A sad and worthy read.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 4d ago

Exhumations of soldiers from frontline cemeteries are rare. But fallen Ukrainian fighters are now being reburied hundreds of miles from where they died: ft.trib.al/MoBSdkv

This, from highly experienced Russia hand @nigelgould-davies.bsky.social, matters: when somebody describes themselves as being part of the "Russian opposition", it is essential to enquire further: opposition *to what*, exactly? [1/3] spectator.com/article/does...

Does Russia’s exiled opposition want what’s best for Europe?

Europe welcomed genuine political dissidents during the Cold War, and should continue doing so. But some argue Europe should go further.

spectator.com

Much fuss about basically nothing ? The Ceuta situation once again showed that if European leaders could have waited a day or so before reacting, the whole thing could’ve basically been solved amicably. The real-time outrage loops and need to react to everything IMMEDIATELY is a huge issue

Interesting, though unsurprising

Exactly. At least in Denmark I've seen too many commentators confidently state that it's got to be an accident because Russia wouldn't dare do such a thing on purpose. Of course they would! Putin is losing a war and that makes people very tolerant of running risks.

Yevgeniy Golovchenko@golovchenko.bsky.social · 6d ago

Regardless of whether the missile strike on Poland is intentional hybrid warfare or an accident, the effect is likely the same. Russia gets to sow fear and “salami slice” NATO further by observing where our boundaries go below the threshold of a formal war

🇺🇦 Advance stock of ‘To Die With Such Men’ pb edition by @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social now available! ‘Explores in bloody detail… what it’s really like to volunteer on Ukraine’s front line.’ @thetimes.com 20% discount w/code MONAGHAN20 tinyurl.com/bp848r22 Read an extract 👉 tinyurl.com/5csnd7ut

Drones or tanks? Good short overview of future weapons procurement dilemmas for Europe. Drones are the future but only drones is as bad as no drones. Via @anderspucknielsen.dk youtu.be/NCEKsF9w8uQ?...

Drones or tanks? How to spend rising defense budgets

YouTube video by Anders Puck Nielsen

youtu.be

You know, I've seen Russia commit war crimes. Senseless, pointless, and unspeakably cruel. But every time I think I've seen the worst of it, they find a way to be even more pointlessly cruel. ​They built an expensive missile, they launched it... just to slaughter a family with seven kids.

The USSR censorship part is so integral for Estonians we tend to forget that others might not know it. It was a cat and mouse between the author, the censor and the reader.The fact that many censors didn't speak Estonian helped. Also "explainer and Easter egg videos" in analog via word of mouth 🧵 1/

Ruth Deyermond@ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 6d ago

If anyone's looking for a summer read, then I can't recommend this classic Estonian historical novel highly enough. Incredible that it got past the Soviet censors when it was published in 1970.

Our team at Frontelligence Insight was honored to contribute to this Financial Times investigation. A tremendous amount of work went into it by the journalists, much of which naturally stays behind the scenes in the final piece. We highly recommend reading it.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 6d ago

An FT analysis of refinery layouts, photographs, satellite images and thermal-infrared data shows that damage at several major Russian refineries has persisted for weeks or even months after attacks ft.trib.al/yTfCIfY

John Mearsheimer has started a new YouTube channel, and he has gotten almost 80k subscribers in two days. It boggles the mind. Few people have been so consistently wrong about the war in Ukraine as Mearsheimer, and yet, people are still lining up to hear his takes.

Horrifying and yet sadly unsurprising: "This growing body of testimony suggests that Russian sexual violence against POWs and civilian prisoners has been systematic—and condoned, even encouraged, by senior Russian officials." www.wsj.com/world/russia...

How Russia Uses Sexual Violence to Wage War

Ukrainian former POWs and civilians have recounted sexualized torture they suffered in Russian camps, as evidence grows that the practice has become a core tactic.

wsj.com

Great essay from @frhoffmann.bsky.social : "For much of the war, Ukraine’s future was shaped, or at least feared to be shaped, by Western capitals reacting to Russian manipulation of risk. Ukraine now holds the power to manipulate that risk itself." missilematters.substack.com/p/the-state-...

The State Makes the Missile, and the Missile Makes the State

The power to hurt: Ukraine's deep-strike campaign and the transformation of the Ukrainian state

missilematters.substack.com

Important follow-up here on the previous NordStream discussion (including impt science/engineering aspects)...and a reminder that @anderspucknielsen.dk's site is well worth the subscription

Logic of War@feed.logicofwar.com.ap.brid.gy · last wk.

In this video, I address some feedback I received about my Nord Stream video regarding the location that the saboteurs chose for the attack. I've kept this video outside the paywall because I think it's relevant for everyone who has watched the original YouTube video. Watch it on the website or […]

9 things in Putin's mind, as Ukraine dismantles Wildberries (1) Putin thinks Ukraine is trying to destabilise him politically through its war on Russian soil.

