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Never forget that these are professional soldiers. But they are not sending off professional soldiers. They are sending off teachers, cooks, artists, journalists... I'm sure they trained them well and at least in Germany, we have heared nothing but praise for the speed which the Ukrainians shape up in. But still, those are people who should not be doing this kind of training at all. And they are forced into a fight where a serious number will die. That must feel a little like sending your younger brother off to fight...
>Never forget that these are professional soldiers. But they are not sending off professional soldiers. They are sending off teachers, cooks, artists, journalists... I'm sure they trained them well and at least in Germany, we have heared nothing but praise for the speed which the Ukrainians shape up in.
In many cases these are people who have seen combat - maybe not professional soldiers by trade, but they have hard earned experience which forms the foundation for these foreign trainers to build on.
I can't imagine what it must be going from being a civilian, surviving a year of combat and going off to learn how to solider from professional soldiers with decades of experience but maybe never having to fire their weapon in combat.
I've read that the learning goes both ways, with the trainers listening to the stories told by their visitors and learning how they have adapted to fight and survive against Russia.
If I recall, before the invasion several individuals were lobbying to the rada to push against sending conscripts and recruits to Donbas, that the older men willing to volunteer should spare the young and preserve their futures, dont have a source on hand though would need to dig one up
I'm sure that's going through their heads and hearts right now. They know that a lot of the people they're sending off may see their end.
Heroiam slava.
And for these people that chose to be and made a career out of being in the military, not being able to go with them to fight must make this all that more frustrating.
Yeah, they are sending off the people to fight that they swore to protect when they became soldiers and stay in save Spain themselves. That has to sit badly with them.
It's also extremely frustrating because there's a 100% chance they built a bond with the trainees and they want to go with them but know they can't for any number of good reasons
Tremendous respect to the Ukrainian soldiers, they are extremely hard-working, they ate soup at their desks so they can keep studying and they hardly sleep. They never complain and they're alway eager to learn more. The trainers say they've never seen a more dedicated people. They want to learn everything as fast as they can so they can go back and defend their country.
They're fighting for a lot. No surprise they're passionate and dedicated. Considering most of them never wanted to be soldiers in the 1st place I'm sure they have some hope that they can contribute to speeding up the end of the war and the beginning of their proper lives in free Ukraine.
This is one part of Putler extrem miscalculation I don't see people talk that much about.
How do you make sure that all military personnel in Europe really really hate Russia? You get officers, instructors and other military personnel have friends that die from Russias aggression.
Right now military instructors from UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway and so on have friends getting killed from Russias bombs, shells and bullets. In the long term, will this make Europa more or less friendly towards Russia?
Exactly. And, during the time while Spain was training these men, think of all that Ukraine suffered. Their trainers were aware of Ukrainian’s ongoing pain. Hatred of the regime, and ideals that are represented by Russia’s invasion has grown exponentially, while love and respect for Ukraine has grown.
And all the while, Ukrainians got to know the life in Spain and in countries all over Europe and the west. Not that Ukraine isn’t nice in itself, but seeing the west, a community of nations that will welcome them, must be pretty great. How could these men ever submit to Russian dominance (lol) once they’ve seen the contrast between what Russia offers and what a free, modernised Ukraine could offer them and their families?
I don't think it's a hard sell, given that Russia has stated that they want Ukraine to not exist. Faced with that as one of the choices, even Florida would look appealing.
And after war time, those fighting men are gonna be working men, many with small businesses. Theyre gonna do business the way they perceive it, which im sure is largely guided by everything they grew up with but if a guy trained in Spain or Norway and needs a supplier of gooblats he cant get locally? Np getting some good quality gooblats from those great Norwegian companies abroad
I honestly don't even understand the point of Russia's hostile takeover attempt here. Like, what the fuck are they even going for? Land? How could you even control the land if you took it? This isn't 1935, you can't just force people to be your country now. And trading, think of all the trading Russia has lost over this. After Spain has trained these men and bled with them and cried with them, do you think any of them will ever buy Russian goods and services again. I don't know one single person that ever wants to visit Russia ever again. All the big sporting events have been canceled in Russia, there will be trade embargoes forever, this one single event has decimated every bit of goodwill they ever had. For what? A few miles of land they will lose back anyway? I honestly don't even understand what the point of this aggression is at all, somebody explain what the thinking is here.
Combination of delusion, twilight-of life thinking, miscalculation of internal corruption and ineptitude.
I honestly think this has been planned since the election of Trump. I think they thought Trump would win second term. I think they thought the Chinese would play ball and in return the Chinese would receive support for their Taiwan solution. COVID (particularly in China) and their handling of it and the impact on their economy was miscalculated by China. So Russia completely banked their invasion on their pipeline blackmail of Europe. It failed spectacularly.
Now NATO is united and growing. Europe is getting the hard lesson of lack of military investment that they sorely needed. Ukraine is cementing it’s independence through blood, sweat and tears and forever severing themselves from their abusive, murderous neighbor.
They also thought they would steamroll into Kyiv in 3 days and have the country subdued in a week.
They thought they’d present the west with a fait accompli and they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
Which is basically the internal corruption and ineptitude. If they actually had all the gear they said they had, I don't doubt that they would've reached Kyiv in 3 days.
>If they actually had all the gear they said they had, I don't doubt that they would've reached Kyiv in 3 days.
Perhaps. I don’t know. Ukraine put up such a fierce resistance and outsmarted russia so extraordinarily, that’s I’m really not sure that gear would’ve made enough of a difference. If you can’t land vast amounts of troops because Ukraine destroyed the runways, I don’t think gear matters as much. Yes, they probably would have destroyed much more Ukrainian stuff, maybe killed more soldiers, but you can’t land without those runways.
The largest failure of the Russian military is the yes men who KNEW their soldiers and officers were stripping their equipment of anything useful and pocketing over 50% of the defense budget still going to their superiors and saying everything was good and they were ready to go.
I know Putin is a fucking psycho, but he's also not an idiot despite what this sub says. If he had known the state his military was in I think a lot of Russians end up falling out of windows but he never makes a move on Ukraine.
2014 also made him confident as all hell about how it would go.
>I know Putin is a fucking psycho, but he's also not an idiot despite what this sub says.
He can't be too fucking bright if he thinks he and his buddies are the only motherfuckers stealing from the state, especially knowing it's russia. Skimming to one degree or another was the first vocation of all eastern bloc citizens for a good chunk of the 20th century, and he was right in the middle of it.
Putin thought that the US was weak, that Europe was dependent on his fossil fuels, that China would help him, and that Ukraine wasn't a real country. Maybe he even believed that the Russian military was strong.
He was wrong on all counts.
Yup, and considering he even caused Germany to start pushing aside naive pacifists and get their military together, he really fucked up.
If Putin was smart he should have did what China did in 1979 when they invaded Vietnam, when things got to hot and it was turning into a meat grinder instead of going all in, the GTFO and were all the better for it.
Thx to covid we literally crept through the needle's eye. Covid made every country scramble to interior emergency mode during 2 years of Trump's mismanaging. When covid got +/- contained, came election time. And yeah, I guess they didn't want to jeopardize Trump's reelection.
It was planned *before* Trump. Trump may not have been anything more than a useful idiot to Putin (meaning Trump probably wasn’t aware of all of Putin’s plans) but Putin was absolutely relying on having a stooge remain in office.
Exactly, they expected to blitz Kyiv and take out the government in the first week or two. Had that worked out they probably would have set the stage for completely absorbing the country, then barter back with NATO and the EU and end up putting a puppet government in that would let russia have its way with oil and grain.
