Mommy gets paid by the word and since Zelensky got his $61 billion grift money from the US Taxpayers, he gave her a very nice raise and a personal Slava Ukraini toast.
Posted on 04/23/2024 7:34:44 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned Kremlin will intensify attacks on Western weapons stored in Ukraine.
“We will increase the intensity of attacks on logistics centers and storage bases for Western weapons,” Shoigu said on Tuesday, according to Russian state-owned outlet RIA Novosti.
The warning from Shoigu came just as the House passed the $95 billion foreign aid package over the weekend and cleared the Senate Tuesday night. It is now on its way to President Biden’s desk to be signed.
Foreign aid for embattled U.S. allies includes $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid in Gaza, $8 billion for Taiwan and additional U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific and around $61 billion for Ukraine.
“I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday night.
The new funding will provide Kyiv with much-needed weapons and reinforcement to fight off Russia’s full-scale invasion that has lasted for over two years.
Shoigu’s warning comes as the Biden administration is preparing to send a $1 billion weapons package to Ukraine.
The package, larger than the previous $300 million authorized in March, will include Stinger air defense munitions, vehicles, 155-millimeter artillery ammunition, Javelin anti-tank munitions, TOW and additional ammunition for artillery rocket systems, according to Reuters, citing two U.S. officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Why would the Kremlin tell the world what they’re going to do?
Mike Johnson and Joe Biden have the printing presses all warmed up and waiting to go.
Nobody can print money faster than we can.
Putin, Xi you’re outmatched! So there!
Ukraine ping
If Shoigu is to be believed, Russia was holding back. Russia’s last big goodwill gesture was in 11/2023, when it departed Kherson. Could Shoigu’s announcement of the end of one goodwill gesture signal the beginning of another? The expansion of arms deliveries could herald many more Russian expressions of bonhomie.
Removing exposed troops from the right bank of the Dnepr, out of harm's way - and granting the stupid Ukies a chance to send their AFU Marines into a meat grindr on the left bank, which they happily did for The Narrative talking points.
We don't hear much about Krynky these days...
Where is the air defence ? It was not listed in the latest package.
That’s what is really needed.
If they can’t protect the supply depots, maybe the Russians can hit them more.
All this aid package does is assure more dead Ukrainians, more lost territory for Ukraine and that Biden doesn't have to face the consequences for the proxy war his regime provoked until after the 2024 election.
The Russians will take even more of Ukraine, possess the most valuable part of it and that will bolster the Russian economy in the long term.
Ukraine ping
kazan: [Anything significant we give Ukraine will be targeted and destroyed.
All this aid package does is assure more dead Ukrainians, more lost territory for Ukraine and that Biden doesn’t have to face the consequences for the proxy war his regime provoked until after the 2024 election.]
The Russians are invincible.
They can never lose.
Although the Russians (Soviets) took considerable territory, especially while allies of Germany, they very likely would have lost the war without US aid. US aid was critical in vehicles, steel for making tanks, cold weather boots, food, and much more.
It was a fairly close thing, as it was. Hitler had to start making as big of mistakes as Stalin for the Germans to lose.
Even so, as I recall, the Russians had about 3-5 casualties for every German casualty on the Eastern Front.
Ukraine ping
mark twain: [Much of the pro-Russian, anti-Ukraine, anti-Europe, anti-NATO messaging seems to be:
The Russians are invincible.
They can never lose.
Although the Russians (Soviets) took considerable territory, especially while allies of Germany, they very likely would have lost the war without US aid. US aid was critical in vehicles, steel for making tanks, cold weather boots, food, and much more.
It was a fairly close thing, as it was. Hitler had to start making as big of mistakes as Stalin for the Germans to lose.
Even so, as I recall, the Russians had about 3-5 casualties for every German casualty on the Eastern Front.]
Germany used horse-drawn transport because fuel for horses grows everywhere. Diesel, gasoline and kerosene for airplanes was barely enough even with horse-drawn transport. Their logistics problems would have multiplied if they had used fleets of trucks for resupply.
