Thread: Russia launches Ukraine invasion

Originally Posted by Iceman123

If you really feel so strongly about the situation why not volunteer with the international force?

The U.K. said Russia has deployed nearly its entire army in Ukraine, increasing pressure along the front line in the east of the country but falling short of a breakthrough.

Ukrainian officials have warned of a renewed Russian onslaught to coincide with the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion next week. But some Western officials say the offensive is unlikely to be one single event. Russian forces have redoubled attacks along the front lines in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, eking out gains after a series of reversals last year.

“We now estimate 97% of the whole Russian army is in Ukraine,” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the British Broadcasting Corp.’s “Today” show on Wednesday.

Russian forces were trying to advance on all fronts, he said, adding: “We haven’t actually seen this massing of a single force to punch through in a big offensive. We’ve just seen an effort to advance, and that has come at a huge cost to the Russian army.”

Ukraine is seeking to absorb the attacks, buying time to build up its own forces for an offensive to retake territories occupied by Russia. Western officials expect Ukraine to launch a counteroffensive in the spring.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said Russian forces were rushing to gain ground before Kyiv amassed sufficient combat power for its own offensive. “The Russians understand that the continuation of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and operations to liberate our territories are inevitable,” he said. “That’s why the enemy is in a hurry.”

Fighting has been particularly fierce in the eastern city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces are resisting Russian moves to encircle the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said grueling battles in the east were depleting Russia’s capacity to mount a broader offensive. In his nightly address, Mr. Zelensky said the situation in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk remains extremely difficult.

“We must understand the significance of these battles,” Mr. Zelensky said. “That is where the unprecedented destruction of Russian potential is taking place now.”

Mr. Wallace’s remarks came as the U.S. and other allies gathered for a second day of talks on boosting supplies to Kyiv. On Tuesday, Kyiv’s allies pledged more air-defense systems and training during talks of the Contact Group on Ukrainian Defense. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said discussions on Wednesday would focus on the provision of tanks.

An immediate priority, however, is munitions. Ukrainian troops have fired so many rounds at Russia’s invading forces over the past year that Kyiv’s allies are struggling to meet demand and have had to increase arms production.

Western countries are hoping to reduce Kyiv’s firing rate by improving Ukrainian tactics and coordination through training, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. “Russia continues to pour large numbers of additional people into the fight,” he told reporters at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday. “And those people are ill-trained and ill-equipped and because of that, we see them incurring a lot of casualties.”

Russian military-industrial output is also struggling to keep pace with the war, the U.K.’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry pointed to a televised meeting last month in which Russian President Vladimir Putin castigated the deputy prime minister responsible for the defense industry for “fooling around.”

“Production is almost certainly falling short of the Russian demands to resource the Ukraine campaign and restore its longer-term defense requirements,” the ministry said.

Mr. Putin urged the Emergency Situations Ministry to improve the country’s civil-defense system, in remarks broadcast on state television.

State news agencies, meanwhile, said Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, would hold a meeting on Feb. 22, a day after Mr. Putin is set to deliver a state of the nation address ahead of the first anniversary of the invasion.

On Feb. 21 last year, Mr. Putin recognized the independence of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, setting the stage for the invasion three days later.

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/rus...bshare_twitter

A prominent Ukrainian diplomat has said he is "pleased" with the progress of Ukraine's troops being trained abroad by NATO nations as the vanguard of Kyiv's planned spring offensive.

Kyiv's Ambassador to the U.K. Vadym Prystaiko told reporters at a Media Center Ukraine press conference on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops are adopting specialist skills of NATO and partnered nations to use against Russian troops in Kyiv's next push.

"The most efficient is the progress of the special forces who will conduct those counter-offense operations in Ukraine," Prystaiko said responding to a question about the status of Kyiv's units being trained in the U.K. "I'm pleased with what I've seen," the ambassador said of his visits to British military training sites.

