The Worldwide Response to Russia's War On Ukraine

[TopHatter]

Germany already provided MiG29 spare parts packages over the last year, from industry stocks. For Mi-24 too btw.

Why was Germany holding on to MiG and Mil spare parts? I would've thought all that stuff would've been sold off to Poland 20 years ago.

[Monash]

Reuters report on new 2.6 billion military aid package for Ukraine.

https://www.reuters.com/world/muniti...es-2023-03-31/

[TopHatter]

Armsmaker Rheinmetall sets up maintenance hub in Romania for Ukraine weapons

(Reuters) - German armsmaker Rheinmetall is building a military maintenance and logistics hub in Satu Mare, Romania, expected to begin operation this month to service weapons used for the war in Ukraine, the company said on Sunday.

"The service hub should play a central role in maintaining the operational readiness of western combat systems in use in Ukraine and ensuring the availability of logistical support," a spokesperson for the company said.

The hub, located near the border with Ukraine, will service self-propelled howitzers, Leopard 2 and Challenger tanks, Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Fuchs armoured transport vehicles and military trucks.

"It is a key concern for us at Rheinmetall to provide the NATO forces and Ukraine with the best possible support," Chief Executive Armin Papperger said in a statement.

Rheinmetall founded a similar center in Lithuania in June 2022 to provide support to NATO vehicles in the Baltic states.
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[TopHatter]

With no peace in sight, NATO countries eye more Ukraine help

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s Western allies have sent the country 65 billion euros ($70 billion) in military aid to help thwart Russia’s full-scale invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, and with no peace negotiations on the horizon the alliance is gearing up to send more.

“We cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security,” Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels, adding “there are no signs that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is preparing for peace. He is preparing for more war.”

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday “will discuss how we can step up our support, including by continuing to strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces,” Stoltenberg said. “Our support is for the long-haul.”

Analysts suspect Putin plans to dig in and hold out against a possible Ukraine counteroffensive in coming months, hoping that the West’s costly support for Kyiv will unravel.

Putin’s invasion in February 2022 backfired in some key respects. It led NATO to deploy more troops and weapons into the territories of its members in Eastern Europe and persuaded Sweden and Finland to scrap their neutrality and seek NATO membership.

Finland will formally join the alliance on Tuesday, Stoltenberg said.

The war has also bound together more tightly foreign leaders viewed by Putin as adversaries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to head to Warsaw on Wednesday for a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Polish authorities announced the visit Monday in an unusually early disclosure of the Ukrainian leader’s travel plans.

Amid fears among Russia’s other neighbors about the Kremlin’s ambitions, the leaders of Germany, Romania and Moldova were due Monday to look at ways of shoring up defenses along NATO’s eastern flank.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was meeting in Bucharest with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Moldovan President Maia Sandu. Their talks were expected to focus on security, the economy and energy supply.

Meanwhile, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also the economy minister and responsible for energy, arrived in Kyiv on Monday on an unannounced visit.

He traveled with a business delegation that included the head of Germany’s main industry lobby group, the Federation of German Industries.

Habeck said the trip was meant to send a clear signal “that we believe they will be victorious, that they will be rebuilt, that there is an interest on Europe’s part not just to support them in an emergency, but in Ukraine being an economically strong partner in the future.”

Zelenskyy and Habeck visited the village of Yahidne — 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Kyiv. Zelenskyy visited the Yahidne secondary school, in whose basement Russian occupiers forcibly kept 367 Ukrainian civilians for 27 days in March of last year. Eleven people died in the dark, crowded basement.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where much of the fighting has taken place in recent months, six civilians were killed in a single Russian rocket strike on the town of Kostiantynivka, Ukraine’s presidential office said.

Four more civilians were killed in the northern Chernihiv region when their vehicles hit land mines, underscoring the perils of living in the war zone.

Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that a spell of cold weather has deepened the civilians’ plight there.

“Freezing temperatures and snow make life unbearable for civilians, they have to survive in damp basements without power and communications and can only occasionally get out to warm themselves around a campfire,” Kyrylenko said in televised remarks.

“The Russians never run out of ammunition, equipment and personnel whom they use as cannon fodder to keep trying to storm cities.”

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[TopHatter]

Zelenskiy says Poland will help form coalition to supply warplanes to Ukraine

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said during a trip to Warsaw on Wednesday that Poland would help form a coalition of Western powers to supply warplanes to Ukraine, as it did with battle tanks earlier this year.

Ukraine, which hopes to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months, wants to secure advanced fighter jets such as the U.S. F-16 from the West to help fight back Russian invaders and defend itself from air strikes.

Warsaw is a close ally of Kyiv and helped galvanise support in the West to supply main battle tanks to Ukraine as part of a coalition of powers, a move that initially hit a diplomatic impasse that was then overcome.