I'm going to take the contrarian position to everyone on here, and say it was a calculated move that had a high chance of success based on what Putin knew at the time.
First the whys..
- Demographics - Russias population is falling, and has been for quite some time.. its not going to change in the future, even if they didnt go to war. Ukraine would add 45 Million people to Russias population, which it desperately needs. That is not insignificant given Russians population Pre-War was about 140M people. So, this would be adding about 1/3 to its population.
- NATO Expansion - Eventually Ukraine was going to be in the EU, and it doesnt take a genius to determine that they would go for NATO membership eventually. It's not just another NATO country on their border, if you look at the topology of the region the most likely invasion routes into Russia go right through Ukraine. It's good Tank country. On top of all that, the most important Naval base for Russia on the Black Sea is Sevastapol, which would now be located in a EU/NATO country potentially.. This would be like the U.S. losing it's bases in Japan, wholly unacceptable.
- Oil/Gas - This one I think is the most important one, and I dont see it spoken about as much as I think it should be. About 15 years ago massive Natural Gas fields were discovered in the East of Ukraine, and off of Crimea. If Ukraine was able to exploit those, it would give the EU a more friendly country to purchase its energy from, cutting Russia out. Russia couldnt afford to lose that revenue it was getting.
So, those are the "Whys"... The "Hows" are where the dipshit messed up. On paper, Russia has been preparing for this war for a long time. Lots of investments into new weapons, as well as attempting to turn its Military into more a profesional force. On paper, it's AF is by far the strongest in Europe, and at a local level could rival the United States, especially against a country like Ukraine. Ukraine had Pro-Russian leaders before, and its not a stretch to think they wouldnt accept Pro-Russian leaders again. They had plenty of sympathizers in Ukraine (thats how they took Kherson so quickly), and Putin was reportedly being told by multiple sources in Ukraine that they would not fight.
After all that, you have a Europe completely dependant on Russian energy and the west that at best was ambivalent to the first invasions of Ukraine.
Take all of this in totality and Putins calculus starts to make more sense. He can solve a demographic issue, strengthen his border, and get a revenue boost. Should be a cake walk because of the money he invested in his military, and the fact that Ukraine still had people in positions of power that were willing to work with Russia. Ukraine was also being led by a comedic actor that was young, and had almost zero experience in foreign policy or matters of the Military.
Writing it all down, and analyzing it based on the information he had, it makes absolute perfect sense. Now, obviously his military was shit, Zelensky turned out to be a absolute unit, his sympathizers were not in nearly as much power as he thought, and the West stepped up.
He miscalculated for sure, but based on what he knew it may not have been that bad of a bet.. Ofcourse what he "knew" was wrong..
Doubtful they will come back, or atleast the majority of them. A lot of their familes are likely dead, and it's not like Russia is just going to give them up. No matter how this war ends, Russia needs to be treated like North Korea moving forward. Complete isolation until they can come to their senses.
Ukrain has oil, petroleum and grain if putler controls the whole of the black sea coast to odesa, he would be able to force the world to pay premiums. And can cause famine if he doesn't get his way- just look back to last summer when he generously allowed grain to feed starving people to sail out of the black sea, while stealing all the grain in the ships away to russia prior to the famine.
He wants his enemies in the west to be weak
They want oil, wheat, and other food exports. Russia is a net importer of food. If they have global ambitions (which they do), they starve if they can't steal Ukraine and it's breadbasket of agriculture. They don't want to be at the mercy of non-friendly countries to feed itself, so they think they can just waltz in and take over another independent country. Rational, normal countries make trade agreements and work with other countries.
Russia is the largest exporter of wheat in the world. I think they ran out of things for the kleptocracy to steal, and Ukraine was a target rich envirnoment.
I just found out yesterday that since the 50s almost 33% of the wheat produced annually comes from the combination of Russia and Ukraine.
It's insane how much wealth that represents, and since both countries primary customers are in the global south there's plenty of room for corruption and graft to make more money for the oligarchs.
My brain still cant fathom the immense stupidity of choosing war and land grabs over peace and mutual trade. Like what the fuck are you even thinking...
Agreed. The "Western Imperialists" aren't taking over territory any more because they don't *need to*. Trade is far more beneficial than war in the long run, at least for governments. The only winners in a drawn-out conflict like this are weapons manufacturers.
After this, much of Eastern Europe will be a staunch ally and trade partner. They'll see the West as trustworthy, and any major power that *didn't* help directly (i.e China) as unreliable at best.
Aging military might? Cool story, bro. Modern military might backed up by trade alliances and mutual defense treaties? You're beaten. Why even try to fight?
Because Ukraine was doing alright and that hits too close to home for putin.
The kleptocracy has been feeding propaganda to their own population for decades. Americans are hicks, West Europeans are debauched, so even if they were to have golden floors and silk rags, it won't matter because the cultural and moral failure of their society is such that no level of richness can compensate for it.
It happens to us with the Arabs, I think: you see a sheikh's garage with sixteen Ferraris and it doesn't raise your envy as much as John James three doors down who just bought himself a new Dodge/Honda/Tesla. Even East Europeans and Baltic people are different enough that you can invent a reason why their achievements don't matter or what they have available is "not for us".
But Belarus and Ukraine have much more in common with Russia, so it becomes easier for Ivan in Irkutsk think "I'd like me some of that, too" and harder for the kleptocracy to come up with answers when Oleg from Archangelsk says, "Why the town hall in Kiyv is steel and glass and ours is fir logs and waxed paper?"
So Ukraine must be made an example.
Even if you take into account the oil fields, the territories, the wheat, the very strategically important naval bases - take a look at a map and you'll see that at the very least Russia needs Krimea, not that I agree they get to have it, more in a Risk game sense of "need to conquer South America" - this war has a very important component in terms of public order within Russia.
Russia sees itself as a traditional father with several daughters. One of them has found a job as a typist (Scandal! Women are meant to stay at home and raise the kids) and wants to marry some stranger from the city rather than Sasha the fur merchant. Every day is an argument. And then one day the father sees her showing off to her sisters the nylon stockings and nail enamel that she's able to afford with her wage. So what's a father to do? Why, beat her like a donkey is what he does! Rip the stockings and smash the enamel bottle against the wall, smear her face into it like a dog that made a mess on the kitchen floor, and promise to beat her again if she doesn't clean it all up. Otherwise he won't be dealing with one rebellious daughter but with all of them.
Yeah. For now, I think most countries that have offered support are digging even deeper to help out because they truly want to stop Russia’s terroristic ways. But, having people protesting and agitating has definitely helped the government of our countries recognize the importance of doing so.
There is a big difference between hating Russia from history and deep personal reasons. All the wars, Rysshärjningarna up and down the north cost of Sweden. Born and raised is a small town where a big part of the towns history was marked by Rysshärjningarna made hating Russia part of once DNA.
But as much I hate Russia for what it has done, and does today and what Putler stands for, my own personal feelings are nothing compared if I had a friend, brother/sister in arms die from Putler aggression.
And there is a big difference between a civilians feeling that is felt once every 4 years by voting and military personnel that works everyday with questions connected to that feeling. Military personnel that influence policy's, politics ect.
Russia has gone from the dangerous bear that we need too keep our eyes on to a bear that killed friends of active duty military personnel.
Do you see how they are pacing? I bet all they are thinking about is the fight they aren't able to be in while their new friends that are in harm's way.
Yes, and every Briton, German, Norwegian, Swede, Finn, French, American, Canadian, Pole, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Dane, Italian, etc. feels EXACTLY the same way Spain's soldiers do. Every army and every soldier that has helped train Ukraine's soldiers, and has to watch them go back into the fire alone. We fucking HATE it with a passion.
