I throw away a bunch of amazon boxes I had at home. I could be heading for world domination right now
 
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