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⚡️BREAKING: Trump says US will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine.

"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening," U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 13.

(Editor's note: This article has been updated with new developments.)
kyivindependent.com/trump-says-us-…
(A Patriot air defense system in Sochaczew, Poland, 21st, March 2015 (NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images 2/
President Donald Trump announced on July 13 that the United States will send additional Patriot air-defense batteries to Ukraine, but added that the U.S. would be reimbursed for their cost.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has consistently stressed Ukraine's need for such systems to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.
kyivindependent.com/russia-launche…

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Analysis: Russia is stepping up attacks. Allies are stepping back. What happens to Ukraine next?


(President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Drew Angerer, Saul Loeb, Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)kyivindependent.com/ahead-of-trump… 2/
Amid ever-escalating aerial assaults, accelerating Russian advances in the east, and the weariness that comes with nearly 3.5 years of war, all eyes in Ukraine are once again focused upon one man — U.S. President Donald @realDonaldTrump.

"I think I'll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,"
kyivindependent.com/tag/russia/

Trump said in an interview with NBC News on July 10, the latest development in a tortuously long and so far wholly ineffective U.S.-led peace process

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Ukrainian intelligence has revealed data on tankers of the Russian "shadow fleet":
- The blacklist has been updated

By:
Stanislav Kozhemyakin
obozrevatel.com/ukr/ekonomika-… 2/
Ukrainian intelligence has uncovered data on new tankers from the "shadow fleet" of Russia and Iran. This will allow Western countries to impose sanctions on them to limit the use of these vessels for illegal oil transportation.
obozrevatel.com/ukr/topic/sank…

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Waiting for the Bridge to Blow – Again:

By @DVKirichenko
David Kirichenko
An thread:
✍️
----
Ukraine is testing approaches to destroy the Kerch Bridge, built by Putin as a symbol of Russia’s claim to Crimea.

Having damaged it three times already, Kyiv is preparing for the coup de grâce. kyivpost.com/post/55710

(This photograph shows thick black smoke rising from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded, near Kerch, on October 8, 2022. Moscow announced on October 8, 2022 that a truck exploded igniting a huge fire and damaging the key Kerch bridge -- built as Russia's sole land link with annexed Crimea -- and vowed to find the perpetrators, without immediately blaming Ukraine. (Photo by Roman DMITRIYEV / AFP) 2/
It is now the fourth year of Russia’s so-called special military operation. But now, it’s Kyiv that is carrying out special operations against Moscow, week after week.

On June 1, Ukraine smuggled containers into Russia and launched -
atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…
- remotely controlled drones that struck Russian long-range bombers, causing an estimated $7 billion in damage and weakening Moscow’s ability to bomb Ukrainian cities

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Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces Magyar: There will be 1,000 "shaheeds" per day, and more

Given this, in his opinion, several steps should be taken, the major wrote on his Facebook page on Friday, July 4, 2025.

espreso.tv/viyna-z-rosiye…

(The Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major Robert Madyar (Brovdi), warned about the likelihood of the Russian Federation engaging 1,000 or more drones for a simultaneous attack on the territory of Ukraine within one day.) 2/
"Under the pressure of increasing mass use by the enemy of the cheap, but everywhere accessible "Shahed", all options for improving which we will not promptly foresee.

There will be "1,000 units per day or more."

- I am not scaring anyone," the SBS commander noted, emphasizing that he is inclined to such a forecast based on intelligence analysis.

So, first of all, the production of Ukrainian drones should be secured, says Madyar. "Relocation of UAV production. Remember this term," he emphasized.

For his part, Magyar, as the new commander of the SBS, has implemented since July 1 "a single system for the SBS branch of the military for recording and verifying all missions and exercises (including unsuccessful ones) and an alternative electronic ZhBD (combat log) to the existing one." "All units of the group are already online without exception," the major said.

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The occupiers struck Poltava, fires broke out in the CCC building and a house: two people died, 47 were injured.
On the morning of Thursday, July 3, Russian troops struck Poltava. The building of the Poltava United City Territorial Center for Recruiting and Social Support was hit.

war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/okupanti-z… 2/
The attack resulted in the deaths and injuries of civilians, the press service of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported .

