'Big0h' for catching an error I said NATO target is 3% for defense spending it's actually 2% ! I now realize why I said "correct me if I'm wrong" before saying it haha
Thank you, @Nathan! You can't imagine how important your service in Lithuania is not just for Lithuanians... but for the security of Europe and NATO. Huge respect and gratitude to you.
A lithuanian here too; i am absolutely stunned that you actually decided to cover our military in an entire, dedicated video. I used to be really excited hearing mere mentions of our little country in some of the older content, yet never did i expect for our military and strategy to get so much attention. Thank you for making my day with this video, keep up the good job, and may the need for us to deploy our forces for homeland defence never arise. Wishes from Lithuania, to the US.
Well not too long ago Ukraine would’ve been a side line mention also. I think this conflict highlighted how a small, motivated and well equipped military can be so effective. It’s making many people re-evaluate their outlook on smaller nations armed forces.
@@stevenrodriguez763 hey man it's a good thing these small militaries are easy for the larger nations such as the USA/UK to aid. We can make a large difference
Former US Army signalier here. I did a 3-month mission in Lithuania in 2017, on a Lithuanian army basic training base in the Suwalki Gap. Every male Lithuanian is required to complete their 9-month basic training, and then at the end for those who wish to remain in the military they go through a competitive process of interviews and essays. My squad was also attached to a Lithuanian brigade HQ in Hohenfels for Allied Spirit 2018. The benefit of their intensive training was clear as they gave the OPFOR (US Army Infantry) a run for their money and they frequently had to pause and reposition as the Lithuanians were pushing them back too fast for the observers to keep up. They were also incredibly friendly and shared their ham with us. I have nothing but respect and admiration for those guys.
Sorry but I have to correct you. Not every male Lithuanian is required to complete their 9-month basic training. There is a lottery every year, where a number (more than 3000 so basically 1/4 because there are around 12000 boy births every year) of random men aged 18-26 are selected as conscripts (however people can volunteer). However now we are considering to make it mandatory for everyone who graduates from school (maybe even females, but that probably won't happen) but we don't have the right amount of money for that (for both training and equipment). Still, much love from Lithuania :)
@@DS.J It is in discussions but there is no agreement yet. It would cost a lot, because all reserve soldiers require reserve of equipment as well. There is no point in having reserves without ability to supply them if a need to call on them appears.
Romanian here. My respect to Lithuania went to the roof, I knew the people there are great but the progress they did in the last years is crazy! Love and peace to you all!
The truth is that Russians are really lazy. And to make them want to take up weapon, there must be a serious reason. A serious threat. For example, NATO approaching their borders and inspiring their neighbors that without America they will be invaded by the Russians. And that forces Russia to increase its military power, because it feels threatened. When the threat becomes too real, and Us Eu monetary and military injections into neighbor countries are huge, the Russian Federation has no other choice but to take up arms and weaken this threat. But in reality Russia doesn’t want foreign territories, Russians are too lazy. But no one believes it. Everyone believes America, not noticing what it has done to other countries (wars) to enrich itself. So yes, now that’s war Russia vs NATO. Ukraine is just a bargaining chip((
Lithuania, you have polish support. We were once a power together as Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and still we are. Greetings from Poland 👋
Poland and the "Forest Brothers" only have to fight in one direction. Russia has never beaten Poland without allies in the west. NATO now lies to the west.
Awesome, more cannonfodder for the drones and artillery. USA hasnt been in real symmetrical War since Korean War in the 1950s you being a Vet fighting sandal wearing third world people means crap
German Reserve Soldier here (23. Gebirgsjägerbrigade, 231. Battalion). The Lithuanians always have been great to excercise & work with together and i'm happy Germany currently has New Presence in Lithuania from the 10. Panzerdivision. Also thank you for your Coverage and how and where Germany is supportive. If you read Twitter and Reddit you'd believe the past 30 Years of Germany training, supporting and excercising with Baltic Countries never happened. Hell, i excercised and worked with Polish, Croatian and Ukrainian Soldiers in my many Years of Service and i never met one Soldier of these Countries who wasn't happy and supportive of us working with them and vice versa Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps
I was a spec ops combat medic and when i went through Ranger School in the states... we had an officer from Lithuania in our class. He was EASILY my favorite officer in our group. He had his shit together and he was very easy to work with. He inspired confidence with his organizational skills and easy to follow directions. He also had a naturally positive demeanor at all times. Really, really good dude.
Did you really write you were a spec ops medic. I would have smoked the shit out of you in 1st Batt. Are you a qualified ninja also? My point quiet professionalism used to be a thing in the Regiment, before Hollywood Navy Seals made personal glory more important than operational security. As ranger School has dropped all requirements to allow females to attend, it seems you now have time to sit around and form jolly friendships. Did share stories of cookies and milk?
Former inf vet here who served in both Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I am deeply honered how humble and friendly the people are in theese countries ! And it makes perfect sense that they all decided to join NATO! They are some badass warriors )
That was an utter stupid move.. actually.. Lithuania actually thought China was with Russia when they did that.. On March, Lithuania went visiting China
@@tonycalderon8766 Depends on what .. actually.. Regards to Europe..China is not really with Russia.. That's where you guys don't see matters with good objectivity.. It's very poor judgement on your European leadership..you guys need to fix your bad leadership. China, has matters of their own.. like dealing with USA..like their side of the world. Russia has their own side of their world. Towards Europe, actually.. being so far apart.. China has little issues against. There are many European countries that do business with China. To China, the weariness of Europe, is simply what happened during Opium Wars..China doesn't want to be bulled by Europe any longer. But Europe..throughout last century.. haven't really had much connection to China...nor disturbed China. Let me tell you that China is pretty clueless towards matters of Europe, before this War. Chinese media never talks about Europe..prior.. Germany has a lot of business with China, you will be surprised that Germany actually protected Chinese from Japan during WW2. Ukraine also had strong ties with China before the War, Ukraine was one of China's major BRI partner. Lithuania was just some country far away for China to notice, it was Lithuania that attacked China couple of times first..China did nothing at that time to Lithuania. The relationship between Russia and China is Common Enemy..USA.. That's what it is.. You can fact check.. I'm from ASEAN..we know our side of the world better than you
@@calvinblue894 China needs Russia and Russia needs China. This is not a relationship born out of love rather it is convenience and mutual paranoia that has thrown them together. Chinese armaments are mainly russian made or designed which means they are mainly dependent on russia for upgrades. It is obvious that china wants to do business with everyone but when it comes to military matters you can not separate the United States from Europe. In a conventional war, NATO is vastly superior to China in both sea power and air power. China's one obsolete aircraft carrier is the only platform China has for projecting power. Pathetic!
As a Ukrainian I am very impressed at how Lithuania is prepared for any conflict that might come their way, they are not messing around and putting their resources in what looks to be a smart game plan! 💯 😀 All small European countries should probably follow their example, because we are truly living in a time that has become very unpredictable. Great retrospective by the way, very detailed and easy to understand. 👍👏
@@taiwansivispacemparabellum9546 All Godly people everywhere are praying for the Ukraine. I'm with you from Arizona. There is an animal rescue group called UAnimals in the Ukraine that are working to save farm, zoo, and refugees pet animals and you can donate on Patreon. They are God's creatures also no matter who your God is.
I've served in Lithuanian Armed Forces in 2009 and it was one of the best years in my life. As we say here in Lithuania - "Don't raise your weapon without a cause, don't lay it down without an honor."
Baigiau šauktinio tarnybą 2016-2017 (ėjau iškart po mokyklos savo noru), prieš metus pakvietė atgal atlikti rezervo mokymus, ir po mokymų, vėl uždegė tą liepsnelę, tai jau metai kaip karys-savanoris KASP'e :). KASP'as išvis yra kažkas tokio. Kai žmonės atsitraukia nuo savo darbų, šeimos, ir civilinių gyvenimų ir šypsodamiesi murdosi po purvą ir išlaiko gerą nuotaiką net po poros parų be miego supranti, kad su šitais eiti į karą nebaisu :)
I lived in Vilnius and Lithuanians are the best people in the world. Respectful and brave, and they will take on Russia. My brother inlaw is in the army. I would not want to fight him, he is intelligent and willing to lay down for his country. Mile Tave Lietuva!
Pennsylvania National Guard is the sponsor for Lithuania. I've worked with them multiple times and had some of their soldiers integrated into our scout platoon during our NTC rotation. They are great people, and well-trained soldiers and it was a pleasure working with them!
California National Guard is Ukraine's sponsor, we kept hearing about a possible "security" deployment over there that never came, guess it was too hot even back in 2015
@@cactusjack1943 there is no such thing as liberal democracy .... you can vote as many times and however times you want .. you will still get same shit from all politicians who are beholden to their corporate donors !!!
As a Lithuanian-American i am honestly stunned you decided to write about my little country. Awesome video. I think our entire military/economic/diplomatic strategy is basically to be a thorn in Russia's ass and help all like-minded nations as best we can. Labai jums ačiu!
There's also a permanent NATO precense in Lithuania. Netherlands has been a permanent supporting member of the efp mission together with Germany and other supporting countries. Lithuania may not have tanks of their own, but there are very capable tanks in the country.
they put Germany to shame.. the richest country in Europe barely bothering with their defence, expecting other people to do it for them, for free... and lets not get into germany refusing to stop russian oil, because it will 'hurt' their economy- sometimes, doing the right thing is not necessarily the easy thing, but it must be done anyway...
@@iainansell5930 I don’t know what you are talking about. You need to update your infos. We are investing 150 billion € this year - we are third place after china with that.Also it’s not so much about oil, but about gas. 40% of our gas comes from Russia. You can’t just not take it. We don’t even have a LNG port!
@@WAJK2030 Germany did a one time panic buy; your base defense budget is still below your treaty obligation. Not having any LNG infrastructure to import from NATO allies and relying entirely on Russia was a massive and obvious vulnerability, only ignored because of key "investments" Putin made into German politicians.
Same here. I'm lithuanian, my dad and my grandpa also lithuanians. But my grandpa's dad was from Ukraine, that's why I have a non Lithuanian last name (nikolajenko)
@@Rokasas "Nikolajus" is not a Lithuanian last name, it's just the Lithuanian version of "Nikolaj" If I want to translate my last name (Nikolajenko) it would be "Nikolajenkas". You can do it with all the last names when you become a citizen. I give you an example: A guy from Poland with the last name "Juskevic" in Lithuania will be translated to "Juskevicius" (Juškevičius more exactly)
@@Rokasas also a fun fact. No matter if you chose the male or female version of my last name, they're both neutral. Like my grandpa and my grandma, both have the same last name "Nikolajenko" when usually the female version ends with an -A (Nikolajenka) but my uncle is the only one in the family that has chosen the one that ends with -A. The only way to lose the neutral version is when a woman gets married, then she becomes Nikolajienkiene
@@nikoking4839 yup, i know, i'm a native lithuanian :)) Just saying that yeah lithuanians use Nikolajus for Nikolaj, or Nikolajenko in your case, as a matter of fact, it's not very uncommon, i know a few "nikolajai" myself :))
My sister in-law is Lithuanian. Managed to visit there a few years back, mainly the capital Vilnius. Beautiful country and great people. Maybe the most developed of the former Soviet countries. Also the food is excelent :D. Looking forward to visiting again soon. Much respect to the Lithuanian people, especially with the recent events and their support for Ukraine. Wish my country wold do much more in that regard. Greeting from Bulgaria!
@@hypervenom6200 okay, for example Czech Republic. It has better GDP per capita, higher PPP, much lower unemployment rate, lower debt to GDP ratio and higher real GDP growth
I got the opportunity to train alongside some of your fellow Lithuanian soldiers when I did a training mission in Lativa, really squared away great people !
Thanks for this analysis of the Lithuanian army. Glad to see you taking interest in the Baltics. Will you cover Latvia and Estonia also? Interesting that you didn’t cover all of them at once - feels like the standard practice and probably rightly so :)
@@nordicbaltic I don't know about rightly so.. There is something to say for a light, quick well trained military like this video covers. Its not always the size of the dog in the fight, recent history has proved the size of the fight in the dog contributes a lot to success. Sure there is powers in numbers and heavy equipment, but many times battles are not toe to toe matchups. If the military has put in the work to train and be effective in what they do they deserve to have their own spot light in my opinion...
Too much history to go into here, but Lithuanian military tradition of small, mobile resistance includes "Forest Brothers" who fought guerilla war against Soviet occupation for 40 years in Lithuania, until the 80s! Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦 Lietuva, Tėvyne Mūsų 🇱🇹
No they did not, they were all captured or killed by 1956, had Commies really wanted to, Lithuania wouldn't be a country today. The only thing that saved us is their idea to russify instead of purge, which didn't work for the most part. Lithuanians know more curses in russian than lithuanian and that's about it. Mongols knew this and that's why they left noone alive. Modern times are full of weaklings which is why nothing ever happens, politicians put on the theatre and you can just sit down and watch because nothing ever happens and every single government is exact same zionist puppet. And had it happened today, idiots like you who lie about history like this (white lies are just as bad, if not worse), wouldn't even have a historical entry for being shot in front of a wall, despite yapping about how this "inspires" people to defend their own country, instead of realizing that real inspiration comes from within and reflection on true past, which is lost in time thanks to liars like you. And since """our ancestors defended just fine""" rotting in impersonal, mass graves (that's what happens when your own side wins, right?), so will you, right? Let's see when it happens and you are among the first to kick the bucket. In general, ever since Christian subversion happened, tangentially leading to joining poland, Lithuania was nothing but a shell of its former self, ruled by Litvaks and other kinds of subhumans. My point is... If it is "too much history" for you, maybe you shouldn't talk about it because it looks like you know nothing. There's nothing to be proud of in our history since Gediminas. Majority sat down and did nothing, waiting for the results, creating false stories at the expense of people who fought for what they believed but did not receive the help they needed. Lithuania now has mandatory prescription, and guess what Lithuanians do? If there were enough people who truly cared about this country, there would be no need for forcing certain youth to go to military. But of course, it is easier to go online and yap lies in places where very few people will confirm whether what you're saying is true, and sadly, it is not true. In a battlefield with you in it, I would be shooting at the side you're on.
wow, as a latvian it is quite a surprise and at the same time a pride for the thriving brotherhood Lithuania to appear in such quality content channel! What I can't say about my country unfortunately Greetings to Lithuania! Sveika Lietuva!
