An update on Kupol, the battalion commander who candidly told us about his frustration with poor training of newly mobilized troops and ammo shortages:

He was removed from his position of battalion commander in the 46th brigade because of his interview with us.

https://twitter.com/ikhurshudyan/status/1635395773964894209

Here is a story from @pravda_eng

pravda.com.ua/news/2023/03/1…

A year of casualties has taken some of Ukraine’s most experienced fighters off the battlefield, and military personnel told us that the influx of mobilized troops replacing them has seriously degraded the quality of Kyiv’s force. New story: washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/… One battalion commander we spoke to said the soldiers in his unit are poorly trained and regularly abandon their positions as a result. Some came to him without knowing how to throw a grenade, he said. washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/…

Russia’s 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade was considered elite — until it sent its best fighters and weapons to Ukraine this year and was effectively destroyed. This look at the 200th is revealing of the Russian military’s many issues in this war: washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/… By May, the unit was staggering back across the Russian border desperate to regroup, according to internal brigade documents reviewed by WaPo and to previously undisclosed details provided by Ukrainian and Western military and intelligence officials washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/…

Six months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine and the battle for Kyiv began. @PaulSonne, @s_morgunov, Kostya Khudov and I interviewed more than 100 people — from Zelensky to top commanders to volunteers — to tell the epic story of how Ukraine defended its capital washingtonpost.com/national-secur… Alternate title: How the Washington Post Ukraine bureau (and honorary member @PaulSonne) spent their summer 😅

In all seriousness, really proud of the teamwork that went into a mammoth story like this.

washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

In October 2021, the U.S. obtained “extraordinary detail” about the Kremlin’s secret plans for a war in Ukraine. 

President Biden pressed his advisers. Did they really think that this time Putin would strike? Yes, they said.

Read our monster project: washingtonpost.com/national-secur… This story includes comments from top Ukrainian (Zelensky, Kuleba, Yermak) and U.S. (Sullivan, Burns, Blinken, etc) officials and has previously unreported detail of how the U.S. tried to convince Kyiv and E.U. allies of what was coming. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Spent a couple days with Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade near occupied Izyum. The shelling is “10 times less” intense, a battalion commander said, since a recent HIMARS strike on a Russian ammo depot in Izyum. Why can’t Ukraine get more HIMARS faster? washingtonpost.com/national-secur… The battalion commander said fewer of his men are dying after the HIMARS strike. Yet the Biden administration has parceled out the rocket systems slowly, watching how the Ukrainians handle them — and how the Russians respond. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Ukraine is running out of ammunition for its Soviet-era artillery. The shortage points to a years-long sabotage campaign by Russia that’s intensified in recent months. Story with @PaulSonne: washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/… An arms broker working for Ukraine said he approached one Eastern European country about selling the shells Ukraine needs. Officials in that country said they couldn’t make a deal because the Russians warned they would “kill them if they sold anything to the Ukrainians,” he said.

Not sure anyone is sleeping in Ukraine. Just a sick, sinking feeling here waiting for the invasion to start any minute now. I don’t wish this on anyone — the terror of knowing something is coming but unsure exactly what it will be and also feeling helpless to do anything about it.

Since this tweet is being misinterpreted in all sorts of ways, I’ll try to clarify in a thread:

https://twitter.com/ikhurshudyan/status/1363873195087003653

Not saying this couldn’t be Kremlin-orchestrated smear, but think that’s a bit of a leap. Would be a strange way to go about it: a former coach who isn’t credible and no woman has come forward. Not really convincing.