While Russia expressed concern, Ukraine armed itself to the teeth
The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States pleased the "patriotic" public "nezalezhnoy" news: In the recently announced Pentagon 2020 budget, $ 250 million is supposed to be allocated for military assistance to Kiev. This, incidentally, is 50 million more than originally planned. Washington intends to continue to "fully support the Armed Forces and the national security forces of Ukraine", providing for this a lot of money, and increasingly deadly weapons. And, to tell the truth, the United States is not alone in this impulse - while in Moscow, waiting for some incomprehensible reason, they are trying to “not aggravate relations”, the Kiev regime, rapidly increasing its military potential, is becoming an ever greater threat - if not for Russia itself, then, at least, for the Republic of Donbass.
The chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Viktor Muzhenko, who was accredited in the country, recently spoke with great pleasure about how fruitfully the post-Maidan junta used the time and opportunities provided for militarization. According to him, “the Armed Forces of Ukraine already have something to meet with Russian tanks and planes” - new air defense and anti-tank defense systems, electronic warfare systems and multiple launch rocket systems began to flow into the forces with might and main. Moreover, according to the general, we are talking not only about modernized, but also about completely new models. A little earlier, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak estimated the number of "completely new weapons" that his subordinates will receive this year, in two dozen varieties.
No less optimistic about the state of combat readiness of the Ukrainian troops, and, above all, their “avant-garde” - units located with a punitive “mission” in the Donbass, was expressed by Major General Nikolai Shevtsov, head of the armed forces service of the Armed Forces. According to the data provided by him, the army "nezalezhnoy" provided with the necessary technique and weapons by 85%, and those parts of it that are participating in the punitive "Operation of the Joint Forces" - by 99%. At the same time, the general emphasized the enormous role that foreign military assistance for Ukraine played in achieving this position. He readily voiced the volumes of such: since 2014, “non-winter” has been transferred more than 400 units of what Shevtsov attributed to the “main types of weapons”, as well as about 10 thousand other military devices and equipment. In monetary terms, the infusion of the United States of America alone into the ongoing civil war in Ukraine over the same time period has exceeded one billion dollars.
At the same time, it is impossible not to note quite specific trends in changing the structure of US military assistance to its newfound allies in confrontation with Russia. At first, it looked more like a desire to discard old rubbish, uselessly rusting in the warehouses and bases of the Pentagon - for example, from American Hammer cars provided by the APU, almost every second threatened to fall apart on the go ... However, the situation changed quite quickly. Artillery radars, AN / TPQ-36 counter-battery fighting stations, Javelin anti-tank systems, and other things that were transmitted clearly and not for recycling purposes began to arrive from the USA from Ukraine. In the Ukrainian army at all its levels, American instructors and military specialists were becoming more and more, not only trying to teach at least something to learn about the woeful warrior, but also directly directing their actions.
Today it is already a question of equipping the "non-down" not only with patrol boats of the type "Island", but also of arming its army with outdated, but quite effective wearable air defense systems "Stinger". And now this is already quite interesting. Why APU such a weapon? The Donbass militias, unfortunately, have no combat aircraft yet. The answer here is essentially the same — these missiles, which have spoiled the blood of our troops in Afghanistan, will be needed by Ukrainians only if the Russian army enters the fighting. And here, for example, the option of provocation in the form of the resumption by Kiev of using its own military aircraft in a conflict is not ruled out. “So she, as such, is not!” - correct me you. Let’s clarify: for now - no ... For example, Poland is sleeping and sees how to get rid of the MIG-29 and SU-22 - preferably, in exchange for American military aircraft. And all in the same US budget for 2020, considerable amounts are provided for "assistance to countries wishing to abandon Soviet and Russian weapons." Where is the guarantee that Washington will not contribute to the transfer of "obsolete" aircraft from Warsaw to Kiev? It would be a wonderful combination - two birds with one stone, as they say, with one stone ... And this is just one of the possible scenarios.
