Families of Moskva crew demand to know where they are

The Kremlin says it was fully evacuated, so where is everyone?  Surely, they'd like to be reunited with their families.

Conveniently, reporting the sailors as missing or dead due to accident rather than killed from enemy attack avoids having to pay the family 7 million rubles (~$84,000) as promised, saving Moscow about 3.5 billion rubles (~42 million usd)

UK to send Stormer armored anti-air vehicles to Ukraine

They carry starstreak missiles, which are extremely fast missiles very good at hitting fast-moving air targets.  So low-flying aircraft or helicopters are gonna get shredded.

Greece seizes Russian tanker

Ukrainian millionaire finds out Russian troops are holed up in his home via webcam, tells Ukrainian forces to bomb it

"Keep the change, ya filthy animal"

🌻🌻🌻

Finland will send more military aid and its contents/delivery method will be kept secret to ensure safe arrival.

Romania will soon be sending military aid (technically against its constitution, so it'll have to quickly amend its constitution to allow sending military aid)

The Netherlands will also be sending "heavier equipment" including armored vehicles to Ukraine.

The Czech Republic has offered to repair Ukrainian tanks/APCs.

Top supporters of Ukraine per capita Germany needs to step it up asap.

Quote from: Hydra009 on April 19, 2022, 01:46:37 PMFinland will send more military aid and its contents/delivery method will be kept secret to ensure safe arrival.

Romania will soon be sending military aid (technically against its constitution, so it'll have to quickly amend its constitution to allow sending military aid)

The Netherlands will also be sending "heavier equipment" including armored vehicles to Ukraine.

The Czech Republic has offered to repair Ukrainian tanks/APCs.

Top supporters of Ukraine per capita Germany needs to step it up asap.

Germany gives a lot more, as it is the 4th largest economy in the world. So that graph shows a pretty skewed view.

Quote from: Hydra009 on April 19, 2022, 09:33:48 AMFamilies of Moskva crew demand to know where they are

The Kremlin says it was fully evacuated, so where is everyone?  Surely, they'd like to be reunited with their families.

Conveniently, reporting the sailors as missing or dead due to accident rather than killed from enemy attack avoids having to pay the family 7 million rubles (~$84,000) as promised, saving Moscow about 3.5 billion rubles (~42 million usd)

That is truly shitty.

Quote from: Dark Lightning on April 19, 2022, 03:48:53 PMGermany gives a lot more, as it is the 4th largest economy in the world. So that graph shows a pretty skewed view.

Germany gives more in absolute terms - obviously, rich countries will give more than poorer ones.  But as a percentage of GDP, it doesn't give nearly as much as many other european countries.

Here's the graph in absolute terms:



Estonia was beating Germany in absolute terms a while back, though iirc that was only for military aid.

Blogger who knows what's up and has a plan...

Russia accuses US and West of dragging out 'military operation'

QuoteRussia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has claimed the US and other Western countries are "doing everything to drag out Russia's military operation in Ukraine".

After a month of conflict and literal years of military aid to Ukraine - they finally cracked the code.  Yes, the intent is to stave off occupation.

QuoteShoigu says the increasing volume of foreign arms supplies to Ukraine "clearly demonstrates their intentions to provoke the Kyiv regime to fight to the last Ukrainian standing".

Well, the last invader standing.  The Ukrainians were already prepared to fight to the last Ukrainian standing.

France to offer Ukraine security guarantees after the war is over

Before the Moskva was sunk, it was headed towards Odessa to help capture the city

QuoteOne of the surviving sailors of the cruiser "Moskva" told his mother that the ship was moving to Odessa to participate in the landing of paratroopers who were supposed to capture the city.

Ukrainian Security Service discovers abandoned cache of equipment/ammo worth $200 million in Kharkiv region

Quote"According to preliminary data, the components available there were intended for damaged Russian equipment, which the enemy was going to repair during the offensive. However, thanks to the resistance of Ukrainian defenders, the occupiers failed to take Kharkiv. Through the efforts of the SBU, the entire seized consignment of weapons will be used to protect our state," the statement said.

It was intended to fuel the russian war machine.  Now it will fuel the resistance.

They might have dwindling stockpiles of precision munitions, but they have a nigh-endless supply of f-bombs :P

Jokey dubbing aside, they were ordered to massacre civilians but somehow had difficulty with that, faced terrifying attacks from Ukrainian forces (well deserved), ran out of supplies including food while the commanders got whatever they wanted (definitely some corruption issues), and finally, the half-starved soldiers were abandoned by their commanders and left to their own devices (definitely some moral issues, facilitating desertion, perhaps even bordering on fragging opportunities).

This speaks to serious command and control, logistics, and morale issues.  Lots of stuff that Ukrainian forces can exploit, including the ability to record their conversations to know what they're up to in the first place.

Russia withdraws a battalion (BTG) from Ukraine due to heavy losses

QuoteDue to heavy losses, Russian forces withdrew the battalion tactical group of the 237th Tank Regiment of the 3rd Motorised Rifle Division of the 20th All-Military Army of the Western Military District from the Kharkiv region to its place of permanent deployment (Soloti, Belgorod region) to restore combat capability.

76 russian BTGs are active in Ukraine as of April 18th, so the loss of even one is fairly significant, though there are more in Russia either ready or in the process of reforming which could take its place.

Still, one less is one less.

QuoteIn the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed 10 Russian attacks, destroyed 12 tanks, 28 units of armoured and 2 units of automotive equipment, and 1 artillery system. The Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down 9 air targets: 1 plane, 1 helicopter, 6 UAVs of various makes and a cruise missile.

The Ukrainian defenders have been busy.  Although the invaders are using more cautious tactics, the defenders are more experienced at dealing with them and have the additional advantage of increasingly sophisticated gear/training while invading forces have suffered substantial losses of experienced soldiers/officers as well as lost equipment, which may or may not be adequately replaced.