(Image by NEIVANMADE)
🇺🇸 @DeptofDefense announced the 49th security assistance package for Ukraine.
The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $150 million, include:
◾️Additional munitions for NASAMS;
◾️AIM-9M missiles for air defense;
◾️Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
◾️Ammunition for HIMARS;…— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 26, 2023
🇺🇸 @DeptofDefense announced the 49th security assistance package for Ukraine.
The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $150 million, include:
◾️Additional munitions for NASAMS;
◾️AIM-9M missiles for air defense;
◾️Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
◾️Ammunition for HIMARS;
◾️155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
◾️TOW missiles;
◾️Javelin anti-armor systems;
◾️2+ million rounds of small arms ammunition;
◾️Night vision devices;
◾️Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing;
◾️Cold weather gear;
◾️Spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.Thank you for supporting Ukraine in our fight for freedom.
Together, to victory!🇺🇦🤝🇺🇸
Without a supplemental legislative funding package for Ukraine, there is limited and dwindling appropriated funds left to send aid to Ukraine. Every new tranche of funds or material that is sent brings us closer to the spigot running dry. Given who the new Speaker is, Ukraine cannot expect that the US will support it for much longer. It is now highly unlikely the Biden administration will be able to get a new aid package for Ukraine approved. Biden’s senior national security team’s low appetite for risk, being too cautious by half, & allowing Putin, via his information warfare campaign, to be involved in their decision making out of fear of what he might have done has consequences. Ukraine will now face those consequences.
Speaking of Russia:
‘Representatives of Hamas have highly appreciated the position of Putin and the efforts of Russian diplomacy’
It's not the first time the Kremlin is welcoming terrorists; some who are responsible for killing Ukrainians have been awarded medals before. pic.twitter.com/kcUW1NyuCw
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) October 26, 2023
From The Moscow Times:
Delegates from the Palestinian militant group Hamas have arrived in Moscow for talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Thursday evening.
“I can confirm that representatives of the [Hamas] Palestinian movement are visiting Moscow,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a weekly briefing.
“We will inform you additionally about its contacts,” she added.
Moscow had not previously announced plans for talks with the militant group, which launched an attack on Israel earlier this month, prompting an unrelenting bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military.
Hamas’ delegation is reportedly led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of the militant organization.
The state-run news agency RIA Novosti later reported that Hamas had met with Bogdanov, and during the meeting, the delegates “commended Putin’s position and the efforts of Russia’s diplomacy.”
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
We are expanding our capabilities and seeing the end of the war with a Ukrainian victory more clearly – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
26 October 2023 – 21:31
I wish you good health, dear Ukrainians!
Today, there is a decision regarding two new defense support packages – from America and Denmark.
The American package includes, among other things, missiles for air defense, missiles for HIMARS, ammunition, including 155mm… The total amount of this American package is $150 million. I thank President Biden, his team, the U.S. Congress, and all Americans who value freedom. It is very important that the enemies of freedom do not have the illusion that the defense of freedom cannot withstand a defensive marathon.
The substantial Danish package is over $500 million. This includes additional armored vehicles for our soldiers – tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, drones, artillery ammunition. Thank you, Denmark! This is what truly helps us protect the lives of our people on the front lines.
Today, I spoke with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark. Very substantive, regarding the further development of our defense cooperation, the preservation of unity in Europe among all our partners, and our Peace Formula. I am grateful to Denmark for their readiness to really advance the implementation of the Peace Formula.
We are continuing to prepare for the Peace Formula meeting in Malta and are adding more participants.
I participated in the European Council meeting, attended by the leaders of EU countries, President of the European Council Charles Michel, as well as President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. The European Union is preparing several steps that we are expecting. This includes new sanctions against Russia and new steps in support of Ukraine. We are particularly anticipating the EU’s political decision to open negotiations on our country’s membership, and from our side, we are doing everything to be prepared.
Today, I signed one of the most important laws on the path to starting the negotiations – the law on PEPs, politically exposed persons. This law strengthens the financial monitoring of the lives of key state officials and members of parliament. Its adoption is a clear signal of how seriously Ukraine takes the task of joining the European Union and making the work of its public institutions truly transparent.