"Britain invited instructors from different countries," Prystaiko added. "Canada, and such countries as New Zealand and Australia, Denmark, Holland, the Baltic countries—they all sent instructors to train our personnel."

"And every country transfers some very special knowledge. For example, the instructors from Finland, they teach our military how to do warfare in the snow, in winter conditions."

Some 10,000 Ukrainian troops have already cycled through U.K. training camps since last summer, with the British government announcing earlier this month that another 20,000—including sailors and pilots—would be trained this year. Infantry, tank crews, and artillery teams are all among those now undergoing training in the U.K., Prystaiko said.

The U.K. and its NATO allies are seeking to train Ukrainian soldiers to NATO standards to outfight their Russian adversaries. Since 2015, the U.S. has trained some 23,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

American trainers have also instructed around 3,100 Ukrainian troops in the use of advanced weapons like howitzers, multiple launch rocket systems, and armored vehicles since Russia's full-scale invasion began last year.

As more NATO weaponry is sent to Ukraine, more of Kyiv's soldiers will require Western training. This week, for example, the first Ukrainian tank crews began learning to use German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks on Polish training ranges. Kyiv hopes such platforms will be influential in its coming spring offensive.

New 155mm-caliber howitzers will soon arrive in Ukraine, Prystaiko said on Wednesday. Major engagements of the war to date have been shaped by intense artillery duels, with the Ukrainians often outgunned and both sides thirsty for more shells. "Ukraine needs a lot," the ambassador said, "and our personnel is being trained on them very intensely."

Little of the war has been fought at sea, such is the naval dominance enjoyed by Russia; however, this has not prevented Moscow from incurring several high-profile and humiliating losses, including the sinking of the Moskva Black Sea Fleet flagship.

Ukrainian forces have relied on asymmetric weapons, seeking to push Russian warships away from the coast using aerial and naval drones, ballistic missiles, and other long-range fires. Ukrainian sailors are currently being trained in Belgium in the use of underwater drones, while Prystaiko said Wednesday that Ukrainian sailors are also preparing to receive Australian military vessels.

The U.S. has already included vessels in its previous assistance packages for Ukraine. Last summer, the Pentagon said it would send more than 20 Metal Shark military boats, and in November announced the provision of 40 armored riverine boats.

Ukrainian leaders have so far failed to secure NATO-made fighter jets, but the British government last week announced it would begin training Ukrainian pilots on Western platforms.

Prystaiko told reporters on Wednesday that the U.K. "clearly is the leader in some processes, and they push other countries to undertake such decisions as to the provision of arms and weapons to Ukraine."

Kyiv has been aware of the need to train its military pilots for "years," Prystaiko said, adding: "This is why we already reached an understanding and we started training our pilots before the political decision is being made...Our British allies said they will prepare the Ukrainian pilots for both fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft."

Ukrainian leaders are still pushing for fighter jets, and Kyiv has submitted an official request to the Dutch government for the provision of U.S.-made F-16 aircraft.

The Dutch government is taking the request "very seriously," Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said this week.

"We have to debate this with our partners, also with the United States," she said. "It is something that will take time, and it is best done behind closed doors."

President Joe Biden threw cold water on proposed U.S. F-16 provision in January, though reports indicate discussions between the White House and Kyiv are continuing behind closed doors. British and French leaders have also suggested that the provision of Western-made fighter aircraft remains an open matter.

Ukrainian officials have consistently expressed confidence that fighter jets will eventually get the green light, insisting their provision is a question of Western political will more than a question of logistical or tactical suitability.

https://www.newsweek.com/how-nato-me...s-jets-1781669

I dunno what Sabang's issue is, he seems to want to be that asshole who wants to be opposite...whatever...

Christ, the high-heeled war criminal moans more than the fucking chinkies.

Russia on Friday accused the United States of inciting Ukraine to escalate the war by condoning attacks on Crimea, warning that Washington was now directly involved in the conflict because "crazy people" had dreams of defeating Russia.

