> The solution was a market and "currency" for units to buy equipment and supplies. Brigade-level units purchase drones directly from the manufacturers using the "Brave" marketplace. The currency in the marketplace is points that units earn from video-confirmed kills of Russians. Drones flow to the most effective units, those units work closely with the manufacturers, and they can choose from a range of options depending on their current mission and Russian tactics.
Get out of the way, Pentagon, and let the best field grunts do procurement. How does the US military industrial complex react to that idea?
I guess that can work if the major battles are concentrated only at a few point. But what happens when it is spread out along a huge frontline? You can't really prioritise for "effective" if you also need to prioritise for "necessity"?
I expect they would tell the units that they get more points for results in zone A than in zone B, and allow teams to move (or move their drone operations) towards zone A.
They seem flexible enough to do that, tweaking the system fairly frequently.
Seems like a way to purposly implement Goodhart's Law in a war bureaucracy. Like, the law is a warning but neoliberals might read it differently I guess...
It's actually pretty hard. The most expected scenario after pumping hundreds of billions into a cleptocracy would be for most of that money to get stolen with little to show for it. Not to build a machine that stopped Russia. What Ukraine authorities managed to do, given the country's state (the coruption is truly mindboggling), is remarkable.
"let's send this stuff from the warehouse to Ukraine" "let's say it's a value of $x even though it's close to the use-by date" and then come you and write that someone sent $x, and expect anyone to believe that.
And you even write that $x makes hard things easy. Hope much did the US pay to lose against Iran? Winning against anyone for the same sum isn't easy.
We need just a few more sanctions against Russia and we will have a Regime change. The regime change will come, but likely different than we thought - AfD in Germany, Farange in the UK and LePen in France.
Russia is not entitled to swallow any neighbour that looks at them funny. Neither are we required to stand by and do nothing for the fear of the possibility that Russia will become more belligerent.
Russia thought the Ukrainians wouldn't put up much resistance and launched a war of conquest to prevent Ukraine from joining the EU. It's failed in it's gamble and it has to experience the consequences.
Russia often reforms only after military defeat exposes how badly the state and army are failing: Crimea pushed the Great Reforms, Japan helped trigger 1905, and Afghanistan plus the Cold War strain fed the Soviet collapse. Loss forces changes that peace lets the system avoid. And maybe we'll get a conciliatory government not an aggressive one doubling down.
> The regime change will come, but likely different than we thought - AfD in Germany, Farange in the UK and LePen in France.
Unfortunately you are correct, as Ruski Mir's greatest export is corruption.
The West suffers from the Paradox of Tolerance, and is generally unprepared to deal with Moscow's political operations.
The good news is that those are just three countries, and the EU is made of many more.
The crazy thing to me is that all that Europe wants is for Moscow to join us in the 21st century, and just stop murdering your neighbors.
Apparently this is too much to ask of the old guard. But, we all went through this and eventually became "normal countries." Russia will as well one day, and the Russian people will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of this maturation.
Russia is about to show what it's really made of. If it can't win against Ukraine's scaled-up defence industry, then I gotta say, all these doomsayers and West-Putin equivocators will look pretty dumb.
Not hard, if you pump 600 billion [1] into one of the most corrupt [2] and poorest countries [3]
Google AI:
[1] The European Union and its member states have provided a total of €215.2 billion in overall support to Ukraine and its people since the start of Russia's war of aggression "Since the start of Russia's war of aggression, they have provided €215.2 billion in support for Ukraine and its people.", as reported by the Consilium of the European Union.
As of mid-2026, the United States Congress has made available $195 billion in total spending related to the war in Ukraine.
[2] Ukraine scored 36 out of 100 points in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranking 104th out of 180 countries. While the country’s rating has improved in recent years, ongoing wartime procurement and defense-sector scandals point to continued high-level corruption risks.
Behind most EU candidates: The average score for EU candidate countries is 39. Nations like Montenegro (46), Moldova (42), and Albania (40) are all perceived as cleaner than Ukraine.