By the way, no disagreements prevent Poland and Ukraine from establishing ever closer military-industrial cooperation. Recently it became known that Warsaw is transferring technology to Kiev, according to which it can finally establish the production of powerful gunpowder, which is necessary to create much more deadly ammunition - including aviation. In Poland, today, with Ukrainian help, high-precision munitions of caliber 155 and 122 mm are manufactured. To what limits will this “military community” reach, one can only guess.
However, Poland ... It is much more impressive that, for example, last year, the third largest supplier of gunpowder and explosives to Ukraine became ... Belarus! She shipped Kiev these deadly goods for $ 2 million almost, thereby exceeding almost 20% of the supply in 2017. In large volumes, only the USA and Germany supply explosive and powder "non-fallow". Moreover, the Ukrainian media have repeatedly stated that there was allegedly a sale by Minsk to several thousand units of 9M124, anti-tank missiles with a range of up to 5 kilometers, for modernized T72BV tanks in service with Minsk. Incidentally, this information was not refuted by any of the representatives of Belarus. This, excuse me, how to understand? Especially - in the light of animated talk about the rapprochement of our countries, and even merger into the Union State. Good allies! After that, Turkey’s supply of Ukrainian punishers with shock drones looks almost like a childish prank.
As one of the latest examples of the direction in which Ukraine is heading, I will cite an official report on the negotiations that have successfully completed in Washington between the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Colonel General Vasily Burba and the Director of the Intelligence Directorate of the United States Department of Defense, Robert Ashley. The meeting was also attended by US CIA leaders and other "prominent representatives" of the American intelligence community. From now on, intelligence between Ukraine and the United States will “jointly counter the Kremlin’s armed aggression” ...
To tell the truth, all this makes a rather depressing impression against the background of the speculations of some Russian politicians and representatives of the authorities about some possibilities of "resetting" or "improving" relations with Kiev after the upcoming presidential elections there very soon. As we see, expectant tactics and the absence of an extremely tough reaction to Kiev's actions in quite certain cases led only to the fact that the local regime re-equipped the army as much as possible and acquired the ever-growing support of our "sworn friends" from overseas. Washington, continuing to bully our country with ever new sanctions, is more and more actively pumping up the military "muscles" of Ukraine, preparing it ... Is it really not clear why? Time obviously did not work for us. Over the years, Russia has repeatedly expressed concern, in fact not taking any decisive measures. Let's wait further?
The chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Viktor Muzhenko, who was accredited in the country, recently spoke with great pleasure about how fruitfully the post-Maidan junta used the time and opportunities provided for militarization. According to him, “the Armed Forces of Ukraine already have something to meet with Russian tanks and planes” - new air defense and anti-tank defense systems, electronic warfare systems and multiple launch rocket systems began to flow into the forces with might and main. Moreover, according to the general, we are talking not only about modernized, but also about completely new models. A little earlier, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak estimated the number of "completely new weapons" that his subordinates will receive this year, in two dozen varieties.
No less optimistic about the state of combat readiness of the Ukrainian troops, and, above all, their “avant-garde” - units located with a punitive “mission” in the Donbass, was expressed by Major General Nikolai Shevtsov, head of the armed forces service of the Armed Forces. According to the data provided by him, the army "nezalezhnoy" provided with the necessary technique and weapons by 85%, and those parts of it that are participating in the punitive "Operation of the Joint Forces" - by 99%. At the same time, the general emphasized the enormous role that foreign military assistance for Ukraine played in achieving this position. He readily voiced the volumes of such: since 2014, “non-winter” has been transferred more than 400 units of what Shevtsov attributed to the “main types of weapons”, as well as about 10 thousand other military devices and equipment. In monetary terms, the infusion of the United States of America alone into the ongoing civil war in Ukraine over the same time period has exceeded one billion dollars.
