Pro-Putin and pro-Russia thread
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The Ukrainian draft dodgers who don't want to go to war against Russia
Oct 15, 2023
At the start of its summer counteroffensive, Ukraine recruited soldiers with the slogan, "Bravery conquers fear." But as the war heads for its 600th day with no end in sight, some Ukrainians have renounced their nation's call to arms and are looking for ways to avoid being drafted.
Artem, a 21-year-old whose name has been changed to protect his identity but is known to Insider, was born and raised just outside Kyiv. He told Insider he's desperate to leave Ukraine to escape being drafted and had already attempted one escape.
His family has been deeply affected by the conflict. He spoke with Insider alongside his father, Bohdan, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, a carpenter in peacetime who speaks English. Bohdan, a soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine, had recently returned after surviving intense fighting on the eastern front.
Bohdan's unit suffered significant casualties while stationed near Svatove and the Serebryansky forest, he told Insider, and he was one of the few who survived without injuries. He said he didn't want his son to endure the same fate.
Recently, Artem decided to try and flee despite martial law prohibiting him from leaving Ukraine.
Bohdan, a witness to the horrors of war, supports his son's attempts to avoid being called up. "He was partly motivated by fear that the law could be changed at any time and oblige him to join the military," Bohdan said.
Although Artem cannot leave the country, he is not of conscription age, so he will not be drafted immediately, but this could change if mobilization laws are enacted to widen the recruitment net.
Artem added that he's also disenchanted by the lack of opportunities in the country's war-crippled economy.
His escape plan involved crossing over into Romania. He took a westbound train to a town near the border, but when he got off, he and the other men on board were confronted by police officers about why they were traveling within 20 miles of the frontier.
Artem said that several of them were taken to a police station and questioned further before being put on a bus that took them back deeper into Ukraine.
One of the men caught was in his 50s and traveling with his wife and children. Artem later learnt that he was taken straight to a military-registration and enlistment office to join the army, Artem said.
The father and son live together in the family home Bohdan built himself. His wife and daughter are refugees in Belgium. "My family is divided," Bohdan told Insider.
Bohdan agreed that prospects were grim for his only son, even if he's not sent to the front. "There is not much work or quality education for young men during wartime, so some of them want to leave, but they can't," he said.
In the meantime, Artem said he was contemplating whether it's worth trying to flee Ukraine again.
"Young men at a checkpoint near the border told me not to bother trying," Artem told Insider. "They warned that the forests ahead were full of bears and snipers." Insider could not verify the claim regarding snipers. The route into Romania often involves a risky crossing over the Carpathian Mountains, which is home to brown bears and wolves.
While Artem considers his next moves, he awaits a fine for his attempt to leave Ukraine unlawfully — it's not an imprisonable offense. He hasn't received a letter yet but estimates it will be about 1,000 hryvnia, or about $27.
Bohdan told Insider that last week, a friend of his managed to cross the border into Hungary. He paid about $6,400 to get instructions from a people smuggler who told him where to cut through barbed wire with pliers, his friend told him. He made it across and is now in Montenegro.
He chose Hungary over Romania or Moldova, his friend said, because he believed the border guards were less likely to beat him up and perceived Hungary as more accepting of Ukrainian refugees.
Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 have been barred from leaving the country since martial law was imposed at the start of Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022.
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, voted again in July to extend martial law and general mobilization by another 90 days, Ukrainska Pravda reported. It's the eighth extension since the invasion began and is in place until November 15.
In August, The New York Times reported that US officials, who spoke anonymously, estimated 70,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded. In the first days of the war, hundreds of thousands volunteered to fight, but Ukraine is now more dependent on enlistments. The Armed Forces of Ukraine need to replace their dwindling numbers, and men leaving the country despite martial law could have long-term consequences for military mobilizations.
In Poland alone, an estimated 80,000 men — the equivalent to 20 military brigades in Ukraine's army — ages 18 to 60 who may have been eligible for military service entered the country between February 24, 2022, and August 31 this year, according to data from Poland's Border Guard. The whereabouts of the men are not known, the Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita reported.
