Ukraine Open Thread 2022-56
Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...Posted by b on April 28, 2022 at 12:05 UTC | Permalink
next page »In a historic move, lawmakers in Germany have given the official green light to send "heavy weapons and complex systems" to Ukraine. But many of them also criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for not being in Berlin.
Complex systems, hmmm.
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 28 2022 12:27 utc | 3
>>>>: anon2020 | Apr 28 2022 12:27 utc | 3
Complex systems, hmmm.
Means your average electrician, plumber or mechanic can't maintain them as they require highly trained engineers to do so. Just as useful to UAF as Gepard SpAAGs
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 28 2022 12:32 utc | 4
... Just as useful to UAF as Gepard SpAAGs
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 28 2022 12:32 utc | 4
I was thinking more about drones, which might be able to put RF forces at a disadvantage.
https://m.jpost.com/international/article-704907
https://www.swarm-troopers.com/
Is there anyone here with any expertise on the subject of military drones and how they might influence the SMO?
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 28 2022 12:39 utc | 5
President Putin met with members of the Council of Lawmakers
Speech at the Council of Lawmakers meeting
http://thesaker.is/president-putin-met-with-members-of-the-council-of-lawmakers/
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 12:40 utc | 6
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 28 2022 12:39 utc | 5
Just count the number of drones shot down every day by the Russians as reported in their briefings. They shot down five yesterday at the latest briefings, and they have been ranging from 5-15 or more per day.
The bigger the drone, the easier it is to shoot down. The smaller the drone, the less dangerous it is. The main advantage of drones is intelligence and artillery and missile targeting. The weapons they carry are not sufficient to alter the outcome of the war. If they were massed by the thousands, maybe, but they're not.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 12:43 utc | 7
Scott Ritter's Telegram channel just posted another of his "two-minute analyses" where he covers a specific topic.
In this one he discusses Ukrainian artillery and the artillery assistance being provided by the US. Conclusion: Too little, too late. The Ukrainian artillery in the war, as well as the war itself, is basically over. 90 US towed 155mm howitzers are not going to affect the outcome.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 12:49 utc | 8
From Sputnik News Telegram channel... The ol' "military exercises" excuse... Where have we heard that one before?
The Polish Defense Ministry announced "intensive movement of columns with equipment in the north and east of the country" from May 1 until the end of the month.
Military exercises are indicated as the official reason.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 12:57 utc | 9
Which German weapons have been combat-tested since 1950 ?
If Poland chooses to enter West-Ukraine it will be as a diversionary tactic - Polish heritage does not extend outside the main population centres so it will be provocative for the Ultra-Nationalists - especially those now in Poland.
Any Polish advance into west Ukraine is to Russian advantage. It can destroy them or simply expose Zelensky to turning over the Ultra Nationalist strongholds to Poland. It makes the Suwalki Gap look much more interesting.
Whatever happens Country 404 is being g dismantled much as Poland was in the 18th and 20th Centuries
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 28 2022 13:02 utc | 10
A most interesting development.
Poland is deep in talk with it's US ally on how to slice and dice Western Ukraine. Source "RT".
Truth is stranger than fiction...............
Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Apr 28 2022 13:12 utc | 11
The West is making such appalling decisions that this whole thing has got massively out of hand and they are not in any way in control. God knows what Poland think they are playing at. NATO could stop this by saying Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO or the EU. They could easily accept Crimea is part of Russia as is the Donbass region since the Referendums are going to say yes to this in any event. No big deal really. But no. They are full of such hatred they cannot make sensible decisions of any kind. The West is morally and intellectually bankrupt. Von den Leven seems to have completely lost her marbles. What a bunch of morons to have as world leaders.
Posted by: Jo Dominich | Apr 28 2022 13:14 utc | 12
From Intel Slava Z Telegram channel... Two more morons out of the picture... Apparently they didn't realize the Javelins are no good against artillery, which Russia uses to prepare the objective for an armor advance...
Two American mercenaries were seriously injured in OrekhovoManus McCaffrey and Paul Gray - former US Army soldiers - fought as part of the Javelin ATGM crew on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
And today at about 14.35 in the Orekhovo area they were in position, waiting for Russian tanks that were approaching the city from Novotishkovsky.
It was at that moment that the allied forces began an artillery bombardment, and one of the shells landed near the position of the American mercenaries.
Both received shrapnel wounds to the face, head and body, and a concrete wall behind which he was hiding also fell on a mercenary with the surname Gray.
Currently, both Americans are in the hospital and apparently they will not be able to return to Orekhovo - the allied forces are already fighting inside the city.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:14 utc | 13
Polish troops entering western Ukraine offer interesting scenarios.
Ukies there hate Poles comparably to Russians, so it would not be peaceful. Russian precision strikes on Polish troops would both deter NATO/Poland and change public opinion in Europe (they are sensitive about own casualties) and it would rather confuse Ukies (maybe Russians aren't so bad?).
Anyway, perfect situation for escalation that would end with Europe and world not worrying about global warming any more.
Posted by: Abe | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 14
As I pointed out an hour or so ago in the previous thread, Poland expects to pull off this "humanitarian intervention/labd grab" 1) without a NATO mandate, but with "volunteer states" - of which they have none, and 2) without being challenged by Russian forces.
It is to laugh. 1) means Russia can hit them without causing an invocation of Article 5 even if they hit them in Poland probably, and 2) they don't realize Russia can hit them with missiles from inside Russia and with power if they cross the border.
It's going to be a slaughter.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 15
Rumours that Boris` last visit to Kiev was to hand deliver UK passports to Zelensky and his family plus other associates.
