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The airport's location remains a secret to protect the shipments of weapons, including anti-armor missiles, into Ukraine. The Russian military has not targeted these shipments once they enter Ukraine, the official said, but there is some concern Russia could begin targeting the deliveries as its assault advances.
The airport's location remains a secret to protect the shipments of weapons, including anti-armor missiles, into Ukraine. The Russian military has not targeted these shipments once they enter Ukraine, the official said, but there is some concern Russia could begin targeting the deliveries as its assault advances.
EUCOM is also coordinating with other countries, including the United Kingdom, in terms of the delivery process "to ensure that we are using our resources to maximum efficiency to support the Ukrainians in an organized way," the official added.
The "vast majority" of a $350 million US security assistance package has already been delivered to Ukraine, according to the official, only one week after it was officially approved by the White House.
Approximately $240 million of the package has reached Ukraine, and the rest should arrive within days and maybe weeks, "but not longer," the official said Friday. The components that have already been delivered include "the most needed capabilities, like anti-armor capabilities."
Once in possession of the weapons, the Ukrainians have used them to slow and stall Russian assaults in different parts of Ukraine.
"I think all of us have been tremendously impressed by how effectively the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been using the equipment that we've provided them," the official said.
Perhaps most notably, a massive Russian convoy spanning 40 miles of road north of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, has barely moved in days. "We know that they have conducted attacks on that convoy, that those attacks were effective in slowing and stopping it," another senior Defense official said Friday.
I read some statistics. Putin has committed about half his tanks to Ukraine. Looks to be the older tanks too. I am sure that ratio is true for the rest of it as well.At a secret airfield in Eastern Europe, a multinational effort to send weapons to Ukraine proceeds at high speed
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley went last week to an undisclosed airfield near the Ukrainian border that has become a hub for shipping weapons, a senior Defense Department official said, seeing firsthand the multinational effort to get weapons into Ukraine amid Russia's...www.cnn.com
Also, given my OP article, I think we now know why Putin is acting so savagely, and has virtually committed his entire military into this endeavor. He knows it's a proxy war, 'Him against the world'!
At a secret airfield in Eastern Europe, a multinational effort to send weapons to Ukraine proceeds at high speed
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley went last week to an undisclosed airfield near the Ukrainian border that has become a hub for shipping weapons, a senior Defense Department official said, seeing firsthand the multinational effort to get weapons into Ukraine amid Russia's...www.cnn.com
For several days now, I've been turning more pessimistic of Putin succeeding in his attempt to take Ukraine, or even Kyiv, much less his ability to hold either. And along the way, I've seen Biden derided for 'not leading, not doing enough'. I've seen doomsaying. I've seen some claim President Zylenksy is martyring himself. However, I will once again say, 'We should not count Ukraine out', and not assume things are not happening behind the scenes. Because apparently, much is happening behind the scenes!
This CNN article is chock-full of info, and I think it's worth a more thorough read (it's not long). I tried to capture the most newsworthy bits in my excerpts.
But, I must draw your attention to my last, bottom-most excerpt; the excerpt explaining the lack of progress in the 'Russian 40 Mile Supply Convoy'. Yep. Uh-huh. Now, we know!
As I earlier said, and actually have said for days, I suspect there's a lot going-on behind the scenes, that we're not aware:
"Ladies & Gentlemen, I believe we now have a proxy war!"
Yep. I really am coming to believe it - a proxy war!
So now, there is one type of doomsayer, who I suppose I will now have to entertain more seriously:
"Those who believe we are heading into WW-3!"
I can't say I'm panicked or overly concerned about a World War, but I must admit I do believe we are in a proxy war, and that is an edge closer to the possibility.
Also, given my OP article, I think we now know why Putin is acting so savagely, and has virtually committed his entire military into this endeavor. He knows it's a proxy war, 'Him against the world'!
They'd already suspect it and could already use whatever satellites they have. But even if they know where the base is, it's on NATO territory and they can't attack it, and it's near the western border where they don't have forces.Fer cryin' out loud, how secret can it be or stay now that its existence has been revealed. Are Russia's satellites shut down? Is there no way for them to search for and detect the huge increase in flights to the secret airfield?
