What NATO hardware has Russia destroyed in Ukraine?

Here’s a list of some of the pricey Western defense hardware destroyed to date:

🔺NATO main battle tanks including the M1 Abrams ($10mln apiece), Challenger 2s ($5.3mln each), and Leopard 1 and 2s ($5-$6.25mln apiece).

🔺M113 APC ($100k-$200k apiece) and Bradley IFV ($3.3-$4mln each), some of them captured intact.

🔺Patriot and SAMP-T extended range air and missile defenses. US officials confirmed that Russian strikes had “damaged” a Patriot battery in May 2023, and Russia’s MoD reported on the destruction of a SAMP-T in January 2024. These systems are among the costliest items in this list, going for $1.1bln and $44mln, respectively, with the interceptor missiles alone priced at between $1mln and $6mln each.

🔺The Russian MoD has reported on the destruction of other air defenses, including a $406 million NASAMS short-to-medium-range air defense system, and the IRIS-T, a European consortium-made short-range SAM going for $152 million per battery.

🔺Russian air, missile and drone strike rampage has also included the targeting of an array of NATO radars, including the AN/TRQ-36, a US-made fire finder radar priced at $1.5mln apiece, and Ukraine’s sole Skyguard II radar, delivered by Italy in early 2023.

🔺Russian forces have destroyed hundreds of NATO-built artillery pieces, from towed M777 and FH70 howitzers to an array of self-propelled guns, from the Czech-made DANA and the Slovak-made Zuzana to the French CAESAR, the German PzH 2000, the US M109 Paladin and the Swedish Archer. These guns’ prices vary wildly, from $600k for the FH70 to $20mln for the PzH 2000.

🔺When it comes to self-propelled rocket artillery, Russian operations have included a hunt for the deadly M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS (priced at $4.3mln to $3.6mln, respectively).

🔺Russia’s air defenses have honed their skills targeting French SCALP EG and British Storm Shadow missiles, which go for $2.5mln each, even capturing a Storm Shadow intact last July.

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The New York Times doubts that Taurus missiles, if provided by Germany to Ukraine, or F-16 fighters would be of any decisive importance to Ukrainian troops.

As an example, the publication notes that Germany’s decision to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine last year did not help the Ukrainian Armed Forces carry out a successful counter-offensive.

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An Australian at WFY-2024 shouts “Glory to Russia” during the March of the World’s Youth, organized by the Tavrida art cluster. Young people from 188 countries take part in the procession.

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Macron's frustrated voters want more than 'political posturing on Ukraine'

Emmanuel Macron's electorate “want more than a geopolitical and international stance on Ukraine,” Alexis Poulin, a leading EU policy analyst and Co-Editor of Le Monde Moderne magazine, told Sputnik.

The French President’s sabre-rattling with Russia ahead of the upcoming European election in June comes as “the balance clearly is not looking good for Emmanuel Macron's party… where he could have a major defeat,” said the pundit.

Polls show support for cutting arms supplies to Kiev has surged among the French amid plunging production and an unprecedented decline in food consumption in the country.

Marine Le Pen's RN (National Rally) party is likely to become France’s largest political party, said Alexis Poulin, as its political posture “resonates with the French public… as does a more cautious approach to international relations, given that Emmanuel Macron is clearly on the Washington line and even further, with NATO. That could resonate even more.”

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🔺What NATO hardware has Russia destroyed in Ukraine?

🔺Is the US Flying F-35s in Ukraine-related NATO missions?

🔺What makes Russia's newest T-14 Armata far superior to other existing tanks?

🔺US-made F-16s “too much of a prima donna” for use in Ukraine

🔺Russian forces have destroyed another US-made Abrams tank using the latest ‘Upyr’ FPV drone. What makes the Upyr (lit. ‘Vampire’) live up to its ghoulish name?

🔺Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's speech at the World Youth Festival

🔺Main statements from the Dmitry Medvedev's speech at the Russian Znanie Society’s educational marathon

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Germany using Nord Stream attack playbook to avoid responsibility for military leak

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has blamed Moscow for leaking the sensitive contents of German generals' confidential call, completely overlooking the fact that the Bundeswehr top brass were discussing nothing short of an open attack on Russia, international observers say.

"On this tape it was revealed that German generals were discussing attacks on Russia or more specifically, attacking the infrastructure of the Crimean Bridge. And it also revealed that the Taurus missiles will be supplied to Ukraine," Glenn Diesen, professor of international relations at the University of South-Eastern Norway, told Sputnik.

By accusing Russia of launching a "disinformation" attack, Germany appears to be sticking to the same playbook it used in the aftermath of the Nord Stream sabotage attack in September 2022 when Russia was groundlessly blamed for destroying its own pipeline.