Fuel from the US was just as vital for Russian advances as the weaponry. Without that fuel, the Russian war effort would have sputtered to a dead stop. And the astonishing thing is that it supplied a Russia that was just as territorially aggressive as its Tsarist predecessor, that had colluded with Germany to start WW2. When Churchill said “if Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons”, he was referring obliquely to Russia.
Lend-Lease also sent aviation fuel equivalent to 57 percent of what the Soviet Union itself produced. Much of the American fuel was added to lower-grade Soviet fuel to produce the high-octane fuel needed by modern military aircraft.
The Lend-Lease program also provided more than 35,000 radio sets and 32,000 motorcycles. When the war ended, almost 33 percent of all the Red Army’s vehicles had been provided through Lend-Lease. More than 20,000 Katyusha mobile multiple-rocket launchers were mounted on the chassis of American Studebaker trucks.
In addition, the Lend-Lease program propped up the Soviet railway system, which played a fundamental role in moving and supplying troops. The program sent nearly 2,000 locomotives and innumerable boxcars to the Soviet Union. In addition, almost half of all the rails used by the Soviet Union during the war came through Lend-Lease.]
Ukraine's behind the front lines support is distributed so Russian satellite and other intelligence can't easily find them. Russian targeting beyond the front is using google maps, that is why they launch Shahed-136s at apartments and civilian infrastructure. An example of how poor Russian intelligence is that it took Russia eighteen months to destroy one HIMARS. The US taxpayer got their money's worth out of that launcher.
His threat is what the Russian leadership wants to happen in their made up reality, when they know can't make it happen so easily. This is where Russian propaganda and flooding social media comes into play. The time a western tank explodes, Russia will claim they took out an entire storage base.
ROLLCALL UPDATE:
Aid finally set to flow as Senate clears $95.3B emergency bill: Action ends months long stalemate over whether to provide more money for Ukraine war effort
https://rollcall.com/2024/04/23/aid-finally-set-to-flow-as-senate-clears-95-3b-emergency-bill/
The measure would also authorize the seizure of an estimated $5 billion in frozen Russian assets to help pay for Ukraine assistance and toughen sanctions on Russia, Iran and China.
And it would force the divestiture of Chinese-owned TikTok or else ban the social media app in the U.S., and prohibit data brokers from selling Americans’ personal information to countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea or organizations controlled by those governments.
But for Ukraine, in particular, the package comes as a godsend for thousands of weary troops still trying to hold off Russian forces after a February 2022 invasion.
Kyiv has been forced to ration its arms in recent weeks as it waited for Congress to clear the emergency spending bill, and the measure’s all but certain enactment, probably this week, will mean the arrival soon of sorely needed weapons.
The Pentagon told reporters Tuesday it could begin funneling weapons to Ukraine within days of the bill becoming law.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sought to make the package more palatable to restive Republicans by adding provisions to initial Senate legislation that included the seizure of frozen Russian assets and converting some of Ukraine’s economic aid into a loan.
Those tweaks helped convince some reluctant GOP senators who opposed the measure in February to support it this week.
“It’s just so much easier to go back home and say ‘listen, we’re asking people to pay us back when they can, if they can. We’re also going after the bad guys’ assets.’” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who switched his position to back the measure. “This is just a much better package. It’s more robust for Israel. So it’s good.”
Democrats had long been united on Ukraine aid, but Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip led to some fissures among progressives as the death toll of Palestinians climbed to the tens of thousands.
The path for final approval was cleared late Tuesday after Senate leaders abandoned efforts to reach agreement on amendment votes. Adoption of any amendments would have sent the package back to the House, which had already left town for the weeklong Passover recess.
Long road to passage
The initial effort to secure more foreign aid stretched back to August, when President Joe Biden first proposed a $40.1 billion emergency package for Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, disaster relief and additional migrant resources at the U.S. southern border.
