Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, aka "Putin's Special Operation"

[Yohan]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/australia-de ... 42215.html

Reuters Sat, July 19, 2025
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's government said on Saturday it had delivered M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as part of a A$245 million ($160 million) package to help the country defend itself against Russia in their ongoing war.

Australia, one of the largest non-NATO contributors to Ukraine, has been supplying aid, ammunition and defence equipment since Moscow invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

Ukraine has taken possession of most of the 49 tanks given by Australia, and the rest will be delivered in coming months, said Defence Minister Richard Marles.
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Australia has also banned exports of alumina and aluminium ores, including bauxite, to Russia, and has sanctioned about 1,000 Russian individuals and entities.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-aims ... 22380.html
Full article link above.
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The Swiss Defense Ministry, which in 2022 ordered five Patriot systems, said Thursday it has been informed by the U.S. Defense Department that it will “reprioritize the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine.”

It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss-ordered Patriots would go directly to Ukraine or would replace units in other European countries that may be donated to Kyiv.

Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028.

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Ukraine now makes 40% of its own weapons

Ukraine's domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelenskyy. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil.

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“What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia’s territory — back to where the war was brought from," Zelenskyy said late Wednesday in his nightly video address.

“We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government’s work by expanding our domestic production.”

Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia .

[Yohan]

What an idiot!

Full article, link above.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/anti-woke-da ... 20341.html

Anti-Woke Dad Who Fled With Family to Russia Sent to War Zone

An American father who moved to Russia to avoid LGBTQ+ “indoctrination” for his kids is being sent to the front line against Ukraine despite being assured he would serve in a non-combat role.

Derek Huffman, 46, feels he is being “thrown to the wolves” after being told that his job in the military would be as a correspondent or as a welder, his wife, DeAnna, said in a recorded plea for prayers, which has since been removed from her YouTube page.

Huffman has no prior military experience, DeAnna said, adding that his limited training was conducted in Russian. She suggested this language barrier has made her husband particularly unprepared for the horrors of combat.

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DeAnna, 42, suggested her husband had been misled during the military recruiting process. She added that, after a month of service, her family had yet to receive any pay.

[Voyager1]

@Yohan I looked up the original video as to why he's taken his family to Russia. He's given unjustifiable reasons and put himself and his family at perilous risk

[Yohan]

@Yohan I looked up the original video as to why he's taken his family to Russia. He's given unjustifiable reasons and put himself and his family at perilous risk

Also reported in the DailyMail UK
Follow-up comments are interesting to read. Full article link below.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... Putin.html

.... a now-deleted link on their YouTube channel directed followers to a Telegram group titled Save that Little Girls where an emotional photo of DeAnna and her daughters crying in the street was posted alongside a plea - 'We are asking the United States government to save this family.'
But now, DeAnna says he was misled. 'When he signed up and had all of that done, he was told he would not be training for two weeks and going straight to the front lines,' she said.

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'But it seems as though he is getting one more week of training, closer to the front lines, and then they are going to put him on the front lines.'

It comes after Russia’s wartime toll of dead and wounded reached a historic milestone last month.

According to the British Ministry of Defence, more than one million Russian troops have been killed or injured since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022.

The estimate aligns with a recent study by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, which puts Russian military deaths at up to 250,000 and total casualties, including the wounded, at over 950,000.

In just over three years, Russian fatalities are estimated to be five times higher than the combined death toll from all Soviet and Russian wars between the end of the second world war and the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The family's attempt to escape cultural tensions in the West has led them into the heart of a geopolitical warzone, and with no updates since June, they are left clinging to hope.

'Being alone in a new country, raising kids, and trying to stay strong has tested me in ways I never imagined,' she confessed.

Cry me a river!

"Cry me a river" is an idiom used to express a lack of sympathy or a dismissal of someone's excessive complaints or self-pity. It implies that the person's grievances are exaggerated or not worthy of concern. Essentially, it means, "You can complain all you want, but I don't care".