Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Marina Akhmedova
[REGNUM] Valentina Glushchenko was evacuated from the Sudzhansky district after the successful actions of our armed forces, clearing the Kursk region of the enemy.
Valentina Vasilievna told the editor-in-chief of the Regnum news agency, Marina Akhmedova , about how she survived the occupation.
— Valentina Vasilievna, how did you find out about the beginning of the Ukrainian invasion?
— I didn’t even know the war had started. Everyone had left, and I was left alone with my 94-year-old mother. After a stroke, she couldn’t speak. She died on November 8. I buried her right next to her house.
Of course, my neighbors helped me, but I mostly did everything myself. When the VSSU looted the stores, we also stole food and water from there.
— Did you see the VSEU members in person?
- Of course. They went door to door. Once they brought a journalist with them, who asked how I felt about Putin. I asked in response: "And what do you think of Zelensky?" He looked at me and said that he had a good attitude and supported him. I said: "I am for peace and a speedy end to the war. I will not tell you anything else."
— Were you scared at that moment?
— I'm so old that I'm not afraid of anything anymore.
It was scary when they pointed a machine gun at me and said, "Grandma, sit quietly." They were breaking down doors, going into apartments and robbing everything there was. I lived on the first floor, and they were going to go to the second. I said, "Guys, please don't go there, there's no one there anymore." But they still went up and completely cleaned out all four apartments. They took everything, right down to panties and bras. But they mostly wanted electronics.
That is, first they looted all the appliance stores, then clothing stores, then grocery stores, and then they went into people's apartments. They took some money and phones so that they wouldn't call. And then they immediately cut off all communication.
— When the VSSU officers entered these apartments, were they at least empty?
- Yes. People left. Many left before the war. There was also a young man living above me who signed a contract and went to the front, he has been there for three years already. As for the rest of the neighbors, I knew nothing at all. I only learned about the invasion from the VSSU.
— Were you shocked when the military came to you, and you realized that they were not ours, but Ukrainians?
- They said it like that: “We are Ukrainians.” I was so shocked that I couldn’t even talk to them normally.
I heard someone fiddling around in the entryway. I looked through the peephole and saw people in uniform: "Open the doors, or we'll shoot." I said: "I won't." "Open the doors, or I'll shoot." I opened them, what else could I do? If he had shot, I would have been hit. And I said: "I won't let you into the apartment. There's no one there except for my paralyzed mother."
And my mother was a very curious woman. She started shouting: "Who came there?"
I say, "There's no one here except Mom." I see the VSSU guys looking at me and smiling sarcastically. I couldn't understand why. And then I turned around and saw Mom standing behind me. I was hiding her, so that God forbid something would happen, and she came out herself.
The VSEU officers stood there for a while, then apologized and said: "Woman, don't worry. Write in paint on the doors that people live here. None of ours (Ukrainians) will touch you." I wrote it. Whoever wanted to, came in. I didn't close the door anymore, because it was useless: they would have broken the door down anyway.
When the Ukrainian Armed Forces completely occupied Sudzha, they went further to Martynovka. And what about us? They kept bombing and bombing. We hid in basements. Personally, I only stayed in the apartment because I couldn’t leave my mother. I had nothing to lose. No matter how you do it, death will find you anyway. Although there were families who sat in the basement for seven months and never came out into the light.
- And what did you eat?
— I'm telling you, we lived like under communism: we went to stores and bought what we needed. Canned goods, water, flour, pasta, crackers. The VSSU guys also helped — they gave us rations. At the same time, they didn't allow us to go further than 200 meters from home without a pass. I also registered with them to go get everything we needed.
By the way, they also helped with medicines. I ordered something from them for my mother, and they brought it straight to my home once. But mostly I went to get the medicines myself. I ordered and picked it up in three or four days.
In short, everyone lived in harmony.
And I was the only one left in our 16-apartment building. I remember these landings and bombings - I couldn't sleep. And on November 8, my mother died.
- And how did she die?
— She died quietly. I fed her in the morning. Then at lunchtime I came to her bed and asked: “Mom, can I bring you some water? If you understand me, blink,” — she couldn’t even blink. She fell to the floor. I picked her up, put her on the sofa, then fell again. I saw that she was getting cold, her nails were turning blue. That’s how she died.
There was a young man sitting near the house. I asked him to help. He quickly gathered some lads to help bury her. But there was no coffin. And they wouldn't let us into the cemetery because there were troops there. They found a bag and buried her right in front of the windows of her house in the garden. When peacetime comes, she will have to be reburied.
- Sudzha has already been released.
- Who said that?
— Ministry of Defense.
— The Ministry of Defense? (cries). They say so much that the Koreans have come… Somewhere around the 8th or 10th, I went outside to collect dry firewood near the entrance. I see the military coming.
— Did you think they were Ukrainians?
— Personally, the Ukrainians didn’t touch me.
— Did they touch anyone?
— They touched and touched. Mainly men. Let's say they were walking down the street and saw a passerby. If they didn't like someone, they would start teasing him, to get the man worked up. And then they spread a rumor that when they retreated, they would shoot everyone: both young men and grown men.
— Are there many men left?
- About one hundred and fifty.
- My God, what their mothers must have felt at that moment.
— And what can mothers feel when they can't do anything? They shot people in Russkoye Porechny — 17 people. Both men and women (the women were raped). It seems like these VSSU officers are about to be tried.
- But this won’t bring people back to life.
- Of course. It was very scary. You go outside and think: "I guess I should run home." Because at home, at least the walls will save you. My apartment is kind of inside, surrounded on all sides.