Fighting people who are illegally occupying your territory is not "escalation".

what a ridiculous little prick Micron is, spent the early months of the invasion in denial chatting to his mate Putin, now he thinks his opinion matters ( see yellow) - desperate as usual to try to regain some credibility.

Munich Security Conference: First Leopard tanks to be deployed to Kyiv 'very soon' - Germany

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Germany will soon be able to deploy its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.


Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference just days before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, he called on allies to expect a long war.


France's Emmanuel Macron also said now was not the time for dialogue with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.


The event is an annual gathering of leaders, officials and diplomats; its focus this year is transatlantic.


US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are attending with a large congressional delegation, alongside almost 30 European heads of government.


At the conference, Mr Scholz said it was "wise to prepare for a long war" and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that Germany and its allies would not give up on Ukraine.


Ukrainian officials have said they are urgently in need of heavier weapons, and that sufficient battle tanks could help Kyiv's forces seize back territory from the Russians.


Germany - who in recent months came under growing pressure over its apparent hesitation to send weapons to Ukraine - agreed in January to allow German-made, heavy Leopard tanks to be sent Ukraine.


It also allowed other countries to send their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine - which was restricted until now under export regulations.


Mr Macron said the next few weeks would be decisive, adding allies needed to "intensify our support" for Ukraine to be able to launch a counter-offensive, so later the country could enter negotiations in a position of strength.


Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke to assembled leaders via video link, urged allies to speed up the supply of weapons, warning there was no alternative to victory over Moscow.


No Russian officials have been invited.


The agenda is broad - from China to climate change - but the conference will give Ukraine's allies a chance to assess Russia's invasion almost one year on.


There will be warm words of support for Kyiv. But there will also be questions about the extent and duration of Western resolve as economic pressures grow.

Munich Security Conference: First Leopard tanks to be deployed to Kyiv '''very soon''' - Germany - BBC News

2nd country in the EU, says all we need to know after the German dithering on Arms

Macron: I don’t believe for one second in Russian regime change

Emmanuel Macron told attendees of the Munich Security Conference that he doesn’t support a regime change in Russia because it would do little to stop Moscow from forging ahead with its quest to rebuild its former empire.


The French president said: “Let’s be clear, I don’t believe for one second in regime change, and when I hear a lot of people invocating for regime change I ask them, ‘For which change? Who’s next? Who is your leader?”


Speaking in English, Mr Macron went on to say that historically, regime changes in other countries have failed to resolve conflicts and were “a total failure.”


Mr Macon traced the present conflict back to the end of the Cold War, saying that Russia never fully accepted or “digested” the dismantling of its empire, while the European Union also made mistakes in its expansion.


In response to another reporter's question, Mr Macron also said he would support a new world order.


“We have to rebalance the global order and make it more inclusive.”

Macron: I don’t believe for one second in Russian regime change

Ukrainian troops holding Bakhmut line demand weapons as world powers meet


NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine/MUNICH (Reuters) -Ukrainian soldiers fighting to hold off a Russian push on the small eastern city of Bakhmut pleaded for more weapons from the outside world as senior Western leaders met in Munich on Friday to assess the year-long war shaking Europe.


"Give us more military equipment, more weapons, and we will deal with the Russian occupier, we will destroy them," said Dmytro, a serviceman standing in the snow near Bakhmut, echoing a plea by his president to the Munich conference.


Nearly one year into the invasion, President Vladimir Putin's troops are intensifying assaults in the east.


Ukraine is planning a spring counter-offensive, for which it wants more, heavier and longer-range weapons from its Western allies.


Europe's worst conflict since World War Two war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted millions from their homes, pummelled the global economy and made Putin a pariah in the West.


He says he is fighting for Russia's security against an aggressively expanding NATO alliance, but Kyiv and its allies cast the invasion as a colonial-style land grab in Ukraine, formerly part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union.


