Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's plausible, just seems a bit misconstrued.

My reading of it is that Russia were threatening war on Ukraine in the lead-up and in January '22 the US sent a representative to see if talks could solve it, the Russians and Ukrainians were approached, the Russians wanted 20% of Ukraine, Zelensky said no. That's it.

Comes across like it's been twisted by some quarters to make it appear the US wanted to give away 20% of Ukraine to "appease" Putin.

It wasn't January 2022, it was January 2023. Only a few weeks ago.

We're spending up to 3 billion on Ukrainans refugees here ,

We barely spend an 800 million on defense let alot sending a large chunk of that to Ukraine,

Billons has been sent to Ukraine in weapons and people are still dying what's a few million going to change

Indeed, which is strange considering I read a report in the past that similar happened in Jan 2022, just prior to the war.

Anyway, have read the Swiss article, details are sparse, sounds misconstrued as mentioned

"The first task is to wipe off or cover up the Z, says Anatoly, 44, of the call sign infamously daubed on Russian hardware involved in the war in Ukraine. “We don’t want friendly fire later on.” Then the mechanics get to work."

"Admittedly the trophies do not always turn up in tip-top condition.

Gesturing towards a T-72B3, covered in dry leaves, and bearing evidence of battle in the form of warped and battered armour, Anatoly proudly boasts that it is the most recent upgrade of the old Soviet T-72 tank.

It was brought into the facility, which lies just a few miles from the frontlines, by the 54th brigade from the eastern Donetsk region, four weeks ago. “It took a direct hit on its turret,” says Anatoly. “The firing system was damaged too.”

"In some cases the Ukrainian army has set about getting such vehicles back on the field of battle under their flag. “But the state is busy repairing Ukrainian tanks,” says Roman Sinicyn, 37, a coordinator at the Serhiy Prytula Foundation, a charity managing this operation in partnership with an engineering company whose name is being withheld to avoid identification of the plant site.

As a result, civil society has stepped in. A host of private companies have set aside their usual business to get in the game of refurbishing killing machines: the tanks, armoured vehicles, missile systems and other lethal hardware left behind.

These operations are often funded through donations. The Prytula Foundation, one of the largest organisations crowdfunding the purchase of military equipment, has invested £200,000 in this facility. “It is not a lot of money,” says Bohdan Ostapchuk, 30, who is leading on tank refurbishment for the Prytula Foundation.

It has, however, borne deadly fruit: seven tanks back into battle, a command vehicle, a Hurricane rocket system, a multiple rocket system, an infantry transport vehicle and a host of armoured vehicles, so far."

They plan to get it back on its tracks in swift time, with added armour. There is little time for sentiment. Did Russian soldiers die in it? “I don’t know, I suppose so. There were arms and legs in it. Lots of blood.”"

Ukrainian tank drivers can't wait.

Leopard vs t72 drivers station.

I am pretty familiar with old cars and rust. I was there in person, 'back then'.

So was I.....and actually working on them. Did you have that pleasure??? LOL 😂

I remember back in the 70s and 80s there was the FIAT Ritmo, absolute junk bodywork.

I can still see them now in my minds eye, all the edges around the boot door was jagged orange rusty metal, literally flaking away and new rust making the adjoining paint work bubble up

I had a Ritmo, great car 😂, the sub frame front passenger side over the wheel arch split, a common fault on that car (1980 manufactured). I had to weld in a bracket around the drive shaft to brace the body, it worked !! I got plenty of welding experience keeping that junk box on the road 😅

First car I ever seen racing live here was the ritmo cup at mondello,

I always liked the wheel design on them

Would there be any possibility that Ukraine will get a batch of ‘tactical nukes’ from USA and its allies. This would put them on a more even footing with the ruskies…?

No ,

They won't give them nukes under any circumstances,if that was the case I'd imagine Serbia, Syria Belarus and several other shitholes would be given them by putin

Are they legally obliged to make exports of weapons public?

Oh absolutely, I started working on my and my families cars within a year of getting my licence, which was while I was still in school, several being of early 60's vintage and then 70's. Despite Australias slightly drier climate, the Fiats rusted worse than similar vintages that had an equal lack of corrosion protection. I have pulled engines and gearboxes and disassembled them to their constituent components and then reassembled and reinstalled, tuned, timed... had the 'pleasure' of a lead acid battery explode 40cm from my face and then not be able to hear for about 10 minutes. Thank goodness for the nearby garden hose and mains water pressure of 7 bar.