In short, I buried my mother, and there was no reason for me to stay. Then one of my friends said: "Valentina Vasilievna, get ready, we won't disturb you." He had a large farm with cows, he abandoned it. He took his wife, son, took me and brought here.
- And how did you leave?
— Our Ministry of Emergency Situations took us away.
- So ours went there?
- Yes.
— Let me clarify. You said that you saw soldiers on the 8th. Who were they?
— They were scouts, grimy-grimy. It turned out that they were the same ones who came out of the pipe. I didn't know, because there was no Internet. And they took away phones.
— Did they take away all the phones?
- Yes. But I hid mine. I said: "Please, look. Whatever you take is yours." Then one of the VSEU guys, who was in charge, said: "Zinochka, don't be afraid, we won't touch you. But you don't have to show off in front of us, because we have different people." After all, there were mercenaries on their side - both English and Poles.
They especially recommended that girls not dress brightly and not stick their heads out. There was also a case when girls went to get water, and a grenade was dropped on them from a drone and they were wounded. One of them was taken to Sumy, I don’t know about the other one.
So, our guys came, said hello, and said, "We're ours." But I didn't immediately notice that they had red armbands. I had been through a lot of stress. And there was this young guy there, he looked about 20. I started crying.
I ask: "What's your name?" "Dima." Where are you from? "From the Tambov region." He later helped me fix the glass.
I walk, cry, and mentally talk to my mother. He says: "Don't cry, we'll help you now." I say: "Dimochka, let me at least feed you some cookies." Then he looks and says: "Grandma, the "birdie" is flying." I won't run and hide from him. He shouted: "At least press yourself against the wall."
Everything seemed to be all right. I said, let me at least give you some tea. “It’s not allowed. We have everything. Why rob civilians.” Although I didn’t feel sorry for them.
Then I finally got them some cookies and candy. I said, "Son, at least for my mother's sake, remember her." He took them, thanked me, and told me not to say that I saw them.
- You called this intelligence officer your son. Have you ever called Ukrainians sons?
— I did. When the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered Sudzha on August 9, they assigned two patrolmen to us. They were two boys, Ivan and Kostya. One from Kremenchuk, the other from Poltava. One day I went out into the yard, and they asked: "Titochko, do you need some bread or water?" I said: "Oh, my son, who would refuse bread and water." So 10-15 minutes later they brought me two bottles of water and bread.
I say: "Maybe you need something too?" "No, no." Then Vanya comes up and says: "Grandma Valya, if possible, boil some hot potatoes for us." And I boiled them on the fire, because there was no stove. I went to the garden, dug up some young potatoes, picked some tomatoes and boiled soup for them.
“Wow, at least we’ll eat properly. Otherwise, the soldier’s everything is dry.”
They often helped me. They would get a gas canister or something else. I am grateful to them.
— Did you consider them more like your own or more like enemies?
- I took them calmly. They were like children to me. Then they had a rotation and were sent home.
— Did you expect our people to come?
- Of course, I waited. It's just that until our people arrived, I had to live somehow.
- Why did you wait for our people if the VSSU officers didn’t offend you?
— How could we not wait? We are all living people. And I felt sorry for the VSEU guys: they are young people. It is not their fault that they were sent here. And our guys are young too. That same Dima from Tambov is only 21 years old.
I repeat, no one has offended me. Neither from this side nor from that side. True, there were gangs that robbed apartments, stole cars and raped girls. And why rape me? I am already an old man.
— And then what happened to these girls?
— I don’t know. They said that someone was taken to Sumy. They also said that a couple of young guys were taken to Yunakovka (the logistics hub of the invasion group in Sumy Oblast. — Ed.) and forced to dig trenches, and then shot. But I didn’t see it myself.
— Were there girls you knew personally who then disappeared? How do you even know about rapes?
— There were none. It was just that among the neighbors who lived on the same street as me, there were such conversations. “There was a girl living in that house, they took her away, she never came back.”
- Why didn't she leave Sudzha right away? Didn't have time?
- Probably, yes. Sudzha was immediately surrounded. A mouse couldn't slip through there.
For example, I had a neighbor Galina Yuryevna, may she rest in peace. She was a stubborn woman. She came to Sudzha from Kursk to visit her husband at the cemetery. When the children tried to leave for her, Sudzha was already surrounded. I looked after her. She was a living person.
— What did she die of?
— When the boarding school in Sudzha was hit, she was cut by shrapnel. There were no doctors, and she bled to death. She was buried somewhere there. They say that fifteen old people died near the boarding school. The boarding school was mostly bedridden. Some were taken to Sumy, some stayed there. I didn’t go there much, because they brought me food and medicine.
Then a woman contacted me, a social worker who was responsible for our street before the war. She said that she had been evacuated to Tula. She started asking how we were doing here. I said, "Galina Yuryevna is gone. And this one is gone, and that grandfather is gone too." Come to me in Tula, she said. I refused. What would I do there?
— And yet, what is the difference between ours and not ours?
— During the occupation, there was no way to go anywhere peacefully. Men were insulted, girls were raped. I can even say that in this building there is a 74-year-old woman who was raped. There was a gangbang there. I don’t know how she got away from them.
— How could a 74-year-old woman be raped?
- What difference does it make to them - 17 or 74? They are beasts. There are people you wouldn't even think are like that. They look normal, but what's going on in their heads is unclear. They are all stoned and high.
Then, when our people arrived, my friend told me to pack up and leave. Although he had a family of seven, he still came to me. I took a minimum of things and a package of medicines. I came here in what I was wearing. At first they said they would bring me to Kursk, but in the end they brought me here.
