"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (29 Viewers)

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I agree with The Admiral on that too. But it's probably the best channel for hearing how the names of Ukrainian places are really pronounced.
 
Personally, I smell obfuscation. Any significant delivery of MK20s equates to a hell of a lot of drone-drops. And that order AND the request for 155mm cluster munition shells being blended together looks a little like the creation of a potentially deliberate fig-leaf to me.
Some may end up as drone drops, but my guess is the majority are used for mass tree line clearing.


View: https://twitter.com/ukraine_map/status/1677746715300884480?s=61&t=bmtNxWabcsIKJ6TkHkd-SA
 
Ukraine has about 10,000 drone pilots currently with another 10,000 in various stages of training.

Considering that a single drone being deployed against Russian trenches can easily make about a dozen runs or so armed with grenades in a day, that is a substantial amount of grenades deployed by that one operator.

Now to be conservative, let's take 5,000 drones times 12 grenades - that's 60,000 grenades. So yes, Ukraine wants those bomblets because there are only so many hand grenades available.

Same goes for the hodge-podge of "bombs" that they've been using against armor. The Mk. 118 is perfect for what they need.
 
U.S. companies in Russia were the largest tax contributors to the Russian government among corporations based in any other country last year as Moscow's war in Ukraine progressed, according to a new report.

The report from B4Ukraine, a coalition of civil society groups working to cut off Russia's ability to continue the war, and the Kyiv School of Economics found American firms paid $712 million in taxes in Russia in 2022, having brought in the largest total revenue of any foreign country.

The report states that the companies that continue to be present in Russia and thus pay taxes are indirectly financing the war in Ukraine and the "severe breaches" of human rights and humanitarian law that have been happening in the conflict.

Global corporations, including those that left the country since the full-scale invasion began last February, made more than $213.9 billion in revenue through their local Russian businesses, including $14.1 billion in profits, and paid $3.5 billion in taxes in 2022. The tax projection is likely a significant underestimate of the total amount that has been paid, the report states.

German firms were the second-largest tax contributors to Russia, paying $402 million in taxes on profits last year.



Henry Ford is smiling. I would like our sanctions to include these American companies, and wonder why they don't. The sanctions should be at least what they pay in Russian taxes, if not more.
 
I'm going to sound a probably lone note of caution here - based on how my fears of the consequences largely having seen to have played out so far. Europe is a place of subtler divisions and ramifications than I feel some recognise. There are a lot more nuance involved than simple Hawks verses Doves regarding Ukraine.

First off, like it or not, Erdogan being pro NATO membership for Ukraine is potentially quietly un-done by the criticism of using cluster munitions by key NATO member states

"In response [to Biden's statement] , the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain all said they were opposed to the use of the weapons."....

" But on Saturday, some Western allies of the US refused to endorse its decision. When asked about his position on the US decision, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlighted that the UK was one of 123 countries that had signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production or use of the weapons and discourages their use."


"The prime minister of New Zealand - one of the countries that pushed for the convention's creation - went further than Mr Sunak, according to comments published by local media. Chris Hipkins said the weapons were "indiscriminate, they cause huge damage to innocent people, potentially, and they can have a long-lasting effect as well". The White House had been made aware of New Zealand's opposition to the use of cluster bombs in Ukraine, he said. Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles told reporters her country had a "firm commitment" that certain weapons and bombs could not be sent to Ukraine. "No to cluster bombs and yes to the legitimate defence of Ukraine, which we understand should not be carried out with cluster bombs," she said."

" The Canadian government said it was particularly concerned about the potential impact of the bombs - which sometimes lie undetonated for many years - on children. Canada also said it was against the use of the cluster bombs and remained fully compliant with the Convention on Cluster Munitions. "We take seriously our obligation under the convention to encourage its universal adoption," it said in a statement."

"Human rights groups have described cluster munitions as "abhorrent" and even a war crime."

" The immediate effect will be to knock away much of the moral ground Washington sits on in this war. Russia's numerous alleged war crimes are well-documented but this move is likely to draw accusations of US hypocrisy. Cluster munitions are a hideous, indiscriminate weapon that is banned in much of the world for good reason. This US move will inevitably place it somewhat at odds with its Western allies and any perceived split in that alliance is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin wants and needs."

What are cluster bombs and why is US sending them to Ukraine?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66144153

Its a move that has driven a wedge. Maybe a small one. But never the less, a potentially important one - one which of course the Russians will seize upon.