A spokesperson for the Polish Border Guard, Lt. Anna Michalska, said it was not known how many met the exemption requirements, the Kyiv Post reported.
Ukraine authorities say they have caught 6,100 men attempting to leave the country at border crossings using fraudulent or unauthorized documents. Over 13,000 who wanted to slip out of Ukraine have been caught, often, like Artem, collared at bus and train stations before they reach the border, The Economist reported in September.
Trekking across the country to escape via remote parts of the border can end in disaster. For example, 19 have drowned in the Tisza river, which flows along part of Ukraine's border with Hungary and Romania, The Economist reported.
The most common ruse for hopeful draft dodgers is to bribe doctors to sign what's known as a "white ticket" medical exemption from military service.
Business Insider previously reported that a 39-year-old from Odesa had paid a fixer to arrange for a hospital in southern Ukraine to diagnose him with a severe spinal injury to exempt him from military duty.
More than 50,000 "white tickets" were granted by commissions under the jurisdiction of Yevhen Borysov, the former head of Odesa's regional military-mobilization office, an anti-corruption nongovernmental organization in Odesa told The New York Times.
It is alleged the bribery system enabled the top mobilization official to buy a $4.35 million villa in Marbella, on Spain's Costa del Sol, The Times of London reported. He was arrested in July and is under investigation, the Kyiv Independent reported.
"We don't know how many of these have been issued illegally or how many were issued due to real health issues," Valeriy Bolhan, an associate at the anti-corruption NGO, told the Times. "Until the scandal broke and the investigations began, the price for an illegal white ticket for someone wanting to escape mobilization was around $7,000 to $8,000."
Serhii Mytkalyk, the chair of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Headquarters, told Insider that Zelenskyy's government had made obtaining a military exemption more complex to deter forged exemptions and corruption in the military-exemption system.
Mytkalyk added that Zelenskyy firing military-recruitment chiefs amid corruption concerns showed a shift toward higher accountability and a concerted effort to tackle corruption, even against the backdrop of war.
"When we have transparency, the situation improves," Mytkalyk told Insider. "Civil society and NGOs need to talk about corruption because this is one of the ways to solve this problem."
Mytkalyk added: "We want to develop an anti-corruption bureau after the war to address this problem in the long term."
In an August survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 89% of Ukrainians polled said corruption was the country's most serious problem after the war against Russia.
Ukraine has said it'll pay people who report corruption and bribery 10% of the cash that gets recovered.
Since the authorities began clamping down, "the price of a white ticket has risen to more like $20,000," Bolhan told the Times.
A 38-year-old Ukrainian reserve officer dodging the draft in Warsaw, Poland, with his young family, told Euronews: "Above all, I must take care of them."
He now works as a taxi driver in the Polish capital and described picking up Ukrainian women in his cab.
"I have been told, 'Our husbands are at the front, they are fighting, and you cowards are staying here? You're hiding behind our husbands' backs,'" he said.
www.businessinsider.com
Oct 15, 2023
At the start of its summer counteroffensive, Ukraine recruited soldiers with the slogan, "Bravery conquers fear." But as the war heads for its 600th day with no end in sight, some Ukrainians have renounced their nation's call to arms and are looking for ways to avoid being drafted.
Artem, a 21-year-old whose name has been changed to protect his identity but is known to Insider, was born and raised just outside Kyiv. He told Insider he's desperate to leave Ukraine to escape being drafted and had already attempted one escape.
His family has been deeply affected by the conflict. He spoke with Insider alongside his father, Bohdan, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, a carpenter in peacetime who speaks English. Bohdan, a soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine, had recently returned after surviving intense fighting on the eastern front.
Bohdan's unit suffered significant casualties while stationed near Svatove and the Serebryansky forest, he told Insider, and he was one of the few who survived without injuries. He said he didn't want his son to endure the same fate.
Recently, Artem decided to try and flee despite martial law prohibiting him from leaving Ukraine.
