Ukraine War Update NEWS: Military Aid News
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This summary has been produced automatically by an AI Large Language Model (LLM) without any human intervention. Whilst every effort has been made to prompt the LLM to produce accurate output, there may be inconsistencies, inaccuracies or hallucinations!
Table of Contents 📖
"They should be deeply, deeply embarrassed. They have utterly failed to do remotely what they wanted in this war"
Hello Team
🎦 00:00-00:51⏩
Jonathan welcomes viewers to the channel for the second part of the 17/09/2024 Ukraine war update, covering military aid. This video was delayed as he has been working on the next part of his Ukraine video series about his recent trip to Ukraine (in February).
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UK Geopolitics - UK politicians call for increased military aid, Starmer meets with Biden and Meloni
🎦 00:51-10:35⏩
- UK's former Defence Secretary Grant Schapps, together with four other former Defence Secretaries call on the UK to regain its leadership role in supporting Ukraine. Jonathan credits the UK for being at the forefront of support for Ukraine at the start of the war.
- The Labour party won the recent UK general election with Keir Starmer as the new PM. Since then, internal politics and a £20bn black hole in the UK economy has impacted the level of support the UK has been able to provide.
- Despite this, Starmer has sought to be strong on Ukraine and has made efforts to meet with Biden to have strike restrictions on missiles lifted and also met with Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni in an attempt to secure Italian support for this.
- The UK will provide Ukraine with thousands of drones.
- Jonathan discusses a point raised by Bill Browder who states that Russia would lose a war with NATO in three days and urges the west to ignore Putin's threats and allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike targets within Russia, a sentiment echoed by many in the military community. Jonathan tends to agree.
- Jonathan observes that while many in the military are in favour of providing weapons and allowing Ukraine to use them as they see fit, it is politicians worried about escalation who are preventing this.
EU to provide €40bn loan, profits from seized Russian assets used to purchase weapons
🎦 10:35-11:45⏩
- The EU will provide Ukraine with a €40bn loan package without US participation. Jonathan notes that this may be a result of changing political headwinds in the US and a desire by the EU to be less dependent on the US.
- A $50bn aid package proposed by the US was blocked by Hungary who are against extending a freeze on Russian assets beyond the current six-month renewable periods.
- The EU has also used €1.4bn in profits from seized Russian assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine. Jonathan feels that using the profits generated from the assets is legally easier than using the assets themselves.
Zelensky states military aid is insufficient and slow to arrive, 14 Ukrainian brigades unequipped
🎦 11:45-15:53⏩
- Zelensky has stated that the current level of military aid from western partners is insufficient to equip 4 out of 14 under-equipped brigades. These are in addition to the brigades currently operating.
- Zelensky has said that aid shipments are too slow to arrive.
- Ukraine has had to use all of its reserves and whatever was in storage in order to equip its soldiers for the counteroffensive.
- Zelensky confirmed that the incursions into the Kursk region of Russia were intended to divert Russian troops away from the east where Ukraine were losing ground due to being outgunned 12:1 by Russian artillery. Jonathan notes that there have been conflicting reports about the ratio of artillery fire.
Latvia to provide CVRT armoured vehicles to Ukraine
🎦 15:53-19:08⏩
- Latvia has announced it will provide Ukraine with an unspecified number of CVRT (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)) armoured vehicles purchased from the UK due to security concerns. This follows a recent announcement by Latvia's PM that a new military aid package would be provided that includes APCs.
- Jonathan addresses some misinformation circulating online from sources such as Sarin, correcting a number of factual errors in the process and noting that Latvia will likely provide between 9 - 12 CVRTs.
- Latvia is one of Ukraine's biggest supporters and has pledged to supply aid equal to 0.25% of its GDP each year.
- Jonathan thanks a user (Jeff2146) for a well thought out comment.
Germany to provide Panzerhaubitze 2000 & additional aid totalling €100m, Qatar to provide 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000
🎦 19:08-24:22⏩
- Germany will provide Ukraine with 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery systems, 6 within two months, the remaining 6 by the end of the year.
- In a deal brokered by Germany, Qatar will provide an additional 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 to Ukraine. In return, Qatar will receive 12 new RCH 155 howitzers. These will be refurbished and modernised in Germany before being sent to Ukraine. Jonathan notes that Italy has recently agreed to replace its howitzer systems with this type, highlighting the quality of this system.
- Germany has also made a deal with Egypt to enable the export of two Irish TSLM (Thermobaric Launch Mortar?) fire units.
- To facilitate the transfer of 15 Gepard SPAAGs to Ukraine, Germany recently bought these back from Qatar who had originally bought them to bolster security for the FIFA World Cup.
- Germany has announced an additional €100m in aid, primarily for winter aid, in anticipation of continued Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Denmark to supply more F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine before the end of 2024
🎦 24:22-24:36⏩
- Denmark will deliver more F-16 fighter jets before the end of the year, in addition to the 19 already pledged. Jonathan seems impressed.
Canada: Rochelle Senator MRAP authorised for use by Ukrainian Armed Forces
🎦 24:36-25:38⏩
- Canada has authorised the use of the Canadian version of the Rochelle Senator MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) armoured vehicle. This is based on the Ford F550 chassis and has been up-armoured and adapted for military use, having been originally intended for use by the police. Jonathan notes that Rochelle has ramped up production to meet demand.
