Posted on 12/21/2022 4:00:59 PM PST by UMCRevMom@aol.com
Update from Ukraine | Zelenskyi in USA | 1,8bln support for Ukrainian army. What are the JDAM bombs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh3IRhn2i6I&list=RDCMUCpr-NNORb2UQYDD3k-w-OFg&start_radio=1
Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/
SUMMARY & MAPS Military Maps & Comment here: https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-300-summary/ Invasion Day 300 – Summary December 20, 2022
The original source for the “I need ammunition, not a ride” is attributed to President Zelensky translated thru US official.
The world recognizes his leadership.
The US government offered to evacuate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from Kyiv — but he declined.
“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Zelensky said, The Associated Press reported, citing a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation.
Zelensky, 44, instead chose to remain in Ukraine’s capital as Russian forces brought the fight to the city streets, where gunfire and explosions were heard overnight Friday into Saturday.
The besieged president said his family had been evacuated to safety.
“I am staying in the government quarters together with others,” Zelensky said in a video address early on Friday. “The enemy has designated me as target number one, and my family as target number two.”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who refused the United States’ evacuation offer, is seen next to government officials in Kyiv on Feb. 25, 2022.
Zelensky addressed his countrymen again on Friday night, telling them to brace for an overnight assault and urging unity and strength.
“The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now,” Zelensky said in the video. “This night will be very difficult, and the enemy will use all available forces to break the resistance of Ukrainians.”
“We can’t lose the capital,” he added, emphatically.
Zelensky, a former actor and comedian, has lead a considerable defense against the Russian incursion so far, slowing down the Russian advance, according to US defense officials. However, there is concern that could change quickly.
Russian troops attacked Kyiv from several directions, encircling the city of about 2.8 million.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said “active combat” was taking place in Kyiv, as Russian forces tried to push toward the city center and faced heavy resistance from Ukrainian fighters.
Hundreds of casualties have been reported following intense fighting both within and around the city, however the Ukrainian forces appeared to have held onto the capital as of early Saturday, according to officials.
“We are stopping the horde as best as we can, the situation in Kyiv is under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and our citizens,” Security Council Secretary Danilov said on Saturday morning, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Zelensky also posted another video address from Kyiv on Saturday morning, in which he vowed to defend his country.
“There’s a lot of fake information online that I call on our army to lay down arms, and that there’s evacuation,” he said, according to a translation by the Kyiv Independent.
“I’m here. We won’t lay down our arms. We will defend our state.”
https://nypost.com/2022/02/26/ukraine-president-volodymyr-zelensky-declines-us-evacuation-offer/
Russian soldier says they’re suffering more losses ‘from their own side’ than from Ukrainians, including being fired on by their own tanks
Sophia Ankel
Dec 21, 2022, 8:15 AM
https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-have-more-losses-own-side-than-from-ukrainians-reports-2022-12
-Russian soldiers are getting killed by their own military, according to multiple reports.
-In audio released by Ukraine, a Russian soldier said 20 men died after a Russian tank fired on them.
-The soldier told his mother there are more losses “from our own” than from Ukrainians.
Russian soldiers are suffering more losses “from their own side” than from Ukrainians on the front, including being fired on by their own tanks, according to an intercepted phone call released by Ukrainian intelligence on Tuesday.
In the audio clip, a Russian soldier identified only as Aleksei told his mother that the military had to send for reinforcements after 20 men died in an accident on the front.
“Our tank hit hard: It fired twice and 20 guys, fuck,” Aleksei told his mother, according to The Daily Beast. “I’m telling you, there are more losses from our own [guys],” than the Ukrainians, he said, according to The Beast.
It is unclear where Aleksei was stationed. The audio has not been independently verified.
Reports of friendly fire incidents among Russian troops have increased in recent months.
A report by the independent Russian outlet iStories, also published on Tuesday, found a pattern of negligence and deadly mishaps among troops fighting in Ukraine.
While friendly fire occurs in any warzone, experts told iStories that the rate of Russians killing each other had shot up in recent months. Ukrainian military expert Alexander Kovalenko told the outlet that such incidents are now being reported daily.
The outlet highlighted two incidents in the last few months where a Russian soldier accidentally killed another because of drunkness and the clumsy use of weapons.
One draftee, identified as Roman Moiseev, was accidentally shot by a colleague earlier this year after he tried to take off his loaded machine gun, but then touched the trigger.