I’m English but we have settled in Vilnius now, so for obvious reasons I really appreciate you making this video. Also, I echo the comments of Lithuanians here - Lithuania was never really a part of the Soviet Union - it was held under illegal, brutal soviet occupation from ww2 to 1991. That’s why we are all so interested in your videos - we have no wish to become occupied by Moscow again.
adding the ususal reminder that nothing happening there or in Russia or in China (lol) had or has anything to do with "communism". Then again, it doesn't matter, what a nasty dicatorship calls iteself.
I worked with the Lithuanian Army in 2005 in Afghanistan. They were new to NATO, but eager to contribute and learned quickly. They had the Provincial Reconstruction Team located in Chagchuran. Which was dead center of the country and surrounded by mountains. They operated with newly gifted US equipment back then, and had M16A1s. I remember specifically going "holy shit, that's a A1". They were very confident and ready to adjust from old soviet doctrine. They also despised the Russians with a passion. Loved working with them.
We still despise Russians with a passion. Common they killed 1/3 of out nation and never even said sorry about it. That's something that cannot be forgotten at all.
My great grandma and her family were Lithuanian (she then immigrated to Brasil during either ww1, and had my grandma) and I don't know why but I feel a weird sense of pride of this video. Almost like I can relate myself to these people, and what incredible things they are doing with a small and unfortunate geo-political position.
im more french than Lithuanian and i feel pride over Lithuania too. its wierd right? lots of Czechs and Pols feel the same in Texas. duno what it is about that area lol.
how did they end up in Brasil of all places ? didn't they like america or something ? what did they have against America that they would move to Brasil instead ???
@@Hero.Lone-Wolf actually, it's quite an interesting turn of history on it's own right. In the beggining of XX century and during WWI many empoverished Eastern Europeans fled Europe for Americas. And for anyone in Lithuania or Poland, 'America' meant US. Apparentlly, there was a widespred practice of lurring those uneducated emmigrants on ships bound to Southern America. My own grand-uncle found himself on one of those and eventually, in Brasil or Argentina where he has perrished in some local armed conflict. So yeah, you can find quite a few people of Lithuanian and Polish decent there :)
@@nunyastockson5901 no wonder about it.Ukraine is the creadle of Europe,where Anatolian farmers joined with stepe horse riders.All europeans have that DNA. Before Rome empire started to divide and rule Ukraine and Lithuania was one country between two seas. So that's genetic memory ,the only right way is to support Ukraine.
I´m a Latvian, proud of my Lithuanian brothers. In short, a Russian attempt to invade the Baltics would be utterly disastrous for Russia herself. Their whole tanks battalions would be wiped out before they even got drunk.
russia is a freaking joke i hope they invade nato country so the usa 🇺🇸 can finally step in and kick the shit out of the closet commmeeeesss all the way to moscow
Huge change from when I went out to live in Lithuania after independence. Then it was green buses and AK47s. Now it is a modern professional army. Mention should also be made of the volunteers in the Šaulių Sąjunga and the reserve and the fact that Lithuania has a proud tradition of Partisan warfare in the forests. Tegyvuoja Lietuva!
Might I add that Lithuania has a history of being able to set aside beliefs for freedom of Lithuania even the most polarising and extremist groups have come together to fight for Lithuania
Those three Baltic countries are incredibly underrated, they deserve recognition for the growth they made since the fall of the USSR. I lived there for a while and I can safely say that Baltic people are the best!
Come to Luthuania and ask ordinary people how they enjoying and instead this pure propaganda and lies in the comments withbhelp of UA-cam, u will get real peoples answers. As a Luthuanian, I only hope in God and waiting Armageddon - this western mad society shouldn't exist. If God wouldn't listen me - my hope's in to Putin and Trump, may they will liberate us from FAKE NEWS lies and propaganda, mass cenzorship and LGBT agenda.
@@arunassl876 Yes, we have most rapidly developing economy in the pre-war (before 1940) Europe, unfortunately after collapse of the USSR in 1990 and introducing demoNcracy withouth freedom's, we don't have our economy. We just surviving by the EU donations. And now we even don't have freedom of speech - it all under control of our democratically unelected regime and its Western dictatorships.
I am from Lithuania and I recently started following your videos, Cappy, after Russia invaded Ukraine. I found your channel interesting and informative. And boy, was I surprised when you have covered my countries military capabilities. It is true, that we are quite worried about possible Russian invasion in the future here. As long as Russia is not a democracy, the threat will always be there.
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland- we know really good, because the history, who is real enemy. We all prepare, because who do not prepare, those country ground will by enemy soldiers boots. Good video Dude! And from Estonia - greetings for all Lithuanian brothers of arms!
Seems like a great country. A success story of democracy & modernity, and a country in stark contrast to Russia. Stay safe Lithuanians 👍 love from India 🇮🇳
@@sujaykrishnanath82 no anxiety, people are proud happy and brave. Ruzzkies would have to fight the whole population, not just army. Plus we have allies and we are part of Nato.
Great video man! I'm from Lithuania and I'm thankful for you guys in the USA for helping us out. You support our military and local bars in Lithuania 😀 I've sat together with a few American soldiers over a beer in my hometown, where there is a military base. Great guys and gals!
@@chankanyy924 There are plenty of us who travel to the America. Your country is huge and our population isn't that big... 🙂 I planning on visiting one day. I want to see space shuttle up close.
Lithuanian society was never communist. It was occupied by communist russia but it never inherited its "values" . Moreover Lithuania had a strong society before WW2. Most of it values comes from Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later from Poland-Lithuanian commonwealth
I am Lithuanian and I didn't know what we have exactly. This analysis has made me pretty proud of what we have. The respect to our millitary has doubled. Thank you.
You have something even more valuable. You defeated the Red Army in 1918 and 1919. Then you stood up to the USSR in the late '80s and early '90s and forced it to admit the conspiracy between the USSR and Germany in '39. That's courage and tenacity. You, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, and Ukraine all have a history of punching up and making it count. Nato ought to consider it blessed to have the Baltic states and Poland in the alliance. (BTW, the four were warning about Putin for years yet that hag Merkel kept on dismissing it.) Finland appears to be in soon. And hopefully Ukraine. If I were Russian, I'd be scared as well.
We, Lithuanians, also have 1 secret weapon, that was not mentioned in the video- we already know what it's like to be part of USSR. Due to this, we would fight back not just because some higher up told us to, but because we wanted to. This is a big thing, because Ukraine is in the same boat- their people are not fighting for some BS thing, but for their lives and ability to be independent. In the words of our cousin Poland president Duda "Let them come, we have enough place to build graves for them". P.S. Great video nonetheless, I really enjoyed seeing 'the machines' covered in detail.
They had the choice to be independent by going to Minsk, but no, they chose war instead, they chose fascism over unilateralism, they could have had everything. Cheap energy from Russia, markets for their products around the world....a rich and prosperous country but unfortunately they were to corrupt and to stupid and easily suduced by america neo-cons....who couldn't care less about the people of Ukraine any more than they cared for the people of Afganistan. What a tragedy
@@samsungtap4183 either you're a russian yourself, or you're living far away from Russia and you really don't know what it's like to live under russian influence or rule. You see how poorly russians are performing in this war? How their tanks are lacking fuel and spare parts? How their 'frozen' tanks in garages are all unfit? That's because of the corruption - a mind blowing mentality of 'steal everything and anything that is not tied to the ground'. Same corruption comes to your country if you allow russians to step in. No freedom of speech, no other opinions, no independence - that's what you get under russian influence. We have a saying - "better dead, than red" ('red' used to mean commies, but is applicable to russians as well). Cheap fuel is good, peace is great, but freedom - priceless! Greeting from Lithuania - Слава Україні!
@@samsungtap4183 i hope you're not serious here. There are ZERO countries which choose to be friends with russia and still maintain any good economy. Russia has a very low import potential, due to majority of wealth there being spread by tiny amount of people, also the constant lust for influence by russians. Being independent is not possible here in eastern Europe, russia makes sure of that.
do you really know what was it like in USSR or did you just "read" and heard about it...? Most people in youtube are too young to know what it was like, me included. THe people i asked about USSR times - i got mixed opinions, some liked and were loving life in USSR, some hated it. The history books in school always said that it was awful, etc. But if you ask lower income people, they are a lot more poor under capitalism, than they were in ussr. On top modern russia is not USSR. Sure they lack democracy, but in lithuania not much is different. Protesters are mocked or dispersed, always only one mainstream opinion and pretty much no opposition to anything goverment decides (covid), etc. Of course its a bit better than in russia, but far cry from examples of democracies, like "Germany". Anyone who would dare to try and protest for pro-russia would end up in jail without any trial in lithuania. Courts are extremely corrupt in lithuania, just the same like in russia. Freedom of speech is not that free, plus censorship and propaganda on a daily basis. Example, even if i dont support it, there was "pro russian" war protest in germany - i dont agree with such stupidity, but thats what "freedom of speech" means, while in Lithuania, there is no such thing. Many examples which i lived through myself, D kedys, Paksas, covid, russia, belarus, china, etc. No opposition to mainstream view was allowed and all due protocols and laws were disregarded to fit their own narrative and if you dared to say ANYTHING against such measures - you would get instantly fined. And on those first two "contraversial" cases judges and courts were extremely biased and corrupt.
I am English and have lived in Lithuania for 6 years. Their economy has grown incredibly since they gained independence that's why they are called the baltic Tiger. Putin and Lukashenko can see the progress and success the ordinary Lithuanian people have made and they are scared that Russians and Belarusians want the same, hence why they are desperately trying to hold onto power. The younger generation in Russia and Belarus can see through all the shit of these dictators. Lithuania is a great country, they are tough, proud, hard working people, but really shit drivers lol.
Yeah no, I am from the Baltics(Latvia) and it's a fucking shithole mate, getting worse every year. Got so bad I had to flee the country a few years ago. The only thing you mentioned correctly is that "The younger generation"(zoomers really) as you put it, is more susceptible to brainwashing, because kids don't know any better. If Russia wanted to take control over the Baltics, they wouldn't even need to send personnel. Just arm the local population and we'll liberate it from NATO terrorists our damn selves.
Cappy, this is one of the best videos that you have made. As an American, I'm really impressed that a small country such as Lithuania is so well trained and armed. These guys seem to know what they are doing and also take their country's security seriously. They really seem to have something of value to take to the fight when Putin expands his reach into the Baltic states. Great video.
@Paol Vrobel read my comment again. Since the Russians took over most of the region starting in the 1600’s they’ve only had independence from the 1920’s to 1940, and then from 1991 to today, so roughly 50 years. Lithuania is a bit different but the Russians had conquered most of it in the 1700’s. So my point still stands.
If Lithuania doesn't go woke, it looks bound to be a formidable ally to the principles of living in free and independent nations, including partnerships against totalitarianism.
@Paol Vrobel Latvia and Estonia didint exist as states until 1918. Speaking about a Lithuania we had a Grand dutchy of Lithuania after 1569 Polish-Lithuania Comelwealth 1795 this country was occupied by Russia, prusia and Austria, and only after the ww1 we created a "modern: Lithuania state. After ww2 Baltic states have been occupied by Soviet union and we regained independents after Soviet union collapsed. So here a fast recap
I have spent some time in Lithuania, and I absolutely loved it! The people are very welcoming. Also they have a strong distaste for Russia. the former KGB office in Vilnius is horrific .
Love the video! A Lithuanian here, for context, the reason freedom worked in Lithuania is because we have a long tradition of with. With Poland we were the first country in Europe and second i the world to write a constitution, we were a free country before soviet occupation and we regarded it as such. As soon as we won our independance, we established free a country. The trick to making this work was not really doing anything, we were already a freedom loving people, it came from within.
Thanks for video! Great job 👏 I didn't know much about Lithuanian brothers Army and now I know quite a lot! And to Lithuanians, linkėjimai ir daug meilės iš centrinės Lenkijos! (Yes I used Google translate 😅 because only word I know is labas)
Witam! Glory to LITPOLUKRBRIG based in Lublin! Too bad Ukraine never got to join NATO to ensure it's security. Then the united brigade could've been there as well to help them :/
Lithuanian here, thank you for making such an informative video, I really appreciate it and learned a lot about my own country. We might be small but believe me we are fierce and ready to fight for our freedom no matter what it takes because Soviet - Occupation history is still very much alive in our collective consciousness. Thank you our American, Nato friends for your support, together we are strong and united. As the old latin adage "Si vis pacem, para bellum" translates “If you want peace, prepare for war” is exactly what we are doing. Our brothers Ukrainians have shown to the whole world that high morale and readiness to fight is way important than having a more powerful army. Slava Ukraini!
I'm russian living in Lithuania since my childhood and I'm really proud of this small country! Each year I see big changes and better life (although people in Lithuania are really complaining type, even when things are better than everywhere else :D ). By living here alone I still can let myself more than my relatives in Russia, have more stability in future, and rely more on our system and even politics :) Lithuania is the future!
