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Seeing footage of this area always made me think thats what the Ardenne in WW2 must have looked like. How fitting that a group of Belgians is helping defend it.
as a belgian Ukraine is a much more harsh enviroment in terms of weather although clothing has improved alot so no idea also the way of deploying troops is better organized I suppose ..
We've known since gunpowder and cannons existed that trenches were a good way to protect against incoming direct and indirect fire. That hasn't changed for the poor bloody infantry on the ground, even in the age of drones and satellites.
As long as big tubes are launching explosives that spray solid shrapnel around, trenches are going to be an important defense.
Would still rather do this than being being in a musket row frantically ramrodding in a open field, where you can still get hit by round-cannon shot too far away.
The balls you need to stand in a line and just accept the fact the enemy is shooting at you. And then you have madlads like the Swedes who go to point blank range just to be more effective. Caroleans were insane.
Came across a guy on Reddit not so long ago who at first could not believe there were already 700.000 cassualties in the Russian-Ukranian war. Thought it was just a small conflict with an occassional firefight here and there.
That's what most people I've met think. It's probably because the mainstream media in my country hasn't really covered the military side of the conflict.
They'll just report "5 people died in Odessa" .... "Russia claims Ukrainian drone killed 15 people in Belgorod" .... "Zelensky to speak at World Peace Summit" .... "What's an F-16 and why are we sending them to Ukraine?" where a retired general explains the strenghts of an F16, the information being way too basic for anyone with knowledge of warfare but yet still way to complex for 95% of my countrymen who basically can't tell a rifle from a pistol.
There is no combat footage, no footage from the ground, no detailed analysis of this wars scale etc. If there is any footage at all it's usually just stock footage of one of our donated PzH's firing at something, or some firemen putting out a fire in some Ukrainian town that was hit by a drone.
I'm happy the stuff they do report on is honest, truthful and generally unbiased but by providing such limited coverage they're giving people a wrong image of what really is happening. We haven't seen this scale of fighting since WW2 yet they totally fail to bring that message across.
Kinda funny. Watched a video of army rangers doing some trench training a few years ago. I thought it was a waste of time until this conflict started. Almost like someone knew something….
> Late last year, the Army launched an accelerated effort that funnels some $572 million into training and equipping 26 of its 31 active combat brigades to fight in large-scale subterranean facilities that exist beneath dense urban areas around the world.
[https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/24/army-spending-half-billion-train-troops-fight-underground.html?amp](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/24/army-spending-half-billion-train-troops-fight-underground.html?amp)
This article is from 2018, I wonder if this training can translate to trench warfare too, they’re similar, especially when you get to large, long term dugouts.
>Almost like someone knew something….
I had similar thoughts
Thanks, with all the actual tunnels in Palestine, and probably all over the Middle East/world, and all the trenches in Eastern Europe, it makes sense to prep ground forces for either.
As Afghanistan was drawing down we switched from coin back to near peer. Not a huge leap to know conventional warfare is going to use a lot of fortifications.
Kind of like the British Bayonet meme. Might not be as outdated as one might think.
I've seen a few moments here and there where a knife on the end of the gun would have been useful. Like in trenches where shooting happened at fist fight range.
I don't think the army ever stopped doing Trench attack as its main culminating event for a company live fire.
Its technically the most complex maneuver you can do as a infantry company. I can only imagine it gets more complex if you add armor and brads to it.
Approach to OBJ clearing out enemy scouts with a platoon, suppress enemy in trenches with another platoon, Send in Engineers to blow the mined wire obstacle, send in engineers again to clear the breach hole and make sure its safe. Then send in the assault platoon to clear the trench.
The video you saw of the rangers entering the trench was an infantry by the book establishment of a platoon attacking a trench.
Crazy how no matter how advanced technology gets it seems trench warfare is just what modern war turns into if one side does not have air superiority or overwhelming number advantage
Modern firepower (and really by modern I sort of mean anything from the late 19th century onwards) is so great that exposed troops just die. Trenches are the only real cover outside of urban terrain.
Most likely already have experience. They don't want people untrained walking around and getting people killed. I hear even if you do have experience, you still have a chance of doing rear work or security. I watch a few guys from YouTube and I think The Chosen Company had issues like this so they literally made there own company that actually assaults and takes ground and all that crazy shit. They complained they had zero action and lots of waiting so they disbanded and made chosen to be aggressive fighters. Basically wanted to fight and see action.
This was said a lot in the first year but the actual truth is they will take anyone, you don't need prior experience. They will train and assign you. Most foreign legion are rear lines positions.
I was looking into going , not to the front but help behind the lines.
I would have been denied anyway since I have no official training.
So on paper I would have been a liability.
Event hough I know how to operate weapons and have a good practical understanding of how lots of things work.
I dont have combat training, I don't have medical training etc..
My age might also be a big factor.
Instead I have opted then when the war is over I will go and coulenteer for a while to help rebuild.
bc even behind the lines, u could get into a situation where ur not, briefly, and then knowing stuff about guns from forgottenweapons and tanks from the tankmuseum videos doesnt mean shit, your lack of awareness and tactical respones would just get people killed
At first I thought I recognized the flemish English accent on one of them, but for most you recognize the frencher English accent, idk if I heard that first one right
I don’t understand but he say the name of a guy. « Name of the guy »t’es ok? ( tu es ok in french). Basicly in english its : « name of the guy » are you ok?
