• Ukraine removes last conscripts from war zone
    14 replies, posted
[quote] [IMG]http://www.dailystar.com.lb/dailystar/Pictures/2016/11/02/464784_img650x420_img650x420_crop.jpg[/IMG] Ukraine said Wednesday it no longer had conscripted soldiers fighting pro-Russian insurgents for the first time since a conflict that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives began in April 2014. The announcement by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko comes as the former Soviet republic tries to form a fully professional army that can conform to NATO standards and one day join the Western military bloc. Ukraine resumed conscription shortly after the ouster of Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 was followed by the Kremlin annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in the separatist east. "I, as the president and commander-in-chief, can report to the Ukrainian people that now, there is not a single conscripted soldier on the front or in the area of the anti-terrorist operation," the presidency quoted Poroshenko as saying. Ukraine's pro-Western leaders refer to the insurgents who control parts of its industrial heartland as 'terrorists' who are backed by soldiers and equipment from Russia -- a charge Moscow denies. "The armed forces of Ukraine must be fully comprised of volunteers and contract soldier who are well-prepared, motivated, trained and fully supplied." ... Chief of Staff General Viktor Muzhenko said 90,000 professional soldiers have enlisted in Ukraine's armed forces since one of Europe's bloodiest conflicts since the Balkans Wars of the 1990s erupted 30 months ago. ... Kiev claims to be fighting a rebel force of 40,000 that is backed by at least 6,000 Russian soldiers. [/quote] [URL="http://www.dailystar.com.lb//News/World/2016/Nov-02/379319-ukraine-removes-last-conscripts-from-war-zone.ashx"]The Daily Star article[/URL].
[quote] fully supplied."[/quote] Let's see if they can actually do it. Ukrainian army logistics was totally fucked before, to the point where civilians were buying armour, helmets, and food and bringing them to the soldiers.
[QUOTE=Araknid;51296107]Let's see if they can actually do it. Ukrainian army logistics was totally fucked before, to the point where civilians were buying armour, helmets, and food and bringing them to the soldiers.[/QUOTE] this is sadly true, my mom wired money to my older ukrainian cousin so he could buy nightvision goggles and sights for his AK
[QUOTE=Araknid;51296107]Let's see if they can actually do it. Ukrainian army logistics was totally fucked before, to the point where civilians were buying armour, helmets, and food and bringing them to the soldiers.[/QUOTE] Starting from scratch is always difficult, Ukraine basically kicked a military out of the ground by conscripting a bunch of people and making them stamp the dirt a lot.
[QUOTE=Araknid;51296107]Let's see if they can actually do it. Ukrainian army logistics was totally fucked before, to the point where civilians were buying armour, helmets, and food and bringing them to the soldiers.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I wonder if they'll be able to unfuck it to the point where every Ukrainian soldier is walking around with consistent gear It was so bad Ukrainian soldiers had to wear those yellow and blue armbands because they basically looked the same as the DPR soldiers with their mixed camos and gear
[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51296183]Starting from scratch is always difficult, Ukraine basically kicked a military out of the ground by conscripting a bunch of people and making them stamp the dirt a lot.[/QUOTE] Yeah but this was an issue even before the revolution, it's just more clear now, now that the soldiers actually NEED that equipment. Most Ex-Soviet states either have or have had terrible supply issues because of corruption in the upper ranks.
It doesn't help either when corruption is running a mock. From my understanding, Britian supplied Ukraine a large amount of winter clothing, but it ended up on the black market instead?
[QUOTE=-n3o-;51296209]It doesn't help either when corruption is running a mock. From my understanding, Britian supplied Ukraine a large amount of winter clothing, but it ended up on the black market instead?[/QUOTE] Pretty much, generals and supply officers would rather sell shit to make money for themselves than keep their own soldiers alive. Russia had the exact same problem in Chechnya, except even worse and it got to the point where soldiers would sell shit directly to Chechens.
I don't know how bad it actually is, and probably it's an unrepresentative sample i'm talking about, but at least on the latest photos of ukrainian soldiers they looked kinda ok. Most of that ok-ish stuff was obviously western though, so i don't know how much of that good gear they actually have.
[QUOTE=antianan;51296484]I don't know how bad it actually is, and probably it's an unrepresentative sample i'm talking about, but at least on the latest photos of ukrainian soldiers they looked kinda ok. Most of that ok-ish stuff was obviously western though, so i don't know how much of that good gear they actually have.[/QUOTE] They started with private stuff, basically a militia.
[quote]Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte chided the United States on Wednesday for halting the planned sale of 26,000 rifles to his country.[/quote] Hmmm if I was the US and I saw this Eastern European nation wanting to join NATO, and is dealing with supply problems I'd consider this option right now.
Pretty crazy to think that if my mom hadn't immigrated to the USA in 2000 and brought me, I could have ended up on the front lines shooting at Russians. I hope this ends soon, but I doubt that it will. Russia has a strong geopolitical/defensive interest in pushing as far west as possible and they can probably support a revolutionary force for as long as they want, regardless of any sanctions the USA places on Russia.
[QUOTE=Araknid;51296211]Pretty much, generals and supply officers would rather sell shit to make money for themselves than keep their own soldiers alive. Russia had the exact same problem in Chechnya, except even worse and it got to the point where soldiers would sell shit directly to Chechens.[/QUOTE] I've actually heard some claims from the separatists that they've bought weapons directly from Ukrainian soldiers as well.
[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;51296847]I've actually heard some claims from the separatists that they've bought weapons directly from Ukrainian soldiers as well.[/QUOTE] Most likely bullshit because at the start of the conflict volunteer battalions did almost all of the fighting. And I doubt the people in those battalions would like to trade with the aggressor. Seperatists used to say things like they were stealing weapons and vehicles from the Ukrainian army to hide the fact they're being supplied by Russia.
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