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Russian forces continue to advance on several fronts
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Ukraine’s armed forces suffer very heavy casualties
Written by Dr. Leon Tressell
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the largest tank battle in history, which involved 1,600 tanks, and had a decisive impact on the course of World War 2. On 5 July 1943 Nazi Germany launched Operation Zitadelle, its last summer offensive on the Eastern Front. Hitler felt Army Group South could win this battle due to the massive hopes he placed on his new ‘wonder weapons’: the Panther and Tiger tanks. Hitler’s confidence was misplaced as these new powerful weapons failed to bring him the victory he desired. Instead, the German army went down to a decisive defeat which as Churchill observed, ‘marked the ruin of Germany on the Eastern Front.’
Here we are 80 years later and the Western media are drooling over the prospect of German Leopard 2 tanks being sent to fight Russian forces in Ukraine. Apparently, they will help it deal a ‘decisive blow’ to the Russian army during 2023. This narrative is exemplified by an article by Business Insider on 20 January 2023 which commented, Leopard 2s are “formidable main battle tanks [that] would provide a massive firepower boost on the battlefield.”
Two days ago the German government caved in to enormous pressure from its NATO allies and agreed to send 14 of these ‘wonder weapons’ to Ukraine which will take 3-4 months to deliver. Berlin gave permission for its NATO allies to export their Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev. According to Luxemberg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, NATO members intend to send around 300 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine over the next few months. Apparently, the goal is to have them in place before Russia launches a major offensive this spring.
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ABC news has reported the preliminary numbers of Leopard 2 tanks to be sent by European NATO members to Ukraine amount to 111. The breakdown by donor country is below:
- Germany will give 14 Leopard 2A6 models
- Poland will give 14 Leopard 2s
- Holland will give 18 Leopard 2s
- Portugal will give 4 Leopard 2A6 models
- Spain plans to send 53 Leopard 2s
- Norway plans to give 8 Leopard 2
- Finland and Sweden have expressed their readiness to send tanks but have not specified a number
On top of this President Biden has announced the transfer of 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine which will take several months to deliver.
War hawks in the US Congress and in governments across European NATO are insistent that deliveries of tanks and other heavy weapons will be maintained and increased to help Ukraine “win this war.’’
The Russian government’s response was predictably hostile considering this major escalation of NATO aid for Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the deployment of Western tanks would lead to “unambiguously negative” consequences. Andrey Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defence Committee dismissed the supplies of Western main battle tanks to Ukraine in an interview on 25 January on the Russsia-24 TV channel:
“The Leopard tanks are not bad; but I would say they are more effective than the Abrams in many characteristics. But nevertheless, if compared to our T-90s, they are significantly inferior in firepower and armour protection, including its active component.’’
He also added that Russian tanks and their crews have been tested under battle field conditions and shown themselves “from the best side.”
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The Western media and politicians are bragging over this latest escalation of NATO’s proxy war with Russia. However, Western main battle tanks in Ukraine will face a number of obstacles and difficulties.
The first issue that that will have to be dealt with is training Ukrainian tanks crews for the different kinds of tanks sent by NATO from Challenger 2s to Leopard 2s and M1 Abrams tanks. Most estimates agree that this will take several months just to produce entry level tankers who have mastered the basics of tank operation.
Given Russia’s activation of offensives on several fronts which is leading to very heavy losses in men and equipment for Ukraine these ‘wonder weapons’ may well arrive too late make any difference on the battlefield. Ukraine has recently lost the fortified city of Soledar while the Russian offensive against Bakmut has left this strategically important city very close to operational encirclement and facing capture in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Russian forces are advancing in the city of Ugledar and are making progress in their offensive in the Zaporozhye region where they have crossed the Yancher river and entered Kamyanske which is an important transport hub.
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The next factor to consider is the all important matter of logistics to support these main battle tanks. Yesterday AP carried a piece on the US pledge to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. It noted the many difficulties the Ukrainian army will face operating these tanks:
“Just last week, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters that the Abrams is a complicated, expensive, difficult to maintain and hard to train on piece of equipment. One thing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been very focused on, he said, “is that we should not be providing the Ukrainians systems they can’t repair, they can’t sustain, and that they, over the long term, can’t afford, because it’s not helpful.”
