@CraigSilverman@RMac18@PranavDixit "In countries including India, Ukraine, Spain, Bolivia, and Ecuador" a junior data scientist at Facebook "found evidence of coordinated campaigns of varying sizes to boost or hinder political candidates or outcomes..." buzzfeednews.com/article/craigs…
Seriously? “Last year when we blocked users from naming the Ukraine whistleblower, we forgot to cover hashtags until I stepped in,” she wrote. buzzfeednews.com/article/craigs…
"In Azerbaijan, she found a large network of inauthentic accounts used to attack opponents of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and his ruling New Azerbaijan Party, which uses the acronym YAP. Facebook still has not disclosed the influence campaign, according to Zhang."
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Russia’s occupying forces in Bakhmut just published on one of their Telegram channels new video footage and photos of the eastern Ukrainian city almost a year after it was destroyed and captured. The photos are stomach-churning and I admit they fill me with rage. I’ll post them below beside my own photos from when I lived in Bakhmut in 2010-2012, when it was a vibrant, peaceful city that 80,000 called home.
These images show the central square fountain and city hall — or where city hall stood before it was blown up. The first two were taken under Russian occupation. The other two are mine from 14 years ago.
This was the Bakhmut Ferris wheel in the city’s upper central park. It usually operated on holidays and was a meeting place for families. Left: under Russian occupation this month. Right: my photo from 2011.
This is one of the locally famous historic central Bakhmut buildings. My second apartment in the city was in the adjacent building on the left and just out of view. Catty corner was the city hall building and across the road was the central park and fountain from the first tweet above.
Left: today under Russian occupation. Other three photos are mine: from December 2022; summer 2010; and winter 2011.
The Russian air force is stepping up its use of Soviet-era weapons that have been retrofitted for 21st-century warfare and are pounding Ukrainian forces, pulverising towns and giving Moscow an advantage on the battlefield.
My piece for @FT on the Russian "glide bombs" targeting Ukrainian towns and troops positions on the frontline: ft.com/content/0d6612…
Russian glide bombs are wreaking havoc on Ukrainian positions.
“For [Russia], it is much cheaper than using hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, when one of these bombs will demolish several buildings,” said Vlad, a 27-year-old soldier serving in the eastern Donetsk region.
“They are very scary, very lethal,” said Bohdan, another soldier in Donetsk region. “Even a kilometre away, the blast rips the doors of buildings off their hinges.”
Ukrainian foreign minister @DmytroKuleba told @FT that his country’s soldiers “are being massively and I would say even routinely attacked by guided aerial bombs that wipe out our positions”. ft.com/content/0d6612…
Hidden cameras in hotel rooms. Months-long surveillance. Leaked footage on a murky black PR website. Highly disturbing incidents targeting Ukraine’s top investigative journalists in recent days has many in Kyiv concerned about a re-emergence of bad-old-days-type antics.
Unsurprisingly, supposed chief editor of "Narodna Pravda," bogus black PR website that has gone after Ukraine's top investigative journalists who've been critical of govt, has no publicly available social accounts and her image appears to be AI-generated.
This situation stinks of Yanukovych-era attacks on journalists in Ukraine. And "Narodna Pravda" looks like merely the latest version of "Ukrainska Kryvda" back in 2013. Here's my report from back then. Lots of similarities. theworld.org/dispatch/news/…
“Ukraine is not alone, and Ukraine will never be alone,” Sunak told reporters inside the Mariinsky Palace, vowing that the UK would “provide the support Ukraine needs” if Russia “attacks again”.
"If Russia attacks [Ukraine] again," Sunak said, meaning with another large-scale invasion, the UK "will provide the support Ukraine needs, fast and reliable security support, modern weapons on land, sea and air, economic support, and sanctions that will have a price on Russia."
The deal signed by Sunak and Zelensky states that "in the event of an armed attack by Russia on Ukraine, at the request of any of the participants, the participants will hold consultations within 24 hours to determine the measures necessary to counter or deter the aggression."
Another horrific Russian attack on a busy hotel in Kharkiv tonight. Video here shows the moment of impact in the strike on Park Hotel that injured 11 people, hospitalizing 9, according the head of the regional administration and Suspilne Kharkiv public broadcaster.
The aftermath of the attack on Park Hotel in Kharkiv, via Shapkina public broadcaster.
Park Hotel, like Kharkiv Palace Hotel previously hit by a Russian rocket, was popular along foreign correspondents and aid workers. Photos via Suspilne Kharkiv public broadcaster. t.me/suspilne_khark…
🧵An end-of-year thread. Since Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine began, many books have been written & more will be soon. I wrote one myself: The War Came To Us: Life And Death In Ukraine, which I hope you'll read. It provides a unique view of Ukraine & war going back to pre-2014.
Here’s what reviewers have said about The War Came To Us. And links to find the book here, in case you're in need of a last-minute Xmas or New Year gift: linktr.ee/thewarcametous
My book aside, here are Ukraine books – new & pre-war – that I think are also insightful, fascinating, original. They're nonfiction & fiction. All have informed my understanding of Ukraine, its people, politics, culture, relationship with Russia, & provided important perspectives