So the problems that NATO has giving Ukraine a "no-fly zone" due to our being unable to shoot down Russian planes at will has a benefit. Russia cannot shoot down, or shoot upon, NATO forces on NATO territory at will. I wonder if anyone will remember this the next time someone demands a "no-fly zone" to save Europe.They'd already suspect it and could already use whatever satellites they have. But even if they know where the base is, it's on NATO territory and they can't attack it, and it's near the western border where they don't have forces.
Yup, it goes both ways. If Russia attacked a base in a NATO country, we'd have license to wipe them out in Ukraine, and even to launch attacks in Russia, though I think we'd try to keep it proportional. It'd be extremely dangerous but they'd have crossed the line.So the problems that NATO has giving Ukraine a "no-fly zone" due to our being unable to shoot down Russian planes at will has a benefit. Russia cannot shoot down, or shoot upon, NATO forces on NATO territory at will. I wonder if anyone will remember this the next time someone demands a "no-fly zone" to save Europe.
"Ladies & Gentlemen, I believe we now have a proxy war!"
[I can't say I'm panicked or overly concerned about a World War, but I must admit I do believe we are in a proxy war, and that is an edge closer to the possibility.
On 12 June 2020, Ukraine joined NATO's enhanced opportunity partner interoperability program. According to an official NATO statement, the new status "does not prejudge any decisions on NATO membership."
How does someone who was unemployed twice in the 1990s become president of Russia in less than four years, and then by 2014 head the Forbes magazine list of “The World’s Most Powerful People”? In Vladimir Putin’s case, luck has clearly been involved. He has benefited (at least until recently) from a tenfold increase in the price of oil between 1999 and 2008. Inheriting one of the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals did not hurt either.
Russia’s democratic collapse must rank as one of the most consequential setbacks among the third and fourth waves of democratization. A comprehensive explanation for Russia’s transition from autocracy and back again counts on both structure and agency, but leans toward agency. Structurally, Russia was forced to navigate democratic and market reforms while managing the dissolution of the Soviet empire. Yet the agency of individual actors may have played a more decisive role: It was Mikhail Gorbachev, not weakening state institutions or a failing command economy, who triggered regime change in the Soviet Union.
Following Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin made decisions that undermined democratic consolidation and to some extent paved the way for future autocratic restoration. The most notable of these was Yeltsin’s naming of Vladimir Putin as his successor. While Russians may be shaped by historical legacies, immutable cultural norms, or static institutions, they are not trapped forever by them. If some Russians in the past made decisions that produced autocracy, others in the future might make choices that engender democracy.
The US and Russia have had many proxy wars without it escalating to nuclear conflict. The problem here is that Putin has boxed himself in, where it's hard to see how he can continue in power.
The US and Russia have had many proxy wars without it escalating to nuclear conflict. The problem here is that Putin has boxed himself in, where it's hard to see how he can continue in power.
There is much that goes on behind the scenes. This President can keep his mouth shut, no need to brag on the day.At a secret airfield in Eastern Europe, a multinational effort to send weapons to Ukraine proceeds at high speed
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley went last week to an undisclosed airfield near the Ukrainian border that has become a hub for shipping weapons, a senior Defense Department official said, seeing firsthand the multinational effort to get weapons into Ukraine amid Russia's...www.cnn.com
--
For several days now, I've been turning more pessimistic of Putin succeeding in his attempt to take Ukraine, or even Kyiv, much less his ability to hold either. And along the way, I've seen Biden derided for 'not leading, not doing enough'. I've seen doomsaying. I've seen some claim President Zylenksy is martyring himself.
However, I will once again say, 'We should not count Ukraine out', and not assume things are not happening behind the scenes. Because apparently, much is happening behind the scenes!
This CNN article is chock-full of info, and I think it's worth a more thorough read (it's not long). I tried to capture the most newsworthy bits in my excerpts.
But, I must draw your attention to my last, bottom-most excerpt; the excerpt explaining the lack of progress in the 'Russian 40 Mile Supply Convoy'. Yep. Uh-huh. Now, we know!
As I earlier said, and actually have said for days, I suspect there's a lot going-on behind the scenes, that we're not aware:
"Ladies & Gentlemen, I believe we now have a proxy war!"
