February 24th, 2025

Just writing that down feels weird.
It feels impossible that it has been 3 years since I watched Putin announce Russia's full scale invasion on TV, and saw the missiles starting to hit, as tanks and troops crossed the border.
On one hand, it feels like it's been much, much longer and on the other hand, it feels like the blink of an eye. I remember that when this full scale invasion started, no one gave Ukraine a chance. Virtually everyone, especially the analysts, thought it was a foregone conclusion that Ukraine's military would be defeated, and it would happen quickly.

And the early minutes, hours and days were pure chaos. (1/9) (2/9)
I remember the video from Hostomel, where the CNN reporter Matthew Chance found himself in the midst of a russian VDV assault on the airport.

I remember the stories of territorial defense units consisting of teachers, mechanics and other ordinary men taking on russia's "best" soldiers and battling them out of their towns, like Voznesensk.

I remember seeing videos of Ukrainians courageously standing up to the invaders, throwing sunflowers at them, or literally standing in front of their tanks.

Ukrainians did everything they could to keep the russians out. Those who could fight, they fought like hell, and those who couldn't did everything else they could to stop the russian invasion like it was a cancer trying to take over their body.

10 years since the Minsk agreements

On February 12, 2015, following the battles for Donetsk Airport and Ukraine’s heavy losses in Debaltseve, the "Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements" was signed. This was the second document aimed at stopping Russian aggression and resolving the conflict in Donbas. Ukraine fulfilled key provisions of the agreements: it declared a ceasefire, initiated prisoner exchanges, and passed a law granting special status to Donbas. Meanwhile, Russia continued supplying weapons to militants, blocking OSCE monitoring, and sending fake “humanitarian convoys.”

🧵 The Evolution of Saint Javelin

In 2022, we started out printing stickers and memes on t-shirts to support Ukraine. But we've grown into something much bigger.

We're now creating military-grade outdoor gear, 100% made in Ukraine.

Why? The Saint Javelin meme became known around the world as "the protector of Ukraine"

And for us, our simple work helped support and protect people with IFAK's, bulletproof vests, helmets, etc

As we grew, we tackled new problems.

When winter 2022 hit, we donated $250,000 worth of diesel generators, pickup trucks, sleeping bags, winter jackets and more

📦 BIG NEWS: We’re starting to ship our products directly from Ukraine with @NP_official_ua

Saint Javelin's mission has always been to support Ukraine—whether through direct donations to trusted funds or maximizing economic impact. Since 2022, we've shifted from global print-on-demand products to partnering directly with top Ukrainian manufacturers. This year, we're taking it further using a Ukrainian shipping company, so every item in our new collection is designed, made, and shipped from Ukraine.

Now let us introduce you to Nova Post 🧵 Nova Post is Ukraine's largest private delivery company and domestic analog to FedEx or DHL. It was founded in 2001 and stands head and shoulders above all other private parcel firms in Ukraine.

This whole interview in the @globeandmail with the director of "russians at war" is worth reviewing... 🧵

First, the reason why russian soldiers are portrayed as war criminals is because they are war criminals. They are responsible for nearly 200,000 documented war crimes. Second, we've already disproven this by digging up another interview that this director gave to a russian outlet. She admits she was even given a uniform to keep her safe. Why?

Perhaps it's because russian soldiers shoot civilians!

https://x.com/saintjavelin/status/1832483982111363394

During a rotation on the frontline, a combat medic, Iryna 'Cheka' Tsybukh was killed in Kharkiv region. She would have turned 26 on June 1st.

Her brother, Yuriy Tsybukh, shared a posthumous letter that Cheka' wrote in case she would get killed—translation in the thread below. “Hi, accept my condolences. I don't like seeing you sad, but over time, this despair will fade, and life will go on. So don't waste time on suffering, move forward.

It's now 7:19 PM, Saturday, April 8, 2023. My team and I are working on reconnaissance for the 80th brigade. ‘Dream On’ by Aerosmith is playing in the background. There have been so many close calls this past year, I figured I should write a posthumous letter just in case."

Last minute St. Valentines cards from Saint Javelin with love

a thread 🧵

Photos from the line 0 by Marian Kushnir.

