Russia/Ukraine conflict

[Right_Said_Fred]

As I recall in March, Ukraine also lost 1 Patriot battery because it was so close to the front lines. An entire Patriot system is over $1 billion.

They lost two launchers in that attack. An entire system worth $1 billion consist of six to eight launchers, plus a radar station, an engagement control station, power generation and support vehicles. The radar station and control station are the most expensive elements.

 

[MC3OZ]

I wonder if the US is considering giving assistance to Africans fighting against Russia in Africa.

Some of the money to fund the war in Ukraine comes from Russian pillaging of resources like gold in African countries.

Russian military efforts are stretched, and this is perhaps an opportunity for some Africans to break free of the Russian yoke, and to have a chance to seek a better life.

Seems to me a modest about of arms supplies. strategically supplied to the right African partners, might achieve some positive outcomes.

 

[wdolson]

As I recall in March, Ukraine also lost 1 Patriot battery because it was so close to the front lines. An entire Patriot system is over $1 billion.

It wasn't a battery, it was just the launch system. Total loss was only about $100 mil max (if a full load of missiles was also taken out), probably less than that. Some of the cost of a Patriot system is also due to the volume of production. The F-35 cost per unit was brought down significantly by getting a lot of countries to buy in so it can be produced in larger volumes than just about any jet fighter in decades.

Due to the war, orders for Patriots have gone up dramatically which means the cost of a full battery is going to be coming down due to savings from volume production.

Don't really know what to make of this... Seriously Disappointing regardless.

...] "We have been urged by the other countries in the [fighter] coalition to wait with the Gripen system," [Swedish Defense Minister Pål] Jonson told TT in Brussels [TT is a Swedish news agency], adding: "This has to do with the fact that the focus is now on introducing the F-16 system." [...

Allies asked Sweden to pause plans on Gripens for Ukraine to focus on F-16s, minister says

"We have been urged by the other countries in the coalition to wait with the Gripen system," Defense Minister Pal Jonson told TT in Brussels, adding: "This has to do with the fact that the focus is now on introducing the F-16 system."

kyivindependent.com

The delays in the F-16 arriving may be in part due to the trouble the Ukrainian AF is having converting to the new fighter. Getting up to speed with the F-16 requires preparing air fields, training ground crews, training pilots in both flying the plane as well as new tactics, and a number of other things. Adding a second western aircraft to the mix makes the problem even worse. I think the idea is to allow the Ukrainians to chew the food already in their mouth before taking another bite.

 

[navguy12]

The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told the Economist that alliance members should let Ukraine strike deep into Russia with western weapons. But the White House on Tuesday ruled out such a possibility for US-supplied weapons. “There’s no change to our policy at this point. We don’t encourage or enable the use of US-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia,” said John Kirby, national security council spokesperson.

Vladimir Putin warned of “serious consequences” if Russia is struck with western weapons – repeating a pattern of routine but vague and unfulfilled threats towards Ukraine’s allies. The Kremlin also gloated over persisting differences in the west – “we see that there is no consensus on this issue”, regime spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Russian daily Izvestia.

Ukraine war briefing: Macron, Scholz agree Kyiv should use allies’ weapons against launchers in Russia

Nato secretary general says alliance members should allow deep strikes, which White House says it doesn’t ‘encourage or enable’. What we know on day 826

www.theguardian.com

 

[madodel]

They lost two launchers in that attack. An entire system worth $1 billion consist of six to eight launchers, plus a radar station, an engagement control station, power generation and support vehicles. The radar station and control station are the most expensive elements.

Thanks for the clarification. To perform the sniping of Russian bombers in Russian territory requires them to place the entire system at risk of destruction. That was my point in regard to the posts implying Ukraine should be allowed to continue to do this. And $100 or $200 million losses add up quickly, and make even more resistance to continued support of Ukraine.

 

[navguy12]

“A year ago I had a kind of apathy, depression,” said the show’s co-curator Chyhrynets. “I felt that we don’t need art. One of the themes in Dasha’s work is guilt. There is guilt hanging about art in general. It is a privilege to be an artist.” But, after working on Chechushkova’s exhibition, “I realised I had to do to the maximum of my ability what I am good at until I am mobilised, and for as long as I am alive,” he said. “That is what our future plans look like: to do as much as we can in the time that we have.”

‘We have a mission’: the Odesa artists refusing to abandon their studios

Small group of creatives are choosing to stay working in Ukrainian city despite continuous threat from war

www.theguardian.com

 

[navguy12]

“I am proud of Daniil,” Maksim said. “He always said he wanted to fight Nazis and fascists there,” he added, repeating some of the false narratives popularised at home by the Kremlin to try to justify its war on Ukraine.