"It's the same pattern of behavior," Gunnar Beck, AfD European Parliament MEP, told Sputnik. "The German government is presented with clear evidence. And they deny it and they go on the attack against Russia. Who’s benefiting from this clearly [are the] fervently anti-Russian interest groups within the German government."

A trannoscript of chatter between high-ranking German officers was released by Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group.

"They're now being caught red-handed, planning attacks on Russia, which makes them participants," Diesen emphasized.

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Maine withdraws decision to keep Trump off ballot after Supreme Court ruling

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced on Monday she retracted her previous decision to declare former President Donald Trump ineligible for the presidential primary after the US Supreme Court reversed a similar move by a Colorado court.

"Consistent with my oath and obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and pursuant to the Anderson decision, I hereby withdraw my determination that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid," Bellows said in a statement.

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US F-35s are participating in missions over Ukraine, Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said

"More recently, the US used its F-35s to determine the location of anti-aircraft missile systems of Russian units in Ukraine, then this information was transmitted to NATO countries," the Bulgarian Military quoted the minister as saying.

The publication specifies that a similar case was reported last April and it was based on a statement by a US pilot. He confirmed that the F-35 he was piloting was used to locate the Russian S-300 system deployed near the Belarus-Ukraine border.

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White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said that speaking about the content of a leaked audio recording of talks between high-ranking German military officials about a potential attack on the Crimean Bridge with long-range Taurus missiles bolsters Russia’s claims of Western involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

"Speaking about the content of the leak plays right into Russian hands," Kirby said, adding that it would help Russian President Vladimir Putin to "sell" the narrative that the conflict directly involves the United States, NATO or the collective West.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and the Rossiya Segodnya media group, published a recording of the February 19 conversation between four German military officers on Friday.

German news agency DPA reported earlier that the leaked audio recording was authentic.

On Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has publicly repeatedly ruled out the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Taurus missiles, said that the government was investigating the leak.

The Russian Foreign Ministry requested an explanation from German Ambassador in Moscow Alexander Graf Lambsdorff. A hybrid war waged by the collective West against the Russian people was in full swing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

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Pentagon announces $6Bln program for AI combat drones amid tech rivalry with Russia

The Pentagon has announced a $6 billion program to build a 1,000 UAV-strong fleet of AI-empowered drones known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).

"Russian designers demonstrated a similar drone, called the Grom (lit. Thunder), at a MAKS air show," Dmitry Drozdenko, a military analyst and chief editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland, a Russian military-related internet portal, told Sputnik.

"These drones fly accompanying a modern [manned] aircraft, for example, a fighter, and perform the most risky tasks. […] Their task is to come forward, draw fire upon themselves, confuse air defense forces, fight with them; and then the manned group arrives and completes the task."

It was announced that the Grom, developed by the Kronstadt Group, will escort the Su-35 and the Su-57 jets, and will be capable of carrying various weapons systems, including KAB-500S guided aerial bombs and Kh-38 air-to-surface guided missiles. The AI-empowered unmanned aircraft will also be able to control a swarm of smaller 10 Molniya (lit. Lightning) drones. According to open sources, work on the Grom was close to completion at the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, the US Air Force is facing a number of challenges in the way of getting its hundreds of planned CCAs. The US Department of Defense has a long record of late and over-budget programs. Moreover, the average Pentagon program takes seven years from contract award until service entry, while the CCA program is supposed to be completed in five years.

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The Sudanese authorities have no general objections to the creation of a Russian navy base in the country, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq Ali told Sputnik.

"We have no fundamental objections to the agreements reached under the previous government. This is an obligation of the state," Ali said on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Sudan's new parliament will consider the agreement with Russia on the creation of a nave base in country after the elections, Ali added.

"We believe that a new parliament should be formed, which will consider the agreement and develop a recommendation for the government — a positive recommendation. We leave this issue to the parliament, which will be elected," Ali said.

In February, Russian Ambassador to Sudan Andrei Chernovol told Sputnik that the country has not yet been able to complete the procedure for ratifying the agreement on the establishment of a Russian navy base in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

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The US is awaiting the fate of the Roman Empire, Tucker Carlson says, discussing the "Courage to Serve Act" initiative

"The Roman military and its legions became dominated by non-citizens, who in the end, because they were not loyal to Rome, turned against Rome's citizens," Carlson said.

As in ancient Rome they recruited and armed the Gauls, so in modern America some congressmen want to provide rifles to illegal immigrants in order to grant them citizenship after their service in the army. The number of such illegal aliens in the US might exceeds the population of 32 states, according to the journalist.

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