Nice , BUT you and your Russian peers are kinda the problem, aren't you? Isn't Putin coming to protect you and all the russian speakers? That is for example why we don't welcome you in Czech Republic!
exactly! In my opinion not as much as complaining, but more like impatient. Our country is clearly getting better and I think it's not long until the gap in living standards between the Western countries decrease enough to see our compatriots returning back home.
Volunteered to join Lithuanian infantry after the 2014 events in Ukraine. Took part in Iron Sword NATO training event. Now I am 11B in 10th Mountain division of US Army since I moved to United States right before the pandemic. Glad to see the great detail and effort while making this video. 2 things I would've mentioned. 1st is our "SOP" Special forces. Internationally they have been making a name for themselves in helping NATO piecekeeping missions. And last but not least is our paramilitary organizations like Rifleman's Union. They are essentially state authorized milita that provided their own gear. In recent years there has been a big growth in their numbers to the point of some big name local celebrities joining. Other then that great video as always. God bless.
Trained with some Lithuania soldiers in 2014 in Germany, they are awesome and knew their shit. They also had just enough crazy in them lol. They got sent back early cause a platoon of them was drinking at a local bar and some drunk germans decided to talk shit about Lithuania, the germans got their ass kicked, Polizei showed up and they kicked their asses too and took their clubs. German riot police showed up or in their words "Police show up, we fight, we win. More police show up with shields and bigger clubs. An all out brawl between them and the Polizei takes place and they had a big struggle taking them down and over half of the Lithuania guys got away lol. They also train heavily towards taking on Russia. So I would say they are ready lol. Trading cigarettes and stories with them was my favorite park of each night.
What kind of a bullshit commentary! You are hopefully fully aware that Germany is the lead nation of NATO‘s enhanced forward presence in Lithuania. German Leopard II MBTs are bolstering Lithuanians defence against Russia. The PzH 2000 Lithuania is using are former German Army howitzers.
Cappy, you made a video about the Puma IFV. The Puma variant that was shown in your video was the Puma version that was developed for NATO’s enhancement forward presence in Lithuania. Namely the VJTF 2023 force for Lithuania!
Lol ,they should've just gotten on The Drunk Bus and gone back to the barracks. I was stationed in Germany for 19 mos and never saw or got into any fights .
Hi Cappy, thanks for covering my country! I'd also like to add that Lithuanians have organised paramilitary called "Lithuanian riflemen Union" that is also over 10k strong and getting stronger. They are organised and trained for local territory defense with partisan tactics.
The reason why Lithuania did so well after the collapse of the USSR is that Lithuania was never communist to begin with, nor the Soviets manage to crack society fully. Occupant 'russification' process including bringing rotten Russian values like abuse, 'dedovshina' etc. did not stick. Lithuania through all the occupation period was extremely resistant, kept its language and certain amount of individuality. Also, Lithuania is not Slavic, through the ages Lithuania was always European, had very interesting and innovative governmental traditions, and simply has a different mentality. Lithuania was also one of the richest countries in USSR, you could clearly see the developmental and general order difference in Russia and Lithuania. These are just few reasons why in Lithuania democracy flourished, in short it was always like that, Russia just robbed this country of a chance to shine and locked it in Russian darkness for over half a century.
@@vikses8017 Yes, economical and societal development stats are very good. Lithuania had to build statehood from scratch and managed to get into EU/NATO all within a decade or so. Compared to countries that were Soviet or were occupied by the Soviet Russia, Baltic states are leaders and doing very very well. Another decade they'll fully catch-up with the European levels. I don’t see what is so funny for you?
Lithuanian here. I am very appreciative of your video. I feel like you praised us to much but got the right tone. The military has always been seen in high regard in our culture, I am happy with there progress. Težydi Lietuva!
This needs to be a series. Do every country in NATO. I mean every, even US GB, etc. Because it will become a reference collection for understanding of those militaries.
A great video! During my service I had the pleasure of training with American soldiers, and let me tell you: some of the best guys I've ever met. Professional, friendly, easy going. I still have that Gerber multitool that one of them traded for my simple knife :) One thing that I thought would be mentioned, is our SOF, I feel like it's the crown jewel of Lithuanian Armed Forces, some proper hard men serve there. It's nice to see our efforts being recognized and praised, I'm so happy we're a part of NATO, all of us are, and if the time comes for us, or for anyone in the Alliance - you can bet on it, that we will do our part.
They have a great army. I did a CULP mission there in 2015 and I was impressed with their professionalism. In 2017 when I was in Poland supporting our 4th ID 3rd brigade in Eastern Europe, Lithuania was one of the best all around forces. They understand that they are in right in the gap.
You can rely on Eastern Europe NATO Allies. We are small units but feisty lol. Plus never took seriously 'communism' dropped by Soviets/Reds/Russians on our soils after 2nd World War occupations by the Reds. If we rebelled (Hungary 1953, 1956, Czeckoslovakia 1968), next day Russian tanks in our streets. No wonder why all were super glad to rejoin European family and Transatlantic Alliance in NATO. God bless and Happy Easter!
@@karkevicius As a Lithuanian-American I've almost given up arguing this point lol. That and being called a Slav rather than a Balt. It's a running joke among my friends that they started referring to it as Central Europe teasingly (because I would always remind them that we are the geographical center of Europe of course).
Cool review. As a Lithuanian I have only one correction - we have virtually no natural resources. The most valuable is water and... ehm, may be gravel. And being small we choose the right strategy - if you can not be a rhino, be a honey badger.
Honey Badgers fighting cobras and other animals... That's exactly how we (Lithuanians) would fight russian Orcs... ua-cam.com/video/4r7wHMg5Yjg/v-deo.html&ab_channel=czg123
A little offtopic; I always felt it was unfair that Lithuania ended up being such a small country. Up to the end of 18th century they were HUGE and together with Poland were a local superpower for centuries.
To be fair, very little of the land Lithuania controlled was actually Lithuanian. While we certainly did not get all of our rightful lands back after regaining independance, we got cut a very good deal, getting to keep both our only port city of Klaipeda and our historical capital of Vilnius.
@@PrograError Culturally and historically, yes. It is very important land to Lithuania, having originally been the home of the Baltic Prussians. After the german takeover many Lithuanians lived in the surrounding region for centuries.
What was called Lithuania during Union with Poland was also today's Belarus and Ukraine, so you can't compare. Anyway, it would be the best solution to have all of above working closely together, I always hope one day Belarus could join the party, they are wonderful people and deserve much better fate than being stuck under potato warlord for decades.
Only comment I have is that Lithuania continued to resist the Soviet Union after 1945, even as late as 1960. Stalin tried to suppress the Lithuanian language and the church, but this just encouraged continued resistance. The main reason the resistance failed was that it was betrayed in London by Kim Philby. So Lithuania never really had any reason to like Russia, even after the Soviets drove the Nazis out.
@@ElBandito Russia has a centuries long problem of invading and thugging its neighbors, that's why neighboring countries have to armed to the teeth. And that makes Russian "insecure". LOL LOL Russian leaders need mental help for insecurity.
I am lithuanian and what I heard from elderly people who where children during WWII, that nacis soldiers were way nicer compared to russians. Except for Jewish... But least russians wasn't so picky. They killed a lot of intellectuals in attempt to destroy our identity. We are feeling the consequences till this day.. And I fear that now they are doig same in Ukraine. Ukraine stay strong 💪❤
Yep, my Uncle Albinas' brother Bronas was a 'Forest brother' until caught by the Soviets and summarily shot beside a road not far from where he was caught in the early 50's if I remember right. I have pictures of the 'Hill of Crosses'' my Dad took when he went back in '91. Soviets would bulldoze it down, the people would start building it up again. And alot of people there preferred the Germans to the Soviets back in the day. Too much Russian rule before and after WW2...
As a British serviceman, I have served on COIN and other training teams in Lithuania as part of the Royal Irish Regiment for the past 12 years. If Russia touched LT, the UK is in there immediately, proactively imo. Vilnius is pretty much paired with Belfast. I mean the tie is actually closer than what Ukraine's is, and we sent training teams there as well, but not for as long. No one's fucking with our 'Lithos' :) I would just like to add that driving to training areas through Lithuanian built-up areas is bad for a soldier's (neck) health....all the women are bloody stunning. And yeah, bit dumb just assuming you lot are the only ones training them. A carry-on from you hating to mention anything British or their units while using 33% British footage??
We absolutely do have a lot of training with our British brothers, in fact we had training or some joint ops with almost every NATO member state, it is natural that we spent more time with some more than others, and UK is definitely in top 5 maybe even top 3. We had training with some non NATO members too like Sweden and Finland.
Clearly Putin is RIGHT, from you own post...the training and supply of weapons in eastern Europe is unexceptable...Are you aware that 2 World wars started in eastern Europe ? ..probably not...when China starts training and suppling sophisticated weapons to IRAN you'll sing a different tune then.... actually i think you'll go disco....THE BLOOD OF EVERY SINGLE UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN IS ON NATOs hands
I've traveled around Lithuania several times, wonderful people. They also have done a better job than any other country in documenting all the Holocaust sites. Glad they are on our team, in NATO. All of Europe is going to have to step up to the plate and spend lots more money on defense.
Pretty sad that many countries have to spend more money on defense just because a few other nations are hostile and insist on being threats to more peaceful countries.
I'm a Lithuanian, I was lucky to have a history teacher who cared about this topic deeply, but overall many Lithuanians still lack the sense of the scale of our participation in Holocaust. in many instances Lithuanian Jews were murdered by the locals before Germans even showed up..
Belgium (which have an oversized air force compared to other military branches... or is it the other branches that are undersized ?) is part of the permanent sky policing mission over the Baltic countries. As a Belgian, I'm very happy of it, even though I think we should do more to share the burden with those allies that are at the most probable frontline and make the whole alliance territory an even safer place.
Belgium should invest more in there landforce... wich is currently begging for more modern ecuipment. They always invest in the airforce... but the landforce is one thats the most important for us.... (Belgian myself).
@@arunassl876 the whole concept of Belgian military is somehow complicated as the concept of Belgium is 😅 But I'd like to know more about that Lithuanian part since it seems to have been almost completely forgotten
I am honored to have such a country like Lithuania in NATO. Your people are such an inspiration to me. I would never vote for a politician that would abandon any NATO member, especially after it bled for us in Afghanistan after 9/11.
Why aren’t they sending everyone who is evacuating Ukraine to military training so they can go back and fight Russia? I heard 2.5 million have evacuated already. Every one of them 15 and older should receive military training. After 3 months the best 500,000 of them could be sent back with sufficient supplies and weapons to slaughter the Russian army. They can then proceed to take an extra 500 miles of Russia as payback for what Russia has done.
@@oopsm3574 Half my family was deported to Siberia in the 50's because they owned farm land. Others jailed for simply speaking Lithuanian. In the 90's my father fought during Lithuanian independence. I do not support the West or NATO blindly, I support it because my country would not exist without it.
As a German who served and worked later in Lithuania, yes it is a small country. But remember those old stories that your granny told you about your weird neighbour who always seemed friendly, but 100% capable of ripping you a new one? And not because of strength or skill, but just because he is that kind of savage? Yeah......that's LT for you. I love them deeply, love their culture, food and hospitality, but I rather go back to Stalingrad then mess with them
As a Lithuanian, I agree with this message 🤭🤭 we may look calm and friemdly but if you dare to do something to us, boy oh boy better pray cuz shit's going down👀
Where were those savages when Lithuanian partisans were lying in their mass unnamed graves in 1956? Maybe if it would've never happened if what you were yapping in here were true, but that's just a wild guess...
Lithuanian here, thank you for the video and for the protection. Military budget is likely to be increased to 3%, which means more vehicles, bases, personnel, drones, guns and equipment. At least third of country is forests, it is very scary place for russians :)) Together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland we stand together even before Nato steps in.
Really informative video. But to add some new things, news from our country - Budget spending up to 2,52% gdp from this year, Plans to buy 100 more units of Boxer Apc, 8x Black Hawk helo with full combat kits, Whole infrastructure expansion to host all foreign military personnel and vehicles, Plans (not clear witch ones) to buy SAM systems (maybe Patriot) And More tba.
Thank you for giving some respect to the Lithuanians. I met a naval officer of theirs while he was in an exchange program with USNA way back in 2002. He was a good dude.
As an American, I have a great deal of respect to Lithuania and its strides to prepare and be a part of NATO. The video was eye opening and I have to say the least. Nantucket Mass has a small but very enthusiastic Lithuanian community. The recent immigrant parents have set up a school to teach their children, born on Nantucket, the Lithuanian language, food culture and traditions. In 2017, our local historical association had a Celebration of Lithuania that was part of a bigger cultural clebration series- music, dancing and more. Go Lithuania!
Small world lol... my parents and many other family members and friends performed in that cultural celebration event. Having the long and painful history that Lithuania has with Russia, and today sharing a border with Russia and her pet dog (Belarus) means Lithuanians intimately know the price of freedom and what it takes to preserve it. This video covered the military aspects of self-preservation and you've experienced some of the cultural self-preservation; which is a celebration of our history and culture but also a hedge against an outcome where military defense wasn't enough. I was born and raised in the US but still speak exclusively Lithuanian with family because many of them fled to the US when Lithuanian was banned as a language and Russians tried to wipe out our culture. Resistance is in our blood. Anyways, small world. Greetings from NH.
@@iinsomniaaaaa Geras! You don't need my assurance. We born loving USA lol. Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and USA I would say our closest friends.
