Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's not that. For me, this whole thing goes a lot deeper. Germany and its population occupy a special place in history, due to the horrendous crimes committed and due to the fact that we were still invited back into the global community. I was raised in the spirit that we as a nation have a special responsibility not to let the horrible events of 33-45 repeat themselves. That means using every means possible to prevent another war, but at the same time standing up to those countries that use military force to redraw the borders in Europe and not standing idly by when concentration camps are set up again, entire districts depopulated and deported. This is where we're failing big time at the moment.

Germany, in its post-war constitution, is prohibited from using military force in anything other than self defense or treaty obligations, so I get that a direct involvement in Ukraine would not only be problematic from a political point of view, but possibly illegal. I also get that the state of the Bundeswehr is atrocious, to put it mildly, and that a lot of weapons are needed just to get that force to something approaching an acceptable state of readiness. However, Germany has a very capable defense industry, and at the very least, Germany should be expediting delivery of their products to Ukraine. The very fact that not just the Chancellor, but the minister of defense and senior officials within the Ministry of Defense, need to be publicly shamed into doing so is just infuriating for me. We should know better and do better!

Deutschland unterstützt die Ukraine- Germany back Ukraine

The Germans have been the bulk funders of the EU for decades now, yet retain strong support for it.

Which would knock your theory into a cocked hat....

Bit of an update regarding the IRIS-T system. German military blog "Augen geradeaus" reports that these will be brand-new units fresh from the manufacturer. It looks like Germany is planning to redirect a battery (3 octuple launchers, 1 radar vehicle, 1 command post) currently being assembled for Egypt to Ukraine at short notice.

The manufacturer, Diehl Defence, currently has the capacity to produce two batteries a year but is apparently looking to double this capacity. If this goes through, and given we're talking about Scholz who's announcing that, it is a BIG if, Ukraine might see a steady supply of these systems even beyond the first battery. As I said, loads of "Ifs" still surrounding that, but this has the potential to be a game changer, especially since Ukraine seems to be running low on S-300 missiles.

Edit - Here's the link to the source: Deutschland will Flugabwehrsystem an die Ukraine liefern – Iris-T SLM aus deutscher Produktion – Augen geradeaus! (German, obviously)

I think the only game-changer in Ukraine will be something that can target the Russian artillery safely. ie. when Ukraiinian howitzers can chuck shells at the Russian howitzers while remaining out of range. I thought the 777s were supposed to bring that about, maybe I've misunderstood something.

Kasparov is very much opposed to Putin and the invasion.

He'll differ with much of the Western European leaders in many regards

Point taken. However, security of supply lines and rear areas is almost as important, and Ukraine has been struggling with that as of late. It appears that they're running low on missiles for the S-300 medium/long range surface to air missile system, which has been doing the brunt of the heavy lifting when it comes to Ukrainian air defenses. The increased number of successful cruise missile strikes in recent days could be an indication of Ukrainian missile crews choosing only select targets to engage in order to conserve missiles.

IRIS-T SLM, the system that Germany is looking to send in the next few weeks, covers roughly the same engagement range and altitudes as S-300, with the advantage of being a brand-new 21st century system that is likely leaps and bounds ahead with regards to simultaneous engagement of multiple targets, resistance to jamming, mobility and accuracy. Deploying such a battery say around Odessa would free up some of those S-300 batteries and missiles to be sent to other locations. And if Germany does actually send further batteries later this year, this could really provide sum much needed relief for Ukraine. Especially since IRIS-T missiles are much easier to get at the moment, given that they're a) currently in production and b) also used on the Eurofighter Typhoon and other similar aircraft.

I believe Jenkins is a former Brexiteer who 'claims' to have seen the error of his ways, so it's not a surprise that he might hold cranky opinions.

His analysis is very strange. He seems far more put out by EU sanctions than by Russia's actual invasion (and is also ignoring that many countries outside the EU have imposed sanctions on the regime).

The UKrainian crossing of the Inhulets at Davydiv Brid will be interesting to monitor. Th early Russian advance to occupy a significant portion of the west bank of the Dnipro was presumably to provide a buffer zone around the start of the Crimean Canal at Nova Khakova.

I would expect the Russians to very strongly defend the territory between Davydiv Brid and NovaKhakovka. They've had 3 months to dig in and fortify their positions. And the Crimean Canal is vital to their overall mission. There's not much point having a landbridge across southern Ukraine to Crimea if they don't have any fresh water.

Big changes today from Scholz.Germany wants to supply Ukraine with multiple rocket launchers.70km range

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) promised Ukraine the delivery of a modern anti-aircraft system to fight Russian attackers. In addition, the Ukrainian armed forces will be provided with a modern locating radar that can spot artillery.

"In the coming weeks, we will deliver twelve of the most modern self-propelled howitzers in the world to Ukraine, in close cooperation with the Dutch," Scholz continued. The training of Ukrainian soldiers will be completed in a few days.https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/in-absprache-mit-den-usa-deutschland-will-der-ukraine-mehrfachraketenwerfer-liefern/28390400.html

https://www.kmweg.com/systems-products/tracked-vehicles/artillery/mars-ii-mlrs-e/

It may be that countries want to keep their own gas/oil in case the world becomes unstable down the line and supplies get cut off.