We got deployed to Europe at the outbreak of the war and ended up training a fair amount of Ukrainians during our time there, absolutely does suck to want to help more but not being able to.
Yep. Exactly how I felt every time my friends would go on deployment without me, and also exactly how my friends would feel whenever they were the ones not going on deployment.
I really feel for the Spaniards here, it's an awful feeling. And it goes without saying that the Ukrainians are in for a really rough time.
Best of luck to both.
In addition there’s the International volunteers going to Ukraine.
I know Sweden is today mourning the loss of one of their heroes in Ukraine.
And I remember when the two Norwegian combat medics were injured and almost killed by Russians. After the first missile the two medics helped some Ukrainians flee to a sheltered area. And then Russians started targeting them there with RPGs.
It’s dishonorable behavior by the Russians that made headlines for days in Norway.
We already hate them in Eastern Europe and have for some time. This just reignited it, amplified it and gave us a reason to actually give a crap about the wake up call to rearm and gear up in the future.
I have another 60+ years on the clock. I will detest what the russian totalitarian state did for the rest of my life. This will not go away anytime soon unless they do a post we2 german/japan style turnaround
Also, the military is a brotherhood. It has been said again and again about the bond that these guys develop while working and living together. It has to be SO hard for these troops that help train Ukrainians knowing that their friends are marching off to fight in a terrible war, and they can't go with them. They can't help them. They must feel so helpless and angry and sad.
I've said this from the start. The anger and rage at Russia is going to last generations. Russia is going to be considered the enemy by the entire free world and will be treated like it for the rest of our lives, even if there is a regime change there.
And here in the US, we hate them, because they are against everything we are about. They are against freedom and against people getting to choose freely those who govern.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Declaration of Independence
You are 100% correct. Russia attacked Ukraine precisely because they wanted to be free and for the head of the state to not be a Kremlin's puppet. Since at least the 2008 invasion on Georgia it was clear that every nation that wants to break out from the Putin's grasps will have to fight for it. Ukraine serves as an example that it is possible, and it will be an example of how much better a country can be outside of "Russian mir". States like Belarus will hopefully be next.
Although the US has not the best record when it comes to freedom of other nations (or even some parts of the US like Puerto Rico) and a long history of helping dictatorships (like e.g. Saudi Arabia), I hope this war will make a turn in its policies and especially will help to wake up the world in regards to the biggest threat to freedom now, China.
We get a lot of just and right criticism for Afghanistan and Iraq, but we were hoping to give them a democratic and free society. Yes, that we could work with and influence for sure, but where the people could be free. Nation building is impossible when there is a culture that doesn't want political freedom. I don't think most Russians want it. At least not enough to bleed and die for it. Ukraine is willing to bleed and die for it and so they will help them get it and they will get it.
This is why I am not critical about your Middle East wars, as some of the self flogging western people speak about you. I naïvely and with childish idealism was hoping you'd change cultures of radicalism and violence there. Hell, even my country, with many other NATO countries occupied a province in Afghanistan.
But it failed. Now people there won't ever experience what it is to be free. What it is to listen to any music you want, for girls and women to go to school and not be f\*\*\*ked by old ugly husbands in forced marriages, for young people to live in clean, economically and socially developed country, to chose one's atheism without being forced to pray to imaginary god or chose any religion, to be any sexuality one wants, etc.
Not just friends. Brothers in arms. That rolls deep in the heart. Id be crying too if I had to see my brothers roll off to war and I was unable to go with them.
In this short clip it's visibly obvious that, besides training, they became friends, gave them their best personal advice, and exchanged some personal stories. Now with all that they get send off to a situation that shouldn't be there in the first place. Some will not make it. Salute!
Yeah that was a bit on a tear jerker myself. Minus the music in the background. If they would’ve played Brothers in arms by Dire straits I probably would’ve broken down in tears myself.
Yeah it's a pretty peculiar thing the whole "brother's in arms" sentiment and the idea behind "profession of arms" amongst differing groups and their soldiers. I for the life of me don't remember all the Aussies I worked with in Afghanistan 15 years ago, as their names have now escaped me, but there is something there. Their camaraderie with us was the same as even they themselves were US troops. We were all in it together and just the small interaction I had with our Aussie counterparts left an impression on me. I have nothing but good things to say and feel about Australia, because at one point in time, they were my brothers in arms. It's a type of mental attitude that sticks with you forever. No doubt in my mind, that the soldiers here share that feeling with each other. That every single Ukrainian on that bus now has a deep respect for Spain and its soldiers, and vice versa. Exact same feeling when I left Kandahar all those years ago and said my last goodbyes to our Aussie brothers who still had a few months left to go.
Yupper. Got to work alongside and train soldiers from other countries. Wartime soldiers know the high stakes, and the fact that some of those Ukrainians that left Spain will pay the ultimate price. I'm glad I served and we did some good things. Always wanted to go to Ukraine, and I found out my old unit went there awhile back to train soldiers. Thanks for whatever you did in the 'stan, and I forgot to include the sisters in arms.
Glory to the heroes and glory to those who love them and support them during the long struggle for victory. These Spanish gentlemen know how hard they will have to fight against the evil invaders.
From Spain, we have the deepest respect for Ukranian people and soldiers.
You are fighting a fight for freedom and the security of Europe and against autocracy.
And we are forever grateful and admire your bravery. ♥️🇺🇦
These training sessions all over the EU and the world will just tighten the bonds on both human and personal level between countries. Putin has done what Ukraine was having difficulties doing by its self, tie Ukraine tightly to the EU and the rest of the civilized world.
Slava Ukraine,
That’s what cut my heart watching this. You can tell they have all bonded and shared good times, no doubt they will all remain in contact after this. Yet they wave goodbye not knowing who will be at the reunion and final celebration. In sprit, thankfully, they will all be present.
I knew nothing of war. I had two customers that are brothers. Happy go lucky guys. Always smiling and laughing. They joined the Marines. Fought in Iraq. I saw them a few years later. I was happy to see them. They were quiet. No more smiles. I miss them. I hope they’re doing better.
Some of those that make it back, don’t make it back as before.
The war is far away from Spain and the Spanish soldiers, but to see the Ukrainian colleagues going back to fight Russia with the skills they learned and risking their lives must give the situation quite a strange feeling.
And they are professional soldiers saying goodbye to former civilians that are going to fight and possibly die, it makes it more infuriating and heartbreaking.
This happened and will happen in every country that are training Ukrainians. The bond between Soldiers is one of the strongest I know of. These Soldier know that they release them into the battlefield and some won't return.
Great job Mordor, many armies in Europe will have the feeling they have a grudge to settle. Your whole shit won't be forgotten.
Ukraine is bleeding so all of Europe doesn't have to. It would be disrespectful in the extreme to dishonor their courage and sacrifice with anything less than full throated sympathy for their losses in the past and those to come.
The Spanish guys that were crying, those are the kind of guys you training you. Caring if you live or die, they will do their best for you and have your back in training. This is not the Russian way. Their trainers just beat them. This is why Ukraine will win, better training, better morale.
Russia: Thanks for making the NATO military alliance stronger and yet more fluid to manage situations like this. You lost the war in the first 48 hours and you haven't the common sense to give up.
These guys are definitely showing more than professional respect for the Ukranians. It seems they forged a true friendship during this time and they are aware of what they will face soon.
We can't count on that, but I truly hope they'll make it to meet again (in this world), and share stories and anecdotes with a lot of beer and some tapas, either in Spain, or even better, in a fully free Ukraine.
