Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

blackjack

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A lot of fun around Lviv today. Enlistment officers everywhere. People will be sent to the Bakhmut area immediately.




 

UkroTurk

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The Armed Forces destroyed 790 invaders per day

From February 24, 2022 to January 16, 2023, the total losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine amounted to approximately 116,080 people (+790 per day). This was announced by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
 

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The regiment named after Kastus Kalinovsky from Belarus takes part in the battle on Bakhmut on the side of Ukraine
First, they show the training of recruits. Then they talk about the battles in Bakhmut. He says that the fighting there lasts 13 hours a day. The Russians, as a rule, do not take the corpses. There are a lot of corpses of Russian soldiers lying there. The narrator says that he does not think that they are all prisoners whom Wagner freed from prisons for the war against Ukraine, because among the dead there are a lot of young men from 20 to 30 years old. Thinks they have an order to take this or that point regardless of losses. It is said that Belarusians took part in many battles starting from Bucha. They say they want a Free Belarus and therefore they want to help a Free Ukraine. I see many Belarusians here who want to show that they are a worthy nation. They say that 80-90% of Belarusians do not support the war in Ukraine. If they ask why they don’t do anything, then I will say that Belarus is the occupied territory of Lukashenko

 

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One of the main goals of the upcoming 5th Forum of Free Peoples of Post-Russia on January 31, 2023 in Brussels in the European Parliament will be to more specifically acquaint MEPs, media, opinion leaders, diplomats and politicians of the EU and NATO countries with:
- plans and prospects for the decolonization of the current Russian Federation🔥
- an explanation that Putin and his clique of war criminals are not the cause, but the result of problems, its root is in the very authoritarian and imperial essence of the unified Russian state and the phobias of its “deep people”💯
- The Russian Federation as a terrorist state, an Empire ruled by crazy war criminals, will continue to create constant threats, destabilization, hybrid attacks and wars for all its neighbors and other countries, and its own citizens will continue to oppress, enslave and repress, therefore, as an existential threat to of all mankind, the united Russian state should cease to exist already in 2023🎯
- prospects for the creation of free and independent states of the post-Russian space, their stability and viability (including such states as the Ural Republic, Bashkortostan, Ingria, the United States of Siberia, Tatarstan, the Baltic Republic (Kenigsberg), Buryatia, Karelia, the Oirat Republic, the Pacific Federation, Circassia, Pskov Republic, Sakha, Biarmia, Republic of Tver, Kuban, Smalandia, Don Cossackia, Republic of Chernozem Region-Yugorussiya, Komi, Zalesye (Moscow Republic), Tyumen-Yugra Federation, Novgorod Republic, Chuvashia, Khakassia, Nizhny Novgorod Republic, Kumykia, Iriston, Lapland, Ingushetia, Nogai Republic, Udmurtia and others)✌️
- convince partners of the need to create specific targeted plans for support and emergency assistance in the liberation of indigenous peoples and regions from the Kremlin occupation with its repressions and crimes☄️
- the difficulties and risks of the transition period and the transfer of power, options for practical assistance to the leaders of the movements of indigenous peoples and regions in the State Building of their new free states🧠
- finding solutions and strategies for the most controlled, constructive and non-violent dismantling of the last Empire in Europe (and the first terrorist in the world), which will become a real win-win for the entire free and civilized world🤘
- the history of crimes, repressions and genocides of the all-Russian imperial Kremlin regime😥
- possible vectors for changing the policy of the EU and NATO countries in relation to propaganda clichés and tools of the KGB soft power, which speculates on the undesirability of dismantling the Empire, presenting it as a disaster, not an opportunity😵💫
- in fact, the entire “all-Russian” opposition is nothing more than another phalanx of the Imperial Kremlin, most organizations and personalities (the so-called “good Russians”) are agents of their influence, whose task is to create a reserve airfield for updating the terrorist regime and maintain the influence of war criminals. These people are pseudo opposition and pseudo liberals, they do not have the right to represent the peoples and regions of the current Russian Federation, since they are the same imperials as Putin in essence (they just want to change the name of the king)💯
- there is no Russian gas, oil, aluminum, coal, uranium, diamonds, grain, timber, gold etc - all these resources are Tatar, Bashkir, Siberian, Karelian, Oirat, Circassian, Buryat, Sakha, Ural, Kuban, Nogai, etc. .d., Russians are only wars, Gulag, repressions and hopelessness
 