‘He couldn’t wait to join’: thousands of Russian youth die in Ukraine war

War has given impetus to Moscow’s campaign to mould a new generation eager to enlist in military

www.theguardian.com

 

[iPlug]

The list grows:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1795864388760441082

 

[indysurfer]

And the Biden administration continues to inexplicably micro-manage Ukraine's ability to defend themselves using US weapons.

This level of equivocation only serves to prolong the war and suffering.

 

[Crutonius]

This is par for the course for Biden. He moves in the right direction just frustratingly slow at times.

 

[iPlug]

Not sure where Sushko gets Russia preparing to send 200-300k more troops, but Putin looking more scared here in this short video clip as he realizes he gets further and further away from his original winning goals:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1795872784628986215

 

[DanCar]

And the Biden administration continues to inexplicably micro-manage Ukraine's ability to defend themselves using US weapons.

This level of equivocation only serves to prolong the war and suffering.

Biden was on 60 minutes early in the war saying he was afraid of WW3. Horrible thing to say. Prefer someone with a stronger backbone, or at least hide fear.

 

[navguy12]

 

[iPlug]

U.S. continues to ramp up 155 mm artillery shell production. Hopefully other western countries are on a similar trajectory.

A plant still under construction in Mesquite, Texas, will soon turn out 30,000 artillery shells each month, roughly doubling current U.S. output…​

​

…To keep Ukraine’s artillery crews supplied, the Pentagon set a production target last year of 100,000 shells per month by the end of 2025. Factories in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., together make about 36,000 shells per month. The new General Dynamics facility in Mesquite, Texas, will make 30,000 each month once it reaches its full capacity.​

The 100,000-per-month goal represents a nearly tenfold increase in production from a few years ago.​

​

An Ohio-based defense firm called IMT is expected to make up the difference…​

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/...-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

 

[madodel]

Video of the first official non-combat flight of F-16s flown by Ukrainian pilots escorting President Zelensky in Belgium.

 

[iPlug]

Video of the first official non-combat flight of F-16s flown by Ukrainian pilots escorting President Zelensky in Belgium.

Waiting to see if confirmed by reputable sources. This posted about a day or two ago but so far doesn’t look like confirmation. Can’t be far away either way.

 

[madodel]

Putler is raising taxes to pay for his endless non-war.

Russian taxes rise to fund war effort

 

[navguy12]

From today’s Guardian

The attacks, European officials fear, add to an already proliferating disinformation campaign. On Wednesday, several schools around Athens were evacuated after a bomb hoax. Police traced the stunt to a Russian server and said it was aimed at “disrupting public order”.

Europe on high alert after suspected Moscow-linked arson and sabotage

Security services say spate of fires and infrastructure attacks could be part of attempt by Russia to destabilise continent

www.theguardian.com

• Nato foreign ministers will on Friday debate how to put military aid for Ukraine on a longer-term footing. The proposals are due to be agreed at a Nato summit in Washington in July. The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has proposed that Nato take on coordination of international military aid for Ukraine under the US-led Ukraine defence contact group, also called the Ramstein group. Stoltenberg has proposed allies make a big multi-year financial pledge of military aid – officials have floated the sum of €100bn (US$108.13bn) over the next five years, although Stoltenberg has not publicly mentioned a figure.

Ukraine war briefing: Sweden donates vital ASC 890 surveillance planes

Blinken says US weapon arrivals helping stabilise the front; death toll among Russia’s youngest soldiers revealed. What we know on day 827

www.theguardian.com

Perhaps another angle that Russia uses to pry apart longterm, united European political support for Ukraine:

With the polls predicting a rise in support for hardline conservative, Eurosceptic and pro-Russia parties, the Guardian and other 26 media partners, led by the investigations group Follow the Money, are publishing Transparency Gap, the most extensive analysis yet of political financing in the EU.

Quarter of political donations in EU go to extremist and populist parties, data reveals

Figures from 200 parties in 25 countries suggest hardline groups have had rise in donations in recent years, increasing war chests before European parliament elections

www.theguardian.com

 

[DanCar]

According to CNN report the steel version of the abrams tank isn't performing well in Ukraine. Cheap drones have any easy time knocking them out.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/29/europe/ukraine-war-us-tanks-intl/index.html

 

[navguy12]

Link for above:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1796078359501287687