Rod Francis

Pointe-Claire. Montreal. Quebec. Canada. Conservative. Bills. Hockey. Traditional Media.

[Rod Francis @InRodWeTrustMTL]

Montrealer reads about how tens of thousands of PEI potatoes are gonna be destroyed due to a US transport ban. He spends 15k to buy them, bring them to MTL and gives em to the Welcome Hall Mission who prepares 1200 meals per day for our homeless. https://t.co/NPoPxSyLgB

[WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 @WarMonitor3]

Ukrainian forces have damaged and temporarily put out of action the highly essential Chonhar bridge leading out of Crimea forcing Russian forces to divert logistics which is going to cause massive disruption for Southern Logistics.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

WOW -- Trump crashes out and cuts his interview with Welker short as she presses him on his lack of evidence for claiming elections are rigged

"You're either crooked or you're stupid. Let's call it quits. Because I've had enough. Thank you darling," he tells her."

"I traveled all the way to Wisconsin for this interview," she pleads.

[🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @front_ukrainian]

😱 Downing of a Shahed drone right in the middle of a wedding photo shoot with the newlyweds – Zaporizhzhia channels.

[Rod Francis @InRodWeTrustMTL]

Most EU members favour banning Russian tourists until Putin ends the war. Unanimity is required, so a compromise is likely. Malta, Greece and Italy oppose a ban. Tourists may be limited to 30 days and anyone who fought for Russia would be blacklisted
https://t.co/OxHb7SmiXt

[🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @front_ukrainian]

Good morning world🇺🇦♥️

[OSINTtechnical @Osinttechnical]

Ukrainian Air Force pilot boarding his Dutch-supplied F-16AM Fighting Falcon this spring.

Since entering service, Ukrainian F-16s have reportedly shot down more than 2,200 Russian air targets.

[The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent]

⚡️At least 7 killed, 61 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine as Moscow 'hunts' taxi driver with FPV drone.

The highest number of casualties was reported in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where Russian attacks killed one person and injured 25 others, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.

https://t.co/bYIGfrzlmd

[POLITICO @politico]

Iran says soccer staff denied visas for World Cup https://t.co/GzU1xGOFsZ

[French Aid to Europe 🇨🇵 🇪🇺 @aidefranceukr]

During the Bastille Day parade, two Mirage 2000s, piloted by a Franco-Ukrainian crew, will fly over Paris to symbolise France’s commitment to Ukraine. The aircraft will follow the Patrouille de France. One of the M2000 will be painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Today is the 82nd anniversary of D-Day – the Allied landings in Normandy, which significantly hastened the countdown to the Nazis' collapse in World War II. It is one of the most important moments of unity among the defenders of life in human history, and it was less than a year until the peoples’ aspiration for freedom and the hope of peace prevailed in May 1945. It happened then. We are working to make it happen again today.

And although yesterday in Petersburg another cynical order to continue killing was issued for the army trying to destroy our freedom, history has seen this before. The Nazis also had their own hopes after D-Day. But freedom still wins. And even in the darkest circumstances, people find ways to come together to protect life.

I thank all those who are now helping to protect the values that prevailed in World War II. I thank everyone who is defending life. Glory to Ukraine!

[Murray Rothbard @MurraySuggests]

The Iranian navy, which has been destroyed eight times, has apparently closed the Strait of Hormuz again, because the United States, for the seventh time, won the war that wasn’t a war, so now the United States has to open the Strait of Hormuz that was already open before the not-war began.

The not-war began because Iran had uranium that was totally, completely, beautifully obliterated, so they can’t build the nuclear bomb they weren’t building, which is why the United States had to start the not-war it definitely didn’t start.

Now the United States, which has nuclear weapons, is threatening to use nuclear weapons to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, because nuclear weapons are far too dangerous for countries with nuclear weapons to allow other countries to have.

If the United States saw the United States doing what the United States does in other countries, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States.

[Defense of Ukraine @DefenceU]

“The choice is yours”
Black Sheep

The combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to June 7, 2026.

[Rod Francis @InRodWeTrustMTL]

Best final line in movie history...

https://t.co/kSwVNQ5sOH

[🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @front_ukrainian]

❗️A 🇺🇦Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet, using 🇺🇸American GBU-39 guided aerial bombs, destroys a 🇷🇺Russian strongpoint.

[🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @front_ukrainian]

❗️In Donetsk region, birds are building nests from drone fiber optic cable

[🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @front_ukrainian]

❗️From mid-2026, the Australian Defence Force will join the multinational operation Legio, led by Norway, to train Ukrainian service members on Polish territory.

[Institute for the Study of War @TheStudyofWar]

MORE: Putin’s claims about the battlefield are incompatible with available evidence and suggest that the Russian military command is not providing Putin with accurate intelligence about the reality of Russian battlefield performance.

Russian advances have largely stagnated while Ukrainian forces have achieved some tactical successes in 2026. ISW continues to assess that the Russian military command’s repeated exaggerations have likely given Putin a false perception of the battlefield situation.

ISW has observed evidence that Russian forces have seized 99.77 percent of Luhansk Oblast, 79.93 percent of Donetsk Oblast, and 74.99 percent of Zaporizhia Oblast as of June 5. Even including areas in which Russian forces have infiltrated but do not control falls short of Putin’s claims.

ISW assesses as of June 5 that Russian forces maintain a presence (either through advances or infiltrations) in 99.77 percent of Luhansk Oblast, 80.82 percent of Donetsk Oblast, and 75.7 percent of Zaporizhia Oblast.

Ukrainian forces have liberated more territory than Russian forces seized in April and May 2026, highlighting Russia’s dwindling battlefield performance and Ukraine’s successes in halting the Russian Spring-Summer 2026 offensive.

Russian forces are struggling to advance in 2026 at the same rates that Russian forces did in 2025, in part due to successful Ukrainian ground counterattacks that have liberated tactically significant areas and Ukraine’s growing mid-range strike campaign that is inhibiting Russian logistics and ability to sustain attacks on the frontline.

Given current trends, it remains unclear that Russian forces will be able to seize the Fortress Belt or the remainder of Donetsk Oblast at all.

[German Aid to Ukraine @deaidua]

The 146th Repair and Restoration Regiment has published a rare image of a German-delivered HMEE during transport. Germany has delivered six HMEE's to Ukraine, with the only known user (to my knowledge) being the 23rd Engineering Positional Regiment.

This HMEE (High Mobility Engineer Excavator) has apparently fitted with additional proper grille protection against FPVs and other threats around nearly the whole driver's cab. In earlier published pictures of an HMEE in Ukrainian service, one could “only” observe an anti-drone net mounted on a seemingly weaker structure around the driver's cab and in another even earlier published video an HMEE was shown with no additional protection at all.

[Rod Francis @InRodWeTrustMTL]

@deaidua Love that your work has become so valued/recognized

[German Aid to Ukraine @deaidua]

This week, at Helsing’s invitation, I was in southern Germany, where I had the opportunity to visit the secret facility where the HX-2 loitering munitions for Ukraine and other countries are manufactured, while the CA-1 Europa and other topics were also on the agenda.

I can’t say much about my visit, except that it was fascinating and informative, and I wanted to let you know, as the visit was really very important for my reporting on Ukraine and explains why I haven't been really active recently.

With a bit of luck, I’ll be able to share a bit more about Ukraine next week.
/GAU