Thread: Russia launches Ukraine invasion

From Bakhmut to the White House. Already en route.


Biden and Zelensky planning to meet in Washington for Ukrainian president's first foreign trip since war began

Biden and Zelensky planning to meet in Washington for Ukrainian president's first foreign trip since war began | CNN Politics

I trust he didn't forget his begging bowl.

Originally Posted by sabang

I trust he didn't forget his begging bowl.

You of course would prefer he just rolled over so your precious Putin's military didn't have to take such a hiding.

Originally Posted by sabang

I trust he didn't forget his begging bowl.

That's his job and he is damn good at it. Analogous to Churchill meeting with FDR and we all know how that ended for the Yermans.

Originally Posted by sabang

I trust he didn't forget his begging bowl.

At least he is not sucking up to Kim Jong-un like your pathetic bald little god. What a joke Russia has become in front of the entire world. You grovelling apologists are looking more and more stupid every day.

Originally Posted by sabang

I trust he didn't forget his begging bowl.

What a fatuous comment.

Originally Posted by sabang

I trust he didn't forget his begging bowl.

Stupid comment as usual.

Anyway did you know that that the Ukrainian President has already traveled to the combat zone several times – in contrast to Putler, who has not been at the front once.

What does that tell you?

According to Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov, Russian companies are interested in cooperation with Iran in the field of gas turbine technology. The companies could also imagine joint production.

I don't think this news needs any comments

Some more good news

Russia rocked by monster explosion as devastating fireball erupts from gas pipeline

A powerful explosion has hit a gas pipeline in Russia releasing a massive fireball.

Russia rocked by monster explosion as devastating fireball erupts from gas pipeline | World | News | Express.co.uk

Russia hit by third huge explosion in days witth gas pipeline ablaze | Metro News

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Stupid comment as usual.

Anyway did you know that that the Ukrainian President has already traveled to the combat zone several times – in contrast to Putler, who has not been at the front once.

What does that tell you?

He did do a photo shoot in front of his crappy bridge.

Vladimir Putin stays in Moscow as Volodymr Zelensky meets his soldiers on the frontline

Even the most avid Kremlin supporters had a hard time hiding their disappointment with the Russian leader’s lack of touch

By
Nataliya Vasilyeva,

RUSSIA CORRESPONDENT, IN ISTANBUL
20 December 2022 • 9:58pm


President Zelensky went to Bakhmut to give awards to his soldiers fighting on the frontline
A few days ago Vladimir Putin gathered his generals together in a ‘war room’ in an undisclosed location.

It was the perfect photo op; Russia state media praised Mr Putin for “working all day” with his military leaders at the headquarters.

A couple of weeks earlier Mr Putin had dared cross the Kerch Bridge connecting mainland Russia to Ukraine - the closest he has come to the country since he launched his invasion.

But efforts to seize the narrative and burnish his strongman credentials were somewhat overshadowed on Tuesday in Bakhmut.

In a show of genuine bravery and leadership, Volodymr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, paid a visit to soldiers in what is perhaps the most dangerous place across the frontline.

As Mr Zelensky was seen shaking hands of Ukrainian soldiers who had apparently only just left the trenches, Mr Putin was handing out awards to Russian-appointed heads of annexed Ukraine from the safety of Moscow.

Russian state TV is likely to ignore Mr Zelensky’s frontline tour, fearing an awkward comparison but even the most avid Kremlin supporters who follow international media had a hard time hiding their disappointment with the Russian leader’s lack of touch with the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine.

“Zelensky went to Bakhmut to give awards to his soldiers fighting on the frontlines against us while Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) is honouring his heroes right at the Kremlin: Just look at those honest, brave faces!” Igor Girkin, a former Russian-backed leader in Ukraine, jokingly said of the Kremlin award ceremony.

Aside from yesterday’s optics, Bakhmut is turning into a major headache for Mr Putin and the Kremlin.

Fighting around this Ukrainian town has been going on for months.

For days, Russia’s defence ministry spokesman has been speaking of “successful advances” in Bakhmut but the frontline hardly budged, making it impossible for the Kremlin to boast of any tangible gains to the Russian public.

The battle around the town has been described as a senseless vortex of violence, sucking in resources from both sides to fight over a town with no clear strategic significance.

One of the men leading the charge from Russia is said to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the increasingly powerful Wagner mercenary group.

Mr Prigozhin, a former petty criminal known as Putin’s chef for his time catering in the Kremlin, is said to be growing in influence, which is likely to concern Mr Putin and his grip on power.

Increasingly critical of Russian tactics
Meanwhile, some proponents of the Russian war are becoming increasingly critical of the Russian tactics around Bakhmut that claimed hundreds if not thousands of lives.