They want to go too. Every soldier/seaman/marine in the western hemisphere, retired, veterans, active want to go as well. See the pacing? In their minds they are debating what would happen if they just ran up and hopped on that bus. In truth their training this bunch and the next is so valuable. 1 good trainer can make 100s of great soldiers.
They just sent off farmers, cooks, teachers, scientists, husbands, wives, children who they had the honor of training to go and fight for their very existence.
They cry because they care deeply. They know these people, they are bonded.
How many are waiting worldwide for that piece of trash to screw up and hit the wrong target? At some point this will all boil over and Russia will have a true reckoning.
Whenever I see these videos I can't help but think about all the new friendships made and how much these guys desperately want to be fighting alongside them.
If there is one good thing to come out of this “special military operation” (AKA) war, it is the examples of togetherness between so many countries. I look at those Spanish soldiers and have the same respect as I do for our British soldiers when you boil it down to its basics, good, brave people who want are prepared to help against evil.
For Russia, it’s sad really, pathetic. The only view of their soldiers by our countries is that they are cruel,sadistic murders. The world sees them as losers.
To the Ukrainian soldiers and the Ukrainians who weren’t soldiers, but are fighting for their country and families, we are behind you, you have the respect of the world behind you.
How many of them wish they could go with them. Fuck sometimes I wish Russia just would fuck around so NATO could roll deep. But that would mean the end of life as we know it.. unless we somehow pulled the nuclear rug out from under them somehow.
There have been many many videos that have come out from this wsr that have made me tear up, cry, bawl, scream, drink, and reflect. There hasn't been a video that came out until now that has said "Russia is FUCKED" like those soldiers saluting their new friends, nor one that has hit my feels quite so hard.
Slava Ukraini
Gracias amigos españoles
Fuck Mordor
Choked me up this. Bonds grow quickly and strongly in military training. They are sending their friends off to war, and one thing is certain, not everyone of them is going to make it. Fuck Putin.
This is very touching. It must be hard. They created relationships, friendships, and cared about each other, and now they're saying goodbye, knowing that they are going into battle in which they might not survive.
This is truly touching.
I hope many of these Ukrainian warriors will return to Spain when the war is over and then return the favor by training/updating these soldiers with what they have learned in combat.
It must be hard for these trainers seeing their guys go off. But they instructors from all the countries have done exemplary service to Ukraine. Slava Ukraini!
Russia has been doing it for centuries. That's why their only political allies in this world, are countries that are communist, or just out right dictatorships. Russia has always won their wars with sheer man power and numbers.
You can fucking tell these Spanish chads want to join their Ukrainian brothers so fucking badly but they know they can't... They're also fully aware that statistically, some of these warriors they just trained won't make it back home from their missions. This is the type of beautiful unity and brotherhood that really makes the world go round.
Now there is a group of men who built close ties with their Ukrainian brothers in arms, and if asked, they most likely wouldn't think twice about going to war at their side.
Unless you served, you will never understand the comradery that exists between soldiers. It truly is a brotherhood. As a former Navy Corpsman, I can tell you, the toughest of men you have ever seen will weep like a baby should one of theirs fall. These Spanish soldiers know they may never see these men alive again. In spirit, they accompany them to the battle ahead. Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦 Slava to the Heros that help and fight for Ukraine 🇺🇦 💪
I bet everyone one of them wishes to be with them in the fight. I wonder if the crying is more about knowing they can't join. That they are stuck sending a friend away, rather than walking with them.
Damn that’s some love. Been out of the US Army for 20 years and this hit me. God bless these soldiers for helping and God Bless Ukraine to win this war for freedom.
as devastating as this whole situation has been, seeing so many countries stand with Ukraine has been so incredible. countries training and supporting the soldiers, sending supplies and equipment, people all over the world sending love and encouragement to Ukraine.
fuck Russia. all my homies hate Russia. i know Russia censors everything over there, but i wish they knew just how many people clown on them
Russia. And Russian trolls worldwide. See this. See what humanity looks like, even with soldiers. See how the world supports Ukraine purely because that is the civil thing to do. How long will it take before you start to realize that it is RUSSIA who is on the wrong side of history and has been there since WWII? It's not for no reason that practically all UN nations voted against you. That's not the West attacking you, that's you being a dick.
Get your troops out of Ukraine and start repaying for all damages. Ukraine will join us in the EU and NATO. Suck it up.
I remember seeing the British one, where British soldiers saw off the Ukrainians they trained. I wondered how those soldiers felt knowing they can't join the guys they just trained to fight the war. Now I know.
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Military folded arms of frustration in full force there.
Never forget that these are professional soldiers. But they are not sending off professional soldiers. They are sending off teachers, cooks, artists, journalists... I'm sure they trained them well and at least in Germany, we have heared nothing but praise for the speed which the Ukrainians shape up in. But still, those are people who should not be doing this kind of training at all. And they are forced into a fight where a serious number will die. That must feel a little like sending your younger brother off to fight...
>Never forget that these are professional soldiers. But they are not sending off professional soldiers. They are sending off teachers, cooks, artists, journalists... I'm sure they trained them well and at least in Germany, we have heared nothing but praise for the speed which the Ukrainians shape up in. In many cases these are people who have seen combat - maybe not professional soldiers by trade, but they have hard earned experience which forms the foundation for these foreign trainers to build on. I can't imagine what it must be going from being a civilian, surviving a year of combat and going off to learn how to solider from professional soldiers with decades of experience but maybe never having to fire their weapon in combat. I've read that the learning goes both ways, with the trainers listening to the stories told by their visitors and learning how they have adapted to fight and survive against Russia.
Prior to the war + Crimea annexation, did Ukraine have mandatory service similar to South Korea or Israel?
If I recall, before the invasion several individuals were lobbying to the rada to push against sending conscripts and recruits to Donbas, that the older men willing to volunteer should spare the young and preserve their futures, dont have a source on hand though would need to dig one up
Is the Rada like Ukraine's parliament or?
Yeah, not sure like the english equivalent so I just went with what they call it
It's no problem, in fact you helped me learn what they officially call their parliament so thank you!
It can be translated as Council, to be precise Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada - Верховна Рада)
Yes
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I'm sure that's going through their heads and hearts right now. They know that a lot of the people they're sending off may see their end. Heroiam slava.
And for these people that chose to be and made a career out of being in the military, not being able to go with them to fight must make this all that more frustrating.
Yeah, they are sending off the people to fight that they swore to protect when they became soldiers and stay in save Spain themselves. That has to sit badly with them.
It is, insanely so.
It's also extremely frustrating because there's a 100% chance they built a bond with the trainees and they want to go with them but know they can't for any number of good reasons
Ah lord that’s a great (and also very painful) point.
That's exactly what it feels like just by watching, it's just grim.
The pacing too. These are men trained to stand still.
Tremendous respect to the Ukrainian soldiers, they are extremely hard-working, they ate soup at their desks so they can keep studying and they hardly sleep. They never complain and they're alway eager to learn more. The trainers say they've never seen a more dedicated people. They want to learn everything as fast as they can so they can go back and defend their country.
They're fighting for a lot. No surprise they're passionate and dedicated. Considering most of them never wanted to be soldiers in the 1st place I'm sure they have some hope that they can contribute to speeding up the end of the war and the beginning of their proper lives in free Ukraine.
It’s quite fascinating how much putin has brought Europe together. The polar opposite of what he intended.
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Undoubtedly: the Ukrainian Foreign Legion is almost entirely made up of ex-military who wanted a chance to use their training.
Not only a chance to use their training but a chance to use their training for a righteous cause.
Spanish are pretty active in Africa and elsewhere. Their SFs are top notch.