- That's good. There are flights to Kursk, and it's calmer here.
— I know. I have the Internet now, I read the news. The first night we spent here, I couldn't sleep because my nerves were on edge. The siren started howling, I started shaking, we didn't have sirens there. It turned out that a drone had flown by. They said it would be quiet here. But here it was the same.
Oh well. Two deaths are not allowed, one is inevitable. I have already been in accidents and during occupations. It is hard to remember. And now I need to collect documents. Mom died, and the hospital was destroyed. I don’t even know if Sudzha will be rebuilt.
- I think it will be restored first. It is a symbol.
- How? The Ukrainians stole all the equipment and cleared out all the construction bases.
- They are "poor and unfortunate". They need it more. Let them at least take it from us.
— Once I came to the store. Two police officers came in. I was scared because I was alone there, usually two or three of us with our neighbors went. They said: “Titochko, don’t be afraid of us. Take what you need.” I said: “And the payment? Through the cash register?” And I laughed out of fear. They laughed too. They were nice young people.
Then I came to the "Estate" for saucepans. I met those two again. There were two other VSSU officers with them. They said: "Oh, this is the second time we've met. What are you looking for here? There's nothing left to take." I said: "I need a saucepan." "What do you cook on?" I answered: "Guys, if you have a gas canister, give me some. And some cigarettes, too, if possible." "Are you smoking?" "That's not for me, it's for my man. More precisely, my ex. We lived together for 50 years, then he cheated on me with a younger woman."
— Did you come up with this?
- Yes, out of fear. And they believed.
- Why do you need cigarettes?
— For the guy who helped me with milk or firewood, he lived on a parallel street. There was no money, it was barter. And he admitted that at first he didn’t want to give me milk, but then he realized that I was a normal woman who was taking care of her sick mother. He had buried his mother at one time, too. He helped everyone. He even slaughtered his heifer to give the meat to everyone. It was he who brought me here later. I said, “Why? You have your own family.” “No, we are like family now.”
- What will you do next?
— Once, while sitting here, I went to watch the news. I saw my grandfather looking at me. He said: "Vasilievna, are you here? And we searched for you together with the head of the district." They brought the head of the district, he promised to take care of me. They got the prosecutor's office and other authorities involved to collect documents for my mother's funeral and receiving benefits. One-time payments have already been transferred.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Artemy Sharapov
[REGNUM] In just one week, the new White House team has changed its attitude towards its junior partners from Kiev twice. For now, the Donald Trump administration has changed its anger to mercy, once again “opening the tap” of arms and intelligence supplies. But many things now indicate that the presumption of impunity for the current Kiev regime no longer works. It seems that military support will be provided only for “defensive purposes.” Speeches about support until the “complete liberation of Ukraine” have been put on the back burner.
This somersault in Washington-Kiev relations has caused a stir in the world. Thus, the example of Ukraine was used in his recent address by the official representative of the Ansar Allah movement (an organization of Yemeni Houthis), Yahya Sari, addressing Saudi Arabia, which is in conflict with the Houthis. "Learn a lesson from the fate of Ukraine and do not rely on the United States," Sari warned, implying that in the future the United States may leave not only Kiev without support, but also its partners in the Middle East.
However, the example of Ukraine is not something special. On the contrary, over the past decades, the United States has proven itself to be a very unreliable ally. And if tomorrow the States demand, for example, the resignation of Volodymyr Zelensky or even his arrest, there is nothing surprising about it. Because Washington does not like "junior partners" who start to think too much about themselves.
THE GENERALISSIMO WHO WAS LUCKY
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led to the United States entering World War II. At first, the United States did not intervene in the European theater of war, focusing its efforts entirely on the war in Asia. Here, America decided to rely on the government of the Republic of China, led by the nationalist Kuomintang party under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
At one time, Chiang Kai-shek had established himself as a consistent anti-communist, and his armed forces were waging war against the Japanese army. Therefore, the United States launched a program of supplying weapons to the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang and training officers. With the end of World War II and the deterioration of relations between the former allies of the United States and the USSR, the United States placed a special bet on Chiang Kai-shek, seeking to prevent the communist Mao Zedong from coming to power in China.
In 1946, a mission of American military advisers was deployed in China. The United States armed and trained more than 500,000 soldiers and officers of Chiang Kai-shek's army.
The Pentagon provided the Kuomintang with thousands of tanks, fighter jets, and even strategic bombers, often piloted by American pilots in Chinese uniforms. According to official data, the cost of American aid to Chiang Kai-shek’s government from 1946 to 1949 is estimated at $4.4 billion — a monstrous sum at the time, equivalent to $72 billion today (for comparison, the volume of US military aid to Ukraine during Joe Biden’s entire presidency was $62 billion).
The Chiang Kai-shek regime sanctioned the establishment of American military bases on Chinese territory, including on the island of Taiwan.
However, the Communists ultimately won the Chinese Civil War. Why did this happen? On the one hand, the answer is obvious: the Communists turned out to be better soldiers than the Kuomintang. But the conflict between the Generalissimo and the United States is also cited as one of the reasons for Chiang Kai-shek's fall.
By 1947, the Chinese leader realized that he was being relegated to a secondary role in the global confrontation with the USSR. Washington practically demanded that command over the Chinese troops be handed over to the American military. Chiang Kai-shek tried to argue with his senior partners and paid the price. The US government was not impressed by the junior partners' demarche and began to recall its advisers from China, and the civil war front predictably collapsed. In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek's government was forced to flee to Taiwan.
