Posted on 03/25/2023 10:12:43 PM PDT by familyop
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation, which ran the interview on state-run television network Russia 24. During the interview, Putin Western countries’ plans to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, as well as the current state of Russia’s military-industrial complex. The Russian president also announced his plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of neighboring Belarus. Meduza shares the most important parts of Putin’s remarks.
There are threats, of course. We know about plans to supply weapons to Ukraine, including a million shells. Is that a lot or a little? It’s a decently large amount, it’s a lot. The U.S. produces 14,000–15,000 shells a month. Ukraine’s armed forces use up to 5,000 shells a day.Russia’s armed forces use much more than that. I don’t want to assess the rationality of decisions at various levels of military command. We know that the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff have had to impose limits. But Russia’s military-industrial complex is running at a much faster pace than most expected. And Russia is producing three times as much ammunition as the instigators of the conflict.
The instigators plan to send Ukraine 420–440 tanks. We’re producing and modernizing more than 1,600 tanks. The total quantity of tanks will be three times higher than the number Ukraine has. In terms of aircraft, the difference is 10 orders of magnitude. The U.K. promised to supply Ukraine with ammunition with depleted uranium. We have hundreds of thousands of rounds of such ammunition. We’re not yet using them.
Alexander Lukashenko [the president of Belarus] asked a long time ago about deploying tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus. The U.S. has done this for decades, placing tactical nuclear weapons on their allies’ territory. We’re doing the same thing. There are 10 aircraft in the Belarusian Air Force ready to use this type of weapon. We transferred an Iskander ballistic missile system to Belarus, and it can also support [tactical nuclear weapons]. We’ll complete construction on a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1.
We will not allow excessive militarization of the economy.
LOL! is your response?
Seriously, LOL! at the waste of this war — human and economic? What kind of sicko are you?
Didn’t Putin just die?
Or was he just touching a table?
You’re being as laughably dishonest as Putin.
You’re an idiot troll. “Family” my ass. I’m onto you. You’re pure evil.
It can end tomorrow. The Russians just need to March home.
I suspect you need to stop drinking. Or go to bed.
Understandable. All production for the war...
Or Ukraine surrender the eastern regions to keep a buffer between Russian oil fields and NATO.
Sounds like Russia is gearing up to make Belarus a Declared Nuclear Power again! Putin intends to reverse the previous de-nuclearization of Belarus.
We might should consider doing the same with Ukraine, and restore her former status as a Nuclear Power (Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons in the 1990s).
Regards,
We might should consider doing the same with Ukraine, and restore her former status as a Nuclear Power (Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons in the 1990s).
Ukraine was never a recognized nuclear power. Ukraine never had control of the nuclear weapons of the former USSR. They were under the control of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Russia had the launch codes and operational control — the missiles were aimed at the United States. Ukraine signed the Lisbon Accords in 1992. Ukraine agreed to give up the nuclear weapons as a condition to receiving international recognition. The United States and Russia demanded that Ukraine (and other former USSR republics with nukes left behind) join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear power, and that is what it did. It never obtained the launch codes or control of the former USSR weapons. The missiles were ballistic missiles with a range of 5 to 10 thousand kilometers. Had Ukraine ever been able to retarget the missiles, they could not be targeted at anything less than 5,000 kilometers away.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1993-06-22/Orals-1.html#Orals-1_sbhd1
House of Commons, 22 June 1993
Nuclear Weapons2. Mr. David Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those countries which possess nuclear weapons capable of being delivered to targets in the United Kingdom.
The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Jeremy Hanley): Such weapons are possessed by Russia, China, France and the United States. Some weapons are also possessed by Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, but these are controlled by the Commonwealth of Indpendent States.
Mr. Evans: Is the Minister aware that the list is growing ever longer, with the Ukraine selling missiles to whoever is prepared to pay for them? Does not that mean that this country's safety is threatened even more? Does he agree it is important that the Walworth road is protected because we want our children and grandchildren not only to read about the demise of socialism in libraries and schools but to be able to go down the Walworth road to see for themselves where the last of the Bolsheviks lived and worked? Does he agree that the Walworth road should be a nuclear-free zone because the safety of that lot is in our interests?
Mr. Hanley: I am pleased to reassure my hon. Friend that all tactical nuclear weapons have been withdrawn from the Ukraine and, as I said, strategic weapons are not under its control.
Yes, Ukrainian people should immediately surrender to Russian tyranny! This is still Free Republic right?
Most amazing, Putin has just enlarged NATO by his actions by invading a sovereign country and you talk about giving him a buffer? NATO has been on russias borders for years and no aggression. In fact much of NATO has been drawing down their militaries, increasing trade…. There was no threat to Russia except in putins head and his dreams of a greater Russia. Just ask Georgia and Chechnya
I agree with the LOL about putins comments. His tanks and aircraft have proven to be less than effective. They can’t fulfill export contracts let alone produce many pieces of equipment for themselves certainly not modern stuff like t-90s and t-14s. 7-8 months fighting for one small city and still bakmut holds
Yes his comments are laughable his actions are monstrous
Ukraine is winning. Send more money.
bkmk
There’s a gem in Putin’s remarks where he admits Russia has a shell shortage:
“The U.S. produces 14,000–15,000 shells a month...Russia is producing three times as much ammunition as the instigators of the conflict.”
If we include the rest of the NATO countries in his “instigators of the conflict” - even though he mentions only the USA a few sentences previously - then NATO is collectively producing around 28,000-30,000 shells per month while Ukraine is using, according to Putin, 150,000 shells per month.
So Russia is producing 84,000 - 90,000 shells per month but using 10,000 - 20,000 a day -> 300,000 - 600,000 a month. Russia’s 10 to 20,000 a day is down quite a bit from the peak - because they were using too many shells relative to their production and stockpiles.
Russia has a shell shortfall of around 210,000 - 510,000 shells per month. Which means they are drawing down their inventories regardless of what propagandists say. Putin has confirmed it. Those inventories are not limitless although of course neither are the West’s. But at some point Russia will have to reduce its shell expenditure again.
In contrast, NATO’s shell shortfall is 150,000 - 30,000 = 120,000 shells per month.
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