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View attachment 52680
A lot of fun around Lviv today. Enlistment officers everywhere. People will be sent to the Bakhmut area immediately.


What smells to propaganda, looks like propaganda and sounds to propaganda, is propaganda.


Ukraine already has full mobilization since February 2022 and plenty of volunteers. Obviously they won't send civilians without training to the front, before it, TDF forces will go in case it is neccessary.

Here is how an individual mobilization letter looks like:

be4efc3bf5196333.png


Just a few days ago an Airbus A-330 crowded with Ukranians arrived to Spain to be trained, as in many other nations among Europe (automatic translation in youtube subtitles):

We have seen them training on Bradleys, soon we would see also training on Challengers/Leopards/Abrams. A first batch will help to improve and resolve all the issues related to training, maintenance and logistics for further deployments. My country is buying tank ammo for Leopards after many years without a single purchase.

Following the capture of Soledar, RU propaganda is clearly ramping up as they needed a "victory" since the summer, all is made to gain local support and for trying to wear down UKR morale, as we have seen on the war crimes commited targeting random civilian houses with precission cruise missiles. But the real deal would be seen after two or three months.
 
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tracer

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Nearly a year later and you still don't get it. I'll try one more time, but I doubt it's going to make any impact on you. I've come to terms with that reality.

The West does not think its equipment is magic, nor does it think that a relatively small number of Western weapons are going to change the entirety of the war. You don't build 6500+ Bradley fighting vehicles if you think they're some wonder weapon, because only a small number of them would do just fine if they were indeed "magic". The reason that the ramp up in Western weapons will help Ukraine is because many of them are legitimately, technologically superior to most things that Russia can field in significant numbers. Not everything, of course, but most things. Beginning to transition Ukraine away from Russian made equipment that they have a finite supply of, with no recourse to procure more of, will allow the West to continue to supply Ukraine throughout this war.

The same logic applies to countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Morocco. They want to be aligned with the West and they'd rather have Western military equipment than Russian made equipment. Therefore, it makes sense that they would send all of the their legacy Russian / Soviet made kid to the battlefield, where somebody else (Ukraine) can use it, while replacing what they send with kit from allies such as USA, France, Germany, UK, South Korea, Sweden and others who make military equipment. The cheapest, easiest, way for the West to help Ukraine in the short term, is to convince allied countries to give up all their Russian / Soviet made equipment, as it will serve, in the short term, as adequate replacement for the existing Ukrainian equipment that is being chewed up (as is perfectly normal in war) during confrontation with the Russians.

There are tens of thousands of Ukrainians being trained outside of Ukraine in the early parts of 2023. Thousands in Britain, Poland and throughout the Baltics, as well as thousands more that will train in Germany, under American leadership, starting in late January. The plan now is to send these soldiers to "Basic training", then get them specialty, combined arms training using Western weapons that will be supplied to Ukraine as Ukrainian soldiers become competent in their operation. You're going to see hundreds of Bradleys join the fight before this war concludes. You're going to see a couple hundred Leopards join the fight before the war concludes. You're going to see a couple hundred more pieces of Western artillery joint the fight before the war concludes. You're going to see significant upgrades to Ukraine's air defense capabilities before the war concludes. The list goes one and on...

But, as always, you're missing the point. The goal of the West was not and has not ever been to help Ukraine achieve a quick, decisive, victory over Russia. The goal has always been the following.