At the same time, US President Harry Truman publicly stated on January 5, 1950 that American troops would not intervene if the Chinese communists decided to land on Taiwan to finally defeat the Kuomintang forces. Washington decided to reconsider its attitude to the situation only because of the outbreak of the Korean War. The US Navy's Seventh Fleet was sent to the Taiwan Strait, which essentially saved Chiang Kai-shek, who later headed the "Chinese Republic" until 1975.
ELIMINATING THE UNRELIABLE LEE SEUNG
Less fortunate was another friend of the United States, the first president of South Korea, Lee Seung-man.
He took over the Republic of Korea in 1949. With what was essentially dictatorial powers, the president suppressed the communist opposition and sanctioned the deployment of a group of American “instructors” in the country. At first, there was talk of 200–300 American troops, but at its peak, the American contingent numbered 30–50 thousand people. Despite the fact that the United States supported South Korea in the war against the DPRK, directly intervening in the conflict, Seoul gained nothing from this support.
Syngman Rhee's attempts to pursue an independent policy led to the United States accusing the president of political repression (which had previously been overlooked) in 1960. Then, externally initiated events began in the country, known as the "April Revolution". Syngman Rhee was overthrown and fled the country.
However, the most obvious example of US cynicism in foreign policy is, of course, South Vietnam.
"THE US HAS NO ESTABLISHED POINT OF VIEW"
In 1954, local politician Ngo Dinh Diem became the first president of the Republic of Vietnam. As in China and Korea before that, in Vietnam the United States primarily focused on training local armed forces to confront the communists. American advisers implemented a program to create a Vietnamese army of 100,000 troops and 150,000 reservists. By the end of 1955, the number of American military advisers in the South Vietnamese army reached 350 people. By 1960, the mission of American advisers increased to 700 people, and a year later, South Vietnam became the largest recipient of American military aid.
In particular, the United States provided the Vietnamese army with hundreds of military aircraft and helicopters, making the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam the sixth in the world in terms of the number of modern aircraft. In 1962, the authorized strength of the South Vietnamese army was again increased to 200,000 people.
But Ngo Dinh Diem turned out to be too inconvenient a figure for the United States. The president sought to pursue an independent policy for the country and, worst of all, proposed to resolve the conflict with communist North Vietnam by political means. Therefore, the United States decided to support one of the president’s opponents, General Duong Vang Minh. On the morning of November 1, 1963, a military coup took place in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). Rebel soldiers surrounded the government residence. Ngo Dinh Diem managed to call the American embassy and ask for help. In response, the ambassador stated that “it is now 4:30 a.m. in Washington and the U.S. government has not yet formed a point of view on this issue.” The president tried to escape, but was arrested and killed.
The subsequent decade of South Vietnam's history was marked by a series of military coups that took place with the direct participation of the United States. Ultimately, the state, which had become a direct puppet of Washington, was unable to cope with the ideologically motivated communists. In March 1975, the Republic of Vietnam ceased to exist.
The list of politicians "written off" by the United States includes, for example, the President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, who started out as the "best friend of the United States" and was then overthrown as a result of the "color revolution" in 1986. The United States did not help either the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista or the Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - one was overthrown by Fidel Castro's guerrillas in 1959, the other - during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. But these are old stories. Surely, it is impossible for the United States to abandon its allies in the 21st century?
DOGS MORE IMPORTANT THAN AFGHAN DEMOCRACY
Here, the very recent events in Afghanistan come to mind. It all started out quite standardly. In 2001, the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, which ended with the fall of the Taliban government* and the creation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, de facto under an American protectorate. A large group of the US army was deployed in Afghanistan, and the Americans also actively approached the formation of local armed forces. By 2020, the number of armed forces in Afghanistan was estimated at 200 thousand people.
The US paid for the production and delivery of about a hundred Mi-8/17 helicopters, and also transferred dozens of UH-60 and MD-530F helicopters to the Afghan Air Force. Throughout the operation in Afghanistan, Washington emphasized the importance of cooperation with Kabul in the field of security and the fight against terrorism. Films and commercials were shot glorifying American support for the Afghan people.
However, circumstances then changed and the US decided that it was no longer worth supporting its dear allies. In February 2020, an agreement was reached between the US government and the Taliban*, under which Washington committed to withdrawing its troops from the country by May 1, 2021.
The events that followed became widely known thanks to media coverage and social media. The withdrawal of American troops led to the collapse of the Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani, who, however, managed to escape from Kabul in time. But the thousands of ordinary Afghans who had worked for the US military for many years were less fortunate - there was not even a place for them on American military aircraft. Instead, the Pentagon flew out service dogs. Subsequently, a wave of murders and reprisals against former military personnel swept across Afghanistan, primarily special forces officers who were most closely associated with the US.
Although the US has not abandoned its support for Ukraine, it is becoming obvious that Washington will no longer invest in the "promotion" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The wording "maintain defense capability" translated from American means "not to let it finally fold." At the same time, historical practice shows that the leader of the country, who was yesterday the best friend and partner, tomorrow can be forgotten, written off or simply shot.
On the other hand, experience also shows that active military cooperation with the United States does not always guarantee victory in a confrontation with external enemies. And even on the contrary: today's successes achieved with American weapons may turn into betrayal and defeat tomorrow.
[France24] European NATO countries are taking urgent steps to boost their armaments industries amid mounting concern about the strength of Washington's commitment to their security. FRANCE 24 spoke to Richard Aboulafia, managing director at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, about the challenges of scaling up domestic and pan-European defence industries and the dangers of reliance on US military equipment.