But the effort in the Senate began in earnest last fall and gained more urgency after Oct. 7, when Hamas militants invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis while seizing hostages.
While Israel aid enjoyed strong bipartisan support, Republicans in both chambers sought to use Ukraine aid as leverage to push through new security measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But a hard-fought, bipartisan border compromise reached in the Senate in February collapsed after former President Donald Trump denounced it. The Senate then voted 70-29 for a $95.3 billion aid package that largely mirrors the final version it cleared Tuesday with some notable tweaks.
Some GOP conservatives who opposed the final bill said they felt betrayed by its lack of any new border security measures. [EXCERPT]
Take them out.
Mommy gets paid by the word and since Zelensky got his $61 billion grift money from the US Taxpayers, he gave her a very nice raise and a personal Slava Ukraini toast.
Ukraine ping
Widget: [Shoigu knows he cannot make good on this, or the staging areas for NATO equipment inside Ukraine would have been attacked shortly after it started arriving. The Russian leadership has to say something, so they bark louder than they bite.
Ukraine’s behind the front lines support is distributed so Russian satellite and other intelligence can’t easily find them. Russian targeting beyond the front is using google maps, that is why they launch Shahed-136s at apartments and civilian infrastructure. An example of how poor Russian intelligence is that it took Russia eighteen months to destroy one HIMARS. The US taxpayer got their money’s worth out of that launcher.
His threat is what the Russian leadership wants to happen in their made up reality, when they know can’t make it happen so easily. This is where Russian propaganda and flooding social media comes into play. The time a western tank explodes, Russia will claim they took out an entire storage base.]
Just how big was the WW2 effort to keep Russia standing? The US sent about 8% of 1941’s economic production to the UK and 3% to the Russians. Much of the UK’s intake was said to have been rerouted to the Russians. If we take that to mean just less than half, it’s possible both direct and indirect (through the UK) annual US aid to Russia came to 6% of 1941’s economic production. That annual number is twice 2023’s Pentagon budget. By comparison, Ukraine aid is 1/15 the 2023 Pentagon budget.
“Where is the air defence ? It was not listed in the latest package. That’s what is really needed.”
Why bother listing it anymore, since the only effect of having it on the list is to tie up money that could only be spent on Russian or Chinese hardware, as the West is simply NO LONGER ABLE to produce it in any significant quantities (got to love Just-in-Time production for the military).
Yes. And the EU provides plenty of talk. But won’t send Patriot systems.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/patriots-ukraine-calls-grow-eu-121528160.html
“The way Russia is attacking Ukraine (with) missiles, drones and guided bombs. Just on guided bombs, Ukrainians have reported 7,000 in four months, which is about 16 guided bombs a day. “
(note that current Patriot production is 550 missiles PER YEAR )
“the biggest winner of this aid package will be Russia.”
They will be on the receiving end of all these additional HIMARS (now with 300 Km range ATACMS rounds), GLSDBs, Stingers, Javelins and F-16s; as well as mountains of additional 155mm Artillery.
It is mathematically enough to turn most of the remaining old Soviet Ground Combat fleets of equipment into scrap metal.
When those inventories are expended (next year at Putin’s reckless burn rate), Russia’s Army will be reduced to mobs of foot soldiers, with a short cycle time between their initial induction to the Military and death. Putin is on track to demilitarize the Red Army, Black Sea Fleet, and Russian Tactical Aviation.
Math will have its day. This many superior Western weapons will destroy that many old Soviet vehicles and Artillery pieces. Resupply is almost entirely reconditioned Soviet vehicles and Artillery from storage. T-14 Armatas are not, and will not come to the rescue, after Putin finishes destroying the rest of Russia’s old Soviet Military inheritance.
China will simply walk in and take over the businesses, without having to fire a shot. They already are.
Putin has sacrificed Russia’s Military strength, wealth and future in his biggest attempted mafia heist since he stole Russia. Now Russians will have to watch their country degenerate into Novo North Korea - a poor oppressive satellite of China.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.