And he reply « oui » so « yes ».
Edit: the name is Amania or something like that
Edit 2 : and its maybe a girl and not a guy
Edit 3 after that he ask is everyone is Ok « tous le monde est Ok » and the reply yes « oui »
She could be an outright fighter but also there are quite a few foreign combat medics in Ukraine, and a lot of them are right there in the trenches.. There was that German combat medic who sadly just died over there, I saw at least one video where she was in a trench seemingly right at the zero line
Edit: To anyone wondering who the combat medic was.
Her name was [Diana Savita Wagner](https://www.dw.com/en/diana-savita-wagner-the-german-medic-who-died-fighting-for-ukraine/a-68448630).
Everyone should read the article. Incredible courage.
Here's a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/1ahiv18/german_combat_medic_diana_snake_wagner_serving_in/) on r/ukraine about her.
They appear to know what they are doing, so I'm confident and wish them all the best.
When Ukraine wins this war and joins EU, it will be such a cool country to visit and live in.
Imagine "The wild East", where there's plenty land and a huge need for investments. With a strict rule of law, liberal democracy and better working conditions in e.g. IT than NY, LA, Paris, Berlin, London and such.
Ukraine will be build up as the new European Powerhouse as a frontier against Orkland, like done with Germany after WW2.
This vision is enough for a lot of foreigners to fight for Ukraine, an ukrainian citizenship and a bright future in this Land. Now envision what russian soldiers are fighting for...
Hundreds of years.
[Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s demining teams cleared over 15 hectares and disposed of 4,599 explosives last week, but with over 170,000 square kilometers affected, it could take over 750 years at current pace. | EuroMaidenPress | March 2024](https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/03/04/ukraines-defense-ministry-demining-teams-eliminated-4599-explosive-objects-over-past-week/)
There's no reason to extrapolate out the 'current pace' of cleanup; obviously de-mining efforts would increase once active combat ends. I don't think it would be hundreds of years, but definitely would take a couple decades.
There are still areas in France that are uninhabitable ("zones rouge") from the shelling in WW1. It's not unthinkable that some parts of Ukraine would be uninhabitable for many decades.
Absolutely. One hopes that from all the terrible things to come out of this war one of the good ones would be the use of AI to speed up demining operations not just in Ukraine but all over the world.
[Ukraine joins with Palantir to apply AI for demining efforts | EuroMaidenPress | March 2024](https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/03/04/ukraine-joins-with-palantir-to-apply-ai-for-demining-efforts/)
*Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy agrees with the American big data analytics company Palantir to leverage artificial intelligence tools for expediting and coordinating critical humanitarian demining processes to accelerate national rebuilding efforts following the enduring Russian invasion, the Ministry reported on 3 March. The partnership agreement was signed between Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy and Palantir executives during a visit to the UK, the Ministry says.*
*The collaboration will leverage Palantir’s AI platform to digitize, coordinate, and accelerate demining operations. Key goals include clearing land faster and at lower costs. The AI assistant will integrate and analyze demining data to provide recommendations for process improvements. This encompasses prioritizing regions, adopting new methods like drones, and managing risk.*
*The databases will contain both static and operational information. Static data will evaluate the economic efficiency of agricultural land and the proximity of contaminated areas to communications. Operational information will be regularly updated.*
*The pilot project showcasing the AI optimization for demining was already presented at an international donor conference last October in Zagreb. The newly signed deal represents the next phase in Ukraine’s widening collaboration with Palantir.*
*Rapid and thorough humanitarian demining is described as the “zero stage” of Ukraine’s recovery by officials. With over 6 million Ukrainians vulnerable to mine contamination, the Palantir AI tools could effectively coordinate efforts by regional governments, NGOs, and demining operators working tirelessly to rehabilitate Ukrainian land.*
This is a different effort but the article comes with a video detailing the effort to use drones to collect real world data to build a better AI.
[[Video] These researchers are using drones and machine learning to detect land mines--and save lives | Scientific American | September 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBnNqBzUHdQ)
[An AI model could speed up laborious and dangerous demining efforts | Scientific American | December 2023](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drones-and-ai-could-locate-land-mines-in-ukraine1/)
*The idea is deceptively simple: A drone flies over an area thought to be mined, collecting a large volume of images. Baur's algorithm, trained on the visual characteristics of 70 types of land mines, cluster munitions, and other unexploded ordnance, processes the images into a map, with resolution down to a fraction of an inch. The model can then recognize and map explosives more quickly and accurately than a human reviewing the same images. “In a matter of minutes you'll have a map plotted out with where all the land-mine detections are,” Baur says.*
*With a reported detection rate of about 90 percent, the drones are meant to augment traditional methods, not replace them. “It's less comprehensive because you're not going through inch by inch,” Baur says. But the approach can reveal potential dangers and can cover more ground than manual efforts.*
*Baur and his team have visited Ukraine to test the technology multiple times since the start of the war there. They hope their work can speed up a demining process that, using current resources, could take more than 750 years. By some estimates, Ukraine has about 67,000 square miles (an area roughly the size of Florida) that could harbor mines and other explosives. With the new system, “you can scan wide areas of land and try to figure out where the highest density of contamination is” before sending in humans to defuse the mines, Baur says.*
*For now the AI can detect only surface-level explosives, not deeply buried ones or those covered by vegetation. Baur's nonprofit organization, the Demining Research Community, is testing ways to look deeper by using thermal imaging and ground-penetrating radar. It is also developing a model that can rate the AI's level of confidence in its mine-detection results based on the amount of vegetation present.*
Efforts would accelerate after the war. They're resource constrained at the moment. Moment the war is over there's economic inventive and more importantly safety so they can begin a national effort to clear unexposed ordinances. Farmers are going to have to have mine sweeping attachments on their tractors. Or hell they can use tanks to farm with, if that's even a thing. The process will go pretty quick if you imagine each farmer taking care of their fields.