Bohdan, a witness to the horrors of war, supports his son's attempts to avoid being called up. "He was partly motivated by fear that the law could be changed at any time and oblige him to join the military," Bohdan said.
Although Artem cannot leave the country, he is not of conscription age, so he will not be drafted immediately, but this could change if mobilization laws are enacted to widen the recruitment net.
Artem added that he's also disenchanted by the lack of opportunities in the country's war-crippled economy.
His escape plan involved crossing over into Romania. He took a westbound train to a town near the border, but when he got off, he and the other men on board were confronted by police officers about why they were traveling within 20 miles of the frontier.
Artem said that several of them were taken to a police station and questioned further before being put on a bus that took them back deeper into Ukraine.
One of the men caught was in his 50s and traveling with his wife and children. Artem later learnt that he was taken straight to a military-registration and enlistment office to join the army, Artem said.
The father and son live together in the family home Bohdan built himself. His wife and daughter are refugees in Belgium. "My family is divided," Bohdan told Insider.
Bohdan agreed that prospects were grim for his only son, even if he's not sent to the front. "There is not much work or quality education for young men during wartime, so some of them want to leave, but they can't," he said.
In the meantime, Artem said he was contemplating whether it's worth trying to flee Ukraine again.
"Young men at a checkpoint near the border told me not to bother trying," Artem told Insider. "They warned that the forests ahead were full of bears and snipers." Insider could not verify the claim regarding snipers. The route into Romania often involves a risky crossing over the Carpathian Mountains, which is home to brown bears and wolves.
While Artem considers his next moves, he awaits a fine for his attempt to leave Ukraine unlawfully — it's not an imprisonable offense. He hasn't received a letter yet but estimates it will be about 1,000 hryvnia, or about $27.
Bohdan told Insider that last week, a friend of his managed to cross the border into Hungary. He paid about $6,400 to get instructions from a people smuggler who told him where to cut through barbed wire with pliers, his friend told him. He made it across and is now in Montenegro.
He chose Hungary over Romania or Moldova, his friend said, because he believed the border guards were less likely to beat him up and perceived Hungary as more accepting of Ukrainian refugees.
Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 have been barred from leaving the country since martial law was imposed at the start of Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022.
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, voted again in July to extend martial law and general mobilization by another 90 days, Ukrainska Pravda reported. It's the eighth extension since the invasion began and is in place until November 15.
In August, The New York Times reported that US officials, who spoke anonymously, estimated 70,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded. In the first days of the war, hundreds of thousands volunteered to fight, but Ukraine is now more dependent on enlistments. The Armed Forces of Ukraine need to replace their dwindling numbers, and men leaving the country despite martial law could have long-term consequences for military mobilizations.
In Poland alone, an estimated 80,000 men — the equivalent to 20 military brigades in Ukraine's army — ages 18 to 60 who may have been eligible for military service entered the country between February 24, 2022, and August 31 this year, according to data from Poland's Border Guard. The whereabouts of the men are not known, the Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita reported.
A spokesperson for the Polish Border Guard, Lt. Anna Michalska, said it was not known how many met the exemption requirements, the Kyiv Post reported.
Ukraine authorities say they have caught 6,100 men attempting to leave the country at border crossings using fraudulent or unauthorized documents. Over 13,000 who wanted to slip out of Ukraine have been caught, often, like Artem, collared at bus and train stations before they reach the border, The Economist reported in September.
Trekking across the country to escape via remote parts of the border can end in disaster. For example, 19 have drowned in the Tisza river, which flows along part of Ukraine's border with Hungary and Romania, The Economist reported.
The most common ruse for hopeful draft dodgers is to bribe doctors to sign what's known as a "white ticket" medical exemption from military service.
Business Insider previously reported that a 39-year-old from Odesa had paid a fixer to arrange for a hospital in southern Ukraine to diagnose him with a severe spinal injury to exempt him from military duty.
More than 50,000 "white tickets" were granted by commissions under the jurisdiction of Yevhen Borysov, the former head of Odesa's regional military-mobilization office, an anti-corruption nongovernmental organization in Odesa told The New York Times.
