Everything Is Driven ...

 ... by PR by people with zero understanding of the tactical-technical and operational realities of modern warfare. So, they lament and come up with BS. 

Australia’s controversial decision to transfer 49 retired M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to Ukraine remains a source of contention among Western allies. That’s because the performance of those older Australian tanks has highlighted the weaknesses of MBTs in modern combat more generally, and, specifically, has shown that the vaunted Abrams MBT might not be the king of battle any longer.

Two points:

1. MBT is "weakened" in NATO (US) only whose staff structures do not understand that 404 poured Niagara of military BS into their ears, which tells you about a very low intellectual level of those staffers who missed the whole point that if anything else MBTs resurrected themselves as a critical element of modern battlefield and Russian tanks can take punishment no NATO tank can. But then again--NATO was building its fighting doctrine based on fairy tales from defeated Wehrmacht generals. I already elaborated on this matter here. 

2. Abrams IS vaunted, much talked up. It is not a good tank(c) per Colonel Macgregor who commanded a regiment of those. There is very little military (combat) value in blowing away backward monkey model (basic ballistic computer and basic optics) Iraqi T-72As and totally another meeting something like T-72B3 let alone T-90V Proryv which are fully netcentric systems with excellent optronic suite, comms and most importantly great gun and ability to launch ATGMs through it. 

So, it all comes down to PR and carefully constructed US military mythology which has very little if anything to do with the reality--only with this: 

Michael Bay has been tapped to direct a movie centered around Operation Epic Fury at Universal Pictures, the studio confirmed Wednesday. The untitled film tells the true story of a massive rescue effort to save two pilots downed during the April 2026 attacks in Iran. The film adapts a book from Mitchell Zuckoff coming in 2027 from Harper Collins.

Well, you get my drift, right? 

To Those Who Still Think ...

 ... that Russians are blind, naive and stupid. Especially against "plans" and ruses kindergarten child can see through. 

Zelensky’s election call a ploy – Putin aide. Kiev only wants a ceasefire, which Moscow believes it will use to rearm and regroup its military

Liberation of Seversk opened the road to Slovyansk and, in a classic 404 and its curators' manner, these idiots unleash ... PR "offensive" at ... Kupyansk. Well, here are some views of this PR "offensive" (I mean it--it is PR) aka (in Russia) "meat storms". 

A bunch of terrorists is thrown into the meat grinder and traditionally are killed and maimed. 

And here is the issue with what many people still cannot grasp--SMO exposed completely a massive circle of the "experts" both in Russia and the West who lived on 404 propaganda. They range from "military" shysters such as Rybar in Russia to American Generals such as Kellogg and Keane, among many others who discredited themselves not only as military amateurs but people without honor. So, what's left for them after such a manifestation of own malfeasance and stupidity? Of course to double, triple down on the BS avoiding as much as possible reality on the ground and not explaining the difference between the attack in platoon to company's strength (which is a maneuver and preceded by "movement to contact") and offensive which, hey I use only US sources, per US Army ADP FM 3-90 must have such characteristics:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OFFENSE 3-2. Successful offenses share these characteristics: 1. Audacity. 2. Concentration. 3. Surprise. 4. Tempo. See ADP 3-90 for more information on the purposes and characteristics of the offense.

So, as you can see yourself--those suicidal "offensives" lack pp. 2, 3 and 4, and result in getting own forces into the fire cauldron and their annihilation. But as I noted, most what Western "military thought" afforded us is PR and BS. Reality, however, is traditional--all attacks have been repelled with massive casualties to 404 terrorists. Here is today's map of Kupyansk. 

This is everything you need to know. 

Now It Is Turning Into...

 ... a soap opera. In fact, as usual, it begins to look increasingly risible. 

The U.S. is considering sending Stryker armored combat vehicles to Ukraine in an upcoming aid package to help Kyiv fend off an expected Russian spring offensive, according to two people familiar with the discussion. The news follows the Biden administration’s announcement last week that it will send 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, a powerful tracked armored vehicle that carries an autocannon, a machine gun and TOW missiles. ...While Strykers are not as powerful or protective as tanks, the eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicle built by General Dynamics Land Systems can operate in snow, mud and sand, though off-road mobility is somewhat limited by its lack of tracks.

Ah, yes. Anything but modern Abrams tanks. 

Allow me to remind you that Stryker was conceived in early 2000s as a "transformational" vehicle primarily designed to fight COIN in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan and, at that time, had this innovation, now pretty standard across medium to heavy armor both in the US and Russia, of netcentricity and being "flexible". How these vehicles with whatever modules ranging from TOW ATGMs, to mortars to even 105-mm cannon can change anything on the battlefield in 404 is a mystery to me, especially since, as Politico notes itself:

The Strykers may be part of the next tranche of military aid, according to a Defense Department official, who like others asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations ahead of an announcement. The administration could announce the package, with or without Strykers, late next week around the time of the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany. The people stressed that no final decision has been made, and the administration could decide to send the Strykers in a future package instead.

So, generally, it is all, again, about PR and a desperate desire to be seen as "doing something" under the conditions of obvious catastrophe for VSU in Soledar and Bakhmut, which serve as a slaughterhouse for remaining reserves of Kiev regime. Same as Bradley IFVs, Strykers and their foreign iterations such as similar Canadian vehicles are not survivable on the modern combined arms battlefield against the enemy with a very strong armor component, artillery and combat aviation, not to mention having an extremely good situational and tactical awareness. But... but, neocon cabal in Biden's Admin is afraid to look in the face of operational and strategic reality and will continue to provide Russia with NATO hardware fodder and a good practical training for Russian Army to handle NATO's equipment. I omit here, of course, the issue of enormous reputational losses for the US military-industrial complex. 

And That Is Important Exactly How?

Desperate times--desperate headlines. Morons from WSJ want to show how tough and powerful the US is. 

Oil Tanker Is Stopped by U.S. in Transit From Russian Port to New Orleans. Ship carrying oil products was chartered by commodities trader Vitol, which said it complied with sanctions against Russia.  

OK, here is the full story from Reuters: 

June 28 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have stopped an oil tanker traveling from Russia to New Orleans to check whether it is Russian in origin, a source confirmed to Reuters. The Vitol-chartered vessel was shipping intermediate oil products including vacuum gasoil and fuel oil from Russia's Taman port to New Orleans last week, according to a trading source and shipping data. The products were due to reach a Valero refinery in the New Orleans region, two sources said.

LOL. So, they decided to check it. Sure. That is what customs do. But yes, same as Russia's "default", which is nothing but a PR trick by the financial propaganda outlets in the West, it changes absolutely nothing, since:

1. Russia serviced the debt in Rubles;

2. People have access to those money. 

But Russia doesn't care about all those fraudsters from Moody's, IMF or World Bank. In fact, Russia is having an issue--too much cash, too strong Ruble. 

So, default you say, eh? Russians don't care about US Dollar, they use Ruble, which is supported by huge resources, huge economy and gold. And, of course, rests on a massive fire power of Russian Armed Forces. It becomes increasingly clear that Western ruling "elite" has no idea what real economy is, let alone how it operates. The only thing they know and can do is virtue signalling and PR.