Jimmy Rushton Profile picture
Kyiv based foreign policy/security analyst Currently focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine Sometime journalist - opinions mine alone
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May 16 4 tweets 1 min read
Been speaking to a large number of Ukrainian military and civil society figures over the past days. The general consensus is that the situation on the front is going to get worse before it gets better. A lot of blame can be laid on some of the ridiculous restrictions imposed on Ukraine by Western partners. But my sources also identified significant issues with command and control and basic competence in the Ukrainian military leadership.
Mar 22 4 tweets 2 min read
Mass shooting at concert at the Crocus City Hall, Moscow.

Early in March multiple countries issued warnings about potential attacks:

"The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts" - US Embassy According to Russian media at least 12 are believed dead, with at least 50 more believed injured.

Russian media also reports the building is on fire and firefighters are unable to respond due to the risk of gunfire.
Mar 21 6 tweets 1 min read
Very loud explosions in Kyiv. Not just defence - in the distance I could see at least two clear impacts. People in the street below running to take shelter in the subway. A loud whistling sound as a cruise missile flies overhead, followed by another loud explosion. Ukrainian surface to air missiles flying into the sky.
Feb 27 9 tweets 2 min read
I’m in Orikhiv Raion, speaking to the commander of a Ukrainian military unit currently deployed in Robotyne. As he described, the situation there is very tough for the Ukrainian defenders… Image “The Russians are advancing around 250 to 500 metres per day. They’re hitting us with everything; artillery, FPV drones, aviation (glide bombs) and helicopters”. His unit - like every other unit we spoke to - mentioned the lack of Ukrainian artillery support due to supply issues.
Dec 7, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Big story: The British government names the Russian FSB unit behind "hundreds" of hack and leak attacks targeting high profile British public figures.
therecord.media/uk-names-fsb-u… This is also long awaited official confirmation that Jeremy Corbyn did use documents stolen by the FSB during the 2019 general election.

At the time, he called such claims "nonsense" and "conspiracy theories", whilst refusing to reveal who had provided them to his campaign. Image
Aug 23, 2023 23 tweets 6 min read
"The plane that crashed in the Tver region belongs to Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to BAZA and journalist Ksenia Sobchak. There were 7 people on board the Embraer business jet, they died." Important caveat; just because the aircraft belonged to Prigozhin doesn't mean he was necessarily aboard the plane and is among the dead. He may very well be, though.
Jul 17, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Last night the Ukrainians successfully struck the Kerch Bridge - which connects the occupied Crimean Peninsula with Russia - for the second time.

Severe damage was caused to the structure which is now closed.

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Footage of part of the damaged Kerch Bridge taken from a passing train.

The adjacent railway bridge seems to be still operational, but the road bridge is currently closed in both directions.
Jun 24, 2023 19 tweets 6 min read
Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries at the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov, now under the control of his mercenary organisation. Well connected Russian Telegram channel "Fighterbomber" - which is run by a pilot in the Russian airforce - confirms Wagner did indeed shoot down three Russian helicopters - two Mi-8 transport helicopters and an Mi-35 helicopter gunship.
Jun 22, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
The Chongar bridge - which connects the temporarily occupied parts of Kherson Oblast with Crimea, was hit and heavily damaged last night - most likely with a 'Storm Shadow' cruise missile.

We saw from Ukrainian strikes on the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson that strikes like this might not disable foot traffic from crossing, but quickly makes the bridge impassable to heavy military vehicles.
Jun 8, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Kherson: Russian forces are shelling Ukrainian rescuers attempting to evacuate civilians from their flooded homes.

📸: Stas Yurchenko ImageImage Confirmation of Russian shelling of Ukrainian rescue operations from The Times journalist Catherine Philp who is on the ground in Kherson right now.
Jun 6, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
The Kakhovka dam in Nova Kakhovka has been destroyed overnight, almost certainly by Russian forces, in an attempt to stymie the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine. Footage from ground level shows catastrophic damage to the Kakhovka dam. A large number of settlements including the city of Kherson are now at risk of "catastrophic" flooding.
May 23, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
The goals of these incursions into Russia seem pretty obvious to me - to embarrass the Putin regime, to force Russia to re-deploy troops to defend the border areas, and to demonstrate that the war can and will cross the border into Russia proper. Russia had long assumed - probably correctly - that the site of Ukrainians charging into Russia would make their Western partners nervous. Kyiv has neatly sidestepped that by using Russian proxy forces instead of Ukrainians.
May 22, 2023 16 tweets 5 min read
Earlier footage suggested a Ukrainian tank was involved in this skirmish, possibly crossing the Russian border. A reminder to Moscow that you can't expect the country you invaded to respect your imaginary "red lines". Footage showing the tank, apparently operated by Ukrainian-aligned Russians fighting with the ZSU, at the Russian border checkpoint in Kozinka, Belgorod.
May 19, 2023 7 tweets 1 min read
Loud explosion heard in Kyiv - apparently the work of air defence. Another explosion, the sky lit up in the distance, gunfire can be heard as Ukrainian air defence engages incoming drones.
Apr 2, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
Russian propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky now reported to have been killed in an explosion in St. Petersberg.

Speaking after Putin's speech in Sept. 2022, Tatarsky said the following about Ukraine - "We'll conquer everyone, we'll kill everyone, we'll loot whoever we need to". The moment of the explosion in St. Petersburg earlier.

Russian state media has now confirmed the death of Tatarsky.
Mar 30, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
The famous Bucha BRDM, nearly a year to the day after the city was liberated and the Russian massacre of civilians was discovered by the world.

During the initial Russian push to Kyiv, their armoured vehicles opened fire at the monument, believing it to be an active ZSU vehicle. Image A lot of the damage has now been fixed in Bucha - life here can look surprisingly normal. In Borodyanka, (pictured) twenty minutes down the road, the destruction is far more severe.

Irpin to the south is also heavily damaged in places. ImageImageImage
Mar 2, 2023 7 tweets 2 min read
Russian state media and pro-Russian sources on Telegram getting very, very animated about a Ukrainian "invasion" of Bryansk, which has apparently "taken hostages".

Note - there is no independent confirmation that anything is happening at all. And yes, the irony of Russians complaining about an "invasion" (even an imaginary one) is not lost on me.
Feb 21, 2023 6 tweets 1 min read
Joe Biden, speaking in Poland: "I've just come from Kyiv, Kyiv stands strong, Kyiv stands proud, it stands tall, and most important, it stands free." Biden: "Autocrats only understand one word; NO! No you will not take my country, no you will not take my freedom, no you will not take my future!"
Feb 21, 2023 16 tweets 2 min read
I'll spare you a play by play but Putin's speech so far is just the standard mixture of special pleading, conspiracy theories, aggressive victimhood, and whining. The crowd looks bored. And no doubt they are, Putin is a terrible speaker and they've heard this all before.
Feb 20, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
And there it is. US President Joe Biden meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kyiv, in the middle of an air raid. Quite remarkable. From "Kyiv will fall in 72 hours" to a Presidential state visit four days before the first anniversary of the war. It's been quite a year.
Dec 25, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
At least one large explosion reported at Engels Air Force Base, Saratov Oblast, Russia; the same Russian strategic bomber airbase hit by a Ukrainian drone attack on 5th December.
Air raid sirens and further explosions heard at the air base. It would be rather humiliating if Ukrainian drones managed to hit the same target again...