Poll: Are you in favor or against U.S. doing more in Ukraine?

[AquaY]

That reminded me of the US invading Grenada in 1983 with the excuse of protecting American citizens over there but actually, the real reasons were: The US was panicky and did not want Grenada to be influenced by its neighbor Cuba and also the far-away Soviet Union.

My doctor was in the medical school there at the time and was a hostage of the Cubans.
Until the Marines got to the school.
Besides the US, there were 6 other nations there. All Caribbean Nations.
In Grenada today, October 25th is a Holiday. It is called Thanksgiving to commemorate the US " invasion" ( They see it differently than you do evidently)
Saint George University built a monument to honor the Americans that died liberating them and they conduct a memorial ceremony every year.

 

[RSpanner]

A bit more than rhetoric> New: The U.S. just sent another $100 million in weapons to Ukraine, including “additional Javelin anti-armor systems, which the United States has been providing to Ukraine and they have been using so effectively to defend their country,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement Tuesday evening. Altogether, the U.S. has sent Kyiv about $2.4 billion in arms and equipment since Biden took office, and “more than $1.7 billion since the beginning of Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked invasion on February 24,” Kirby said.

Today's D Brief: $100M in new US weapons to Ukraine; Atrocities continue to mount; New hypersonic success; New ICBM gets an (old) name; And a bit more.

www.defenseone.com

 

[MontyFloyd]

One of the biggest suppliers of arms, ammo, support, and logistics to Ukraine is actually the Czech Republic.

First days

Czech Republic sending more weapons and military equipment to Ukraine

Czech Republic sending more weapons and military equipment to Ukraine

english.radio.cz

Czech and Slovaks still have very close family ties since days of being one country, so...

Czech soldiers to lead NATO support for Slovakia – DW – 03/14/2022

The Czech Republic is sending 650 soldiers to help Slovakia protect its border with Ukraine. The troops will be heading a fresh NATO contingent in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

www.dw.com

First 650 troops sent

Czech government approves sending up to 650 soldiers to Slovakia

The Czech government approved on Wednesday the dispatch of up to 650 soldiers to neighbouring Slovakia to bolster NATO's eastern flank, the Defence Ministry said.

www.reuters.com

Additional 250

Czechs Send 250 Soldiers To Slovakia To Set Up NATO Battlegroup

A total of 250 Czech army paratroopers on Monday left for Slovakia, which neighbours war-ravaged Ukraine, to build a NATO battlegroup there, the defence ministry said.

www.barrons.com

And to surprise of everyone, is first to send gifted tanks and APC (granted they are older model T-72 tanks and BVP-1 APC)

Czech Republic becomes first Nato country to send tanks to Ukraine

Reported shipment comes weeks after Kyiv’s first request for tanks and planes

www.independent.co.uk

The Czech Army has 86 T-72M1 tanks, of Soviet origin, and 30 T-72M4CZ, a version of the same model modernized in the Czech Republic. Of the 86 Czech T-72M1s, only 20 were active, the rest remaining in storage to date. The Ukrainian Army already had T-72 main battle tanks, so they do not have to train their crews to handle a new model when they receive the Czech tanks.

In turn, the Czech Army has 145 BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, a version of the famous Soviet BMP-1 model manufactured in the former Czechoslovakia. All Czech Army BVP-1s were in storage, serving as reserve vehicles. As with the T-72, the Ukrainian Army is also very familiar with the BMP-1, as it had more than a thousand of these vehicles before the Russian invasion.

As of this post, they are likely at the Ukrainian border.

 

[Terminator857]

Another map of countries that support Ukraine vs Russia. Taken from:

United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Quote: The resolution was sponsored by 96 countries, and passed with 141 voting in favour, 5 against, and 35 abstentions.

 

[Terminator857]

Since the start of the war the EU has given Russia $35 billion and given Ukraine $1 billion.
bbc news
Quote: The European Union has spent €35bn (£29bn) on Russian fuel since the start of the war, compared to an outlay of just €1bn to Ukraine in arms and weapons, the EU's foreign policy chief has said.

 

[STS-134]

Since the start of the war the EU has given Russia $35 billion and given Ukraine $1 billion.
bbc news
Quote: The European Union has spent €35bn (£29bn) on Russian fuel since the start of the war, compared to an outlay of just €1bn to Ukraine in arms and weapons, the EU's foreign policy chief has said.

That's not dollars, that's euros.

 

[MontyFloyd]

Since the start of the war the EU has given Russia $35 billion and given Ukraine $1 billion.
bbc news
Quote: The European Union has spent €35bn (£29bn) on Russian fuel since the start of the war, compared to an outlay of just €1bn to Ukraine in arms and weapons, the EU's foreign policy chief has said.

The interconnected economic world.
Putin counted on this, and its pretty much working for him in short term. He is very calculating in political actions (I think he completely underestimated Ukraine resistance and Russian military incompetence. I think Putin is infuriated that a comedian is able to resist so well)

Sooner everyone goes Renewable, the better.