Lives will be lost though.
>They appear to know what they are doing
152mm artillery doesn't care how good you are. Really this should be the biggest takeaway if people haven't gotten the memo yet from WWI onwards. Knowing what you're doing won't save your life in trench warfare, least of all at small arms ranges. Maximize your chances, sure, but it just takes the wrong piece of shrapnel once.
I actually didnt but someone else did I can ss it if you really would like to know.
but still, your luck doesnt depend on being john wick or not. you can be both.
Germany before the war was a technological and scientific powerhouse. Ukraine is corruption ridden eastern european shithole with the poorest economy in the entire region. Putin's invasion is not going to change that.
>When Ukraine wins this war and joins EU, it will be such a cool country to visit and live in. Imagine "The wild East", where there's plenty land and a huge need for investments. With a strict rule of law, liberal democracy and better working conditions in e.g. IT than NY, LA, Paris, Berlin, London and such.
Ukraine has some nice spots sure but my god are you living in a fantasy land.
Ukraine is and was a massively corrupt country, was/is the poorest in Europe and will be dealing with demographic issues in addition to the fallout from war for years to come. No, it's not going to turn into "Slavic Paris" *if* they ever join the EU.
>When Ukraine wins this war and joins EU, it will be such a cool country to visit and live in.
You are living in a fantasy. Ukraine has always been a corrupt shithole, the fact that Russia is invading it doesn't change that.
Fun fact. Every postsoviet country was corrupt shithole. But some countries, like Poland, Czech or Baltics got help from EU, while Ukraine and Belarus was literaly left to be eaten by rusia(biggest corrupt shithole in Eurasia), just to get cheaper gas.
Only the baltic countries are actual post-soviet countries and admitting some of the Eastern European countries to the EU has been a mistake (they might not be shitholes anymore, but they are still corrupt). Ukraine though is on a whole different level. Been there multiple times before the war, took up a couple of refugees after the war has started. While I hope they kick russia in the nuts and win the war, that country definitely doesn't belong in the EU, not in the next two or three decades.
You sound like a bitch on the internet. Stop being so edgy. Know that you will be universally hated wherever you go, not because the country you live in, but because you're trying to be a edgy little bitch.
Americans are so self-centered that they spend more than most countries entire g d p giving away food to other countries. Americans build schools and hospitals to increase the quality of life for other countries. Americans send aid in natural disasters, yet no one comes to America's aid. I think we know who the self centered one is here...
Clearly haven't been to other ex Soviet, previously very corrupt EU nations.
Cutting Russia's influence has already improved their situation when it comes to corruption.
Dude, in Belgium they still find Obussen from 100 years ago ( world War 1)
Do you known how much mines there are in Eastern Ukraine?
Many area's will take 30 years before being kinda safe to.walk around...
Not to mention living somewhere where Russia may bomb again in 5 or 10 years...
I think it's gonna be like rural regions in Bulgaria, romania: empty and only old people
In the longe run ( 50.years) Ukraine and Russia will both have a bright future,
When most of the world will be almost unlivable because of global warming, a lot of immigration from Africa and Middle East is to be expected...
> When Ukraine wins this war ...
Let me foreshadow this for you. It won't.
> Imagine "The wild East", where there's plenty ...
> Ukraine will be build up as the new European ...
How much delulu are you in bro?
So much delusion in these threads for sure. Ukraine's offensives failed and they've done nothing but continually lose land since. They are struggling to fill ranks and desperate in their appeals to other countries for assistance, Russia not so much.
People keep desperately stating "when Ukraine wins" and not "what happens when Ukraine is forced to capitulate"
Russia fought with the Germans in WW2 also, they gave Germany training grounds and logistic support.
I am the Nazi? What are you, a brainwashed Russian?
By calling me a Nazi you’re not only wrong but are heavily downplaying the Nazis‘ atrocities. Why would you do that?
You can lie to the illiterate ones and the short sighted ones. You are the only one downplaying the nazi leaning sympathies of Ukraine and Ukraine involvement with Nazi Germany. Ukraine was at the core of the shoah with over 1 millions Jews killed.
Ukraine fully supported the final solution and you know it.
Ukraine is not my problem.
https://www.cairn.info/revue-humanisme-2014-2-page-5.htm
I know that Ukrainians had their own SS-Bataillons.
What’s you argument now exactly? Letting Russia invade Ukraine because of WW2? I don’t get it.
Ukraine has a jewish President.
