Ukraine v Russia II

That's what all the land is, except for towns and various water features. These treelines are the only cover and the main paths to move. Sometimes there are other geographic features (raised railroads were a notable defensive position in a couple of battles last fall). But if you not there, you aren't anywhere.

And this is what a "front line" looks like almost everywhere except the most densely packed areas. A series of separate outposts. By being at a crossroads, these guys cover miles of territory because anyone moving through or around two whole farms have to go through there. Mobile defense means most of the defense is behind, waiting to go to a place that is needed. These people in the trench have the job of calling in the attack and slowing them down. If they are lucky, reinforcements will come in time to pick up prisoners and intelligence. If not, you bought time for them to respond.

 

I counted those in the hits. However, there were a lot of shots that missed badly, or they landed on pretty much on the spot you mentioned earlier where the guy was about to shoot an RPG, but a shell landed between him and a group of other Russians.

From what it looked like, there was 2 hits on the group of 3 Russians approaching the trench from the side which ended their approach. 1 round that you mentioned that killed/wounded 5-6. A couple hits in the forest to the right of that group, then a number of hits on the same spot that got 5-6, but they were already dead. The rest missed significantly, or didn’t appear to hurt/kill any Russians.

 

Yes, this was the old 2022 expenditure, and Poland is still doing it's best to lead the way, also regarding MiG-29 fighter jets, which is also very much with the support of the Danish parliament, but we cannot do ourselves without the approval of the US, because they decide if F-16's can be donated.

I can't speak for other European countries, regarding the general energy and food crisis, but here in Denmark the harvest was vastly better in 2022 than in 2021. The harvest of grain went up by 1 million ton from 8.8 million ton to 9.8 million ton, so the Danish farmers were earning vastly more than usual, also when you deduct the higher transport cost and much higher cost of fertilizer for the next harvest.

Denmark have also had an increasing government budget surplus the past two years in a row. It went from a small $613 million budget deficit in 2020 (obviously because of the covid-19 crisis) to a surprising $8.4 billion surplus in 2021 and a now recently revealed, and just as surprising $18.4 billion surplus in 2022, which is around $7.5 billion more than estimated in August 2022. Denmark's gross domestic product (GDP) also went up by 1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily driven by strong industrial performance, and Statistics Denmark have now revealed that the full year GDP growth in 2022 was 3.6%.

Obviously there is a lot of reasons for this, one of them being that the huge Danish biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry (Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma, Orifarm, ALK-Abello, Bavarian Nordic, William Cook and so forth) have been doing much better than expected, the worlds largest container shipping company Maersk having made their largest profit ever, LEGO is doing great as as usual, but obviously when prices go up the 25% VAT sales taxes also increase and cover higher expenses, and then Denmark produce around 3 times as much food as the Danes can possibly consume, not to forget that gas and oil is no longer as important as renewables, so there is no real energy and food shortage/crisis, even though prices have gone up.

 

The latest news about the Ukrainian war according to Anders Puck Nielsen who is a Military analyst at the Defense Academy Centre for Maritime Operations in Denmark, and used to be Commanding Officer of the DIANA-class patrol boats for the Royal Danish Navy, and is considered the most prominent military analyst in Denmark :

 

I have written here about this while USA is top in terms of "value" + actual money .... EU countries with Germany leading the pack have contributed a lot and could be no1 in actual money given

Also when EU does something that money is also from countries of the EU.
So while Germany gives 100 million an extra 50 million of the 100 mil given by EU it is also by Germany

PS 6 million Ukrainian refugees is a lot of money. If one refugees costs 5 euro a day that is 11 billion for 1 year

Like you said Europe is keeping the economic lights on in Ukraine with actual cash
And to be fair Zelenskyy has thanked and expressed how much EU has helped.

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That is simply my opinion: That is why Germany hesitated with the tanks. Not because of wanting USA to do it too. Abrams is still impractical IMO

Scholz feared that the countries who have and gave Leo2 will want to re-up on newer tanks and because Germany wasn't able to produce the numbers needed those countries will go USA MIC

So a lot of behind the scenes was not how much to give was countries pledging to buy German.
And if you look NATO countries indeed ordered Leo 2A7.Italy wants 250. Norway 54. Portugal to upgrade some old ones to 2A6. Czech Republic wants some 2A7

 

It’s wild. Supporting UKR matters and doesn’t have to be an endorsement of someone’s other policies

 

Does it ? It's quite doubtul France needs that reform. I'd rather say Macron is convinced HE needs that reform to politically survive. It's too late btw - the more the time passes, the more he gets isolated in his own country, facing a pre-revolutionary situation. He got trapped himself. He needs to stop it right now. It's just that his huge ego prevents him to do that.

 

He's safe, but he's politically doomed.

 

Well, Greece who on paper seem to spend the most in NATO according to their (not that impressive) GDP are always the last to participate and donate, just as we have seen in Ukraine. Germany do not like to donate much but humanitarian aid defensive measures, while Denmark is always there actually contributing and fighting with all they got, despite the fairly low GDP contribution, so the GDP figures are useless as a measuring stick.

 

Sometimes I think:
"Millennials should know Italian politics because it's intentionally funny".

 

It's amazing Xi doesnot grasp this and continues to support Pootin in his ways. Some political analysts suggest that he wants to avoid a Russian defeat, but given what the West considers being at stake and the dependence economically of China on the West he's one step from the abyss that makes him/China an immediate existential threat which will make the current skirmishes in tech/economic war like childs play.
Could be that he is keeping up a pretence to the outside worl and uses a diffrent tone towards Pootin, but I doubt it.
He truly should count his blessings regarding his/China's position in a world with a defeated Russia against those in which he actually sides with Pootin to prevent his defeat.

 

Nah, the best political position is to do nothing, reforms are needed but they can not be agreed on, Macron is doing the difficult thing.

 

Maybe they choose suicide by artillery, given how shit their life has been and because of Pootin only got worse.

 

Bleak.

 

I'm guessing (and it's certainly a guess) they were simply ordered to go to that location and fire on the trench from there. There are plenty of videos of Ukrainian troops storming trenches just like this one, and the ones doing the assaulting always come from the side, which because of the nature of the treeline will always be a vulnerability. If you have someone noticeable firing at the trench from, say, the front, it makes the job of the ones attacking from the side easier.

Retreating while their comrades are still attacking would probably get a severe penalty once they get back. And they wouldn't move in that treeline on their left because, at least according to Rommel's first battle in his book Infantry Attacks, being in the middle of trees during an artillery barrage is very bad.

 

So how is Elba these days??

 

Just released the new "Luther" movie.
Waiting for the call as James Bond. Frankly, he would be great, but, at 50, is a bit old to take on the role.
Wait, wrong Elba?!?