Yep. I really am coming to believe it - a proxy war!
So now, there is one type of doomsayer, who I suppose I will now have to entertain more seriously:
"Those who believe we are heading into WW-3!"
I can't say I'm panicked or overly concerned about a World War, but I must admit I do believe we are in a proxy war, and that is an edge closer to the possibility.
Also, given my OP article, I think we now know why Putin is acting so savagely, and has virtually committed his entire military into this endeavor. He knows it's a proxy war, 'Him against the world'!
And along the way, I've seen Biden derided for 'not leading, not doing enough'.
I never called for American boots on the ground. It would be unacceptable to the American people.Look, this is NOT America's war so let's stay the hell out of it! The Ukrainian Army does not need American recruits!
He's shipping firearms and the US head of the DoD is in Europe NOW overlooking the situation and assuring that what is needed is sent. Because nearly all-of-Europe are sending war-goods. So, all the war-material that the Ukraine Army needs will be aptly supplied by the EU.
In fact, that has already begun with a long line of different material being shipped to Poland by air then on to the Ukraine (just next door). (See here.)
But some spots are more strategic than others. Odessa is the key water-entry to the Ukraine by which it ships its products/produce out to the Arab and European markets. If the Russians "take" Odessa, that is one thing, and if it destroys Odessa that is quite another. (For the moment, they are doing nothing there.
Putin might be thinking that he can "take over" the Ukraine and make it a Russian-policed state. That aint-gonna-happin without a great-many Russian-army deaths "policing the nation" - the Ukranians just wont give up even if defeated militarily.
Which is what those living here in France that I know are saying ...
Biden needs to do as much as humanly and logically possible.At a secret airfield in Eastern Europe, a multinational effort to send weapons to Ukraine proceeds at high speed
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley went last week to an undisclosed airfield near the Ukrainian border that has become a hub for shipping weapons, a senior Defense Department official said, seeing firsthand the multinational effort to get weapons into Ukraine amid Russia's...www.cnn.com
--
For several days now, I've been turning more pessimistic of Putin succeeding in his attempt to take Ukraine, or even Kyiv, much less his ability to hold either. And along the way, I've seen Biden derided for 'not leading, not doing enough'. I've seen doomsaying. I've seen some claim President Zylenksy is martyring himself.
However, I will once again say, 'We should not count Ukraine out', and not assume things are not happening behind the scenes. Because apparently, much is happening behind the scenes!
This CNN article is chock-full of info, and I think it's worth a more thorough read (it's not long). I tried to capture the most newsworthy bits in my excerpts.
But, I must draw your attention to my last, bottom-most excerpt; the excerpt explaining the lack of progress in the 'Russian 40 Mile Supply Convoy'. Yep. Uh-huh. Now, we know!
As I earlier said, and actually have said for days, I suspect there's a lot going-on behind the scenes, that we're not aware:
"Ladies & Gentlemen, I believe we now have a proxy war!"
Yep. I really am coming to believe it - a proxy war!
So now, there is one type of doomsayer, who I suppose I will now have to entertain more seriously:
"Those who believe we are heading into WW-3!"
I can't say I'm panicked or overly concerned about a World War, but I must admit I do believe we are in a proxy war, and that is an edge closer to the possibility.
Also, given my OP article, I think we now know why Putin is acting so savagely, and has virtually committed his entire military into this endeavor. He knows it's a proxy war, 'Him against the world'!
Also, given my OP article, I think we now know why Putin is acting so savagely, and has virtually committed his entire military into this endeavor. He knows it's a proxy war, 'Him against the world'!
Biden needs to do as much as humanly and logically possible.
every day we delay, more Ukrainians die.
No, but there is huge devastation as they take it.No matter what they take how are they gonna keep it?
i'm talking about the "freedom fighters" and all the stuff the allies are gonna funnel to the Ukrainians even if Russia takes cities/areas. they're not gonna just give up and this could turn into a Vietnam or Northern Ireland for a decade.No, but there is huge devastation as they take it.
Biden needs to do as much as humanly and logically possible.
every day we delay, more Ukrainians die.
they're not gonna just give up and this could turn into a Vietnam or Northern Ireland for a decade.
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