Historically, Lithuania has more relations and ties to Ukraine than russia has. Ukraine was peacefully part of the Polish Lithuania Commonwealth while, later on, were forced to be part of Russia against their will. The same goes for Crimea due to the Crimean Khanate's Cossacks seeing themselves as more Polish, Lithuanian and / or Ukrainian.
Right. A very good cultural example are the names of months. Every country in Europe AFAIK call them according Roman / Latin: January, February etc. Only Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian kept their old and very meaningful names so far.
@@arunassl876 January - Styczeń February - Luty March - Marzec April - Kwiecień May - Maj June - Czerwiec July - Lipiec August - Sierpień September - Wrzesień October - Październik November - Listopad December - Grudzień Those are 🇵🇱 names of months, most of them are related to nature(Listopad literally means "falling leaves" and Kwiecień is a month that got its name from core word "Kwiat" which stands for flower, so you can assume it's a month when you see blossoming flowers & trees)
Just yesterday Lithuanian MoD announced that they will be acquiring over 100 more Boxer "Vilkas" IFV's bringing a total amount a little bit above 200, also intended to purchase Switchblade drones.
The UK needs to sort out a turreted version. After the Warrior upgrade cancellation we're buying Boxer but so far only ordered versions with a 50cal. We should have had Boxer years ago given we were one of the original design partners.
Oh we buying more wolf apcs? (Vilkas translates to wolf iron wolf story is a myth that's explain foundation of Lithuanian capital Vilnius " Vilnius - Vilkas" you can see why capital is named that way :) )
Why aren’t they sending everyone who is evacuating Ukraine to military training so they can go back and fight Russia? I heard 2.5 million have evacuated already. Every one of them 15 and older should receive military training. After 3 months the best 500,000 of them could be sent back with sufficient supplies and weapons to slaughter the Russian army. They can then proceed to take an extra 500 miles of Russia as payback for what Russia has done.
MASSIVE respect to Lithuanai! Poland is 100% with you and the rest of the Baltics! We know Russia better than anyone, with the exception of Ukraine, who is now fighting valiantly like a lionness defending its cubs from the hyenas. Eastern Europe truly is the bulwark against the red plague.
Hailing from Finland, the Lithuanians I have come across are no joke. You don't fuck with determined free people. Joining NATO is a nice bonus of course. NEVER undermine determination of defence. I'm sure nobody needs to press this particular point in 2022.
When i served in Lithuanias military there wasn't much of an idea to defend and win, we trained hard as an infantrymen to give those fuckers a fight, thats all we knew, thats what we would do, fight untill there would be no one to fight, our granparents were partisans we train with them tactics, even if we get overrun and lose control of country we were trained to make our land for ocupants a real hell from wich they would wanna wake up from
There are quite a few mistakes (like land area, and its comparison vs UK, deliveries of Vilkas finished in 2021, land rich in resources, soviet flag on our partisan, no mention of the army being underfunded terribly before 2014 and still feeling shortages, the '3% GDP goal', etc), however the video got better as it went on.
High quality equipment in the hands of smart dedicated people is the way you keep the peace. Nobody wants war. Great job Lithuania. Thank you for a great report.
My grandfather was Lithuanian. He fought the Russians and Germans in World War Two . He lost his brother after Germany surrendered when he joined the partisans to fight the occupiers. Lithuania will not bend over easily ever again.
My grandfathers village was burned down by soviets with people locked in inside granary. He lived by hiding in a forest. He hated talking about these times. And everyone here has similar stories about their grandparents. As we can see russian style did not change. However if they decide to come here again, we are ready to meet them appropriately
@@fvllgrey that's some funny copium :D they don't even have that many males, never mind that only 30% are of age suitable for military. And even then they would be untrained and not equipped. You would think even russian bots would understand the meaning of logistics after their failure in ukraine
@@cud0s This war in Ukraine is successful. Everything is going according to plan. Moreover, only young guys were mobilized, without any experience, with poor military equipment and old tanks. It's impressive
Thanks for this very, very interesting video -- so very well done. Appears as if the Lithuanian military can punch with the big boys and come out a winner. What a great partner country for NATO! -- A salute from a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer. 👍
One of the most important factors of modernizing Lithuanian Armed Forces was the change of military culture implemented by Gen. Jonas Kronkaitis. Former Lithuanian emmigrant who fled Soviet invasion of Baltics in 1944, he've made a carreer in the US Army and returned to Lithuania after Restitution of Independece in 90s. He has introduced US training system and replaced most of the Soviet trained officers with those of Western trainning. Crucial here were American sergeants and military education exchange programms for LTU officers that helped to move swiftly from Soviet/Russiant "I'm the boss, you're the dumb" command style towards competent and integral one. US National Guard has trained Lithuanian Homeland Defence Voluntiers in territorial defence, something that Lithuanian later taught Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces. From the very beggining Lithuanian military were trained to be integral part of NATO forces, to interact, coordinate and bring their expertise in Special Operations and guerilla warfare. Thus, you could observe quite interesting LTU contribution on various theatres of military operations. E.g. Lithuanian SOF Aitvaras (means both 'Kite' and old Pagan 'Spirit') operations in Afghanistan were highly mobile KTM EXC-R 530 mounted biker troups cuccessfully controlled big territory by small numbers. And since you can see now how Ukrainian Armed Forces prevale qualitatively over numerically superior Russian army, you can appreciate how military culture and NATO-standard training makes a difference. Plus, some wicked modern equipment, of course :D
As someone seeking to fight with the Dutch army I can confidentally say that Lithuania is our and NATO's main ally and stronghold in case the Ukrainian conflict goes any further and that we have been and will continue sending troops and key supplies to our strong ally Lithuania
Great video. Seems like a sensible strategy to me! Good on them getting training and operational experience wherever they can. I'd love to see similar for other nations like the other Baltics, Poland, Finland and Eastern European nations.
This comment sections is gold! My quote of the month goes to James Lynn memories about working with Lithuanians in Afghanistan [2005]: "They [Lithuanians] also despised the Russians with a passion."
huge thanks to our viewer
'Big0h' for catching an error I said NATO target is 3% for defense spending it's actually 2% ! I now realize why I said "correct me if I'm wrong" before saying it haha
I was about to write the correction - 2%
It would probably be a good idea to pin this correction to the top. Thanks!
UK 242495 km², Lithuania 65300 km². How is that 2 times smaller? It's 3.71 times smaller.
Can you do poland
@@daliuskal Grunt-Math, that's how. :-)
Braliukas would NEVER have to fight alone, Latvian bros will always fight by your side!
Right back at you, bro. Shoulder to shoulder.
Davis Neretnieks, Ačiū braliukas!
Paldies.
Åll Baltic countries will fight side by side :)
Correct! All 3 countries should be compared combined.
Tomorrow I’m also going to Riga from Šiauliai so our bonds are close in bad and goos days! 🤣
Labas to all the Lithuanians, American soldier here currently serving in Lithuania. The population is really nice and welcoming Ačiū for everything :)
Ty for helping our country🇺🇲🇱🇹
@@lodreamo5965 helping it into self destruction, you mean?
Thank you, @Nathan! You can't imagine how important your service in Lithuania is not just for Lithuanians... but for the security of Europe and NATO. Huge respect and gratitude to you.
Thank you for your service! Lithuanians really appreciate it! :)
Thank you for your service!
I'm Latvian, but I'm grateful for my Lithuanian brothers
Doctor Doom is the hereditary ruler of Latvia and arch-enemy of the Fantastic Four. 😃😃😃😃😃
Labdien braliukas lots of love from Lithuania ;)
ayyy Im grateful for you too brolau.
I am American, and I am grateful we have the baltics on our side. Definitely a win-win scenario.
Love Lithuania 🇱🇹 ❤
Poland support Lithuanian 4ever.
For You'r and Our Freedom - Forever.
From Poland!
Dziękuję Ci !
What is really are a true freedom? Sadly but humans are slaves to everything (
Dziękuję
A lithuanian here too; i am absolutely stunned that you actually decided to cover our military in an entire, dedicated video. I used to be really excited hearing mere mentions of our little country in some of the older content, yet never did i expect for our military and strategy to get so much attention. Thank you for making my day with this video, keep up the good job, and may the need for us to deploy our forces for homeland defence never arise. Wishes from Lithuania, to the US.
Well not too long ago Ukraine would’ve been a side line mention also. I think this conflict highlighted how a small, motivated and well equipped military can be so effective. It’s making many people re-evaluate their outlook on smaller nations armed forces.
i'm Lithuanian and I'm gonna say something in Lithuanian for ia "eik šikt"
@@stevenrodriguez763 hey man it's a good thing these small militaries are easy for the larger nations such as the USA/UK to aid. We can make a large difference
I have mates in the Canadian Forces that have trained and trained with the Lithuanians. They say they're very able troops!
Z
Former US Army signalier here. I did a 3-month mission in Lithuania in 2017, on a Lithuanian army basic training base in the Suwalki Gap. Every male Lithuanian is required to complete their 9-month basic training, and then at the end for those who wish to remain in the military they go through a competitive process of interviews and essays. My squad was also attached to a Lithuanian brigade HQ in Hohenfels for Allied Spirit 2018. The benefit of their intensive training was clear as they gave the OPFOR (US Army Infantry) a run for their money and they frequently had to pause and reposition as the Lithuanians were pushing them back too fast for the observers to keep up. They were also incredibly friendly and shared their ham with us. I have nothing but respect and admiration for those guys.
Sorry but I have to correct you. Not every male Lithuanian is required to complete their 9-month basic training. There is a lottery every year, where a number (more than 3000 so basically 1/4 because there are around 12000 boy births every year) of random men aged 18-26 are selected as conscripts (however people can volunteer). However now we are considering to make it mandatory for everyone who graduates from school (maybe even females, but that probably won't happen) but we don't have the right amount of money for that (for both training and equipment).
Still, much love from Lithuania :)
@@josephphilips1129 You're right on that but universal conscription is coming over the next few years.
@@DS.J thank "God ( moshiach ) for that......
@@DS.J It is in discussions but there is no agreement yet. It would cost a lot, because all reserve soldiers require reserve of equipment as well. There is no point in having reserves without ability to supply them if a need to call on them appears.
As a lithuanian my self this does put a smile on my face
Romanian here. My respect to Lithuania went to the roof, I knew the people there are great but the progress they did in the last years is crazy! Love and peace to you all!
Mutual respect, Romanian Bro! 🍻
Salut
Best point of view is: hope for peace, but prepare for war.
The truth is that Russians are really lazy. And to make them want to take up weapon, there must be a serious reason. A serious threat. For example, NATO approaching their borders and inspiring their neighbors that without America they will be invaded by the Russians. And that forces Russia to increase its military power, because it feels threatened. When the threat becomes too real, and Us Eu monetary and military injections into neighbor countries are huge, the Russian Federation has no other choice but to take up arms and weaken this threat. But in reality Russia doesn’t want foreign territories, Russians are too lazy. But no one believes it. Everyone believes America, not noticing what it has done to other countries (wars) to enrich itself. So yes, now that’s war Russia vs NATO. Ukraine is just a bargaining chip((
Nice to know who do not use brains. If your neighbour buy gun, you definetly need to go to him and try to kill.
Lithuania, you have polish support. We were once a power together as Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and still we are. Greetings from Poland 👋
@@ian2372 Trust me bro ,you are not the thinker.
Poland and the "Forest Brothers" only have to fight in one direction. Russia has never beaten Poland without allies in the west. NATO now lies to the west.
@@ian2372🤮🤮🤮🤮🤡🤡🤡🤡
I'm a US military vet 11h, and duel LT citizen. I would fight for LT if were invaded. 🇱🇹🇺🇸❤️
Thank you
Hope Russia wipes you all out. Z
Awesome, more cannonfodder for the drones and artillery. USA hasnt been in real symmetrical War since Korean War in the 1950s you being a Vet fighting sandal wearing third world people means crap
Putin getting his arse kicked by Ukraine. I cannot see him being dumb enough to attack any NATO country after that!
German Reserve Soldier here (23. Gebirgsjägerbrigade, 231. Battalion). The Lithuanians always have been great to excercise & work with together and i'm happy Germany currently has New Presence in Lithuania from the 10. Panzerdivision.
Also thank you for your Coverage and how and where Germany is supportive. If you read Twitter and Reddit you'd believe the past 30 Years of Germany training, supporting and excercising with Baltic Countries never happened. Hell, i excercised and worked with Polish, Croatian and Ukrainian Soldiers in my many Years of Service and i never met one Soldier of these Countries who wasn't happy and supportive of us working with them and vice versa
Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps
Slava Ukraini!
Thanks from Ukraine for support ;)
thanks for your service good sir! Germany does a ton of work with Lithuania I never realized that before making this video
i mujst have missed the spot where germany was mentioned in this vid, though the Panzerhaubitzen are from Rheinmetal, right?
@Chartreux. Are you in the Karwendel area? If so I have seen your barracks. 🇬🇧👍
I was a spec ops combat medic and when i went through Ranger School in the states... we had an officer from Lithuania in our class. He was EASILY my favorite officer in our group. He had his shit together and he was very easy to work with. He inspired confidence with his organizational skills and easy to follow directions. He also had a naturally positive demeanor at all times. Really, really good dude.
Did you really write you were a spec ops medic. I would have smoked the shit out of you in 1st Batt. Are you a qualified ninja also? My point quiet professionalism used to be a thing in the Regiment, before Hollywood Navy Seals made personal glory more important than operational security. As ranger School has dropped all requirements to allow females to attend, it seems you now have time to sit around and form jolly friendships. Did share stories of cookies and milk?
Spec Ops Ninja Medic. It's cool the military gives out tabs to all that requests.
Too many "veterans" with accounts created in 2022, how beautiful. Reminds me of that copypasta with "gorilla warfare."