Nice chap that Boris. Hope the passports come with a lifetimes free supply of Coke....and not the one in a svelte shaped bottle. In case Bojo is listening.
Posted by: DaVinci | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 16
"... 90 US towed 155mm howitzers are not going to affect the outcome."
No but they can kill a lot of people and for the sadistic racists promoting this war that's worth every cent of additional US debt that it costs.
So far as the Polish desire to repossess Lwow is concerned it is back to the beginning for Ukrainian Nationalists. Historically Ukrainians have been the cheap labour, serfs in fact, of Polish landlords. Even after Poland's dismemberment in the C18th when Lwow fell to the Hapsburgs' share of the spoils and became Lemburg the landowners were Poles.
In those days the Russians were looked upon as potential liberators, speaking the same language, fellow slavs.
It is astonishing how many parties there are, wearing the NATO mask of concern for Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, while quietly salivating over the prospect of fastening on to a corner of Ukraine's corpse and tearing away a hundred thousand square kilometres of land, with population included. There is Poland, then there is Rumania, Moldova, Hungary and the jackal in chief Turkey- all of them are interested. And they are equally interested in Russia being weakened and Ukraine defeated.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 28 2022 13:20 utc | 17
From Intel Slava Z Telegram channel... Kalibrs, rev your engines!
Washington has set up an intelligence center in Lvov where the Americans work with General Staff officers to get quick information from reconnaissance planes, UAVs and satellites that collect data around and over Ukraine in space.The staff is about 50 people only from the USA. It is located in one of the communication buildings in Lviv.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:23 utc | 18
From Donbass Insider Telegram channel forwarded from Eurasia and Multipolarity...
For the first time in his address, Putin separated military operations in Donbas and Ukraine. Obviously, this is due to the integration into the pro-Russian space of the territories of the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkiv regionsPutin again noted that "all the tasks of the special military operation conducted by the Russian Federation in the Donbass and Ukraine will be unconditionally fulfilled." For the first time, the President of Russia moved away from the topic of only protecting the former eastern regions of Ukraine and made it clear that the RF Armed Forces will go to the end, and Moscow plans to establish Russian sovereignty not only in the LPR and DPR, but also over the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine.
“Russia cannot allow the creation of anti-Russian territories around the country,” the president stressed.
Thus, it becomes clear that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will continue to advance in the Azov region to the west in order to establish full control over the Nikolaev and Odessa regions of Ukraine. The same will happen in the Kharkiv region.
@readovkanews (https://t.me/readovkanews/32176)
They don't carry it to its logical conclusion - Putin very likely means all of Ukraine. But as I've noted before, Putin is very, very careful with what he says.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:31 utc | 19
Nice chap that Boris. Hope the passports come with a lifetimes free supply of Coke....and not the one in a svelte shaped bottle. In case Bojo is listening.
Posted by: DaVinci | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 16
Not to forget the harder stuff like polonium and novachok.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 28 2022 13:34 utc | 20
I am an expert in military drones since 1997. I have been a lurker for a couple of months now. Drones can be very useful for small unit recon. What is available a higher altitudes is quickly dispatched by air defense (esp. Russian), I am also an expert on foreign air defense since 1979. Hung up my slide rule the first working day of 2013.
Posted by: Mad Dog | Apr 28 2022 13:37 utc | 22
https://thecradle.co/Article/news/9646
Lebanese government ignores Russian wheat, oil offer despite crisis: Report
The Lebanese government has reportedly ignored a Russian offer to send wheat, grains, and vegetable oils to Lebanon, despite a worsening food crisis, according to a 27 April report from Al-Akhbar. The offer was made through official channels.
...
Lebanon’s foreign policy is centered on neutrality when it comes to foreign conflicts, with the exception of the Israeli occupation. However, the Lebanese state issued a statement condemning the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.It was revealed that the draft of this statement was written by the US embassy in Lebanon and handed to Prime Minister Najib Mikati, indicating foreign interference behind the Lebanese decision.
...
Russia has, however, also offered to sell oil for Lebanon’s power plants at an affordable rate in Lebanese liras.
...
The Iranian government has similarly made offers to assist Lebanon with food and fuel. Tehran’s offer has also been ignored by the Lebanese state.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 28 2022 13:37 utc | 23
Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:14 utc | 13
I've seen them on video. one looks like he will need a stick to tap his way around in the future. The other was just lying there looking like a zombie. He must have see a bit of Russian shock and awe.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 28 2022 13:40 utc | 24
In regard to UAVs (which everyone calls drones): Years ago I recall the development of loitering munitions and thought they could be a game changer. Fast forward to the Armenian Azeri conflict and thanks in part to Turkey, they were. As RSH mentioned above, there is a relationship between size, effectiveness and countermeasures. It seems as though the RF air defense has been taking down quite a few of them, but all it takes is one to make a hit on a sensitive target. EWF jamming could also be a factor. One thing that struck me is how the Houthis managed to cobble together "po-boy" versions of loitering munitions/cruise missiles to decent effect. As always, it's a game of countermeasures and we seem to have entered a new era where the little guy can get access to potential damaging hardware thus making it a bit more challenging for an occupier.
Posted by: Chevrus | Apr 28 2022 13:46 utc | 25
From Colonel Cassad Telegram channel forwarded from Rybar... More on Transnistria situation...
The situation in Transnistria continues to escalateAttacks (https://t.me/rybar/31830), sabotage, posters (https://t.me/rybar/31849) of Ukrainian nationalists and the “red level” (https://t.me/rusputnikmd/22800) » the terrorist threat throughout the entire territory of the PMR — against such a background, from April 28 to April 30, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suddenly decided to conduct exercises in Podolsk.
This settlement is located not just near the border of Transnistria, but in close proximity to a military warehouse in the village of Kolbasna.