On the freezing battlefield, Ukrainian servicemen showed a visiting journalist the benefits of Australian-provided Bushmaster armoured vehicles in an area where Russian soldiers have become bogged down in months of fighting to take Bakhmut, which Russia's Wagner mercenary group is attacking.


The vehicles shield soldiers from bullets, enable evacuations of wounded and give cover for reconnaissance, Dmytro added. "There were cases when anti-tank mines were detonated, and the soldiers only received contusions. There were no serious injuries to the soldiers. It has worked very well."


The governor of Luhansk, one of two provinces in what is known as the Donbas which Russia partially controls and wants to take completely, said ground and air attacks were increasing.


"Today it is rather difficult on all directions," Serhiy Haidai told local TV. "There are constant attempts to break through our defence lines," he said of fighting near the city of Kreminna.


In its latest update, Russia said a barrage of missile strikes on Thursday around Ukraine had achieved their goals in hitting facilities providing fuel and ammunition to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's army.


Kyiv reported 36 missiles, of which 16 were shot down, and said its largest oil refinery, Kremenchuk, was struck.


'AMERICAN WARMONGERS'


Attending the three-day Munich Security Conference were a host of senior Western officials including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.


At last year's gathering, they had urged Putin not to invade and warned of dire consequences if he did. This year, they are grappling with the implications of that.


Zelenskiy, speaking by video link, called for allies at the meeting to speed up sending weapons and won immediate support from Scholz and Macron.


In another sign of international backing, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine, paving the way for talks on a full loan programme.


As well as the pressing problem of the war, the Cold War-style standoff with Russia has revived huge wider security issues for Europe: how much to rely on the United States, how much to spend on defence, how to build its own capacity.


Kyiv said only a full Russian exit was acceptable.


"Negotiations can begin when Russia withdraws its troops from the territory of Ukraine. Other options only give Russia time to regroup forces and resume hostilities at any moment," Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.


The Pentagon said on Friday that the first Ukrainian battalion with about 635 soldiers had completed a roughly five-week-long U.S. course of combined arms training on the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Germany. Additional battalion-level combined arms training was already underway, it said.


The United States has announced plans to give Ukraine more than 50 of the armoured vehicles, which have a powerful gun and have been used by the U.S. Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.


Moscow accuses the United States of inciting Ukraine to escalate the war and now being directly involved.


"The American warmongers ... supply weapons in huge quantities, provide intelligence and participate directly in the planning of combat operations," said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry.


Russia's current focus is on Bakhmut, a now largely shattered city in Donetsk province - adjacent to Luhansk - whose pre-war population of about 70,000 people have mainly fled.


The Ukrainian 80th Air Assault Brigade's press officer, Taras Dzioba, said the Russians had paid a heavy price after waves of assaults around the city.


"There are places where their bodies are just piled up. There is a trench ... They just don't evacuate their wounded or killed," Dzioba said near a howitzer battery outside a defensive bunker.


Capturing Bakhmut would give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities further west, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. But Ukraine and allies say it would be a pyrrhic victory given the time taken and losses sustained.


The White House said Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered more than 30,000 casualties so far during Russia's invasion, with about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action.

Ukrainian troops holding Bakhmut line demand weapons as world powers meet

Actually, there is a Youtube about of Wagner fighters demanding weapons (well, ammo really) too! Albeit politely. In a war of attrition, logistics are critical.

Originally Posted by sabang

Actually, there is a Youtube about of Wagner fighters demanding weapons (well, ammo really) too! Albeit politely. In a war of attrition, logistics are critical.

Logistics aren't the reason Wagner isn't getting ammo, Prighozins mouth is.

Senior US diplomat underwhelmed by Russia's new offensive in Ukraine: 'If this is it, it is very pathetic'


A senior US diplomat gave a scathing assessment of Russia's new offensive in Ukraine.

Victoria Nuland, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said at a briefing on Thursday that "Russia has declared that it is launching a new offensive. Well, if this is it, it is very pathetic."

