Posted on 06/26/2022 9:16:25 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
Foreign fighters who have joined Ukrainian forces battling Russia's invasion have been shocked by the brutality of the war and some say that disillusionment is creeping in.
"They fought in Afghanistan or in Iraq and say they aren't ready" for what they face in Ukraine, says Polak, of his Western comrades who have signed up to fight.
Polak -- whose nationality AFP is withholding to protect his anonymity -- estimates there are "perhaps several hundred" foreign fighters who have taken up arms for Kyiv since the invasion began.
"Honestly, we have quite a few cowards" serving in the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine, he says, speaking to AFP at a supermarket cafe at Kramatorsk in the eastern Donbas region to which Russia lays claim.
"Sometimes after the first fighting exchanges they will say, 'we aren't prepared for that' and they go home," says Polak, as he offers a rare insight into the experiences of foreign citizens who have joined up.
He indicates a wide mix of nationalities in the Legion -- "Canadians, Georgians, Croatians," he says.
But, they have not been trained to fight in a war involving artillery attack.
"Elon Musk, if you can hear me -- we need help!"
That was the plea to the billionaire entrepreneur, the world's richest man, on Friday from a former American GI serving in the northern city of Kharkiv at a press conference.
The reality of what they are up against has been thrown into stark relief with the recent deaths of a Dutchman, a Frenchman, a German and an Australian.
Separatist pro-Russian authorities have also handed down death sentences to two Britons and a Moroccan who have been fighting for Ukraine and have appealed the verdicts.
In early June, Russia reported its forces had killed "hundreds" of foreign combatants
(Excerpt) Read more at barrons.com ...
Ukraine ping
The West has provided a trickle of equipment nowhere close to denting the 10 to 1 big gun advantage in Russia’s favor. Western pols highlighted the dollar amounts, 90+% of which is humanitarian aid, to distract from the measly additions to Ukraine’s arsenal. In total, Ukraine has received less than 200 howitzers. In 1964, the first year of the Vietnam War, China alone handed over 1000 artillery pieces to North Vietnam, with 64,000+ in total supplied by 1974. Russia handed over MiG-17’s, MiG-19’s and MiG-21’s, with MiG-21’s being the state-of-the-art Russian airframe of the time. It would as if the US had sent F-15’s, F-35’s and F-22’s to Ukraine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_in_the_Vietnam_War#Confronting_U.S._escalation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev#The_Vietnam_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17#Vietnam_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19#Vietnam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21#Vietnam
Given the massive imbalance in firepower, sheer courage alone stands in the way of withering Russian shellfire. Unless they have a death wish, foreigners sympathetic to Ukraine’s plight would literally be more productive picketing the home of their local pol to urge them to send more howitzers and big gun ammo than volunteering in Ukraine.
I would hope they are using their entrenching tools to dig foxholes.
This will do wonders to cut down on getting killed from artillery.
When you are not marching or fighting, you are digging your foxhole.
They still teach that in the military these days...besides CRT?
No. None of the Russian provided equipment was their best. Od F-16 variants would be a good analogy. On the other hand, we are giving Ukraine our most modern artillery.
No Internet connection for you?
I read something last week saying all but a very few American volunteers have already left, not counting any special ops that might be embedded over there. Volunteers from other countries still had an average of 50% remaining, 25% dead, 25% returned home.
[No. None of the Russian provided equipment was their best. Od F-16 variants would be a good analogy. ]
Actually, we don't give a crap.
Ditto that.
*unpacks bags*
[Actually, we don’t give a crap. ]
This is the Western way of war: Make an inadequate effort, stretch out the carnage and achieve higher casualties and damage on both sides, and then give up and pull out.
Just *why* this is the Western way of war is something of a mystery to me.
.
When the Vindman brothers and Sean Penn didn’t take their gold bricking asses over there to fight - anyone with common sense could figure out that TV fable was pure propaganda and a hustle for money.
They were taking Volunteers - but Arnold stayed in his Pool, and the Vindman brothers kept up their Internet Scam, and Sean Penn continued his drug escapades.
“Nazis like you...”
Ah, the old demonrat playbook in use. When losing an argument resort to name calling and be sure it includes nazi.
There is a reason why artillery is called the king of battle.
Russian guns may not be as accurate as the West, but they have a lot of them.
Ukraine has to out last Russia to win. That means they need to disable the Russian artillery faster than the Russians can use it.
This is no longer a war of maneuver or shock and awe. It is a war of attrition and logistics.
6/23/2022, 4:24:15 AM
Interesting news on the Ukraine conflict front:
Yesterday, Russia reported, “In the area of Nikolaevka of the Donetsk People’s Republic, due to the threat of defeating the units of the 14th and 24th mechanized brigades , the Ukrainian command evacuated up to 30 wounded and eight dead American and British mercenaries at night to prevent them from falling into the units of the Russian Armed Forces.”
Today, https://t.me/s/asbmil
ASB Military News
LPR says that when trying to break out of the encircled Zolote — a group of foreign mercenaries was destroyed, one of whom was an instructor.
Instructors are always Brits or Americans to our knowledge. LPR won’t disclose details but they say “very valuable trophies were found”
23.3Kviews
09:22
ASB Military News
Ukrop channels are circulating information about the pentagon instructing American private military companies (mercenaries) operating in Ukraine to withdraw all US citizens from Ukraine within a month.
18.3Kviews
09:44
Resident
⚡️⚡️⚡️#Inside
Our source in the OP said that the Pentagon demanded that American PMCs withdraw US citizens from Ukraine within a month. At the moment, about 1,000 military PMCs have been hired in the United States by our oligarchs, and about 3,000 more representatives of European countries.
227.5Kviews
09:35
That’s some funny chit :)
It’s all fun and games until the artillery shows up.
Did anyone else notice ISIS became irrelevant once the US Marine artillery fire base reduced them to nothing in Raca, Syria?
That should be the new strategy, to go back to the old strategy: get your enemy in artillery range.
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