Yesterday they already recorded (https://t.me/mvdpmr/13113) UAV activity there and heard the sounds of shots fired from the Ukrainian side of the border.
Podolsk itself also figured in connection with the recent series of terrorist attacks committed on the territory of the unrecognized republic.
It was there that a modern thermal imager was delivered (https://t.me/rybar/31830), which was subsequently handed over to the mobile group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operating along the border with the PMR, right on the eve of the explosion of the Pridnestrovian television and radio center.
Of course, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can explain the exercises by probable “Russian aggression from Pridnestrovie” (especially since such statements are already being made (https://t.me/rusputnikmd/22852)), but it’s not hard to guess why they were suddenly needed to be held.
#Moldova #Transnistria #Ukraine
@rybar
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:57 utc | 26
Interesting read by Engdahl. Russia is going to be blamed for severe food shortages as a result of the “Putin Price Hike” but as Engdahl lays out the shortages will be a result taken decisions made by Western leaders prior to the SMO
It’s beginning to look like some bad actors are deliberately taking steps to guarantee a coming global food crisis. Every measure that the Biden Administration strategists have been making to “control energy inflation” is damaging the supply or inflating the price of natural gas, oil and coal to the global economy. This is having a huge impact on fertilizer prices and food production. That began well before Ukraine. Now reports are circulating that Biden’s people have intervened to block the freight rail shipping of fertilizer at the most critical time for spring planting. By this autumn the effects will be explosive.With the crucial time for USA spring planting at its critical phase, CF Industries of Deerfield, Illinois, the largest US supplier of nitrogen fertilizers as well as a vital diesel engine additive, issued a press release stating that, “On Friday, April 8, 2022, Union Pacific informed CF Industries without advance notice that it was mandating certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad effective immediately.” Union Pacific is one of only four major rail companies that together carry some 80% of all US agriculture rail freight.
The CF company CEO, Tony Will stated, “The timing of this action by Union Pacific could not come at a worse time for farmers. Not only will fertilizer be delayed by these shipping restrictions, but additional fertilizer needed to complete spring applications may be unable to reach farmers at all. By placing this arbitrary restriction on just a handful of shippers, Union Pacific is jeopardizing farmers’ harvests and increasing the cost of food for consumers.” CF has made urgent appeals to the Biden Administration for remedy, so far with no positive action.
Biden Cynically Uses Ukraine to Cover Food Sabotage
Posted by: Down South | Apr 28 2022 13:59 utc | 27
Richard Steven Hack and Peter Au1 thanks valuable info...
Posted by: JC | Apr 28 2022 14:00 utc | 28
@annon2020
But many of them also criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for not being in Berlin.
Well, no! I wouldn't hang around in Berlin for too long either.
It didn't turn out well the last time.
Posted by: El Sid | Apr 28 2022 14:18 utc | 29
Rumours that Boris` last visit to Kiev was to hand deliver UK passports to Zelensky and his family plus other associates.
Doing better than most then since British Nationals wait weeks/months for a passport and the head of the Passport Office works from home it seems !!!
I bet Zelensky knows the men who forge the passports anyway......Ukraine seems too be Scam Central with Call Centres and Prostitution and Drugs Trafficking.......then again Chisinau is not unused to such things......
Zelensky owns enough property in UK to qualify for a Golden Visa anyway.....Yats has a Canadian passport and I believe estate in East Anglia. Quite a lot of Ukrainian Jewry like to own assets in UK and no doubt hope to fare better than Russian Jewry with stolen funds locating in London........after all Bill Browder does better than Berezhovsky.......but his grandfather was Head of US Communist Party
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 28 2022 14:19 utc | 30
Well Union Pacific has quite a Vanguard/Black Rock holding on the Share Register........just as at CF Industries.......funny that !
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 28 2022 14:23 utc | 31
So the UK's Foreign secretary Liz Truss(according to radio news) has said that the war in Ukraine is the UK's war, that the UK is the lead nation in the war against Russian forces in Ukraine, and that we (UK) must give Ukraine the heavy weapons it needs to win this war.
This idiot certainly doesn't speak for me, though like many in Europe who know what's really going on, their countries will supply weapons to Ukraine, along with propaganda to its citizens that its the right thing to do.
I and many Scots don't even recognise Liz Truss as the foreign minister for Scotland.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 28 2022 14:26 utc | 32
By: Express News Service | New Delhi |
Updated: April 28, 2022 1:53:36 am
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said India should engage the world on the basis of its confidence in its identity rather than trying to please the global community.
Speaking at the Raisina dialogue, Jaishankar said the country needs to put behind the idea that it needs the approval of other countries. “We have to be confident about who we are. I think, it is better to engage the world on the basis of who we are rather than try and please the world as a pale imitation of what they are. This idea that others define us, somehow we need to get the approval of other quarters, I think, that is an era we need to put behind us,” he said.
Posted by: SailorsWife | Apr 28 2022 14:27 utc | 33
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 28 2022 12:39 utc | 5
Is there anyone here with any expertise on the subject of military drones and how they might influence the SMO?
-------
They might influence the SMO if they were edible.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 28 2022 14:32 utc | 34
The Gray Lady is very much in the camp that a wider war is coming, is inevitable, and is a good thing. Today we learn Biden will address the nation on Ukraine, and then there are stories about fears of a wider war. Not a word about anti-war activities or views, or any push back. I saw an article claiming that 75 percent of Americans support the Ukrainian side and are against the Russians. Either our leaders have gone crazy or they are convinced that Russia will never use the nuclear option.