"Today, July 3, at around 9:00 a.m., the enemy struck the city of Poltava. As a result of one of the hits, a fire broke out in the building of the Poltava United City CCC and JV," the report says.

Another hit occurred near the regional CCC and SP. As a result, a fire broke out on the territory of a private residential building

It is noted that among the victims are civilians, there are dead and wounded.

Emergency services are already working at the scene , rescuers are extinguishing the fires and providing assistance to the victims. Additional information about the condition of the victims and the extent of the damage is currently being clarified

The head of the Poltava OVA, Volodymyr Kohut, clarified
t.me/poltavskaOVA/2…
that according to preliminary information, two people were killed and 11 were injured. An emergency response headquarters has been deployed at the scene.

"Once again, I urge you: during an air raid alert, stay in cover," he stressed.

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⚡️'They're going to lose more lives' — US lawmakers voice opposition to Trump administration halting air defense shipments to Ukraine.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are voicing their opposition to the Trump administration's decision to halt shipments of some air defense missiles and other weapons previously promised to Kyiv.

In a letter addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump about the reported halt of air defense deliveries, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, requested an emergency briefing from the White House and Pentagon on the shipments.

kyivindependent.com/us-lawmakers-v…

(WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 04: U.S. President Donald Trump greets lawmakers after addressing a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump was expected to address Congress on his early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) 2/
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are voicing their opposition to the Trump administration's decision to halt shipments of some air defense missiles and other weapons previously promised to Kyiv.
kyivindependent.com/us-halts-promi…

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Russia is modernizing training grounds and is going to purchase up to 200 thousand motorcycles: ISW @TheStudyofWar explained what is behind the aggressor's plans
war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/rosiya-mod… 2/
Russia has begun modernizing Russian training grounds: they are being equipped with motorcycle tracks. Motorcycle training programs are also being developed in the military educational institutions of the aggressor state .

Details were revealed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
understandingwar.org/backgrounder/r…

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Sweden Won't Turn Its Older Gripen Fighters Into Spares, Offering Ukraine a Rare Opportunity
en.defence-ua.com/news/sweden_wo… 2/
The plan to dismantle 60 JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighters to use their components for the new Gripen E/F fighters was dismissed, the aircraft will retain their combat capability, meaning they can be transferred
Swedish Ministry of Defense has ultimately rejected the idea of dismantling older JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighters to produce more advanced Gripen E/F variants, opting instead to allocate funds for new equipment procurement

This decision ensures that the entire fleet of legacy Gripen C/Ds will remain combat-capable and not be cannibalized for spare parts, as Saab confirmed.

The company announced it has been awarded a contract worth 2.9 billion Swedish kronor (~€260 million) to supply components for the production of 60 Gripen E fighters

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Russia is expanding its capabilities in the production of drones, infantry fighting vehicles and aircraft: ISW predicted what the aggressor is preparing for

obozrevatel.com/ukr/novosti-ro… 2/
The terrorist country Russia

is increasingly investing in its defense industry. In particular, the aggressor is expanding its capabilities in the production of drones, infantry fighting vehicles, aircraft, and shipbuildingobozrevatel.com/ukr/entity/ros…

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Thread:
Author
David Kirichenko
@DVKirichenko
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Russia Is Ready to Begin Its Summer Offensive

June 27, 2025

Russia’s summer offensive signals Putin’s determination to overwhelm Ukraine using mass drone warfare, motorcycle assaults, and Chinese tech support, while betting on scale, endurance, and Western hesitancy to act

nationalinterest.org/feature/russia… 2/
Vladimir Putin appears increasingly confident that Russia will ultimately prevail on the battlefield in Ukraine as Moscow wages a bloody summer offensive.

Just as Putin claimed in his 2021 essay
atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…
that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people” and that Ukraine’s sovereignty hinges on Moscow’s approval, he reiterated
meduza.io/en/news/2025/0…
in late June: “I’ve said it before, Russians and Ukrainians are one people. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours. There’s an old rule that wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, that’s ours.”

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"Russia wants to complete the SVO with the desired result":

- Putin declared readiness for a new round of negotiations with Ukraine🤡

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow wants the "SVO" to end with the desired result and that the aggressor country's defense spending is aimed at this. He also announced that Russia is apparently ready for a new round of talks with Ukraine, all that remains is to agree on a place and time

obozrevatel.com/ukr/novosti-ro… 2/
Putin made these statements on June 27 during a press conference following a trip to Minsk.