And, of course, the front.
Today, I chaired a meeting of the Military Cabinet. A special format of working with commanders, intelligence leaders, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Minister of Defense. Reports from every front – our generals Syrsky, Tarnavsky, Hnatov, Moskaliov, Sodol. Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny. Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Budanov and Chief of External Intelligence Lytvynenko. Our strategic tasks. Supplies for our soldiers – ammunition, equipment. The Ukrainian defense industry. We are expanding our capabilities and seeing the end of the war with a Ukrainian victory more clearly.
Of course, we all must realize that the enemy is not simple and won’t become simpler. But Ukraine must become – and will become – stronger. So that we permanently record in history that the Russian empire will never come to Ukrainian land again.
Glory to all our soldiers! Guys, I thank you for every destroyed Russian position! Glory to our entire nation!
Denmark has stepped up once again:
Let's not miss it out that we're having an awesome defense assistance pack coming from 🇩🇰Denmark:
– T-72EA tanks
– BMP-2s
– Artillery munitions
– Drones
– Firearms
– Armored recovery vehicles
All worth a total of $520 million 🤝🤝🤝— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 26, 2023
Unfortunately, just as America’s defense industrial base has not been placed on a war footing, neither has the EU’s:
The EU promised Ukraine 1,000,000 artillery rounds. So far, we have delivered only 300,000. Meanwhile, North Korea delivered 350,000 to Russia.
We surely have the resources to outperform North Korea.
We should stop being frozen in the headlights while brave Ukrainians die.— Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 (@GLandsbergis) October 26, 2023
Slovakia on the other hand:
#BREAKING Slovakia announces the end of military aid to Ukraine⬇️https://t.co/mBfqM2QEz6
— euronews (@euronews) October 26, 2023
Avdiivka:
‼️ Since Oct 11th, Russia has suffered significant losses, including at least 125 armored vehicles around Avdiivka – US NatSec John Kirby.
— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) October 26, 2023
Our team has been working on the North Korean deliveries project for the past several weeks, which experienced delays due to the russian assault in Avdiivka. While some official agencies and RUSI have already published certain figures and estimations, we've been concurrently… pic.twitter.com/DqVg8HySDx
— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) October 26, 2023
Our team has been working on the North Korean deliveries project for the past several weeks, which experienced delays due to the russian assault in Avdiivka. While some official agencies and RUSI have already published certain figures and estimations, we’ve been concurrently conducting our own research. We’re eager to share our report soon based on satellite imagery, OSINT calculations, and important hints from our trusted sources.
Although we’re still in the process of compiling our report, we’re targeting a release of the numbers by the end of this week. Many people reported that some of our recent tweets have gone unnoticed, failing to appear in timelines. Therefore, I kindly request your active engagement — to follow and share our updates. Our visibility has seen a significant decline, despite the elevated engagement numbers with our posts. Your support is greatly appreciated in this regard.
Another video by fighters of the 3rd Assault Brigade in Andriivka, Bakhmut direction. Notable is active use of cluster munitions by the Russians. 2nd Battalion. https://t.co/W9lkshtQOd pic.twitter.com/mJ93rvCDEQ
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) October 26, 2023
Butusov, a Ukrainian journalist, talked this morning about the situation worsening in Avdiivka. Russians are hoping to establish a foothold in the Coke plant building north of Avdiivka, and are also pushing from the south.https://t.co/thz2Z0Qenq pic.twitter.com/nfM2nCzSPq
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) October 26, 2023
Berdyansk:
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence reports about the destruction of 4 FSB officers in the temporarily occupied Berdyansk, 2 days ago.
On 23 October, a vehicle carrying 4 FSB staff, among them "a known Russian war criminal who took part in tortures of local Ukrainians".…
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) October 26, 2023
Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence reports about the destruction of 4 FSB officers in the temporarily occupied Berdyansk, 2 days ago.
On 23 October, a vehicle carrying 4 FSB staff, among them “a known Russian war criminal who took part in tortures of local Ukrainians”.
The incident took place near a hotel where FSB established their HQs. FSB now moved to another location.