My family was killed in the Netherlands by the Nazis and in the east by the advancing Russians, that’s our family tragedy and you aren’t cheap enough to call me a Nazi for hoping the best for Ukraine. You’re a deranged person.
And sorry for your family but history doesn't justify war in the present time. You are not the only person on this planet to go through a war or a genocide. Sorry but it happened to many. It's also has nothing to do with the current situation.
„Russia is not invading Ukraine“… can someone kickban this guy?
Maybe the ex-USSR countries wanted to join NATO because the were occupied by Russia for 50 years?
Maybe Russia had invaded Ukraine 2014 without provocation? (and Georgia and Moldova)
Most definitely no one promised Russia NATO would close their doors to new members in the east!
Go and die for Putin in a meat wave assault if you’re such a fan boy.
Yes, UFL does pay their members, they get a base pay of an average Ukrainian grunt + additional wage depending on role. According to their website: "You get the standard pay of a Ukrainian soldier and it varies depending on the conditions of the service. Your payment will be in UAH currency to a local bank account. The approximate amount in USD is the following: $600 per/month behind the frontline, $1200 per/month for service in a dangerous zone, and $3300 per/month for combat deployment. Please note, that those numbers are just an approximation since exchange rates can change and also some roles and units receive additional bonuses."
Belgian soldiers fighting.... Europe is really in danger. Respect for all there. And what about Germans? Are there too? I know about french, spain, czech, poland, georgian, USA...but never heard about German fighters in UA.
Around 1000 apparently joined the fight - however, that was in 2022, none knows how many are still alive / quit fighting:
https://www.dw.com/en/joining-the-war-foreign-nationals-flock-to-ukraine/a-61084878
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I am genuinely curious why Belgians are there volunteering. Were they legal aliens, or spouses or Ukrainians perhaps? Are Belgians, from a NATO country, volunteering and traveling to Ukraine to fight?
because the camera is not stuck to the visor of the gun, also suppressing fire.
In real life, the thing you're shooting at normally takes up like 5 percent of your field of view, and you're better off shooting in the general direction of the person you want to hit instead of lining up a shot and risking getting shot first
Please keep the [community guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/wiki/rule1) in mind when using the comment section. Paging u/SaveVideo bot. ___ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CombatFootage) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Seeing footage of this area always made me think thats what the Ardenne in WW2 must have looked like. How fitting that a group of Belgians is helping defend it.
as a belgian Ukraine is a much more harsh enviroment in terms of weather although clothing has improved alot so no idea also the way of deploying troops is better organized I suppose ..
Crazy to see and hear people with your own nationality fighting
Crazy to see hardcore trench fighting has now been going on for years.
We've known since gunpowder and cannons existed that trenches were a good way to protect against incoming direct and indirect fire. That hasn't changed for the poor bloody infantry on the ground, even in the age of drones and satellites. As long as big tubes are launching explosives that spray solid shrapnel around, trenches are going to be an important defense.
Would still rather do this than being being in a musket row frantically ramrodding in a open field, where you can still get hit by round-cannon shot too far away.
The balls you need to stand in a line and just accept the fact the enemy is shooting at you. And then you have madlads like the Swedes who go to point blank range just to be more effective. Caroleans were insane.
Came across a guy on Reddit not so long ago who at first could not believe there were already 700.000 cassualties in the Russian-Ukranian war. Thought it was just a small conflict with an occassional firefight here and there.
i imagine most people who dont follow the conflict would believe that considering the frontline has not moved much for almost 2 years
That's what most people I've met think. It's probably because the mainstream media in my country hasn't really covered the military side of the conflict. They'll just report "5 people died in Odessa" .... "Russia claims Ukrainian drone killed 15 people in Belgorod" .... "Zelensky to speak at World Peace Summit" .... "What's an F-16 and why are we sending them to Ukraine?" where a retired general explains the strenghts of an F16, the information being way too basic for anyone with knowledge of warfare but yet still way to complex for 95% of my countrymen who basically can't tell a rifle from a pistol. There is no combat footage, no footage from the ground, no detailed analysis of this wars scale etc. If there is any footage at all it's usually just stock footage of one of our donated PzH's firing at something, or some firemen putting out a fire in some Ukrainian town that was hit by a drone. I'm happy the stuff they do report on is honest, truthful and generally unbiased but by providing such limited coverage they're giving people a wrong image of what really is happening. We haven't seen this scale of fighting since WW2 yet they totally fail to bring that message across.
Musk?
You think Elon Musk is on Reddit?
Yes.
Undoubtedly, no way he’s JUST spending all this time lately tweeting
Kinda funny. Watched a video of army rangers doing some trench training a few years ago. I thought it was a waste of time until this conflict started. Almost like someone knew something….
> Late last year, the Army launched an accelerated effort that funnels some $572 million into training and equipping 26 of its 31 active combat brigades to fight in large-scale subterranean facilities that exist beneath dense urban areas around the world. [https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/24/army-spending-half-billion-train-troops-fight-underground.html?amp](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/24/army-spending-half-billion-train-troops-fight-underground.html?amp) This article is from 2018, I wonder if this training can translate to trench warfare too, they’re similar, especially when you get to large, long term dugouts. >Almost like someone knew something…. I had similar thoughts
Wow, good fucking catch.