It is alleged the bribery system enabled the top mobilization official to buy a $4.35 million villa in Marbella, on Spain's Costa del Sol, The Times of London reported. He was arrested in July and is under investigation, the Kyiv Independent reported.
"We don't know how many of these have been issued illegally or how many were issued due to real health issues," Valeriy Bolhan, an associate at the anti-corruption NGO, told the Times. "Until the scandal broke and the investigations began, the price for an illegal white ticket for someone wanting to escape mobilization was around $7,000 to $8,000."
Serhii Mytkalyk, the chair of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Headquarters, told Insider that Zelenskyy's government had made obtaining a military exemption more complex to deter forged exemptions and corruption in the military-exemption system.
Mytkalyk added that Zelenskyy firing military-recruitment chiefs amid corruption concerns showed a shift toward higher accountability and a concerted effort to tackle corruption, even against the backdrop of war.
"When we have transparency, the situation improves," Mytkalyk told Insider. "Civil society and NGOs need to talk about corruption because this is one of the ways to solve this problem."
Mytkalyk added: "We want to develop an anti-corruption bureau after the war to address this problem in the long term."
In an August survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 89% of Ukrainians polled said corruption was the country's most serious problem after the war against Russia.
Ukraine has said it'll pay people who report corruption and bribery 10% of the cash that gets recovered.
Since the authorities began clamping down, "the price of a white ticket has risen to more like $20,000," Bolhan told the Times.
A 38-year-old Ukrainian reserve officer dodging the draft in Warsaw, Poland, with his young family, told Euronews: "Above all, I must take care of them."
He now works as a taxi driver in the Polish capital and described picking up Ukrainian women in his cab.
"I have been told, 'Our husbands are at the front, they are fighting, and you cowards are staying here? You're hiding behind our husbands' backs,'" he said.
The Ukrainian draft dodgers who don't want to go to war against Russia
Insider spoke with a 21-year-old Ukrainian draft dodger who attempted to flee but was stopped at the border and sent back.
www.businessinsider.com
US Sending 2,000 Marines to Fight for the Jews
OCT 17, 2023
The Pentagon has sent 2,000 Marines and sailors to waters off Israel’s coast as part of a “show of force” in the region, CNN has reported, citing unnamed US officials. The move comes amid fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, which has claimed thousands of lives this month.
Led by the elite 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the “rapid response force” is headed toward Israel on board the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship previously stationed in the Gulf of Oman, officials told the outlet on Monday. They did not specify the unit’s exact destination, or say if it would join two US carrier strike groups presently in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The naval deployments are reportedly meant to “send a message of deterrence to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah,” and some of the US warships have recently patrolled waters near the Islamic Republic.
Separately, on Sunday Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered another 2,000 troops to gear up for a potential “medical and logistical support” mission in Israel, according to multiple news agencies.
However, Pentagon staffers stressed that the order does not guarantee direct US involvement in the conflict with the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, noting that the White House “does not want to give the impression that American troops could become embroiled in a hot war.”
Then why is the White House sending troops to a hot war zone?
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the preparations, also stated that the troops would be tasked with “advising and medical support” and “aren’t intended to serve in a combat role.”
The 2,000 soldiers are now stationed across a wide area, including in the Middle East and Europe, but have been placed on notice to deploy within 24 hours if needed.
I keep forgetting: is Israel a part of America?
Because it seems we could really use 2,000 marines on the US-Mexico border, given that it is open and people are pouring across it like a deadly wave of doom.
For some reason, it seems like Israel is much more important to the American government than America.
Why is that?
Is it because America is controlled by the Jews?
That’s the only reason I can think of that would make any sense.
OCT 17, 2023
The Pentagon has sent 2,000 Marines and sailors to waters off Israel’s coast as part of a “show of force” in the region, CNN has reported, citing unnamed US officials. The move comes amid fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, which has claimed thousands of lives this month.