1). Use the Ukrainian willingness to bleed in defense of their nation to deeply impact the capabilities of the Russian Army and deeply impact their ability to project power in the future. You can pretend it's not happening all you want, but the reality is that there is a huge cost for the Russians in order to achieve progress in this war. They're chewing up their own supplies as an extremely rapid rate and they DO NOT possess that industrial base to replace what they're losing, at the pace that they're using it. The tempo at which they can project power is dwindling. Meanwhile, the West has BARELY sent Ukraine anything of value from it's own industrial base. Russia has immense manpower and can throw lots of meat into the grinder in Ukraine (and they will), but they're already pulling out kit that should have been mothballed years ago, because it's what they have left... Not even one year into the war. Ukrainian access to quality kid is rapidly increasing, while Russian access to similar quality kit is decreasing at an enormous rate.

2). Destroy Russian economic ties with the rest of Europe, deeply hurt their access to Western technology and set their people (and thus their government) back many years. This is about power projection and the ability to project that power globally. Russia will leave this conflict (regardless of the outcome) a much less powerful player on the world stage, because they will have alienated themselves from the overwhelming number of people that they share a continent with. Ensuring that the people of Russia suffer a much lesser standard of living and much lesser global acceptance, is a win for the West and NATO in particular. The less that the world trusts Russia, the more likely it is that they will be open to Western diplomacy.

3). This is, BY FAR, the cheapest price NATO and its allies will ever pay to fight a war (in this case a proxy war) with Russia, something we've WANTED to do for a long time. There is very little collateral for the West in this equation, because our soldiers are not the ones on the battlefield fighting and we don't have to send our best, most expensive equipment into combat. Instead, we can fund Ukraine's willingness to fight. Remember, the West froze $350 Billion worth of Russian assets at the beginning of this conflict. They've barely liquidated any of those assets to this point. Therefore, this war is largely being funded, in aggregate, by the asset value of the property, items and investments frozen by the West, in Western countries. If, by the end of this conflict, the war costs NATO and its allies $500 Billion USD (a number I just made up) that's literally a drop in the bucket compared to what the West spent on the Covid-19 pandemic, as an example. Right now the West has spent in the neighbourhood of $50 Billion, so there is an enormous amount of funding for Ukraine to go before helping bleed Russia out financially will become to high of a price to pay. Just wait until Russia actually has to PAY an army of 500,000-1,000,000 mobilized men. They're quickly approaching a point in which they are spending money that they don't have and won't have access too. A broke Russia, at the conclusion of this conflict, makes them a substantially weaker nation on the global stage.

All of that, but there is a number 4 as well:

Denying Russian expansion into Europe and denying a reward for Russian behaviour. Having a western-oriented country between the EU and Russia is not a bad thing, and denying Russia an easy win in the eyes of the world is also not a bad thing. You could argue that they should have taken that stance during the annexation of Crimea, much like a hardline stance during the Munich conference may have caused Germany to back of from their claims to Czechoslovakia, but at least they are doing it now. Furthermore, to be clear, neither the EU or NATO has a binding obligation to help Ukraine out with anything. There is a very strong moral imperative, as we have seen, which fuels current aid. Money that could be spent on economic recovery after the pandemic, instead the political calculus is that the strong moral support allows for a certain amount of pain in the local economies.

All NATO and western countries are happy to see Russia bleed for what they did, and you could argue that the war has already done immense damage to the long-term Russian economy, especially if the sanctions stay in place. But the slow speed of weapons deliveries likely has issues of a more pragmatic nature than just wanting to watch russia bleed out. Part is "boiling the lobster by degrees" multiple small steps of escalation, preventing the russians from making credible claims that NATO and the EU is deliberately trying to provoke a response, another part is the logistical and training challenges involved in shifting an army in combat from one parts supply chain to another, and train enough support personell to sustain it. Same problems you face when trying to shift any type of production environment working 24/7 from one hardware platform to the next while facing manpower-constraints and a hard rule not to compromise operational readiness.
 

