Yeah it's seasonly mild compared to previous Winters ,it did drop to 8/9 below but it's heading back to -1 +3 in areas ,it was predicted previously once winter kicked in there would be a pause until March or later due to extreme weather,we seen anything but that
I think one of the main reasons that Wagner are throwing the kitchen sink at Soledar is the mines.
Prigozhin wants that for himself,apparently they have several mines under their control.
Looks like the Russians want to buy a Chinese aircraft carrier that was originally paid for by Russia but when it went tits up for them in the 90's the Ukrainan government then sold it to the Chinese.
Mighty Russia having to use 2nd hand ships,
No one would have ever predicted that
In many ways 8/9 below is better than +3 above, if you have the right gear of course. When it's above freezing it's a lot harder to stay dry and fight. It's also harder on vehicles.
Absolutely, there's been aot of effort on the Ukrainans side to make sure front lines troops are getting the right winter systems from clothing, sleeping bags and hot tents, I've seen saunas in some of their trenches to bring a little extra comfort,
I've also noticed that some Russians are wearing some of the Ukrainan military warm winter jackets must be scavenged from the dead or prisoners
According to putin nothing too see the economy is fine ,the banks are fine and things are difficult in the annexed regions lol .
But nothing to see Russia good every one else bad
It hit -15 below a number of nights recently in eastern Ukraine.
Extreme weather wasn't really the issue it is what happens before and after the cold. Once the wet muddy ground freezes then large scale attacks are possible again. Kherson/Kharkiv would be in that category. From what I have seen in Soledar/Bakhmut there isn't a large scale attack but lots of small infantry attacks.
Brilliant
Just because you dont like what he posts doesnt make them not true
Interesting to see if India actually does join in the sanctions.
The European Commission should loudly and very publicly advise the Spanish to just go ahead and that the EU would deal with any repercussions from the Swiss. That would shut the Swiss up, we well and truly have that nasty little nest of self serving scum surrounded, and not just in the geographic sense.
My bet is the Swiss would take no action in such circumstance, Even before this kicked off relations between the EU and Switzerland had degraded in the past decade considerably. I posted something many months ago from a Swiss journalist which revealed the Swiss are well aware that their sanction busting antics in the name of 'neutrality' were becoming more closely looked at and that they were beginning to seriously upset some and that Switzerlands reputation internationally was degrading fast.
I think a major investigation should be conducted to see if Swiss companies are supplying the Horde and Iran with sanctioned and dual use material that is being used in drones, cruise missiles, aircraft and other military equipment. The Iranian drones are full of US sourced devices and components.
It's beyond time the EU and US really got stuck into Switzerland's antics.
Well done Poland well fecking done.
Leppards tanks 10 from Poland incoming hopefully the gates are open and others follow
Aftermath of the new years day strike.
Again Poland leading the way in Europe along with Ukraine. This will start the snowball effect. I hope we can see many of them in action come summer.
Considering there's close to 3000 of them in operationing across the EU , between Poland and the UK that's 20 modern MBTs
If true,this is huge.
Doesn't make much sense though, one thing capturing these mines - another matter entirely to hold onto it long term.
You and some other posters really have a hard on for the Swiss. In fairness you are not totally wrong (in my opinion) but your claims are very exaggerated and much out of date. The exception being their neutrality and the policy of arms sales. Hopefully further pressure will force the Swiss to cave but I wouldn't count on it. They can be a very stubborn and procedural people where the rules are the rules until the people vote to change it.
Russian money is frozen in Switzerland just like in other countries. Currently over 7 billion is frozen with more being identified all the time. If you have articles stating the contrary from a reliable source then I would be very interested to read it.
7.5 billion of Russian assets have been frozen in Switzerland | Euronews
Secondly Nazi money (from Germany) totaled around 8billion from WW2 in today's money. Not exactly enough to run a war on let alone a country like Switzerland whose Central Bank lost over 120billion just last year due to currency fluctuations. Of that 8 billion of Nazi gold, approximately 1.5 billion is estimated to have been stolen from the Jewish people and with a tiny minority remaining unclaimed.
