🇺🇦 Pictured: An “Alaska is ours” sign appeared in Russia. After a Putin ally mentioned yesterday that Alaska used to belong to Russia, Russians seem to be grasping to this idea that America took land from Russia.
🇺🇦 Pictured: Four more HIMARS systems are going to Ukraine, totaling 12
🇺🇦 Details: The Pentagon announced a new $400 million military support package for Ukraine, which includes 4 HIMARS and 1000 shells of "high-precision" 155-mm artillery (Probably M982 Excalibur). Additionally, the Pentagon will supply tactical vehicles; explosive ammunition; and spare parts.
🇺🇦 Before anyone complains about the US spending money on this….For less than a tenth of a percent of the US defense budget, America is taking on the west’s ~largest geopolitical foe.
🇺🇦 The Kerch Bridge is the bridge Russia built to connect Russia to Crimea. It cost $3.5b and it is a major strategic, military, and economic asset. I’ve noticed escalated discussion about targeting this bridge.
🇷🇺 In meeting with Duma (congress) members yesterday, Putin said his war against Ukraine is “only the beginning of a radical breakdown of the US-style world order” and a “transition from liberal-globalist American egocentrism.”
🇺🇸 Regarding Alaska…Russia seems eager to convince their people that taking Alaska back is a winnable victory. But let’s be frank….if Russia started something with America, their planes would start falling out of the sky and they wouldn’t know why. It wouldn’t be like Top Gun where they can see our 5th gen fighters coming. There wouldn’t even be a radar lock. Their generals would start dropping, and they wouldn’t even hear the bullet because one of our bug eaters fired from two miles away. And some very smart people disagree with me, but I still don’t think they’re a nuclear power anymore. And that’s not even considering our allies. You get some Canadian snipers in there, and some German tanks…it’s just not even a contest. /endrant
🇺🇦 Oh and speaking of allies, some 1,500 UA soldiers are in the UK right now training
🇺🇦 Seven Russian Oligarchs have died since the beginning of the war. Four had ties to Gazprom. Six died by suicide.
🇺🇦 China is flexing its arms with Taiwan with provocation/response military actions, such as flying planes into Taiwan airspace, but nothing is really coming of it. I’m not really following this thread, but mentioning it because of the renewed focus on Taiwan due to RU’s invasion of Ukraine.
🇺🇦 Russia has lost 11 ammunition depots in the past 9 days, which is likely the primary reason for their operational pause
🇺🇦 I looked at the clock and it’s 11:39…can I get this update in before midnight????
🇺🇦 Putin accused the west of decades of aggression against Russia, and if the west wanted to attack Russia, we’re welcome to try…
🇺🇦 Not a single western government listened to what Putin had to say, and there was no response at all.
🇺🇦 …but let’s be frank…if Russia started something with America…
🇺🇦 There’s a bunch of drama surrounding Sergey Lavrov walking out on G20 meetings when the topic of Ukraine came up. But like…oh no, Sergey Lavrov walked out on a meeting what do we do now
🇺🇦 Russian forces continued to conduct limited offensive operations north of Slovyansk.
🇺🇦 Russian forces did not make any gains near Kharkiv City on July 8 but are likely attempting spoiling attacks to stymie Ukrainian counterattacks.
🇺🇦 Russian forces continued to launch assaults on settlements along the Kherson-Mykolaiv and Kherson-Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border to regain lost positions.
🇺🇦11:59pm, I did it!!!!
📢 Countries apply to be in NATO. NATO is a defense alliance that has never, and does not, consider offensive operations. Saying NATO is encroaching on Russia is Kremlin messaging. Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the first.
📢 Yes, Ukraine has a nazi problem, but it’s a very small percentage of the country, and not representative of the whole. Using a small group to smear the entire group is called “guilt by association.” Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the second.
📢 If you ever hear anyone say “What about this thing America did…” or “what about Palestine?” in an effort to redirect attention away from Ukraine and onto the west, that is called “Competitive victimhood” and the associated meme is *always* created by Russian-backed media. Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the third.
⚠️ Sorry about the typos or awkward sentences!!!! This is the inevitable result of putting out a finalized research product once every 24 hours, with no staff. If anyone feels like giving me staff, we can polish this b right up!
⚠️ I got lazy with my citations and I apologize. My top sources are: Current and former military planners, singularly-focused pundits, and all manner of vetted open-source intelligence. Top cited open source pundits and sources include: CP Scott, Institute for the Study of War, Kyiv Independent, and mainstream news with high levels of journalistic integrity and track records. Sadly I can’t source private individuals, of course.
⚠️ Speaking of sources, thanks to all of you who have forwarded me tips or given me data from the front line. You’re the private individuals I wish I could source publicly
⚠️ Though my awesome employer taught me everything I know about OSINT, these posts are not affiliated with my employer, nor done during my employer’s time. Every item I report is from my own research, my own opinion, and written during my own time.
⚠️ Note: War happens fast and even high fidelity news needs a ton of corrections after the dust settles.
🇺🇦 Sorry to my Substack readers who get this weird “ua” symbol instead of a flag emoji!