[3] Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe by both individual and national wealth standards, largely due to historical factors and the massive economic toll of the full-scale war. Global Standing: On the global stage, Ukraine ranks 94th
This article was pretty light on the sheer amount of Western aid provided to Ukraine.
The whole thing is a cluster. A ton of Ukrainian people *are* ethnically Russian, particularly in the east. They aren’t exactly going to be ok under a NATO backed regime that’s hostile to Russia.
Russia shouldn’t tolerate NATO troops stationed on one of its longest land borders.
I guarantee if the Chinese worked out a deal to station troops in northern Mexico we wouldn’t be happy.
Unfortunately the conflict has also revealed a disgusting double standard in Western media.
Ukrainians are “European Christians” with names, hopes and dreams.
Not like *those* people who are collateral damage. Burn the village to save it, blah blah.
"The whole thing is a cluster. A ton of Ukrainian people are ethnically Russian, particularly in the east."
Yep. Ukraine is not a Nation state, like Germany, or Finnland, or Sweden. Like Belgium, is is deep divided. The division was reflected in each election. Literally, the east voted for one candidate, the west for the other.
I slept in a Hostel during the war in Kyiv. There ware Ukrainians and Russian Ukrainians. We hung out and had drinks, no problem. And during the night Putin and Klitschko made a pissing contest in the sky...
I don't think that's a fair assessment of Western perspectives.
If the USA was 6 years into a very messy conquest of Mexico because Mexico wanted to join a trade bloc with China, the West would be very disapproving of American actions.
Similarly the Iraq war is unpopular to Western citizens. Even at the time the British weren't very into it, and the Germans and French outright refused to participate.
Joining NATO is obviously the correct choice for countries like Ukraine, as evidenced by Russia's ongoing actions towards them.
Perhaps if Mexico had a long history of being invaded, divided up, and "Americanized," they would be part of a Military Alliance against American Aggression. As they should.
Yes, it is a proxy war between NATO and Russia. But have they really pumped 600 billion dollars? I thought it was around 100 to 150 billions, so far, which isn't that much for the west.
The European Union and its member states have provided a total of €215.2 billion in overall support to Ukraine and its people since the start of Russia's war of aggression "Since the start of Russia's war of aggression, they have provided €215.2 billion in support for Ukraine and its people.", as reported by the Consilium of the European Union.
As of mid-2026, the United States Congress has made available $195 billion in total spending related to the war in Ukraine.
This was literally an extended sales pitch to get people to buy/invest in real estate in Kyiv. Of course they're going to portray it as vibrant and rich.
> The solution was a market and "currency" for units to buy equipment and supplies. Brigade-level units purchase drones directly from the manufacturers using the "Brave" marketplace. The currency in the marketplace is points that units earn from video-confirmed kills of Russians. Drones flow to the most effective units, those units work closely with the manufacturers, and they can choose from a range of options depending on their current mission and Russian tactics.
Get out of the way, Pentagon, and let the best field grunts do procurement. How does the US military industrial complex react to that idea?
We would need a test bed for the different drones, and a way to get the points system working. Are you volunteering Cuba to be our testbed?
> Drones flow to the most effective units
I guess that can work if the major battles are concentrated only at a few point. But what happens when it is spread out along a huge frontline? You can't really prioritise for "effective" if you also need to prioritise for "necessity"?
I expect they would tell the units that they get more points for results in zone A than in zone B, and allow teams to move (or move their drone operations) towards zone A.
They seem flexible enough to do that, tweaking the system fairly frequently.
For example, see https://mod.gov.ua/en/news/updated-e-points-system-military-....
I’m sure if you call the pentagon “central planning” enough times people will decide they are communists and get rid of them.
Seems like a way to purposly implement Goodhart's Law in a war bureaucracy. Like, the law is a warning but neoliberals might read it differently I guess...
