Someone from the Ukrainian drone industry estimates that Ukraine makes 50,000 FPV drones per month, while Russia makes 300,000.
That's a massive and very worrying gap in production capability for something so important and prevalant on the battlefield.
Shortage of FPV drones. Why did it arise in Ukraine and how to get rid of it — Forbes.ua
China has been restricting direct export of drones and components to Ukraine, so Ukraine has had to use European intermediaries. Seemingly Russia have no problem getting whatever they want directly.
These hurdles widen an advantage for Russia. Direct drone shipments by Chinese companies to Ukraine totaled just over $200,000 this year through June, according to trade data. In that same period, Russia received at least $14.5 million in direct drone shipments from Chinese trading companies.
Some Ukrainians have been forced to beg, borrow and smuggle what’s needed to make up for the gadgets being blown out of the sky. Ukraine loses an estimated 10,000 drones a month, according to the Royal United Services Institute, a British security think tank. Many fear that China’s new rules restricting the sale of drone components could worsen Ukrainian supply chain woes heading into the winter.
https://web.archive.org/web/20231001002607/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/30/technology/ukraine-russia-war-drones-china.html
She's married to Ukraine's spy chief, anyone who moves in those circles is unlikely to be a naive lamb. In no way justifies any poisoning attempt (am glad to hear she's apparently recovering well), just saying that by moving in those circles you're going to be exposed to risks.
Lots of AA getting hit. Getting ready for the F16s.
I think you might have misunderstood the article, 90% of the aid hasn't gone to Ukraine instead it's staying in America and what's happening is US stocks are being replenished, if 500 million aid is promised to Ukraine they received about 90 million in actual aid if even that
I imagine Ukraine have been avoiding them and being very careful with whatever aviation assets they have. I'd say they are prime targets now to set the playing field up for the arrival of the f16s.
Its crazy how many videos there has been of these TOR systems being attacked by himars or drones and being destroyed
What actually are they designed to defend against because i have never even seen one fire at the oncoming threat, they just get destroyed
Are they just trophy pieces
Yes, but on the other hand, this will be another blow ( major one) to Putin's claims to be able to protect Russia and its citizens, not to mention the oligarchs ( and even the Silovicki at this stage ) will be having more than 2nd thoughts at this stage, and possibly thinking about doing something about it,
Himar O Clock
Russia continuing its intentional regression towards the 20th century and older: any and all LGBTQ+ activism is now considered an "extremist" movement. Presumably Hungary to follow suit the moment it think it can get away with it. Any tankies, Far Left and those wingnuts in the EU Parliament still supporting Russia should take a long hard look at themselves.
Russia’s supreme court has outlawed what it called an “international LGBT public movement” as extremist, in a landmark ruling that representatives of gay and transgender people warn will lead to arrests and prosecutions of the already repressed LGBTQ+ community.
The ruling in effect outlaws LGBTQ+ activism in a country growing increasingly conservative since the start of the war in Ukraine. The “extremist” label could mean that gay, lesbian, transgender or queer people living in Russia could receive lengthy prison sentences if deemed by the authorities to be part of the so called “international LGBT public movement”.
But that would have meant the select few giving up their wealth and position.
Good luck with the GOP & Trump shuttering support for Ukraine if they win in 2024. Mind you, given the collective brain trauma the GOP/MAGA movement appears to suffer from, I'd not put it past them either.
Washington Post
of the 68$ billion spent by US on Ukraine 90% stayed in US creating jobs
https://archive.ph/b2JvR
edit: and Best Korea
I’ve said it before Russia being massive in some respects is a disadvantage for them, how the hell do Russians defend every bridge, tunnel, junction, power station and other pieces of critical infrastructure from partisans operating far behind front lines
That's the supply line to China fcuked.
Great news lol.
Or maybe it WAS the Chinese who did it with a view to taking control of Siberia and the Ukrainians are in on the plan and have agreed to claim responsibility so that Putin doesn't suspect the Chinese. 😃
"Watch your house Anto".
I find that if you start a post, then decide to delete it, the window will not close, you have to type something, and the minimum is 2 characters, but they can be any characters, so people just type ' or .. some even get artistic \-=/ ~/`etc.
That’s one of two Russian strategic railways (the other is trans Siberian) that connect Russian far east, severed.
I am surprised that that Ukrainians are claiming they done it, would have been much better if to stay quite and let Russian paranoia that it was Chinese who done it and grow their fears that half of Siberia can be “liberated” by China and Putin be able to do nothing about it without these railways
Even before this war, Russia faced a deomgraphic time-bomb that had been ticking for decades.
Russia lost an increadble amount of of young people during WWII, and that loss has triggered generational dips in the population every couple of decades since then. To reverse this, the Russians really needed some new blood to come in and for the birthrates to pick up. But unfortunaty for Russia, the place never seemed that attractive to immigration, and given how high the abortion rate has apparently been, there has been very little desire to raise kids in that country.
By the end of this conflict, Russia might also be looking at the loss of a couple million young men to death, crippling injury or flight from Russia. Russia could not afford an actual war with Ukriane demographically speaking. They were already in a hopeless position, and Putin has now almost ensured demographic collapse. Even if Putin's mad plan to force Russian women to have a litter of children is enacted, I sense that it is already too late.
Russia really needed to get her act together post Cold-War. She really needed to embrace democracy, warm up to the West properly and then make the place more attractive to immegration from around the world. Maybe then, Russia could have saved herself.
But as the Knight from Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade might say: They have chosen....poorly.
It would be great for Ukraine, though unrealistic to ask of NATO, if the NATO countries ostentatuously increased gheir presence along the Russian border, effectively forcing Putin to return troops back to those border areas and away from Ukraine!
Arent his youngest kids in Switzerland?
I wonder how many kids his daughters are being made to produce
Thes are obviously based on official stats , possibly massaged?
Russia is already in a demographic crisis - they've a major shortage of people 20 to 40, ie those of child bearing age, also a culture of small families - thats hard to shift ,
And add in a war thats decimating the numbers of young men , and ruining the economy so a less positive view of the future , itll take more than a presidential statement
Probably posted something, and forgot account was banned off the thread. Did not see it but I'll engage my psychic powers now and and predict it was an article or tweet involving one or more of following topics:
Bad day to be a Russian
I'll leave it at that and return us to our regular Slavia Ukraine programming...
Ha…that comment almost makes it seem like supporting a nation that’s under attack from an aggressive neighbour hell bent on destroying it; is somehow a bad thing, and worth ridicule?
I might invite the Russian-supporting posters here (and you know who are are) to take a long hard think as to why the vast bulk of us here wish well for Ukraine and wish defeat upon the Russians. While they’re at it, they might want to reflect on why they hold up the likes of the Russians with such high esteem given everything we now know about them, and how dead-set the nations they used to occupy are at preventing them from coming back.
You mean NATO member Finland?
The one that shares a long ass border with Russia?
The same Russia that claims its Ukraine war is about securing its border?
The same Russia that is basically removing all its defence equipment along its border to use in Ukraine.
The same Russia that was using immigrant bicycle brigades to cross into Europe.
Fair fcuks Finland lol.
Seems Finland is set to close that last remote border crossing mentioned upthread. Western movement options now sealed off entirely.
Good riddance
this is the 7 year old the Rascists have killed in latest shelling yesterday
Crimea, again
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