Luhansk:
After lying about it for 24 hours, Russians now admit they DID NOT shoot down our ATACMS yesterday in Lugansk and that we in fact destroyed several of their S300 batteries.
Footage. pic.twitter.com/xJpmwkQV8I
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) October 26, 2023
The Financial Times reports on Ukrainian medics:
A Ukrainian soldier with shrapnel wounds to his legs howled in pain as medics lifted him off a bloodied gurney and on to Volodymyr Veselovskyi’s operating table.
“You will live. You will probably keep your legs, too,” Veselovskyi, an army surgeon, told the soldier. He tugged on the tourniquets fastened around the soldier’s thighs that had kept him from bleeding to death. “These are good,” he said. “You’re lucky.”
At this “stabilisation point” about 10 miles west of the battlefield at Bakhmut, Veselovskyi works alongside other volunteers who traded their medical practices for military fatigues after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 20 months ago. Dozens such emergency units have been set up along the 600-mile frontline, serving as critical first stops for wounded soldiers needing emergency treatment before being evacuated to larger hospitals.
Ukraine’s soldiers have received praise for their acts of valour on the battlefield, where they are locked in a David-versus-Goliath fight against the much larger and more powerful Russian army. But Ukraine’s doctors, nurses and paramedics are no less important, as they wage a daily battle of their own to save the lives of their country’s defenders.
“This is the second frontline,” said army surgeon Bohdan at a different stabilisation point in Pokrovske, a town about 25 miles north of the main focus of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
More than 20 months into the intense all-out war, Ukraine’s medics are in constant need of crucial supplies. More than a dozen combat medics interviewed since the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in May expressed frustration that defective medical equipment and a lack of medical training were costing soldiers’ lives.
Ukraine does not disclose its casualties but the latest US estimates suggest that about 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured and 70,000 killed since February 2022. Russia’s military is believed to have lost about 120,000 troops, with another 280,000 wounded, according to US estimates.
Those figures will keep rising as Russia’s invasion becomes a contest over mere metres of land, with heavy artillery duels and any ground assault hampered by fortifications and vast minefields.
Faced with Russia’s formidable firepower and fortified defences, Ukraine’s counteroffensive has not produced the results Kyiv had hoped for this year. Neither side has made significant gains and military analysts predict 2024 will be a similar slugfest.
The conflict’s grinding nature is evidenced by a steady flow of wounded troops to stabilisation points, including five facilities visited by the FT in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Between 30 and 80 wounded Ukrainian soldiers pass through each facility every day, medics say. But when the fighting rises, it is not unusual for the rate to increase to 150 a day.
Alina Bilous, a combat medic in Pokrovske, said she saw a three-fold increase in wounded soldiers after the counteroffensive began. She and the other medics there have since been working “24 hours a day, seven days a week”.
They sleep in cots down the hall from the operating tables and bloodstained stretchers, with a pungent metallic smell mixed with the stinging odour of antiseptic hanging in the air.
The soldiers’ injuries are predominantly shrapnel wounds caused by artillery fire and landmines.
Veselovskyi said he performed seven amputations in less than 24 hours, removing the limbs of soldiers who came under enemy shelling while advancing through a minefield during an assault north of Bakhmut, the Donetsk city captured by Russia after 10 months of intense, attritional fighting. They all lost limbs but their lives were saved, thanks to good-quality tourniquets, the surgeon said.
But he and other medics have increasingly had to work with poor-quality medical supplies, making it tougher to keep patients alive. At one stabilisation point, a “museum of killer tourniquets” was on display with over a dozen broken devices that failed to save the lives of their wearers.
“I’ve seen this first-hand when a soldier had a defective tourniquet which broke and the soldier lost his life,” said Rebekah Maciorowski, an American nurse who volunteered as a medic with the Ukrainian army in March 2022.
Cheap tourniquets, many made in China, have flooded Ukraine and made their way into soldiers’ first-aid kits, Maciorowski said. With a bad tourniquet, a soldier could bleed to death in three minutes, she added. “This is not something to save money on.”