You're worried that they will over-fit on killing enemy invaders, at the expense of something more important? Like what?
The battle isn’t the war. But they seem to be covering the spectrum pretty well…
[flagged]
It's actually pretty hard. The most expected scenario after pumping hundreds of billions into a cleptocracy would be for most of that money to get stolen with little to show for it. Not to build a machine that stopped Russia. What Ukraine authorities managed to do, given the country's state (the coruption is truly mindboggling), is remarkable.
Why all the down votes?
They didn't pour $600bn. They've fought valiantly and going on about them being poor and corrupt isn't very nice.
"let's send this stuff from the warehouse to Ukraine" "let's say it's a value of $x even though it's close to the use-by date" and then come you and write that someone sent $x, and expect anyone to believe that.
And you even write that $x makes hard things easy. Hope much did the US pay to lose against Iran? Winning against anyone for the same sum isn't easy.
Ukraine is not winning. This is a distorted view in the west, and I am not Russian. Just a few more billions and Russia will collapse.
Russia is not fighting Ukraine, Russia is fighting NATO. And we are in dangerous territory.
Emmanuell Todd predicted this and this is not a person to be taken lightly (e.g. predicting the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1976 as a 26 years old PhD student): https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2024/11/how-the-west-was-...
We need just a few more sanctions against Russia and we will have a Regime change. The regime change will come, but likely different than we thought - AfD in Germany, Farange in the UK and LePen in France.
Russia is not entitled to swallow any neighbour that looks at them funny. Neither are we required to stand by and do nothing for the fear of the possibility that Russia will become more belligerent.
Russia thought the Ukrainians wouldn't put up much resistance and launched a war of conquest to prevent Ukraine from joining the EU. It's failed in it's gamble and it has to experience the consequences.
Russia often reforms only after military defeat exposes how badly the state and army are failing: Crimea pushed the Great Reforms, Japan helped trigger 1905, and Afghanistan plus the Cold War strain fed the Soviet collapse. Loss forces changes that peace lets the system avoid. And maybe we'll get a conciliatory government not an aggressive one doubling down.
> The regime change will come, but likely different than we thought - AfD in Germany, Farange in the UK and LePen in France.
Unfortunately you are correct, as Ruski Mir's greatest export is corruption.
The West suffers from the Paradox of Tolerance, and is generally unprepared to deal with Moscow's political operations.
The good news is that those are just three countries, and the EU is made of many more.
The crazy thing to me is that all that Europe wants is for Moscow to join us in the 21st century, and just stop murdering your neighbors.
Apparently this is too much to ask of the old guard. But, we all went through this and eventually became "normal countries." Russia will as well one day, and the Russian people will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of this maturation.
I honestly don't see how Russia is going to win. The West is never going to allow that, because the future consequences would be detrimental.
Your link says absolutely nothing about Ukraine losing the war with Russia.
Russia is about to show what it's really made of. If it can't win against Ukraine's scaled-up defence industry, then I gotta say, all these doomsayers and West-Putin equivocators will look pretty dumb.
What percentage of the aid do you think was stolen?
Because it's not true? If you think it is, sources please.
Not hard, if you pump 600 billion [1] into one of the most corrupt [2] and poorest countries [3]
Google AI:
[1] The European Union and its member states have provided a total of €215.2 billion in overall support to Ukraine and its people since the start of Russia's war of aggression "Since the start of Russia's war of aggression, they have provided €215.2 billion in support for Ukraine and its people.", as reported by the Consilium of the European Union.
As of mid-2026, the United States Congress has made available $195 billion in total spending related to the war in Ukraine.
[2] Ukraine scored 36 out of 100 points in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranking 104th out of 180 countries. While the country’s rating has improved in recent years, ongoing wartime procurement and defense-sector scandals point to continued high-level corruption risks.
Behind most EU candidates: The average score for EU candidate countries is 39. Nations like Montenegro (46), Moldova (42), and Albania (40) are all perceived as cleaner than Ukraine.