Led by the elite 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the “rapid response force” is headed toward Israel on board the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship previously stationed in the Gulf of Oman, officials told the outlet on Monday. They did not specify the unit’s exact destination, or say if it would join two US carrier strike groups presently in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The naval deployments are reportedly meant to “send a message of deterrence to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah,” and some of the US warships have recently patrolled waters near the Islamic Republic.
Separately, on Sunday Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered another 2,000 troops to gear up for a potential “medical and logistical support” mission in Israel, according to multiple news agencies.
However, Pentagon staffers stressed that the order does not guarantee direct US involvement in the conflict with the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, noting that the White House “does not want to give the impression that American troops could become embroiled in a hot war.”
Then why is the White House sending troops to a hot war zone?
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the preparations, also stated that the troops would be tasked with “advising and medical support” and “aren’t intended to serve in a combat role.”
The 2,000 soldiers are now stationed across a wide area, including in the Middle East and Europe, but have been placed on notice to deploy within 24 hours if needed.
I keep forgetting: is Israel a part of America?
Because it seems we could really use 2,000 marines on the US-Mexico border, given that it is open and people are pouring across it like a deadly wave of doom.
For some reason, it seems like Israel is much more important to the American government than America.
Why is that?
Is it because America is controlled by the Jews?
That’s the only reason I can think of that would make any sense.
US Sending 2,000 Marines to Fight for the Jews
Well. That escalated quickly. RT: The Pentagon has sent 2,000 Marines and sailors to waters off Israel’s coast as part of a “show of force” in the region, CNN has reported, citing unnamed US officials. The move comes amid fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, which has claimed...
www.unz.com
How to let people know that you cut and paste without actually reading or understanding what you shared.
THe additional 2000 troops are for medical and logistical support. Again not fighting, for all we know the logistical support could be humanitarian. So those are not being sent to fight either
Also American controlled by Jews, How Nazi of you. What's next, quoting Der Stürmer.
Troops off the waters of [probably in international waters, isn't sending troops to fight for Israel. Maybe they will maybe they won't.
THe additional 2000 troops are for medical and logistical support. Again not fighting, for all we know the logistical support could be humanitarian. So those are not being sent to fight either
Also American controlled by Jews, How Nazi of you. What's next, quoting Der Stürmer.
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Except you can't. The USMC is part of the Federal Armed Services operating under the secretary of the Navy. Deploying them to the border would violate the Posse Comitatus Act. They'd have to leave US territory to do anything, which means the federal US military going into Mexico, in force, without Mexican permission. There's a term for sending your military into another country without permission: invasion. So unless this guy's plan is to invade Mexico, this is an idiotic idea that a single Google search would explained was idiotic.
Who was it that was saying recently you don't have to be educated to understand government policy and vote wisely in elections? I feel like this is a point against that.
What.
The actual.
Fuck.
You seriously posted an article that says that?
Annnd if you actually read the article you posted all the quoting it does from real news sources says that isn't happening, it might but it hasn't
The article claims Americans are being sent to fight for Israel but all the evidence presented in the article says this is not happening.
So again, how to tell everyone you don't read and or understand the stuff you cut and paste without actually coming out and saying it.
Also how to tell everyone that you don't actually read the posts you respond to yadda yadda yadda.
Yeah erm... about that.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/QL6LGSN56BILDEJBZKFMLYMQM4.jpg)
Republican-proposed attacks on Mexican cartels could lead to American casualties
Sending troops or firing missiles into Mexico to battle cartels, could lead to casualties and bloody reprisals on American soil without stemming the flow of illegal drugs, say government officials.
www.reuters.com
In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 52% of respondents supported "sending U.S. military personnel to Mexico to fight against drug cartels," while 26% were opposed. Republicans were supportive by a 64% to 28% margin.
Still, most Americans - including most Republicans - said they would oppose such actions if the Mexican government did not approve, the poll found."
...
"The odds of any Republican ordering unilateral military action once in office probably are slim due to the negative collateral effects such an action would have, strategists told Reuters."
...
