>

Before this all started I (an American) thought Europe would be cowed by Russian threats. I thought we would see some condemnations and some furrowed brows but nothing more. Needless to say, I was pleasantly and happily surprised. The Baltic states in particularly have absolutely channeled the spirit of Gandalf on the bridge of Khazad-dûm.
New post can be found here >

They absolutely should. Making Europe militarily less dependent on the US is a project mostly driven by France, so they shouldn't hide behind Abrams, even if Germany does. >

Yes but it's not easy. Out of 200 tanks, some are in maintenance and 70 are out of service to be upgraded to XLR standard this year. That doesn't leave many >

Similar to the Challenger numbers.  226 total and many of those not close to combat ready and yet UK still sent a full squadron.  I know it;s slightly easier for an island to give up its tanks but realistically what other land war are France expecting to fight in the next ten years? 
Leclerc's use standard NATO ammo as well which makes for easy resupply. >


but realistically what other land war are France expecting to fight in the next ten years? 

To be fair, they do border Spain, and as we all know, no one expects the Spanish inquisition. >

Or as I once joked as Santander bought out the company I was working for...
​
"no one expects the Spanish Acquisition."  
I thought I was really funny at the time.  
No one I worked with had watched Monty Python so 20 years later I'm determined to get a positive response on the best joke I ever came up with. >

Those glorious Viking bastards. >

important article
upvoted, thanks for posting >

Sweden just announced that it is transferring 50 Combat Vehicle 90 to Ukraine.
CV90 is a really good IFV. It has a 40 mm autocannon  and can carry 7-8 soldiers.
Sweden will also send artillery system Archer (unspecified amount), more NLAWs and AT-systems (presumably more AT4s), mine clearing equipment and automatic rifles.
Source is press conference with Swedish Prime Minister. >

Good news! >

Holy shit CV-90 is amazing news!
Ukraine now has like a lot of good armor. Like 400+
Thats great. In the beginning of the war, our defenders did marlvels and inflicted heavy damage upon Russians using our domestic BTR-4E. We lost a lot of them defending our land. This type of tech, its such an improvement! I hope it will help us free our land! >

So now that russia has captured Soledar, they feel obligated to hold on to it at all costs.
Meanwhile Ukraine has parked themselves next to the town while russia has no strength to secure a perimeter around it. Drones, artillery and recon forces on the ground hitting russians in the town pretty much 24/7. 
No matter how many losses they take, Soledar must'nt fall. So we can be sure russia doubles down. 
Sounds like a honey trap to me. But surely Prigozhin is a master strategist and I simply fail to see the big picture. >

I wonder if this is where the massive KIA numbers are coming from. >

That’s awesome! >

1% of GDP, damn. Heroes >

Previous post
Day 329-330 of my updates from Kharkiv.
It was relatively quiet during the last 2 days, we had no missile or drone strikes in Kharkiv, but they continue to shell and send S-300 missiles at Kupiansk every day. Just a couple of hours ago, at around 10pm, there was an air raid alert and people living in Kupiansk reported that center of the town was hit yet again. Also, the tragedy that happened near Kyiv yesterday can’t really be called quiet either, a helicopter crash is just horrible, hopefully something like that won’t happen again.
All those new announcements about more military aid are really exciting, but I wonder why do them right before the next Ramstein meeting starts instead of during it? I guess everything that is getting announced right now is already approved and doesn’t have to be discussed with anyone. It will be interesting to see what we will get out of the meeting, most likely more new tanks will be approved, but I wonder what else could also be announced.
The new US military package that was just announced seems amazing, that’s almost 1000 vehicles in just the last 2 packages, it’s an enormous amount of armor to get in a single month. Well, obviously we’re not getting them all immediately, but the amount is still staggering. I hope the rumors about us getting GLSDBs are not just rumors, because the 160km range would be really helpful. They are HIMARS ammo, so technically they still might be included in this package, but in that case, we won’t know about it until later. >

You've been a constant in many of our lives this past year and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I can't wait for the day where your daily update is that you went out with your friends for a night on the town. >

Estimated Russian losses from 24.02.2022 to 19.01.2023 (Day 330):
|Category              |Change*|Total     |
|:---|:---|:---|
|Personnel             |+760      |118530    |
|Tanks                 |+6      |3136      |
|APVs                  |+10     |6235      |
|Artillery             |+14     |2122      |
|MLRS                  |-      |442       |
|Anti-aircraft Systems |-      |220       |
|Aircraft              |-      |287       |
|Helicopters           |+1      |277       |
|UAVs                  |+6    |1882      |
|Missiles              |-      |749       |
|Warships / Boats      |-      |17        |
|Other Vehicles        |+7      |4896      |
|Special Equipment     |-      |190       |
*Change since the previous day.
Source: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine >

After the ruzzians took Soledar, their casualties only increased. Keeping that city might not go as planned, it seems! >

For anyone deciding whether to watch the video, please do. I am in awe at how this masterpiece works. >

Saab makes incredible tech. Their cars from back in the day were loaded with wicked cool technology too. >

Denmark is sending all 19 of their CAESARS. >

Respect to Denmark.