CBC: The UK is its weakest in the last 200 years. The Strategic Defence Review describes poor recruitment, falling morale, a workforce crisis, regulars and reservists in decline. In Germany a fifth of officer posts aren’t filled. The military has too little of everything. 1/
CBC: Europe’s top spenders are outpacing Russia, doubling Russia’s defense spending. But what will give Europe peace of mind will take more than money. The challenge is to stitch together a 44-nation patchwork to present a cohesive front against an opponent unified under one man. 2/
CBC: The Eastern Flank Watch combines air, ground and counter-drone defenses, establishing a surveillance perimeter at the Baltic and Black Seas and integrating into NATO programs. The European air shield is about missile defense and protecting airspace, like Europe’s version of Israel’s Iron Dome. 3X
Hodges: Most of the Congress supports Ukraine, but they don’t get the sanctions package for vote because Trump doesn’t want them to.
Even though most Americans support Ukraine, the administration is going in a different direction. There’s no oversight of what they’re doing. 1/
Hodges: Putin’s the one that can end it today since he started it with his attack on Ukraine. He could pull his troops out.
Russia has paid an enormous price. For the Ukrainians it’s clear they cannot agree to giving up land. It’s sovereign territory and there is zero interest to give up. 2/
Hodges: Europeans have got to accept more responsibility. Ukraine is a European country. The best way to defend Europe is to help Ukraine defeat Russia.
I did not hear a clear commitment to help Ukraine win. There’s not enough political will. 3X
Dmytro and Denys alone held the position for 130 days. Killed 7 Russians, took one as POW. Dmytro “K2”: Russians die like flies. They’re losers.
They failed to take our position 3 times. Bombed us with mortars, thinking we died. But fuck them, we were alive. And kept working. 1/
“K2”: A russian walked right inside the house once. We were sitting, about to drink coffee. He shouted, ‘Guys, guys’.
“Bars”: I aimed at the doorway and fired. He fell. I went around and put a final shot in his head. He was shouting because he thought we were his own. 2/
Journalist: What was the first thing you did after leaving the position? “K2”: Called my mom. And got proper cigarettes. And some normal food. I asked for fried eggs.
I’d been craving them. “Bars”: Called my parents, of course. Then a hot shower. We’d waited four months for that. 3/
Tetiana Tipakova: “It was the worst of all the prisons.”
A protest organizer in Berdyansk, she was abducted, beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and sexually assaulted by guards.
She was forced to film a propaganda video before being released, NYT. 1/
Tetiana: “The goal was to break me.”
She now speaks publicly, testifies internationally, and works with survivor groups documenting sexual violence in occupied territories. 2/
Hundreds of Ukrainian women and girls have reported sexual violence by Russian troops since 2022. Advocates say the real number is far higher. Many cases go unreported due to stigma, fear, or occupation. 3/