"Just as your (Polish) leadership proved itself in the tank coalition, I believe that it will manifest itself in the planes coalition," Zelenskiy said in a speech on a square in Warsaw.

The Ukrainian leader said Russia would not defeat Europe while Ukraine and Poland were working closely together.

"Poland with you, shoulder to shoulder, we will establish freedom in Europe forever, tyranny will lose in history when it loses in Ukraine," he said.

He warned against the danger of solidarity fading for Ukraine and said that artillery and tanks should be provided when the battle on the front lines required it.

"Because this is a battle for freedom and it is impossible to win partially," he said.
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[TopHatter]

Six Spanish Leopard tanks to leave to Ukraine in second half of April

MADRID (Reuters) - The six Leopard 2A4 tanks Spain has promised to send to Ukraine will leave the country in the second half of April, Defence Minister Margarita Robles told state broadcaster TVE on Wednesday, pushing back the estimated shipment date.

The German-made battle tanks have not been used since the 1990s and had been mothballed in reserve, requiring refitting and battle readiness tests after initial doubts as to whether they could go into combat again.

Spain last month said it expected to send the tanks after the April 9 Easter holiday.

It had committed to sending a total of 10 tanks to Ukraine, and Robles said the armed forces had started repairing the remaining four.

Spain has also trained 40 tank crew members and 15 mechanics at a military base in the northeastern city of Zaragoza.

Other NATO countries, including Germany, Poland and Portugal, have promised to send a total of 48 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
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Even if these tanks are used solely as in-country trainers, it'll have a salutary effect on getting Ukraine up to speed on Western-style tanks and crew interaction.

[TopHatter]

Greece to send more arms to Ukraine, but sets limits

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has pledged military assistance to Ukraine for “as long as it takes” but officials cautioned that the country needs to keep much of its Russian-made weaponry for its own defensive needs.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov visited Athens Thursday as part of regular meetings with officials from NATO countries. He was promised more artillery and small arms ammunition shipments, access to Greek hospitals for wounded military personnel and additional Soviet-era BMP infantry fighting vehicles.

Greece "will provide every support to Ukraine at this very important, crucial stage of the war,” Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said during a joint appearance with Reznikov. “We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes — that’s a very clear position that we have taken from the outset.”

Military officials said Greece has also provided trainers for Ukraine’s special forces and tank operators, as a contribution to the massive military assistance effort led by the United States and its allies.

Russia, which had traditionally close ties with Greece before the war in Ukraine, for decades had been a supplier of arms to the NATO member, including the S-300 air defense missile system. Moscow has singled out Athens for criticism over its support for Ukraine.

Panagiotopoulos, speaking in Parliament on the eve of Reznikov’s visit, said Greece would not provide any military assistance that could compromise its own defense, and stressed that major arms procurement plans remain unchanged despite a recent thaw in tension with neighbor and fellow NATO member Turkey.

German-made Leopard tanks, the minister said, could not be provided.

“The rumors are running rampant: That we will send fighter jets, and S-300s, and this and that. For goodness' sake,” he told lawmakers. “We give what we can give, but nothing that would weaken in the slightest our own defense capabilities given our own national security challenges.”

Reznikov said Greece had offered assistance to Ukraine to better integrate its navy with NATO.

“After this war, after the victory of Ukraine in this war, together with our partners we will continue to develop our defense capability,” Reznikov said.
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[Albany Rifles]

An excellent, if long, Twitter thread on challenges of the Ukrainians use of Western aid and the ability of Western nations to keep supplying aid.

https://twitter.com/LivFaustDieJung/...75480496517121

[TopHatter]

Poland aims to set up Abrams tank service centre for Europe

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland aims to become the service centre for U.S.-made Abrams tanks in Europe, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday during a visit to the United States.

"I want a service centre for Abrams tanks for the whole of Europe, for maintaining their battle readiness, to be located in Poland. This is possible, I am in talks regarding this...," Morawiecki told a press conference in Anniston, Alabama broadcast by Polish public television.

"We are also striving for the production of depleted uranium ammunition cores for the Abrams to be located in Poland."

Poland, a close ally of the United States within NATO, has ordered 250 state-of-the-art Abrams battle tanks in addition to 116 modernised ones.

"...I have confirmation that by June at the latest 14 Abrams tanks will be delivered to Poland...", he said, adding that these would replace Soviet-era tanks his country had donated to Ukraine to help fight off Russia's invasion.
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[TopHatter]

China vows not to sell arms to any party in Ukraine war

BEIJING (AP) — China won't sell weapons to either side in the war in Ukraine, the country's foreign minister said Friday, responding to Western concerns that Beijing could provide military assistance to Russia.

China has maintained that it is neutral in the conflict, while backing Russia politically, rhetorically and economically at a time when Western nations have imposed punishing sanctions and sought to isolate Moscow for its invasion of its neighbor.