" Sergio Alcocer, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister responsible for North America, said such a move would hamper intelligence-sharing on organized crime and immigration and damage economic relations.
"It's unacceptable for Mexico," Alcocer said, "just as it would be on the other side if we were to do it.""
Granted most republicans would not agree with going in... but not all, and the odds are slim but not none. I sure wouldn't put it past Trump and then there is this gem.
""That said, I think if Trump was able to kill a major drug dealer the political benefits would be real," said Alex Conant, an adviser to Republican Senator Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign."
So yeah, I'd called it war myself and some supposed adults in the US seem OK with that if it scores them political points. Sleep tight.
As for the second part. I pointed it out to him that his quote took a turn for the douche, or national socialism. He seemed to reply but I have to assume he didn't actually read what I wrote as he doubled down on his wrongness. If he did, he also doubled down on his Der Stürmer style bullshit.
A bit like this?Yeah erm... about that.
"Republican-proposed attacks on Mexican cartels could lead to American casualties
Sending troops or firing missiles into Mexico to battle cartels, could lead to casualties and bloody reprisals on American soil without stemming the flow of illegal drugs, say government officials.
In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 52% of respondents supported "sending U.S. military personnel to Mexico to fight against drug cartels," while 26% were opposed. Republicans were supportive by a 64% to 28% margin.
Still, most Americans - including most Republicans - said they would oppose such actions if the Mexican government did not approve, the poll found."
...
"The odds of any Republican ordering unilateral military action once in office probably are slim due to the negative collateral effects such an action would have, strategists told Reuters."
...
" Sergio Alcocer, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister responsible for North America, said such a move would hamper intelligence-sharing on organized crime and immigration and damage economic relations.
"It's unacceptable for Mexico," Alcocer said, "just as it would be on the other side if we were to do it.""
Granted most republicans would not agree with going in... but not all, and the odds are slim but not none. I sure wouldn't put it past Trump and then there is this gem.
""That said, I think if Trump was able to kill a major drug dealer the political benefits would be real," said Alex Conant, an adviser to Republican Senator Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign."
So yeah, I'd called it war myself and some supposed adults in the US seem OK with that if it scores them political points. Sleep tight.
As for the second part. I pointed it out to him that his quote took a turn for the douche, or national socialism. He seemed to reply but I have to assume he didn't actually read what I wrote as he doubled down on his wrongness. If he did, he also doubled down on his Der Stürmer style bullshit.
Americans increasingly in favor of an authoritarian crackdown, according to new poll
When asked, "People who support the [Republican/Democratic] party and its ideologies have become so extreme in what they want that it is acceptable to use violence to stop them from achieving their goals," 38% of Trump voters said yes and 41% of Biden voters said yes.
When asked, "Elections should be suspended during times of crisis," 30% of Trump voters said yes and 25% of Biden voters said yes.
When asked, "I view individuals who strongly support the [Republican/Democratic] party as a threat to the American way of
life," 47% of Trump voters said yes and 52% of Biden voters said yes.
Not a new concept. Winston Churchill wasn't elected into the PMs office until after the war. He was appointed, formed a war cabinet and then elections were suspended. The last election before his appointment was 1935, there wouldn't be another until 1945 and he lost it resoundingly. Had there been an election in 1940, it's unlikely he would've even been elected party leader, let alone PM. People who opposed the war were indeed treated with violence too.
It just comes down to what you define as a crisis. I think that's what's changing.
And many regard him, as the back bone and leader Britain needed. “We shall never surrender”
The new definition of crisis is that your authoritarian of choice lost the election. The crisis is elections themselves.
Ukraine’s artillery supply declines as shells go to Israel
Nov 17, 2023
Ukraine has seen a decline of deliveries of vital 155mm shells since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, even as Ukrainian parliamentarians warn of a dangerous shortage of ammunition across the front lines.
"Our supplies have decreased. It is life—and it is normal, as everyone is fighting for survival,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.