Thirdly, Swiss money laundering laws are more or less on par with the majority of Europe and improving all the time. The Swiss are actively changing laws and ended Banking secrecy in 2018. Incidentally they are only slightly worse than Ireland (4.5 vs Irelands 4 and Germany's 4.2) for money laundering according to the Basel Anti Money Laundering Index.
Dirty money remains threat to society, says watchdog - SWI swissinfo.ch
Finally, the arms were sold with the countries knowing full well the Swiss stance on reselling arms which in theory is good practice in the majority of cases. It is unfortunate that in this case, in my opinion, the Ukranians are losing out but you can't quickly change laws in Switzerland though I am confident that a clause will eventually be inserted to allow for exceptions in the future using Ukraine's defensive war as an example.
We Irish expect our "neutrality" to be respected but expect other countries to fold when their neutrality is under fire.
Not sure there is much new in that. Poland will give tanks if Germany approves it... We have known that for months. It seems inevitable at this stage but will be months before they are on the battlefield.
" I reckon the number could well double before they start to baulk."
What's that Wibbs? 200,000 dead Russians?
The other poster was talking up figures of 2 million Russian dead.
No, if we in Ireland had a major arms industry, you'd see demands that we help out our European friends.
Neutrality and an arms industry is surely an oxymoron anyway. Pure hypocrisy to pretend to be neutral but making and profiting from weapons of destruction. The Swiss need to be called out for what they are.
What matters is it's actually happening
Another report is saying 14 Leppard 2 will be transferred as part of coalition
So Wagner supposedly have controls of the salt mines. Maybe Ukrainian officials could as Uncle Sam for one or two MOABS to drop down their. [Mother of all bombs]
russians and sense?does not compute!
The price cap is estimated to be costing Russia 160m a day, or $58.4 b/pa
Thermobarics bombs and missles would be do the job with little damage to the salt mines
There are demands within Switzerland to allow the sale of arms to Ukraine. If I were to say that Ireland changing its corporate tax rate would allow our European friends to have a higher tax take and allow them to tackle societal issues for our European friends you'd think what? You'd rightly tell me to get lost.
I know they are not equivalent but my point is that as soon as the countries tax rate is brought up, their is venomous defence of it and calls for other countries to mind their own business. While the subject is different, and much more serious, the principal is the same. Countries and in extension their populations to not like being told what to do. The only way to hit them where it hurts is to lobby countries to buy their arms elsewhere or , in the tax example, to convince companies to locate elsewhere.
Swiss neutrality and the arms industry is not at all an oxymoron if you think about it logically. In order for a country to be truly neutral, it must be able to defend itself and in order to defend itself it needs to be able to arm itself without overly relying on other countries. An arms industry is expensive to run however , especially when you don't go to war in order to use up what you have stockpiled so the only way to keep it going is to sell it. Selling it however can make you enemies which would threaten your neutrality so you have to be very careful to who you sell to in order not to make enemies who could hold it against you hence Switzerland's contracts limiting the re-sale of its arms into ongoing wars. Switzerland wants countries to be reliant on it for whatever reason (arms, banks, cheese, chocolate) so that it can be on friendly terms with them to minimise the chance of conflict but allowing the sale of arms to Ukraine would certainly put it in the bad books of Russia. Personally I, as someone who lives in Switzerland, wouldn't care if Switzerland or Ireland is considered a hostile enemy of Russia as the cause in the defence of Ukraine is just, but not everyone wants to put their country in the crosshairs of a major (if dwindling) world power, especially when you have no allies to rely on.
More good news, looks like Sweden has finished thinking about it and is going ahead with providing the Archer mobile artillery. It's quite remarkable, it can rock up, set up in 20 seconds, fire 21 rounds with extreme precision, at a range of up to 60km, pack up and be rolling to another location in under 2 minutes.
🔥 Sweden's prime minister has said that the country is preparing to hand over the Archer SAU to Ukraine.
The Archer SAU is considered the best in the world.
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2023/01/11/sweden-archer-howitzers-ukraine/
UK has announced they will send 10 Challenger 2 MBTs to Ukraine.
Good news, as unlike Poland they wont be stuck waiting for export permission from Germany for Leopard 2s
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