@@danasbuozius317 Classic Lithuanian slave, cattle farms in Poland are waiting for you ;)
It seems that he must have also had an effective command of our language. That's impressive as well.
Former inf vet here who served in both Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
I am deeply honered how humble and friendly the people are in theese countries !
And it makes perfect sense that they all decided to join NATO! They are some badass warriors )
Thank you brother ❤️
Lithuania has my respect for supporting Taiwan against the CCP when rest of the europe was too much of a coward to do so. 💪🇱🇹
That was an utter stupid move.. actually..
Lithuania actually thought China was with Russia when they did that..
On March, Lithuania went visiting China
@@calvinblue894
Who are you fooling?
China is with Russia.
They are basically joined at the hip.
🔱🌻🔱🌻🇺🇦🌻🔱🌻🔱
@@tonycalderon8766 Depends on what .. actually..
Regards to Europe..China is not really with Russia..
That's where you guys don't see matters with good objectivity..
It's very poor judgement on your European leadership..you guys need to fix your bad leadership.
China, has matters of their own.. like dealing with USA..like their side of the world.
Russia has their own side of their world.
Towards Europe, actually.. being so far apart.. China has little issues against.
There are many European countries that do business with China.
To China, the weariness of Europe, is simply what happened during Opium Wars..China doesn't want to be bulled by Europe any longer.
But Europe..throughout last century.. haven't really had much connection to China...nor disturbed China.
Let me tell you that China is pretty clueless towards matters of Europe, before this War.
Chinese media never talks about Europe..prior..
Germany has a lot of business with China, you will be surprised that Germany actually protected Chinese from Japan during WW2.
Ukraine also had strong ties with China before the War, Ukraine was one of China's major BRI partner.
Lithuania was just some country far away for China to notice, it was Lithuania that attacked China couple of times first..China did nothing at that time to Lithuania.
The relationship between Russia and China is Common Enemy..USA..
That's what it is..
You can fact check..
I'm from ASEAN..we know our side of the world better than you
@@calvinblue894
China needs Russia and
Russia needs China.
This is not a relationship born out of love rather it is convenience and mutual paranoia that has thrown them together.
Chinese armaments are mainly russian made or designed which means they are mainly dependent on russia for upgrades. It is obvious that china wants to do business with everyone but when it comes to military matters you can not separate the United States from Europe.
In a conventional war, NATO is vastly superior to China in both sea power and air power. China's one obsolete
aircraft carrier is the only platform China has for projecting power. Pathetic!
Agreed
As a Ukrainian I am very impressed at how Lithuania is prepared for any conflict that might come their way, they are not messing around and putting their resources in what looks to be a smart game plan! 💯 😀 All small European countries should probably follow their example, because we are truly living in a time that has become very unpredictable. Great retrospective by the way, very detailed and easy to understand. 👍👏
Time is unprotected because enough is enough. Time to make the World an equal place for everybody. they couldn't listen until the table turn
Be safe, be strong, live long and prosperous.
Our prayers are with you from Taiwan.
@@taiwansivispacemparabellum9546 All Godly people everywhere are praying for the Ukraine. I'm with you from Arizona. There is an animal rescue group called UAnimals in the Ukraine that are working to save farm, zoo, and refugees pet animals and you can donate on Patreon. They are God's creatures also no matter who your God is.
The world is unsafe now because the global south has had enough of western hegemony and domination.
Not going to change anything
I've served in Lithuanian Armed Forces in 2009 and it was one of the best years in my life. As we say here in Lithuania - "Don't raise your weapon without a cause, don't lay it down without an honor."
Dėkui už tarnyba brol!
@@TheBlink247 Ir sutapk taip. Ta pati norejau pasakyt. Aciu musu vyrams ir merginoms uz tarnyba!
oh
Mano tarnavimo metai 1997-1998 ir jau tada visas rysis ir komunikacijos buvo sujungti su NATO bendroje erdveje. Tegul pabando ilyst pas mus.
Baigiau šauktinio tarnybą 2016-2017 (ėjau iškart po mokyklos savo noru), prieš metus pakvietė atgal atlikti rezervo mokymus, ir po mokymų, vėl uždegė tą liepsnelę, tai jau metai kaip karys-savanoris KASP'e :).
KASP'as išvis yra kažkas tokio. Kai žmonės atsitraukia nuo savo darbų, šeimos, ir civilinių gyvenimų ir šypsodamiesi murdosi po purvą ir išlaiko gerą nuotaiką net po poros parų be miego supranti, kad su šitais eiti į karą nebaisu :)
Poland will defend the Baltic States, no matter what Germany or France will want to negotiate with Moscow.
This bro.
Oh you ❤
Love from Lithuania
I lived in Vilnius and Lithuanians are the best people in the world. Respectful and brave, and they will take on Russia. My brother inlaw is in the army. I would not want to fight him, he is intelligent and willing to lay down for his country. Mile Tave Lietuva!
*Myliu :))
@@I_Cunt_Spell Russia will never succeed. They can’t even take Ukraine.
@@Kund1s Na nebūk, Kand1s lol. Gi stengiasi Benas.
Thank you from :) Lithuanian :)
Thank you!
Pennsylvania National Guard is the sponsor for Lithuania. I've worked with them multiple times and had some of their soldiers integrated into our scout platoon during our NTC rotation. They are great people, and well-trained soldiers and it was a pleasure working with them!
NATO training. Turns out it creates a formidable force. Liberal democracy FTW. Slava Ukraini!
California National Guard is Ukraine's sponsor, we kept hearing about a possible "security" deployment over there that never came, guess it was too hot even back in 2015
@@cactusjack1943 there is no such thing as liberal democracy .... you can vote as many times and however times you want .. you will still get same shit from all politicians who are beholden to their corporate donors !!!
I caught the "Bucket of Blood" Keystone patch on the soldier yo.
Lithuanian here, that month in NTC was amazing.
respekt from Poland, we will stand and deffend always our brothers
🇱🇹❤️🇲🇨
Lithuanians Poland will stay with You !!!
Just as Lithuania will always stand with Poland!
oh boy there is so many jokes about u guys but we still luv you
I hate poland, GIVE US WIFI
@@Santechnikas69 jokes are made for the superior race to intimidate them
Stronger together!
As a Lithuanian-American i am honestly stunned you decided to write about my little country. Awesome video. I think our entire military/economic/diplomatic strategy is basically to be a thorn in Russia's ass and help all like-minded nations as best we can. Labai jums ačiu!
Helmkamp is Lithuanian? Naw.....
did someone from your country honestly say that the task of the three Baltic countries is to be an irritant to Russia.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket broski, Baltics are not Eastern European, we are Northern.
There's also a permanent NATO precense in Lithuania. Netherlands has been a permanent supporting member of the efp mission together with Germany and other supporting countries. Lithuania may not have tanks of their own, but there are very capable tanks in the country.
thanks bro
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Tanks are not a liability, but bad tactics and completely outdated tanks are.
they put Germany to shame.. the richest country in Europe barely bothering with their defence, expecting other people to do it for them, for free... and lets not get into germany refusing to stop russian oil, because it will 'hurt' their economy- sometimes, doing the right thing is not necessarily the easy thing, but it must be done anyway...
@@iainansell5930 I don’t know what you are talking about. You need to update your infos. We are investing 150 billion € this year - we are third place after china with that.Also it’s not so much about oil, but about gas. 40% of our gas comes from Russia. You can’t just not take it. We don’t even have a LNG port!
@@WAJK2030 Germany did a one time panic buy; your base defense budget is still below your treaty obligation. Not having any LNG infrastructure to import from NATO allies and relying entirely on Russia was a massive and obvious vulnerability, only ignored because of key "investments" Putin made into German politicians.
I taught classes to the Lithuanian Army's Engineer Battalion from 1996 to 1999, both here and in country. Trust me, they'll fight!
no they wont.
@@kaimojepaslt Wrong! 😞
@@kaimojepaslt lithuanians are one of the most patriotic people in the world, trust me, im one of them.
Half Lithu and half Ukrainian. Much pride. 🇱🇹+🇺🇦💪🏻
Same here. I'm lithuanian, my dad and my grandpa also lithuanians. But my grandpa's dad was from Ukraine, that's why I have a non Lithuanian last name (nikolajenko)
@@nikoking4839 Not too far off the lithuanian version (Nikolajus) :))
@@Rokasas "Nikolajus" is not a Lithuanian last name, it's just the Lithuanian version of "Nikolaj"
If I want to translate my last name (Nikolajenko) it would be "Nikolajenkas". You can do it with all the last names when you become a citizen. I give you an example:
A guy from Poland with the last name "Juskevic" in Lithuania will be translated to "Juskevicius" (Juškevičius more exactly)
@@Rokasas also a fun fact. No matter if you chose the male or female version of my last name, they're both neutral. Like my grandpa and my grandma, both have the same last name "Nikolajenko" when usually the female version ends with an -A (Nikolajenka) but my uncle is the only one in the family that has chosen the one that ends with -A.
The only way to lose the neutral version is when a woman gets married, then she becomes Nikolajienkiene
@@nikoking4839 yup, i know, i'm a native lithuanian :)) Just saying that yeah lithuanians use Nikolajus for Nikolaj, or Nikolajenko in your case, as a matter of fact, it's not very uncommon, i know a few "nikolajai" myself :))
My sister in-law is Lithuanian. Managed to visit there a few years back, mainly the capital Vilnius. Beautiful country and great people. Maybe the most developed of the former Soviet countries. Also the food is excelent :D. Looking forward to visiting again soon. Much respect to the Lithuanian people, especially with the recent events and their support for Ukraine. Wish my country wold do much more in that regard. Greeting from Bulgaria!
hardly the most developed post soviet country, but it's alright, I guess
@@dirtysink373 it is though? name one thats more developed apart from estonia?
@@hypervenom6200 okay, for example Czech Republic. It has better GDP per capita, higher PPP, much lower unemployment rate, lower debt to GDP ratio and higher real GDP growth
@@dirtysink373 czech republic isnt a post soviet country lol
@@hypervenom6200 pretty sure Czech Republic was part of the Soviet empire lol
As a Lithuanian, I am happy you covered our country. Cheers man, I always watch your videos
I got the opportunity to train alongside some of your fellow Lithuanian soldiers when I did a training mission in Lativa, really squared away great people !
@@Taskandpurpose Latvia* dude
Thanks for this analysis of the Lithuanian army. Glad to see you taking interest in the Baltics. Will you cover Latvia and Estonia also? Interesting that you didn’t cover all of them at once - feels like the standard practice and probably rightly so :)
@@NebDaBrush cry
@@nordicbaltic I don't know about rightly so.. There is something to say for a light, quick well trained military like this video covers. Its not always the size of the dog in the fight, recent history has proved the size of the fight in the dog contributes a lot to success. Sure there is powers in numbers and heavy equipment, but many times battles are not toe to toe matchups.
If the military has put in the work to train and be effective in what they do they deserve to have their own spot light in my opinion...
Too much history to go into here, but Lithuanian military tradition of small, mobile resistance includes "Forest Brothers" who fought guerilla war against Soviet occupation for 40 years in Lithuania, until the 80s!
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦
Lietuva, Tėvyne Mūsų 🇱🇹
Tėvyne* but yes 🇱🇹💪
No they did not, they were all captured or killed by 1956, had Commies really wanted to, Lithuania wouldn't be a country today. The only thing that saved us is their idea to russify instead of purge, which didn't work for the most part. Lithuanians know more curses in russian than lithuanian and that's about it. Mongols knew this and that's why they left noone alive. Modern times are full of weaklings which is why nothing ever happens, politicians put on the theatre and you can just sit down and watch because nothing ever happens and every single government is exact same zionist puppet.
And had it happened today, idiots like you who lie about history like this (white lies are just as bad, if not worse), wouldn't even have a historical entry for being shot in front of a wall, despite yapping about how this "inspires" people to defend their own country, instead of realizing that real inspiration comes from within and reflection on true past, which is lost in time thanks to liars like you. And since """our ancestors defended just fine""" rotting in impersonal, mass graves (that's what happens when your own side wins, right?), so will you, right? Let's see when it happens and you are among the first to kick the bucket.
In general, ever since Christian subversion happened, tangentially leading to joining poland, Lithuania was nothing but a shell of its former self, ruled by Litvaks and other kinds of subhumans.
My point is... If it is "too much history" for you, maybe you shouldn't talk about it because it looks like you know nothing. There's nothing to be proud of in our history since Gediminas. Majority sat down and did nothing, waiting for the results, creating false stories at the expense of people who fought for what they believed but did not receive the help they needed.
Lithuania now has mandatory prescription, and guess what Lithuanians do? If there were enough people who truly cared about this country, there would be no need for forcing certain youth to go to military. But of course, it is easier to go online and yap lies in places where very few people will confirm whether what you're saying is true, and sadly, it is not true. In a battlefield with you in it, I would be shooting at the side you're on.
Lithuania survived thanks to it's resolve and never ending war against occupation by Forest Brothers and whole nation.
Those boxers look like light cavalary from midle ages. Our light cavalary and mobility was always good.
wow, as a latvian it is quite a surprise and at the same time a pride for the thriving brotherhood Lithuania to appear in such quality content channel! What I can't say about my country unfortunately
Greetings to Lithuania! Sveika Lietuva!
I’m English but we have settled in Vilnius now, so for obvious reasons I really appreciate you making this video. Also, I echo the comments of Lithuanians here - Lithuania was never really a part of the Soviet Union - it was held under illegal, brutal soviet occupation from ww2 to 1991. That’s why we are all so interested in your videos - we have no wish to become occupied by Moscow again.