Qin Gang is the highest-level Chinese official to make such an explicit statement about arms sales to Russia. He added that China would also regulate the export of items with dual civilian and military use.

“Regarding the export of military items, China adopts a prudent and responsible attitude,” Qin said at a news conference alongside visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock. “China will not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict, and manage and control the exports of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations.”

The minister also reiterated China’s willingness to help find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

At the same news conference, Qin also blamed Taiwan’s government for heightened regional tensions after Beijing held large-scale military drills in an attempt to intimidate the island it claims as its own territory.

In February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. had intelligence suggesting China was considering providing arms and ammunition to Russia — and warned that such involvement in the Kremlin’s war effort would be a “serious problem.”

In recent days, European leaders have issued similar warnings, even as they visited China, and the European Union's foreign policy chief lashed out at Beijing, saying its support of Russia during the invasion was “a blatant violation” of its United Nations commitments.

In her remarks, Baerbock also referred to China's role as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, saying it bore a special responsibility for helping end the conflict.

“But I have to wonder why the Chinese positioning so far does not include a call for the aggressor, Russia, to stop the war,” she said. “We all know that President (Vladimir) Putin would have the opportunity to do so at any time, and the people in Ukraine would like nothing more than to finally be able to live in peace again.”

A visit to Moscow last month by Chinese leader Xi Jinping underscored how Beijing is increasingly becoming the senior partner in the relationship as it provides Russia with an economic lifeline and political cover. China announced Friday that Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu would visit Russia next week for meetings with counterpart Sergei Shoigu and other military officials.

On both Ukraine and Taiwan, Qin articulated well-worn defenses of Chinese policies that underscore Beijing's rejection of criticisms from the West, particularly the U.S. Under the ardently nationalist Xi, China has sharpened its rhetoric, particularly on the issue of Taiwan, which split from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.

Tensions around the island rose significantly after China deployed warships and fighter planes near Taiwan last weekend in retaliation for a meeting between U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen.

China insists that self-governing Taiwan submit to its rule, either peacefully or by force, and Qin said the pursuit of independence by Taiwan's government and its foreign supporters — a veiled reference to chief ally the United States — were the reason for the tensions.

Baerbock warned that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, through which much of the world’s international trade passes, would bring global disaster.

“We therefore view the increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait with great concern,” she said. “Conflicts must be resolved peacefully. A unilateral change of the status quo would not be acceptable to us as Europeans.”

Apparently rejecting Baerbock's concerns, Qin said Taiwan was “China’s internal affair.”

“Taiwan independence and peace cannot co-exist,” he said.
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Uh-huh....

[Bigfella]

While I don't beleive the statement about not exporting dual use stuff - pretty sure that is already happening - I believe the claim about selling arms...more or less. I can see some components here or there turning up, but I don't see China ferrying anything like fully functioning systems or even ammunition.

For all the words about friendship, I get a decidedly icy vibe from Beijing about this. Had it all been wrapped up inside a couple of months I'm sure Beijing would be fine, but it is creating a shitstorm that is ultimately unhelpful. The US is ramping up production that might not have happened and a lot of non-French speaking nations are at least saying they are willing to make life more difficult for Beijing than it needs to be. Meanwhile Russia is selling commodities at bargain basement prices and will no doubt be open to further exploitation as the war goes on - bye bye Lake Baikal.

Additionally, this is allowing China to accelerate the process of supplanting Russian influence in places like Central Asia, the Middle East & Africa. One of my favourite lines in the TV show 'the Wire' is when a political advisor describes the mayor of Baltimore as 'a weak-ass mayor of a broke-ass city'. That is Vlad. Not much use to anyone right now.

Maybe there is some circumstance that wil lsee re-painted T-55 copies rolling across the border with some artillery ammo, but we aren't close yet. Don't see that China has much to gain by helping him out at this stage.

[Monash]

While I don't beleive the statement about not exporting dual use stuff - pretty sure that is already happening - I believe the claim about selling arms...more or less. I can see some components here or there turning up, but I don't see China ferrying anything like fully functioning systems or even ammunition.

For all the words about friendship, I get a decidedly icy vibe from Beijing about this. Had it all been wrapped up inside a couple of months I'm sure Beijing would be fine, but it is creating a shitstorm that is ultimately unhelpful. The US is ramping up production that might not have happened and a lot of non-French speaking nations are at least saying they are willing to make life more difficult for Beijing than it needs to be. Meanwhile Russia is selling commodities at bargain basement prices and will no doubt be open to further exploitation as the war goes on - bye bye Lake Baikal.

Additionally, this is allowing China to accelerate the process of supplanting Russian influence in places like Central Asia, the Middle East & Africa. One of my favourite lines in the TV show 'the Wire' is when a political advisor describes the mayor of Baltimore as 'a weak-ass mayor of a broke-ass city'. That is Vlad. Not much use to anyone right now.