At this point I could wax lyrical about how M1 Abrams tanks and Leopard 2 have proved to be not so formidable in combat against enemies who are no where near as well armed as Russian forces which have air superiority and a massive artillery firepower advantage. From March of 2003 to March of 2005 approximately, 80 Abrams tanks were knocked out by Iraqi militias using IEDs and Russian made anti tank weapons. In Syria 10 Leopard 2 tanks were knocked out by Isis and Kurdish militias using Russian made anti tank weapons whilst fighting against Turkey’s invading army.
We could go on to discuss the different specifications of Russian tanks as compared to Western main battle tanks. In many ways that is a fruitless endeavour as training, experience and how the tanks are used in combined arms combat are more important on the battlefield. The military analysts on the Slavyangrad Telegram channel have observed,
‘Any comparison between tanks doesn’t matter a bit, because any Western tanks provided to Ukraine will be managed by crewmen inexperienced with Western systems, while Russian crewmen have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of real combat experience with their own systems. It’s going to be a manslaughter (or rather a “tankslaughter”).”
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The man take away for me from the announcement of Western tank deliveries to Ukraine is how this represents a huge escalation of the proxy war between the US and Russia. The questions ordinary people in the West should be asking are: Will deliveries of hi tech NATO 5th generation fighter bombers be the next weapons system to be sent to Ukraine? Or maybe the West will send Ukraine long range missile systems that can hit Moscow and other major Russian cities? Are these weapons deliveries going to continue escalating to the point where Russia feels it has no choice but to use tactical nuclear weapons in response?
You may say that I am exaggerating. However, comments from various NATO politicians make it clear that the West intends to support Ukraine until it wins victory over a nuclear armed power. At a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated:
““And therefore I’ve said already in the last days – yes, we have to do more to defend Ukraine. Yes, we have to do more also on tanks. But the most important and the crucial part is that we do it together and that we do not do the blame game in Europe, because we are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.”
In reply to Baerbock’s comments Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova retorted:
“If we add this to Merkel’s revelations that they were strengthening Ukraine and did not count on the Minsk agreements, then we are talking about a war against Russia that was planned in advance. Don’t say later that we didn’t warn you,”
We are living in very dangerous times which require ordinary people all over the world to pressure their governments to support the demand for immediate peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. You may say that I’m a dreamer but I know that I’m not the only one who doesn’t want the war in Ukraine leading to a nuclear war between Russia and the United States.
Spaniards always causing trouble in Russia. Will those 53 Leopards be called the Blue battalion?
I read earlier reports, that many of the Spanish tanks are broken and will need repair before being sent to the Ukraine. This all sounds more like symbolism over substance.
It is a big gift package for Russia to get so much iron and other metals from NATO countries.
Now they get fully refined metal that would have taken years to extract using normal mining.
Hohol strategy worked pretty well for them so far. Quicker you loose them, quicker you get replacements 😆
What is it now, the longevity of Western shit at the Eastern front? 15 minutes? 30 minutes? Maybe 1 hour max?
Cojones viejos.
Not all the spanish ppl agree the decisions of our government.. our polítics are a bunch of crocks nato dick suckers. Anyway our tanks are rubbish :)
https://rumble.com/vwxxi8-ukraine-on-fire.html
If anyone have heard of Rick Riles from Tru-News that’s based in the U.S. he is warning that Nuclear War is going to break out this year, he played a video of a Russian Talk Show Host I don’t know their names, but the one with the Male and Woman that invite guest to talk about the War in Ukraine and the lady said she is predicting War is going to break out this Winter ❄️
Honestly I’m scared now, I know I have been on here criticizing Russia but now things are getting real, I don’t want to die in a Nuclear Holocaust, because my leaders constantly provoked Russia to strike the U.S. in a Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike! Also something else Rick Wiles from Tru-News brought up that I never knew is that like in the 80’s
Dmitri Goodman a Romanian sent by God came to America warning that the U.S. will be burned to the ground by Russia, i know America has become wicked, but I don’t want this to happen I want Peace with Russia now! I need to speak to my leaders here, and appear on the News, this War needs to stop, before it goes too far!
Start getting the people onto the streets to protest against these lunatic politicians in western Europe and North America target the nato bases with CND protests block the roads and the railway network no nato traffic
I am in the UK and the UK regime is barking mad and satanic. The only way to purge the disgusting UK elite is for them all to be consumed by fire.
My dying wish would be to witness the end of the UK regime in a nuclear tsunami or fireball.
America has become wicked but it’s not the job of Russia to cleanse it with fire, it’s the job of men of that country who uphold the constitution to purge those who are wicked from their land.