✌
I'm a Scot that spent 12 years in North Eastern Lithuania, married a Lithuanian and both our kids born there.
Of course they were part of the USSR. All the nations were members by force.
You say “we” even though your not from there
adding the ususal reminder that nothing happening there or in Russia or in China (lol) had or has anything to do with "communism".
Then again, it doesn't matter, what a nasty dicatorship calls iteself.
I worked with the Lithuanian Army in 2005 in Afghanistan. They were new to NATO, but eager to contribute and learned quickly. They had the Provincial Reconstruction Team located in Chagchuran. Which was dead center of the country and surrounded by mountains. They operated with newly gifted US equipment back then, and had M16A1s. I remember specifically going "holy shit, that's a A1". They were very confident and ready to adjust from old soviet doctrine. They also despised the Russians with a passion. Loved working with them.
It was the early stage of Lithuanian SOF team "Aitvaras". Now the Lithuanian SOF is well respected thanks to its missions in the Middle East.
We still despise Russians with a passion. Common they killed 1/3 of out nation and never even said sorry about it. That's something that cannot be forgotten at all.
@@ZhylvisLT nothing like getting tested in the cauldron of fire.
@@PrograError and fight somebody else's war
@@joek600 US was attacked, so the war was against NATO.
My great grandma and her family were Lithuanian (she then immigrated to Brasil during either ww1, and had my grandma) and I don't know why but I feel a weird sense of pride of this video. Almost like I can relate myself to these people, and what incredible things they are doing with a small and unfortunate geo-political position.
I know how you feel. I am an American of Ukrainian decent and feel the same.
im more french than Lithuanian and i feel pride over Lithuania too. its wierd right? lots of Czechs and Pols feel the same in Texas. duno what it is about that area lol.
how did they end up in Brasil of all places ? didn't they like america or something ? what did they have against America that they would move to Brasil instead ???
@@Hero.Lone-Wolf actually, it's quite an interesting turn of history on it's own right. In the beggining of XX century and during WWI many empoverished Eastern Europeans fled Europe for Americas. And for anyone in Lithuania or Poland, 'America' meant US. Apparentlly, there was a widespred practice of lurring those uneducated emmigrants on ships bound to Southern America. My own grand-uncle found himself on one of those and eventually, in Brasil or Argentina where he has perrished in some local armed conflict. So yeah, you can find quite a few people of Lithuanian and Polish decent there :)
@@nunyastockson5901
no wonder about it.Ukraine is the creadle of Europe,where Anatolian farmers joined with stepe horse riders.All europeans have that DNA.
Before Rome empire started to divide and rule Ukraine and Lithuania was one country between two seas.
So that's genetic memory ,the only right way is to support Ukraine.
I´m a Latvian, proud of my Lithuanian brothers. In short, a Russian attempt to invade the Baltics would be utterly disastrous for Russia herself. Their whole tanks battalions would be wiped out before they even got drunk.
@@Shortsman345 “they didn’t lose any one war” stop the cap
@@Shortsman345 "Nepralaimėjo nei vieno karo". Nebegerk tu gal. Pastaruosius 60 metų jų kariuomenė ir jos doktrina yra didelė tragikomedija.
Ką tu turi minty su tuom Landsbergiu? Aš kalbu apie karinę statistiką, o ne politiką.
@@Shortsman345 STOP THE CAP FOOL
russia is a freaking joke i hope they invade nato country so the usa 🇺🇸 can finally step in and kick the shit out of the closet commmeeeesss all the way to moscow
Huge change from when I went out to live in Lithuania after independence. Then it was green buses and AK47s. Now it is a modern professional army.
Mention should also be made of the volunteers in the Šaulių Sąjunga and the reserve and the fact that Lithuania has a proud tradition of Partisan warfare in the forests.
Tegyvuoja Lietuva!
Might I add that Lithuania has a history of being able to set aside beliefs for freedom of Lithuania even the most polarising and extremist groups have come together to fight for Lithuania
Thanks. I am Lithuanian.
Those three Baltic countries are incredibly underrated, they deserve recognition for the growth they made since the fall of the USSR.
I lived there for a while and I can safely say that Baltic people are the best!
Thanks mate. Good luck to ya.
Thanks from Estonia! Salute dude!
Before the WWII they had very stable and rapid developing economies in Europe.
Come to Luthuania and ask ordinary people how they enjoying and instead this pure propaganda and lies in the comments withbhelp of UA-cam, u will get real peoples answers. As a Luthuanian, I only hope in God and waiting Armageddon - this western mad society shouldn't exist. If God wouldn't listen me - my hope's in to Putin and Trump, may they will liberate us from FAKE NEWS lies and propaganda, mass cenzorship and LGBT agenda.
@@arunassl876 Yes, we have most rapidly developing economy in the pre-war (before 1940) Europe, unfortunately after collapse of the USSR in 1990 and introducing demoNcracy withouth freedom's, we don't have our economy. We just surviving by the EU donations. And now we even don't have freedom of speech - it all under control of our democratically unelected regime and its Western dictatorships.
I am from Lithuania and I recently started following your videos, Cappy, after Russia invaded Ukraine. I found your channel interesting and informative. And boy, was I surprised when you have covered my countries military capabilities. It is true, that we are quite worried about possible Russian invasion in the future here. As long as Russia is not a democracy, the threat will always be there.
Your country is constantly aggressive in its policy towards Russia.
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland- we know really good, because the history, who is real enemy. We all prepare, because who do not prepare, those country ground will by enemy soldiers boots. Good video Dude! And from Estonia - greetings for all Lithuanian brothers of arms!
A lot of money here...
Pozdrowienia z Polski. Bądźcie gotowi i bezpieczni.
Same us you dude!
Seems like a great country. A success story of democracy & modernity, and a country in stark contrast to Russia.
Stay safe Lithuanians 👍
love from India 🇮🇳
Bro our Indian army keep us safe by keeping the frontier thousands of km away
Just image the anxiety to be in a toast situation like Lithuania 😬😬
@@sujaykrishnanath82 no anxiety, people are proud happy and brave. Ruzzkies would have to fight the whole population, not just army. Plus we have allies and we are part of Nato.
it is a great country, you should visit if you have the chance! :)
Great video man! I'm from Lithuania and I'm thankful for you guys in the USA for helping us out. You support our military and local bars in Lithuania 😀 I've sat together with a few American soldiers over a beer in my hometown, where there is a military base. Great guys and gals!
Happy to help. We got your six. Love from America.
Z
Why y’all never travel to America
@@ashifabedin what does z mean? I see it scribbled on a lot of burned out armored vehicles. Are they scrap yard markings?
@@chankanyy924 There are plenty of us who travel to the America. Your country is huge and our population isn't that big... 🙂 I planning on visiting one day. I want to see space shuttle up close.
Lithuanian society was never communist. It was occupied by communist russia but it never inherited its "values" . Moreover Lithuania had a strong society before WW2. Most of it values comes from Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later from Poland-Lithuanian commonwealth
Westerners have this notion that all people in Communist countries were communists, the don't understand how dictatorships work.
Well put.
I am Lithuanian and I didn't know what we have exactly. This analysis has made me pretty proud of what we have. The respect to our millitary has doubled. Thank you.
Me to bro
same
You have something even more valuable. You defeated the Red Army in 1918 and 1919. Then you stood up to the USSR in the late '80s and early '90s and forced it to admit the conspiracy between the USSR and Germany in '39. That's courage and tenacity. You, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, and Ukraine all have a history of punching up and making it count. Nato ought to consider it blessed to have the Baltic states and Poland in the alliance. (BTW, the four were warning about Putin for years yet that hag Merkel kept on dismissing it.) Finland appears to be in soon. And hopefully Ukraine. If I were Russian, I'd be scared as well.
My small country - Lithuania and a big nation - Lithuanians! My heart is here and will be forever! 🇱🇹💕🤗
So proud of our neighbours 🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪
We, Lithuanians, also have 1 secret weapon, that was not mentioned in the video- we already know what it's like to be part of USSR. Due to this, we would fight back not just because some higher up told us to, but because we wanted to.
This is a big thing, because Ukraine is in the same boat- their people are not fighting for some BS thing, but for their lives and ability to be independent.
In the words of our cousin Poland president Duda "Let them come, we have enough place to build graves for them".
P.S. Great video nonetheless, I really enjoyed seeing 'the machines' covered in detail.
They had the choice to be independent by going to Minsk, but no, they chose war instead, they chose fascism over unilateralism, they could have had everything. Cheap energy from Russia, markets for their products around the world....a rich and prosperous country but unfortunately they were to corrupt and to stupid and easily suduced by america neo-cons....who couldn't care less about the people of Ukraine any more than they cared for the people of Afganistan. What a tragedy
Dude, you're in nato. Don't drag us in WW3.
@@samsungtap4183 either you're a russian yourself, or you're living far away from Russia and you really don't know what it's like to live under russian influence or rule. You see how poorly russians are performing in this war? How their tanks are lacking fuel and spare parts? How their 'frozen' tanks in garages are all unfit? That's because of the corruption - a mind blowing mentality of 'steal everything and anything that is not tied to the ground'. Same corruption comes to your country if you allow russians to step in. No freedom of speech, no other opinions, no independence - that's what you get under russian influence. We have a saying - "better dead, than red" ('red' used to mean commies, but is applicable to russians as well). Cheap fuel is good, peace is great, but freedom - priceless! Greeting from Lithuania - Слава Україні!
@@samsungtap4183 i hope you're not serious here. There are ZERO countries which choose to be friends with russia and still maintain any good economy. Russia has a very low import potential, due to majority of wealth there being spread by tiny amount of people, also the constant lust for influence by russians. Being independent is not possible here in eastern Europe, russia makes sure of that.
do you really know what was it like in USSR or did you just "read" and heard about it...?
Most people in youtube are too young to know what it was like, me included. THe people i asked about USSR times - i got mixed opinions, some liked and were loving life in USSR, some hated it.
The history books in school always said that it was awful, etc. But if you ask lower income people, they are a lot more poor under capitalism, than they were in ussr. On top modern russia is not USSR. Sure they lack democracy, but in lithuania not much is different. Protesters are mocked or dispersed, always only one mainstream opinion and pretty much no opposition to anything goverment decides (covid), etc. Of course its a bit better than in russia, but far cry from examples of democracies, like "Germany".
Anyone who would dare to try and protest for pro-russia would end up in jail without any trial in lithuania. Courts are extremely corrupt in lithuania, just the same like in russia. Freedom of speech is not that free, plus censorship and propaganda on a daily basis.
Example, even if i dont support it, there was "pro russian" war protest in germany - i dont agree with such stupidity, but thats what "freedom of speech" means, while in Lithuania, there is no such thing. Many examples which i lived through myself, D kedys, Paksas, covid, russia, belarus, china, etc.
No opposition to mainstream view was allowed and all due protocols and laws were disregarded to fit their own narrative and if you dared to say ANYTHING against such measures - you would get instantly fined. And on those first two "contraversial" cases judges and courts were extremely biased and corrupt.
I am English and have lived in Lithuania for 6 years. Their economy has grown incredibly since they gained independence that's why they are called the baltic Tiger. Putin and Lukashenko can see the progress and success the ordinary Lithuanian people have made and they are scared that Russians and Belarusians want the same, hence why they are desperately trying to hold onto power. The younger generation in Russia and Belarus can see through all the shit of these dictators. Lithuania is a great country, they are tough, proud, hard working people, but really shit drivers lol.
Yeah no, I am from the Baltics(Latvia) and it's a fucking shithole mate, getting worse every year. Got so bad I had to flee the country a few years ago. The only thing you mentioned correctly is that "The younger generation"(zoomers really) as you put it, is more susceptible to brainwashing, because kids don't know any better. If Russia wanted to take control over the Baltics, they wouldn't even need to send personnel. Just arm the local population and we'll liberate it from NATO terrorists our damn selves.
lol, very true about the driving part
only BMW drivers, rest of them so so :)
Yeah the driving is as bad as the roads. But it’s so clean.
Economy has grown? :D Most of us work fking hard, most of time 10 hours per day ant getting only 700-1000 per month.
Cappy, this is one of the best videos that you have made. As an American, I'm really impressed that a small country such as Lithuania is so well trained and armed. These guys seem to know what they are doing and also take their country's security seriously. They really seem to have something of value to take to the fight when Putin expands his reach into the Baltic states. Great video.
Of the past 500 years the Baltics have only been independent for around 50 years. So yes they do take their independence very seriously.
we love democracy and it is worth defending :)
@Paol Vrobel read my comment again. Since the Russians took over
most of the region starting in the 1600’s they’ve only had independence from the 1920’s to 1940, and then from 1991 to today, so roughly 50 years.
Lithuania is a bit different but the Russians had conquered most of it in the 1700’s. So my point still stands.
If Lithuania doesn't go woke, it looks bound to be a formidable ally to the principles of living in free and independent nations, including partnerships against totalitarianism.
@Paol Vrobel Latvia and Estonia didint exist as states until 1918. Speaking about a Lithuania we had a Grand dutchy of Lithuania after 1569 Polish-Lithuania Comelwealth 1795 this country was occupied by Russia, prusia and Austria, and only after the ww1 we created a "modern: Lithuania state. After ww2 Baltic states have been occupied by Soviet union and we regained independents after Soviet union collapsed. So here a fast recap
I have spent some time in Lithuania, and I absolutely loved it! The people are very welcoming. Also they have a strong distaste for Russia. the former KGB office in Vilnius is horrific .