 

[Tam]

My doctor was in the medical school there at the time and was a hostage of the Cubans..

The news report seems to say that Grenadian soldiers took over the medical school after the invasion started but the US medical students called them "Cubans" because there have been bad feelings between the US and Cubans even prior to the invasion:

Students evacuated from Grenada: Marines protected us - UPI Archives

CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 27, 1983 (UPI) - A group of American students evacuated from Grenada Thursday night said frightened Grenadian militiamen kicked down their door and held them prisoner for several hours after the U.S. invasion, and ''the Cubans were definitely out to get us.''

www.upi.com

 

[Tam]

There have calls for Tesla to quit using Russian natural gas in Berlin Gigafactory.

Pressure Mounts On Elon Musk To Stop Using Russian Gas At Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a vocal critic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, today it was revealed Musk is enriching the Russian government through the use of Russian for its gigafactory in Germany.

www.torquenews.com

That reminds me of the claim that Neveda Gigafactory was designed without a natural gas supply line

Tesla Gigafactory energy: no solar panels yet, but no natural gas at all

Tesla plans to make the gigafactory a net-zero facility.

www.greencarreports.com

but I haven’t heard how well that design has been doing. And if it's doing well without natural gas, why that design is not spreading to Shanghai, Berlin, and Texas?

It sounds like Tesla still has not solved the need to be gas-free for Gigafactory which may mean it is still at the mercy of Putin.

Tesla Giga Berlin production reportedly in jeopardy as Germany contemplates Russian gas embargo

Tesla’s now-operational production facility in Germany, known as Gigafactory Berlin, is facing a potential shutdown in production as the German government is reportedly contemplating an embargo on Russian gas in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Tesla recently gained approval to begin...

www.teslarati.com

 

[MontyFloyd]

That reminds me of the claim that Neveda Gigafactory was designed without a natural gas supply line

Nevada is only a Battery plant, likely does not have furnaces.


Question is, what is the gas used for in Berlin?
HVAC? Plenty of alternates.
Production? May be much harder.

Meanwhile, need to find replacement energy.
PV installed on roof yet?
Wind turbine nearby? (might have space to install a few wind turbines on site)

 

[Terminator857]

...
It sounds like Tesla still has not solved the need to be gas-free for Gigafactory which may mean it is still at the mercy of Putin.

Tesla Giga Berlin production reportedly in jeopardy as Germany contemplates Russian gas embargo

Tesla’s now-operational production facility in Germany, known as Gigafactory Berlin, is facing a potential shutdown in production as the German government is reportedly contemplating an embargo on Russian gas in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Tesla recently gained approval to begin...

www.teslarati.com

Wow, talk about being in a pickle. Germany needs electric cars, but cars can't be built without gas.

 

[Tam]

Despite the Russian invasion, Ukraine is still protecting Russia's gas pipe running through it:

Ukrainians Risk Their Lives to Keep Russian Gas Flowing to Europe

Europe imported more natural gas from Russia in the first 10 days of the war than before the invasion. Keeping it flowing is a crew of intrepid Ukrainians.

www.wsj.com

(Paywall)

Despite calls for boycotting Russian Gas, there's been more than a 50% surge in Russian Gas running through Ukraine after the invasion:

War Is Raging, But Russia Is Still Paying Ukraine for Gas Flows

(Bloomberg) -- It’s been a month since the war started, but Russia is actually shipping more natural gas through Ukraine and Moscow is still paying Kyiv in full for transiting the fuel to Europe.Most Read from BloombergChina Jet’s Nosedive From 29,000 Feet Baffles Crash SpecialistsWhere Mornings...

www.yahoo.com

Despite talks of punishing Russia, both Europe and Ukraine are still refusing from stopping the addiction to Russia's gas pipeline.

 

[MontyFloyd]

Add to Czech, their brothers in Slovakia just delivered a very long range and potent S-300 Anti-Aircraft SAM system.
This was the only system they had (good enough to cover entire Slovakia), now have Patriots SAM for a replacement.

Slovakia has just delivered its lone S-300 Anti-Aircraft System to Ukraine - The Aviation Geek Club

Slovakia has just delivered its lone S-300 Anti-Aircraft System to Ukraine

theaviationgeekclub.com

This could be image of system crossing boarder to Ukraine.

Info on S-300

S-300 missile system - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Terminator857]

Heart warming at the 40 second mark:

2. https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/tzz4nl

 

[Terminator857]

A passionate plea for help:

 

[Terminator857]

I like the article title: Russia’s failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages

Russia's failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages

Kyiv was a Russian defeat for the ages. It started poorly for the invaders and went downhill from there.

apnews.com

 

[Terminator857]

Ukrainian Parliament Member Lesia Vasylenko said more aid is needed in the country. The sooner that Russian aggression stops, "the sooner the whole world can go back to normal,"

 

[Dyehard]

Ukraine is almost as corrupt as Russia. I say screw thenm both.

 

[Terminator857]

Good situation update, by Petraeus.

 

[Terminator857]

If you are a pink floyd fan