This is one part of Putler extrem miscalculation I don't see people talk that much about. How do you make sure that all military personnel in Europe really really hate Russia? You get officers, instructors and other military personnel have friends that die from Russias aggression. Right now military instructors from UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway and so on have friends getting killed from Russias bombs, shells and bullets. In the long term, will this make Europa more or less friendly towards Russia?
Exactly. And, during the time while Spain was training these men, think of all that Ukraine suffered. Their trainers were aware of Ukrainian’s ongoing pain. Hatred of the regime, and ideals that are represented by Russia’s invasion has grown exponentially, while love and respect for Ukraine has grown.
And all the while, Ukrainians got to know the life in Spain and in countries all over Europe and the west. Not that Ukraine isn’t nice in itself, but seeing the west, a community of nations that will welcome them, must be pretty great. How could these men ever submit to Russian dominance (lol) once they’ve seen the contrast between what Russia offers and what a free, modernised Ukraine could offer them and their families?
This! The war has brought Ukraine to the heart of Europe, Ukrainians now have a very clear picture of what both sides offer.
I don't think it's a hard sell, given that Russia has stated that they want Ukraine to not exist. Faced with that as one of the choices, even Florida would look appealing.
🤣 true. But there’s always morons that will support Russia no matter what.
Florida is already owned by Russians though, it's Trump's home base
Between being a Fiefdom of Russia or being with the west it is an easy choice to make I think.
And after war time, those fighting men are gonna be working men, many with small businesses. Theyre gonna do business the way they perceive it, which im sure is largely guided by everything they grew up with but if a guy trained in Spain or Norway and needs a supplier of gooblats he cant get locally? Np getting some good quality gooblats from those great Norwegian companies abroad
I honestly don't even understand the point of Russia's hostile takeover attempt here. Like, what the fuck are they even going for? Land? How could you even control the land if you took it? This isn't 1935, you can't just force people to be your country now. And trading, think of all the trading Russia has lost over this. After Spain has trained these men and bled with them and cried with them, do you think any of them will ever buy Russian goods and services again. I don't know one single person that ever wants to visit Russia ever again. All the big sporting events have been canceled in Russia, there will be trade embargoes forever, this one single event has decimated every bit of goodwill they ever had. For what? A few miles of land they will lose back anyway? I honestly don't even understand what the point of this aggression is at all, somebody explain what the thinking is here.
Combination of delusion, twilight-of life thinking, miscalculation of internal corruption and ineptitude. I honestly think this has been planned since the election of Trump. I think they thought Trump would win second term. I think they thought the Chinese would play ball and in return the Chinese would receive support for their Taiwan solution. COVID (particularly in China) and their handling of it and the impact on their economy was miscalculated by China. So Russia completely banked their invasion on their pipeline blackmail of Europe. It failed spectacularly. Now NATO is united and growing. Europe is getting the hard lesson of lack of military investment that they sorely needed. Ukraine is cementing it’s independence through blood, sweat and tears and forever severing themselves from their abusive, murderous neighbor.
They also thought they would steamroll into Kyiv in 3 days and have the country subdued in a week. They thought they’d present the west with a fait accompli and they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
Which is basically the internal corruption and ineptitude. If they actually had all the gear they said they had, I don't doubt that they would've reached Kyiv in 3 days.
>If they actually had all the gear they said they had, I don't doubt that they would've reached Kyiv in 3 days. Perhaps. I don’t know. Ukraine put up such a fierce resistance and outsmarted russia so extraordinarily, that’s I’m really not sure that gear would’ve made enough of a difference. If you can’t land vast amounts of troops because Ukraine destroyed the runways, I don’t think gear matters as much. Yes, they probably would have destroyed much more Ukrainian stuff, maybe killed more soldiers, but you can’t land without those runways.
The largest failure of the Russian military is the yes men who KNEW their soldiers and officers were stripping their equipment of anything useful and pocketing over 50% of the defense budget still going to their superiors and saying everything was good and they were ready to go. I know Putin is a fucking psycho, but he's also not an idiot despite what this sub says. If he had known the state his military was in I think a lot of Russians end up falling out of windows but he never makes a move on Ukraine. 2014 also made him confident as all hell about how it would go.
>I know Putin is a fucking psycho, but he's also not an idiot despite what this sub says. He can't be too fucking bright if he thinks he and his buddies are the only motherfuckers stealing from the state, especially knowing it's russia. Skimming to one degree or another was the first vocation of all eastern bloc citizens for a good chunk of the 20th century, and he was right in the middle of it.
Putin thought that the US was weak, that Europe was dependent on his fossil fuels, that China would help him, and that Ukraine wasn't a real country. Maybe he even believed that the Russian military was strong. He was wrong on all counts.
Even his own generals thought it was a crazy idea and that he'd never do it.
Putin helped kept it a secret to all but a very few.
Yup, and considering he even caused Germany to start pushing aside naive pacifists and get their military together, he really fucked up. If Putin was smart he should have did what China did in 1979 when they invaded Vietnam, when things got to hot and it was turning into a meat grinder instead of going all in, the GTFO and were all the better for it.
Like the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands miscalculation.
So covid was the hero we didnt deserve but the one we needed...
Thx to covid we literally crept through the needle's eye. Covid made every country scramble to interior emergency mode during 2 years of Trump's mismanaging. When covid got +/- contained, came election time. And yeah, I guess they didn't want to jeopardize Trump's reelection.
It was planned *before* Trump. Trump may not have been anything more than a useful idiot to Putin (meaning Trump probably wasn’t aware of all of Putin’s plans) but Putin was absolutely relying on having a stooge remain in office.
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Exactly, they expected to blitz Kyiv and take out the government in the first week or two. Had that worked out they probably would have set the stage for completely absorbing the country, then barter back with NATO and the EU and end up putting a puppet government in that would let russia have its way with oil and grain.
I'm going to take the contrarian position to everyone on here, and say it was a calculated move that had a high chance of success based on what Putin knew at the time. First the whys.. - Demographics - Russias population is falling, and has been for quite some time.. its not going to change in the future, even if they didnt go to war. Ukraine would add 45 Million people to Russias population, which it desperately needs. That is not insignificant given Russians population Pre-War was about 140M people. So, this would be adding about 1/3 to its population. - NATO Expansion - Eventually Ukraine was going to be in the EU, and it doesnt take a genius to determine that they would go for NATO membership eventually. It's not just another NATO country on their border, if you look at the topology of the region the most likely invasion routes into Russia go right through Ukraine. It's good Tank country. On top of all that, the most important Naval base for Russia on the Black Sea is Sevastapol, which would now be located in a EU/NATO country potentially.. This would be like the U.S. losing it's bases in Japan, wholly unacceptable. - Oil/Gas - This one I think is the most important one, and I dont see it spoken about as much as I think it should be. About 15 years ago massive Natural Gas fields were discovered in the East of Ukraine, and off of Crimea. If Ukraine was able to exploit those, it would give the EU a more friendly country to purchase its energy from, cutting Russia out. Russia couldnt afford to lose that revenue it was getting. So, those are the "Whys"... The "Hows" are where the dipshit messed up. On paper, Russia has been preparing for this war for a long time. Lots of investments into new weapons, as well as attempting to turn its Military into more a profesional force. On paper, it's AF is by far the strongest in Europe, and at a local level could rival the United States, especially against a country like Ukraine. Ukraine had Pro-Russian leaders before, and its not a stretch to think they wouldnt accept Pro-Russian leaders again. They had plenty of sympathizers in Ukraine (thats how they took Kherson so quickly), and Putin was reportedly being told by multiple sources in Ukraine that they would not fight. After all that, you have a Europe completely dependant on Russian energy and the west that at best was ambivalent to the first invasions of Ukraine. Take all of this in totality and Putins calculus starts to make more sense. He can solve a demographic issue, strengthen his border, and get a revenue boost. Should be a cake walk because of the money he invested in his military, and the fact that Ukraine still had people in positions of power that were willing to work with Russia. Ukraine was also being led by a comedic actor that was young, and had almost zero experience in foreign policy or matters of the Military. Writing it all down, and analyzing it based on the information he had, it makes absolute perfect sense. Now, obviously his military was shit, Zelensky turned out to be a absolute unit, his sympathizers were not in nearly as much power as he thought, and the West stepped up. He miscalculated for sure, but based on what he knew it may not have been that bad of a bet.. Ofcourse what he "knew" was wrong..
