Christopher Solomon
@chris-solomon.bsky.social
Editor @thestudyofwar.bsky.social. Posting about Syria, Ukraine, Russia, and foreign affairs. 🇸🇾🇺🇦 Author of "In Search of Greater Syria." https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/in-search-of-greater-syria-9780755641826/
NEW: The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched an unspecified number of North Korean ballistic missiles between July 29 and 30. Russia is likely using these missiles to exploit Ukraine’s lack of anti-ballistic missile interceptors. (1/6) Read the full update: isw.pub/KoreanUpdate...
A huge cloud of smoke from the burning Wildberries logistics hub hangs over Samara.
Wildberries in Samara today. Those firefighters are the epitome of pretending to work.
NEW: The Russian rate of advance in Ukraine remains low two and a half months into the Russian Spring-Summer 2026 offensive, which has failed to make any operationally significant gains. (1/8)
Ian Brzezinski: Sanctions that West has placed on Russia have been incremental and marginal, they’ve given Russia time to adjust to them. It’s really time for the West to body-slam Russian economy with secondary sanctions, a complete economic cutoff.
Nice interview with Adnan Nasser and Lebanon-based English painter Tom Young via Fursa. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKbo...
While the world wrote Lebanon off, an Englishman picked up a paintbrush and refused to surrender.
YouTube video by Fursa
youtube.com
Crimea is screwed. The people living there are never going to get normal power restored until this war finally ends.
Sen. McCormick: "Ukraine has also proven it can strike deep into Russia itself. Russian oil refineries, airfields, ammunition depots, and logistics hubs, hundreds of miles from the border, are no longer sanctuaries. The war Putin started is now arriving on his own doorstep."
I was able to interview an American serving in the Ukrainian military at the truck handoff. Long T. Standing believes everyone needs to care about what is happening in Ukraine! youtu.be/JsZ2nTkFcs4
Long T. Standing - You Need to Care About Ukraine
YouTube video by Jake Broe Overflow
youtu.be
NEW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi and appointed the Ukrainian Joint Forces Task Force Commander Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as his replacement. 🧵 (1/6) Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar072126
‼️ Mykhailo Drapatyi appointed new commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces
Mykhailo Drapatyi appointed new commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces
Following six days of protests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him.
pravda.com.ua
Syria’s new parliament is weak, closely tied to the presidency, and only narrowly representative. But it is not inconsequential, writes Ibrahim al-Assil.
Syria’s Weak Parliament Still Matters
The country’s newly opened assembly is by no means democratic, but it can still be more than a rubber stamp.
foreignpolicy.com
NEW: Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian oil and energy infrastructure and naval vessels on July 18 and 19. 🧵(1/3) Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 19, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar071926
The protests outside the Presidential Administration Building in Kyiv continue to grow after Zelensky's decision to dismiss Defense Minister Fedorov. youtu.be/KcGKQvENiKY
I Attended the Kyiv Protest (18-July-2026)
YouTube video by Jake Broe Overflow
youtu.be
2 US soldiers killed and 1 missing after #Iran ballistic missile attack on Jordan on Friday 4 troops wounded, hospitalized, and discharged #IranWar
Scott Lucas@scottlucas.bsky.social · 3w agoUPDATES: US- #Israel Wars, Day 142 --- Clashes Resume Between #Iran and US #IranWar #StraitOfHormuz eaworldview.com/2026/07/us-i...
NEW: The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) appears committed to optimizing Russian forces for continued positional warfare in Ukraine — not for the mechanized maneuver required to make rapid, large-scale gains. (1/5)
Today, people in Kharkiv protested underground in metro stations because our city is under russian attack.
Choosing Syrskyi over Fedorov is not only choosing outdated methods over modernization and change, it is choosing a highly controversial commander in the middle of a torture and power abuse scandal involving a unit under his direct patronage, over a highly effective Defense Minister who has
Thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Ukraine on Thursday to protest the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s young defense minister who had come to symbolize Ukraine’s success in using drones to strike back against Russia, just six months into his tenure.
Mass Protests Across Ukraine Oppose Ouster of Defense Minister
Demonstrators demanded the reinstatement of Mykhailo Fedorov, who had come to symbolize Ukraine’s success in using drones to strike back against Russia.
nyti.ms
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s move to replace his defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, prompted street protests in cities across Ukraine. Lawmakers were expected to vote on Zelensky’s new cabinet later on Thursday. Here’s what to know.
What to Know About Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Ousted Defense Minister
Mr. Fedorov became the youthful face of Ukraine’s successful drone warfare program. The move to replace him has prompted street protests.
nyti.ms
I would like to publicly state that I think it is a terrible decision by President Zelensky to fire Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The reforms implemented by Fedorov have been revolutionary in this war. His dismissal and the halting of his reforms will only weaken the Ukrainian military.
🇺🇦 "Fedorov remains on the president's team, but what he'll do next will become clearer next week," say sources in Servant of the People party.
ZELENSKYY: Some say with modern technology we're returning Russia to the Middle Ages. Some remember Napoleon, when Moscow burned. But our main goal is not Russia without gasoline, but Ukraine without Russia, without war, with Europe, and Ukraine and Europe without Moscow threat.
New from me in @foreignpolicy.com: Even when fighting between the US and Iran calmed during the MOU, attacks continued in Iraq's Kurdistan Region against Iranian Kurdish groups. It seemed that attacks could continue there without a response from Washington. foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/14/u...
Will a U.S.-Iran Deal Include Kurds?
Attacks against Kurdish regions in Iran and Iraq never stopped.
foreignpolicy.com