U.S. stocks of 155mm rounds that were originally meant for Ukraine are now being shipped to Israel, Axios has reported. The number of rounds were in the “tens of thousands,” according to the report, or close to U.S. monthly production rates.
The U.S. has delivered over two million 155mm rounds to Ukraine in the year and eight months since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. It has more than doubled production of the shells, going from 12,000 a month before Russia’s invasion to 28,000 now. EU members likewise emptied their stocks, and the EU as a whole launched a plan to supply one million 155mm rounds between March 2023 and March 2024.
Despite the effort, though, ammunition has frequently been tight. Ukraine uses 240,000 shells a month, a figure far higher than U.S. monthly production rates. Ukrainian troops regularly report ammo shortages across the front lines, even in hotspots like the country’s east.
The EU is also set to miss its March 2024 goal to supply one million rounds, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said this week.

Zelensky’s news of a reduction in U.S. deliveries, meanwhile, comes at a particularly challenging moment for Ukraine as Russia steps up its assaults near Avdiivka, a eastern-Ukrainian city where intense fighting resembles that seen in Bakhmut last winter.
“The situation is quite difficult,” said Ukrainian parliamentarian Yehor Cherniev. “The intensity of heavy shelling from our side is lower and lower because of the lack of ammunition,”
The war in Gaza is not the only thing slowing the delivery of arms to Ukraine. The funding pool approved by Congress for Ukraine aid is nearly empty.
The U.S. supports Ukraine primarily through supplemental funding appropriations. These funds are split into the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which pays to replace weapons sent from U.S. storehouses to Ukraine, and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which buys brand-new weapons.
Zelensky’s news of a reduction in U.S. deliveries, meanwhile, comes at a particularly challenging moment for Ukraine as Russia steps up its assaults near Avdiivka, a eastern-Ukrainian city where intense fighting resembles that seen in Bakhmut last winter.
“The situation is quite difficult,” said Ukrainian parliamentarian Yehor Cherniev. “The intensity of heavy shelling from our side is lower and lower because of the lack of ammunition,”
The war in Gaza is not the only thing slowing the delivery of arms to Ukraine. The funding pool approved by Congress for Ukraine aid is nearly empty.
The U.S. supports Ukraine primarily through supplemental funding appropriations. These funds are split into the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which pays to replace weapons sent from U.S. storehouses to Ukraine, and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which buys brand-new weapons.
USAI exhausted its funds in mid-October, while PDA had just $1.6 billion in uncommitted funds remaining. Defense leaders have pressed Congress to approve more, but at least some lawmakers doubt much will be done amid the debate about what to do after the latest temporary federal-spending resolution expires early next year.
Meanwhile, Ukraine must bear up against Russian assaults.
“I go to the front lines often,” said Oleksandra Ustinova, who leads the Holos party faction in the Ukrainian parliment. “I’m afraid to even go there because people literally don’t have anything to shoot with.”
www.defenseone.com
Nov 17, 2023
Ukraine has seen a decline of deliveries of vital 155mm shells since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, even as Ukrainian parliamentarians warn of a dangerous shortage of ammunition across the front lines.
"Our supplies have decreased. It is life—and it is normal, as everyone is fighting for survival,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.
U.S. stocks of 155mm rounds that were originally meant for Ukraine are now being shipped to Israel, Axios has reported. The number of rounds were in the “tens of thousands,” according to the report, or close to U.S. monthly production rates.
The U.S. has delivered over two million 155mm rounds to Ukraine in the year and eight months since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. It has more than doubled production of the shells, going from 12,000 a month before Russia’s invasion to 28,000 now. EU members likewise emptied their stocks, and the EU as a whole launched a plan to supply one million 155mm rounds between March 2023 and March 2024.
Despite the effort, though, ammunition has frequently been tight. Ukraine uses 240,000 shells a month, a figure far higher than U.S. monthly production rates. Ukrainian troops regularly report ammo shortages across the front lines, even in hotspots like the country’s east.
The EU is also set to miss its March 2024 goal to supply one million rounds, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said this week.