tracer

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This T-90M won't have to face western tanks in a few months:


Edit: It seems the topic is going quicker than expected:


She's had one foot out the door for a while though. However, this clears the way for a strong political manoeuvre. Old-guy-out, new-fresh-ideas-in, without having to backtrack.
 

blackjack

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Western equipment is pretty expensive to produce like Apaches cost 52 million dollars, the UK wants to send this to Ukraine, I have seen Wagner shoot down a Su-24 with MANPADS from 8kms away and short range air defenses shoot down a mig-29 and these ranges are even longer than what Apaches are able to use with hellfire missiles. This is what I mean by affordability even as going as far as supplying 1.2 million Dollars for NASAMs but they dont know if Ukraine is using that for 30,000 dollar iranian drones(even the US got concerned to send some US soldiers to see where their equipment supplied to Ukraine was going based on those losses and how much they have used), I mean at this point Russia does not even need to have a bigger economy than Europe or the U.S. Abrams will soon cost of 10 million dollars from 9 million dollars soon enough. But the problem users here fail to understand is just how much firepower Russia is using compared to Ukraine and why they have always used a small force to push a bigger Ukrainian force back. Even the losses Ukraine has claimed would mean reservists would have been launching the offensives to Ukraine in bakhmut but from the map I posted here a while ago it's all convicts from Wagner just doing the fighting but Ukraine bullshitting numbers was nothing new when the war started. And they bullshit again that they wiped out 30k from 40k of Wagner but Wagner is launching more than just one offensive to Bakhmut but other Ukrainian controlled areas and with those kinds of losses you would need to regroup with reinforcements WHICH the Russians have not announced, and the offensives launched were immediate.

But switching to soviet to western made equipment tells us one thing that any pro-ukraine user here cant deny, and that is Russians must have destroyed A LOT of Ukrainian equipment and that is a lot if it got supplied by post-soviet block countries and the middle east if they need to switch to western made equipment. So now countries in NATO will have to decide if they want to deplete their own armed forces to become vulnerable or if their economy despite energy costs and living is good enough to send their equipment to Ukraine but able to afford to get new produced equipment and produce enough to help Ukraine's loss rate and based on production capabilities and how much tanks they are able to produce makes the idea laughable. SINCE they are switching to western equipment once they do that this means they have lost more than 3000 MBTs and even more IFVs based on their own reports, so lets see how generous Europe will be with leopards or see how many bradleys will be supplied until they go oh shit later again, because if they are generous enough to give as much as being left with no tanks for themselves and starting no production for themselves than this war will be over before 2024(that is excluding Abrams or if they will be trained to use those tanks besides training for leopards). I have seen how leopards have performed in Syria.
 

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The current situation in Soledar
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The Armed Forces of Ukraine hold the defense in the east of Ukraine / photo facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua



Soledar was shelled 134 times during the day and there were 38 clashes


The Armed Forces of Ukraine still continue to defend in Soledar itself and on the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian soldiers destroy the enemy "on a massive scale" and do not allow them to advance strategically.

This was announced by the representative of the eastern group of troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergey Cherevaty on the air of the telethon. During the day, the invaders fired at Soledar 134 times and there were 38 clashes. He added that the Ukrainian defenders perform two main tasks in the city.

"The first is to prevent the enemy from systematically breaking through the defenses, reaching the rear and operational space in order to continue the occupation of our land. And the second task is to bleed them as much as possible, destroy personnel and equipment and reduce his offensive potential," Cherevaty said.
 

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"The Big Offensive"

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The Ministry of Defense is studying all the scenarios of the Russian Federation

Russia is dispersing a fake about a "big offensive": in the near future, a 600-700 thousandth group of invaders is ready to make a new attack.

According to the Russian version, the strikes can be both in the east of Ukraine and in the south with an amphibious landing. Also, the western border of our country, in particular, Volyn and Lviv, allegedly falls under the scope. The highlight of the "operation" is a new "super weapon" or "super weapon" that "will help Russia radically change the course of the war."

Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and experts say that this is only part of a massive information and psychological operation of the Kremlin.

Fairy tale figures

The first thing military expert Oleg Zhdanov drew attention to was the fabulous numbers in the number of Russian military formations.

"If there were formations in Russia, numbering 600-700 thousand soldiers, then all Western intelligence services would know about it. After all, it is impossible to hide such a number of people, even on the territory of Russia," Zhdanov said.

He added that the likelihood of a Russian offensive this month is very small. He explained this by the fact that the Russian Federation does not have the resources to transport such a large number of people to Belarus, given that intense fighting is still going on in the East.

Zhdanov also calls the landing in the Odessa region not real. He named two reasons for this: “The landing force will not reach the shore in such a storm and low temperature - this is the first moment and the second - remember, when Russian ships were in the area of Snake Island, we already forgot this. Why? But because we have two types of anti-ship systems on the coast - our Neptune and British Harpoon with a range of 200 km. What kind of landing operation can we talk about.

And as for "super weapons", the Russians mean the destroyer Admiral Gorshkov with Tserkon hypersonic missiles. But it is located in the Mediterranean Sea, and in order for the missiles to reach Ukraine, they need to be launched through the airspace of NATO member countries, and the Russian Federation will not dare to do this, Zhdanov believes.

Ukrainians fell for a fake

Adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Denisenko recalled that the war is not called hybrid for nothing, because it is not only on the battlefield, but also is informational. The occupiers have always tried to spread disinformation in order to intimidate Ukrainians.

One such myth, he said, is Russia's "great offensive" "soon."

"What's new and what's likely to be their main line in the next few weeks. I hope they don't succeed, but for at least a few weeks they'll be talking about the following things. weapons that the Russians have in the stash. And in the near future this terrible offensive will take place and, as the author of this stuffing said, before that it was not a war, but now it will be a "real war," he said.

But the main problem is not the very fact that Russian propagandists are throwing misinformation, but the active dissemination of unverified data by the Ukrainians themselves: "Unfortunately, this video has gone viral, and, unfortunately, millions of people are reposting it, and, unfortunately, millions of people are discussing it."


Risks to Consider

Ukrainian intelligence says that the Russians still have different scenarios for a possible re-attack. But much of the information available about it is false.

"The enemy is preparing various scenarios. And partly engaged, in particular, in disinformation, throwing in certain directions through various tools in order to disorient us. From very" exotic ", such as, for example, a landing on Odessa. Because as of today this looks like a suicidal direction for the enemy. However, we have seen their other suicidal actions," said Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

He also said that in the near future there is no threat of involving Belarus in the invasion of Ukraine.
 

Relic

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Details of the new UK aid package to Ukraine are emerging.

14x Challenger 2 tanks
30x AS-90, 155mm self propelled howitzers (will come in 3 deliveries)
100's of armored vehicles of various types
100,000 artillery rounds
100's of Starstreak air defense missiles
100's of GMLRS ammunition for HIMARS.
Dozens of drones
Spare parts, purchased from unnamed allies, to support the maintenance of Ukrainian tanks and IFVs of Russian / Soviet origin

This will represent Britain's single largest contribution to date.
 
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German Foreign Ministry proposed a scheme on how to judge Putin





View attachment 52703


Guess she‘s thinking of a legal framework like the Nuremberg trials. An evidence of the naïveté and idealism of the Greens believing in powerless international institutions. This is not how the world works. Laws need enforcement and Russia ain‘t Serbia or Rwanda.

