The War in the Ukraine

The new package of US military assistance to Ukraine will be the largest - it will cost almost $3 billion, media write, citing US officials. The United States will include about 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles in the next package of military assistance to Kyiv, this decision will be announced on January 6.

Joint US-Germany statement: US to provide Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, Germany to provide Marder infantry fighting vehicles and an additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine.

Looks like Bradley and marders are now going to be sent to Ukraine, every day this is more becoming the WW3 that didn't happen 20 years ago.

NATO seems to be opening the flood gates for another round of escalation.

kokole said:

Orthodox churches of Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Moldova and Montenegro celebrate Xmas on the 6th-7th of Jan. according to the Julian calendar.

The rest incl. Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania the and others follow the Gregorian calendar and celebrate on the 25th of Dec. This includes the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the churches under its jurisdiction.

UN Secretary General António Guterres decided to disband the fact-finding mission in Yelenovka – office of the Secretary General. Translation: findings /evidence wont go well with the narrative.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1611061849943904268

The State Duma opposes the Christmas truce:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1611056081924497410

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It's like watching 2 KMTs fight.

The State duma does indeed have the right opinion.

kokole said:

UN Secretary General António Guterres decided to disband the fact-finding mission in Yelenovka

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How convenient for them. Guess this is why all those "war crimes comissions" suddenly went quiet and why the IAEA refused to investigate who was attacking the ZNPP

kokole said:

Joint US-Germany statement: US to provide Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, Germany to provide Marder infantry fighting vehicles and an additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine.

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Did the hundreds of M113 they got were clapped already?

tankphobia said:

WW3 that didn't happen 20 years ago

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+30. Time does fly by.

Biscuits said:

The State duma does indeed have the right opinion.

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Popular Russian Telegram channels are also against the Christmas truce. Again, according to them, "Wagner" had a rather successful day today. The mere suggestion of a truce is a punch in the gut, especially given the successes in Bakhmut and Soledar today.

The pictures show the graves of primarily fighters of the 204th battalion of the Kiev TRO. This untrained unit of metropolitan managers, servers, construction workers, and other civilian professionals was thrown into Artemovsk by Zelensky. The result fell into the lens of a Turkish photographer. Naturally, there are burials of destroyed fighters from an earlier period, as well as from other formations, but they do not change the overall picture.

Meatgrinder for the AFU: Our task is not Bakhmut itself - Wagner PMC founder told about the operation

"Bakhmut is a large, well-fortified area with roads, suburbs, and water barriers. The Ukrainian army is well-prepared and offers decent resistance," Prigozhin said.
"Our objective is not Bakhmut itself, but the destruction of the Ukrainian army and the reduction of its combat potential, which is extremely positive in other directions, which is why this operation has been dubbed the Bakhmut meat grinder.
In this regard, do not run ahead of the locomotive; we will let you know happiness loves silence.

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@Slavyangrad

sheogorath said:

+30. Time does fly by.

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Yep my mistake, really should've added another 30 to that 20, the USSR was really at its zenith then it terms of geopolitical clout.

This war is going to empty out decades of Soviet and NATO stockpiles for WW3 with a fraction of the body count if WW3 had actually occured.

BTR-82 being moved within Belarus

Ukraine using child soldiers now?

Australian M113 variant in Donbass

The sudden influx of newer western vehicles might hint that a lot of the fleet was depleted in the Kharkov and Kherson offensives and around Bakhmut. Also highlights that the whole "Ukraine is actually equiped by Russia" as cope and that Ukraine doesn't have the means to repair and operate the vast majority of them as pointed out in a previous article

Today U.S. embassy to Russia released a video that it called an "an appeal to the people of Russia". The 50-second video included images of the impact of bombing in Ukraine, saying what was happening there "is not worthy of you" and it is not too late for the Russian people to stand on the "right side of history".

"We stand in solidarity with each of you who are striving to create a more peaceful future," the video said, showing an image of the slogan "No to war" in Russian sprayed on a wall.

"Throughout history, our countries have been united by the commonality of cultures and our achievements," the video said, adding that Russia and the United States had "competed and collaborated" for decades.

The video showed images of Soviet cosmonauts, writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Putin was not included.

Translation: Hi, we're the US State Department. We have been trying to destroy your country for decades, we almost succeeded in the 1990s, and you survived against all odds. We have had no success with the sanctions, which are now over 10 000, nor with the proxy war in Ukraine. So let's destroy your country from within and we'll make friends right away ... with your natural resources.

Dmitry Medvedev lashed out at the video, describing the U.S. government as cynical "freaks" and "sons of bitches" who he said were using the tricks of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

Medvedev snaps back after U.S. appeal:

tankphobia said:

Looks like Bradley and marders are now going to be sent to Ukraine, every day this is more becoming the WW3 that didn't happen 20 years ago.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1611069605392355373

NATO seems to be opening the flood gates for another round of escalation.

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Looks like US and NATO (which is US) waited until Russia pretty much depleted a lot of their "modern" armored vehicles and tanks to give Ukraine heavy western armored vehicles. They will likely be used for a spring offensive.

Here's a guy with an opinion how he thinks they will be used.