A comment:
The funniest thing in this whole war tragedy is that the biggest losers in Ukraine are those whom Russia officially liberates from the alleged persecution of the Kiev regime i.e. pro-Russian, anti-Western, Eurosceptic Ukrainians from Russian-speaking areas and the multi-million Russian minority, i.e. the local V column.
Many of them lost their homes, jobs, families, friends, health or life, and those who survived had to emigrate with a few suitcases into the unknown, for unknown length of time and with the awareness that after the war there may be nothing to come back to, especially in cities such as Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, etc.
It will be interesting to see how their views and political preferences change after the war, and how many of them will still be nostalgic for the Russian mire.
Especially interesting will be the fate of the multi-million Russian minority in Ukraine. It is difficult to expect that after the war Ukrainians and Russians, despite having the same Ukrainian citizenship, will actually be treated the same by the law, the media, officials, employers, Ukrainian society, and so on.
It is unlikely that the West and Ukraine at this stage of the conflict will allow Putin to "get out of their faces", quickly dissolve the international, anti-Russian. democratic coalition to do "business as usual" or that something will happen that will abruptly change the circumstances of the situation and radically alter the course of the war in Russia's favor.
Influential Russian strategists and politicians believe that, in theory, such a gamechanger could be tactical nuclear strikes on Ukraine under the doctrine of de-escalation by escalation, but prominent U.S. officials have several times, precisely, unanimously and firmly defined what the consequences of such an action will be in practice for Russia's interests in Ukraine.
It promises that in the end the Russians, from both sides of the border, will most likely be the biggest losers of this war.
===================
US may establish new command in Germany to arm Ukraine: report
By
Rachel Nostrant
A new mission is being established at U.S. European Command’s headquarters in Germany to oversee how the U.S. trains and equips Ukrainian troops, according to a report by the
New York Times.
The plan for a formal structure in Wiesbaden, Germany, for the U.S. efforts to aid Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February was presented by EUCOM commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in late September, according to the Times.
Citing an unnamed source within the U.S. military and Biden administration, the Times reported that the new command would include approximately 300 personnel, and would likely report to Cavoli. While the command’s headquarters would be situated in Wiesbaden, training would likely take place at other U.S. bases in Germany, such as Grafenwoehr or Hohenfels, where the Army has large ranges.
A final decision on the command is expected within the next few weeks.
“In close coordination with our Allies and partners, we continue to take steps to align our support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a more unified manner in order to aid the Ukrainians with their most urgent needs on the battlefield against the Russian invading force,” EUCOM spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Day told Military Times in a statement. “At this time, any additional changes or moves to improve our ability to support the Ukrainians are pre-decisional, but as previously stated, we continue to take steps to better align our support.”
Signs of a potential re-structuring have been seen in recent weeks, as a multi-national logistics cell —
the International Donor Coordination Center — moved from Stuttgart to Wiesbaden earlier this summer.
“The co-location with the U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters, as well as XVIII Airborne Corps increases the ability of the organization to rapidly support Ukraine operations,” EUCOM said in a statement regarding the Aug. 6 move.
The U.S. military began its mission to train Ukrainian troops well before Russia launched its full-scale war earlier this year. The initial efforts began in 2015, following the separation of Crimea from Ukraine.
U.S. troops, in addition to forces from Canada, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, have been training Ukrainian forces through the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Initially stationed at the Combat Training Center-Yavoriv near Lviv, in western Ukraine, the troops were removed just before the invasion began.
“United States military units support the training to strengthen relationships and affirm the United States’ commitment to European partners,” a
press release from the Army stated. “Army National Guard brigade combat teams provide the main support to the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission in nine-month rotations as part of the Army’s rotational model.”
The U.S. military also still has thousands of troops positioned across Europe in response to the invasion, including in Poland, Romania, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania. To date, the U.S. has committed more than $16 billion to Ukraine.
A final decision on the command is expected within the next few weeks.
www.defensenews.com
===================
===================
===================
===================
===================
www.moscowtimes.ru
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/SQ6IP2LJCNCSDINZW5RRN7VFEE.jpg)
