We’re changing our name as the focus of page is now Russian Ukraine. We will post the new link to the new website, right fucking here.
Things to do during the Russian War against Ukrainian Prosecution
‘We only have one telephone, so everybody sits around all day waiting for the chance to use the outgoing line. There is about 20 of us, so when it is our turn, we are extremely loud & excited. We take turns calling into Ukraine on a satellite phone. This is so the Ukrainian government cannot trace the call. “Obey to Russia!” we yell. The Ukrainians are so afraid; they wail at the top of their lungs about us eating food. They cry & scream about the sound of us breathing at the other end of the phone. “You are a slave to the American population!” we scream in delight. “Biden is der Fuhrer of das American Reich! There intent is to kill you. Ukraine does not care if you live or die. We are Russia, we will liberate you.” Ah, what joy it brings us. Putin will save the world.”
Marlo Brixton
Macron wants €400 billion to ‘transform’ France’s forces through 2030
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2023/01/20/macron-wants-400-billion-to-transform-frances-forces-through-2030/
Jan 20, 2023 10:15 AM — Vivienne Machi
STUTTGART, Germany — Seven months after declaring the launch of a new “war economy” in France, President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled plans to spend hundreds of billions of euros on defense investments that will “transform” the military over the next decade.
The nation’s next six-year military programming law – known in French as the “loi de programmation militaire,” or LPM – will shape the nation’s defense spending between 2024-2030. Drawing on current geopolitical circumstances and technological developments, Macron will request a €400 billion ($433.4 billion) investment for the 2024-2030 LPM, he announced in a Friday speech at the nation’s Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in southwestern France.
If enacted, that sum would reflect a 35% increase over the current 2019-2025 LPM of €295 billion, and could cover a total of €413 billion military needs, he claimed.
The current 2019-2025 LPM’s directive was simple: to “repair our armies,” Macron said. While that effort has progressed and is ongoing, the next LPM will empower France to “transform” its services to more quickly respond to global threats to its territories, he added.
With the proposed funds, France will strengthen and modernize its deterrence, and “massively” boost its intelligence capabilities by at least 60%, including doubling the budgets of the nation’s two main intel and security organizations, Macron asserted. Increased surveillance, particularly via unmanned aerial systems (UAS) is also a priority, along with doubling the capacity to counter cyber attacks.
Macron also spoke of “hardening” the military’s current capabilities under the proposed plan, including transitioning France’s Air Force to a 100% Rafale fighter fleet, away from the current mix of Rafales and Mirage 2000s, both built by Dassault Aviation. He did not elaborate on how that transition might occur.
Other priorities include reinforcing the prowess and protection of France’s frigates, the ongoing modernization of its terrestrial systems, and buttressing its air defense and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. He confirmed that France’s next aircraft carrier – known as PANG for porte-avion nouvelle generation – will be built under this budget, and called for the development of new long-range guided munitions, with a twofold funding increase to do so.
Macron also cited the need for France to invest in quantum technologies, and to more seamlessly integrate drone and artificial intelligence capabilities into its services. He reinforced the need for France to invest in undersea technologies that can reach depths of 6,000 meters, and announced plans to soon unveil a new “overseas strategy” that would support the nation’s overseas territories, calling the Indo-Pacific region the primary potential theater for future conflict.
In his Friday speech, the president also issued a call to France’s defense industry to increase their efficiency and availability in producing new capabilities. Production cycles need to be shortened, and costs must be better controlled, he noted.
Despite the considerable increase in funding over the previous law, the 2024-2030 LPM contains “no luxuries, no pleasures, no comforts,” Macron claimed. “There is only what is necessary.”
The proposal will be sent in the near future to France’s parliament, he said, ahead of congressional debates expected in March, and a vote by summer 2023.
Ukraine’s allies fail to reach breakthrough on sending new tanks
Jan 20, 2023 9:14 AM — Joe Gould, Sebastian Sprenger
WASHINGTON — Defense leaders gathered at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday to rally fresh support for Ukraine could not resolve an impasse over providing new Western tanks for Ukraine in its war to repel Russia, but Germany’s new defense minister said he is approaching a decision.
Despite pleas from Kyiv, Germany has so far resisted international pressure to provide its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or permit other countries with the tanks, like Poland and Finland, to send them. Ukrainian leaders have said they need modern Western tanks to help repel an expected spring offensive from Moscow’s forces in Russian-occupied territories in the east.
After themeeting of representatives from the 50-plus donor nations, new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorious defended his government’s decision to withhold the weapons for now, but said he has ordered a review of the country’s stocks in case of a change of heart.