It’s a deep blood hate. Lot of Ukrainian blood flows through the veins of Lithuanians. My great grandpa included. Slava
@@RainySouthBend other way around. lithuanian blood runs through ukrainian veins :)
Love the video! A Lithuanian here, for context, the reason freedom worked in Lithuania is because we have a long tradition of with. With Poland we were the first country in Europe and second i the world to write a constitution, we were a free country before soviet occupation and we regarded it as such. As soon as we won our independance, we established free a country.
The trick to making this work was not really doing anything, we were already a freedom loving people, it came from within.
Thanks for video! Great job 👏 I didn't know much about Lithuanian brothers Army and now I know quite a lot!
And to Lithuanians, linkėjimai ir daug meilės iš centrinės Lenkijos! (Yes I used Google translate 😅 because only word I know is labas)
Goolge Trasleate works very well though, it masters Lithuanian language, I wouldn't guess it was translated. :))
Witam! Glory to LITPOLUKRBRIG based in Lublin! Too bad Ukraine never got to join NATO to ensure it's security. Then the united brigade could've been there as well to help them :/
Lithuanian here, thank you for making such an informative video, I really appreciate it and learned a lot about my own country. We might be small but believe me we are fierce and ready to fight for our freedom no matter what it takes because Soviet - Occupation history is still very much alive in our collective consciousness. Thank you our American, Nato friends for your support, together we are strong and united. As the old latin adage "Si vis pacem, para bellum" translates “If you want peace, prepare for war” is exactly what we are doing. Our brothers Ukrainians have shown to the whole world that high morale and readiness to fight is way important than having a more powerful army. Slava Ukraini!
Cheers from the US!! Best wishes.
Hell yeah 🇱🇹🇺🇸🇪🇺
I'm russian living in Lithuania since my childhood and I'm really proud of this small country! Each year I see big changes and better life (although people in Lithuania are really complaining type, even when things are better than everywhere else :D ). By living here alone I still can let myself more than my relatives in Russia, have more stability in future, and rely more on our system and even politics :) Lithuania is the future!
Future :D
Same story, recently came back from the UK... Yeah, have to admit, love the people there, but it's a lot better here
Nice , BUT you and your Russian peers are kinda the problem, aren't you? Isn't Putin coming to protect you and all the russian speakers? That is for example why we don't welcome you in Czech Republic!
@@jacob_dcdn if they want they can find 1000 reasons why start the war. Remember Austin Powers speach in the UN?
Oh, sorry Colin Powell
exactly! In my opinion not as much as complaining, but more like impatient. Our country is clearly getting better and I think it's not long until the gap in living standards between the Western countries decrease enough to see our compatriots returning back home.
Volunteered to join Lithuanian infantry after the 2014 events in Ukraine. Took part in Iron Sword NATO training event. Now I am 11B in 10th Mountain division of US Army since I moved to United States right before the pandemic.
Glad to see the great detail and effort while making this video. 2 things I would've mentioned. 1st is our "SOP" Special forces. Internationally they have been making a name for themselves in helping NATO piecekeeping missions. And last but not least is our paramilitary organizations like Rifleman's Union. They are essentially state authorized milita that provided their own gear. In recent years there has been a big growth in their numbers to the point of some big name local celebrities joining. Other then that great video as always. God bless.
Are you talking about „Šauliai” ?
@@sklite6823 Yep
Welcome to the States and congrats on your citizenship! Glad to have you here :)
Welcome to the United States!
Welcome
I'm American of Lithuanian decent and I'm proud of Lithuania.
Trained with some Lithuania soldiers in 2014 in Germany, they are awesome and knew their shit. They also had just enough crazy in them lol. They got sent back early cause a platoon of them was drinking at a local bar and some drunk germans decided to talk shit about Lithuania, the germans got their ass kicked, Polizei showed up and they kicked their asses too and took their clubs. German riot police showed up or in their words "Police show up, we fight, we win. More police show up with shields and bigger clubs. An all out brawl between them and the Polizei takes place and they had a big struggle taking them down and over half of the Lithuania guys got away lol. They also train heavily towards taking on Russia. So I would say they are ready lol. Trading cigarettes and stories with them was my favorite park of each night.
What kind of a bullshit commentary! You are hopefully fully aware that Germany is the lead nation of NATO‘s enhanced forward presence in Lithuania. German Leopard II MBTs are bolstering Lithuanians defence against Russia. The PzH 2000 Lithuania is using are former German Army howitzers.
Cappy, you made a video about the Puma IFV. The Puma variant that was shown in your video was the Puma version that was developed for NATO’s enhancement forward presence in Lithuania. Namely the VJTF 2023 force for Lithuania!
What a story.. 😂😂😂
Lol ,they should've just gotten on The Drunk Bus and gone back to the barracks. I was stationed in Germany for 19 mos and never saw or got into any fights .
Sounds like a country whose military who to a man behave like Marines.
Hi Cappy, thanks for covering my country! I'd also like to add that Lithuanians have organised paramilitary called "Lithuanian riflemen Union" that is also over 10k strong and getting stronger. They are organised and trained for local territory defense with partisan tactics.
Greetings from the US!!
14k
The reason why Lithuania did so well after the collapse of the USSR is that Lithuania was never communist to begin with, nor the Soviets manage to crack society fully. Occupant 'russification' process including bringing rotten Russian values like abuse, 'dedovshina' etc. did not stick. Lithuania through all the occupation period was extremely resistant, kept its language and certain amount of individuality. Also, Lithuania is not Slavic, through the ages Lithuania was always European, had very interesting and innovative governmental traditions, and simply has a different mentality. Lithuania was also one of the richest countries in USSR, you could clearly see the developmental and general order difference in Russia and Lithuania. These are just few reasons why in Lithuania democracy flourished, in short it was always like that, Russia just robbed this country of a chance to shine and locked it in Russian darkness for over half a century.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing 👍
true
Wow Lithuania was neither successful post ussr and the ussr never brought bad and rotten Kultural habbits
Racist ass
So well?🤣
@@vikses8017 Yes, economical and societal development stats are very good. Lithuania had to build statehood from scratch and managed to get into EU/NATO all within a decade or so. Compared to countries that were Soviet or were occupied by the Soviet Russia, Baltic states are leaders and doing very very well. Another decade they'll fully catch-up with the European levels. I don’t see what is so funny for you?
Lithuanian here. I am very appreciative of your video. I feel like you praised us to much but got the right tone. The military has always been seen in high regard in our culture, I am happy with there progress. Težydi Lietuva!
This needs to be a series. Do every country in NATO. I mean every, even US GB, etc. Because it will become a reference collection for understanding of those militaries.
Good idea
Yes!
I’d watch it.
I'd def watch
As a German . not so good idea. we be too much shame for us
Proud to be Lithuanian 😉
And especially proud of our SOF “Aitvaras”.
A great video! During my service I had the pleasure of training with American soldiers, and let me tell you: some of the best guys I've ever met. Professional, friendly, easy going. I still have that Gerber multitool that one of them traded for my simple knife :) One thing that I thought would be mentioned, is our SOF, I feel like it's the crown jewel of Lithuanian Armed Forces, some proper hard men serve there.
It's nice to see our efforts being recognized and praised, I'm so happy we're a part of NATO, all of us are, and if the time comes for us, or for anyone in the Alliance - you can bet on it, that we will do our part.
They have a great army. I did a CULP mission there in 2015 and I was impressed with their professionalism. In 2017 when I was in Poland supporting our 4th ID 3rd brigade in Eastern Europe, Lithuania was one of the best all around forces. They understand that they are in right in the gap.
You can rely on Eastern Europe NATO Allies. We are small units but feisty lol. Plus never took seriously 'communism' dropped by Soviets/Reds/Russians on our soils after 2nd World War occupations by the Reds. If we rebelled (Hungary 1953, 1956, Czeckoslovakia 1968), next day Russian tanks in our streets.
No wonder why all were super glad to rejoin European family and Transatlantic Alliance in NATO. God bless and Happy Easter!
Best regards from Lithuania.
@@johnborisson3786 baltic states aren’t eastern Europe lol? Still living the outdated American presumption I see
@@facts4665 you need to go back to school. It's technically northern Europe. Eastern Europe begins in Poland.
@@karkevicius As a Lithuanian-American I've almost given up arguing this point lol. That and being called a Slav rather than a Balt. It's a running joke among my friends that they started referring to it as Central Europe teasingly (because I would always remind them that we are the geographical center of Europe of course).
Cool review. As a Lithuanian I have only one correction - we have virtually no natural resources. The most valuable is water and... ehm, may be gravel.
And being small we choose the right strategy - if you can not be a rhino, be a honey badger.
'if you can not be a rhino be a honey badger' - I'm stealing that and using it - fantastic comment mate lol! Much respect from the UK :)
Clean high quality water can become really valuable in next decades due to climate change :DDDD
Honey Badgers fighting cobras and other animals... That's exactly how we (Lithuanians) would fight russian Orcs... ua-cam.com/video/4r7wHMg5Yjg/v-deo.html&ab_channel=czg123
@@kebabozaurus that's actually true. buy lithuanian drinking water companies stocks
@@CRF-2013 You are most welcome 😁
A little offtopic; I always felt it was unfair that Lithuania ended up being such a small country. Up to the end of 18th century they were HUGE and together with Poland were a local superpower for centuries.
Thats the result of the neighbors taking little bites, over and over. Not too many seem to know what you've stated. Cudos to you , sir.
To be fair, very little of the land Lithuania controlled was actually Lithuanian. While we certainly did not get all of our rightful lands back after regaining independance, we got cut a very good deal, getting to keep both our only port city of Klaipeda and our historical capital of Vilnius.
@@baltbull i wonder if kaliningrad was part of that land...
@@PrograError Culturally and historically, yes. It is very important land to Lithuania, having originally been the home of the Baltic Prussians. After the german takeover many Lithuanians lived in the surrounding region for centuries.
What was called Lithuania during Union with Poland was also today's Belarus and Ukraine, so you can't compare.
Anyway, it would be the best solution to have all of above working closely together, I always hope one day Belarus could join the party, they are wonderful people and deserve much better fate than being stuck under potato warlord for decades.
Proud of Lithuania from the neighbor Poland.
We have Your back like always in history 😊
I served in the Lithuanian Army for 4 years, it's nice to see you make this video. Man those Boxers almost make me want to re-enlist haha
Only comment I have is that
Lithuania continued to resist the Soviet Union after 1945, even as late as 1960. Stalin tried to suppress the Lithuanian language and the church, but this just encouraged continued resistance. The main reason the resistance failed was that it was betrayed in London by Kim Philby. So Lithuania never really had any reason to like Russia, even after the Soviets drove the Nazis out.
yes✌
And even before that, the Russian Tzars did all they could to suppress Lithuanian culture.
@@ElBandito Russia has a centuries long problem of invading and thugging its neighbors, that's why neighboring countries have to armed to the teeth. And that makes Russian "insecure". LOL LOL Russian leaders need mental help for insecurity.
I am lithuanian and what I heard from elderly people who where children during WWII, that nacis soldiers were way nicer compared to russians. Except for Jewish... But least russians wasn't so picky. They killed a lot of intellectuals in attempt to destroy our identity. We are feeling the consequences till this day.. And I fear that now they are doig same in Ukraine. Ukraine stay strong 💪❤
Yep, my Uncle Albinas' brother Bronas was a 'Forest brother' until caught by the Soviets and summarily shot beside a road not far from where he was caught in the early 50's if I remember right. I have pictures of the 'Hill of Crosses'' my Dad took when he went back in '91. Soviets would bulldoze it down, the people would start building it up again. And alot of people there preferred the Germans to the Soviets back in the day. Too much Russian rule before and after WW2...
As a British serviceman, I have served on COIN and other training teams in Lithuania as part of the Royal Irish Regiment for the past 12 years. If Russia touched LT, the UK is in there immediately, proactively imo. Vilnius is pretty much paired with Belfast. I mean the tie is actually closer than what Ukraine's is, and we sent training teams there as well, but not for as long. No one's fucking with our 'Lithos' :) I would just like to add that driving to training areas through Lithuanian built-up areas is bad for a soldier's (neck) health....all the women are bloody stunning. And yeah, bit dumb just assuming you lot are the only ones training them. A carry-on from you hating to mention anything British or their units while using 33% British footage??
Who is assuming they are the only ones training Lithuanians? hating on Brits? man I must have missed something as I didn't see any of that.
We absolutely do have a lot of training with our British brothers, in fact we had training or some joint ops with almost every NATO member state, it is natural that we spent more time with some more than others, and UK is definitely in top 5 maybe even top 3. We had training with some non NATO members too like Sweden and Finland.
briish people be like
Don't be dismayed, the OP is actually being exceptionally jovial for a gentleman from NI. He didn't even break out the C-bomb once.
Clearly Putin is RIGHT, from you own post...the training and supply of weapons in eastern Europe is unexceptable...Are you aware that 2 World wars started in eastern Europe ? ..probably not...when China starts training and suppling sophisticated weapons to IRAN you'll sing a different tune then.... actually i think you'll go disco....THE BLOOD OF EVERY SINGLE UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN IS ON NATOs hands
Stay strong Lithuania! I visited once, in Vilnius, and liked it very much! 🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹
I've traveled around Lithuania several times, wonderful people. They also have done a better job than any other country in documenting all the Holocaust sites. Glad they are on our team, in NATO. All of Europe is going to have to step up to the plate and spend lots more money on defense.
Oh i think Germany documented this very well...
Pretty sad that many countries have to spend more money on defense just because a few other nations are hostile and insist on being threats to more peaceful countries.
Well as Lithuanian I hope we remember that our people were responsible for some killings and that we lost about 95% jews to holocaust!