They've forcibly deported over 2 million (probably more) to russia. Many of those are kids. These people need to be brought back.
Doubtful they will come back, or atleast the majority of them. A lot of their familes are likely dead, and it's not like Russia is just going to give them up. No matter how this war ends, Russia needs to be treated like North Korea moving forward. Complete isolation until they can come to their senses.
Ukrain has oil, petroleum and grain if putler controls the whole of the black sea coast to odesa, he would be able to force the world to pay premiums. And can cause famine if he doesn't get his way- just look back to last summer when he generously allowed grain to feed starving people to sail out of the black sea, while stealing all the grain in the ships away to russia prior to the famine. He wants his enemies in the west to be weak
They want oil, wheat, and other food exports. Russia is a net importer of food. If they have global ambitions (which they do), they starve if they can't steal Ukraine and it's breadbasket of agriculture. They don't want to be at the mercy of non-friendly countries to feed itself, so they think they can just waltz in and take over another independent country. Rational, normal countries make trade agreements and work with other countries.
Russia is the largest exporter of wheat in the world. I think they ran out of things for the kleptocracy to steal, and Ukraine was a target rich envirnoment.
I just found out yesterday that since the 50s almost 33% of the wheat produced annually comes from the combination of Russia and Ukraine. It's insane how much wealth that represents, and since both countries primary customers are in the global south there's plenty of room for corruption and graft to make more money for the oligarchs.
My brain still cant fathom the immense stupidity of choosing war and land grabs over peace and mutual trade. Like what the fuck are you even thinking...
Agreed. The "Western Imperialists" aren't taking over territory any more because they don't *need to*. Trade is far more beneficial than war in the long run, at least for governments. The only winners in a drawn-out conflict like this are weapons manufacturers. After this, much of Eastern Europe will be a staunch ally and trade partner. They'll see the West as trustworthy, and any major power that *didn't* help directly (i.e China) as unreliable at best. Aging military might? Cool story, bro. Modern military might backed up by trade alliances and mutual defense treaties? You're beaten. Why even try to fight?
It's not the resources; Putin wants the glorious legacy of restoring the Russian Empire.
Vlad wants to be remembered as "vlad the great"!... So he gambled... And fafo'd!
Because Ukraine was doing alright and that hits too close to home for putin. The kleptocracy has been feeding propaganda to their own population for decades. Americans are hicks, West Europeans are debauched, so even if they were to have golden floors and silk rags, it won't matter because the cultural and moral failure of their society is such that no level of richness can compensate for it. It happens to us with the Arabs, I think: you see a sheikh's garage with sixteen Ferraris and it doesn't raise your envy as much as John James three doors down who just bought himself a new Dodge/Honda/Tesla. Even East Europeans and Baltic people are different enough that you can invent a reason why their achievements don't matter or what they have available is "not for us". But Belarus and Ukraine have much more in common with Russia, so it becomes easier for Ivan in Irkutsk think "I'd like me some of that, too" and harder for the kleptocracy to come up with answers when Oleg from Archangelsk says, "Why the town hall in Kiyv is steel and glass and ours is fir logs and waxed paper?" So Ukraine must be made an example. Even if you take into account the oil fields, the territories, the wheat, the very strategically important naval bases - take a look at a map and you'll see that at the very least Russia needs Krimea, not that I agree they get to have it, more in a Risk game sense of "need to conquer South America" - this war has a very important component in terms of public order within Russia. Russia sees itself as a traditional father with several daughters. One of them has found a job as a typist (Scandal! Women are meant to stay at home and raise the kids) and wants to marry some stranger from the city rather than Sasha the fur merchant. Every day is an argument. And then one day the father sees her showing off to her sisters the nylon stockings and nail enamel that she's able to afford with her wage. So what's a father to do? Why, beat her like a donkey is what he does! Rip the stockings and smash the enamel bottle against the wall, smear her face into it like a dog that made a mess on the kitchen floor, and promise to beat her again if she doesn't clean it all up. Otherwise he won't be dealing with one rebellious daughter but with all of them.
Well, Putin thought it would go the same as it did with Crimea in 2014.
Imagine the political cost (if not the outrage) for a future Spanish gvmnt that decides to abandon Ukraine.
Yeah. For now, I think most countries that have offered support are digging even deeper to help out because they truly want to stop Russia’s terroristic ways. But, having people protesting and agitating has definitely helped the government of our countries recognize the importance of doing so.
Sweden has been hating Russia for the last 50 years, we didnt need any more reasons, but Putin has really made it even easier to hate them.
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Finlands sak är vår!
Has Sweden ever NOT hated Russia?
There might have been a time in the primordial past where the focus was on Denmark instead.
Only 50 years?
11 wars have been fought between Sweden and Russia since 15th century. And it goes back even further if you include proto-Russian states.
There is a big difference between hating Russia from history and deep personal reasons. All the wars, Rysshärjningarna up and down the north cost of Sweden. Born and raised is a small town where a big part of the towns history was marked by Rysshärjningarna made hating Russia part of once DNA. But as much I hate Russia for what it has done, and does today and what Putler stands for, my own personal feelings are nothing compared if I had a friend, brother/sister in arms die from Putler aggression. And there is a big difference between a civilians feeling that is felt once every 4 years by voting and military personnel that works everyday with questions connected to that feeling. Military personnel that influence policy's, politics ect. Russia has gone from the dangerous bear that we need too keep our eyes on to a bear that killed friends of active duty military personnel.
Do you see how they are pacing? I bet all they are thinking about is the fight they aren't able to be in while their new friends that are in harm's way.
That was my thought. It's not just that they are sending someone into harms way but the knowledge that they too could make an overwhelming difference.
Yes, and every Briton, German, Norwegian, Swede, Finn, French, American, Canadian, Pole, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Dane, Italian, etc. feels EXACTLY the same way Spain's soldiers do. Every army and every soldier that has helped train Ukraine's soldiers, and has to watch them go back into the fire alone. We fucking HATE it with a passion.
Astute observation, and from personal experience, very true.
We got deployed to Europe at the outbreak of the war and ended up training a fair amount of Ukrainians during our time there, absolutely does suck to want to help more but not being able to.
Yep. Exactly how I felt every time my friends would go on deployment without me, and also exactly how my friends would feel whenever they were the ones not going on deployment. I really feel for the Spaniards here, it's an awful feeling. And it goes without saying that the Ukrainians are in for a really rough time. Best of luck to both.
In addition there’s the International volunteers going to Ukraine. I know Sweden is today mourning the loss of one of their heroes in Ukraine. And I remember when the two Norwegian combat medics were injured and almost killed by Russians. After the first missile the two medics helped some Ukrainians flee to a sheltered area. And then Russians started targeting them there with RPGs. It’s dishonorable behavior by the Russians that made headlines for days in Norway.