Putin will die peacefully of old age in his mansion or get clipped in a coup. History alone will prosecute him.
 

blackjack

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>Wagner boyz having fun in Sol'
>AFU removing corpses and evacuating wounded under shelling (NOT COMFY)
>AFU counterattack attempt near Soledar
>AFU showing off chemical weapons used in Bakhmut/Soledar
>Mad Mykola: Salt Road
>Wagner operator reviews AFU hideout presumably in Soledar
>Sommersaulter of Soldar Part.2
>2 confused hohols refuse to surrender, get shot by a Russian (NOT COMFY)
>"Whose Soledar is?" "Ours. Was."
>Aftermath of explosion (FAB-500?) in Bakhmut
>DPR Marksmen at work
>AFU ammo depot in Ochakov
>"Defenders of white Evropa" getting too cocky
>wagner in a commie block of dead hohols, Soledar
>hohols getting bombarded POV
>hohols getting blasted in their trench in Soledar
>3 Russian tanks against 2 Ukrainian tanks
>Sparta working in Vodiane and Pervoimaisk area
>Missile strike in Druzhkovka (south of Kramatorsk) caught live on French TV.
>NAFO meme exhibit in German museum (THIS IS REAL)

To the user that says he will go the front here, Good Luck.
 
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Nilgiri

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UK Def Min recent statement to their parliament, I have bolded a particularly interesting relevant part:


Mr Speaker, it’s been a month since I last updated the House on the situation in Ukraine. Over the last four weeks, extremely heavy and attritional fighting has continued, especially around the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut, and in the less reported-on sector of Kremina, in Luhansk. Over Christmas, Russia has continued its assault on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.

But no matter how cruel or how much loss of life accompanies it, Russia has singularly failed to break the will of the Ukrainian people or change the policy of its leaders. We continue to closely monitor how Russia’s long range strike campaign will evolve, as it eats deeper into its strategic reserves of modern missiles. It is notable that Russia are now using the forced labour of convicts to manufacture weaponry. Ukraine, however, continues using its internationally provided long-range artillery to successful effect.

Mr Speaker, throughout the war, Russia has managed to lose significant numbers of generals and commanding officers. But last week’s announcement that their commander in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, had been unceremoniously bypassed, with Chief of the General Staff General Gerasimov personally taking over field-command, is certainly significant. It is the visible tip of an iceberg of factionalism within the Russian command. Putin apparently remains bullish, and with Gerasimov’s deference to the President never in doubt, we now would expect a trend back towards a Russian offensive – no matter how much loss of life accompanies it.

Mr Speaker, in 2023 there is no loss of momentum from the international community, quite the opposite. President Putin believed the West would get tired, bored and fragment. Ukraine is continuing to fight and, far from fragmenting, the West is accelerating its efforts.

The United States has invested approximately $24.2 billion in support for Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on the 24th February last year. It has delivered thousands of anti-aircraft and anti-armour systems and has recently stepped up that support – delivering Patriot air defence battery and munitions and 45 refurbished T-72B tanks as well as donating 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to assist with the counter offensive.

We also welcome the decision of the French government to provide Ukraine with their AMX-10 light, highly mobile, tank. This has been used, very recently in reconnaissance missions by the French army and was deployed as recently as the Barkhane mission in West Africa.

Mr Speaker, important as these contributions are in and of themselves, what matters more is that they represent part of an international effort that collectively conveys a force multiplier effect. None of this is happening unilaterally. No one is doing this on their own.

Soon, I shall be announcing the first round of bids to the joint-chaired Danish/UK International Fund for Ukraine. I am grateful to Sweden for adding to the pot of money donated. That now includes Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Iceland, Lithuania and others have donated to that fund.

Meanwhile Russia, isolated and without such support, has now lost over 1,600 main battle tanks in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. But if we’re to continue helping Ukraine seize the upper hand in the next phase of this conflict, we must accelerate our collective efforts diplomatically, economically and militarily to keep the pressure on Putin.