Thanks for good words bro
I'm a Lithuanian, I was lucky to have a history teacher who cared about this topic deeply, but overall many Lithuanians still lack the sense of the scale of our participation in Holocaust. in many instances Lithuanian Jews were murdered by the locals before Germans even showed up..
my grandparents and great grandparents were from Lithuania so I'm glad to they are so much stronger than they ever have been. great video thanks.
Lithuania was strongest around XIV-XV century. But now is safest than ever, thanks to NATO :)
Belgium (which have an oversized air force compared to other military branches... or is it the other branches that are undersized ?) is part of the permanent sky policing mission over the Baltic countries.
As a Belgian, I'm very happy of it, even though I think we should do more to share the burden with those allies that are at the most probable frontline and make the whole alliance territory an even safer place.
Hey, do not forget your brave soldiers serving in the NATO Lithuania Battle Group
Belgium should invest more in there landforce... wich is currently begging for more modern ecuipment. They always invest in the airforce... but the landforce is one thats the most important for us.... (Belgian myself).
As someone mentions Belgium. Hopefully you know that the Belgian military was created by a Lithuanian? :)
@@arunassl876 the whole concept of Belgian military is somehow complicated as the concept of Belgium is 😅
But I'd like to know more about that Lithuanian part since it seems to have been almost completely forgotten
I am honored to have such a country like Lithuania in NATO. Your people are such an inspiration to me. I would never vote for a politician that would abandon any NATO member, especially after it bled for us in Afghanistan after 9/11.
Ah yes, muh le 9/11... What about all those dead Afghan children? Is there something you want to tell me about that?
As someone with Lithuanian heritage and family still living there, we know all too well the monster that is Russia. Amazing video
Blind support
@@oopsm3574 lol
cringe
Why aren’t they sending everyone who is evacuating Ukraine to military training so they can go back and fight Russia?
I heard 2.5 million have evacuated already. Every one of them 15 and older should receive military training. After 3 months the best 500,000 of them could be sent back with sufficient supplies and weapons to slaughter the Russian army. They can then proceed to take an extra 500 miles of Russia as payback for what Russia has done.
@@oopsm3574 Half my family was deported to Siberia in the 50's because they owned farm land. Others jailed for simply speaking Lithuanian. In the 90's my father fought during Lithuanian independence. I do not support the West or NATO blindly, I support it because my country would not exist without it.
As a German who served and worked later in Lithuania, yes it is a small country.
But remember those old stories that your granny told you about your weird neighbour who always seemed friendly, but 100% capable of ripping you a new one?
And not because of strength or skill, but just because he is that kind of savage?
Yeah......that's LT for you.
I love them deeply, love their culture, food and hospitality, but I rather go back to Stalingrad then mess with them
As a Lithuanian, I agree with this message 🤭🤭 we may look calm and friemdly but if you dare to do something to us, boy oh boy better pray cuz shit's going down👀
Don't want to sound flippant or anything like that, but the time has come to put that savagery to good use. Sad and unfortunate but true nonetheless.
@@domi9146 my ex daughter in law is Lithuanian and when she's mad, just her mere coldness and dirty looks could render you dead!
@@carynmartin6053 yeee, we express ourselves like that sometimes, sorry (not really) about that :D that look comes in handy sometimes for us :DD
Where were those savages when Lithuanian partisans were lying in their mass unnamed graves in 1956? Maybe if it would've never happened if what you were yapping in here were true, but that's just a wild guess...
Lithuanian here, thank you for the video and for the protection. Military budget is likely to be increased to 3%, which means more vehicles, bases, personnel, drones, guns and equipment. At least third of country is forests, it is very scary place for russians :)) Together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland we stand together even before Nato steps in.
Add Finland and Sweden in a few weeks. 💪
I am ukrainian thank Lithuania for military help for Ukraine God bless Lithuania Glory to Ukraine and Lithuania Glory to Heroes
Really informative video. But to add some new things, news from our country -
Budget spending up to 2,52% gdp from this year,
Plans to buy 100 more units of Boxer Apc,
8x Black Hawk helo with full combat kits,
Whole infrastructure expansion to host all foreign military personnel and vehicles,
Plans (not clear witch ones) to buy SAM systems (maybe Patriot)
And More tba.
Some bayraktar rumours? As well kolega?
SAM could be NASAM's from Norway, as we have some of them already deployed
no NASAMS?:D
@@jonstainerr5340 NASAMS are already on the land, more NASAMS versions are coming too
@@ernestaskovalenko4374 nope
Thank you for giving some respect to the Lithuanians. I met a naval officer of theirs while he was in an exchange program with USNA way back in 2002. He was a good dude.
As an American, I have a great deal of respect to Lithuania and its strides to prepare and be a part of NATO. The video was eye opening and I have to say the least. Nantucket Mass has a small but very enthusiastic Lithuanian community. The recent immigrant parents have set up a school to teach their children, born on Nantucket, the Lithuanian language, food culture and traditions. In 2017, our local historical association had a Celebration of Lithuania that was part of a bigger cultural clebration series- music, dancing and more. Go Lithuania!
Lithuania has been a part of Nato since 2004
Small world lol... my parents and many other family members and friends performed in that cultural celebration event. Having the long and painful history that Lithuania has with Russia, and today sharing a border with Russia and her pet dog (Belarus) means Lithuanians intimately know the price of freedom and what it takes to preserve it. This video covered the military aspects of self-preservation and you've experienced some of the cultural self-preservation; which is a celebration of our history and culture but also a hedge against an outcome where military defense wasn't enough. I was born and raised in the US but still speak exclusively Lithuanian with family because many of them fled to the US when Lithuanian was banned as a language and Russians tried to wipe out our culture. Resistance is in our blood. Anyways, small world. Greetings from NH.
@@iinsomniaaaaa Geras! You don't need my assurance. We born loving USA lol. Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and USA I would say our closest friends.
ganging up
Historically, Lithuania has more relations and ties to Ukraine than russia has. Ukraine was peacefully part of the Polish Lithuania Commonwealth while, later on, were forced to be part of Russia against their will. The same goes for Crimea due to the Crimean Khanate's Cossacks seeing themselves as more Polish, Lithuanian and / or Ukrainian.
🤣🤣🤣
Right. A very good cultural example are the names of months. Every country in Europe AFAIK call them according Roman / Latin: January, February etc. Only Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian kept their old and very meaningful names so far.
Лол🤣
gotta love how your comment spawned russian trolls lol
@@arunassl876 January - Styczeń
February - Luty
March - Marzec
April - Kwiecień
May - Maj
June - Czerwiec
July - Lipiec
August - Sierpień
September - Wrzesień
October - Październik
November - Listopad
December - Grudzień
Those are 🇵🇱 names of months, most of them are related to nature(Listopad literally means "falling leaves" and Kwiecień is a month that got its name from core word "Kwiat" which stands for flower, so you can assume it's a month when you see blossoming flowers & trees)
Just yesterday Lithuanian MoD announced that they will be acquiring over 100 more Boxer "Vilkas" IFV's bringing a total amount a little bit above 200, also intended to purchase Switchblade drones.
The UK needs to sort out a turreted version. After the Warrior upgrade cancellation we're buying Boxer but so far only ordered versions with a 50cal. We should have had Boxer years ago given we were one of the original design partners.
Oh we buying more wolf apcs? (Vilkas translates to wolf iron wolf story is a myth that's explain foundation of Lithuanian capital Vilnius " Vilnius - Vilkas" you can see why capital is named that way :) )
@@MrIrvash bet kartais ne Kaunas buvo sukurtas dėl geležinio vilko? Seniai skaičiau bet man rods kad Kaunas ne Vilnius
Why aren’t they sending everyone who is evacuating Ukraine to military training so they can go back and fight Russia?
I heard 2.5 million have evacuated already. Every one of them 15 and older should receive military training. After 3 months the best 500,000 of them could be sent back with sufficient supplies and weapons to slaughter the Russian army. They can then proceed to take an extra 500 miles of Russia as payback for what Russia has done.
@@grigss3027 Vilnius
Former Danish soldier here. This was an informative and objective video. Thanks. Please consider doing similar videos about every NATO nation.
MASSIVE respect to Lithuanai! Poland is 100% with you and the rest of the Baltics! We know Russia better than anyone, with the exception of Ukraine, who is now fighting valiantly like a lionness defending its cubs from the hyenas. Eastern Europe truly is the bulwark against the red plague.
Too bad Ukraine couldn't join NATO. The writing was on the wall. We could've at least activated LITPOLUKRBRIG then.
@@mp1335 Unfortunately it's been too late since 2014
Hailing from Finland, the Lithuanians I have come across are no joke. You don't fuck with determined free people. Joining NATO is a nice bonus of course.
NEVER undermine determination of defence. I'm sure nobody needs to press this particular point in 2022.
When i served in Lithuanias military there wasn't much of an idea to defend and win, we trained hard as an infantrymen to give those fuckers a fight, thats all we knew, thats what we would do, fight untill there would be no one to fight, our granparents were partisans we train with them tactics, even if we get overrun and lose control of country we were trained to make our land for ocupants a real hell from wich they would wanna wake up from
Proud of our fellow NATO member! 🇱🇹🇺🇲✊💪👍
Greetings and support grand duchy of Lithuania 🇹🇷🇱🇹
As a Lithuanian, I can tell you this video is 99% accurate. And you using video from Lithuania. Nice job.
The 1% that he got wrong is about Pierogie MRE which is national food of Poland and not Lithuania 😂
is tikro neisitikejau kad video apie mus padarys
@@Juozapas001 *vaizdo įrašą
There are quite a few mistakes (like land area, and its comparison vs UK, deliveries of Vilkas finished in 2021, land rich in resources, soviet flag on our partisan, no mention of the army being underfunded terribly before 2014 and still feeling shortages, the '3% GDP goal', etc), however the video got better as it went on.
@@NeblogaiLT Nemanau kad jis suprato, kad ten partizanas.
High quality equipment in the hands of smart dedicated people is the way you keep the peace. Nobody wants war.
Great job Lithuania. Thank you for a great report.
Greetings from Lithuania. It's the first time i heard that our country is rich in natural resources 😀 other than that it's an amazing video.
As an American stationed in Lithuania in 2002 one question I need to ask is why did you not mention their beer hands down best in the world
My grandfather was Lithuanian. He fought the Russians and Germans in World War Two . He lost his brother after Germany surrendered when he joined the partisans to fight the occupiers. Lithuania will not bend over easily ever again.
Btw, you can get a lithuanian citizenship if your grandfather was lithuanian.
My grandfathers village was burned down by soviets with people locked in inside granary. He lived by hiding in a forest. He hated talking about these times. And everyone here has similar stories about their grandparents. As we can see russian style did not change. However if they decide to come here again, we are ready to meet them appropriately
@@cud0s Not ready at all. Almost all Russians men are soldiers. That's more than 80 million...
@@fvllgrey that's some funny copium :D they don't even have that many males, never mind that only 30% are of age suitable for military. And even then they would be untrained and not equipped. You would think even russian bots would understand the meaning of logistics after their failure in ukraine
@@cud0s This war in Ukraine is successful. Everything is going according to plan. Moreover, only young guys were mobilized, without any experience, with poor military equipment and old tanks. It's impressive
Thanks for this very, very interesting video -- so very well done. Appears as if the Lithuanian military can punch with the big boys and come out a winner. What a great partner country for NATO! -- A salute from a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer. 👍
One of the most important factors of modernizing Lithuanian Armed Forces was the change of military culture implemented by Gen. Jonas Kronkaitis. Former Lithuanian emmigrant who fled Soviet invasion of Baltics in 1944, he've made a carreer in the US Army and returned to Lithuania after Restitution of Independece in 90s. He has introduced US training system and replaced most of the Soviet trained officers with those of Western trainning. Crucial here were American sergeants and military education exchange programms for LTU officers that helped to move swiftly from Soviet/Russiant "I'm the boss, you're the dumb" command style towards competent and integral one. US National Guard has trained Lithuanian Homeland Defence Voluntiers in territorial defence, something that Lithuanian later taught Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces. From the very beggining Lithuanian military were trained to be integral part of NATO forces, to interact, coordinate and bring their expertise in Special Operations and guerilla warfare. Thus, you could observe quite interesting LTU contribution on various theatres of military operations. E.g. Lithuanian SOF Aitvaras (means both 'Kite' and old Pagan 'Spirit') operations in Afghanistan were highly mobile KTM EXC-R 530 mounted biker troups cuccessfully controlled big territory by small numbers. And since you can see now how Ukrainian Armed Forces prevale qualitatively over numerically superior Russian army, you can appreciate how military culture and NATO-standard training makes a difference. Plus, some wicked modern equipment, of course :D
As someone seeking to fight with the Dutch army I can confidentally say that Lithuania is our and NATO's main ally and stronghold in case the Ukrainian conflict goes any further and that we have been and will continue sending troops and key supplies to our strong ally Lithuania
Great video. Seems like a sensible strategy to me! Good on them getting training and operational experience wherever they can. I'd love to see similar for other nations like the other Baltics, Poland, Finland and Eastern European nations.
Cute flag, you support the current thing, thats cool. So you support nazis? Vax mandates? I bet you do!!!
Ya me too but I am sure that with how unstable things are in the world every army has stepped up there game. Stay safe slava Ukraine
This comment sections is gold! My quote of the month goes to James Lynn memories about working with Lithuanians in Afghanistan [2005]: "They [Lithuanians] also despised the Russians with a passion."
Have worked with several Lithuanians over the years - incredibly balanced and professional soldiers
Lithuanian here: thank you for covering our military capabilities in a dedicated episode! It was very interesting, I learned a lot!
Thanks for bringing the light onto us. We’re expanding our defence expenditure to 3% till 2025 and just confirmed to order 100 more Boxers.