She noted that the war is "grinding" in the east, at locations like the city of Bakhmut, where Russia is either inching forward or not gaining any territory at all.

NATO's chief said on Sunday that Russia had started its new offensive, adding to Ukrainian officials who said this month that it appeared be to underway.

But so far Russia has made only small advances, including tiny gains in its efforts to capture the city of Bakhmut.

The UK Ministry of Defense said this week that Russian troops had been ordered to "advance in most sectors, but that they have not massed sufficient offensive combat power on any one axis to achieve a decisive effect."

It's likely that Russia will increase its efforts, throwing more troops and weapons at Ukraine.

But Ukraine is also expected to launch its own counteroffensive, bolstered by new, advanced weapons from its Western allies.

Nuland, who said Ukraine is planning its own counteroffensive for later on, attributed Russia's poor performance to President Vladimir Putin underestimating Ukraine and how much the West would support it.

"Today, we see that Putin gravely underestimated both the resolve, capability, and bravery of the people of Ukraine to defend their country, their democracy, and their freedom," she said. "He also gravely underestimated the resolve of the free world to stand with Ukraine, our allies and partners, for as long as it takes."

Senior US Diplomat Calls Russia's New Offensive in Ukraine 'Pathetic'

Originally Posted by malmomike77

Macron: I don’t believe for one second in Russian regime change

Emmanuel Macron told attendees of the Munich Security Conference that he doesn’t support a regime change in Russia because it would do little to stop Moscow from forging ahead with its quest to rebuild its former empire.


The French president said: “Let’s be clear, I don’t believe for one second in regime change, and when I hear a lot of people invocating for regime change I ask them, ‘For which change? Who’s next? Who is your leader?”


Speaking in English, Mr Macron went on to say that historically, regime changes in other countries have failed to resolve conflicts and were “a total failure.”


Mr Macon traced the present conflict back to the end of the Cold War, saying that Russia never fully accepted or “digested” the dismantling of its empire, while the European Union also made mistakes in its expansion.


In response to another reporter's question, Mr Macron also said he would support a new world order.


“We have to rebalance the global order and make it more inclusive.”

Macron: I don’t believe for one second in Russian regime change

The biggest gas station in the world depends on a paid army (Wagner Group) because their military is unmotivated, clueless, badly trained and a brain dead. Now this is not only true for the Russian army but EVERY part of of its society including its politicians. What can be done? It simple! Get rid of Russian politicians and place another group in the Kremlin. For example the "Macron Group"
Sound absurd? Have a vote, you'll be surprised. One of the reasons why these dumb bastards are hanging on to Putler is not only of his idiotic propaganda but there is no alternative in Ruzzia...sadly.

So yes, Macron is right.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

Macron: I don’t believe for one second in Russian regime change

Yeah well, that's French for you isn't it.

Originally Posted by happynz

I dunno what Sabang's issue is, he seems to want to be that asshole who wants to be opposite...whatever...

Not unusual for old people who claim they had a very successful past and brag about it.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

“We have to rebalance the global order and make it more inclusive.”

from a bloke who's country is a member of a block who's sole purpose is to look after itself at the expense of those outside it - i genuinely wonder if he writes this stuff down and reads it back to himself

Originally Posted by sabang

With a(nother) war that could and should have been avoided

Correct, and the only way it would have been avoided was for your little shitlord to not invade. Something you swore up and down for months that he would not do. Really made a fool of yourself with that one.

Wagner Group releases graphic video of corpses in desperate plea for more ammunition

Yevgeny Prigozhin said he would risk arrest to get his Russian mercenary fighters more shells and bullets

The Wagner Group released a video of a stack of corpses on Friday to make a point about the shortage of ammunition it was facing, as its leader said he would risk arrest to get his fighters more shells and bullets.


The graphic clip, posted by a Telegram account linked to the Russian mercenary group, showed hundreds of dead bodies – allegedly of Wagner fighters – to show the human cost of the ammunition shortage.