Zelensky’s news of a reduction in U.S. deliveries, meanwhile, comes at a particularly challenging moment for Ukraine as Russia steps up its assaults near Avdiivka, a eastern-Ukrainian city where intense fighting resembles that seen in Bakhmut last winter.
“The situation is quite difficult,” said Ukrainian parliamentarian Yehor Cherniev. “The intensity of heavy shelling from our side is lower and lower because of the lack of ammunition,”
The war in Gaza is not the only thing slowing the delivery of arms to Ukraine. The funding pool approved by Congress for Ukraine aid is nearly empty.
The U.S. supports Ukraine primarily through supplemental funding appropriations. These funds are split into the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which pays to replace weapons sent from U.S. storehouses to Ukraine, and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which buys brand-new weapons.
Zelensky’s news of a reduction in U.S. deliveries, meanwhile, comes at a particularly challenging moment for Ukraine as Russia steps up its assaults near Avdiivka, a eastern-Ukrainian city where intense fighting resembles that seen in Bakhmut last winter.
“The situation is quite difficult,” said Ukrainian parliamentarian Yehor Cherniev. “The intensity of heavy shelling from our side is lower and lower because of the lack of ammunition,”
The war in Gaza is not the only thing slowing the delivery of arms to Ukraine. The funding pool approved by Congress for Ukraine aid is nearly empty.
The U.S. supports Ukraine primarily through supplemental funding appropriations. These funds are split into the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which pays to replace weapons sent from U.S. storehouses to Ukraine, and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which buys brand-new weapons.
USAI exhausted its funds in mid-October, while PDA had just $1.6 billion in uncommitted funds remaining. Defense leaders have pressed Congress to approve more, but at least some lawmakers doubt much will be done amid the debate about what to do after the latest temporary federal-spending resolution expires early next year.
Meanwhile, Ukraine must bear up against Russian assaults.
“I go to the front lines often,” said Oleksandra Ustinova, who leads the Holos party faction in the Ukrainian parliment. “I’m afraid to even go there because people literally don’t have anything to shoot with.”
Military leaders are already using AI tools to help make decisions
Even simpler digitization and automation tools are streamlining combatant commanders' operations, the deputy chief of the Pentagon’s AI office said.
www.defenseone.com
What used to be the gop is now an extension of trump Inc. he would like to hand Ukraine to his master Putin and tough talk about effectively invading Mexico although it will never happen appeals to his base. To see what what used to be the grand old party is really quite sad and to think of what would become of the us under another term by him is really alarming.Yeah erm... about that.
"Republican-proposed attacks on Mexican cartels could lead to American casualties
Sending troops or firing missiles into Mexico to battle cartels, could lead to casualties and bloody reprisals on American soil without stemming the flow of illegal drugs, say government officials.
In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 52% of respondents supported "sending U.S. military personnel to Mexico to fight against drug cartels," while 26% were opposed. Republicans were supportive by a 64% to 28% margin.
Still, most Americans - including most Republicans - said they would oppose such actions if the Mexican government did not approve, the poll found."
...
"The odds of any Republican ordering unilateral military action once in office probably are slim due to the negative collateral effects such an action would have, strategists told Reuters."
...
" Sergio Alcocer, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister responsible for North America, said such a move would hamper intelligence-sharing on organized crime and immigration and damage economic relations.
"It's unacceptable for Mexico," Alcocer said, "just as it would be on the other side if we were to do it.""
Granted most republicans would not agree with going in... but not all, and the odds are slim but not none. I sure wouldn't put it past Trump and then there is this gem.
""That said, I think if Trump was able to kill a major drug dealer the political benefits would be real," said Alex Conant, an adviser to Republican Senator Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign."
So yeah, I'd called it war myself and some supposed adults in the US seem OK with that if it scores them political points. Sleep tight.
As for the second part. I pointed it out to him that his quote took a turn for the douche, or national socialism. He seemed to reply but I have to assume he didn't actually read what I wrote as he doubled down on his wrongness. If he did, he also doubled down on his Der Stürmer style bullshit.
