The Siberian battalion consists mostly of people “from ethnic minorities from Russia’s far east”. Modern Russia is a huge quasi-empire, with Muscovy oppressing all the colonized nations and regions. Ukrainians, being formerly colonized, feel with all the oppressed nations and support their fight for freedom.
That’s why Ukrainians actively support the “Free Nations League” freenationsleague.org and this Siberian battalion. Imperialism is deeply ingrained in the flesh and bones of Muscovy, so Ukrainians are wary of it.
Ukrainians have way more in common with these democracies, which were the closest allies of the ancient Kyiv state, than with Muscovy, which has always sought to oppress and enslave Ukraine.
Plans to dramatically cut welfare benefits for refugees from Ukraine who flee to Ireland to avoid Russia's war are causing anxiety, according to a priest who works with the new arrivals. Officials in Dublin say that they want to "slow" the number of people arriving from Ukraine.
Why do you think so? All of the Ukraine’s territory is under daily attacks. People in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa live in daily stress of air raids. It’s inhuman to discount this as statistics.
Thank you for your kindness. Ukraine is in indeed subjected to daily attacks. Fortunately most of the missiles are shot down, but air raids in the middle of the night or at any time of the day are stressful.
I have a nice place to live in Ukraine, but many refugees have nowhere to return to.
Well, you probably know more about tanks than I do. But sorry, this article isn’t about making tanks completely immune. It is about improving protection. To quote the article:
ERA blocks contain layers of explosives that explode outward when struck, potentially deflecting the incoming blast. Reactive armor doesn’t work against inert penetrating rounds, but against high-explosive rounds it can roughly double a tank’s protection.
With a tight layer of ERA, a Leopard 1A5 should go from having around 70 millimeters of steel protection to the equivalent of 140 millimeters or so. That’s still less protection than a Russian T-72 has, but it’s enough at least to give Ukrainian crews more confidence as they roll onto battlefields teeming with explosive-laden drones and anti-tank missiles.
You write:
Use them in a supportive role as a precise gun on range (and as it’s rifled it is actually more capable in regards to long range precision than modern smooth-bore cannons).
Indeed, the Ukrainians use them as accurate long-range guns. But as for the “supporting role”, what other tanks should these Leopards support? Perhaps Ukraine will miraculously receive or make hundreds of modern battle tanks in the future. But for now, the Ukrainians must do the best they can with what they have, upgrading old vehicles where possible.
They carry and aim their weapons with full knowledge of what they are doing - invading the neighboring country, killing those who resist and enslaving others. It’s been one of the most popular Russian sports for many centuries. That’s how Russia became so big. They know the rules of the game very well - it’s deeply ingrained in Russian culture, which has never been anything but imperial. They are obedient slaves of the empire.
They have been conditioned since childhood to blindly submit to authority. Their ignorance doesn’t absolve them of war crimes. I would prefer that they stay alive, but sometimes murderers must be stopped by violent means.
The age of the violent empires is finally coming to an end.
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