Ukraine’s Medical Forces Command was made aware of the issue in early summer and Anton Shevchuk, one of the top medical commanders, requested in July that the cheap tourniquets be replaced immediately. He said such devices were found in more than 5,000 first-aid kits issued by the military.
Shevchuk said he was “severely reprimanded” for his comments, but “I could not let the guys go into battle with the Chinese tourniquets”.
The scandal sparked a rare public discussion about military procurement. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, publicly criticising the armed forces has been largely taboo and seen as unpatriotic by officials and citizens alike.
Public broadcaster Suspilne recently asked the Medical Forces Command why soldiers still received “poor-quality” first-aid kits and tourniquets. In late August, the Ukrainian military received an order to issue 80,000 new tourniquets meeting US military standards, Suspilne reported. It is unclear whether those were obtained and distributed among soldiers.
The Medical Forces Command did not respond to a request for comment.
“What is lacking [is] any kind of standardised reviewing of first-aid kits,” Maciorowski said.
As important as having good quality materials is knowing how to use them — and many medics say better first-aid training for soldiers is needed.
“A large portion of tactical medical training is just entirely omitted,” Maciorowski said, including when Ukrainian troops are being trained abroad. In addition to soldiers, medics have also been receiving training in the US, UK and other allied countries. “Because there’s such a push to get guys to the front, they can be given a month of training [with] maybe one or two days of tactical medical training. They’re not going to remember that.”
More at the link!
The Globe & Mail reports on what happens when you flee one war zone and wind up in another.
In a youth centre just outside Tel Aviv, dozens of Jewish-Ukrainian children are recovering after fleeing war for the second time in two terrifying years.
The children were living in a group home in the Zhytomyr region of northern Ukraine when they were awakened by explosions on Feb. 24, 2022, the first morning of the Russian invasion. With enemy troops attacking their country from three directions, a plan was quickly developed to evacuate the more than 100 kids and the group home’s staff to what seemed like the safety of Israel.
On Oct. 7, the nightmare was repeated for 40 of the children when air-raid sirens screamed over their new home in the southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon. They were just 10 kilometres from the Gaza Strip, and Hamas fighters were pouring through holes in the Israeli security perimeter, killing and kidnapping men, women and children.
The group of children are among tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians who have come to Israel since the start of the war for Ukraine. Among them are refugees, draft dodgers and a few who have travelled to Ukraine to fight before returning to Israel after Oct. 7.
The kids, who are between seven and 18 years old, spent six hours in a bomb shelter that Saturday before emerging during a moment of apparent quiet for food and a trip to the synagogue. Then, amid rumours that Hamas gunmen were inside the city, they returned to their safe house. The staff who had accompanied them from Ukraine began making plans to flee again.
“The kids immediately noticed something was not normal. We went to the shelter and stayed there for a few hours. Some kids really panicked and started crying. We understood that we must take them away from Ashkelon as soon as possible,” said Malki Bukiet, who was the director of the Alumim-Chabad Home for Jewish Children in Zhytomyr and has remained with the kids in Israel.
The children are now at the youth facility on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where sirens – usually followed by the sounds of Israel’s air defence systems intercepting Hamas rockets – are still a near-daily occurrence. “We feel as if anywhere we go war is following us,” said a 12-year-old girl named Chani, in a statement relayed via the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a charity headquartered in the United States that sponsored the evacuation from Ukraine, and also assisted the move from Ashkelon. “I really don’t know where I can feel safe any more and I’m so scared that I’ll need to get on another plane to escape war.”
Ms. Bukiet said the kids are now receiving group treatment to cope with the trauma and turmoil of the past two years. One of them, she added, has already joined the Israeli military.
Israel and the history of the Jewish people have been linked to the war in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claims that his troops are fighting to eradicate “Nazism” in Ukraine – even as Russian air strikes and artillery fire have destroyed at least 11 synagogues around the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, has frequently likened his country’s struggle to Israel’s – two democracies cursed with bad neighbours.
Mr. Zelensky, however, has been disappointed with the tepid support Ukraine has received from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has prioritized good relations with the Kremlin, which has influence over Hamas, as well as the autocratic government of neighbouring Syria.