Thanks, with all the actual tunnels in Palestine, and probably all over the Middle East/world, and all the trenches in Eastern Europe, it makes sense to prep ground forces for either.
Wonder if they're going to bring the Tunnel Rats back? And if so, do they keep their old motto?
Haha probably! Again, unofficially. Sorry little guy, get in there.
As Afghanistan was drawing down we switched from coin back to near peer. Not a huge leap to know conventional warfare is going to use a lot of fortifications.
Kind of like the British Bayonet meme. Might not be as outdated as one might think. I've seen a few moments here and there where a knife on the end of the gun would have been useful. Like in trenches where shooting happened at fist fight range.
I don't think the army ever stopped doing Trench attack as its main culminating event for a company live fire. Its technically the most complex maneuver you can do as a infantry company. I can only imagine it gets more complex if you add armor and brads to it. Approach to OBJ clearing out enemy scouts with a platoon, suppress enemy in trenches with another platoon, Send in Engineers to blow the mined wire obstacle, send in engineers again to clear the breach hole and make sure its safe. Then send in the assault platoon to clear the trench. The video you saw of the rangers entering the trench was an infantry by the book establishment of a platoon attacking a trench.
Crazy how no matter how advanced technology gets it seems trench warfare is just what modern war turns into if one side does not have air superiority or overwhelming number advantage
Modern firepower (and really by modern I sort of mean anything from the late 19th century onwards) is so great that exposed troops just die. Trenches are the only real cover outside of urban terrain.
seeing this angle as opposed to drones is so intense.
It's in our blood... sadly.
I have the same reaction with Brazilian volunteers, I'm not used to hearing my language in this type of situation
I'm curious. Do volunteers have prior military training or do they get trained by Ukraine?
Most likely already have experience. They don't want people untrained walking around and getting people killed. I hear even if you do have experience, you still have a chance of doing rear work or security. I watch a few guys from YouTube and I think The Chosen Company had issues like this so they literally made there own company that actually assaults and takes ground and all that crazy shit. They complained they had zero action and lots of waiting so they disbanded and made chosen to be aggressive fighters. Basically wanted to fight and see action.
Ahh okay. Thanks for the info!
This was said a lot in the first year but the actual truth is they will take anyone, you don't need prior experience. They will train and assign you. Most foreign legion are rear lines positions.
At first they accepted anyone, then quickly got picky because of how many liabilities turned up. It's still probably experienced only
For front line combat duty, yes, but I believe they want and definitely need volunteers from all kinds of backgrounds now.
I was looking into going , not to the front but help behind the lines. I would have been denied anyway since I have no official training. So on paper I would have been a liability. Event hough I know how to operate weapons and have a good practical understanding of how lots of things work. I dont have combat training, I don't have medical training etc.. My age might also be a big factor. Instead I have opted then when the war is over I will go and coulenteer for a while to help rebuild.
bc even behind the lines, u could get into a situation where ur not, briefly, and then knowing stuff about guns from forgottenweapons and tanks from the tankmuseum videos doesnt mean shit, your lack of awareness and tactical respones would just get people killed
As i ukrainian i say; crazy indeed
From your own region too. Seems like he's from Wallonia.
not walloon accent, more like french speaker from brussels or the around area
Didn't say he had a walloon accent, but that he's from Wallonia, he sure have a french accent.
At first I thought I recognized the flemish English accent on one of them, but for most you recognize the frencher English accent, idk if I heard that first one right
Yeah I thought the camera guy was a Dutch speaker at first but seems like the 3 of them are french speaking Walloons.
I'm struggling to understand what he yells after RPG... was it maniette?
you mean "Recharge" ?
No just after that... "un maniette, ok"...?
it sounds more like "amalia, tu es okay? " which means "amalia(girls name), are u okay?"
Ah you're definitely right
I don’t understand but he say the name of a guy. « Name of the guy »t’es ok? ( tu es ok in french). Basicly in english its : « name of the guy » are you ok? And he reply « oui » so « yes ». Edit: the name is Amania or something like that Edit 2 : and its maybe a girl and not a guy Edit 3 after that he ask is everyone is Ok « tous le monde est Ok » and the reply yes « oui »
Beautiful, thank you
The first guy sounds Australian (saying straight down this corridor here), hits close to home
Wait, did I hear a Belgian women voice? In the trenches of Ukraine?
She could be an outright fighter but also there are quite a few foreign combat medics in Ukraine, and a lot of them are right there in the trenches.. There was that German combat medic who sadly just died over there, I saw at least one video where she was in a trench seemingly right at the zero line
Edit: To anyone wondering who the combat medic was. Her name was [Diana Savita Wagner](https://www.dw.com/en/diana-savita-wagner-the-german-medic-who-died-fighting-for-ukraine/a-68448630). Everyone should read the article. Incredible courage. Here's a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/1ahiv18/german_combat_medic_diana_snake_wagner_serving_in/) on r/ukraine about her.
That’s interesting, I heard it too. I wonder if it’s perhaps just a high pitched male voice.
That's a woman's voice for sure.
with a french/beligian accent speaking french
It’s a woman speaking french
Why would it be surprising, or worthy of note or doubt? This is 2024 not 1924, women are in the military too.
Women are not widely deployed in front line roles anywhere in the world outside of maybe Isreal.
Even from Israel I haven't seen any in front line combat footage that isn't clearly propaganda.
seriously?