Commenting on the deplorable economic situation and inflation in Russia,

" he claimed that Moscow was allegedly planning to cut defense spending".

According to him, Russia currently spends 6.3% of its GDP per year on defense, which, he says, is "not much."

"We paid for this with inflation, but we are fighting it. Most importantly, we plan to reduce defense spending," the dictator promised, adding that "all departments are thinking in this direction."

At the same time, Putin said, Europe is "thinking about how to raise spending."

"So who is preparing for aggressive actions, us or them? We want the SVO to be completed with the result we need, defense spending is aimed at this," the Kremlin leader said.

Speaking about the alleged "attempts of the West to bury" the Russian economy, he stated that "they themselves will soon die there, and they are burying us."

According to the Russian leader, the West will allegedly not be able to "cover up" oil supplies from Russia

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Carl-Oskar Bohlin

Swedish journalist:

On a makeshift patio right next to the harbor basin in Visby ( Sweden town at the island Gotland ), Vladyslav and Malik are sitting.

Neither I nor anyone else in Almedalen ( an speachplace during this week ) can possibly fully understand the extent of what they have been through and been subjected to. After an hour of conversation, I ask them if I can try to recount what they have told me and they answer in the affirmative. 

- That is why we have come here, to let the outside world know what we have been through, they both say.

What they have come to Almedalen to tell about is their time as Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia. For two and two and a half years respectively, they were forced to endure what had made every circle in Dante's hell seem like a holiday trip. Malik begins. 2/
- We were woken up at 6am every morning. The day started with us being beaten all over our bodies with sticks, then we were forced back into the cell. Eight to ten people in each cell, monitored by a camera.

From six in the morning we were then forced to stand in individual positions completely still until ten in the evening.
No one was allowed to move,
no one was allowed to talk,
no one was allowed to do anything.

If a single person moved, fell or somehow fell out of the frame, the door was opened and everyone in the cell was taken out to be subjected to collective punishment.

We were given electric shocks and beaten all over our bodies. 

- When I ask how it is even physically possible to stand upright in exactly the same position day in and day out for all waking hours of the day, Malik replies;  

- When you have experienced first being soaked and then attacked with an electric rod that is plugged into a wall socket, you will stand up until it is the last thing you do. Some died, some lost their composure. 

Those who went crazy, as Malik puts it, disappeared. He continues;  

- Russia will never send them back, they never want to show what happened to these people. 

For two and a half years, this was every day of Malik's life.

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Putin under pressure to declare war on Ukraine, but experts say Russia isn't ready

kyivindependent.com/putin-formal-w… 2/
Despite suffering over 1 million casualties, pounding Ukrainian cities nightly with missiles and drones, and committing countless war crimes, one startling fact about Russia's full-scale invasion remains — Moscow has yet to officially declare war on Ukraine

In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin described what he believed was going to be a swift victory and the capture of Kyiv within days as a "special military operation."
bbc.com/news/technolog…

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Putin's 700,000-strong army in Ukraine: is the enemy exhausting Ukrainians or is it exhausting itself? Interview with Simoroz

Currently, there is almost 700,000 Russian occupation army on the territory of Ukraine , reported the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky. @CinC_AFU .

Even considering that these forces are stretched along 1,200 kilometers of the front line, this is really a lot. But the fact is that their number is regular.

The enemy realized that he was suffering colossal losses in Ukraine, and simply began to replenish his army taking into account this fact. The huge human and financial resources of the occupying country allow this to be done

war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/700-tisyac… 2/
To achieve success on the battlefield, the enemy is using tactics from the Second World War, which consist of flank attacks and the creation of cauldrons.

This is precisely why the difficult situation has developed in the Toretsk area.

The Ukrainian Defense Forces need to review tactics, attract additional human resources, and ensure effective lines of defense so as not to lose settlements and roads of strategic importance.

