Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

Sunak confirms UK will supply Challenger 2 tanks (BBC)

11:30
Breaking

UK to send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed the UK will provide Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine during a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, No 10 says.

New
Posted at 11:4611:46
Sunak told Zelensky the UK aims to intensify support to Ukraine

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak "outlined the UK's ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine" to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in the call Downing Street confirmed.

Sunak said this would include the delivery of the Challenger 2 main battle tank, as well as additional artillery systems.

No 10 said the pair also reflected recent Ukrainian victories "pushing Russian troops back and compounding their military and morale issues", as well as the "need to seize on this moment with an acceleration of global military and diplomatic support".

"The Prime Minister and President Zelensky welcomed other international commitments in this vein, including Poland's offer to provide a company of Leopard tanks", a Downing Street spokesperson added.

"The Prime Minister stressed that he and the whole UK Government would be working intensively with international partners to rapidly deliver the kind of support which will allow Ukraine to press their advantage, win this war and secure a lasting peace."

[MB]

Best thing we can do is send them all to Ukraine and buy a modern one off the shelf from someone else. That way we may have a modern battle tank this decade!

Are they in the market for headache inducing APCs as well?

Joking aside, this is a big step with Poland promising Leopards as well. Reports suggesting it was ballistic missiles that hit Kyiv.

[RichieRiv]

If you are interested in this conflict and want more than the 58 seconds the MSN cover per week, then I can thoroughly recommend this podcast:

https://shows.acast.com/battleground

Presented by historians Patrick Bishop and Saul David (who did a great series on the Falklands) they have some great guests that really provide deep insight and news into current goings on. By their own admission, it's unconventional having historians present a podcast on a live war, but they provide some excellent context.

[DublinDave]

https://www.thejournal.ie/russia-missil ... 1-Jan2023/

In what world is firing an anti aircraft carrier missile, (X-22), into a residential tower block not a war crime..?
The likes of China & especially India need to call this "special operation", out for what it is, an unprovoked attack upon a neutral country.
What is the point of the UN when they can't do anything due to Russia having a veto for every resolution..?
The world is as messed up as West Ham at the minute...

[chelmsfordhammer91]

If you are interested in this conflict and want more than the 58 seconds the MSN cover per week, then I can thoroughly recommend this podcast:

https://shows.acast.com/battleground

I listened to some of this last night based on your recommendation. It is brilliant so thank you for mentioning it.

I did the last three episodes but thought going firther back might be a bit too late to the party kind of thing.

[alf git]

https://www.thejournal.ie/russia-missil ... 1-Jan2023/

In what world is firing an anti aircraft carrier missile, (X-22), into a residential tower block not a war crime..?
The likes of China & especially India need to call this "special operation", out for what it is, an unprovoked attack upon a neutral country.
What is the point of the UN when they can't do anything due to Russia having a veto for every resolution..?
The world is as messed up as West Ham at the minute...

The deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure breaches the Geneva Convention. Russia is a signatory to the Convention.

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

What is the point of the UN when they can't do anything due to Russia having a veto for every resolution..?

I've been asking that question since the massacre at Srebrenica. I'm mates with a fella who was part of that UN contingent of Dutch troops who were forced to abandon the civilians there and he is still physiologically scarred by it.

[Samba]

What is the point of the UN when they can't do anything due to Russia having a veto for every resolution..?

It really should have been built in to UN membership that anyone that behaves like Russia should then be excluded, even if it's just excluded from voting in resolutions.

[DublinDave]

I've been asking that question since the massacre at Srebrenica. I'm mates with a fella who was part of that UN contingent of Dutch troops who were forced to abandon the civilians there and he is still physiologically scarred by it.

It's crazy isn't it & I feel for your mate as that whole situation in Srebrenica was allowed to go out of control in the same way the Belgian army was left to watch the massacres in Rwanda.
No country should have a veto in a world Congress for it to function effectively & it's telling that that 5 most militarised nations that are most likely to start something all have a veto as it stands...
The UN are as useful as a fox guarding a chicken coop...

[DublinDave]

It really should have been built in to UN membership that anyone that behaves like Russia should then be excluded, even if it's just excluded from voting in resolutions.

Agreed, as it stands it is unfit for purpose & an incredible waste of time & money.

[DublinDave]

The deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure breaches the Geneva Convention. Russia is a signatory to the Convention.

This is true but what chance do you think we have of seeing Putin, Surovikin or Gerisimov in front of the Hague..?
The only one we might see is Prigozhin as he'd be seen by Putin as getting too big for his boots...

[delbert]

Best thing we can do is send them all to Ukraine and buy a modern one off the shelf from someone else. That way we may have a modern battle tank this decade!

Are they in the market for headache inducing APCs as well?

Joking aside, this is a big step with Poland promising Leopards as well. Reports suggesting it was ballistic missiles that hit Kyiv.

