Mid-July to late August, Ukraine systematically targeted russian supply lines around Kherson, Kharkiv, Crimea, Donbas & other areas. The 80km HIMARS range, and other undisclosed arms allowed clinical strikes. The AFU warned of an imminent Kherson counter offensive
2/n The russians, seeing the strikes & warnings, started reinforcing Kherson with up to 30,000 soldiers. The Ukrainians continued to attack logistics, and exit routes, making it almost impossible for russia to resupply their forward soldiers.
3/n End of Aug / beginning of Sep, Ukraine announced it was going on the counter offensive for Kherson, but that they would not share any info. Pro russia journalists and politicians immediately used this to say that the counter-offensive on day 1-2-3 was failing / had failed
4/n Around the 3rd/4th of Sep, rumours started appearing that Ukraine had made enormous gains around Kharkiv, even though this had never been a stated aim for the operation. However, opsec did not allow for concrete details. Progress was starting to become visible in Kherson area
5/n On the 5th of Sep, it became obvious to all that Ukraine's counter-offensive was moving rapidly in multiple directions, and they had taken Balakliia by complete surprise - rumours started appearing that it too had fallen, and the russians could not reinforce there
6/n On 6th Sep, images of Balakliia started appearing with Ukrainian flags, and the general staff announced that more than a dozen settlements had been freed. At the same time, rumours started appearing that Kherson offensive was on, but AFU was moving even faster than expected
7/n 6th cont: OSINT & commentators started talking about a small town called Kupiansk, which was the key to russian supply lines for Izyum, a city they've occupied for months. russians started to realise the level of crap they were in, and became desperate to reinforce
8/n By the 7th, Balakliia was confirmed to be around Ukraine, huge advances in and around Kherson, & it was clear the russians were unable to reinforce in any way. Stories of 1000+ POWs, 600+ KIAs started coming out. Meanwhile, AFU opened up 2 axes to take Kupiyansk
9/n By the 8th, reports of further progress had appeared on all fronts, and the AFU was rumoured to have taken Kupiyansk, though not confirmed.
russians lost another 650+ KIA, and serious panic started to spread. Videos surfaced of russians reinforcing, but those were fake.
10/n Today, it is certain that Kupiansk has been taken, but the scope of the counter-offensive is bigger than anyone could have imagined. Intense fighting around Izyum, Lyman confirmed, and reports of huge numbers of PoWs coming out. At the same time, AFU advances to Kherson
11/n Meanwhile, there have been explosions in Melitopol, Mariupol, Berdyansk, Crimea, and a whole bunch of other cities, by partisans and the AFU.
russians are unable to reinforce in any area, their weapons are not working, and numerous videos are emerging of their surrenders
12/n The real scope of this counter-offensive is unclear, but it's starting to look like a turning point in this war.
Remember, what you or I can see on the internet is behind a day at least. And from what I'm hearing the situation is far worse for the russians than what we see.
I made a mistake about Kupiyansk because of my language (I thought it is certain to be taken = it will imminently be taken), but it seems that since then it has been taken.
14/n Izyum has been liberated on the 10th of Sep, after a surprise operation by the AFU in the dead of night. russians were surrounded, cut off from all communication and supplies, and after taking heavy defeats, tried to run, and then surrendered.
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Together with @UkraineAidOps , we're running a fundraiser for NIGHT VISION Devices for our front-line soldiers! @Harri_Est & I spoke to several units who tell you why these NVDs are so important!
We've prepared some amazing prizes🤩,go to link for details! auctions.ukraineaidops.org/nightvision/Ca…
2/4 Commander of Special Operations Forces unit of the AFU in #Kharkiv tells us how Night Vision devices can help his team.
3/4 Commander of @georgian_legion Mamuka Mamulashvili speaking about the importance of the Night Vision Devices for his unit
Just gonna throw this out there cos I see a lot of “coup d’etat funded by west in 2014” referring to Euromaidan.
Yanukovych (same guy who was ousted in 2014) was literally caught rigging election in 2004, result overturned and Yushchenko won. Same Yushchenko who was poisoned
… just before election. He survived, and then won the re-election.
Where is Yanukovych now? In Russia. Who does he support? Russia.
So, Yanukovych, who is in Russia and is pro Russian and is supported by Russia tried to steal an election in 2004. He failed.
Wait, Maria, so you’re saying that a pro Russian traitor, who has close ties to Kremlin, was and is supported by Kremlin, and is in Russia tried to steal an election in 2004, 10 years before Euromaidan?
The same Russia that signed the Budapest memorandum? That Russia? No way!
1/ Budapest memorandum: what is it & why is it important?
It is a a treaty signed in 1994 where Belarus, Kazakhstan, & Ukraine agreed to return all nuclear weapons to Russia in exchange for security assurances & protection from Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States.
2/ Memorandum also prohibited US, UK or Russia from invading / attacking / using military force against these countries except in case of self defense.
After signing treaty, Belarus, Ukraine & Kazakhstan gave up their nuclear weapons, and were protected.
LOL.
3/ Background: I focus on Ukraine for obvious reasons.
Before giving up nuclear weapons, Ukraine had 3rd largest collection of nuclear weapons. Though it had physical control of weapons, it did not have operational control of weapons.
1) Oligarch: someone who gets a monopoly on a state asset after privatisation. Is that how Apple was built?
2) Authoritarian state: where one person / decides everything, and arrests anyone speaking against them. Didn’t know Tucker Carlson was in jail for his views.
3) Secret police: undercover police who routinely kidnap and torture dissidents, a la Lukashenkos police, or Roscgardia. Didn’t know FBI / interpol kidnapped Americans / Europeans and tortured them for information about political opponents.
4) Crush dissent: When protesting is not allowed, and protest groups are deemed terrorist organisations, like Nalvalny
5) Prison labour: wrong on all fronts, though it is not a labour camp that you get sent to without a trial, with no end date, and no information on why sent
OK people, listen up. I have 10 WARSHIP #Stamps, and I'm selling them to raise money for Ukraine!!
Each stamp is $50 (USD), and 100% of this money goes to UKR Government.
You will pay to official website of Gov of Ukraine, IF SOMEONE ASKS FOR MONEY DIRECTLY, IT IS NOT ME.
I will cover all postage fees etc myself.
If cost of postage is above $5 , I will ask you to donate extra to official link NOT TO ME.
You can donate more if you want!
To get stamps please DM me, then I will send an OFFICIAL LINK TO GOVERNMENT to make donation (NOT TO ME). YOU MUST leave my email address when payment is successful so I receive a receipt.
At the same time, send me screenshot of your payment so I can confirm ID number.
1/ This is a series of threads about history of events leading to Ru aggression today, from '04 onwards, including #Crimea, #Donbas etc. Goal is to show war is unjustified & reasons inconsistent w reality (de-nazification, NATO etc).
Today, I share background from '04 to Crimea
2/ In '04, Ukr was at a political crossroad. Leonid Kuchma, pro-Russia, 2nd president of modern Ukr, decided to not run for re-election. Two contenders came up: Victor Yanukovych (pro-Russia), Kuchma’s PM, & Victor Yushchenko (pro-Europe), the opposition,. The election was fierce
3/ In Sept '04, Yushchenko was “mysteriously” poisoned. He survived and continued to run in elections. Though Yanukovych, & agents of Kremlin are suspected, no one has been convicted. Yushenko still has scars on his face to this day.