Moiseev died from his wounds and his colleague was sentenced to two years of probation for mishandling his weapon, iStories reported.
Some have suggested that incidents of Russians killing Russians are not always accidental.
The New York Times reported last weekend that the fractured nature of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, with the involvement of mercenaries as well as regular army troops, is leading to hostilities between forces.
The outlet reported one incident in which a soldier recounted how a Russian tank commander deliberately charged at his supposed allies, blowing up their checkpoint.
It is unclear how many Russians have died in Ukraine. Last month, US Army General Mark A. Milley estimated that 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of the war on February 24, though the number is likely to be far higher.
“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Zelensky said, The Associated Press reported, citing a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation.
Russians are angry Putin is spending billions on an unpopular war as they freeze back home, report says
Sophia Ankel
https://www.businessinsider.com/freezing-russians-angry-putin-is-spending-billions-in-ukraine-report-2022-12?inline-endstory-related-recommendations=
-Russians are accusing Putin of ignoring domestic problems while focusing on the war in Ukraine.
-Some Russians are complaining about a lack of heating in their homes, The Daily Beast reported.
-Forbes Ukraine estimated last week that Russia has spent around $82 billion in the war so far.
Russians are angry President Vladimir Putin is spending billions on an increasingly unpopular war in Ukraine as they freeze back home, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday.
As Russian troops continue to strike Ukraine’s vital power in fractures — plunging millions into darkness — Russians at home are also struggling to keep afloat amid crippling Western sanctions.
People living in many of the remote regions of the country, where conditions are at their worst, have been complaining about a lack of heating in their homes and burst water pipes, The Beast reported, citing social media posts.
Remote regions including Tyumen and Yakutia are among the worst affected, reporting many victims of frost in the past week, the outlet reported.
“They take young men—the only breadwinners—away and send them back in coffins. The guys freeze on the front, get sick, die while their families live in poverty,” Valentina Melnikova, an activist with the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, told The Beast.
“It seems authorities have no interest left in human lives at this point,” she added.
Nikolay Zolotov, a Russian blogger who lives in a republic in Siberia, told the Beast: “Dark times. Ukraine is surviving without heating and light and here in Khakasia our life is awfully hard.”
“Bursting pipes is not the worst problem: people live on tiny salaries in a poorly maintained city, without cash to buy food, while our government spends billions on the special operation in Ukraine,” he added.
It is unclear how much exactly Putin is spending on the war in Ukraine, which continues nine months after the Russian leader launched his large-scale invasion.
Forbes Ukraine estimated last week that Russia has spent around $82 billion — a quarter of its annual budget.
Among other costs, this estimate includes nearly $29 billion that Moscow has allocated to support its army with weapons and equipment, $16 billion for soldiers’ salaries, and more than $9 billion to pay off the families of servicemen killed in combat.
The war will not get any cheaper for Putin, Forbes Ukraine said, estimating that it will cost at least $10 billion a month going forward.
The reports come amid numerous battlefield setbacks in recent weeks for Russia, which has started looking to countries like Iran, North Korea, and Syria for assistance.
Other reports of mobilized Russian soldiers being deployed with little training and poor equipment have prompted more Russians to publicly voice their criticisms.
Before the war, which started on February 24, Putin admitted that poverty was Russia’s biggest challenge, calling it the country’s “main enemy” in 2019, The Beast reported.
“Our main goal is to improve the quality of life for our citizens,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russian attacks have crippled half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, a top World Health Organization official said last month, leaving millions of people across the country without power and water.
The upcoming winter “will be about survival” for Ukrainians, the official warned.
Ukraine ping
Ultra Sonic 007: [Zelensky couldn’t even be bothered to wear a suit for his photo ops in D.C., even after how many billions he’s received (and however many more billions he’s going to beg for in the future), instead opting to continue his “action movie star in fatigues” routine.
Forgive me for not buying into the PR shtick. If nothing else, he’s better at it than his own Defense Ministry: ]
https://www.thebalance.com/us-gdp-by-year-3305543
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease
Whereas the Ukrainians have knocked off 100K Russians in less than a year. Heck, we even funded the genocidal Russians to the equivalent of $2T (relative to today’s GDP), so $50b a year is not exactly some great sacrifice. Especially since the whole point of our military investment in Europe is to defend against the Russians.