Europe's scramble to rearm itself comes as much of the continent has grown more dependent on weapons supplies from the United States, according to data released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
NATO countries in Europe have more than doubled their arms imports between 2020 and 2024, with the US supplying over 64% of the total – up from 52% over the previous five-year period.
Many countries have moved forward with their decisions to purchase US arms despite growing concern that America's decades-long security guarantees to Europe are no longer reliable under US President Donald Trump.
The figures reflect the challenges facing Europe as it scrambles to reduce its military dependence on Washington and take charge of its own security.
For more, FRANCE 24 speaks to defence expert Richard Aboulafia, managing director at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory.
How reliant is Europe on the US in terms of intelligence, maintenance and software updates for its military equipment?
There are two forms of reliance: one is on capacities, which includes intelligence, and the other is on existing systems. The French case is a great way to distinguish between the two. France, like everyone else, is dependent on ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance). Yet it is unique in that it is largely independent from the US in terms of military equipment. Most other EU countries have some degree of US content in their inventories, and many are dependent on US-made F-35 fighter jets, the weakest link. It’s the most-connected fighter ever built, constantly communicating with offboard sensors, systems and networks. It’s also heavily dependent on regular software updates.
France’s defence industry is largely independent from the US. Consider the French jet Rafale, which is 100% French. I like to joke that the only thing that isn’t French about the Rafale is the coffee holder.
It’s almost like a spectrum of dependence. On one end, you have the French defence industry which has an impressive level of sovereignty. On the other end you have Denmark, which is unfortunate because of its diplomatic tensions with the US over Greenland’s future. The UK is closer to Denmark on the spectrum of dependence on the US because it went heavily under the control of US systems and capacities after Brexit.
Could the US immobilise European weapons systems with so-called kill switches?
There are two types of kill switches. One is the failure to provide spare parts or to update software, knowing that more modern weaponry constantly needs updates. The other kind of kill switch is to completely turn off a weapons system. It’s a question of changing a couple of lines of code. Just like with an iPhone, the provider can turn it off.
The situation we are in today is unprecedented, with the US turning its back on a major ally.
Ukrainian troops in the field reported yesterday that they came under instant attack from artillery and drones as soon as they activated their Starlink terminals. This implies the US is not only hurting Ukraine but helping the Russian side by possibly providing them with satellite imagery.
Many European countries are still ordering weapons from the US despite concerns about the transatlantic alliance. What are the challenges of scaling up the national and pan-European aerospace industries in Europe?
Scaling up a national industry is much more difficult than scaling up a globalised one. Ten times more F-35s were delivered in 2024 than Rafales (141 to 14). The F-35 uses production resources from over a dozen countries, including Germany’s Rheinmetall, which was added to the list of major suppliers this year.
France’s industry supply chain, in contrast, is vertically national – it can provide everything from nuclear weapons, to tanks, to nuclear submarines. But this impressive level of sovereignty may in fact be hindering France’s defence industry. In the case of the Rafale, it’s very much in demand, with over 170 aircraft – mostly for export – on backlog in 2023. Yet only 21 were delivered that year.
Ursula von der Leyen’s 800-billion-euro defence fund presented last week can help speed up this process. Another solution is the development of pan-European systems like Eurofighter [Editor's note: a fighter jet developed by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain], which competes with Rafale.
Europeans also have one advantage over the US, in terms of manufacturing prowess, as reported in Foreign Policy. Europe collectively outproduces the US in steel, civil aircraft, vehicles and ships. This could give the EU the impetus to help Ukraine and begin domestic rearmament even as Donald Trump abandons Kyiv and threatens to leave NATO.
Go for it, guys. Your needs are great, and America needs to do a serious resupply of our own desperately depleted stores. While you’re at it, rebuild your power generation with something other than Green methods, please.
#3
Europe collectively outproduces out subsidizes the US in steel, civil aircraft, vehicles and ships. The US has been shipping our blue collar industrial jobs from our merchant marine to our steel mills overseas for decades and now the US has to depend on foreigners (*Cough* China *Cough*)
Ukrainian troops in the field reported yesterday that they came under instant attack from artillery and drones as soon as they activated their Starlink terminals.
Ah, Russia has launched a lot of spy sats recently. My guess is that they notice a StarLink terminal connect, geolocate it and target it.
#5
As to industrial plants.
Tesla's giga-Berlin plant freaked out the German auto companies.
VW as an example has over 100 plants and 127,000 industrial workers to produce for Europe less cars than giga-Berlin does with less than 8,000 workers.
They need to rethink their industrial infra-structure. Esp as to how one makes a product and plant naturals for each-other.
[IsraelTimes] IDF probe finds over 500 Palestinians invaded border kibbutz where 386 residents were present during Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught, as understaffed security team tried to fight with no backup
On the morning of October 7, 2023, over 500 Paleostinian snuffies swarmed into the unsuspecting Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... border community of Kibbutz Nir Oz. The army — plunged into complete disarray by the shock attack on dozens of towns and military posts simultaneously — entirely failed to come to the rescue, as the snuffies moved from home to home, brutalizing, massacring, and kidnapping dozens of civilians.
The first soldiers to arrive at Nir Oz on October 7 did so some 40 minutes after the last terrorist left.
On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces presented its probe into the attack on Nir Oz — among its detailed investigations of some 40 battles and massacres that took place during Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s October 7 onslaught, when some 5,600 snuffies stormed across the border, killed some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages to Gaza.
The probe highlighted the heroism of Nir Oz’s local security team, whose few members fought on their own for about two hours before being killed or maimed, and the bravery of residents who did everything they could to protect themselves and their loved ones. It also highlighted the army’s colossal failures that allowed throngs of snuffies to overrun the kibbutz without seeing a single soldier.
