[1/2] #Ukraine's President Zelensky in his speech tonight noted #Russia's troop losses in his country; lauded the improving relations with Latin America (Chile, Paraguay, Costa Rica, and now Uruguay); and thanked @BorisJohnson for the Churchill Award and #Britain's support.
[2/2] Zelensky: The awards in #Britain and the #Netherlands are a reflection of the changed attitudes toward #Ukraine: "Our bravery is truly an inspiration for all free nations and the community of democracies ... Just imagine how inspiring the Ukrainian victory will be".
"Haluk Bayraktar, Baykar's CEO, said last week that he wouldn't sell drones to Russia. ... 'Turkey supports Ukraine with armed drone technology. We did not transmit or supply anything to Russia. We would never do such a thing'." middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-ba…
Speech of #Ukraine's President Zelensky after receiving the Sir Winston Churchill Leadership Award for incredible courage from #Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
To note: 1) All of Israel's pandering, and Russia still did this 2) Russia not only missed, but fired when the Israeli jets "were no longer around" reuters.com/world/middle-e…
#pt: For more on the background of #Israel's weird belief that #Russia will (or even can) help them against #Iran in #Syria, or that the Russians could stop the Israelis, and the long Russia-Iran strategic relationship, see this essay from 2018: kyleorton.substack.com/p/why-putins-r…
#pt: On the specific question of the Moscow-Clerical Iran relationship, and there never being any exploitable daylight between them, see:
Danila Poperechny, a Russian stand-up comedian, deleted an Instagram post so he could return home, but the post has nonetheless been declared "dangerous" and he is being investigated by #Russia's police for "discrediting" the Army. t.me/bazabazon/12489
Photograph taken by @annieleibovitz in #Ukraine of President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska, who have not been able to spend a great deal of time together, for security reasons among other things, since the beginning of #Russia's invasion in February.
Graham Phillips responds to being put on #Britain's sanctions list: denies being a "Kremlin agent"; says his "heart, attention, and soul" are in the Donbas; and is "very proud" of his work. Also, clarifies he is not a "video blogger", but a "journalist". vk.com/grishawphillip…
#Ukraine keeping up the pressure on #Russian-occupied Kherson with strikes on Antonivskyi Bridge.
Stephen Walt's latest effort to shift the blame for #Russia invading #Ukraine onto the #US is wrong simply by the timeline, before one even gets to the unhinged belief Putin acted out of a sense of threat, rather than for ideological reasons.
Much better from the #US being straightforward that "Wagner" is an instrument of the #Russian state and in #Africa in particular is involved in propping up some of the most grisly regimes around.
Thread: 28 July 2022: Day 155 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: "#Ukraine's counter-offensive in Kherson is gathering momentum", with a bridgehead established south of the Inhulets River. Ukraine has used HIMARS to damage the bridges in and out of Kherson, leading Russia's 49th Army to look "highly vulnerable".
Congress has been briefed that #Russia has suffered 75,000 casualties (killed and wounded) in #Ukraine
Thread: 27 July 2022: Day 154 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: #Russia making "tactical advances" around the Vuhlehirska power station in Donetsk. Lavrov in Africa, long an interest of Moscow's, trying to blame the West for the food crisis.
Not happy with Wagner being defined as a "private military company"
#pt: "Wagner" is a unit of the #Russian military under GRU. The purpose of the "private military company" presentation is to make it "deniable" - to minimise the domestic political impact of losses and to distance Moscow internationally from its atrocities foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/06/wha…
Was saying to my housemate last night that it is strange that, when it comes to the schism in the British electorate/political class that Brexit exposed so sharply, Truss is on the "Brexit" side of it and Sunak is coded as the "Remainer". But it does make a certain kind of sense.
Brexit-as-policy faded once it was done; we're left now with Brexit-as-symbol, a marker of political instinct/tribe, class, and so on. And in that sense Sunak's libertarian, "Singapore-style" Brexit position is closer to the Remainers.
Who knows what Truss really believes, but in her public life, which is all you can judge a politician by, she accepted the referendum result, has said she was wrong to vote Remain, and worked in government to fulfil the things that most of the Brexiteers wanted.
Thread: 26 July 2022: Day 153 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: #Russia launched missiles at Odesa Port on 24 July. Russia sees anti-ship missiles as "a key threat" constraining the Black Sea Fleet and undermining the overall invasion plan, by making a landing at Odesa something "Russia cannot realistically attempt".
The funny thing is that this narrative from #Russia's state television - that Sunak was rejected as Prime Minister in #Britain (as hopefully he will be) because of racism - will be the write-up of events in The New York Times, too.
Sunak says #China is a "threat to our national security" and has "infiltrated our companies and steals" our property.
Truss says this is a convenient flip; as recently as a month ago, Sunak was advocating closer collaboration with the CCP.
Sunak notably caveats his new hawkishness on #China by saying there are areas that collaboration can continue, which is code for continuing to trying to profit from the CCP and provide it openings to exploit us.
Truss is plainspoken about cracking down on TikTok and generally changing things up with #China.
Thread: 25 July 2022: Day 152 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: Ongoing "inconclusive fighting" in Donbas and Kherson: #Russia's "dilemma": devote resources to offensive in the east or defences against a #Ukraine counter-offensive in the west? Russia still struggling for manpower and extracting damaged equipment.
Eurovision 2023 to be held in UK on behalf of Ukraine - and search for host city has begun news.sky.com/story/eurovisi…