He spent a day with the 118 Brigade and he describes their conditions like nothing but hell. The tranches are covered with the bodies of the russians. The bullets are flying above. The shells are bursting around. It’s cold and it smells like death.
Bringing drinking water to the frontlines is a difficult task. It’s so cold that it’s impossible to sleep and all you can think of is having hot water.

“I crawl to the cell on the faeces on the floor because the pipe is leaking. I barely have the strength to get up, but my heart is full of joy. I did not feel pain. At the subconscious level, I understood that I was eating meat (a rat). And this will help me survive until the morning. The taste of blood and liver in the mouth. It's like licking lead. The wool is stuck between the teeth. I spat out only mouse teeth and was chewing the tail for a long time, like chewing gum.”
On December 31, 2022, 140 Ukrainian soldiers, including 30-year-old Oleksii Anulya, a kickboxer from Chernihiv, returned from Russian captivity. Oleksiy talked about torture, beatings, torture with electric shocks and starvation. Read excerpts from his testimony published in @TextyOrgUa below.

"If you look at NATO’s textbooks and at the maths which we did [in planning the counter-offensive], four months should have been enough time for us to have reached Crimea, to have fought in Crimea, to return from Crimea, and to have gone back in and out again," - General Zaluzhnyi said sarcastically in an interview with the Economist.
1/ Despite General Zaluzhny’s sardonic tone, the anticipation surrounding Ukraine's summer and autumn offensives was substantial. Prior to their commencement, there was a prevailing notion that perhaps only the Russian military struggled offensively, a belief bolstered by their recent setbacks around Vuhledar.

Due to recent gains by the Russian army near Avdiivka, some are mistakenly downplaying the town's strategic importance.

People have compared it to Bakhmut and suggested that focusing on Avdiivka is a misguided use of resources.

The reality tells a different story, here's why: /1 First off, Avdiivka has evolved into one of Donbas' most heavily fortified zones between 2014 and 2022. Its defenses feature underground tunnels, concrete bunkers, and a host of other barriers that significantly impede any enemy advance.

Here's a glimpse:

How Russian Armored Vehicles “disappear”. Part 2.

The largest Russian storage base, "Vagzhanovo".

The fact that the "Vagzhanovo" base in Buryatia is the largest in Russia is evidenced by calculations made by The Moscow Times based on Google Earth data.

A brief history of the base in numbers: Five months before the full-scale war in Ukraine - in September 2021 - there were approximately 3,840 armored vehicles stored in "Vagzhanovo".

Eight months into the full-scale war - in November 2022 - there were about 2,600 armored vehicles left at the base, and by May 2023, approximately 2,270 remained. Thus, during this time, 1,570 units, or 40.8% of the armored vehicles, were removed from the base. The majority of them (32%) were removed after the mobilization was announced at the end of 2022.
Let's start the count from the Google Earth image dated May 16, 2023.

First, let's compare the images we will be using in the future with the ones from Google Earth. Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain images of similar quality, but this does not hinder the count.

Part of the base #1, as we can see, corresponds to the other

This morning, the russians made another attempt to advance on Avdiivka. Their persistence is noteworthy, but fortunately for us, artillery and Javelins find ways to handle even the most persistent.

This video from the AFU perfectly demonstrates the results of this attack. By the way, here are the results of another "brilliant" attack of Russian forces in the direction of Avdiivka this morning.

Something didn't go according to plan for the Russian army in the Luhansk region. They simply wanted to carry out a successful offensive, but something went wrong...

Without delving into irony on this topic, once again, the occupiers were roasted like french fries in your favorite fast food.

While composing this post, we would like to talk about the global complexity of offensive operations in current conditions. Why can neither the occupiers nor the UAF achieve significant successes with big armored groups?




Globally, none of the sides can conduct an absolutely successful operation using armored groups since the success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast. Yes, back then, thanks to deep breakthroughs, armored vehicles proved effective in breaching the already crumbling defenses from all sides.