The probe concluded that the IDF "failed in its mission to protect" the residents of Nir Oz, largely because the military had never prepared for such an event — an Israeli community being captured by terrorists, as well as a widescale attack on numerous towns and army bases simultaneously by thousands of terrorists.
Unlike other Israeli border communities attacked on October 7, the IDF did not fight any snuffies in Nir Oz, a community of around 420 residents, 386 of whom were there during the onslaught.
In all, 47 people, including 41 residents and six partygoers fleeing a nearby rave, were killed in the kibbutz during the onslaught. Another 76 were kidnapped by the snuffies — 67 alive and nine who were killed that day, either in Nir Oz, en route to Gaza, or in the Strip itself.
Of the 67 living hostages, 13 were killed in the Gaza Strip during the war. Currently, five hostages presumed alive and the bodies of nine captives remain held in Gaza, after 49 were released and the bodies of 13 were returned to Israel.
The total number of dead from Nir Oz, including those killed in captivity, stands at 69.
The hostages and dead included multiple generations of families, some of whom were killed or kidnapped by different terror organizations.
The snuffies entered all but six homes in the community of around 100 houses, causing heavy damage. The surviving members of the community are now living in the Karmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat, as Nir Oz undergoes a long reconstruction process.
Presenting the results of the probe to members of the kibbutz on Thursday, former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said he "heard the harshest statement about October 7 from one of your members.
"I say it in every conversation I have with commanders, so that everyone in the IDF will remember it — that the first soldier arrived at Nir Oz after the last terrorist had left," Halevi said, in audio of the meeting broadcast on Channel 12 news. "This is a terrible and damning statement, and we repeat it so that it will be etched into the consciousness of the IDF."
The probe into what happened at Nir Oz, carried out by Maj. Gen. Eran Niv — the former chief of the Computer Service Directorate — covers all aspects of the attack on the kibbutz on October 7.
Niv and his team spent hundreds of hours investigating the onslaught at Nir Oz. The IDF said they reviewed every possible source of information — footage taken by snuffies with body-mounted cameras, residents’ WhatsApp messages, surveillance videos, and interviews with survivors, former hostages, and those who fought to defend the kibbutz — and made visits to the scene.
The Nir Oz probe was aimed at drawing specific operational conclusions for the military. It did not examine the wider picture of the military’s perception of Gaza and Hamas in recent years, which was covered in separate, larger, investigations into the IDF’s intelligence and defenses.
The army is also not looking at policies set by the politicianship. That way, it avoids conflict with government leaders who have insisted such investigations must wait until after the war against Hamas ends.
WHY DID SO MANY PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS REACH NIR OZ?
The investigation found that an unusually large number of snuffies invaded Nir Oz, compared to other communities attacked on October 7. The probe stated that calls by then-Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif at 8 a.m. on Paleostinians to invade Israeli communities led to numerous snuffies joining in the onslaught.
This was exacerbated in the Nir Oz area due to the lack of IDF troops defending the area, giving the snuffies a sense of freedom, and because of footage circulating online of an Israeli tank that was disabled on the border and its crew kidnapped. The tank became a sort of attraction for Paleostinians during the onslaught, with hundreds from the Hamas stronghold of Khuza’a reaching the area, many of whom would continue into Israel and reach Nir Oz.
Of the over 500 snuffies who invaded Nir Oz, the investigation team was only able to find the body of one in the kibbutz. Hamas snuffies likely picked up the bodies of several of their comrades killed by armed civilians during the onslaught.
Outside the kibbutz, on a road leading to Gaza, the bodies of 64 snuffies were found. Those bad boyz were potted by Israeli Air Force helicopters and an IDF tank.
WHY DID THE IDF FAIL TO STOP THE TERRORISTS FROM INVADING NIR OZ?
The investigation team stated that "the forces were not prepared, did not prepare or practice scenarios that occurred on October 7," and that they were not given any alert that morning. "Already at the beginning of the fighting, many of the commanders were maimed in the area, and the chain of command collapsed," the team said.
Niv’s team also stated that the IDF was unable to build an accurate picture of what was happening in the entire area, including in Nir Oz. "The troops fought throughout the area, including along the fence and their posts, and failed to hold an assessment," the probe said, adding that at no point did troops speak with anyone in Nir Oz during the attack to understand what was happening there.
The probe found that the troops "fought fiercely" in the area, without stopping for a moment even when the chain of command collapsed and many of them were maimed, successfully defending other communities, but they did not reach them all, including Nir Oz.
The investigation stated that "if there had been an alert, even if it was very short notice, there is no doubt that the harm could have been reduced."
According to the probe, the IDF could have done more to contact officials in Nir Oz and understand what was happening there.
Additionally, the probe noted that soldiers failed to defend a nearby army base next to Nir Oz, whose troops would have been able to defend the kibbutz if their base was not overrun. The investigation also stated that it was an error for tank forces to head to the Gaza border amid the onslaught, and instead, they should have stayed closer to the communities to defend them.
The understaffed local security team "fought bravely" for some two hours until it was defeated, the probe said, adding that within the context of October 7 and "without the assistance of military forces, even a larger local security team had no chance against such a large enemy force."
WHY DID IDF TROOPS NOT REACH NIR OZ IN TIME?
According to the investigation, Hamas’s simultaneous and widescale attack on dozens of communities and Israeli army bases on October 7 made it difficult for the IDF, on all levels — from the regional brigade to the chief of staff — to build an accurate picture of what was happening, especially with how serious the situation was in each community.