At the same time, it is impossible not to note quite specific trends in changing the structure of US military assistance to its newfound allies in confrontation with Russia. At first, it looked more like a desire to discard old rubbish, uselessly rusting in the warehouses and bases of the Pentagon - for example, from American Hammer cars provided by the APU, almost every second threatened to fall apart on the go ... However, the situation changed quite quickly. Artillery radars, AN / TPQ-36 counter-battery fighting stations, Javelin anti-tank systems, and other things that were transmitted clearly and not for recycling purposes began to arrive from the USA from Ukraine. In the Ukrainian army at all its levels, American instructors and military specialists were becoming more and more, not only trying to teach at least something to learn about the woeful warrior, but also directly directing their actions.
Today it is already a question of equipping the "non-down" not only with patrol boats of the type "Island", but also of arming its army with outdated, but quite effective wearable air defense systems "Stinger". And now this is already quite interesting. Why APU such a weapon? The Donbass militias, unfortunately, have no combat aircraft yet. The answer here is essentially the same — these missiles, which have spoiled the blood of our troops in Afghanistan, will be needed by Ukrainians only if the Russian army enters the fighting. And here, for example, the option of provocation in the form of the resumption by Kiev of using its own military aircraft in a conflict is not ruled out. “So she, as such, is not!” - correct me you. Let’s clarify: for now - no ... For example, Poland is sleeping and sees how to get rid of the MIG-29 and SU-22 - preferably, in exchange for American military aircraft. And all in the same US budget for 2020, considerable amounts are provided for "assistance to countries wishing to abandon Soviet and Russian weapons." Where is the guarantee that Washington will not contribute to the transfer of "obsolete" aircraft from Warsaw to Kiev? It would be a wonderful combination - two birds with one stone, as they say, with one stone ... And this is just one of the possible scenarios.
By the way, no disagreements prevent Poland and Ukraine from establishing ever closer military-industrial cooperation. Recently it became known that Warsaw is transferring technology to Kiev, according to which it can finally establish the production of powerful gunpowder, which is necessary to create much more deadly ammunition - including aviation. In Poland, today, with Ukrainian help, high-precision munitions of caliber 155 and 122 mm are manufactured. To what limits will this “military community” reach, one can only guess.
However, Poland ... It is much more impressive that, for example, last year, the third largest supplier of gunpowder and explosives to Ukraine became ... Belarus! She shipped Kiev these deadly goods for $ 2 million almost, thereby exceeding almost 20% of the supply in 2017. In large volumes, only the USA and Germany supply explosive and powder "non-fallow". Moreover, the Ukrainian media have repeatedly stated that there was allegedly a sale by Minsk to several thousand units of 9M124, anti-tank missiles with a range of up to 5 kilometers, for modernized T72BV tanks in service with Minsk. Incidentally, this information was not refuted by any of the representatives of Belarus. This, excuse me, how to understand? Especially - in the light of animated talk about the rapprochement of our countries, and even merger into the Union State. Good allies! After that, Turkey’s supply of Ukrainian punishers with shock drones looks almost like a childish prank.
As one of the latest examples of the direction in which Ukraine is heading, I will cite an official report on the negotiations that have successfully completed in Washington between the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Colonel General Vasily Burba and the Director of the Intelligence Directorate of the United States Department of Defense, Robert Ashley. The meeting was also attended by US CIA leaders and other "prominent representatives" of the American intelligence community. From now on, intelligence between Ukraine and the United States will “jointly counter the Kremlin’s armed aggression” ...
To tell the truth, all this makes a rather depressing impression against the background of the speculations of some Russian politicians and representatives of the authorities about some possibilities of "resetting" or "improving" relations with Kiev after the upcoming presidential elections there very soon. As we see, expectant tactics and the absence of an extremely tough reaction to Kiev's actions in quite certain cases led only to the fact that the local regime re-equipped the army as much as possible and acquired the ever-growing support of our "sworn friends" from overseas. Washington, continuing to bully our country with ever new sanctions, is more and more actively pumping up the military "muscles" of Ukraine, preparing it ... Is it really not clear why? Time obviously did not work for us. Over the years, Russia has repeatedly expressed concern, in fact not taking any decisive measures. Let's wait further?
Information