Ukraine - Thursday, April 21
Oligarchs stealing military funding and new US drones developed for Ukraine
🇺🇦 The Pentagon is developing a new drone system for Ukraine. The Phoenix Ghost was developed by the Pentagon to meet Ukrainian needs fighting Russia specifically.
🇺🇦 The Pentagon held a briefing on April 19 in which they basically said, ‘the big Russian offensive is still to come, because what we’re seeing right now if kind of lame’. (The actual language was something closer to “We think the current action is a prelude to a bigger offensive, with Russia still adding troops.”) (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 The US delivered SEVEN planeloads of military equipment to Ukraine yesterday rom Biden’s $800m package. Another flight arrived two days ago (as I reported then). (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 The US is prioritizing delivery of artillery, as that is what Zelensky asked for (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 Russia is massing aviation & combat support in Belarus & Western Russia. That's a lesson learned from the Kyiv campaign, where Russia lacked proper logistical support. (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 Russia is down to just 65 % of the 120 BTGs it started with before the invasion. (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 Russia has a shorter logistical tail to fight in Donbas, since it is right on the border and more conducive to tank warfare. But it still has 11 BTGs tied down in besieged Mariupol, which it wants to seize to build a land bridge to Crimea (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 Russia is launching an average of 30 missiles per day. This is down from 50 per day early on. (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 America is looking at giving weapons that have a shorter shelf life, so it’s no real financial burden. For example, if a weapon can be stored for 10 years, and they’re on year 9, those are the weapons they’ll give first. Additionally, the US is careful not to send expired weapons. (Pentagon)
🇺🇦 Zelensky described optimism at the weapon deliveries from western partners (Zelensky). I bet he’s just looking forward to those sweet US drones
🇺🇦 Zelensky: “We will do everything we can to bring to justice every Russian troop and commander guilty of war crimes….Every surname, every home address, every bank account - we will find everything.”
🇺🇦 More evidence and pictures of warcrimes. Somehow it gets worse. Jfc just the descriptions etch images in your head that you can’t get rid of. Russian soldiers are animals. There’s no “what about” that I’ve heard than can outdo the depravity in this situation
🇺🇦 Russia’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu has been shrouded in mystery since the beginning of this war. He’s the guy who suddenly disappeared, then had a sudden heart attack. Russian opposition researchers just published information on where Russia’s military funding has been going, and of course, it’s being stolen and going to Shoigu and his family. Shoigu’s wife and daughter have become ungodly wealthy, and Shoigu’s mistress has become a billionaire. As a practice, oligarchs have secret families they hide money with. And of course, if an oligarch has money, half of it belongs to Putin
🇺🇦 UA special forces set up a website called the Center for National Resistance that teaches Ukrainians how to start and steal a Russian tank. The website also describes how to safely hold resistance meetings and how to set up urban defensive perimeters
🇺🇦 Slight correction from yesterday: UA did not receive new jets, they received the parts needed to get 20 grounded planes back up and running
🇺🇦 US is targeting Russian digital currency companies that are being used to get around sanctions
🇺🇦 Ukraine intends to launch a strike on the Crimean bridge which Russia uses as the main logistical route for military deliveries. “But wait!” you might interject, “is it wise to give military plans to Russia?” Good question! The answer is: This intention is not a secret. Let Russians think about the threat, divert troops to protect the bridge, and try to protect it. Remember that the sunken cruiser "Moskva" was not only well protected from missiles, it was designed to protect other ships, and it sank anyway because Russia doesn’t know what its doing
🇺🇦 French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said she took Russian money because no French bank would lend to her party
🇺🇦 A Russian military research facility burned down today. This facility developed at least some of the S-series surface-to-air missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles. It’s the Aerospace Defense Research Institute building in Tver
🇺🇦 Also, the Dmitrievsky Chemical Plant burned down today on the outskirts of Moscow. This is the largest Russian manufacturer of chemical solvents. Located 250 miles EAST of Moscow.
🇺🇦 The last two points were most likely not UA Special Ops, nor Russian false flags. They were likely Russian anti-war collaborators.
⚠️ If you ever hear anyone say “What about America…” in an effort to redirect attention away from Ukraine and onto America, 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’m getting lazy with my citations and I apologize. It’s all the same sources as it’s always been…NATO planners, official statements, major news, other open source researchers, people who send me leads, reputable pundits like Aaron Parnas, Kyiv Independent, Institute for the Study of War, etc. Thank you especially to CP Scott, former Army and former NATO planner.
⚠️ These posts are not affiliated with my employer, nor done during my employer’s time. Every item I report is from my own research and my own opinion.
⚠️ 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. While that’s still the case, that poses a problem when…
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