Backup forces who were arriving at the Gaza border area from the north, including those who arrived at their own initiative, mostly got stuck fighting in the city of Sderot. Others who managed to push further south down Route 232 either got caught up fighting in other communities or were ambushed by snuffies at major junctions. Similarly, troops arriving from the south were also attacked and delayed at the junctions, resulting in the first troops reaching Nir Oz only after 1 p.m.
Few troops were explicitly instructed to head for Nir Oz, and those who were got stuck fighting on the way.
By the time a special forces team managed to push through the Ma’on Junction near the community, at around 11:45 a.m., it was far too late. Their commander was maimed, and they were also instructed to reach another community.
The investigation found that there was real-time information that could have been used by IDF commanders to understand the grave situation in Nir Oz, though nothing was done with it. This included an IDF surveillance camera showing dozens of snuffies walking to and from Nir Oz — which was being viewed live at an IDF command center — and information from Israeli Air Force helicopters flying over the area.
The investigation team stated that this live information indicated that there were snuffies in Nir Oz, carrying out massacres and abductions, but "such information was being received from numerous other places, and it was not possible to understand from this information that Nir Oz was in a more grave situation than other communities."
"Residents of Nir Oz called for help time and time again, but their reports and calls were lost, within the chaos of thousands of messages and reports," the probe said.
If the IDF had taken action on the information and prioritized Nir Oz, "it is presumed that troops would have arrived earlier and succeeded in minimizing the harm to the kibbutz and its residents," the team said.
CONCLUSIONS
The investigation team concluded that the IDF "failed to protect Nir Oz" and the failure was "particularly massive, partly because IDF troops were only able to reach the community after the last title='terrorists '>snuffies had already left. In fact, the snuffies carried out their atrocities in the kibbutz almost uninterrupted."
The IDF’s failure to defend Nir Oz was not a tactical or moral failure, the probe stated, but rather a "systemic failure."
"The forces did not fail to navigate to the kibbutz, and did not delay out of fear, nor did they choose not to fight; The failure of this incident was that the [IDF’s] command did not understand that the situation in Nir Oz was particularly grave, and that massacres and abductions were taking place there on a large scale, and therefore, did not prioritize sending forces to Nir Oz over other places," the investigation team said.
The team said that there were other communities where the situation was very grave, and some where troops did not arrive on time, "but there was no other town with such a deadly combination of such a grave situation on the one hand and the absence of a military force in the community on the other."
"That’s what happened to Nir Oz," it added.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The investigation team recommended establishing a new IDF post between Nir Oz and the Gaza Strip, as well as strengthening the local security team.
It also recommended establishing a new mechanism in the IDF for building an intelligence picture when the chain of command has collapsed amid fighting, as well as other tactical changes to the military.
THE TIMELINE OF THE ATTACK
Before the onslaught, the Golani Infantry Brigade’s 51st Battalion was deployed to the Nir Oz area, including at a base near Kissufim, a post near Nirim, and another camp next to an agricultural research and development center south of Nir Oz known as Mopdarom. Additionally, two tanks of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion and a Namer armored personnel carrier were stationed at another small post near Nir Oz, known as the White House.
In all, there were 182 combat soldiers and 57 combat support troops stationed in the area, protecting the southern Gaza border area, including Nir Oz and several nearby communities.
At 5:33 a.m. on October 7, the troops took their stations along the Gaza border in a shift change. The Hamas onslaught began an hour later.
Amid an initial barrage of around 1,000 rockets — which began at 6:29 a.m. — largely aimed at Israeli military posts, Hamas snuffies broke through 114 locations along Israel’s border barrier.
Six of the breaches were in the Nir Oz area, through which at 6:36 a.m. 100-130 members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force streamed into Israel — on pickup trucks, cycle of violences, and on foot — and headed for the kibbutz. Another 200-400 other terrorists, including members of Hamas, Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... , Mujahideen Brigades, and unaffiliated Paleostinians, arrived later.
As the rockets were flying and Hamas snuffies were spotted approaching the border, the two tanks and APC stationed at the White House post advanced toward the Gaza border, under the assumption that they could stop the invasion.
One tank positioned itself south of Nir Oz, and the second north of the kibbutz. The APC was positioned between the two.
The tank in the south was quickly attacked by Hamas snuffies with RPG fire and bombs. The crew of four — tank commander Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, driver Sgt. Shaked Dahan, gunner Sgt. Nimrod Cohen, and loader Sgt. Oz Daniel — was then kidnapped to Gaza.
Infamous footage from the attack showed Paleostinians in civilian clothing standing on and around their tank while it was wreathed in smoke and flames, and the soldiers being dragged out by Hamas terrorists.
Neutra’s death was confirmed in December 2024, Daniel’s death was announced in February 2024, and Dahan’s death was confirmed in November 2023. All three were killed on October 7, 2023, according to the IDF. Cohen is believed to be still alive in captivity.
At 6:38 a.m., the Hamas terrorists, using sniper rifles, took out Israeli military surveillance cameras on the border near Nir Oz. Only one camera, located further away from the border, next to the kibbutz, remained operating.
Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, at 6:42 a.m. alerted the civilian local security teams in the communities in his area, and announced over the radio: "We are at war." Minutes later, Hamami and his team exchanged fire with snuffies in the adjacent community of Nirim, where he was killed and his body kidnapped to Gaza.
At 6:49 a.m., a car with two partygoers who had fled from the Psyduck music festival entered Nir Oz through its main gate. They evaded the first two Hamas snuffies who arrived at Nir Oz 10 seconds later and infiltrated the community.