Obvious NATO hypocrisy on the issue is also important, given the way it will play (and be actively be played) across the rest of the either neutral or pro Russian nations. And if the Russians next 'accidentally' hit a civilian target, use WP in an urban area etc, any criticism is inevitably going to be stripped of much of its moral rectitude if its pointed out that the Ukrainians are using weapons banned by over 100 countries, and supplied by the US.

It also begs the question of escalation in that light. What weapons systems might the Russians, now under huge pressure, be tempted to use in their desperation, knowing that they can point to cluster munitions and NATOs previous position on them?

I'm a pessimist, and more than happy to be proven wrong on all of this. But equally, I take no schadenfreude for having been broadly right so far on this issue... :(
 
What a lot folk decrying the use of cluster seem to overlook is Ukraine will be using them against military targets. Military targets in trench works, not their own civilian population centers. Military positions virtually surrounded by landmines. Cluster munitions might, excuse my naiveté, do a bit of de-mining itself. With a far lower failure rate than Russian stuff, there could a net reduction of unexploded ordnance after cluster munitions are used.
I can't understand all this hand-wringing in western nations in light of the continued brutality by Russian troops in the occupied regions. It is confounding to me that with Ukraine's policy of protecting as much of its people as it can, people think the AFU will just blast away with it. I believe a good chunk of those weapons will be finding their way onto drones and dropped one at a time on a single specific target.
I agree with you, SplitRz. The Russian Lie Machine is very effective with so many useful idiots.
 
Ukraine has already used cluster munitions (as designed) against Russian forces. Some were domestic stock, some came from Turkey.

Nobody seemed to complain about those instances, but now that Ukraine is about to receive some from the U.S., it's become a problem.

Why?
 
Ukraine has already used cluster munitions (as designed) against Russian forces. Some were domestic stock, some came from Turkey.

Nobody seemed to complain about those instances, but now that Ukraine is about to receive some from the U.S., it's become a problem.

Why?
Ours work better?
It reminds me of the contraversy surrounding the use of the crossbow back in the Middle Ages.
 
What a lot folk decrying the use of cluster seem to overlook is Ukraine will be using them against military targets. Military targets in trench works, not their own civilian population centers. Military positions virtually surrounded by landmines. Cluster munitions might, excuse my naiveté, do a bit of de-mining itself. With a far lower failure rate than Russian stuff, there could a net reduction of unexploded ordnance after cluster munitions are used.
I can't understand all this hand-wringing in western nations in light of the continued brutality by Russian troops in the occupied regions. It is confounding to me that with Ukraine's policy of protecting as much of its people as it can, people think the AFU will just blast away with it. I believe a good chunk of those weapons will be finding their way onto drones and dropped one at a time on a single specific target.
I agree with you, SplitRz. The Russian Lie Machine is very effective with so many useful idiots.

The thing that really frustrates me about all this hand-wringing is the sheer quantity of unexploded ordinance that's already littering the towns and fields of Ukraine. Yes, cluster munitions can pose a higher risk to children...but the children who were in the fighting area will have to deal with all sorts of issues, while those who weren't evacuated will have even bigger mental if not physical scars.

Once this war is finally over, I'm sure the Ukrainian government will have to implement an extensive set of lessons, for all sectors of the population, on how to treat unexploded munitions. Rather like the farmers who still plough up the "iron harvest" on the Western Front (115 years after that war ended), I'm sure Ukraine will invest in armoured tractors to provide some measure of protection against any unexploded munitions that aren't recovered.

The detritus of this war will plague the Ukrainian landscape for decades. I'm not sure the presence of more cluster munitions does much, if anything, to change the nature of the plague.
 
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I noticed the following piece.

Erdogan angers Putin with 'betrayal' of Azov prisoner release

Turkey had promised Russia that these prisoners would stay in Turkey until the end of the war. Russia is furious with Turkey over what they see as a break in trust and commitment.

When you put this with the Turkish announcement that Ukraine deserve to be a part of Nato, you do wonder if Turkey are starting so smell the coffee and are working out the way the wind is blowing in this conflict, and want to be on good terms with the winning side.
 
I noticed the following piece.

Erdogan angers Putin with 'betrayal' of Azov prisoner release

Turkey had promised Russia that these prisoners would stay in Turkey until the end of the war. Russia is furious with Turkey over what they see as a break in trust and commitment.

When you put this with the Turkish announcement that Ukraine deserve to be a part of Nato, you do wonder if Turkey are starting so smell the coffee and are working out the way the wind is blowing in this conflict, and want to be on good terms with the winning side.

There might be some F-16 fever driving this too. They really, really want those upgrade kits.
 

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