Share this page!

Shashank Joshi Profile picture
Twitter logo
23 Jun, 6 tweets, 3 min read
Update: UK now denies that warning shots were fired at HMS Defender or bombs dropped in her path; says she was "conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters", and that Russia was conducting a previously-announced gunnery exercise.
Interesting. Though of course the UK's claim is that it was in Ukrainian territorial waters, without specifying whether that means Crimean territorial waters (and thus Russian-claimed) or somewhere else.
On innocent passage, Russia prior position relevant here. "Russia has adopted several laws which require prior notification & authorization that some states argue are contrary to...regime of innocent passage & freedom of navigation" munin.uit.no/bitstream/hand…
Although this says Russia is among states that has generally opposed prior notification or authorisation for innocent passage of warships (NSR excepted, clearly). Clarification welcome from maritime lawyers.
google.co.uk/books/edition/…
Well if HMS Defender was in Russian-claimed territorial waters off Crimea -- and I'll await more evidence before reaching a judgment on that -- then the UK is certainly not keen to own it as a freedom-of-navigation op or overt challenge to Russian claims.
Excellent timing: Ben Wallace, defence secretary, is due to speak to parliament's defence committee in ten minutes. I imagine the subject will come up. parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/ff…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Shashank Joshi

Shashank Joshi Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @shashj

Shashank Joshi Profile picture
23 Jun
A pretty serious escalation between the UK and Russia. (It suggests, also, that the UK was serious when it talked about a more assertive, forward posture in the Integrated Operating Concept and recent defence command paper.
"Competing involves a campaign posture that includes continuous operating on our terms and in places of our choosing. It will also require actions to be communicated in ways that may test the traditional limits of statecraft." gov.uk/government/pub…
"As noted by the Russian military, at 11:52 the British ship crossed the Russian border & entered the territorial sea at Cape Fiolent for 3km. He was warned about the use of weapons in the event of a border violation, but the destroyer crew did not react" ria.ru/20210623/korab…
Read 8 tweets
Shashank Joshi Profile picture
16 Jun
"Within the classified realm, a significant amount of the intelligence the US obtained [on lab-escale hypothesis] came from foreign governments, according to former officials with knowledge of the matter." washingtonpost.com/national-secur… Interesting to speculate: which agencies?
"Pottinger was frustrated when intelligence officials deferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health experts to determine the virus’s origin, according to people who worked with him." washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
'One former senior official who worked closely with Pompeo said the secretary of state became fixated on proving a lab leak. “He wanted a smoking gun, and we couldn’t give it to him,” the former official said.' washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
Read 4 tweets
Shashank Joshi Profile picture
15 Jun
Fiona Hill's diagnosis of Russia's disinformation blitz against the United States: “They’ve been trying to prove that they are a major cyber force — they want to create a wartime scenario so then they can sit down and agree some kind of truce with us.” ft.com/content/51fc3b…
"US officials and researchers believe some of the recent [Russian] forays into the information space have been more subtle, relying on real sources ... One example has been the number of stories in recent weeks flagging concerns over Biden’s health."
ft.com/content/51fc3b…
“When it comes to US domestic narratives, they’re almost always piggybacking on something that exists,” says Schafer. “From the official sources we very rarely see something that you would categorise as being invented”.' ft.com/content/51fc3b…
Read 4 tweets
Shashank Joshi Profile picture
14 Jun
NATO on China: "We are concerned by China’s coercive policies which stand in contrast to the fundamental values enshrined in the Washington Treaty ... We also remain concerned about China’s use of disinformation." nato.int/cps/en/natohq/… Image
"We will engage China with a view to defending the security interests of the Alliance. We are increasingly confronted by cyber, hybrid, and other...threats, incl disinformation campaigns, and by the malicious use of ever-more sophisticated...technologies" nato.int/cps/en/natohq/…
Interesting to see NATO echo elements of UK defence command paper. "We will emphasise persistent activities in peacetime to support deterrence, including through the presence and dynamic posture of our military forces and exercises" nato.int/cps/en/natohq/…
Read 5 tweets
Shashank Joshi Profile picture
11 May
On the saturation of Iron Dome. "The cost of interception is high. The cost of the interceptor missile is about $40,000-50,000. Furthermore, in some cases, two interceptor missiles are fired at one target, which further raises the cost of interception." inss.org.il/wp-content/upl…
"The system has a “saturation point.” It is capable of engaging a certain (unpublished) number of targets at the same time, and no more. Additional rockets fired in a crowded salvo could succeed in breaching defenses and cause damage" inss.org.il/wp-content/upl…
On Iron Dome's utility: "missile defenses do create conditions for enhanced freedom of action for decision makers–defense systems ensure that they have time, and are not compelled to resort automatically to preemption and retaliation"
inss.org.il/wp-content/upl…
Read 11 tweets
Shashank Joshi Profile picture
11 May
"Over 630 rockets were fired at Israel from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon, 200 of which were intercepted by Iron Dome missile defense batteries while 150 others fell short of their targets and landed inside the Strip, according to the army." timesofisrael.com/2-killed-by-ro…
"Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad ... reported that several high-ranking commanders were killed in Israeli raids, including three top PIJ leaders in a drone strike on a building in the upscale Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City." timesofisrael.com/2-killed-by-ro…
"Additionally, the IDF said it killed the head of Islamic Jihad’s special rocket unit, in an operation carried out in cooperation with the Shin Bet. Sameh Abed al-Mamluk was killed along with several other senior rocket officials, the army said." timesofisrael.com/2-killed-by-ro…
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @shashj has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @shashj!

Read all threads by @shashj

:(