“We’re losing our fighters every day: it would be half as much if the military officials were to supply us with weapons and ammunition on time,” an unidentified man in a hazmat suit said in the video.


“Let us wage this war. Let us defend our country.”


On Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s owner, on Friday echoed the same complaint, saying that he is “knocking on every door” to get his hands on ammunition.


Mismanagement of invasion criticised

Mr Prigozhin, who has openly lashed out at the Russian military for mismanaging the disastrous invasion of Ukraine, said he was recently able to secure some mortars and anti-tank rounds from unofficial sources, including a Chechen commander.


“As far as regular supplies go, I have knocked on the door of every office in Moscow I know and I will try to do that until the lads get all they need,” he said.


He added he would continue “even if they handcuff me at one of those offices and jail me for ‘discrediting the armed forces’,” in a reference to Russia’s notorious war censorship law that criminalises criticism of the invasion.


It came a day after a video appeal to the Russian defence ministry showing men in camouflage calling themselves Wagner’s artillery men was posted on Telegram.


“We’re sure that you have ammunition somewhere at the warehouses. We badly need it,” the unidentified men said. “We would greatly appreciate it if you could assist us and help deliver that ammunition.”


The tone of the video was far more respectful than a similar appeal last autumn in which alleged Wagner fighters were heard calling General Valery Gerasimov, head of the Russian general staff, a “f----t” for chronic delays in supplies to the front.


With the Russian army suffering embarrassing defeats in recent months, Wagner has emerged as the Kremlin’s best hope for battlefield gains - even if incremental, such as the capture of the salt-mining town of Soleder last month.


Mr Prigozhin has also claimed to have captured the village of Paraskoviivka just north of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that has been the scene of the longest-running battle of Moscow’s offensive.


“Despite the blockade of ammunition, despite heavy losses and bloody battles, the guys completely occupied the entire territory of Paraskoviivka,” he said.


Wagner’s successes have come with a heavy death toll. On Friday, the White House estimated that Wagner had suffered more than 30,000 casualties in Ukraine, with 90 per cent of its recruits killed since December being convicts.


Britain’s Ministry of Defence on Friday estimated that among Wagner’s recruits from prisons, which have been deployed in large numbers in recent months, there has been a casualty rate of around 50 per cent.


Igor Girkin, a former commander of separatist forces in Ukraine, on Friday voiced concern that Wagner’s ammunition shortage could compromise Russia’s ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine.


“Unless supplies for Wagner improve, we can safely forget about seizing Bakhmut any time soon or ever,” he said on his Telegram channel.


Mr Girkin also suggested that Ukrainian troops might respond with counter-offensives if reports about ammunition shortages are confirmed.

Wagner Group releases graphic video of corpses in desperate plea for more ammunition

Originally Posted by malmomike77

With the Russian army suffering embarrassing defeats in recent months, Wagner has emerged as the Kremlin’s best hope for battlefield gains

Wagner is running out of men. Almost all the prisoners recruited are dead, used as cannon fodder.

Originally Posted by sabang

With a(nother) war that could and should have been avoided!

Yes! The high-heeled war criminal should not have invaded.

That's what we've been telling you.

ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AP) — The first class of 635 Ukrainian fighters has finished a five-week advanced U.S. training course in Germany on sophisticated combat skills and armored vehicles that will be critical in the coming spring offensive against the Russians, the Pentagon said Friday.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said that additional training is already underway at the Grafenwoehr training area, and will involve about 1,600 more Ukrainian troops. The completion of the first class coincided with a visit to the base by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, giving him his first chance to see Ukrainian soldiers training there.

The first group of Ukrainian forces arrived at the base on Jan. 15 and was put through an intense course that prepared them to take Bradley fighting vehicles and M109 Paladins into battle. The Bradleys and Paladins are two of the many armored vehicles and tanks that the U.S. and allies have pledged to the Ukrainians to help them punch through entrenched Russian troop lines. The Paladin is a self-propelled howitzer that runs on tracks rather than wheels.