The Ukrainian President reportedly sought to visit Israel to show solidarity after the Oct. 7 attacks. However, Mr. Netanyahu – who has welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and others – told Mr. Zelensky that “the time is not right” for him to visit, Israeli media reported.
The war in Ukraine has brought a fivefold increase in the number of immigrants arriving in Israel from both Ukraine and Russia – about 15,000 and 43,000 respectively. Many in the latter group were fleeing Mr. Putin’s increasingly repressive rule and the possibility of being drafted to fight in his war.
Not everyone moving between Russia, Ukraine and Israel is fleeing the fighting.
Arie, a code name, is a 34-year-old Russian-born Israeli paratrooper who has travelled repeatedly to Ukraine since the war began. At first he was providing Ukrainian soldiers with training in combat medicine. Later, he connected with teams of surgeons and paramedics who went on front-line missions to perform battlefield medicine and casualty evacuations. While the medics worked, Arie – whom The Globe and Mail is not naming out of concerns his family in Russia could face retribution – provided perimeter security with other foreign volunteer fighters.
More than once that meant he was firing his AR-15 assault rifle at soldiers from the country of his birth. “It was disappointing for sure. But when I was a kid, when I was growing up, I never expected that my country would become something very close to Nazi Germany from the perspective of propaganda and ideology,” he said in an interview this week at his home in Haifa. He said he left Russia and moved to Israel in 2014, shortly after the Kremlin’s seizure and illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
But as passionate as he is about the Ukrainian cause – and the need to confront Mr. Putin’s Russia – Arie returned to Israel as fast as he could from Ukraine after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on the communities of southern Israel, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis. On Wednesday, he joined his reservist paratrooper unit as it was deployed toward Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Fears are high that Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, which like Hamas is funded by Iran, could open a second front in the war.
“This is my home. I’m very sympathetic to Ukrainians. But the moment this happened, the feeling was that this is much more important for me, with all due respect to the Ukrainians,” Arie said.
More at the link!
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
Fist some Patron adjacent material from the Ukrainian MOD:
Who said occupiers?
I also want to expel the occupiers from the 🇺🇦 land!📸: Shaybaboy pic.twitter.com/0H7KhSQANN
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 26, 2023
And a new video from Patron’s official TikTok:
@patron__dsns Не пов а ріл :))
Here’s the machine translation of the caption:
Not a full-blown :))
Open thread!
Freemark
Saw a report that those S-300 systems taken out might actually be S-400s which would be great. It would be a much greater cost to Russia and really hurt their export value. Also hope the DOD counts the cluster shells and ATACMs sent to Ukraine as a credit on their account as we were spending money to decommission them.
Thanks again for all your hard work Adam.
MagdaInBlack
Thank you as always, Adam.
I am curious how our Putin loving, Hamas hating republicans reconcile their hero meeting with Hamas.
Alison Rose
Once our aid runs dry, the blood of every lost Ukrainian life is on the hands of every pro-putin Republican in Congress and every shithead voter who put them in office. Unfortunately, none of them care, because they’re heartless bastards who are happy to let the rest of the world burn if it keeps them warm in their own homes. Mike Johnson and all of his turd posse should be made to watch a slideshow of every battlefield death with their eyes wrenched open, Clockwork Orange style.
A complete lack of empathy scares me as much as an abundance of active evil.
Thank you as always, Adam.
japa21
@Freemark:
Wouldn’t surprise me if we see some creative accounting. I disagree with Adam about one thing. I do think there will be an aid package passed for Ukraine by the House.
YY_Sima Qian
Why is the US sending the obsolescent AIM-9M missile, rather than the AIM-9X?
TheOtherHank
@YY_Sima Qian: I saw it somewhere on the internet (maybe even one of Adam’s updates) that the Ukranians have figured out how to ground-launch sidewinders for anti-drone use. So old Sidewinders we don’t want anymore are getting new life as jury-rigged MANPADS
Adam L Silverman
@TheOtherHank: It was in the update a couple of night’s back.
