TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

Poland prepares for a war with Russia
"We will no become a Russian colony."

Poland already spends more than four per cent of its GDP on defence, but plans to increase the amount. Billions in purchases also attract criticism.

"We want to show that we are not ready to give up a single square centimetre of our land," Piotrowski, spokesman for the 1st Armoured Brigade in Warsaw said.

The country has become one of Europe's most important military powers in a short period of time. Staggeringly large arms purchases worth billions of euros have been reported frequently in Poland. It is the only NATO country to spend more than four per cent of its GDP on defence this year and will conclude more than 150 contracts for various weapons systems worth more than 23 billion euros.

But can Poland afford this? As recently as last year, Radosław Sikorski, representing the opposition, doubted the ability of the Polish economy to make such massive purchases.

"I don't think it's self-evident that Poland will be able to pay for all this," he said. Now Sikorski is the country's foreign minister, and suspicions of bills have turned into increasingly ambitious declarations. "Next year we will spend five percent of GDP on defense," Sikorski declared in July.

Poland's armament has been made possible by the country's strong economic growth as a member of the European Union. In May, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that Poles would be wealthier than the British in five years' time. Procurement also enjoys broad popular support.

And now Poland has declared its goal to build the best and largest ground forces in Europe. "This is necessary because we have suddenly woken up to the fact that we are on the front line of both Russia and Belarus," Świerczyński said.

Poland's intentions do not seem to be just words. A couple of weeks ago, NATO published fresh figures on the troops of its member countries. Poland has become the third largest army in the alliance with 216,000 troops, surpassing France and Germany.

Moreover Poland has set itself the goal of an army of 300,000 soldiers.

Russia has been irritated by Poland's rearmament. For example, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called Poland a "dangerous enemy" and said the country should not exist. Drunk Dima also said that Poland's military build-up and the presence of Polish soldiers in Ukraine could cause a direct conflict between Russia, Belarus and Poland.

For his part, Prime Minister Tusk has said that Europe is living in a pre-war era.

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@freerussia_report
🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇵🇱

The dog revealed a Russian infantry hideout in the basement, after which the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck there with an attack drone.

P.S. The dog is fine.

@liveukraine_media

Goodnight Resisters everywhere. I drank over a gallon of tea today. But I made more for tomorrow.

❤️‍🩹 War veterans are strong people who are gradually returning to civilian life.

Rest in Peace Inna

Inna Zamyesova died on July 31, 2024 as a result of a Russian attack on the village of Velikiy Burluk in the Kharkiv region. The apartment building where she lived with her family caught fire.

The woman's 10-year-old son received burn injuries and was hospitalized.

Inna was 37 years old. She worked as a dispatcher of the emergency dispatch service of the Kharkiv branch of Gazmerezhi. She was supposed to start another shift on the first day of August.

"Inna and her husband worked in emergency response services and were guardian angels for many. Inna coordinated the departures of the emergency brigade at the calls of the residents of the community, her husband is an employee of the State Emergency Service. The work of both was aimed at saving lives and helping people in difficult situations," colleagues said.

Germany Plans to Purchase Norwegian NOMAD Air Defense Systems for Ukraine

The German government is considering making the new Norwegian air defense system NOMADS available to the Ukrainian armed forces, reports Hartpunkt.

The Norwegian defense company Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace announced the market launch of the National Maneuver Air Defense System (NOMADS) on June 18 at the Eurosatory trade fair in Paris. This is a highly mobile, rocket-based air defense system for protecting maneuver elements of the land forces near the front on a tracked chassis from the German company FFG.

According to Kongsberg, NOMADS was developed for the Norwegian army and consists of a SHORAD (Short Range Air Defense) module mounted on an armored vehicle with high off-road capabilities. This is the ACSV G5 from FFG in Flensburg. The company is supplying 50 vehicles of this type in different configurations to the Norwegian armed forces.