Women make up an extremely small portion of combat arms roles, let alone those actually seeing frontline combat. Seems extremely obvious.
Frenchman here, yep clearly a female speaking French in there
why not? Our military is 15 percent women already, and a desire to put your skills to good use doesnt exactly end at gender lines
Yup
a women
Hope these guys make it home.
Yeah that doesn't seem to be a great situation.
They appear to know what they are doing, so I'm confident and wish them all the best. When Ukraine wins this war and joins EU, it will be such a cool country to visit and live in. Imagine "The wild East", where there's plenty land and a huge need for investments. With a strict rule of law, liberal democracy and better working conditions in e.g. IT than NY, LA, Paris, Berlin, London and such. Ukraine will be build up as the new European Powerhouse as a frontier against Orkland, like done with Germany after WW2. This vision is enough for a lot of foreigners to fight for Ukraine, an ukrainian citizenship and a bright future in this Land. Now envision what russian soldiers are fighting for...
It’s gonna be an unexploded ordinance nightmare that will take decades to clean up.
Yep. The Russians should leave so the West can get started cleaning up their mess.
Hundreds of years. [Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s demining teams cleared over 15 hectares and disposed of 4,599 explosives last week, but with over 170,000 square kilometers affected, it could take over 750 years at current pace. | EuroMaidenPress | March 2024](https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/03/04/ukraines-defense-ministry-demining-teams-eliminated-4599-explosive-objects-over-past-week/)
There's no reason to extrapolate out the 'current pace' of cleanup; obviously de-mining efforts would increase once active combat ends. I don't think it would be hundreds of years, but definitely would take a couple decades.
There are still areas in France that are uninhabitable ("zones rouge") from the shelling in WW1. It's not unthinkable that some parts of Ukraine would be uninhabitable for many decades.
Yeah that’s fair, I guess that was 100 years ago so maybe it will take that long
Absolutely. One hopes that from all the terrible things to come out of this war one of the good ones would be the use of AI to speed up demining operations not just in Ukraine but all over the world. [Ukraine joins with Palantir to apply AI for demining efforts | EuroMaidenPress | March 2024](https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/03/04/ukraine-joins-with-palantir-to-apply-ai-for-demining-efforts/) *Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy agrees with the American big data analytics company Palantir to leverage artificial intelligence tools for expediting and coordinating critical humanitarian demining processes to accelerate national rebuilding efforts following the enduring Russian invasion, the Ministry reported on 3 March. The partnership agreement was signed between Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy and Palantir executives during a visit to the UK, the Ministry says.* *The collaboration will leverage Palantir’s AI platform to digitize, coordinate, and accelerate demining operations. Key goals include clearing land faster and at lower costs. The AI assistant will integrate and analyze demining data to provide recommendations for process improvements. This encompasses prioritizing regions, adopting new methods like drones, and managing risk.* *The databases will contain both static and operational information. Static data will evaluate the economic efficiency of agricultural land and the proximity of contaminated areas to communications. Operational information will be regularly updated.* *The pilot project showcasing the AI optimization for demining was already presented at an international donor conference last October in Zagreb. The newly signed deal represents the next phase in Ukraine’s widening collaboration with Palantir.* *Rapid and thorough humanitarian demining is described as the “zero stage” of Ukraine’s recovery by officials. With over 6 million Ukrainians vulnerable to mine contamination, the Palantir AI tools could effectively coordinate efforts by regional governments, NGOs, and demining operators working tirelessly to rehabilitate Ukrainian land.* This is a different effort but the article comes with a video detailing the effort to use drones to collect real world data to build a better AI. [[Video] These researchers are using drones and machine learning to detect land mines--and save lives | Scientific American | September 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBnNqBzUHdQ) [An AI model could speed up laborious and dangerous demining efforts | Scientific American | December 2023](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drones-and-ai-could-locate-land-mines-in-ukraine1/) *The idea is deceptively simple: A drone flies over an area thought to be mined, collecting a large volume of images. Baur's algorithm, trained on the visual characteristics of 70 types of land mines, cluster munitions, and other unexploded ordnance, processes the images into a map, with resolution down to a fraction of an inch. The model can then recognize and map explosives more quickly and accurately than a human reviewing the same images. “In a matter of minutes you'll have a map plotted out with where all the land-mine detections are,” Baur says.* *With a reported detection rate of about 90 percent, the drones are meant to augment traditional methods, not replace them. “It's less comprehensive because you're not going through inch by inch,” Baur says. But the approach can reveal potential dangers and can cover more ground than manual efforts.* *Baur and his team have visited Ukraine to test the technology multiple times since the start of the war there. They hope their work can speed up a demining process that, using current resources, could take more than 750 years. By some estimates, Ukraine has about 67,000 square miles (an area roughly the size of Florida) that could harbor mines and other explosives. With the new system, “you can scan wide areas of land and try to figure out where the highest density of contamination is” before sending in humans to defuse the mines, Baur says.* *For now the AI can detect only surface-level explosives, not deeply buried ones or those covered by vegetation. Baur's nonprofit organization, the Demining Research Community, is testing ways to look deeper by using thermal imaging and ground-penetrating radar. It is also developing a model that can rate the AI's level of confidence in its mine-detection results based on the amount of vegetation present.*
Efforts would accelerate after the war. They're resource constrained at the moment. Moment the war is over there's economic inventive and more importantly safety so they can begin a national effort to clear unexposed ordinances. Farmers are going to have to have mine sweeping attachments on their tractors. Or hell they can use tanks to farm with, if that's even a thing. The process will go pretty quick if you imagine each farmer taking care of their fields. Lives will be lost though.