This all is starting to feel much like before Iraq - an evil empire, another Hitler, a rush to war, a feeling that the entire eastern Europe needs to be remade in western democratic style as we were sure would happen in the middle east....all the threads are there as well as, of course, the necessary restrictions on liberty and freedom to accomplish the task.
Early on in this thing Biden seemed the lone voice pushing back against full scale war, no fly zones, explaining that such would start WW3, and perhaps just perhaps he will say the same again this time, but it feels as if the entire landscape has shifted. Every hour this thing changes from a local fight to the fight to the end between Russia and NATO. I cannot imagine the pressure on Biden to amp this up.
Posted by: Boomheist | Apr 28 2022 14:41 utc | 35
The truly idiotic Liz Truss does not speak for the people of Scotland.
Posted by: Merkin Scot | Apr 28 2022 14:46 utc | 36
#---Nice chap that Boris. Hope the passports come with a lifetimes free supply of Coke....and not the one in a svelte shaped bottle. In case Bojo is listening.
Posted by: DaVinci | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 16
Maybe that's where Boris draws the line? Remember George Osborne?
Posted by: Anne Brit | Apr 28 2022 14:51 utc | 37
@ Richard Steven Hack 8, Chevrus 25
The Ukrainian artillery in the war, as well as the war itself, is basically over. 90 US towed 155mm howitzers are not going to affect the outcome.
In any case static artillery weapons are obsolete on a battlefield. The US has used towed artillery to destroy cities in Syria but that ain't gonna work in Ukraine where the RF has loitering drones whuch can easily target static artilery. Russia’s Ground Forces are using new Kyb Switchblade-type loitering kamikaze drones to attack targets in Ukraine. This is only the second war, after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which both combatants are using loitering drones.
Both Russia and Ukraine rely on the S7 Soviet self-propelled 203mm heavy artillery system, with upgrades. The Russians for their part have upgraded at least 60 2S7s with new digital electronics, helping to integrate the old guns into the army’s sophisticated fire-control system. That system combines drones and ground-based radars and electronic eavesdroppers to spot targets and sturdy radio links to relay coordinates to the guns. . .here and here.
So the Pentagon is just blowing smoke, again.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 28 2022 14:52 utc | 38
I think WW3 is about to go Global.
Biden to seek $33bn for Ukraine, a massive jump in funding
Biden will ask Congress on Thursday for $33bn to support Ukraine – a dramatic escalation of US funding for its war against Russia – as well as new legal tools to tighten sanctions and siphon assets from Russian oligarchs, US officials have said.
The vast funding request includes over $20bn for weapons, ammunition and other military assistance, as well as $8.5bn in direct economic assistance to the government and $3bn in humanitarian and food security aid.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 28 2022 14:53 utc | 39
Posted by: Boomheist | Apr 28 2022 14:41 utc | 35
Based on domestic politics, Biden says the "right" things, while the real policy is deployed in the background. When the time is right, he passively accepts the acutal policy as inevitable and out of his hands.
If he really wanted to, he could shuffle State and flush the Zio-cons. Not likely.
Posted by: JMW | Apr 28 2022 14:56 utc | 40
“Russia cannot allow the creation of anti-Russian territories around the country,” the president stressed.
Thank you RSH.
This is even more than the announcement to take Odessa and Nikolaiew. It is the announcement to take the whole Ukraine. And it is a statement to Finnland.
NATO has no answers, and the RF is more and more aware of this. First. Second: Russia has nothing more to loose, every day less. It is her time now.
Does not smell like many compromises.
Europe loosing all its fake clothes.
Posted by: njet | Apr 28 2022 14:58 utc | 41
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:23 utc | 18
Perfect decision maker Target !!!
Posted by: Kim | Apr 28 2022 14:58 utc | 42
#--
Posted by: Mad Dog | Apr 28 2022 13:37 utc | 22
I am an expert in military drones since 1997. I have been a lurker for a couple of months now. Drones can be very useful for small unit recon. What is available a higher altitudes is quickly dispatched by air defense (esp. Russian), I am also an expert on foreign air defense since 1979. Hung up my slide rule the first working day of 2013.
-----
Have you watched any of Simplicius76 at bitchute? https://www.bitchute.com/channel/nnwlaOOuDM1W/
Some might give more meaning to a professional. You insights would be appreciated. How's retirement working out for you?
Posted by: Anne Brit | Apr 28 2022 14:59 utc | 43
I and many Scots don't even recognise Liz Truss as the foreign minister for Scotland.Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 28 2022 14:26 utc | 32
---
The truly idiotic Liz Truss does not speak for the people of Scotland.
Posted by: Merkin Scot | Apr 28 2022 14:46 utc | 36
On the matter of Russia/404, the SNP is not one whit better.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 28 2022 15:00 utc | 44
Nice chap that Boris. Hope the passports come with a lifetimes free supply of Coke....and not the one in a svelte shaped bottle. In case Bojo is listening.Posted by: DaVinci | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 16
It's probably just a coincidence that Elon Musk is tweeting about buying the Coca-Cola Corporation and putting cocaine back into its signature product.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 28 2022 15:02 utc | 45
Biden to seek $33bn for Ukraine, a massive jump in fundingWould be nice if he were even remotely as interested in the welfare of the USA.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 28 2022 15:04 utc | 46
#22 Mad Dog
Could a slide - rule be of value now in today’s high - tech world of precision smart - bombs etc? If so ,Is it just a question of taking into account the many places to the right of the decimal point, that are now needed?