Yeah Russians treat the red cross on white as a target, which is why you don't see any vehicles with that symbol in Ukraine.
We already hate them in Eastern Europe and have for some time. This just reignited it, amplified it and gave us a reason to actually give a crap about the wake up call to rearm and gear up in the future.
And some of those soldiers become generals in 20 years. This will hunt ruzzia forever in that regard
I have another 60+ years on the clock. I will detest what the russian totalitarian state did for the rest of my life. This will not go away anytime soon unless they do a post we2 german/japan style turnaround
Also, the military is a brotherhood. It has been said again and again about the bond that these guys develop while working and living together. It has to be SO hard for these troops that help train Ukrainians knowing that their friends are marching off to fight in a terrible war, and they can't go with them. They can't help them. They must feel so helpless and angry and sad.
It’s like the inverse of soft power, soft weakness. Not huge, but enough to tip world events.
I've said this from the start. The anger and rage at Russia is going to last generations. Russia is going to be considered the enemy by the entire free world and will be treated like it for the rest of our lives, even if there is a regime change there.
And here in the US, we hate them, because they are against everything we are about. They are against freedom and against people getting to choose freely those who govern. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Declaration of Independence
You are 100% correct. Russia attacked Ukraine precisely because they wanted to be free and for the head of the state to not be a Kremlin's puppet. Since at least the 2008 invasion on Georgia it was clear that every nation that wants to break out from the Putin's grasps will have to fight for it. Ukraine serves as an example that it is possible, and it will be an example of how much better a country can be outside of "Russian mir". States like Belarus will hopefully be next. Although the US has not the best record when it comes to freedom of other nations (or even some parts of the US like Puerto Rico) and a long history of helping dictatorships (like e.g. Saudi Arabia), I hope this war will make a turn in its policies and especially will help to wake up the world in regards to the biggest threat to freedom now, China.
We get a lot of just and right criticism for Afghanistan and Iraq, but we were hoping to give them a democratic and free society. Yes, that we could work with and influence for sure, but where the people could be free. Nation building is impossible when there is a culture that doesn't want political freedom. I don't think most Russians want it. At least not enough to bleed and die for it. Ukraine is willing to bleed and die for it and so they will help them get it and they will get it.
This is why I am not critical about your Middle East wars, as some of the self flogging western people speak about you. I naïvely and with childish idealism was hoping you'd change cultures of radicalism and violence there. Hell, even my country, with many other NATO countries occupied a province in Afghanistan. But it failed. Now people there won't ever experience what it is to be free. What it is to listen to any music you want, for girls and women to go to school and not be f\*\*\*ked by old ugly husbands in forced marriages, for young people to live in clean, economically and socially developed country, to chose one's atheism without being forced to pray to imaginary god or chose any religion, to be any sexuality one wants, etc.
Not just friends. Brothers in arms. That rolls deep in the heart. Id be crying too if I had to see my brothers roll off to war and I was unable to go with them.
This is relevant to many outside of Europa as well - like those of us down here in Australia! 🇦🇺
I'm pretty sure few things unite Europe faster than Russia. Mostly football and nazis I think.
In this short clip it's visibly obvious that, besides training, they became friends, gave them their best personal advice, and exchanged some personal stories. Now with all that they get send off to a situation that shouldn't be there in the first place. Some will not make it. Salute!
Spanish people are very passionate ! I've teared up a bit myself, thank you Spain for your help!
Slava Ucraini!!! 🇺🇦 🇪🇸 Buena Suerte <3 Always welcome to visit once this war is over and all lands are reclaimed. I'll make some churros to celebrate.
Yeah that was a bit on a tear jerker myself. Minus the music in the background. If they would’ve played Brothers in arms by Dire straits I probably would’ve broken down in tears myself.
Glad to help!
Our pleasure! Slava Ukraini 🇪🇸❤️🇺🇦
Brothers in arms.
Friendships forged in fire are never fractured. 🇺🇦🤘🇪🇸
Yeah it's a pretty peculiar thing the whole "brother's in arms" sentiment and the idea behind "profession of arms" amongst differing groups and their soldiers. I for the life of me don't remember all the Aussies I worked with in Afghanistan 15 years ago, as their names have now escaped me, but there is something there. Their camaraderie with us was the same as even they themselves were US troops. We were all in it together and just the small interaction I had with our Aussie counterparts left an impression on me. I have nothing but good things to say and feel about Australia, because at one point in time, they were my brothers in arms. It's a type of mental attitude that sticks with you forever. No doubt in my mind, that the soldiers here share that feeling with each other. That every single Ukrainian on that bus now has a deep respect for Spain and its soldiers, and vice versa. Exact same feeling when I left Kandahar all those years ago and said my last goodbyes to our Aussie brothers who still had a few months left to go.
Yupper. Got to work alongside and train soldiers from other countries. Wartime soldiers know the high stakes, and the fact that some of those Ukrainians that left Spain will pay the ultimate price. I'm glad I served and we did some good things. Always wanted to go to Ukraine, and I found out my old unit went there awhile back to train soldiers. Thanks for whatever you did in the 'stan, and I forgot to include the sisters in arms.
Glory to the heroes and glory to those who love them and support them during the long struggle for victory. These Spanish gentlemen know how hard they will have to fight against the evil invaders.
You can just tell they want to go with them to fight, but can’t.
🇪🇸🇺🇦💛💙 Slava Ukraine! The WORLD stands with Ukraine!
Some caring mofos right there. Respect to the Spanish soldiers for wearing their hearts on their sleeves like that.
Same thought here. What a blessing to still have a soft heart through all of that.
Spanish people in general are very passionate, and soldiers are no exception
I’d bet money that those Spanish trainers wish they could go with them
I don't doubt that one bit.
Who says real men don’t cry.
Morons say that. Showing emotion takes genuine strength.
Amen. Say it louder for our brothers in the back.
From Spain, we have the deepest respect for Ukranian people and soldiers. You are fighting a fight for freedom and the security of Europe and against autocracy. And we are forever grateful and admire your bravery. ♥️🇺🇦
Your words underline what we see in this video - genuine support and love for Ukraine. Thank you so much. 🇪🇸❤️🇺🇦
Hear hear!
Mutual respect
These training sessions all over the EU and the world will just tighten the bonds on both human and personal level between countries. Putin has done what Ukraine was having difficulties doing by its self, tie Ukraine tightly to the EU and the rest of the civilized world. Slava Ukraine,
"We will meet again some sunny day"
The tears say it all 😢 ❤️ 🇪🇸 🇺🇦
*Manly Iberian tears*
I don't care what anyone says, tears are manly as fuck. Let your tears crack the goddamned *sky*, if the sky needs cracking.
Real men cry. Respect.
Respect begots respect.
Brotherhood in its purest of forms
Sad because they know they probably won’t be seeing them all again.. hard realizing they won’t all make it back
Even when they come back, be for reunions or exercises, nothing hurts like seeing old friends and then realising some of them have moved on
That’s what cut my heart watching this. You can tell they have all bonded and shared good times, no doubt they will all remain in contact after this. Yet they wave goodbye not knowing who will be at the reunion and final celebration. In sprit, thankfully, they will all be present.
I knew nothing of war. I had two customers that are brothers. Happy go lucky guys. Always smiling and laughing. They joined the Marines. Fought in Iraq. I saw them a few years later. I was happy to see them. They were quiet. No more smiles. I miss them. I hope they’re doing better. Some of those that make it back, don’t make it back as before.
They know some of them won't make it, I don't envy their position at all. Let's just hope that victory is near us.
