Alistair

[Bad Baltic Takes @BadBalticTakes]

Estonians have an expression: Kui juba, siis juba.

Basically: If we’re gonna do something, let’s really do it.

So here’s https://t.co/FRlRUzaJ1M

This snarky Twitter account is now also an online magazine.

From there, you can find our accounts on other platforms too.

Our goal is to bring together contributors from across the Baltic countries to scale a distinct style of satirical journalism with a Baltic outlook on the world.

(Yes, we will expand beyond our glaringly obvious Estonian slant. 🙂)

We want to help people learn a bit more about these three countries we love and we also want to support a better rules-based world of sovereign nations for everyone

…and also a world in which we can still laugh at absurdities.

It is objectively hilarious that Seymour Hersh used “poor waif in his underwear” in a quote from a supposedly American anonymous source and we will never back down on that position.

In an increasingly absurd world, our work is just getting started.

Thank you for the encouragement for this whole project from friends and followers and people with genuinely good takes, including @IlvesToomas, @GLandsbergis, @edwardlucas, @Pabriks, and @EerikNKross.

Kui juba, siis juba.

Join us.

[MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀 @Maks_NAFO_FELLA]

🙏 Two Ukrainian soldiers suffered open fractures after a successful assault. During the evacuation of ground drone, FPV drone attacked, and the wounded soldiers were left in the open air.

Seeing this, Vladyslav Polsky, the commander of the assault company of the 475th regiment "Code 9.2", even without a body armor, got into a pickup truck and went after them at high speed.

🫡He single-handedly reloaded the wounded from the damaged drone and took them to a safe place, saving the lives of his fighters.

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@nolanwpeterson @TheWilsonCenter Congratulations, Nolan!

[Tatarigami_UA @Tatarigami_UA]

Увага! Frontelligence Insight шукає волонтера для проведення OSINT-аналізів.

Відбір проходитиме за результатами конкурсного завдання. Учасникам необхідно провести дослідження російського виробника дронів та надіслати результати роботи до встановленого дедлайну🧵👇:

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@clement_molin Chasiv* Yar, bad auto-correct

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@clement_molin Chasing Yar, it’s incredible how long those guys have been holding it

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@francisjfarrell @RALee85 This was very moving, Francis and Olena. Thank you

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@Nolzy__ @RALee85 @oko_gora_tg Do you know how large the stockpile was? On the current trajectory we can expect them to be using 100k per year, wondering how that stacks up vs stockpile and production

[Serhiy Prytula @serhiyprytula]

Пані та панове, перше збиття реактивного шахеда перехоплювачем з «Єдинозбору»!

Майстерно відпрацювали оператори 23 ОБрОГП «Хортиця».

Далі буде більше!

Донат на «Єдинозбір» прямо зараз - це завжди правильне рішення! Долучайтесь!

•Монобанка: https://t.co/JRWPt9Gfcp
•Інші рахунки, інші валюти, крипта: https://t.co/qgO0YAL4CP

Дякую!

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@Aviation_Intel This was a fascinating interview. Great work, TWZ

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@UAControlMap @shashj I believe Shashank is assuming the war would end somewhere around the current lines, rather than Russia taking all of Ukraine

[Dara Massicot @MassDara]

I returned from another research trip to Ukraine’s front with colleagues @KofmanMichael @konrad_muzyka . Ukraine is fighting effectively, and Russia is increasing pressure on priority sectors in Donetsk during peak offensive season. Observations below ⬇️

[Faytuks Network @FaytuksNetwork]

I think we speak for the whole OSINT community when we say that Google should revert this change immediately. We’ve already seen AI-generated satellite imagery flooding the information space. This is irresponsible and adds nothing of value. Google Earth’s new AI image generation feature needs to be removed.

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@clement_molin Speaking on behalf of the silent majority who usually only leave likes on your posts, we really appreciate your work, Clement. Thank you

[Alistair @PrinceAliWM]

@John_ForemanCBE I would counter that the mistake was trying to hold onto territory. The start of the op was an excellent psychological blow to Russia, could have withdrawn there and taken the win without the cost to manpower and materiel (plus still force RU to divert some resources to border)

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

Deleting these two tweets as the original Ukrainian channel has removed the video allegedly from Kostyantynivka and it could have all been planted by Russia.

[Дімасик вже не в ЗСУ @deemasseek]

Знову відправив в КМДА повідомлення щодо проведення протесту, при��одьте на 20:00

[Дімасик вже не в ЗСУ @deemasseek]

На жаль, людей не почули. Ані цивільних, ані військових, які гучно говорили про потребу реальних змін у армії. Залишили головкома, який плете інтриги та зробив зі штурмових полків особисту міні армію.