Ryder said another battalion of Ukrainian troops began training on the Bradley fighting vehicle two weeks ago, and a field artillery battalion started instruction on the Paladin. Those two units total about 710 troops. Another field artillery unit and a Stryker battalion will start training next week, involving about 890 troops. That will be the first Ukrainian battalion to get training on the Stryker, an armored personnel carrier.

Defense leaders have called the latest training program key to expanding Ukraine’s ability to launch a coordinated offensive, teaching its military to effectively move and coordinate its company- and battalion-size units in battle, using combined artillery, armor and ground forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continually pressed Western allies to hasten their military support. Speaking at a major international security conference in Munich on Friday, Zelenskyy said delays would play into Russia’s hand as the war approaches its first anniversary.

During a visit to the Grafenwoehr training base last month, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the new skills will better prepare Ukrainian troops to counter any surge in Russian attacks.

“This is not a run of the mill rotation,” he said when meeting with U.S. commanders there. “This is one of those moments in time where if you want to make a difference, this is it.”

The training, which is being done by the 7th Army Training Command, includes classroom instruction, field work and larger combat exercises.

1st class of Ukraine fighters finishes advanced US training | AP News

He's pointing out what many have known for nearly a year

Ukraine war ‘over’ unless EU boosts military support, says top diplomat


Foreign affairs chief tells Munich security conference provision of ammunition has to be solved quickly

The war with Ukraine will be over unless the EU finds a way in weeks to speed up the provision of ammunition to Ukraine, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, warned on the final day of the Munich security conference.


He said a special meeting of EU defence ministers slated for 8-9 March will provide a chance for countries to offer ammunition from their existing stocks, adding it is taking up to 10 months for European armies to order and receive a single bullet.


“We are in urgent war mode,” he said. “This shortage of ammunition has to be solved quickly; it is a matter of weeks.” He said if it was not the war would be over.


Borrell will also table plans at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday to use the existing €3.6bn (£3.2bn) European peace facility for the EU to procure ammunition jointly on the model of the procurement of vaccines during the Covid crisis, an idea first proposed by the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas.


Borrell said the Estonian idea would work in the medium term, but he believes the urgency of the shortages is such that it requires EU countries to draw on existing stocks. “We have to use what member states have,” he said.


“Much more has to be done and much quicker. There is still a lot to be done. We have to increase and accelerate our military support. It currently takes almost 10 months for the European army to buy a bullet for the calibre of 155mm, almost one year, and almost three years to buy an air-to-air missile. This is not in accordance with the war situation in which we live.”


Kallas, speaking at the same event, said Russia was in a wartime mode, producing ammunition across three shifts, adding there needed to be a similar war footing in Europe. She claimed defence industry executives had told her they had no orders from the EU.


Borrell said the absence of ammunition was because “we forgot about classical wars – we were only engaged with expeditionary forces and technological Blitzkrieg.”


He said some European countries, such as Poland, had doubled their defence budgets, while France was boosting its defence spending by 40%, from €39bn to €59bn.


He pointed out that defence remained a national state competence in the EU, but said if the EU increased defence spending with “everyone in its own corner, we will increase our duplications and not fill in our loopholes”.


He said the war in Ukraine may act as an awakening or incentive to break taboos by increasing defence interoperability across Europe but added that experience showed this would not change overnight, and bewailed a culture of delays that he said weakened the coordinating role of the European Defence Agency.


“We have taken too much time to make critical decisions such as providing battle tanks,” he said, “when everybody knows that in order to win a classical war, a classical war with manoeuvres of heavy arms, you need battle tanks. You will not win this war without this kind of arms.”


The most pivotal stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment


He said he was not seeking to militarise Europe, but was arguing for Europe to fulfil its responsibilities so it became a powerful and reliable partner to the US.