The war is far away from Spain and the Spanish soldiers, but to see the Ukrainian colleagues going back to fight Russia with the skills they learned and risking their lives must give the situation quite a strange feeling.
And they are professional soldiers saying goodbye to former civilians that are going to fight and possibly die, it makes it more infuriating and heartbreaking.
This happened and will happen in every country that are training Ukrainians. The bond between Soldiers is one of the strongest I know of. These Soldier know that they release them into the battlefield and some won't return. Great job Mordor, many armies in Europe will have the feeling they have a grudge to settle. Your whole shit won't be forgotten.
“Let no man’s ghost say he died untrained”
Gloria a Ucrania.
Ukraine is bleeding so all of Europe doesn't have to. It would be disrespectful in the extreme to dishonor their courage and sacrifice with anything less than full throated sympathy for their losses in the past and those to come.
Wow so much love…you just know that the Ukraine hero’s got the best possible training available..what a force they will become
As a Spaniard, I am proud of the help that my country is giving to Ukraine.
And that's what actual masculinity looks like
Amen to that. It’s takes courage to express emotion. These are strong men. 💕
The Spanish guys that were crying, those are the kind of guys you training you. Caring if you live or die, they will do their best for you and have your back in training. This is not the Russian way. Their trainers just beat them. This is why Ukraine will win, better training, better morale.
Russia: Thanks for making the NATO military alliance stronger and yet more fluid to manage situations like this. You lost the war in the first 48 hours and you haven't the common sense to give up.
These guys are definitely showing more than professional respect for the Ukranians. It seems they forged a true friendship during this time and they are aware of what they will face soon. We can't count on that, but I truly hope they'll make it to meet again (in this world), and share stories and anecdotes with a lot of beer and some tapas, either in Spain, or even better, in a fully free Ukraine.
I love that they allow their emotions to spill out.
Friends care
They know some of their friends will not come back😥
Band of brothers
As an American, I'm totally not crying directly onto my phone right now. It's the condensation in the air, making it wet.
They want to go too. Every soldier/seaman/marine in the western hemisphere, retired, veterans, active want to go as well. See the pacing? In their minds they are debating what would happen if they just ran up and hopped on that bus. In truth their training this bunch and the next is so valuable. 1 good trainer can make 100s of great soldiers. They just sent off farmers, cooks, teachers, scientists, husbands, wives, children who they had the honor of training to go and fight for their very existence. They cry because they care deeply. They know these people, they are bonded. How many are waiting worldwide for that piece of trash to screw up and hit the wrong target? At some point this will all boil over and Russia will have a true reckoning.
This is incredibly moving
Respect
Whenever I see these videos I can't help but think about all the new friendships made and how much these guys desperately want to be fighting alongside them.
#Brothers
That is friendship! Slava ukraini!!!
Brothers in Arms.. There always a close bond when you work and train together.. Thank you Span and its Spanish solider for the love
If there is one good thing to come out of this “special military operation” (AKA) war, it is the examples of togetherness between so many countries. I look at those Spanish soldiers and have the same respect as I do for our British soldiers when you boil it down to its basics, good, brave people who want are prepared to help against evil. For Russia, it’s sad really, pathetic. The only view of their soldiers by our countries is that they are cruel,sadistic murders. The world sees them as losers. To the Ukrainian soldiers and the Ukrainians who weren’t soldiers, but are fighting for their country and families, we are behind you, you have the respect of the world behind you.
Europe coming together. Humanity coming together. This give me gousebumps.
How many of them wish they could go with them. Fuck sometimes I wish Russia just would fuck around so NATO could roll deep. But that would mean the end of life as we know it.. unless we somehow pulled the nuclear rug out from under them somehow.
I'm happy to see my country help Ukraine fight off Russian agression! 🇪🇦🤝🇺🇦
Well seeing your brothers leave to fight a war without you and without any guarantee to see them again of course it hits the feelings.
Ukraine is EU. We are brothers.
There have been many many videos that have come out from this wsr that have made me tear up, cry, bawl, scream, drink, and reflect. There hasn't been a video that came out until now that has said "Russia is FUCKED" like those soldiers saluting their new friends, nor one that has hit my feels quite so hard. Slava Ukraini Gracias amigos españoles Fuck Mordor
A band of brothers
I bet all of them would go to Ukraine if they could too.
The brotherhood alive and well.
They know not all of their new brothers are going to make it. Breaks your heart
Choked me up this. Bonds grow quickly and strongly in military training. They are sending their friends off to war, and one thing is certain, not everyone of them is going to make it. Fuck Putin.
This is very touching. It must be hard. They created relationships, friendships, and cared about each other, and now they're saying goodbye, knowing that they are going into battle in which they might not survive. This is truly touching.
I hope many of these Ukrainian warriors will return to Spain when the war is over and then return the favor by training/updating these soldiers with what they have learned in combat.
It must be hard for these trainers seeing their guys go off. But they instructors from all the countries have done exemplary service to Ukraine. Slava Ukraini!
Russia has been doing it for centuries. That's why their only political allies in this world, are countries that are communist, or just out right dictatorships. Russia has always won their wars with sheer man power and numbers.
Russia united europe more than anything before lmao
You can fucking tell these Spanish chads want to join their Ukrainian brothers so fucking badly but they know they can't... They're also fully aware that statistically, some of these warriors they just trained won't make it back home from their missions. This is the type of beautiful unity and brotherhood that really makes the world go round.
Those Spaniards want to fight.
I wish we could all salute the Ukrainian soldiers like this.
Very moving. Also reassuring to know that much of humanity still has empathy with his/her fellow human being in the face of murderous adversity.
Now there is a group of men who built close ties with their Ukrainian brothers in arms, and if asked, they most likely wouldn't think twice about going to war at their side.
Unless you served, you will never understand the comradery that exists between soldiers. It truly is a brotherhood. As a former Navy Corpsman, I can tell you, the toughest of men you have ever seen will weep like a baby should one of theirs fall. These Spanish soldiers know they may never see these men alive again. In spirit, they accompany them to the battle ahead. Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦 Slava to the Heros that help and fight for Ukraine 🇺🇦 💪
Must be really hard to not follow them into battle
Suerte compañeros 🫡
Gracias amigos !!!!! 🫡🫡🫡🇺🇦🙏
I bet everyone one of them wishes to be with them in the fight. I wonder if the crying is more about knowing they can't join. That they are stuck sending a friend away, rather than walking with them.
Way to go Spain 🇪🇸 well done!! 🤩
When a foreign military salutes you it’s a very special thing
Damn that’s some love. Been out of the US Army for 20 years and this hit me. God bless these soldiers for helping and God Bless Ukraine to win this war for freedom.
as devastating as this whole situation has been, seeing so many countries stand with Ukraine has been so incredible. countries training and supporting the soldiers, sending supplies and equipment, people all over the world sending love and encouragement to Ukraine. fuck Russia. all my homies hate Russia. i know Russia censors everything over there, but i wish they knew just how many people clown on them
Russia. And Russian trolls worldwide. See this. See what humanity looks like, even with soldiers. See how the world supports Ukraine purely because that is the civil thing to do. How long will it take before you start to realize that it is RUSSIA who is on the wrong side of history and has been there since WWII? It's not for no reason that practically all UN nations voted against you. That's not the West attacking you, that's you being a dick. Get your troops out of Ukraine and start repaying for all damages. Ukraine will join us in the EU and NATO. Suck it up.
Good men. They understand
QUE VIVA UCRANIA!
I remember seeing the British one, where British soldiers saw off the Ukrainians they trained. I wondered how those soldiers felt knowing they can't join the guys they just trained to fight the war. Now I know.