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Some good stuff about US-Ukraine relations here, and how we\u2019re training Ukrainian troops in situ to use good hardware like Javelins.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/03\/06\/more-lethal-aid-to-ukraine-us-trainers-javelins-have-already-made-russians-a-little-more-nervous\/<\/a><\/p>\n From the article:\u00a0 \u00a0The U.S. has been providing lethal aid in the form of Javelin anti-tank missiles<\/a>\u00a0to Ukraine since May, and Russian armor is reportedly deterred by the investment.<\/p>\n On top of the lethal aid, the U.S. has trainers currently in the country, including National Guardsmen running the Yavoriv Combat Training Center and American special operations forces running selection courses for their Ukrainian counterparts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The successes have lawmakers and military leaders looking for other ways to help.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe fact that they have a Javelin that they could employ and they know how to employ it as a deterrent,\u201d\u00a0Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti<\/a>, head of U.S. European Command and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander-Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Ukrainians, in my view, have trained very well for the use of that, they\u2019ve been responsible in the security and the deployment of it and we watch that closely.\u201d ~article<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Also, it\u2019s pissing off the Russians. Vlad\u2019s aim is to own the entire Black Sea and isolate Ukraine.\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/12\/31\/why-russia-is-swallowing-the-black-sea-and-wont-stop-until-it-has-choked-out-ukraine\/<\/a><\/p>\n Seriously, Putin seemingly has a problem with letting go of them there Good Ol’ Days when he was just a nub in the Red Army.<\/p>\n From the article:\u00a0 After Russia fired on two Ukrainian naval ships<\/a> in late November (2018), seizing the vessels and crew, tensions between Russia and the West waxed and waned in a succession that has become all too common.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea roughly five years ago, and sponsorship of separatists in eastern\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s Donbass region<\/a>, brought similar condemnation from the U.S. and its NATO allies, as did the Russian annexation of\u00a0Abkhazia and South Ossetia<\/a>\u00a0in Georgia in 2008.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And yet those breakaway regions remain under Russian control, as the Kremlin proves that geographic boundaries can be redrawn without much more than stern words from the West. But absent harsher measures and greater push-back, the former commander of\u00a0U.S. Army Europe<\/a>\u00a0warns that the Russian Federation won\u2019t let up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think they won\u2019t stop until they completely own the Sea of Azov and have choked out Ukraine\u2019s very important seaport of Mariupol,” said retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who helmed U.S. European Command\u2019s Army component from late 2014 through 2017. ~article<\/p>\n A map is included further down the page of the article, showing the entire region embracing the Black Sea.<\/p>\n Frankly, I think we would all prefer to not return to the days of the Cold War, but on the other hand, it was the Big Three – USA\/USSR\/Red China – who were so busy aiming at each other that the rest of the world went on about its business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n