Mr Girkin is one of the most vocal, and emerging as another challenge to Mr Putin’s authority.

The man who famously led the first group of Russian nationals to capture a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region in 2014 and went on to briefly lead the separatist forces there, in a recent video called the strategy in Bakhmut “idiotic”.

Mr Putin, despite launching Europe’s most devastating war since 1945, has proven unwilling to change his ways and, if anything, has grown even more distant, not only from ordinary Russians but even from his own officials, who still have to take numerous Covid tests and quarantine before they can get close to him.

The closest the Russian president has come to visiting Ukraine was the fleeting trip to drive along a section of the damaged Kerch bridge earlier this month.

Meanwhile Mr Zelensky continues to grow in stature.

Once Ukraine’s most beloved comedian, in the past ten months he has evolved into a war leader who takes every opportunity to share tragic moments with his people - be it the residents of the liberated city of Kherson or soldiers on the front line in Bakhmut.


Vladimir Putin stays in Moscow as Volodymr Zelensky meets his soldiers on the frontline

Originally Posted by Mendip

Meanwhile Mr Zelensky continues to grow in stature.

While the Russian piece of shit is shrinking

It seems somewhere along the line in this News thread, you forgot the News. #2423-

Congress Includes $45 Billion in New Ukraine Aid to $1.7 Trillion Funding Bill

The new Ukraine aid is more than the $37.7 billion President Biden requested

Originally Posted by sabang

It seems somewhere along the line in this News thread, you forgot the News. #2423-

Antiwar.com is not NEWS, it is PROPAGANDA. Shameful that that post was not tossed in the doghouse where it belongs.

WASHINGTON ― With Congress on track to hit $100 billion in aid this year to help Ukraine repel Russia, the Pentagon’s law enforcement agency is watching for signs of fraud and abuse in the contracts being awarded.

The Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Ukraine focus is on the Pentagon’s many speedy contracting actions and on the potential black market diversion of U.S. aid, said James Ives, principal deputy director for DCIS, which falls under the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General. No contracting fraud has become public so far.

“The risk is very real by virtue of the fact that we’re dealing with such an incredible volume of items, many that have warfighting capabilities, and we’re doing it very quickly,” Ives said in an interview. “Any time where you see accelerated efforts of this nature, there’s potential for all sorts of activities that should be of concern.”

The Pentagon said this month it’s so far inked Ukraine-related contracts worth $9 billion, with more coming. Of that, $2.7 billion falls under the $9.3 billion Congress approved for the Pentagon to buy new defense items for Ukraine, and another $3.4 billion is part the $6.7 billion the Pentagon committed to replace materiel sent to Ukraine from its stocks.

The Defense Department, according to a recent fact sheet, “is working closely with industry to produce these systems ... as quickly as possible,” using undefinitized contract actions, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts, and “other tools that accelerate acquisition timelines.”

In an effort to head off criminal exploitation in activities related to Ukraine assistance, Ives in September led a team of DCIS investigators on a trip to Poland, a hub for the transfer of foreign military equipment and supplies to the Ukrainian government. The visit was meant to spread the word that fraud, abuse and diversions should be reported.

“A good deal of our efforts right now [are] making sure we’re out and about, letting folks know that when these facts come to the government’s attention, investigative agencies need to get involved,” Ives said. “It’s an effort to remind folks that although we understand there’s a need to engage in this accelerated procurement that’s going on, there’s a need to bake oversight into the process.”

Potential reports could come from the Pentagon workforce, which Ives called the inspector general’s “eyes and ears on the ground,” as well as senior leaders. Meanwhile, he said, investigators received “assurances” from the Ukrainian government that its officials take potential weapons diversion seriously and, along with the U.S. State Department and military officials, will report any instances to the watchdog agency.

“They fully understand that accountability is expected,” Ives said of Ukrainian officials. “They obviously have a vested interest in ensuring they have the correct processes in place ... and they’re certainly aware that any issues need to be brought to the [U.S.] government’s attention.”

Ives said DCIS coordinates with the State Department and other U.S. law enforcement agencies, and it also maintains “a really strong network of international partners within the law enforcement community.”

While the Defense and State departments said they haven’t found credible evidence of diversion of U.S.-provided weapons, both say they are taking steps to safeguard those weapons.

Small teams with the defense attache office within the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine have conducted inspections, which include keeping records of aid before it’s handed over and then tracking it from border logistics hubs to the front line, a senior defense official told reporters in October. The Defense Department is also training Ukrainians to provide data from areas where U.S. teams cannot go.

NBC reported the Defense Department is working to pick up the pace of weapons checks before January, when there will be more pressure from the incoming House Republican majority about how U.S. weapons are distributed and used. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in line to become House speaker, has said Republicans will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine.

