[ingliz]

They don't exist on the Ukrainian side, to my knowledge

You're not very knowledgeable.

I bought an M9 from a private military contractor last year. I call them mercenaries - They call themselves security consultants - contracted to fight in Ukraine. He said his particular skillset was sniping. I thought he was a bullshitter, but no, he's there on Linkedin touting for business with photos.

[Rugoz]

You're not very knowledgeable.

I bought an M9 from a private military contractor last year. I call them mercenaries - They call themselves security consultants - contracted to fight in Ukraine. He said his particular skillset was sniping. I thought he was a bullshitter, but no, he's there on Linkedin touting for business with photos.

Am I supposed to believe you, of all people, or this bullshitting "mercenary"? Feel free to provide a source for PMCs fighting for Ukraine. Because it they do, on any relevant scale, it shouldn't be difficult to find one.

[ingliz]

@Rugoz

Will this do?

https://mt.linkedin.com/in/grant-bowden-36060031

[Rugoz]

@Rugoz

Will this do?

https://mt.linkedin.com/in/grant-bowden-36060031

Thanks, but all it says is high risk advisor in Ukraine. He could be working in any role. Are you suggesting he's at the front, sniping Russians?

[Godstud]

@Skynet What a blatant lie. You can easily determine that Russia spends 3.9% of it's GDP on the military and that doesn't even put it in the top 10 in the world. Sheeesh. At least you could try to do your propaganda better.

[Skynet]

@Skynet What a blatant lie. You can easily determine that Russia spends 3.9% of it's GDP on the military and that doesn't even put it in the top 10 in the world. Sheeesh. At least you could try to do your propaganda better.

Excuse you are right, I got false info from Youtube.

But I insist just 40 000 Russkis died... this is logical the Ivan has x times more heavy weapons.

[Rich]

Ukraine is still being funded to the tune of tens of billions a year, even without a cent from America. Ukraine has more than enough resources to defend its still vast remaining territory. The problem is its corrupt, incompetent and delusional leadership.

Capturing Avdiika rationalises and shortens the front line and pushes Ukrainian artillery back away from Donetsk city, which I understand has caused thousands of civilian casualties over the last decade. Its no great loss for Ukraine except to Ukraine and its liberal cheer leaders hopes of reconquering the Donbas. Its a blow to Ukraine's morale, but mainly because Zelensky insisted on making its defence such a feature of Ukrainian propaganda.

The end to the decade long battle over this minor Donbas town, that probably most people in Ukraine, let alone the West had never heard of prior to 2014, is something that should be celebrated not mourned

[ingliz]

Since February 2022, the United States has allocated $113.4 billion in emergency funding to support Ukraine in wartime.

See How much money has the US given Ukraine since Russia’s invasion? USAFacts October 4, 2023.

While the data presented shows most of the security assistance sent to Ukraine, only some transactions are publicly available, meaning some funds are unaccounted for.

[Rugoz]

@Skynet What a blatant lie. You can easily determine that Russia spends 3.9% of it's GDP on the military and that doesn't even put it in the top 10 in the world. Sheeesh. At least you could try to do your propaganda better.

The 40% figure floating around refers to 40% of government expenditure, but that's the security apparatus in total, including Rosgvardia. For the military the plan (2024) is 35% of government expenditure, or 7.1% of GDP.

https://www.sipri.org/media/press-relea ... i-analysis

[Rich]

For the military the plan (2024) is 35% of government expenditure, or 7.1% of GDP.

And these jokers still keep trying to tell us this is a full scale war. In World War II Britain reached 53% of our GDP at its and we had the relative luxury of being protected by the British Navy and the English Channel. For Germany the figure reached 75% in 1944. And its not just the expenditure or the lack of moblisation. If the Ukrainians were serious about full scale war they would have advanced north into Belarus and Russia. Any territory they captured could then have been traded later down the line. Of course if the Ukrainians had even more sense they would take territory in western Belarus and keep it while letting the Russians keep the East.

The territory north of west and central Ukraine is the ideal place to deploy more lightly armed infantry. Plus anyone with manpower and motivational advantage should seek to widen the front. This will dilute and mitigate the advantages the enemy may have in armour, artillery air power etc. Russia's break through in northern Adviika was only achieved through a very strong concentration of Russian manpower, artillery, air-power and other limited resources.

[MadMonk]

When talking about how much support Ukraine has been given and that they should now easily have enough resources to fight and win this war, one should also look at the costs of this war for both parties. While the economic costs for Russia have been substantial, for Ukraine they have been catastrophic, with an estimated loss of -30.4% of their GDP in 2022 alone.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ukraines-economy-falls-304-2022-minister-2023-01-05/