🇺🇦 (Pictured) Ukraine is planning to buy four MQ-1C Gray Eagle (“Predator”) drones from the US.
🇺🇦 Personal opinion, but since most drones in this theater are hobby-grade, going to a damn Predator drone is kind of shocking to see.
🇺🇦 Nobody message me about which version of the Predator drone I posted. I don’t know what version or letter of the alphabet this particular picture is, it’s just a gd Predator drone!
🇺🇦 Speaking of drones, Turkey is gifting a Bayraktar drone to Ukraine on behalf of Lithuania. I never mentioned it here, but Lithuania had a crowdfunding campaign where they raised money to buy drones for Ukraine. Instead, Turkey is gifting them one, and recommending Lithuania gives the money to humanitarian aid (I heard one source say ammunition)
🇺🇦 Russia says that US supplying heavy weapons to UA may lead to a direct clash between Russia and America. This is the same Russia that lost two battalions trying to cross a river. The last thing they want is a clash with America
🇺🇦 Russian propaganda went into overdrive when the announcement was made that the US will send HIMARS equipment to UA. Russia is VERY upset about this. It puts UA forces out of range of Russian forces.
🇺🇦 With the US sending long range rockets to UA, it sent a message to the rest of the world that it is okay to supply UA with rockets. Now UK is sending m270 precision-guided rockets to UA. Germany is sending some as well, but theirs is more for air defense.
🇺🇦 Belgian Defense seems to have lost its old M-109 Howitzers. In other news, somehow Ukraine has acquired 64x M-109 self-propelled Howitzers
🇺🇦 Europe seems to have a problem leaving its howitzers unattended which end up going missing and traveling all the way to Ukraine. Then again, they are self-propelled so what did they expect. Heyoo!
🇺🇦 Every week there is an announcement of another country supplying weapons to Ukraine. It happens so often that I only mention the outliers or noteworthy examples. For example, I never mentioned that Italy and Estonia sent weapons. I’m mentioning it now because these weapons are now preventing Russia from surrounding Lysychanks. Sweden is also sending more weapons; this will include anti-ship missiles. This is a robust package coming from Sweden
🇺🇦 The UA front line is over 1000km long.
🇺🇦 Middle Eastern countries, especially OPEC and OCC countries, are considering their own version of sanctions and trade exclusions from Russia. This is due mostly to the food shortages that the region is experiencing. (This one bullet point represents a dozen articles, so there are nuances that exist which my bullet doesn’t cover)
🇺🇦 OPEC+ is suddenly interested in supplementing/countering the loss of Russian oil. With the beef up of US/Canada oil fields, it looks like in the next 12 months, Europe may be independent from Russian oil.
🇺🇦 China has banned Russia from flying airlines from foreign countries in to China. This is causing more of a fracture in their relationship. Last month, China asked all countries to update the ownership of all aircraft to reflect the Russian sanctions. Most countries were happy to oblige. This shows China is respecting these western sanctions against Russia. China is taking a pragmatic approach.
🇺🇦 In occupied Kherson, Russian occupiers are behaving like migrant workers, going to the locals to get hired to do such tasks as pick strawberries. They’re asking to be paid 50 Hryvnia ($1.69)
🇺🇦 UA forces have begun training on HIMARS systems. Training is expected to take 3 weeks. Training is happening at an undisclosed location outside of UA.
🇺🇦 Russian forces wrote a large Ukrainian racial slur in a field by trampling flora. This gave away their position. There is now a large blast crater where the Russians used to be, right in the middle of their racial slur.
📢 Countries apply to be in NATO. NATO doesn’t seek to expand. 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 America…” 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.
⚠️ Note: 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, Aaron Parnas, John Aravosis, Malcontent News, 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. You’re the private individuals I wish I could source publicly
⚠️ 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. Also, I’ve been spoiled by social media’s format where I can update the final product every time I find a typo. That poses a problem because…
⚠️ I started a Substack newsletter to accommodate the individual emails requests. Feel free to subscribe!
That is the thing about howitzers. If you forget to shut the gate they will just wander off looking for a war to join.