Asked about the political dynamics, Ives told Defense News that DCIS is “apolitical.”

“The bottom line is where there is money, there’s potentially fraud. So given the extensive amount of taxpayer dollars that are going towards this, we are naturally going to prioritize oversight,” he said.

When it comes to potential diversions, Ives said the inspector general’s office is particularly concerned about “weapons systems that are portable but pack a punch,” like man-portable air-defense systems, which “tend to be in demand regardless of the actor.” Any sort of U.S. technology will be “a constant target given that our nation deploys the most advanced weapons systems,” he added.

While the Ukraine situation is unique, the inspector general’s office plans to apply lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan — where the Pentagon was doing much of its own contracting — when it comes to the potential for fraud and abuse at any stage of contracting.

“High-value, accelerated contracting can lead to significant fraud, waste and abuse, and oversight is absolutely paramount when it comes to these types of situations,” he said. “We certainly saw in Afghanistan and Iraq that some of the most significant fraud schemes we’ve ever seen came in the early stages of those engagements, where oversight wasn’t a prime consideration. That lesson, I believe, has been learned.”


About Joe Gould
Joe Gould is the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He served previously as Congress reporter.

https://www.armytimes.com/pentagon/2022/12/21/deluge-of-money-for-ukraine-puts-pentagons-top-cops-on-high-alert/

Originally Posted by Mendip

In a show of genuine bravery and leadership, Volodymr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, paid a visit to soldiers in what is perhaps the most dangerous place across the frontline.

Hmm

Smells like a typical propaganda piece.

There would be no reason to put him in any danger

Originally Posted by Mendip

As Mr Zelensky was seen shaking hands of Ukrainian soldiers who had apparently only just left the trenches,

Oh

Way behind the front then ?

Ofcourse

Originally Posted by helge

Oh

Way behind the front then ?

Ofcourse

It was close enough to hear artillery in the background during the visit. And much closer than Putin has ever come.

Live press conference...

Originally Posted by sabang

Vladimir Putin has pledged to give his army anything it asks for in a meeting with Russia’s top military officials as the war in Ukraine enters its 11th month.

No surprise. As long as he has the political power and the means he will continue. There is no indication he will anytime soon lose power so as I have said before this war is far from over.

He's backed himself into a corner like Xi did with zero COVID. The only way I can see him sustaining any kind of support is to turn this into a Russia v NATO/West narrative.

When Russia called up 300,000 reservists to fill out the army’s ranks for the ongoing Ukraine war, the bureaucratic chaos and public angst that erupted as men were dragged from their civilian lives into unexpected military service got a lot of media coverage.

But there is a parallel, economic mobilization that is still going on, to rapidly reallocate resources and labor from the civilian sector to war production. And it remains largely shrouded in secrecy and controversy.

Russia may have more men to throw into a coming winter offensive, but the thousands of fresh Russian troops now headed for the front will need the full gamut of provisions, from heavy weapons and ammunition to cold-weather gear, body armor, daily meals, and medical supplies. The Ukrainian military is being funded and supplied by a nearly united effort of powerful Western economies.

Hence, the most critical question of the moment in Russia, yet one of the most difficult to answer, is whether the country’s industry will be able to deliver matching support for its forces in the field. The results so far are murky, as most information is classified. But experts who are willing to talk about it insist that the Russian economy will prove far more capable of delivering the needed materiel than its detractors claim. That said, sanctions and three decades of peacetime economics have left severe bottlenecks and import dependencies that the economy will struggle to overcome.

“The past 10 months has shown that the Russian economy can adapt [to the near-total sanctions regime] faster than even we expected, but in some specific areas it will be hard to replace Western imports,” says Ivan Timofeev, an expert with the Russian International Affairs Council, which is affiliated with the Foreign Ministry. “We should not underestimate Russia’s capacities.”

“We’re going to have a different economy”

No one ever doubted the ability of the former USSR to field huge mechanized armies, or the capacity of its military-industrial complex to churn out masses of weaponry, from ballistic missiles, tanks, and fighter planes to assault rifles, helmets, boots, and field hospitals. But after the superpower’s collapse, its war machine disintegrated. Many of the most advanced military industries, ironically, ended up in the territory of the newly minted Ukrainian state, including those in the areas of missiles, tanks, aviation, shipbuilding, and helicopters.

Post-Soviet Russia also made the political decision to build a Western-style consumer economy, and until recently, even Russian President Vladimir Putin was warning about the dangers of repeating the disastrous experience of waging an arms race with the West. After a brief war with Georgia in 2008 revealed the serious shortcomings of Russia’s Soviet-legacy armed forces, the Kremlin ordered sweeping military reforms including reduction of conscription, an increase of professional forces known as kontraktniki, and reequipping all services with modern weaponry.