Керівництво держави не говорить із суспільством, і це робить ситуацію ще гіршою.

Зараз у них стратегія — перечекати. Вони думають, що ми попротестуємо і розійдемося.

Вони помиляються, так само як і тоді, коли Сирський вирішив, що можна всім закрити рота і знищити останні надії на трансформацію війська.

Зараз важливо показати нашу максимальну увагу т�� залученість!!!
Відкладіть усі справи.
Перенесіть все, що планували на вечір пʼятниці.

Побачимося завтра, у пʼятницю, о 20:00 там же — на площі Франка. Виходьте і у своїх містах.

До зустрічі!

[Rob Lee @RALee85]

Fedorov said he identified 11 major problems after his first month as minister of defense:

"1. Ukraine's Armed Forces are fighting at the tactical level, although increasingly at the operational level too. Still, fundamentally, "we are still fighting tactically".

2. The corps system has not yet fully taken shape. "We have corps that are successful, that advance every month and do not lose territory. And we have corps where the commander is replaced every month. There are corps that have developed their own school of thought and philosophy, and there are corps where we do not even know how many brigades they have or what is happening inside them. Everything depends on organization, but there are corps that do not distribute all their resources internally," Fedorov said.

3. Brigades and corps have been fragmented. "There are brigades that cannot even determine how many battalions they have. A battalion is pulled out of one brigade and thrown into another. It is impossible to build a management system under conditions like these," the defense minister said.

4. No one is held accountable for anything. "Responsibility is always pushed down the chain. Someone else is always made to carry the blame, there is always talk of an investigation and of 'finding out who is guilty'," Fedorov said.

5. Supplies are not routed through the corps. Fedorov said the supply problem is "fundamental": "Over the past five months, we have bought more drones than in the whole of last year, but most units have not felt the impact, because everything is distributed manually: if you are loyal, you get something, if you are not, you don't... That is why we launched this system. It was four months of hell, because it took us four months to agree on a simple project for baseline drone provision to brigades."

6. Constant replacement of commanders.

7. Isolation and toxic treatment of those who deliver results. "If you succeed, you become a star, and then you hit a dead end. [General Mykhailo] Drapatyi received his third reprimand, goodbye. Sorry, Drapatyi, I think after this speech there will be a fourth reprimand for you. I wouldn't want that to happen, but we have no choice left but to talk about it," Fedorov said.

8. It is impossible to carry out any systemic project. "Because you constantly run into the same questions: 'But why?' and 'But how?'" the acting defense minister explained.

9. Human capital is being worn down without proper analysis. Fedorov said they had carried out "a great deal of work", including analyzing losses. "But decisions about who should be supported, who should not, who should be reinforced and who should not are not based on data. They are based on loyalty," he said.

10. The blocking of initiatives and the "bureaucratic crossfire". "In six months at the Defense Ministry, we have not been able to change the organizational structure because the General Staff refuses to approve it: the name is supposedly wrong, something else is not right, or there is allegedly no need to bring in new people," Fedorov explained.

11. Constant dishonesty. "This applies to me too: claims that I ordered the investigation into Skelia, that I launched a media campaign, that I did this or that," the acting defense minister said. [The Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal probe into the Skelia unit – 425th Separate Assault Regiment – following reports of at least 26 noncombat deaths, physical abuse, and inadequate medical care for recruits. The unit's commander was suspended, and authorities are currently investigating allegations of systemic abuse – ed.]

He added that he had proposed changes on all points.

"What solutions were proposed at the time? Radical personnel decisions. That meant changing both the Commander-in-Chief and the Chief of the General Staff… It meant creating an environment where strong leaders could develop instead of being held back or constantly reprimanded. It meant working with IT specialists and smart people. It meant a different management approach. It meant appointing strong corps commanders. Drone-assault units are a fundamental change in the way we think about deploying infantry: technology must be at the forefront of combat. We should lose drones, not people, and only then should infantry move in," Fedorov said.

He also proposed "levelling out" the front line and implementing a doctrine based on the principle of "not losing personnel where it can be avoided", while taking the terrain and the situation into account.

"The allocation of all resources through corps – that means personnel, drones, artillery, training… Because there are situations where, ultimately, no one is responsible for a section of the front line," said the acting minister.

He also said he had proposed establishing an Academy of Modern Warfare to train new leaders capable of commanding headquarters and units, creating a consortium of Ballistics and Anti-Ballistics units, closing the skies, achieving victory in the economic war and, more broadly, transforming the defence forces and rooting out corruption in procurement.
https://t.co/fk3wrPHY6U