In a situation where the enemy has clearly relied on increasing drone attacks on the capital, Ukraine needs to urgently respond to current threats

This opinion was expressed in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA by war veteran, public activist, and lawyer Oleg Simoroz .
facebook.com/oleh.symoroz/?…

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Russia has deployed 695,000 troops to Ukraine: Syrskyi named the likely target of the occupiers for the summer

war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/rosiya-sty… 2/
As of June 21, the terrorist country

has already deployed 695,000 troops to the territory of Ukraine. Currently, the likely goal of the occupiers for the summer of 2025 is considered to be the entry of the occupiers to the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regionsobozrevatel.com/ukr/topic/pote…

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The Avengers just got real: weekend engineers made Russia’s war tech obsolete — now the Pentagon

By:.@DVKirichenko

While Ukraine’s allies debated aid, 150 weekend engineers launched the rapid-response pipeline smoking NATO deadlines — delivering tech that crashes Russia’s multi-billion weapons within weeks.
euromaidanpress.com/2025/06/18/the… 2/
The fiber-optic drones that laugh at Russian jammers. The $10,000 radars that beat $10-million systems. The netgun quadcopters snatching enemy eyes from the sky. None came from NATO labs — they came from basements, battlefields, and backchannel Zoom calls.

While Ukraine’s allies debated aid packages and tiptoed around “escalation,” a global league of engineers, tinkerers, and combat-tested coders — calling themselves Defense Tech for Ukraine (DTU) — has built a rapid-response tech pipeline their own governments can only dream of
defensetechforukraine.org

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Putin will lose if Iran is defeated: Trump can no longer help "friend Vladimir." Interview with Feigin

The conflict between Israel and Iran has three consequences for the regime in Russia at once - one positive and two negative. The positive for the Kremlin is that it has the opportunity to take advantage of the distraction from the war in Ukraine. The aggressor is trying to act "in the moment".

The bad news for the Kremlin dictator is that the administration of US President Donald Trump has put the dialogue with Moscow on hold. The third consequence of the war in the Middle East for Putin is that he is catastrophically losing geopolitical influence. This opinion was expressed by Russian human rights activist Mark Feigin in an exclusive interview

"The conflict between Israel and Iran has three consequences for the regime in Russia at once – one positive and two negative".

The positive for the Kremlin is that it has been able to take advantage of the distraction from the war in Ukraine. The aggressor is trying to act "in the moment". This is precisely what has led to Russia's massive missile and drone attacks on Ukraine , which have become more frequent.
obozrevatel.com/ukr/topic/ross… 2/
The bad news for the Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin is that the administration of US President Donald Trump has put the dialogue with Moscow on hold. After all, it is not yet clear who the Kremlin will actually support and how the situation will develop further. Trump himself has found himself under pressure from his own party members and can no longer freely help "friend Vladimir". The third consequence of the war in the Middle East for Putin is that he is catastrophically losing geopolitical influence. If Iran loses, then Putin will lose too

This opinion was expressed by Russian human rights activist Mark Feigin in an exclusive interview
youtube.com/channel/UCQVtD…

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North Korean "new equipment" of the Russian occupiers: what weapons has the DPRK already handed over to the aggressor for the war against Ukraine and what is left "in reserve"

In recent days, Russian propaganda has increasingly begun to demonstrate North Korean weapon "updates" that have appeared in the arsenal of the ROV. And we are talking not only about the 170-mm Koksan self-propelled guns and the 240-mm M1991 MLRS, but also about mortars, small rocket systems, etc.

We will try to analyze and systematize the new arrivals in the army of the aggressor country, why the occupiers chose them and how they can be used

war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/pivnichnok… 2/
More details about this can be found in the material of the joint project OBOZ. UA and the group "Information Resistance" .
sprotyv.info

First of all, I will voice those types of weapons that, in addition to the Koksan self-propelled guns and the M1991 MLRS, have increasingly begun to "shine" in photos and videos of specialized Russian sites and so-called Z-bloggers.

This, in particular, a 60-mm mortar, an analogue of the Chinese Type 63, as well as a 140-mm mortar. In addition, a small 107-mm MLRS Type 75 was shown. Russian troops also began to receive analogues of the 122-mm D-74 corps artillery gun. And in the Kursk region, a short-range Pongae M-2020 air defense system, an analogue of the Tor-M2 air defense system, was verified.

