Not sure how credible this report is, but the sources cited claim the IRGC returned the S-300 it bought from Russia and is supplying them with other systems to help in Ukraine. theguardian.com/world/2022/apr…
"About 25 girls and women aged 14-24 were systematically raped...in the basement of one house in Bucha...Russian soldiers told them they would rape them to the point where they wouldn't want sexual contact...to prevent them from having Ukrainian children." bbc.com/news/world-eur…
'"Two soldiers repeatedly raped the wife...They returned three times to rape her. They threatened that if she resisted they would harm her little boy."
When the soldiers left, they burnt down the house and shot the family's dogs.'
Given what happened to the last convoy, there's little reason to believe this one won't stall out and get chewed apart.
Apr 10 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Meet absolute gigachad General Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, the 48-year-old commander in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, who has helped purge it of its Soviet ways and structure and turn it into an agile, adaptable NATO-style force capable of defeating Russia. politico.com/news/2022/04/0…
Former US special forces officer: “[Ukrainian special forces by 2020] looked, smelled and tasted like Western SoF” (@AbraxasSpa).
NATO training, including in its professional culture, really paid off, contrary to reports I'd read previously.
Sullivan: "We will be consulting with Allies and partners on that potential contingency (Russia using nukes), among a range of others, and discussing what our potential responses are."
More on Russian clusterfuckery:
▶️Unclear if Russia has a theatre-wide commander for the invasion
▶️Units competing over resources rather than coordinating
▶️Units acting independently with no overarching operational design. edition.cnn.com/2022/03/21/pol…
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Thread: Most salient information from the White House and Pentagon briefings on yesterday's US raid that killed Islamic State leader Hajji Abdullah (Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi) in #Idlib.
The operation was in the works for months.
US confirmed by early December that the IS leader was living in the compound; the exact layout of the compound; and exactly who was where.
The reason a raid was chosen vs. an airstrike was an innocent family on the first floor.
Feb 3 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Just listened to this @BulwarkOnline with @SykesCharlie & George Packer discussing his Atlantic article (theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…), and I'm very glad people are finally noting Biden's total indifference to evacuating our Afghan partners, something I've extensively covered.
With confirmation from Biden that the SECOND leader of the Islamic State was just killed in Idlib a mile from the Turkish border, right next to where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in 2019 in a similar US raid, there can no longer be any doubt about Turkey.
The last time the coalition did this, it was for Baghdadi. Looks like they found the new guy, and he's been hiding - wouldn't you know it - in Idlib, same as Baghdadi.
Biden says any Russian attempt to cut off energy supplies to Europe would be "biting your nose off to spite your face" given that it's 45% of their income.
US reportedly approves the requests of #Estonia, #Latvia, and #Lithuania to rush their US weapons to #Ukraine as the likelihood of Russian invasion goes up to near certainty.
The Baltics have requested increased NATO presence, as well. politico.com/news/2022/01/1…
This seems to have been done by the administration under pressure, as some of the requests are older than a week and the approval was only confirmed after POLITICO reported on them publicly.
Russia will steamroller Ukraine. If it wants, it could take Kyiv within less than a week. It won't be a proper war.
It'll look like 2003.
Jan 20 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
#UAE ambassador to US Yousef Al-Otaiba: “Several attacks — a combination of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones — targeted civilian sites...Several were intercepted”
Looks like the #Houthis weren't lying about ballistic missiles being used. apnews.com/article/houthi…
The odds are high that this attack was once again directly from Iran, like the 2019 ARAMCO strikes.
Saudi Arabia refused to blame Iran for those, and the UAE will cover for Iran now, like it always does.
#Ukraine Defense Ministry's latest intelligence assessment seen by CNN says Russia has "almost completed" its deployment:
127,000 troops deployed (sea, air, land components)+>35K proxy forces+3000 Russians already in Donbas. cnn.com/2022/01/18/eur…#Ukraine Defense Ministry's latest intelligence assessment:
Since January, Russia moving "stockpiles of ammunition, field hospitals and security services" to border, increasing intelligence operations, and increasing Iskanders on border to 36 launchers.