Pressed by Ukrainian MPs to set a date for their country’s membership of the EU, Borrell said it was not likely to happen anytime soon. But the Polish MEP Radosław Sikorski suggested reverting to a previous model of EU membership accession whereby Ukraine is granted political membership of the EU quickly, and then has to fulfil the necessary criteria on a step-by-step process, an accession process last used when Spain joined the then European Community in 1986.


Borrell also said the EU needed to do more to convince the global south that Russia was an imperialist power. Many countries in Latin America are anti-imperialist, he said, believing the west supported dictatorships in the past, and there is similar deep resentment in Africa. “People have memories, and people have feelings,” he added.


Russia played on those feelings by attacking the French president, Emmanuel Macron, over remarks suggesting he wanted to see Russia defeated, saying Moscow still remembered the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte and accusing the French president of duplicitous diplomacy with the Kremlin.


Macron told Le Journal du Dimanche France wanted Russia to be defeated in Ukraine but had never wanted to “crush” it.


“About ‘never’: France did not begin with Macron, and the remains of Napoleon, revered at the state level, rest in the centre of Paris. France – and Russia – should understand,” Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

Ukraine war ‘over’ unless EU boosts military support, says top diplomat | European Union | The Guardian

Russia appeared to step up its fight against Ukraine, with the Russian military reporting it had captured another village and the Ukrainian government reporting a new barrage of Russian missile attacks, resulting in fresh power outages.

The Russians said they had captured another village in the Kharkiv region in north-eastern Ukraine.

"In the Kupyansk region, the village of Hryanykivka in the Kharkiv region was completely liberated by offensive actions of the Army Group West," said the spokesperson of the Defence Ministry in Moscow, Igor Konashenkov, on Saturday.

Russian troops suffered a big defeat in the region last autumn and had to withdraw almost completely from the area.

Meanwhile air raid alerts that had sounded across the country on Friday night were lifted on Saturday morning.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential office in Kiev, said missiles were fired by aircraft in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

As a precautionary measure to prevent further damage, electricity has been cut off in the capital Kiev and its surrounding area, as well as in the industrial area of Dnipropetrovsk and in the Black Sea region of Odessa, said the energy provider DTEK.

At least two missiles were reported in the Khmelnytskyi region in the west of the country.

"An explosion was heard in Khmelnytskyi. Stay under cover," military governor Serhiy Hamaliy warned people on his Telegram channel.
Shortly afterwards, he reported a second explosion.

The military governor of the Black Sea region of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, showed a photo of an alleged Russian missile on his Telegram channel. He warned that two missiles had flown over the region to the west.

The Ukrainian armed forces also reported that two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles had been fired from ships belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-reports-more-attacks-russians-193336192.html


Krasnaya Gora, near Bakhmut, has also fallen to the Russians- that is actually about one week old, but never confirmed by Ukraine.

The Ukraine war will have cost the German economy around 160 billion euros ($171 billion), or some 4% of its gross domestic output, in lost value creation by the end of the year, the head of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said.

That means GDP per capita in Europe's largest economy will be 2,000 euros lower it would otherwise have been, DIHK chief Peter Adrian told the "Rheinische Post".

Industry makes up a higher share of the economy in Germany than in many other countries, and the sector is for the most part energy-intensive, meaning German companies have been especially hard hit by a surge in energy prices, which last year hit record highs in Europe.

German industry is set to pay about 40% more for energy in 2023 than in 2021, before the crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, a study by Allianz Trade said last month.

"The growth outlook for 2023 and 2024 is therefore also lower than in many other countries," Adrian said, adding that was also the case last year.

Germany, which for decades relied on relatively cheap Russian pipeline gas, now has especially high energy prices compared with the United States that has its own natural gas reserves, while France has abundant nuclear power.

"The gas price is around three-five times higher than in the United States," he said, adding electricity was four times as expensive as in France.

Ukraine war expected to cost Germany 160 billion euros by year-end