I visited Colombian soldiers from the 98th Territorial Defense Battalion Azov-Dnipro fighting on the Zaporizhzhia front. Here is what I learned about the Colombian soldiers fighting for Ukraine.

“‘Libertad o Muerte’ – Liberty or Death for Ukraine’s Colombian Volunteers”

🧵 1/ In the flatlands of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, soldiers from the 98th Territorial Defense Battalion Azov-Dnipro are training to storm Russian trenches. Shouts in Spanish mark them out as unusual: among their number are Colombians who have traveled to Ukraine to join the fight.

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I visited a mortar unit fighting on the Kharkiv front. Here is what I learned about what it's like for the mortar teams fighting on the front.

“Ukraine’s Frontline Units Fight the Russians, and More”

🧵 1/ “We mainly fire at the charging Russian infantry as they conduct assaults,” says Anatoliy, a commander of a mortar battery unit from Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade. His voice reflects the weariness of a unit that is battling against growing odds.

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I went on various night drone bombing missions with @YasniOchiUa. Here is what it would like to experience the fight for Chasiv Yar.

“Dragon Drones: Ukraine’s Night Hunters”

🧵 1/ As the sun sets, soldiers of Yasni Ochi, a drone unit of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade, prepare a night bombing mission on the eastern frontline city of Chasiv Yar. Their objective is to drop anti-tank mines and small bombs on Russian positions, including roads and places where soldiers were spotted during the day.

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I spoke with a tank crew fighting in the battle for Toretsk. Here is what they told me about how tank warfare.

“The Era of the Cautious Tank”

🧵 1/ In the forested areas surrounding the burning frontline town of Toretsk in Eastern Ukraine, the thunderous roar of artillery and the constant buzz of drones paint a vivid picture of the front in Donetsk Oblast. Here, soldiers from Ukraine’s 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade await orders for their T-64s, although their powerful machines now play a different role in a rapidly evolving war.

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On the frontlines of Eastern Ukraine, digital-savvy technicians are engaged in combat against the invader. A report about the drone unit @YasniOchiUa from the 23rd Mechanized Brigade fighting in Chasiv Yar
1/ 🧵 Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 37-year-old Heorhiy Volkov was a business and marketing professional and owner of a digital agency. Just days after it began, he contacted a former colleague who had used a drone to film a commercial for him, urging him to bring it to help patrol the streets of Dnipro.

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A thread on an aerial reconnaissance mission where I was embedded with the drone unit Ясні Очі from the 23rd Mechanized Brigade fighting in Chasiv Yar

🧵 1/ The unit gathers all their supplies and coordinates plans with HQ for the evening. We have to wait till sunset to go to our position on the front. Moving around during the day time is the most dangerous due to being easy prey for FPV drones.

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Since the beginning, the war for #Ukraine has been the fight of everyday people. In keeping with that tradition, #NAFO has taken up digital arms against the troll farms of Russia to combat Russia’s state-sponsored digital disinformation machine. frontsight.vc/posts/warrior-… 1/ Supporting Ukraine’s cyber defenses through decentralized democratic forces, such as the volunteer cyber warriors of the IT Army, has been key in tipping the scales of inequality in the digital warfare supporting the physical battlelines of Ukraine’s defense effort.