That’s why the US is turning into a Zionist controlled police state prison.
I didn’t know that the spaniards are passionate bitches of the Anglo Saxons.
when you are broke, and rely on drunk brits to pay for the guest tunisians, you dance with canastas when they want you to.
it’s more than obvious that US fights Russia using EU weapons, depleting EU countries stocks (irreparably) so it would be very easy to extinguish any EU dream of its solo military play and through that move will even more ingrain itself into EU to the point of no return. As in old adage: keep Russians out, Americans in and Gerries down.
NATO was created to keep Germany occupied. This charade of united NATO members is just a puppet show for idiots.
With these stupid democracies that are ruled by polls combined with Givernment finded NGO Agitation and Propaganda of to get stupid to believe what Agitation sez…. The best way to get rid of NATO is to send these stupid NATO politicians and their hoards of haters in the direction of the Russians. Americans did that. Russians grounding this lbtq++++ shit to the ground.
Soon NATO will fall apart. Nasty parasytes of Ukropizdan will live between the rocks or with their parasyte compatriots in the West and war will be over. Americans will pack up, tell all European parasytes to fuck off and leave. Russians will clean up all these Eastern European parasytic shitholes like Rumania, BallTicks, Pooland, etc.
Did you hear the speach from Victoria Nuland, over the last few days?
Where she states she is going over to India to get them to come around to her way of thinking, where Russia is concerned and that they have not given up on regime change in Belarus.
Guess she cannot understand why nations are no longer willing to be purchased or blackmailed into regime change. She actually used samples of Kosovo and Rwanda. Remembering that NATO invaded Kosovo, using ‘self determination’ argument, same as Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk. Plus, Rwanda, it took the UN 2 decades to notice the genocide of 800,000 citizens of Rwanda. After the diamond and oil industries were up and running. Funny how Nuland is bragging about the carpet bombing regime change script of Bosnia and the Rwanda Genocide. There again, she was one of the cookie monsters that turned up for The Maidan, back in 2014 with the same script at hand.
NATO is not at war with Russia they are just doing a VSMO (very special military operation )…
I quickly did the math and what has been promised is not close to 300 Leopard 2’s, not even 100. Germany has exactly 236 so their ability to supply many is nil, no one else has even close to that number. I suspect the polish will donate their more aged tanks along with the 14 they promised. This is not really and armored war perse, I suspect any frontal armor attack by either side will end in disaster.
You are probably correct. The Houthis have been obliterating Saud Abrams tanks for years. The rebels use ATGM’s to deadly effect.
Anything the Houthis can do, the Russians can do better.
Yup those Faggot ATGMs are effective 😆
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qOz0bKxPKpw
Clear trenches the easy way with Su-25 and napalm. Eliminates equipment and personnel both at high rate. Follow with cluster mines and munitions to slow the retreat so the job can be completed. Don’t pay for the same real estate twice. There’s lots of artificial limbs available these days so the nazis can remember their shelling civilians each day as they hobble around.
The Trend is confirmed, those who command the West are desperate, they think that with poor quality soldiers, with poor military means, one can win. But they don’t even win by accident against a banana republic! (In Somalia, a major producer of bananas, it annoyed the Americans, 25,000 marines arrived and were defeated, after several helicopters were shot down and several dead).
With Western aid Ukrainians will continue fighting until all Orcs are repelled from all Ukrainian lands.
Propaganda does not win wars.
The Orcs are the Ukrainians and the lands are Russian. You’ve got your facts backwards.
what is a orc
They are ugly and evil beings from fairy tales.
That’s the entire Ukretard stock-in-trade. Made-up stories. Orcs, ghosts, a vast Ukrainian state. The clip in the Oliver Stone movie of Yushchenko describing this imaginary Ukrainian state that never existed is quite remarkable. These are some seriously batshit crazy kooks in Galicia.
J.R. Tolkien trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings” lore.
The British government are saying that the tanks they are sending to Ukraine should arrive by the end of march 2023 with the polish saying that they will need to train Ukrainian tank crews for the German leopard tanks the American tanks apparently will take longer to arrive in Ukraine with no definite date as yet! They will need to store this ordnance somewhere in Ukraine before they get the opportunity to use it we need to find this equipment and destroy it as soon as possible
“They will need to store this ordnance somewhere in Ukraine”
Anything stored in Ukraine will get bombed and destroyed by Russia. These tanks will need to remain on EU soil until they are sent into combat. They will need to return to EU soil for repairs after being damaged.