After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, amid growing discord with the West, Russia began working to sanctions-proof its defense sector.

Dr. Timofeev argues that much of the public discussion in Western media about the impact of sanctions assumes that once a blow is struck against the Russian economy, the damage will be incapacitating and irreparable. Less thought is given to the possibility of blowback, and the abilities of the targeted country to find alternatives and workarounds, or even generate its own substitutes for the lost capacities. Though Dr. Timofeev would not comment directly on military industry, he did say that the principles that allow Russia’s civilian industry to adapt to new conditions should apply equally to Russia’s military production sector.

“Russia is a dynamic society; it learns and adapts and rearranges its priorities,” he says. “Russia’s economy is in the throes of profound change, and it might take some time for it to reach its new level. Import substitution, especially things like advanced technologies, microchips, etc., will be difficult. We’re going to have a different economy. In some areas it may be less modernized, but it will be sustainable.”

“I was a member of the public council in 2014, and that was the time authorities started a large-scale program for import substitution,” says Iosif Diskin, an economics professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. “The aim was to close windows of vulnerabilities, to create our own technologies, microchips, electronics, etc., to lead to the independent development of our armed forces.”

Dr. Diskin says the effort has been at least partially successful. The impact of sanctions has been far less acute than widely predicted: Russia’s economy is facing only a shallow recession next year, and industrial production actually hit a six-year high last month. Much of that is probably due to state orders for military goods.

“Many military factories are currently working around-the-clock with three shifts. That has not happened since the end of World War II,” he says. “State orders are a boon. Maybe some sectors, like insurance, banking, and tourism, have suffered. But the total volume of industrial production is increasing.”

A boom in defense spending

National security spending has increased massively this year, after actually declining somewhat in recent years. President Putin has appointed a high-level council to oversee the country’s first wartime economic mobilization since World War II. But he has also promised to avoid Soviet-style state controls, such as nationalization and subordination to central planning.

Officially, defense spending is set to grow by 50% next year, though it’s impossible to know the actual amount, or any details about its disbursement. “Defense spending is a military secret.

These are closed budget items, the disclosure of which is a criminal offense,” says Dr. Diskin. “If someone tells you a figure, it will either be a fiction or a direct path to prison.”

Some civilian businesses, such as textiles, food catering, and makers of drones, backpacks, and body armor, report a big uptick in production, which is presumably fueled by state orders.

Public sources indicate that deliveries of even the most sophisticated military hardware continue, and analysts privately scoff at any suggestion that the Kalashnikov Works in Kaluga can’t produce enough assault rifles, or the UralVagonZavod in Nizhni Tagil enough tanks, for the Russian army’s needs. Despite media predictions for months that Russia would likely “run out of ammunition,” there seems no letup of Russian artillery barrages in the Donbas, and a recent examination of the remains of Russian cruise missiles that have been raining down on Ukrainian infrastructure targets found that some of them have been made quite recently.

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Euro...to-supply-them

LIVE: Ukrainian President Zelensky ADDRESSES U.S. Congress in HISTORIC Speech

Putin threatens to strengthen nuclear triad, pledges 'unlimited' funds for Russian army

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged in a speech to his defense chiefs that the state will invest "unlimited" funds in its military.


He also emphasized Russia's commitment to maintaining and developing its nuclear triad, calling it the "main guarantee of preserving our sovereignty and territorial integrity." A nuclear triad is a military force structure that consists of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines, and aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles.


Putin vowed to ensure that Russia's nuclear forces are combat-ready, adding that Russia's hypersonic Sarmat missile, nicknamed "Satan II" and capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the U.S., will be ready for deployment in the near future.


Putin gave the speech on Dec. 21 as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky headed off to Washington for talks with U.S. President Joe Biden and speaking in Congress.


Zelensky's trip to Washington, the first foreign visit since the start of the full-scale invasion in February, comes as the U.S. prepares to send a Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine — the most advanced air defense weapon in its arsenal that Kyiv has been long pleading for, the White House reported.


The U.S. will provide Ukraine with a Patriot battery, which includes up to eight launchers with 4-16 missiles each, depending on the type of munition used. The system is expected to be part of a new $2 billion military aid package that the U.S. plans to unveil on Dec. 21, the report said.


The same day, Russia's Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, traveled to China for an unannounced meeting with President Xi Jinping to discuss the "no limits" strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, as well as Russia's war in Ukraine.

Putin threatens to strengthen nuclear triad, pledges 'unlimited' funds for Russian army