Former neutral Sweden moves to ramp up defense spending by $1.3 billion in 2025 to 2.4% of GDP

Good news!

Putin the Terrible rocked the boat when he invaded the Ukraine! More and more NATO member countries get better armed and ready!

Sweden only became a NATO member in March of 2024! Sweden maintained a strict policy of neutrality throughout the Cold War!

Sweden moves to ramp up defense spending by $1.3 billion in 2025 - Breaking Defense "The uplift will take the Nordic nation's annual military spending in 2025 to 138 billion SEK, equivalent to 2.4 percent GDP and above NATO's minimum defense spending target."

India Air Force Joins 20 Nations in Largest Biennial Exercise Pitch Black in Australia with Palki Sharma

Recommendable! This is probably the largest such exercise outside of Europe.

Why Ukraine’s Top General Urges Tougher Punishment for Deserters

How serious is the problem with Ukrainian deserters?

How does it compare to to high numbers of Russian deserters and draft dodgers?

"... Military observers, both at home and abroad, have credited [general] Zaluzhny for welding the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] into a generally effective force. But even 11 months into the war, Ukraine’s army remains a  hodge-podge of formations of widely-varying skills and capacities, ranging from regular combined arms brigades performing on a par with NATO units, to territorial defense battalions stitched together from local towns and village, to bands of armed volunteers at times not even acknowledging an AFU officer’s right to give them orders. ...

Harsher sentences generally are probated so that the "refusnik", Zaluzhny said, might stay with his unit and hopefully fight better the next time. ..."

EXPLAINED: Why Ukraine’s Top General Urges Tougher Punishment for Deserters | KyivPost Top general Zaluzhny praises law setting out harsher punishment for desertion, poor discipline, though it’s subject to signing by Zelensky

Credits: «Eine Armee gründet auf Disziplin»: Die ukrainische Führung setzt auf härtere Strafen für Deserteure