The SHORAD module integrates the most important command and control functions and applications of the NASAMS medium-range system and includes a passive search missile and an AESA radar, writes Kongsberg. The system is capable of detecting and intercepting drones, UAVs, cruise missiles, helicopters and aircraft. The Norwegian NOMADS vehicles will be equipped with the Iris-T SLS guided missile from Diehl.

According to reports, Norway's armed forces will receive six vehicles, four have already been delivered. The NOMADS system is tailor-made for the protection of mobile battle groups, transport routes, command centers and logistical facilities. In addition, the air defense capability with command and control (C2), radar with IFF and missiles are combined on a single platform. This enables autonomous air defense operations day and night.

The Dutch armed forces are the second user of NOMADS to express interest and apparently want to enter into the contract concluded with Norway. The Dutch need 18 vehicles, which will then be equipped with the AIM-9X missile.

In order to make NOMADS available to Ukraine, as Germany is considering, German components would have to be used if only Germany were to finance the project. However, if a country such as Sweden were to participate, the integration of a Saab radar would also be an option. The Danish company Weibel is currently supplying the radar for the Norwegian NOMADS. Diehl Defence would certainly also be an important partner in a Ukraine solution, as the company is the manufacturer of the Iris-T SLS guided missile.

@ukrainejournal

Ukrainian refugee sings "Oi u luzi chervona kalyna" (Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow) with Lithuanians in support for Ukraine

Ukrainian refugee Elizaveta sings together with 300 Lithuanians, who answered her call to gather in Vilnius and sing this viral Ukrainian folk song to draw attention to the ongoing war and struggles of Ukrainian people.

Eliza is a 21 year old Ukrainian singer. She had to flee her home country when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and has been living and studying in Lithuania since 2015. When Russia started the war on February 24th, her family’s home was destroyed by Russian occupants for the second time in their life. Eliza’s mother and brother stayed in Ukraine to defend their homeland. Eliza is safe in Lithuania, sending the message for her family and for her country to stay strong.

Following the 2014 annexation by Russia of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula, and then the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, singing "nationalist anthems" such as Chervona Kalyna in Crimea is deemed to discredit the Russian army, and is punished by fines and imprisonment. In September 2022, Russian occupation authorities in Crimea jailed and fined members of a wedding party for "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces by playing the song.

The singers of the song in an online video were imprisoned and fined.

Russia spreads fake news that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is transgender

The second photo shows Umar Kremlin, president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), next to Putin. It is the IBA that is spreading the misinformation that Khelif is biologically male. Gender reassignment is illegal in Algeria.

Umar Kremlinov posted on his channel that DNA tests "proved" that the athlete "had XY chromosomes, so she was excluded from the sports competitions" in 2023. Khelif was disqualified after she defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva.

However, the test results were never made public. At the same time, the IBA was stripped of its Olympic status due to corruption, so the charges against the athlete were automatically dropped.

The IOC never received specifics from the IBA about the tests that allegedly prove that Khelif is transgender. There is currently no clear evidence to show that the athlete has changed gender.

Khelif is not invincible: she has 9 defeats against female opponents.

@liveukraine_media

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 8 national reserves and 12 national parks have been occupied by Russians. It's more than 20% of all protected areas of Ukraine. Some of them are contaminated with mines.

The Russian government doesn't seem to care about nature. Ukrainian animals, living in occupied national reserves, survive in constant distress and hunger. Meanwhile, on social media, Russian soldiers publish photos of themselves showing their "trophies". Endangered species that need special care are hunted.

Donkey gets revenge

🔵 Ismail Haniyeh was no Mandela.
- On CNN in NY responding to questions about the killing of the so-called “moderate” negotiator.

Naftali Bennett

Good morning Resisters everywhere. Discovered this morning they actually turn up the cell signal about 6:55AM.

Goodnight Resisters everywhere

🕯️Ukraine has returned the bodies of 250 fallen soldiers, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

These are the fallen defenders from the Luhansk, Bakhmut, Maryinka, Avdiivka, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia directions, as well as from Mariupol, Horlivka, and morgues in Russia.

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