A weakened Russia would be a welcome result. The decolonization of the Russian empire after a defeat in Ukraine would be an even better outcome, and the only guarantee of a long term peace in Europe. A small Russia is a tame Russia.
Those letters from “children” are hilarious.
Or a Russia free of the Muscowy imperialist mindset, like a Germany free of the prussian mindset
Milburn minces no words in confirming the catastrophic casualties the Ukrianian forces are suffering — 7 out of every ten soldiers are killed or wounded. It underscores the reality that the Russians are firing six artillery rounds for every one round fired by Ukraine.
Here is a Ukrainian unit confirming Col. Milburn’s assessment. They are not cowards. They are fed up with crappy leadership and indequate supplies:
“This is a message we are conveying to the command of the Airborne Troops and the command of the AFU from the 3rd Airmobile Company of the Separate Airmobile Battalion of the 25th Secheslav Airmobile Brigade.
We were sent on a combat mission to hold separate combat positions. We did not receive proper armament and artillery support. As a result, 70% of the company was killed or wounded. We did not have and do not have combat equipment and proper armament. We did not even have the equipment to evacuate the injured, due to which several wounded did not survive.
We spent more than a month in the trenches transmitting coordinates never fired upon by artillery. Platoon sergeants fled their positions in the first days and were transferred by Chief of Staff Kipinach, now acting battalion commander. We are demanding the transfer of the entire unit.”
Bullshit! I will say one thing for you though. You can lie with a straight face and naturally.
“letters from children”
Yes, the stark reality of the children’s ‘Dear Santa’ letters was very touching.
“the US government wanted Zelensky to evacuate Kiev”
Actually, you’re close!
The US government represented by Biden wanted to remove impediment of Zelensky thru his evacuain from Ukraine.
Biden is bound has long established his mutual interests & loyalties to Putin’s/Russia’s; i.e. state-owned gas company Gazprom.
Did Zelensky stay or not? He made millions as a comedian. He didn’t need to take risks for his own benefit, but he took risks for his country. The Russians loved his comedy show by the way. Now he is not so popular since he is destroying so much of the Russian military. The one-time-zone country is kicking the teeth out of the eleven-time-zone country.
Why are you using profanity? Is it because you can’t handle the truth or is it because you can’t handle strong women?
21 Dec: Russians Try to TRAP KRASNOHORIVKA | War in Ukraine Explained
12-21-2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drSW2W0yMQM
“...more than $9 billion to pay off the families of [Russian] servicemen killed in combat.”
I presume the amounts allocated for families of the deceased are known, and probably somewhat different near Moscow versus out in the Siberian boonies. However an average payment should be possible to select, and then divided into the $9 billion figure. Thus giving us an estimate of how many Russian dead have been acknowledged so far. Come on knowledgeable Ukraine supporters, give us an estimate of Russia’s dead soldiers based on Russia’s own figures.
more than $9 billion to pay off
—
$9,000,000,000 / $20,000 = 450,000 dead
$9,000,000,000 / $30,000 = 300,000
$9,000,000,000 / $40,000 = 250,000
$9,000,000,000 / $50,000 = 180,000
$9,000,000,000 / $60,000 = 150,000
$9,000,000,000 / $70,000 = 128,500
$9,000,000,000 / $80,000 = 112,500
$9,000,000,000 / $90,000 = 100,000
Considering the price of a Lada is way below those figure and that until recently that was the prize for being 200.
Cheapest Lada is the Lada Granta: US$6,000 or 1,500,000 dead.
Most expensive is the Lada Largus Cross: US$10,500 or 857,000 dead
Any way you slice it, there are a lot, A LOT more Russians dead than anyone’s numbers.
Then there are the wounded - can’t use US figures because there was and is often no medical supplies and troops are left to bleed out. So what ever number the multiplier would be something from WWI.
Are these figures you have just decided to use to put a price on certain numbers of dead, or are they based on some information you have about death insurance actually paid in Russia? Of course the $9 billion may also include future budgeting for numbers of dead they estimate paying for in the future.
Does anyone know actual figures on death benefits/insurance for the current war’s Russian soldiers? Also is there a payment differential for urban Russians or those from the Siberian wastelands and not true Russians? Anyone know the current figure for a dead US soldier? Last I saw a while ago it was $100,000.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.