This won’t be an easy trick to pull by Ukraine and its US/NATO puppet masters.
Learn some history: the largest tank battle in history is Dubno-Lutsk-Rovno, with about 4500 : aprox. 3500 Soviets plus 700 German plus armored cars with tank guns (45mm).
Yes, US soldiers marching in chains while Russian kids beat them with stones.
The Russian Kornets decimated the Leopard 2 in Syria so no joy there but the real game changer are the drones. The drones are tank killers you can’t defend against on land and are to modern sea warfare what aircraft carriers were to Battleships in the day.
Nobody mentions the Kornet ripping up Jewish supremacist Merkavas in the hands of Hezbollah. According to the Jewish supremacists it’s the best tank in the world. Doesn’t bode well for the Panzers.
Most tanks are not working .. they need to be repearing by engineers
Russia has air assets. Russia has armor. Russia now has more expensive targets to shoot at. The ukranian army isn’t doing so good these days and zelensky should hang it up and surrender already
Zelensky is a Bolshevik there to kill as many christians as possible before fleeing to US.
Just listened to a Western independent media interview with Robert Barnes lawyer they were talking about a visit by the C.I.A head to Ukraine after the Davas globalist meeting it is being suggested that the Ukrainian nationalist leadership are being taken out by Nato ‘ the helicopter crash’ along with numerous arrests and others fleeing Ukraine over the last week it is being suggested that Poland and Lithuania are planning with the aid of nato to use up any Ukrainian forces left and to size control of and divide up Western Ukraine
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry helicopter crash was due to a Russian S400 hit. Right on the target.
We keep hearing in the western media about Russia’s upcoming spring offensive. How are Russian tanks going to move through the mud of a Ukrainian spring? The offensive is now!
Most likely, tanks are now obsolete. Too easy to destroy with ATGM’s. I haven’t read reports of the Russians relying much on tanks anymore. This spring, we’ll read about the destruction of most Abrams and Leopards used by the Ukrainians.
sure, better asap as long the ground is hard and frozen. but even in spring, the russian tanks are much lighter with wider chains. but what will happen with the 65-70 ton fatties like leo2, challanger or m1? they will stuck in the mud and will have also big problems to cross the most bridges and roads, which in ukraine usually have a maximum load capacity of 50 tons.
It is inconsistent to on the one hand wail about the enemy getting weapons, and the same time on the other hand to brag about the inferiority of the enemies weapons.
That was in Yemen. That Abrams in flames.
The number of tanks, which will be send is only a symbolic policy.
now the confirm to send only a few dozent, to awoid bigger protests in theyr own countries. but there are 2.000 leopard tanks in the stocks of these nato and western countries and 6.000 of m1 abrams in the usa, so i bet they will send batches of some dozents month by moth, what will grow to a total of sure over 1.000, if we count in that the ukros got already some 400 soviet era tanks from poland and chech in the last 11 months.
How will they transport these massive huge iron vehicles to Ukraine without Russia destroying them first? It’s impossible.
ukros gets hundrets of tanks and ifvs in the last 12 months, so i also still dont understand why russia is still not bombing hell out of all roads, highways, bridges, railroads, railstations, hubs and airfields in western ukraine.
Because they can’t. The only precision rockets left in Russia are nukes…
The answer is in your comment… it’s so convenient for Russia that NATO sends all their supplies to one spot where they can be scrapped.
we all beside the mainstream media informed know all that since years, but now even the most dumbest and naive should understand, that this is a war to destroy or at least massively weaken the russian military and economy, planned long before. so i dont see any reason for not calling in now all the rest of the 2 million russian resrevists and give the order to pull out all of the thousands of tanks and ifvs from reserves to the factories for maintance and modernisation. than russia would be able to start a massive offensive before summer on all fronts and could totally defeat and smash all of ukropistans mlitary within months, including the capture of the whole coastline and kiew, to imprison the coca clown and his staff.
Ukraine and NATO are not helping the world in general but want to force Russia to end the world less than hour.
Nato simple managed to modernise its military equipment. By getting rid of old russian tanks, fighter jets and other machinery still owned in very large numbers by Poland, Romania, Czechia and Warsaw Pact members, Nato military technology is now superior to anything else on the Planet Earth. No more asking Russia to extend license to modernise Mig 29 – it is all F16 and F35 from now… Old russian junk will burn in Ukraine… on both sides…
Western PR tanks.