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 28 2022 15:04 utc | 47
@Posted by: bevin | Apr 28 2022 13:20 utc | 17
@Posted by: Chevrus | Apr 28 2022 13:46 utc | 25
I agree. If one combines the damage and confusion potential created by the newly delivered howitzers and high tech drones and devices, if you add that to the training and the C3I provided by US/UK/NATO, the CIA/MI6/Mossad operatives on the ground and the consulting/planning free from abroad, then the net result is a coordinated attack on Russia and on the Ukrainians who are opposed to the rule of the current Kiev regime.
That makes the current conflict a testing ground for Western devices and for Russian ingenuity. Putin needs very good nerves; he knew already what he would have to face when he took the decision to help the Donbas. Eventually he can get rid of the AWACs and even some satellites.
Posted by: Richard L | Apr 28 2022 15:17 utc | 48
@ Kim 39
Biden will ask Congress on Thursday for $33bn to support Ukraine
But asking isn't getting.
...from The Hill
President Biden is asking Congress to authorize more than $30 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine to help the country fend off the prolonged Russian attack over the next five months, administration officials said Thursday. [to the congressional election]
The White House says it needs Congress to approve just over $20 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, including $5 billion for weapons and other military aid, $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $4 billion for the State Department’s foreign military financing program, an administration official told reporters on a call previewing the request. [State -- military financing!]
There is expected to be bipartisan support in Congress for sending more assistance to Ukraine, but the path toward approving the assistance could prove complicated as the Biden administration also tries to convince lawmakers to approve additional funding for the COVID-19 pandemic response.
PLUS: "Dismal polls have Dems split over how hard to push Biden agenda"
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 28 2022 15:17 utc | 49
https://twitter.com/AZmilitary1/status/1519447474250960899
🇬🇧 The Russian media got to the bottom of an interesting thing: Zelensky(he also proably)'s wife and children have already received British citizenship,although this should contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.But the parents of Zelensky clown refused citizenship. Well, at least someone in this family has a conscience.
Also, by the decision of the UK government, citizenship was granted to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Ermak and his family members.
As well as Zelensky's adviser Mikhail Podolyak and his family members. A number of employees of the General Staff of Ukraine and the SBU are in the process of receiving it.
The Ukrainian elites have prepared a spare airfield for themselves, but most Ukrainians will remain with empty pockets
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 28 2022 15:18 utc | 50
This is perhaps the Polish dream?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRbRbvtX0AEqG-p?format=jpg
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 28 2022 15:19 utc | 51
Re: Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:23 utc | 18
"The staff is about 50 people only from the USA. It is located in one of the communication buildings in Lviv."
If that's not the highest priority target for this evening, I don't know what is!
Posted by: Mongo | Apr 28 2022 15:22 utc | 52
@ Don Bacon | Apr 28 2022 15:17 utc | 49
Congress will give Biden the $39 billion for 404, and maybe even more than that; Congress regularly appropriates more for warfare than presidents asks for.
The likelihood that Congress will approve any new COVID-related funding is remote, especially now that the pandemic has been removed from the national consciousness.
I have no doubt that Biden will sign an appropriation of at least $39 billion for 404 and $0 for anti-COVID measures.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 28 2022 15:23 utc | 53
"... 90 US towed 155mm howitzers are not going to affect the outcome."
"No but they can kill a lot of people and for the sadistic racists promoting this war that's worth every cent of additional US debt that it costs."
Have you ever considered that "the lot of people they can kill" will be those trying to transport those too obvious targets to the remaining remnant UKE forces in the East??
Or are those howitzers "magically cloaked" so as to enable them to proceed to the the Eastern front unseen by the RF???
Posted by: Qtto | Apr 28 2022 15:28 utc | 54
We keep speeding towards direct confrontation between the empire (U$A), and Russia. The U$A through its mouthpiece L. Austin, has made it perfectly clear, the goal is to weaken Russia. So, if Russia relents in Ukraine, they're toast. Not exactly a recipe for a fair settlement.
Which, IMO, is exactly what the morons who make the decisions here in the U$A, want....
Posted by: vetinLA | Apr 28 2022 15:37 utc | 55
@ anon2020 #5
There was a prophetic short film made about how powerful small drones might become in the near future. In general we depict war in the future as still having humans because that's more dramatic and interesting. But machines will one day be able to prosecute war far better than a human and sooner than we think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fa9lVwHHqg
It depicts 'Nazis' using them for ethnic cleansing but I suspect it'll be the other way around with the uppity natives in Western Europe done away with.
Posted by: Altai | Apr 28 2022 15:39 utc | 56
New extremes of escalation as reportedly Ukrainian troops mass at the border of Transnistria and there appears to be lots of Romanian troops on the border of Moldova (which was just strong-armed into joining sanctions on Russia).
It would be best to check for a Bulgarian source, but there are reports that the Bulgarian MoFA issued a statement asking its citizens to leave Moldova.
Russian strategic bombers are in the air.
Posted by: ChasingGlowies | Apr 28 2022 15:43 utc | 57
Either Ukrainian leadership is driven out of Ukraine or Russia fails its 2 objectives to love to a tenacious Vietcong of home-grown Neo-Nazi, predictably a death by a thousand cuts and days. The clock now ticks loudly as the various vultures now are nearly gathered.
Posted by: Lars Lansing | Apr 28 2022 15:45 utc | 58
RT has a long background article on Transnistria up for those who might not have seen it.
Posted by: the pessimist | Apr 28 2022 15:45 utc | 59
So crazy when you think about it. Everything was fine before the Americans messed everything up. Europe got cheap energy, Russia was minding its own business. There was no need for all this craziness. It's all the result of the sick psychopathic American mind.
I don't want to be part of this whole Nazi-West anymore. Is there still a way to emigrate to Russia these days?