Chetan Murthy
@YY_Sima Qian: I’ve read that specifically in the case of air-to-air missiles, the US is reluctant to send the newest kit, b/c
I read that there were hopes that EU countries would supply the Meteor missile, which is pretty good, and arguably the danger of China/Iran reverse-engineering it is less of a problem, since EU countries are less likely to be front-line fighting China/Iran in the case of war.
Shorter: we don’t want our best kit to get reverse-engineered by RU’s allies.
wombat probability cloud
@japa21: Can shipments be increasingly formalized under disposal contracts for “old” (but still perfectly serviceable) munitions and equipment? That is, not only sending the goods but with payment for services rendered?
Subsole
@MagdaInBlack:
Easy. Russia hates browns, Jews, Muslims and queers. Hamas hates browns, Jews, Muslims who don’t toe the line, and queers.
Just another of Aryan Patriot Open-carry Freemarket Jesus’s flawed implements used for a higher purpose.
These people are emotionally driven toddlers throwing the mother of all tantrums, led by a collection of whorehouse mop buckets who figured out how to put on socks. Consistency of logic is asking too much.
Marc
@TheOtherHank: A single AIM-9M weighs 85 kg, it would have to be launched from a vehicle. It also has limited off-boresight capability, it needs to be aimed at the target for the seeker to acquire it, which requires a steerable launch rail with either radar or infrared tracking. Not an easy DIY project. Most likely jury-rigged to work with some existing vehicle-mounted ex-Soviet SAM system.
kalakal
@MagdaInBlack:
Yes, this strikes me as a serious misstep by Hamas and Putrid.
Even for Republican congress critters being seen to side with Hamas will be hard to get away with.
@Alison Rose:
I like this idea
Chetan Murthy
@kalakal: The Ludovico Method!
Carlo Graziani
Concerning Butusov’s post on Avdiivka: if the Russians really are withdrawing forces from thr Kupiansk sector to reinforce the Avdiivka assault, then they are, from a strategic point of view, mad. This would be brain damage-level decisionmaking.
Kupiansk is a key railroad node supplying Ukrainian warmaking in Luhansk Oblast. It’s loss would be a very serious setback to the UA, and Russian forces are 10-15 km away from the town. Avdiivka is an utterly irrelevant suburb of Donetsk City. Taking it would give the Russians nothing of tangible value.
For the Russians to take Avdiivka at huge cost to themselves, in a casualty and materiel exchange decisively favoring Ukraine would constitute a substantial Ukrainian military success, rivalling the meat grinders that they created for the Russians in 2022, starting with the battle for Severodonetsk.
I don’t know what to say—there are only so many synonyms for “stupid”.
Another Scott
@japa21: I suspect so as well. There are too many people in the House on the record about the importance of supporting Ukraine, and Biden (and McConnell) rolling the Ukraine and Israel aid (and Taiwan and rebuilding the DoD industrial base) together makes it more likely it will happen.
I’m reminded of what happened around 5.5 months ago – warning Politico.com:
Folks who drink poisoned Kool-Aid all the time aren’t as smart as they think they are.
We’ll see!
Slava Ukraini!!
Cheers,
Scott.
kalakal
@Carlo Graziani: The Russians seem to have a strong tendency to channel von Falkenhayn’s mincing machine*. Didn’t work out too well for him either
*and that’s unfair to old Erich, he wasn’t an idiot
Carlo Graziani
@kalakal: Actually, I’m more strongly reminded of Joffre’s “Attaque à outrance.”
Nelle
I lost my Democratic Congresswoman in the last election. She was replaced by a right wing Republican who likes to brandish his veteran credentials and his “family values.” I call his office every week, though this last week, for every vote he gave Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson (how could he, who has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution vote for them??). But last night, I wrote a long email, detailing our family experience in Ukraine, some details from reading The Red Famine, and some statements that the one Russian guy said about a global famine would be quite handy for Russia.