Maybe there is some circumstance that wil lsee re-painted T-55 copies rolling across the border with some artillery ammo, but we aren't close yet. Don't see that China has much to gain by helping him out at this stage.

Not to mention the fact that while China could perhaps disguise production runs of simple/dumb munitions (rifle ammunition, mortars and artillery shells etc) to falsify their point of origin as Russia that game won't work with complex equipment like vehicles, electronics or PGMs etc. which are all the areas where Russia really needs assistance! Nor does it help that recent leaks have confirmed that the US has very good intelligence sources that can reach deep into the highest levels Russia's military/political system. Sources that would almost certainly detect chatter about large scale transfers even if China was confident that the US wouldn't pick up on them from it's own end of the supply chain. And again if we are talking large volumes how certain can they really be of that?

Long story short, there's not a lot of 'pluses' for China in directly supporting Russia's war effort while there are definitely a whole lot of potential 'minuses'. and XI has enough on his plate already without causing further major dramas with the western powers.

[TopHatter]

Ukraine says it is finding more Chinese components in Russian weapons

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, a senior adviser in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office told Reuters, as Western supplies are squeezed by sanctions.

In "the weapons recovered from the battlefield we continue to find different electronics," said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises the president's chief of staff on sanctions policy.

"The trend is now that there is less Western-made components but more – not hard (to) guess which country – made components. Of course, China," he said via a video call.

China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia since Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The assault triggered Western sanctions, including on sending military and dual-use technology such as microchips that could be used in either ordinary appliances or weapons.

Intelligence gathered by Ukrainian experts from the battlefield and shared with Reuters stated that Chinese-made components were found in a navigation system in Orlan aerial drones that had previously used a Swiss system.

The experts also reported finding Chinese parts in the fire control system in Russian tanks that had earlier used French-made parts.

Reuters could not independently verify the intelligence, including whether the components mentioned may have been intended for non-military use or whether they were moved to Russia by a third party.

"We're picking (up) a lot of different stuff, China made," Vlasiuk said.

Asked whether Chinese companies had provided parts for Russian military hardware, China's foreign ministry spokesperson's office told Reuters: "Throughout history, China has launched normal trade cooperation with all countries, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit."

"As for military item exports, China has throughout adopted a prudent and responsible attitude. China's position and actions have always been this way."

NAMING NAMES

Vlasiuk said that Ukraine was able to identify some manufacturers or suppliers and share that information with Western allies.

He named China North Industries Group (Norinco), a Chinese weapons maker, as one supplier and military supplier Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co as another, without saying what they had supplied.

A member of staff at Norinco, who declined to give their name, said the company was "not providing military equipment components to Russia".

Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken last month said China had not "crossed that line" yet of supplying Russia with lethal aid.

However, U.S. officials are watching developments closely and are concerned, in particular, by so-called dual-use products, such as electronics that can be used in, say, a microwave or a missile.

"We and our partner governments are relentlessly focused on restricting Russia's access to key technologies that fuel its brutality in Ukraine," said a senior State Department official. "We will continue to take action to degrade Putin’s war machine."

Earlier this week, the U.S. added Chinese companies to its latest sanctions, including a satellite image reseller that the State Department said supplied imagery of locations in Ukraine to entities affiliated with Wagner and its head, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

China, which has positioned itself as a mediator, has said it is not interested in inflaming the conflict as it says Western arms supplies to Ukraine do.

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on the Chinese company Comnav Technology for supplying navigation and radar equipment to Russia that could be used to support Russian and Iranian drones and missiles. A Comnav staff member, asked whether it was supplying components to Russia said, "No, of course not". The staff member declined to be named.

Vlasiuk described an "ongoing battle" first to impose sanctions on Russia and then to close loop-holes Moscow would find to avoid them.

"We see that there a lot of examples of third countries continuing, willingly or not, to support sanctions circumvention," he said.
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[Amled]

Hungary Calls Out West For Providing Aid To Ukraine…

Here we have an EU and NATO member who is parroting the same line that the Kremlin has been pushing since the Ukrainians showed that they weren’t a pushover. When they started to show that the mighty Russian armed forces;sent against them, bore more than a fleeting resemblance to the fabled “Paper Dragon”!
Have to wonder at the mental gymnastics that a western leader has to perform, to castigate the US and the West for helping a sovereign nation being attacked by an aggressor.
If for nothing else then self-interest, it tells the aggressor: Not This Time!!!
…and again, this is a NATO ally!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkFh3qCRurY

[TopHatter]

Have to wonder at the mental gymnastics that a western leader has to perform, to castigate the US and the West for helping a sovereign nation being attacked by an aggressor.

It's not difficult when you're best buds with, or at the very least a passionate admirer of, Putin and his brand of authoritarianism.