Today marks the second anniversary of Russia's "special military operation" against Ukraine, two years ago, when hundreds of thousands of Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine in three directions, and the curtain of war has been lifted since then.
On such a special day, another big event took place on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, when Ukraine shot down another Russian A-50 early warning and control (AEW&c) aircraft.
This is already the second A50 plane shot down by Ukraine in the past few weeks.
This kind of aircraft can be said to be very advanced in the Russian army, but also very rare, and expensive, according to the data published by the ** people themselves, the cost of one aircraft is about 500 million US dollars.
Even more strange is the process by which this AWACS aircraft was shot down.
The A50 was shot down in Russia's Kra**dar Krai, more than 170 kilometers away from the front line, which can be said to be very shocking, because the currently known Patriot missile range is only 160 kilometers.
Therefore, the outside world still does not know what missile Ukraine used or what tactics shot down the plane.
To shoot down such an aircraft, in addition to the use of surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles, it is also possible to use air-to-air missiles launched from fighters.
Allegedly: A50's ** showed: Last night, a plane was spotted dropping decoy bombs, after which it was hit by a missile, and the wreckage fell to the ground....
Ukraine** Zelensky also confirmed the news of the downing of the **AWACS aircraft at the subsequent press conference, when a reporter asked: Is it that the Western F16 has already participated in the battle, Zelensky first smiled and said meaningfully, I don't know.
On the second anniversary of the start of the war, it was not a single plane that was lost.
Immediately after the A50 was shot down, another Russian Su-34 fighter was shot down during the launch of an X-59 missile in the Kherson region.
And that's not all, Ukraine has just shot down a Russian Il-22M again, an air command post and radio relay aircraft worth about $35 million.
Russia had 12 Il-22Ms at the beginning of the war, but now there are many less.
Interestingly, according to *** reports, the Ukrainian air defense system was completely destroyed two years ago.
But the Ukrainians were still able to shoot down eight Russian fighter jets in a week, including two very important A-50s.
Because this AWACS aircraft can be said to be the forward command of the Air Force's operations, if Ukraine destroys 2 or 3 more, it will be impossible or almost impossible for Russia to bomb Ukrainian territory from the air and sea.
The second anniversary of the start of the war was a disastrous day for the Russian Air Force.
With Russia recently taking Avdiivka, a small city in eastern Ukraine, after six months of hard fighting, and the fact that the latest $60 billion U.S. aid bill for Ukraine has been shelved in Congress, supporters of Ukraine are a little pessimistic about the development of the war situation.
However, the current situation has mobilized the enthusiasm of Europeans.
For special historical reasons, Europeans have always had some opinions about the United States dominating Europe's defense.
In Eastern Europe, several countries that are relatively close to the United States are fine, especially the leaders of France and Germany, who always feel a little unhappy with listening to the United States for everything.
Therefore, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, French Macron has repeatedly wanted to express different views from the United States.
After the war began, when the United States and Britain fully supported Ukraine's war against Russia, Macron repeatedly tried to stop Putin's military action by playing **.
And Germany was also very slack in the initial military aid to Ukraine, and the first batch of military aid was actually 5,000 steel helmets.
However, since October last year, after the United States' aid to Ukraine ran aground, the Europeans finally felt nervous, because they realized a serious problem, in case the Americans really don't care about us, in case the ** people really take Ukraine, take advantage of the victory to chase and beat us again, what should we do?
Of course, the United States' assistance to Ukraine has not completely stopped, during this time, in addition to continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine in accordance with the original bill that has been passed, the United States has also coordinated Japan and other countries to indirectly deliver ** to Ukraine.
Even so, during the period when U.S. aid to Ukraine has slowed, Europeans have begun to increase their military aid to Ukraine.
First of all, France's ** Macron made it clear that he must help Ukraine completely defeat ** people, and if you want to achieve this goal, you can only continue to send ** to Ukraine.
France has even signed a security guarantee agreement with Ukraine. After signing the document, Macron said: "We are determined to fight side by side with Ukraine so that Russia loses this war." ”
As part of the agreement, Macron announced 3 billion euros for Ukraine's military needs in 2024. This is also the largest amount of money that France has given to Ukraine since the start of the war.
As for the fact that he had made ** porridge with Putin before, Macron didn't mention it at all.
At the same time, the German parliament also voted in favor of the supply of long-range ** systems and ammunition to Ukraine.
Britain has been the most resolute country in aiding Ukraine besides the United States.
In addition to the Storm Shadow missiles previously supplied to Ukraine to blow up the Black Sea Fleet Command, the UK recently announced that it will supply Ukraine with 200 high-precision Brimstone-2 missiles.
It is a millimeter-wave and laser-guided missile that destroys enemy tanks or targets at great distances.
The United Kingdom announced 3$1.1 billion aid package to replenish Ukraine's artillery**.
In addition to the large countries of Great Britain, Germany and France, several small countries in Europe are also active. Denmark announced yesterday that it would supply Ukraine worth 2$4.7 billion in new aid package.
This includes 15000 shells purchased with the help of the Czech Republic. In addition, anti-aircraft ammunition, demining equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, radar and communications equipment are included.
Canada's defense minister, Bill Blair, said on Monday that Canada is in talks with the Czech side and is ready to pay for the 800,000 artillery shells that the Czech Republic has found for Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Stalltenberg also announced yesterday a **sexual news: NATO will allow Ukraine to use the F16 fighters that it receives to enter ** territory to fight.
Why do you say that this is **sexual news? Because this means that Europe has completely turned its face, NATO is equivalent to officially announcing that it has tied itself and Ukraine to the same chariot, and if it retaliates for Ukraine's use of F16 today, then Europe will share the consequences with Ukraine.
The UK has gone further, in response to Putin and Medvedev's constant statements that they may use nuclear **, the UK has already made it clear: based on the mutual defense treaty with Ukraine, if ** uses nuclear ** in Ukraine, the UK will not hesitate to retaliate.
Finally, let's talk about whether the US military aid to Ukraine can be passed.
In 1941, in the early days of World War II, when the United States was still neutral until Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt succeeded in convincing Congress to allocate 10% of U.S. GDP to Britain, the Soviet Union, and China.
The current GDP of the United States is about 27 trillion US dollars, and 10% is 2$7 trillion, and that figure is 25 times more than the aid now Biden is asking for to Ukraine and Israel combined.
Therefore, the bill for US aid to Ukraine is a small amount of money and will definitely pass, and there will definitely be some kind of bipartisan compromise in Congress at some point, and now it is only a matter of time.
And the fact that the Ukrainian army can achieve such amazing results in the two years of the war will also make the United States and the West more firmly support their confidence.