In December I told the House that I was “developing options” to respond to Russia’s continued aggression in a “calibrated and determined manner”. Today I can announce the most significant package of combat power to date to accelerate Ukrainian success.
This includes:
  • A squadron of Challenger 2 tanks with armoured recovery and repair vehicles.
  • We will donate AS90 guns to Ukraine. This comprises a battery of eight guns at high readiness and two further batteries at varying states of readiness. This donation will not impact our existing AS90 commitment to Estonia.
  • Hundreds more armoured and protected vehicles will also be sent including Bulldog.
  • A manoeuvre support package, including minefield breaching and bridging capabilities worth £28 million.
  • Dozens more uncrewed aerial systems worth £20 million to support Ukrainian artillery.
  • Another 100,000 artillery rounds; on top of the 100,000 rounds already delivered.
  • Hundreds more sophisticated missiles including GMLRS rockets, Starstreak air defence missiles, and medium range air defence missiles.
  • An equipment support package of spares to refurbish up to a hundred Ukrainian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
While the tanks and the AS90s will come from our stocks, along with their associated ammunition, a significant number of the other donations are being purchased from the open market or from supportive third-party countries.

Today’s package is an important increase in Ukraine’s capabilities. It means they can go from resisting to expelling Russian forces from Ukrainian soil. President Putin cannot win but he is equally certain to continue inflicting this wanton violence and human suffering until his forces are ejected from their defensive positions and expelled from the country.

That requires a new level of support – the combat power only achieved by combinations of main battle tank squadrons, operating alongside divisional artillery groups, and further deep precision fires enabling targeting of Russian logistics and command nodes at greater distance.

Mr Speaker, we will be the first country to donate Western main battle tanks. And, we will be bringing a further squadron of our own Challenger tanks to higher readiness in place of the squadron sent.

Even as we gift Challenger 2 Tanks, I shall, at the same time, be reviewing the number of Challenger 3 conversions to consider whether the lessons of Ukraine suggest that we need a larger tank fleet.

We will also build on the Army’s modernisation programme – at pace. Specifically on artillery, I am accelerating our Mobile Fires Programme. So instead of delivering in the 2030s it will do this earlier this decade. I have also directed that, subject to commercial negotiation, an interim artillery capability is to be delivered.

After discussion with the United States and our European allies it is hoped that the example set by the French and us will allow those countries holding Leopard tanks to donate as well. I know there are a number of countries wanting to do the same. No-one is going it alone, as I have said.

Mr Speaker, it’s worth reiterating why we are doing this. Because in 2023 the international community will not let Russia wait us out while inflicting terrible suffering on Ukrainian civilians. The international community recognises that equipping Ukraine to push Russia out of its territory is as important as equipping them to defend what they already have.

This week dozens of nations will meet in Ramstein, Germany, to progress further donations and international coordination. The Kremlin will be in no doubt that we are resolved to stand by Ukraine in her fight.

Doubling down on the success of our basic training of Ukrainian military in 2022 in the United Kingdom, we are also now increasing this number this year to a further 20,000. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands have already joined this effort and I’m pleased to say we are now going to be joined by a group of Australian military to train in this country as well. Leaving their summer to join our winter.

Our decision today is a calibrated response to Russia’s growing aggression and indiscriminate bombing. The Kremlin must recognise that is it their behaviour that is solidifying the international resolve and that despite the propaganda Ukraine and her partners are focused on the defence of Ukraine. None of the international support is an attack on Russia, or NATO-orchestrated aggression, let alone a Proxy War.

At its heart it is about helping Ukraine defend itself, upholding international law and restoring its sovereignty. We believe that in 2023, increased supplies, improved training, and strengthening diplomatic resolve will enable Ukraine to be successful against Russia’s poorly led and now badly equipped Armed Forces.

From the outset President Putin believed his forces would be welcomed with open arms, that Ukrainians wouldn’t fight and that Western support would crumble. He has been proved wrong on all counts. Today’s package will help accelerate the conclusion of Putin’s occupation and all its brutality and ensure that in 2023 and beyond if necessary, Ukraine maintains its momentum, supported by an international community that is determined more than ever that Putin’s illegal and unprovoked invasion will fail.
Published 16 January 2023
 
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