The tactics of small infantry groups have become a key source of recent successes on the front line of Tokmak direction. Let's consider why this tactic has become crucial for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

To begin, brigades that underwent full training cycles in Western countries did not anticipate having to use this tactic as their primary strategy. As demonstrated in the initial attempts at advancement, NATO instructors, along with AFU, practiced tactics involving powerful armored breakthroughs that were intended to breach enemy defenses and create disorganization among Russian forces, preventing them from organizing defenses behind lost positions.
This plan sounded good on paper, but the reality became evident in early June 2023. Ukrainian commanders quickly realized that using this tactic resulted in significant losses outweighing potential successes.

The mysterious disappearance of Russian tanks, but how can this be? There are no losses they said.

This is the 22nd Central Tank Reserve Base, located at geographic coordinates 58.46468165, 41.50848361. It stands as one of the largest in terms of the number of T-80UD and other tanks.

Research conducted by OSINT specialists revealed that as of June 2021, there were approximately 700 "good" tanks at this facility, meaning tanks ready for active deployment.


February 2023: By this time, the number of tanks ready for deployment had decreased to 575. This is our starting point.

ATACMS missiles are just around the corner. Will it live up to our expectations and be so effective?

If the recent news in the media is to be reformatted into an official statement from the United States regarding the long-awaited missile supply, the Ukrainian command will face a significant task in selecting targets and using these missiles effectively. Let's examine some key nuances 🧵:
ATACMS is primarily a ballistic missile. In Ukraine, such missiles are considered the most dangerous because a significant part of Ukraine's air defense systems cannot engage such targets. The SAMP-T and Patriot systems in Ukraine's arsenal are capable of countering them. Therefore, it's essential to understand that these missiles are not "unstoppable" as many are accustomed to believing, selecting the right target and preparing for an effective strike is crucial.

Russia carried out its first attack on critical infrastructure in Ukraine in 6 months.

As a result, there were partial power outages in five regions. Energy facilities in central and western Ukraine were damaged. However, Ukrainian air defense did an excellent job, destroying 36 out of 43 cruise missiles launched by Russia.

The video shows the aftermath of another terrorist attack by Russia:
This attack demonstrated the high readiness of the Ukrainian air defense. 83.7% of the targets were successfully destroyed out of the total launched.

As we approach winter, the question becomes not just the availability of air defense systems but also having enough ammunition for these systems.

Another Russian T-72 attempted to break the record for the "longest turret flight." To achieve such a result, the AFU needed slightly less than $1,000, compared to the tank's cost of 3-4 million dollars.

Ukrainian forces are using FPV drones, with extremely high efficiency compared to their cost. 🧵
It all started with someone deciding to attach an RPG-7 warhead to a default FPV drone and testing how it works. From the very beginning, this idea showed high efficiency, and the first videos of infantry and vehicles being destroyed were publicly shared. Scared of the effectiveness, one Russian blogger (who has since accidentally passed away) dubbed them VPN drones.

Breaking through the first line of defense won't make the Ukrainian advance any easier. Let's explain why.

Recently, there has been active discussion in the media about breaking through the first line of defense, which creates an illusion of total victory and fast success for readers. However, this is not entirely accurate. Let's start with the fact that modern defense is not built solely on trenches, minefields, and other fortifications. The base of modern defense is reconnaissance and available firepower.

Video: Ukrainian soldier walks close to “Surovikin line”
Fortifications on the modern battlefield are tools that allow reconnaissance and firepower assets to have more time to accomplish their mission by deterring advancing forces. A squad of soldiers in a trench is less of a threat than a single artillery gun that has targets to work using a drone flying over the battlefield.

Ukrainian forces have decisively breached Russia's first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia, according to Brigade General Tarnavskiy in an interview with The Guardian.

He said that the Ukrainian army is positioned between the first and second lines of defense. Tarnavskiy also noted that the enemy is shifting reserves not only from Ukraine but also from russia itself. We have confirmation of this.
In the trunk of a car, there is a professional Russian soldier whose name is Imrat, he served on contract in the 76th Airborne Assault Division from the city of Pskov with the rank of Sergeant. This division previously used to do operations in the Kreminna direction but was redeployed due to the crumbling russian defense on the Zaporizhzhia front.