This is Russia’s crime — but it is partly our responsibility, in the United States. We are doing much less than we should, on the rationale that letting Russians kill Ukrainians will end the war. It won’t. That is wrong as strategy, and as ethics.

Anton Gerashchenko@antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Mom is gone...We don't have a mom anymore.I wish this were just a nightmare..." Last night,a Russian missile strike on Odesa killed the mom of 3 boys as they were rushing to a shelter.Her sons survived but were injured One more person was killed. Deepest condolences. Russia must be stopped

This is true. Putin will rather run Russia into the ground than stop the war. So that is the trajectory we are on.

Kate from Kharkiv@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 2w ago

VOLKER: We'll never have a peace agreement with Putin. That would require Putin to accept that Ukraine is a sovereign, independent state, that Zelenskyy is legitimate leader, that there's an international border between Russia and Ukraine. Putin will never agree to those things.

Drapatyi first gained wider recognition early in the war in Donbas 2014 when he commanded a mechanized battalion that famously broke through a blockade in Mariupol. His operational career spans crucial defense sectors and key commands, earning him strong credibility among frontline personnel 🧵 1/4

Sven-Erik Volberg@volberg.bsky.social · 2w ago

President Zelenskyy named Mykhailo Drapatyi as Ukraine's next Commander-in-Chief and said the General Staff's configuration will be renewed. Zelensky thanked Syrskyi for Ukraine's defense of Kyiv and the Kharkiv and Kursk operations.

BREAKING: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has chosen Mykhailo Drapatyi to be commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and dismissed controversial general and close ally Oleksandr Syrsky in the biggest shake-up of the country’s military leadership since 2024. @financialtimes.com

interesting to see all the reviews framing Odyssey around its veteran-trauma-PTSD themes. War as something that happens to soldiers’ psyches. This is I dare say a very umbombed mentality. Processing war as individual moral injury when the actual subject is collective destruction

If you would like to help Ukrainian soldiers survive, this is always an excellent place to donate. savelife.in.ua/en/

Delighted to have been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at the latest meeting!

Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 3w ago

We are very pleased to welcome 223 historians who join the Society today - as Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members: bit.ly/3TEhyWM Our Fellows and Members teach, research, write and promote #history, within the UK and internationally, in and beyond education #Skystorians 1/2

Pre-orders for the paperback of my book TO DIE WITH SUCH MEN, following an International Legion unit fighting in Ukraine in the dire, early days of the war, are 25% off @waterstones.bsky.social thru Fri w/code SUMMER26 @hurstpublishers.bsky.social #WPreorder www.waterstones.com/book/to-die-...

🧵 After Fedorov’s revealing press conference, @sternenko.bsky.social also went live and laid out his complaints about Syrskyi. This will help explain why people are out in the streets protesting:

Western partners have urged President Zelenskyy to settle the matters around the military as fast as possible. “We are your main financier and we need stability,” a western official supportive of Kyiv said. “We need people we know and trust and can work [in place].” www.ft.com/content/51da...

Zelenskyy’s crisis deepens as ex-defence minister rejects offer to return

Ukrainian president under pressure to replace commander-in-chief who clashed with Mykhailo Fedorov

ft.com

New Perun video dropped and its a must watch regarding current maritime situation. Backstory, importance, Ukrainian successes but also russian counter moves www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Ld...

Ukraine's Naval Blitz - The Azov Sea Escalation, Russian Retaliation & Export Economics

YouTube video by Perun

youtube.com

Maybe you'll understand Ukrainian cynicism at lack of Russian protests against Prez when consider they're out protesting against their government, even though Russia views a large gathering of civilians as a legitimate military target for a ballistic missile.

When Zelensky picked Syrsky over Federov, he essentially established that the commander-in-chief is above the defense minister in the hierarchy. Ironically, this was also a death kiss to Syrky, because no one would want the job as defense minister under those conditions. The general has to go now.

Christopher Miller@christopherjm.ft.com · 3w ago

NEWS: Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considering sacking Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, who is known as “the Butcher”, as he seeks to navigate a path out of the biggest military leadership crisis of his presidency. www.ft.com/content/1b34...

A turnaround, indeed. But the panic isn't real; it's fear-mongering to prep society for what is likely to be a fall mobilization campaign. russians, who are broadly supportive of the war's goals, are starting to feel both war fatigue and whiplash from Ukraine's increasingly successful deep strikes.

Lewi Whalberg@anno1540.bsky.social · 3w ago

Russian state TV has entered full existential panic. The new mantra: "If Russia doesn't win this war, Russia will cease to exist." Three years after promising Kyiv would fall in three days, Kremlin propagandists are now warning that Russia itself could collapse. Quite a turnaround.

Colby's thrashing continues in full swing. This from a Danish MEP is precious, especially the ending. 😘🤣