[3] Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe by both individual and national wealth standards, largely due to historical factors and the massive economic toll of the full-scale war. Global Standing: On the global stage, Ukraine ranks 94th
Ask Google AI what's the real value of the supplied aid.
Also, supplying Ukraine is a cheap way to prevent similar invasions from happening in the future.
Better question would be: What is the REAL cost?
After blowing up the energy supply of Germany....
Sigh. It's still a very cheap price to pay for the European security.
This article was pretty light on the sheer amount of Western aid provided to Ukraine.
The whole thing is a cluster. A ton of Ukrainian people *are* ethnically Russian, particularly in the east. They aren’t exactly going to be ok under a NATO backed regime that’s hostile to Russia.
Russia shouldn’t tolerate NATO troops stationed on one of its longest land borders.
I guarantee if the Chinese worked out a deal to station troops in northern Mexico we wouldn’t be happy.
Unfortunately the conflict has also revealed a disgusting double standard in Western media.
Ukrainians are “European Christians” with names, hopes and dreams.
Not like *those* people who are collateral damage. Burn the village to save it, blah blah.
"The whole thing is a cluster. A ton of Ukrainian people are ethnically Russian, particularly in the east."
Yep. Ukraine is not a Nation state, like Germany, or Finnland, or Sweden. Like Belgium, is is deep divided. The division was reflected in each election. Literally, the east voted for one candidate, the west for the other.
I slept in a Hostel during the war in Kyiv. There ware Ukrainians and Russian Ukrainians. We hung out and had drinks, no problem. And during the night Putin and Klitschko made a pissing contest in the sky...
It appears you’ve been downvoted and flagged.
You see, to the Westerner things must be black and white.
Russia is evil and the West good, despite the last Iraq war having something like 10x as many innocent casualties as the Ukraine war.
Something must be different between Iraqis and Ukrainians to make the latter so much more worthy of concern.
Guess we’ll never know.
I don't think that's a fair assessment of Western perspectives.
If the USA was 6 years into a very messy conquest of Mexico because Mexico wanted to join a trade bloc with China, the West would be very disapproving of American actions.
Similarly the Iraq war is unpopular to Western citizens. Even at the time the British weren't very into it, and the Germans and French outright refused to participate.
>Mexico wanted to join a trade bloc with China,
A trade block of which the majority of it's members are in NATO.
Don't forget John Mc Cain, who never saw a war he didn't like, took a personal visit to Ukraine.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/john-mccain-uk...
Do you think he came to hand out cupcakes ?
>the British weren't very into it,
Was that a valid defense at Nuremberg?
Joining NATO is obviously the correct choice for countries like Ukraine, as evidenced by Russia's ongoing actions towards them.
Perhaps if Mexico had a long history of being invaded, divided up, and "Americanized," they would be part of a Military Alliance against American Aggression. As they should.
The German people weren't on trial at Nuremberg.
True before the war. Putin did manage to make Ukraine united.
The clear majority of Russian speaking Ukrainians support Zelenskyy now.
Yes, it is a proxy war between NATO and Russia. But have they really pumped 600 billion dollars? I thought it was around 100 to 150 billions, so far, which isn't that much for the west.
Nope
The European Union and its member states have provided a total of €215.2 billion in overall support to Ukraine and its people since the start of Russia's war of aggression "Since the start of Russia's war of aggression, they have provided €215.2 billion in support for Ukraine and its people.", as reported by the Consilium of the European Union.
As of mid-2026, the United States Congress has made available $195 billion in total spending related to the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine is rich! https://expatcircle.com/cms/travel-impressions-ukraine-kyiv-...
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved the key parameters of this year's pension indexation, with payments set to rise by 12.1%
This was literally an extended sales pitch to get people to buy/invest in real estate in Kyiv. Of course they're going to portray it as vibrant and rich.
Nope dude. The pictures were taken by me ;-)