Chally 2 is right up there in regards the world's MBT's, Chally 3 will be a world beater, the problem is we don't have enough of them. We can make excellent kit when shitwits don't get involved, the armour used on the latest MBT's was developed here.

Ajax is a basket case, people should be doing time for that fiasco, ditto the Warrior upgrade.

Rumour has it, Sunack done this to shame the Germans into stepping up, my only concern is he's made the promise without ensuring we have them ready to roll. The army has a recent history with not being entirely honest with the government...........

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

Ajax is a basket case, people should be doing time for that fiasco, ditto the Warrior upgrade.

That pales into insignificance if you look at the development of the Bradley and the cost involved because too many idiots got involved with that. The total cost of the program as of 2001 was $5.7 billion, and the average cost of a vehicle was $3.2 million. The vehicle was riddled with faults and they even tried to avoid certain ballistic tests on the Bradley as they knew they'd fail such as tests against Russian ordnance which were known to be able to penetrate their armour.

[Hummer_I_mean_Hammer]

I saw something on one of my news feeds that said the missile that hit the residential block was an aircraft carrier destroyer.

Why (unless they have nothing left in their arsenal) on earth would they shoot that thing? FFS, talk about sledgehammer to a peanut.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

^^^^I think you've answered it yourself.

[Up the Junction]

Received this via email this morning...

STATEMENT BY FC SHAKHTAR PRESIDENT RINAT AKHMETOV: MAJOR DONATION FOLLOWING MYKHAYLO MUDRYK’S TRANSFER TO CHELSEA

Kyiv, 16 January 2023 – I can confirm that Mykhaylo Mudryk is leaving FC Shakhtar to play at Chelsea Football Club in the English Premier League, the strongest national championship.

Most importantly, I want to thank the entire civilised world for helping Ukraine. We can only talk about Ukrainian football because of the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people and the tremendous support we have had during this incredibly difficult time. And the only way we can defeat the evil that has come to our homes is by working together.

I am donating $25 million (UAH 1 billion) of the transfer fee to help our soldiers, defenders and their families. The money will be used to cover different needs, from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support, to meeting specific requests. It will be managed by an independent professional team that will work with the Azovstal defenders, their families, care providers and volunteers.

This is the beginning of the Heart of Azovstal, a brand-new project that will help the Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers. Their acts of bravery are unparalleled. And it is their sacrifice and courage that helped contain the enemy in the first months of the war, providing the platform for the inevitable Ukrainian victory.

I am happy for Mykhaylo and very proud of him. He has shown that talent and hard work can make the impossible possible. And I have no doubt he will shine at Chelsea and across Europe.

On the other hand, I have never made it a secret that my dream is to win European trophies. This means that we need players like Mykhaylo in Ukrainian clubs, competing at the European level. Unfortunately, that is impossible at the moment, because of this unjust war being waged against us by the Russian Federation.

But I remain utterly confident we will defeat the aggressor. One of the things I look forward to most after our victory is Mykhaylo returning with his Chelsea team for a friendly match in Donbass Arena in a Ukrainian Donetsk.

We must do everything we can to bring this day closer.

We are forever indebted to our soldiers!

[Loftyhammer]

I listened to some of this last night based on your recommendation. It is brilliant so thank you for mentioning it.

I did the last three episodes but thought going firther back might be a bit too late to the party kind of thing.

It's really good. Been listening to it for a while now...think it's still worth going back to earlier episodes if only for the interviews (obvs the news segments are out of date). I thought eps 3 & 4 were particularly good for their respective interviewees

[alf git]

This is true but what chance do you think we have of seeing Putin, Surovikin or Gerisimov in front of the Hague..?
The only one we might see is Prigozhin as he'd be seen by Putin as getting too big for his boots...

Zero I'm guessing.
Hopefully he'll be swinging from a lamp post or falling from a window before too long.

[vietnammer]

Received this via email this morning...

Just caught the end of this story on BBC, didn't quite understand. The fact that it's a transfer to Chelsea brings a nice irony, though the Russian connection seems to be gone now.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

Wagner Group commander requests Norway asylum

A former commander with the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group has claimed asylum in Norway after deserting from the mercenary outfit.

Andrey Medvedev, 26, crossed the border into Norway last Friday, where he was detained by border guards.

He is currently being held in the Oslo area where he faces charges of illegal entry to Norway, his lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told the BBC.

Mr Risnes said his client left Wagner after witnessing war crimes in Ukraine.

The Norwegian Border Guard confirmed to the BBC that a Russian man had been detained after crossing the country's 198km (123miles) long border with Russia, but said it could not comment further for "reasons of security and privacy".

Tarjei Sirma-Tellefsen, police chief of staff in the Norwegian region of Finnmark, said a man had been detained by a border patrol and said he had applied for asylum.

But the Russian human rights group Gulagu, who helped Mr Medvedev leave Russia, confirmed his identity. His escape is believed to be the first known instance of one of the group's soldiers defecting to the West.


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