Ukraine: 60,000 troops trained, training extended to 3 months
🎦 25:38-27:08⏩
- Mobilization in Ukraine is reported to be on track but it will be another three months before new recruits can be deployed. Jonathan notes that 60,000 troops have been trained by Europe so far, with the UK training a significant number.
- From October/November, the training period for Ukrainian recruits will be extended to three months and instructors will have combat experience where possible. Jonathan seems somewhat surprised that this hasn't been implemented sooner, given the war is over two years old.
Ukraine War Front Line Update: Ukrainian Special Forces (SBS) Operating in Black Sea and attacks on Russian oil rig
🎦 27:08-29:15⏩
- Jonathan discusses a thread on X by The Times journalist Maxine Tucker about the 73rd Naval Special Operations Centre, trained by the UK and US, who have been very effective in targeting Russian assets in the Black Sea.
- Jonathan corrects Maxine Tucker's reference to "Navy Seals", pointing out that they are called SBS (Special Boat Service).
- Following the liberation of Snake Island in June 2022, Ukraine now control a number of oil rigs in the Black Sea which are used as a launch pad to attack Russian targets.
- There have been recent Ukrainian attacks on the Kinburn and Tendritsky spits, strategically important areas that control maritime access to the port of Mykolaiv. Control of these areas by Russia renders the port useless.
- Ukrainian SBS recently attacked an oil rig and shot down a Russian fighter jet using MANPADS, though there are conflicting reports about whether the attack was a success or not.
Ukraine War Front Line Update: Ukrainian SBS attacks on the Kinburn and Tendritsky spits
🎦 29:15-33:12⏩
- SBS forces have been attacking Russian targets on the Kinburn and Tendritsky spits. These streaks of land sit on the estuary of the Southern Bug River and control access to the port of Mykolaiv.
- Jonathan describes a mission where four Ukrainian SBS divers were dropped off by boat at night, their movements obscured by state-of-the-art rebreathers that leave no telltale air bubbles.
- During the mission, a technical malfunction forced two of the divers to return back to the boat, leaving the remaining two to complete the mission, undetected by Russian forces.
- The target was a Russian ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft system that was transporting troops and ammunition. The Ukrainians planted explosives on a road used by the Russians, waited for the Shilka to pass and then detonated the explosives, destroying the vehicle and killing those inside. The Ukrainians were able to escape undetected.
- Jonathan is surprised by the level of sophistication of the operation, in particular the use of rebreathers to disguise their movements underwater.
Ukraine War Front Line Update: SBS Captain Judy and the importance of training with allies.
🎦 33:12-34:43⏩
- Jonathan points out that one of the SBS operators is Captain Judy, one of the few women to have qualified on a NATO Special Forces Q Course.
- Jonathan shares an anecdote about his local pub, the Osborne View (that recently burnt down) that used to have pictures of SBS training on the walls. He explains that he lives near Portsmouth on the South Coast which has a strong naval history and is where SBS trained during WW2.
France to supply 19,000 tonnes of railway track to Ukraine
🎦 34:43-35:06⏩
- France has pledged to supply Ukraine with 19,000 tonnes of railway track to help streamline its rail services, and by extension those of Western Europe as well.
Russia: Putin increases size of Russian army by 180,000
🎦 35:06-39:07⏩
- In a tacit admission of heavy losses, Putin has ordered an increase in the size of the Russian army to 2.389 million personnel (including 1.5m military servicemen), an increase of 180,000. This follows an increase in December 2023 to 2.209m.
- This latest increase will bring the total number of personnel recruited this year to 540,000 (including replacements for those killed or wounded)
- Jonathan sees this as a sign that Russia is struggling to achieve its military objectives, pointing out that in the last two and a half years, Russia has lost 54% of the territory it initially gained in the first few weeks of the war.
- Jonathan believes that Russia should be embarrassed at how badly the invasion has gone.
- He goes on to state that although Russia is in trouble, this does not mean that Ukraine has won, but stresses that Ukraine can prevail but only if the west increases its support.
Russia: New drone warfare tactic - nails attached to drone blades to take out enemy drones
🎦 39:07-40:20⏩
- Defence Express reports that the Russians are now attaching nails to drone blades in an attempt to disable Ukrainian drones in drone on drone attacks.
- Jonathan explains how he thinks it works (a bit like a Mad Max wheel).
Wrap up
🎦 40:20-40:34⏩
- Jonathan thanks viewers for watching and signs off.
🤖❓ AI Debrief (post task) - anything the AI didn't understand
I was able to understand everything
🤖💭 AI Plan (pre task) - the AI's step by step thought process
This is quite a long transcript. First I will extract the title, date and part information. Then I'll break the transcript down into individual topics, taking care to create granular, quantified and specific topic titles and ensure the timestamps are accurate. Jonathan provides a lot of opinions and insights into the topics he curates so I will pay particular attention to these as this is what his viewers value. I came across a mistake in the transcript - Jonathan refers to "Navy Seals" which is a US term. As Jonathan is British and the UK equivalent is SBS, I have corrected for this. Jonathan mentions his local pub which recently burnt down, I've left this in as this is relevent to a previous video and his viewers enjoy his humour. He also rambles a bit when explaining his surprise at Putin needing to increase the size of the Russian army. I have summarised this as best as possible! I had no queries for this transcript