Posted by: Nico | Apr 28 2022 15:55 utc | 60
Rewriting and re-fighting World War 2
The Russian side sees the conflict over the Ukraine as identical with the Great Patriotic War. They share the same purpose and enemy. A war not for Russia but against Fascism. Symbols and monuments have taken on a dual meaning, equally standing for the war of 1941-45 and the war of 2014-22.
Fascist Ukrainian nationalism wants to rewrite World War 2 as a fight between a united West and a barbaric East. The original was a failure, so it must be redone. Euromaidan was a the new Barbarossa 2.0. NATO is the new Third Reich. Donbass is the new Eastern Front.
Real World War 2 history is now history of the enemy, so it must be undone. Victory Day is now victory of the enemy, so it must not be celebrated. Anti-Fascist symbols must be banned. World War II monuments must be destroyed and graves desecrated.
Given a clear choice, the West has now sided with Hitler. The yellow-blue flag has become the new Swastika.
***
I posted this on Facebook with a link to the music video «ДОНБАСС ЗА НАМИ» (Donbass is for us). The YouTube channel supports the original artists, so just endure the annoying ads.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Apr 28 2022 15:56 utc | 61
European/Western Madness, Italian Edition
Angelo d'Orsi:
Every time I appear on screen or write an article, I am constantly accused of being a pro-Putin expert. In fact, I am just an intellectual who has been teaching history at the university for 40 years and who has spent the last 50 years in journalism and writing books. And I, the owner of all this professional baggage, are attacked just for trying to do analytical work. As Gramsci (the founder of the Italian Communist Party. - "RG") said, a real intellectual should not take one position or another, but should be interested in getting to the bottom of the truth and being able to voice it. He shouldn't care who benefits from the truth. I try to follow this principle. But, I assure you, every time I try to convey this very truth, another group of Ukrainians tries to shout me down, invited to talk shows. There were cases when they even tried to put physical pressure on me and hit me right during the recording of the program. Fortunately, the guards stopped them in time... In such a climate it is impossible to fully exist. A little more, and the hunt for the Russians and all those who support them will begin ...
Posted by: MD | Apr 28 2022 15:56 utc | 62
"On the matter of Russia/404, the SNP is not one whit better."
Malenkov (44).
You are correct the First Minister of Scotland actually called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, she has betrayed Scots for her and her parties agenda, I'm afraid she's the Scottish Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 28 2022 16:00 utc | 63
The lack of sportsmanship is also fatal. There is a war between two neighbors, wouldn't be the first one. We should let them settle things between them and stay out of it. May the better one win, the other one accepts defeat and things can normalize. But no, the West can't seem to live with the idea that Nato loses the proxy war after it has had such a big mouth and invested so much money in that rogue Ukrainian nazi regime.
Posted by: Nico | Apr 28 2022 16:01 utc | 64
#50 Sundial
Funny how all these despicable types, usually cashed up politicians from Russia or the Ukraine , find a comfy home in the UK.
In a different vein,Too many to respond to, but has the EU ,UK and the US thought that with all this taxpayer money being donated to the Ukraine and wasted , they will go the way of Russia and Communism “falling” ? Isn’t that what anti - Communist Hawks of the UK and US have been saying all these years? That Russia bankrupted itself. How much sooner will all those nations turn into cannibalistic beggars of the Stone Age with the observed loss of living standards and loss of food , materials and services?
Do the ruling classes of both the Euro and Anglosphere think they will enter New Age Arks ,and take off for shores unknown and safe , to get away from the wrath of the Great Unwashed ?Or do they plan to magically exterminate most of us before the pitchforks come out for the top thirty -percent?
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 28 2022 16:01 utc | 65
Posted by: Jo Dominich | Apr 28 2022 13:14 utc | 12
they cannot make sensible decisions of any kind. The West is morally and intellectually bankrupt. Von den Leven seems to have completely lost her marbles. What a bunch of morons to have as world leaders.
Are you making a reference to August 1914? Or to the contemporary equivalent?
Posted by: Sushi | Apr 28 2022 16:02 utc | 66
If Poland (and Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania) does enter western Ukraine, it will be the result of a secret agreement with Russia. Poland gets Galicia, and Russia gets a secure border.
Posted by: bob sykes | Apr 28 2022 16:02 utc | 67
40 years ago, during my mandatory military service, I was an electronic engineer with a towed howitzer battery. Then I got tansfered for the last 6 weeks of my service time to mountain infantry. Reason: all towed howitzer got eliminated and replaced with selfdriving howitzer. Reason: during war, a howitzer crew has a survival time of maximum 10 minutes if they do not change positions. With a truck, you have to manover the gun into position (rain---heavy bottom, mud) get the legs of howitzer in position (very heavy), unload ammunition, make it ready (program the head of the charge (impact or delay, etc) geometer has to define the position, fire the first shot, correction to all in the battery and then start shooting. Stop shooting, get the spare ammunition on the tow truck and then get the legs of the howitzer out of the mud. With selfdriving howitzers, there is only three steps: drive in position, geometer (today GPS?),start shooting and shortly afterwards move out to next firing position. Towed howitzers are death trap.
Posted by: Harry T | Apr 28 2022 16:02 utc | 68
Another terrorist attack of the Ukrainian regime.
The Nazis attacked (video) a market in Donetsk with a Grad rocket launcher. Five civilians were killed, 23 wounded.
Also, the Ukrainian Nazis fired Tochka-U missiles at the center of Kherson.
Posted by: bob sykes | Apr 28 2022 16:02 utc | 67
Absolutely.
Posted by: Greg Galloway | Apr 28 2022 16:05 utc | 70
Russia will use $390,000 worth of weapons to destroy Americastani weapons supposedly worth $39 billion dollars.
