Thread: 4 September 2022: Day 193 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: #Russia continues to suffer "combat fatigue and high casualties" in #Ukraine, leading to low morale and "discipline issues". Problems with pay is a big issue for the Russian Army, as well as lacking basics like food, arms, and even uniforms.
#Russian oligarch Moshe Kantor is out as president of the Luxembourg-based European Jewish Fund, after Britain sanctioned him in March for #Putin ties and days after @Haaretz reported on the issues around his influence over the organisation. haaretz.com/world-news/eur…@SamuelSokol
#Ukraine appears to have recaptured Vysokopillia from #Russia in the Kherson Oblast. This photograph shows Ukrainian soldiers raising their flag over the Visokopillya hospital this morning. t.me/voynareal/33588
Harrowing report from the Donbas of the daily toll #Russia is inflicting on #Ukrainians, with its relentless artillery fire and the mines it has scattered everywhere. The Russians have also brought life to a standstill: no schools, no workplaces.
Eddie Dempsey, the former general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT), has been an overt supporter of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine and associated narratives since it began in 2014.
#Russia has tried to get around the HIMARS strikes from #Ukraine against the Antonivskyi Bridge in occupied Kherson. Looks like the workarounds are now being targeted, too.
In Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Maksym Mahrynov, a #Ukrainian guerrilla, blew himself and two #Russian soldiers up when the Russians came to his house, accusing him of helping direct Ukrainian fire. Witnesses said his last words were: "Glory to Ukraine". t.me/riamelitopol/6…
An echo of the barrel bombs #Russia's ally in #Syria used on civilian areas in these shrapnel-filled explosive devices the Russians are dropping on #Ukraine.
.@the_ins_ru published a video showing #Russia firing an MLRS near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in #Ukraine on the night of 2-3 September.
#India's behaviour towards #Russia has called into question the efficacy of the Quad. Moscow and #China are not separable threats; enabling one is enabling the other.
An intercepted call released by #Ukraine shows a #Russian soldier complaining about how new Russian recruits are thrown into this war without proper equipment. t.me/DIUkraine/1254
The failures on even the basics by #Russia remain pretty shocking.
#France's President Macron says the #EU's policy over #Ukraine must not follow the policy of "the most war-mongering types" (i.e. the Baltics, Poland), since this would "risk extending the conflict and closing off communications [with #Putin] completely". What a disgrace.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says #Russia is ready for negotiations again, though the "special operation" is "being conducted as planned" and Moscow's "conditions" (i.e. war aims), which are the total conquest of #Ukraine, remain the same. pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/…
In #Germany, about 2,000 pro-#Russia demonstrators, mostly émigrés or descendants thereof, gathered in Cologne to demand that Berlin cease even the tokenistic support it has so far given to #Ukraine and call for the opening of Nord Stream 2. reuters.com/world/europe/r…
#Ukraine's President Zelensky said in his nightly address that three settlements had been liberated from #Russia's occupation. He did not give details, but said one was in the east, in Donetsk, and two were in the south (i.e. Kherson; one is Vysokopillia). au.sports.yahoo.com/ukraine-libera…
Olena Zelenska, the wife of #Ukraine's President, says in an interview with the BBC that, among other things, she speaks with her husband every day, she rarely sees him. Asks that it be remembered what we count in money, Ukrainians count in lives. bbc.com/news/uk-627669…
Some acknowledgement from #Russia's supporters that #Ukraine's counter-offensive is making some headway.
Thread: 5 September 2022: Day 194 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: #Russia's "main effort in #Ukraine almost certainly remains its Donbas offensive", rather than reinforcing against the counter-offensive in Kherson. Moscow has had "the most success" in Donetsk recently, but it is still advancing only 0.5 miles per week.
Horseshoe theory in action: "Progressive International" leader supporting the nationalist protests in #Czechia and their #Russia-friendly demands to cease support to #Ukraine and restore economic relations with Moscow.
Thread: 3 September 2022: Day 192 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: #Ukraine's "offensive operations" around #Russian-occupied Kherson advance "on a broad front". The operation has "limited immediate objectives", but exploits Russia's weaknesses, and forces Moscow into a choice over deployment of its stretched forces.
Essentially an "Honest Trailers" version of a Russian recruitment video.
Very interesting: Photograph surfaces from #Iran showing three of #Al_Qaeda's most important leaders: Sayf al-Adel, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, and Abu al-Khayr al-Masri. Picture must be from before 2015, when Abu al-Khayr left for Syria. Doesn't look much like house arrest, does it?
#pt: #Al_Qaeda leader Abdullah Rajab Abdurrahman (Abu al-Khayr al-Masri) allegedly worked on fissile material while he was in #Iran. After Abu al-Khayr left in 2015, he went to #Syria, where, in 2017, he became the first kill of the US R9X ("ninja bomb"). kyleorton.co.uk/2017/02/27/al-…
Thread: 22 August 2022: Day 180 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update focuses on the problems #Russia is having mobilising and motivating its "auxiliary forces", i.e. the #Ukrainians in the occupied territories like the Donbas. Moscow is trying terror and inducement (money), but the forces remain unreliable for offensives.
Thread on the "Wagner" unit, an instrument of #Russia's state, often wrongly referred to as a "mercenary" outfit.
Thread: 21 August 2022: Day 179 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
To follow up on the assassination of Aleksandr Dugin's daughter last night: the balance of probability for an assassination in Moscow is always the Russian FSB, possibly with the involvement of organised crime, not the Ukrainian SBU.
#pt: It is not *impossible* to construct a motive for the Ukrainian SBU trying to assassinate Dugin, but the SBU knows what apparently most Westerners do not: that Dugin is not a domestic power player, politically or ideologically, in the Kremlin.
Thread: 20 August 2022: Day 178 of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine
Latest @DefenceHQ update: "only minimal changes" along the front line in the Donbas over "the last week", after some minor #Russian advances in early August. #Ukraine moving on Kherson, increasingly frequent strikes behind the lines in the south are "stressing Russian logistics".
Credit to #France's President Macron for this: strongly preparing the French population for a rough winter, necessary to defend their security and values.