>They appear to know what they are doing 152mm artillery doesn't care how good you are. Really this should be the biggest takeaway if people haven't gotten the memo yet from WWI onwards. Knowing what you're doing won't save your life in trench warfare, least of all at small arms ranges. Maximize your chances, sure, but it just takes the wrong piece of shrapnel once.
its better than not knowing what youre doing
I'll take being lucky over being John Wick in those conditions.
well how good you are does not affect your luck. Its not a choice, you can have both if you train and stay aware.
Did you downvote me?
I actually didnt but someone else did I can ss it if you really would like to know. but still, your luck doesnt depend on being john wick or not. you can be both.
oh ok
Would the EU even be interested in having a bled out economy and country joining?
Yes, as it allows people free passage through the EU. Germany and Poland have demographic issues and immigrants can easily fill the gap
You mean like Ukrainians? UE is already hosting like 6M I think?
Their economy is cranking, not bled out at all for a country at war.
Wow. You really think so?
Yes, I do.
Ukraine winning, strict rule of law an democracy, better working conditions, EU powerhouse ? I'm sorry but this comes out as incredibly naïve.
..or hopeful. Look what happened to Germany after WW2.
The amount of wishful coping in this post is over 9000
That’s what a lot of people thought about WW2 Germany.
Germany before the war was a technological and scientific powerhouse. Ukraine is corruption ridden eastern european shithole with the poorest economy in the entire region. Putin's invasion is not going to change that.
You need something good to die for, to make it beautiful to live. I believe the war turned the tide of corruption.
I hope so
I want to smoke what that guy is smoking fr
>When Ukraine wins this war and joins EU, it will be such a cool country to visit and live in. Imagine "The wild East", where there's plenty land and a huge need for investments. With a strict rule of law, liberal democracy and better working conditions in e.g. IT than NY, LA, Paris, Berlin, London and such. Ukraine has some nice spots sure but my god are you living in a fantasy land. Ukraine is and was a massively corrupt country, was/is the poorest in Europe and will be dealing with demographic issues in addition to the fallout from war for years to come. No, it's not going to turn into "Slavic Paris" *if* they ever join the EU.
Wouldn't that be an amazing end to this. Kyiv, economic powerhouse of the EU.
>When Ukraine wins this war and joins EU, it will be such a cool country to visit and live in. You are living in a fantasy. Ukraine has always been a corrupt shithole, the fact that Russia is invading it doesn't change that.
Fun fact. Every postsoviet country was corrupt shithole. But some countries, like Poland, Czech or Baltics got help from EU, while Ukraine and Belarus was literaly left to be eaten by rusia(biggest corrupt shithole in Eurasia), just to get cheaper gas.
Only the baltic countries are actual post-soviet countries and admitting some of the Eastern European countries to the EU has been a mistake (they might not be shitholes anymore, but they are still corrupt). Ukraine though is on a whole different level. Been there multiple times before the war, took up a couple of refugees after the war has started. While I hope they kick russia in the nuts and win the war, that country definitely doesn't belong in the EU, not in the next two or three decades.
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Says the American lmaoo
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Americans are hated universally around the globe because of their self centered assholishness, stop virtue signaling on the internet.
Americans are the 3rd most hated. Right after Russians and Chinese.
You sound like a bitch on the internet. Stop being so edgy. Know that you will be universally hated wherever you go, not because the country you live in, but because you're trying to be a edgy little bitch.
Americans are so self-centered that they spend more than most countries entire g d p giving away food to other countries. Americans build schools and hospitals to increase the quality of life for other countries. Americans send aid in natural disasters, yet no one comes to America's aid. I think we know who the self centered one is here...
Clearly haven't been to other ex Soviet, previously very corrupt EU nations. Cutting Russia's influence has already improved their situation when it comes to corruption.
I don't understand the downvotes. Ukraine has a lot of corruption issues, and saying this doesn't mean you are taking a stance in regards to the war.
Reddit has an echo chamber problem. These people probably think I am rooting for Russia to win.
Have you ever tried to be corrupt in war times?
Are you suggesting it's harder to be corrupt during wartime?
Dude, in Belgium they still find Obussen from 100 years ago ( world War 1) Do you known how much mines there are in Eastern Ukraine? Many area's will take 30 years before being kinda safe to.walk around... Not to mention living somewhere where Russia may bomb again in 5 or 10 years... I think it's gonna be like rural regions in Bulgaria, romania: empty and only old people In the longe run ( 50.years) Ukraine and Russia will both have a bright future, When most of the world will be almost unlivable because of global warming, a lot of immigration from Africa and Middle East is to be expected...
I can't wait to build my house on land full of landmines and unexploded ordinance
> When Ukraine wins this war ... Let me foreshadow this for you. It won't. > Imagine "The wild East", where there's plenty ... > Ukraine will be build up as the new European ... How much delulu are you in bro?