At 6:52 a.m., a member of Nir Oz’s security team exchanged fire with the first terrorists, as other members tried to assist. Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea, one that didn't involve kerosene... at 6:55 a.m., another vehicle with fleeing partygoers from Psyduck came under terrorist fire at the entrance to Nir Oz. Two were killed.
At 6:57 a.m., Hamas snuffies killed Bracha Levinson, 74, in her home, while live streaming the murder on her own Facebook page, which was seen by her family. This was the first killing to take place inside Nir Oz.
At the same time, Hamas snuffies captured the Mopdarom base, located south of Nir Oz, killing five and wounding 17. The other troops were holed up amid the massive rocket fire.
Also at this point, the IDF’s command and control in the southern Gaza area had entirely fallen apart, with the brigade commander killed, several platoon commanders killed or seriously maimed, and one kidnapped.
At 7:06 a.m., Cpt. Omer Wolf, a deputy company commander in the 51st Battalion, called on troops to defend closer to border communities, rather than the border fence, amid the massive invasion. He was killed along with two of his soldiers near the White House post later in the morning, while successfully delaying Hamas’s invasion into Nirim by several hours.
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Between 7:11 and 7:18 a.m., another two vehicles fleeing from the Psyduck festival arrived at the entrance to Nir Oz. Hamas snuffies waiting at the entrance murdered the partygoers.
Terrorists at 7:27 a.m. entered the kibbutz through a southern entrance, heading for the foreign workers’ residences. Twelve Thai and Tanzanian workers were murdered, and five foreign nationals were kidnapped from there.
The snuffies continued their onslaught through the kibbutz, murdering residents in their homes and setting the buildings on fire. The first kidnappings began at around 8:30 a.m.
Some members of the seven-strong local security team and other armed civilians fought back from their homes, while three — Tamir Adar, Aviv Atzili, and Dolev Yehud — and other armed civilians confronted the snuffies together outside.
All three were killed following a two-hour battle, ending at around 9 a.m. According to the investigation, they managed to delay the snuffies during that time, but the IDF never showed up to provide backup.
Once the local security team was defeated, the kidnappings continued and ramped up.
An IAF helicopter arrived at the kibbutz at 9:22 a.m. and began to carry out strikes on a route leading from the Gaza fence to Nir Oz, after identifying some 60 snuffies there. The chopper came under fire from the snuffies and was forced to make an emergency landing at the Hatzerim Airbase.
At 9:55 a.m., the second tank that headed for the Gaza border in the morning arrived at the entrance to Nir Oz. One of the four crew was seriously maimed and evacuated by the APC, while another member was maimed inside the tank.
At 9:57 a.m. the tank fired two shells at snuffies at the entrance to Nir Oz, though it remains unclear if any were hit, as no bodies were found there. Hamas may have taken the bodies back to Gaza, according to the probe.
At 10 a.m., another IAF helicopter arrived near Nir Oz and began to open fire on snuffies along the route heading to the kibbutz from Gaza. A short while later it received orders to head to the Gaza Division base near Re’im, which was also overrun by terrorists.
At 10:06 a.m., the tank that arrived at the entrance to Nir Oz received an order to leave the area and help prevent a suspected kidnapping of troops elsewhere. The tank did not enter Nir Oz but did end up killing numerous snuffies near the border fence.
At 10:22 a.m., the IAF chopper returned from the Re’im base and continued strikes against snuffies on the road leading from Gaza. The IDF tank also reached this area, attempting to run over the crowd of terrorists.
By 10:30 a.m., the Hamas Nukhba snuffies were returning to the Strip after being instructed by their commanders in Gaza. The other snuffies joined them and also began to leave at this time.
As the tank arrived at the route outside the kibbutz, Batsheva Yahalomi, who was kidnapped from Nir Oz along with her children, managed to escape. Yahalomi, 10-year-old Yael, and almost two-year-old toddler sat on one moped with a terrorist, while 12-year-old Eitan and a foreign worker sat on the other moped with another gunman.
The two mopeds veered away from one another as the snuffies saw the tank, and Yahalomi lost track of Eitan on the other moped. Yahalomi and her two daughters were able to run away, hiding for a short period. Two unarmed snuffies found them and tried to convince them to come into Gaza, but didn’t violent mostly peacefully attack them. Eventually, she returned to the kibbutz.
Eitan Yahalomi was released under a hostage-ceasefire deal in late November 2023. His father Ohad Yahalomi was taken hostage separately from the rest of the family and murdered in captivity. His body was returned under another deal in late February 2025.
In another incident at 11:30 a.m., the IAF helicopter opened fire against a car with several snuffies in it on the road leading to Gaza. It was later revealed, based on eyewitnesses, videos from the helicopter, and surveillance camera footage, that the vehicle also had Israeli hostages in it.
The gunfire killed several of the terrorists, along with Efrat Katz, a resident kidnapped from Nir Oz with her daughter and granddaughters. The others were maimed in the incident.
At 12:20 p.m., the IAF helicopter carried out a strike against six snuffies outside the kibbutz.
The final footage capturing a terrorist in Nir Oz is timestamped at 12:30 p.m.
Members of Border Police’s Yamas covert tactical unit arrived at Nir Oz at 1:10 p.m., and members of the IDF’s Egoz commando unit arrived at 1:47 p.m. Troops of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit arrived at 2:50 p.m.
The troops began searches in the community, escorting residents out. There was no fighting, as all the snuffies had already left.
#3
Nir Oz doesn't look like it's too close to any major towns or cities that might have a true military presence either, except for maybe Khan Yunis (and that's NOT where help would be coming from).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/16/2025 17:35 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