Posted by: William Haught | Apr 28 2022 16:05 utc | 71
Biden now asking Congress for $33 billion more for Ukraine.
Posted by: Woogs | Apr 28 2022 16:10 utc | 72
@ Harry T 68
during war, a howitzer crew has a survival time of maximum 10 minutes
That's been shortened -- see my 38 above.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 28 2022 16:11 utc | 73
The Russian stated objective is: security.
The US stated object is: weaken Russia.
Ukraine is caught in the middle - seeking to benefit as it can.
The people are not a consideration at this time for US and Ukraine. Russia may also need to become more focused on ensuring victory. I am surprise that the Ukraine resistance does not collapse.
I think these objectives are credible - no need to doubt.
Posted by: jared | Apr 28 2022 16:20 utc | 74
@ bevin | Apr 28 2022 13:20 utc | 17
thanks for your post.. the last paragraph is especially relevant... thanks..
@ richard steven hack and @ alaff - thanks for your posts...
my take.... - we are in ww3 here...this is what the beginning of a world war looks like... this is not going to end any time soon... there is too much at stake... we are hopefully going from unipolar to multipolar world with the folks in the unipolar world movement, kicking and screaming over the potential change here... all the propaganda they have will be thrown at this... all the weapons and money and etc. etc. they have will also be thrown at this... ww3 - this is it..
Posted by: james | Apr 28 2022 16:21 utc | 75
@Don, thanks for the correction. so, the survival rate of this outdated gun is almost zero
Posted by: Harry T | Apr 28 2022 16:21 utc | 76
One thought just struck me: Maybe we should regard the lays and innaccuracies served up about Russian army atrocities in The Ukraine is just a continued version of the campaign against China concerning "The Tiananmen Massacres" and the falsely reported story about "The Tank Man?
Posted by: Tollef Ås/秋涛乐/טלפ וש | Apr 28 2022 16:24 utc | 77
@Abe
Ukies there hate Poles comparably to Russians
Everyone hates the Poles, I've never heard anyone say something comparatively complementary about them compared to other Europeans.
Posted by: Altai | Apr 28 2022 16:25 utc | 78
@ jimmy... thanks for your posts and insights on the previous thread..
Posted by: james | Apr 28 2022 16:25 utc | 79
The philosophy of "When in doubt, escalate" seems to still be in effect.
Looks like UA is threatening an attack Transnistria, with a (relatively/locally) significant sized NATO force on standby not far in Romania, perhaps with the intention to deter RF from crossing over Moldovan territory in the course of whatever happens next. Have to expect that UA would do the attack, since there hasn't been evidence of restraint anywhere else.
If that is where they concentrate their newest gifts (and the invisible NATO personnel who come with them to coordinate), they may be successful too, as reinforcing the enclave by air or sea would be perilous at the moment. Fortified Odessa is nearby. No idea the consequences, but also expecting that if this happens, it would trigger an upgrade of the situation from 'special military operation' to 'war', by RF.
Posted by: ptb | Apr 28 2022 16:26 utc | 80
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Apr 28 2022 15:56 utc | 61
I would be more selective with slogans and give them a lot of thought, God with us has been used before, by the other side.
The same goes for Glory to... substituting Ukraine for Donbass or Russia just won't cut it. I think the Chechen slogan has been better thought out even though the personality cult is obvious, but claiming "Ahmad force Allah is the greatest" sets apart the earthly from the divine, something the glory to Ukraine or Ukraine above all do not. Words do matter, more than those howitzers everybody is talking about.
* I assume you understand what those nice looking ladies are singing, the refrain is Russia is with us and so is God.
Posted by: Paco | Apr 28 2022 16:27 utc | 81
@77
Definitely. It is always the same pattern. Usually the truth is the opposite of what the West claims.
I wonder how China will react if this mess turns global.
Be that as it may, I hope that this time around someone will bring all the destruction to the US and Canada as well. I am tired of our continent being abused as a battlefield while the culprit is safe between two oceans.
Posted by: Nico | Apr 28 2022 16:29 utc | 82
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 12:43 utc | 7
Posted by: Mad Dog | Apr 28 2022 13:37 utc | 22
Posted by: Chevrus | Apr 28 2022 13:46 utc | 25
Posted by: Kim | Apr 28 2022 14:32 utc | 34
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 28 2022 14:52 utc | 38
Posted by: Richard L | Apr 28 2022 15:17 utc | 48
Posted by: Altai | Apr 28 2022 15:39 utc | 56
Thank you all for feedback on drones.
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 28 2022 16:34 utc | 83
@Petri Krohn | Apr 28 2022 15:56 utc | 61
I posted this on Facebook with a link to the music video «ДОНБАСС ЗА НАМИ» (Donbass is for us). The YouTube channel supports the original artists, so just endure the annoying ads.Thank you. View it with the Brave browser and there will be no ads.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 28 2022 16:35 utc | 84
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Apr 28 2022 15:56 utc | 61
That was concerning the tune, the rest of your post is spot on, this is 1941 again and that's the way Russians see it.
Posted by: Paco | Apr 28 2022 16:36 utc | 85
This is unbelievable!!
Must watch.
Uk column news,
Ambulances For Ukraine But Not For Us
Play video from mark; 01:16:13
Posted by: Kim | Apr 28 2022 16:41 utc | 86
Unconfirmed rumor from a buddy of mine kinda tied into Eastern European diplomatic circles:
Russian has sent 20,000 tonnes of grains to Cuba to support Cuban society
Posted by: Exile | Apr 28 2022 16:47 utc | 87
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 13:17 utc | 15
Excellent use of "It is to laugh" Richard! Thank you for the chortle, and for your informative posts.