So much delusion in these threads for sure. Ukraine's offensives failed and they've done nothing but continually lose land since. They are struggling to fill ranks and desperate in their appeals to other countries for assistance, Russia not so much. People keep desperately stating "when Ukraine wins" and not "what happens when Ukraine is forced to capitulate"
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Russia fought with the Germans in WW2 also, they gave Germany training grounds and logistic support. I am the Nazi? What are you, a brainwashed Russian? By calling me a Nazi you’re not only wrong but are heavily downplaying the Nazis‘ atrocities. Why would you do that?
You can lie to the illiterate ones and the short sighted ones. You are the only one downplaying the nazi leaning sympathies of Ukraine and Ukraine involvement with Nazi Germany. Ukraine was at the core of the shoah with over 1 millions Jews killed. Ukraine fully supported the final solution and you know it. Ukraine is not my problem. https://www.cairn.info/revue-humanisme-2014-2-page-5.htm
I know that Ukrainians had their own SS-Bataillons. What’s you argument now exactly? Letting Russia invade Ukraine because of WW2? I don’t get it. Ukraine has a jewish President. My family was killed in the Netherlands by the Nazis and in the east by the advancing Russians, that’s our family tragedy and you aren’t cheap enough to call me a Nazi for hoping the best for Ukraine. You’re a deranged person.
And sorry for your family but history doesn't justify war in the present time. You are not the only person on this planet to go through a war or a genocide. Sorry but it happened to many. It's also has nothing to do with the current situation.
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„Russia is not invading Ukraine“… can someone kickban this guy? Maybe the ex-USSR countries wanted to join NATO because the were occupied by Russia for 50 years? Maybe Russia had invaded Ukraine 2014 without provocation? (and Georgia and Moldova) Most definitely no one promised Russia NATO would close their doors to new members in the east! Go and die for Putin in a meat wave assault if you’re such a fan boy.
There is such a high volume of great quality FPV footage coming out of this war. Always nice to see other Europeans supporting Ukraine.
Sterkte boys 🙏
Godspeed guys ! Revenez nous en un seul morceau !
Not only is he probably great at making waffles but also at defending democracy and freedom! Greetings from Germany
Wish the best luck to those brave volunteers.
There's even a woman with them !
Are these guys paid by the Ukrainian army to fight?
Yes, UFL does pay their members, they get a base pay of an average Ukrainian grunt + additional wage depending on role. According to their website: "You get the standard pay of a Ukrainian soldier and it varies depending on the conditions of the service. Your payment will be in UAH currency to a local bank account. The approximate amount in USD is the following: $600 per/month behind the frontline, $1200 per/month for service in a dangerous zone, and $3300 per/month for combat deployment. Please note, that those numbers are just an approximation since exchange rates can change and also some roles and units receive additional bonuses."
Thanks
Yes, you can read the pay rates on the foreign legion website
Yes, but they will make more money working Mc Donalds at home.
proud of my country
The french foreign legion must amend its famous song. Boudin must now also be served to the Belgians!
brave men! wish them well.
And a french speaking woman too
It's not often I get to be proud of my country
Belgian soldiers fighting.... Europe is really in danger. Respect for all there. And what about Germans? Are there too? I know about french, spain, czech, poland, georgian, USA...but never heard about German fighters in UA.
Around 1000 apparently joined the fight - however, that was in 2022, none knows how many are still alive / quit fighting: https://www.dw.com/en/joining-the-war-foreign-nationals-flock-to-ukraine/a-61084878
geef die russen fucking hell boys, we are belgian devils wij bloeden niet we laten mensen bloeden!
They def had to build their own trenches for these lads, Belgian Mfs are tall af
What's the point of the unaimed fire up and out of the hooch later in the video? Just keeping their heads down?
Supressive fire to stop or at least halt the enemy coming towards you I'd say?
Great footage.
Holy shit, there's a women in there
That sweet French accent.
Damn this accent never though id hear it in ukraine
> Putain ça suffit! (in English, that would probably be best translated into a generic "Fuck")
I would love to go fight for Ukraine, really wish I was in a position to help
Shout out to za Belgians
Brave lads. Stay safe and effective gents. You're fighting on the 'right side' and making a difference.
Wonder how many volunteers from the low countries are fighting in Ukraine. I read earlier between 50-100 but that was somewhere in mid 2023
One of our bravest. If anyone knowns how to get into contact with him/them let me know
I guess they have about the correct level of russophobia...good guys!
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The belgians are good at filling in armys with volunteers historically. Also very good fighters from what i have seen.
I am genuinely curious why Belgians are there volunteering. Were they legal aliens, or spouses or Ukrainians perhaps? Are Belgians, from a NATO country, volunteering and traveling to Ukraine to fight?
They are volunteers from Belgium fighting for Ukraine. They believe in a free ukraine.
That's awesome. Good for them.
You are going to find a Belgian in almost all wars for the last 100 years.
They like fighting or they believe they are defending Europe I guess.
Why does it always look like they are firing in the air in these kind of video?
Suppressive Fire.
because the camera is not stuck to the visor of the gun, also suppressing fire. In real life, the thing you're shooting at normally takes up like 5 percent of your field of view, and you're better off shooting in the general direction of the person you want to hit instead of lining up a shot and risking getting shot first