“We’re not really hesitating, but we are just being very careful in balancing the pros and cons,” he added. “This is a new kind of measure we would choose.”
Pistorius said there was no unity among representatives about sending Leopard tanks, suggesting even their military utility for the conflict is in dispute. “There is no common opinion” on tank deliveries, said Pistorius. “The impression that there is a firm coalition, with Germany standing in the way, is false.”
The struggle over main battle tanks comes as the U.S. and other allies of Ukraine are ramping up support for Ukraine to include armored vehicles, advanced air defenses like Patriot and other weapons they previously denied to Kyiv. The aid reflects a fear the conflict could turn into a grinding war of attrition unless Ukrainian forces have the tools they need to turn the tide.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who had pressed Berlin for a decision, told reporters after Friday’s meeting that Germany is still a leader in the effort and a reliable ally. He pointed to Berlin’s provision of armored vehicles, air defenses and training for Ukrainian forces — and downplayed the tank issue, saying the effort “isn’t really about one single platform.”
“They are a reliable ally, and they’ve been that way for a very, very long time, and I truly believe that they’ll continue to be a reliable ally going forward,” Austin said. “Not to mention Germany is host to 39,000 of my troops and their families, and also 10,000 civilians here.”
Austin meets new German defense minister over Ukraine tank support
America’s latest package of aid totals $2.5 billion and includes Stryker armored vehicles for the first time. The eight-wheeled, 20-ton Stryker has been in U.S. arsenals for more than 20 years and carries nine infantrymen and two crew.
The U.S. package includes 90 Strykers, another 53 Bradley fighting vehicles, 350 Humvees, 53 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, more than 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and rockets, and missiles for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. It also provides eight Avenger air defense systems and more NASAMS munitions, aimed at countering a range of short- and medium-range threats.
Pistorius said his country’s new aid package would amount to more than €1 billion, or $1.1 billion, bringing Berlin’s Ukraine contributions to a total of €3.3 billion so far. Germany this spring plans to send roughly 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, a Patriot air-defense fire unit, additional IRIS-T air-defense units, Gepard air-defense tanks and fresh ammunition for those weapons.
Other pledges announced ahead of the Ramstein meeting included S-60 anti-aircraft guns with 70,000 rounds of ammunition from Poland, additional Stinger air-defense systems and two M-17 helicopters from Latvia, and two Russian-made Mi-8 helicopters and dozens of L-70 anti-aircraft guns with ammunition from Lithuania.
All eyes were on Germany ahead of the meeting, whose Leopards exist in most European countries’ armed forces, with tank-support advocates hoping for an announcement to “#FreeTheLeopards,” as a hashtag created by a raucous military Twitter crowd fueling the debate proposes.
Pistorius said the German defense ministry is evaluating how many Leopards Berlin could deliver, with an eye on different configurations and compatibility with allies in an eventual deployment, Pistorius said.
He left open the question of when officials would make a decision.
Pistorious said countries that had offered to send their own Leopards were free to undertake similar prep work for a potential deployment.
Berlin must approve the export of German-made weapons. The prospect of nations bypassing Germany’s approval, as reports from Poland suggested, did not come up at the meeting, Pistorius added.
The West doubles down on aiding Ukraine with heavy weapons
The United Kingdom announced last week it would send Challenger 2 tanks, describing it as a natural progression of military aid to Ukraine.
The U.S. has so far declined to provide M1 Abrams tanks. Pentagon officials view the Leopards as the most immediately accessible and usable capability for Ukraine, and the Abrams, which guzzles jet fuel and carries a heavy sustainment burden, as unsuitable.
At a Pentagon briefing Thursday, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the Leopard and Challenger aren’t comparable to the Abrams tanks.
The Leopard and Challenger are “a little bit easier to maintain,” Singh said. “They can maneuver across large portions of territory before they need to refuel. The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams — it just doesn’t make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment.”
A Kremlin spokesman said the deployment of Western tanks would trigger “unambiguously negative” consequences.
“All these tanks will require both maintenance and repairs, and so on, so [sending them] will add to Ukraine’s problems, but will not change anything with regard to the Russian side achieving its goals,” Dmitry Peskov said during a media briefing Friday.
As Friday’s meeting in Ramstein opened, Austin set an urgent tone, warning the conflict is at a “crucial moment” and aid to Ukraine should intensify.
“We need to dig even deeper. This is a decisive moment for Ukraine and a decisive decade for the world. Make no mistake, we will support Ukraine’s self-defense for as long as it takes,” he said.
With reporting by the Associated Press
The Baltic Ambassadorial (CLOSED) 