Posted by: Boomhauer | Apr 28 2022 16:47 utc | 88
Everyone hates the Poles, I've never heard anyone say something comparatively complementary about them compared to other Europeans.
Posted by: Altai | Apr 28 2022 16:25 utc | 78
Good Lord Almighty. Never heard of Chopin?
You don't really want to keep saying such things. In the long run, you'll prefer to be taken seriously. Even if you're just a troll -- Trolling, like humor, is more effective when it's not blatantly nonsensical.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 28 2022 16:49 utc | 89
Posted by: ptb | Apr 28 2022 16:26 utc | 80
they may be successful too, as reinforcing the enclave by air or sea would be perilous at the moment.
---------
Russia won't need to reinforce the enclave.
Watch them defend it from the sea and Air.I've got my popcorn ready.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 28 2022 16:55 utc | 90
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Apr 28 2022 15:56 utc | 61
Let me suggest you something older and generic. Tsoy and Kino singing "War"
Between heaven and earth war.
No matter where you are
No matter what you do..
Posted by: Paco | Apr 28 2022 16:58 utc | 91
Poles want to take Galicia? I gotta think the Russians' answer to that is "пожалуйста!"
Posted by: Patrick Armstrong | Apr 28 2022 17:06 utc | 92
" a tenacious Vietcong of home-grown Neo-Nazi.." Lars Lansing@58
There is little need to worry about that. "Tenacious Viet-Cong" movements are not founded on the sort of shop soiled ideas that underlie Nazi gangs.
Nazis run away when they are defeated. Communists just go back to Square One and start all over again.
Fascists do not believe in anything except their own power and privilege. If what Communists believe does not turn out to be true humanity is doomed: there is no alternative, in the long run, to cooperation, equality and peace, except death.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 28 2022 17:06 utc | 93
Posted by: Exile | Apr 28 2022 16:47 utc | 87
Perfect, about time too
Posted by: Gerrard White | Apr 28 2022 17:09 utc | 94
@ptb I expect a combined attack on Transnistria would lead to:
- upgrading the scenario to total war
-an attack on the Baltics to establish a land bridge to Kaliningrad and divert NATO forces
-use of Zircons armed with nuclear warheads to destroy the carrier battle group in the eastern Mediterranean
-use of nuclear Armed Kinzhals to destroy Aegis ashore installations in Europe
-use of nuclear Armed Kinzhals to destroy NATO tactical nuclear weapon storages in Europe
- conventional or nuclear operational level attacks by standoff weapons on NATO logistics in Eastern Europe
- scrambling of all of Russia's strategic bombers
And PERHAPS:
-Cruise missile attacks on coastal refineries in the United States
-Chinese invasion of Taiwan
-Chinese embargo on all imported goods to the United States
- Iranian ballistic missile attacks on NATO bases in central Asia and the middle east
- deployment of Iranian regulars to northern Iraq and eastern Syria
Basically a third world war with all of those events listed as certain happening upon the attack by NATO and all of the possible events happening within 24 hours of the first list of events.
Posted by: Cthulhu | Apr 28 2022 17:11 utc | 96
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 28 2022 12:43 utc | 7
How about aerosolized bio weapons? I was in military/FEMA training Exercise Determined Promise '03 in Clarke County, Nevada, where a small plane was imagined to have sprayed a bioweapon above Las Vegas. Northern Command was getting an operational validation at the time. End result? The troops failed to contain the panicked population, and hundreds of thousands of infected citizens broke out of the city's military and FEMA's joint containment perimeter in all directions. I bring this idea up due to 30+ u.s.-run biolabs across Ukraine, doing who-knows-what...
Posted by: ERing46Z | Apr 28 2022 17:14 utc | 97
Good Lord Almighty. Never heard of Chopin? You don't really want to keep saying such things. In the long run, you'll prefer to be taken seriously. Even if you're just a troll -- Trolling, like humor, is more effective when it's not blatantly nonsensical.Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 28 2022 16:49 utc | 89
Good Lord Almighty, how I HATE Chopin! All that feminized hysteria, all those falling arpeggio fainting spells! Well, okay, the nocturnes were written "for the ladies," so they were supposed to speak the language of the ladies, but still . . . ! He could have made an effort to be more of a guy than George Sand.
I do rather enjoy Sienkiewicz novels, however, and Gombrowicz is at least amusing.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 28 2022 17:18 utc | 98
@ Cthulhu | Apr 28 2022 17:11 utc | 96
Quite a list. More exquisitely detailed than my own expectations, which are along the same lines. Does it turn out the name of the game, the straw that broke the camel's back, is Transnistria? The West seems stretched to the limit, shooting the moon to keep up mass distraction from evils of mass destruction, some of which are buried with the Azovs in Azovstal. We all could be slipping, here.
I live exactly due east of the Golden Gate. We have a lovely view of San Francisco, across the bay from Point Isabel. I've been imagining the kinzhals streaming in from the north, as I visualize final moments of my life. But now I hear, what with long-path ultrasonic technology, they might just as likely come from the south.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 28 2022 17:29 utc | 99
@ Richard Steven Hack | 8
Well, to be honest Scott Ritter and Pepe Escobar have been telling since at least one month that the "war is basically over".
Since then, the Moskva has been sunk, Belgorod and Bryansk attacked with drones and choppers causing huge damage.
Does not really look like Russia is winning.
Posted by: Kerkaraje | Apr 28 2022 17:32 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
New:
Azov Ukraine Commander stuck inside Mariupol Steel Plant calls for Ukrainian civilians to get violent, rise up and show no mercy to Russians.
VIDEO https://youtu.be/GE0O3SpLM5Y
Posted by: Dean Oneil | Apr 28 2022 12:14 utc | 1