I had a written response within 18 hours. Given his hearty support for Mike Johnson, I was surprised at how strongly he came out against Russian aggression. He did temper that with his worries about the debt though. I will continue to respond. I’m getting to know the staffers in his office by voice. I do the friendly, concerned Grandma talk. Because I’m a friendly, concerned Grandma who is being pushed beyond her boundaries. (I got six friends to call to object to the Jordan vote and I know that they are keeping tallies on the calls.) I’ll continue to badger him, just so I keep some “against” tallies in his record book.
kalakal
@Carlo Graziani: Verdun had no strategic importance, it was purely symbolic, von Falkenhayn hoped to destroy the French army in a one sided battle of attrition, in the event he lost control of the situation and very nearly destroyed his own army as well as the French one for no meaningful gain to either side
cain
A very sobering update on what’s at stake. The house republicans will have a lot to answer for. We should be asking every republican if there should be consequences for Russia with Hamas and Russia in alliance ?
I think we have some good messaging that should be use. Every Dem should be talking about it and we should overwhelm social media
Librarian
Has Johnson said he opposes Ukraine aid? To say that the House will no longer pass it seems to me a pretty bold prediction. First of all, there’s too much bipartisan support for it. I don’t think Johnson can just singlehandedly stop it.
Chetan Murthy
@Librarian: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4274682-where-gop-speaker-nominee-mike-johnson-stands-on-ukraine-israel/
All that said, he’s the Speaker. That means that he gets to decide which bills are submitted to the floor. Period. Short of a discharge petition [which, IIUC, is pretty time-consuming], or a motion to vacate [even more time-consuming], he’s got the final say. [at least, that’s how I understand the job of Speaker].
Adam L Silverman
@Librarian: Yes. I posted all of that in last night’s update before the read more tag.
Nelle
@Adam L Silverman: Thank you, Adam. It was what you wrote last night that prompted me to write my Rep. I apologize for not expressing my gratitude for all that you do. I share with others what you share with us.
Adam L Silverman
@Nelle: You are most welcome
Betsy
@Nelle: Wow, Nelle, that’s amazing. You are evidently making a real difference with your active voice in the world.
I’m glad and grateful you can work that. I mean – it’s so good to hear some good news. More power to you.
Freemark
@Marc:
What I’ve read indicates three possibilities, any one or all might be used.
1 – We and/or allies have given them old Chaparral SHORAD systems which use these missiles.
2 – Ukraine has figured out how to convert them to work on the old Soviet Strela system that uses a similar missile.
3 – A FrankenSam system similar to the one the UK has supplied to Ukraine utilizing a military truck and the ASRAAM missile. (Much better name than AIM for a missile that is designed to strike the rear of most fighter jets.)
Yarrow
@Nelle: That’s amazing. Good for you.
N M
Thanks for the post @Adam!
Ksmiami
@Alison Rose: really disappointed that Biden didn’t push for more aid sooner. And the GOP needs to die already
Adam L Silverman
I know some of you all donated to help out friend of the blog Larime or commissioned some art from them when Cole did the fundraiser back in the spring. I am sorry to have to bear the bad news, but their partner Sylv died last night. From the announcement he posted at his GoFundMe:
May their memory be a blessing.
We ask you all to kick in for a lot of things – political campaigns, pet relocations, Ukraine – so I’m not posting this so you’ll donate or kick in more money. That’s up to you. But since we did do a front page fundraiser for them back in the spring, I figured you’d all want to know.
I’m heading offline and will catch you all on the flip.
Bill Arnold
@Ksmiami:
Yeah, now the Biden administration will have to offer Ukraine a market-rate disposal contract for most of the very large US stockpile of obsolete 155mm DPICM cluster munitions. Ukraine can then use the money for other weapons. Same for other obsolete but still useful US equipment. (/snark, sort of)
I.e. the accounting will get creative if necessary.
randy khan
FWIW, I think the equation on Ukraine aid is more complicated than just “The Speaker doesn’t like it.” McConnell’s very specific endorsement of a combined package – Ukraine aid, Israel aid, disaster relief and border funding (yecch, but I get why it’s there) – means that the Senate will pass that package, probably by a very big margin, and essentially insist on getting what it wants. Meanwhile, there are way more than enough Republican votes (probably more than half the caucus) to get a majority in the House if the package comes to the floor. At the same time, it’s hard for Republicans to vote against aid for Israel, not to mention the disaster relief money, even if the biggest chunk of the package is aid for Ukraine. So Johnson and co. may have their first big problem here. (And, to be clear, if they pass a bill of their own without Ukraine aid, we should expect the Senate to add it back and return it to the House that way.)
