🇺🇦 Pictured: The size of the front lines in Ukraine overlaid onto America
🇺🇦 Two US veterans fighting on Ukraine’s front-line were captured by Russian forces. Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh were captured outside of Kharkiv.
🇺🇦 I won’t post the picture, but Russia is using the open streets as a morgue in Mariupol.
🇺🇦 Resistance in Mariupol is increasing with assass1nations and equipment burning.
🇺🇦 Around 3pm today, the US SECDEF announced its single largest Ukraine security assistance package to date: $1 billion worth of Harpoons, 155mm Howitzers, HiMARS ammunition, tactical vehicles, secure radios, and other equipment that will directly help Ukraine on the battlefield
🇺🇦 60 UA fighters have graduated US HIMARS training. Waiting to confirm additional information
🇺🇦 Training went much faster than expected. This is thanks to UA motivation and desire to succeed
🇺🇦 The west intends to send more HIMARS systems if UA proves battle effectiveness. (Colin Kahl, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy )
🇺🇦 MLRS training finishes today and systems deploy next week. First stop is presumably Severodonetsk (Washington Post)
🇺🇦 Only 4 MRLS weapon systems have arrived in Ukraine. They have requested 60. Opinion: The west seems to be keen on verifying US battle effectiveness before sending more. Also, the west doesn’t want to degrade their own battle effectiveness. Logistics are also a big issue. Also…
🇺🇦 This Russia is capturing western equipment. Then again…
🇺🇦 The Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade has captured a Russian Tos thermobaric MLRS system.
🇺🇦 Germany will also send 3 MLRS systems
🇺🇦 Russian military advances in eastern Ukraine this month have raised growing concern in the West that the balance of the war is tipping in Moscow’s favor. However, Biden administration officials think Ukrainian defenses remain solid in this ugly war of attrition. (Washington Post)
🇺🇦 EU is getting a ton of heat for sending so much money to Russia to buy their energy. To their credit, they are in fact looking for alternatives.
🇺🇦 Belarus keeps making overtures to war—in this case, command-level exercises for command and control—but Belarus remains unlikely to join the war in support of Russia.
🇺🇦 Russian authorities are accelerating plans to annex occupied areas of Ukraine and are arranging political and administrative structures for control of annexed territories.
🇺🇦 Russian military leadership continues to expand its pool of eligible recruits by manipulating service requirements—age, physical capability, etc
🇺🇦 Russian forces are continuing to fight for control of the Azot industrial plant and have destroyed all bridges between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, likely to isolate the remaining Ukrainian defenders within the city from critical lines of communication. This is reminiscent of the Mariupol strategy.
🇺🇦 Russian forces continued offensive operations to push Ukrainian troops away from frontlines northeast of Kharkiv City.
🇺🇦 Ukrainian counterattacks have forced Russian troops on the Southern Axis to take up and strengthen defensive positions.
🚌 My readership seems to have reached a critical mass where I am now getting flagged or reported for spam. If you don’t see an update, it is likely because a Russian bot mass reported me. If I ever stop these updates, I will make a big deal of it (or I got hit by a bus or something)
📢 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 this thing America did…” or “what about Palistine?” 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, 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 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. 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!