As we can see, Russia receives mostly artillery, both barreled and rocket-propelled, from North Korea, which indicates the depletion of its own stocks in warehouses and storage bases due to large-scale losses over the three and a half years of the full-scale war in Ukraine. But the artillery systems supplied to Russia mostly have very specific calibers and, as a result, ammunition that is not produced at Russian enterprises

Of all the above models, only the D-74 analogue has a "native" Russian caliber - 122 mm. In other words, at the current stage, the DPRK is supplying models that make the DPRK acutely dependent on North Korean ammunition. That is, Kim Jong-un is putting Putin on the North Korean needle as much as possible. But let's consider each model separately

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SUPERPOWER RISING:

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — When the shooting stops and the smoke clears, Israel will emerge as the sole superpower in the Middle East.

This is a good thing.

A very good thing.

The world’s 600 million Evangelical Christians – including the 60 million Evangelicals in the United States – should be cheering.

And praying without ceasing. @netanyahu is transforming Israel into the sole Mideast superpower by wiping the Iran threat ‘off the map’

‘THERE IS A TIME FOR WAR’

No one wants war.

But the Bible tells us that “there is a time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8).

President Donald J. Trump offered Tehran a peaceful path.

They rejected it.

Trump gave Tehran 60 days to negotiate a good, robust and verifiable deal to give up their nuclear weapons program in return for U.S. economic sanctions being removed from them – or they would face war.

But the terror masters in Tehran refused to negotiate in good faith.

So, on Thursday, Trump gave Netanyahu the green light.

allisraelnews.com/superpower-ris…
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A PROPHETIC MOMENT

We are watching Bible prophecy unfolding before our very eyes.

Yes, Bible prophecy, in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel and Revelation, tells that the world will turn against Israel and the Jewish people in the last days of history and try to wipe Israel off the map.

But the prophets also speak of a time of great peace and prosperity in Israel and the region that I call the Epicenter before those terrible and traumatic and apocalyptic days.

I believe we are now heading into a time of prophetic peace, quiet and calm.

It won’t last long – but it’s coming and coming fast.

I’ll write more on these prophecies soon.

For now, let’s stick with geopolitics

NETANYAHU’S DEFINING MOMENT

This is Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu's defining moment.

For years, he has warned of it and prepared for it.

Now the time has come.

Netanyahu is doing what no American, Arab, or Israeli leader has ever had the courage to do before.
youtu.be/6eOq98a-z6w?si…

By launching “Operation Rising Lions” – a bold and massive preemptive attack – Bibi is wiping the Iranian threat off the map.

(Israeli Prime Minister places a note in the Western Wall that reads "A people that rises up as a lioness, and as a lion lifts himself up." (Numbers 23:24) (Photo: Ziv Koren)

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Ukrainian ballistics at 500 km? What is known about the Ukrainian Sapsan OTRK, the serial production of which was announced by Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine is preparing for mass production of Sapsan ballistic missiles. The development of this operational-tactical missile complex began in the 2000s, and its range reaches 500 km.

OBOZ.UA investigated what is known about "Sapsan" and what the "Grim-2" has to do with it, which the Russians have long been afraid of

Where it all began:

We have already written that the first Ukrainian operational-tactical missile system capable of delivering strikes at short (about 100 km) and medium (up to 500 km) distances was to be the Borysfen OTRK. However, due to organizational and financial difficulties, this project became obsolete even at the "paper" development stage. 2/
On its basis, it was decided to create the Sapsan OTRK, which was to combine the properties of multiple launch rocket systems, tactical and operational-tactical complexes. The new operational-tactical missile was planned to be adopted in 2011, but the traditional lack of funding and political contradictions between the branches of government prevented it .
war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/raketnij-k…

"Sapsan" and "Grim-2" - are they the same thing?

After the victory of the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014, the issue of completing the development of the Sapsan complex was again on the agenda. Many experts assumed that the Sapsan project found its implementation in the Grim-2 missile complex, which was demonstrated on August 24, 2018 at the military parade dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine

Due to the fact that the project is classified, there is no exact official information about whether the Sapsan and the Grim-2 are the same development. Some military experts expressed the opinion that the Grim-2 is an export version of the Sapsan. Others developed the theory that the Grim-2 will have a flight range of 500 km, and the Sapsan - almost 2,000 km.

If we assume that the Sapsan, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about on June 14, is the complex previously called "Thunder-2", it is worth understanding what we know about it.