Another Scott
Meanwhile, this may explain what’s been going on with Meadows the last few months.
The House GQPers tying themselves ever tighter to TIFG may cause problems in the short term, but it seems likely (to me) they’re going to regret it as the actions in the courts continue.
Inshallah.
Cheers,
Scott.
Marc
I know there was some discussion with Taiwan some months back about handing theirs over to Ukraine, but I’ve heard nothing since. When I was in high school during the 60s, my Dad was project manager for the Forward Area Alerting Radar that provided the targeting data to the accompanying Chaparral and Vulcan batteries. Now, that was a funky system. It was mounted on a Gamma Goat that couldn’t drive from one end of the parking lot to the other without breaking down. The radar operators were provided with a 30 lb wireless “tablet” so they could sit at a distance from the actual radar (which would be a missile magnet). The “display” was a 20×20 or so matrix of discrete LEDs, green for friendly, red for hostile, complete with individual buttons to launch a Chaparral or fire a Vulcan at the designated target.
YY_Sima Qian
@TheOtherHank:
@Chetan Murthy:
AIM-9X isn’t exactly the bleeding edge, either, & has been widely proliferated among US allies & partners over the past decade. It is roughly the same generation as the European ASRAAM & the Chinese PL-10 (& Israeli Python V), all of which employ IR imaging seekers that are more resistant to flare decoys. Not sure that it has anything all that sensitive that would degrade any significant US tactical advantage if fallen into Chinese hands, but not giving them to Ukraine adversely affects Ukrainian ability to contest air superiority. The Russians are behind the current state of art relative to the US, Europeans, Chinese & Israelis.
The AIM-9M does not have IR imaging seekers, thus more vulnerable to being spoofed by flares deployed by Russian fighters, attack aircraft & attack helicopters. It is Gulf War I state of the art…
gene108
@kalakal:
Most Americans couldn’t find Russia on a map, let alone care about who Russia meets with. Unless right-wing media says something negative about this meeting, Republican voters won’t know it happened or if they do know, won’t care.
The repetition needed to make something stick in the public’s mind just isn’t going to happen regarding this meeting.
gene108
@Librarian:
Boehner and Ryan sat a fuck ton of bills that had bipartisan support. The bill would overwhelmingly pass with mostly Democratic support and enough Republicans to leave the final vote never in doubt.
The immigration reform bill, from 10 or so years ago, passed the Senate, but Boehner never brought it to a vote. That’s one bill that sticks out to me that had bipartisan support in the House the Speaker single-handedly killed.
Since Boehner, Republicans do not want to bring bills for a vote in the House, when in the majority, unless it can pass with only Republican votes. This is why the Freedom Caucus has so much power.
Only exception I’ve seen is on the debt ceiling and budget, but this usually happens at the eleventh hour, with weeks of drama about Republican infighting.
Geminid
@Chetan Murthy:
That is not so. The House Rule regarding Discharge Petitions is still in place. During the Debt Ceiling standoff last May, Democrsts were already gathering signatures on a Discharge Petition when McCarthy gave in and put a compromise Debt Ceiling bill on the floor.
This may be a complicated procedure but it’s a real one. Last January 17 Rep. Gallego, a leading advocate for aid to Ukraine, raised the possibility of a Speaker blocking aid in an interview with Military Times reporter Zamone Perez,:
“I think that’s a something we have to be realistic about and try to work around, whether it’s discharge petitions, or whatever other measures there are for us to continue funding Ukraine at the appropriate levels for it to defend itself.”
Matt
The House is currently controlled by a party that’s collaborating with the country that still has thousands of thermonuclear weapons pointed at us, and now they’re deliberately sabotaging efforts to aid our allies against that country’s aggression.
You wanna show Putin our resolve? Drag these fucksticks right off the House floor in handcuffs, give them a quick drumhead trial for treason, and execute them. Enough is enough.