Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺

UK Healthcare Project / Programme Management aficionado.
Views my own.

[Angelica Shalagina🇺🇦 @angelshalagina]

Hey friends,

I’m alive.
But this night was terrible.
One of the worst nights of my life.

Almost nonstop - explosions.
Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and shaheds.

I finally fell asleep after sunrise for just a little while.
Even in my restless dreams,
I kept hearing explosions over and over again.

One of the strongest blasts happened in my area.
Smoke from my window.
The air still smells burned and heavy.

Last night,
I won russian roulette once again.

Today,
I’m simply grateful
to be alive.

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@AndyBurnhamGM When Andy gets hit with the same right wing and social media onslaught Keir had to endure, I do hope he enjoys the same level of support from Wes Streeting as he gave to Keir

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@SamCKx Sam, I think there's a few big mistakes Starmer made. 1. Winter fuel allowance, 2. Farmers tax, 3. Woeful Labour/no.10 communications. Do those mistakes deserve this situation... no. Comms failure is a warning for all future PMs. We needed to get a grip earlier.

[Denys Shtilierman @DenShtilierman]

While yesterday all our partners and allies either came to Kyiv in person or recorded words of support, the US quietly warned Ukraine not to strike the “zone of American interests.” Here is what our ambassador Stefanishyna says:

“We have been hearing that Ukrainian attacks to Novorossiysk affected some of the American investments which are being performed through Kazakhstan. And we have heard from Department of State that we should refrain from, from, you know, attacking American interests.”

According to this logic, we should just lay down our arms and surrender — because with Trump and Putin being “friends” right now, we're always going to mess with someone's “interests.” It's crucial for us to realize that the US isn't our ally or even our partner. Therefore, we must continue to strike throughout Russia — wherever we can reach. Especially since it is impossible for the Russians to rebuild destroyed military-industrial facilities or oil refineries today due to sanctions. This is what brings peace closer, as the enemy loses its ability to wage war.

The US position on the UN General Assembly resolution to end the war in Ukraine deserves special attention — they did not support it. This led to sharp criticism even from Keith Kellogg:

“TA UN vote on a lasting peace in Ukraine and we abstained. Go figure. It is not a business deal-it is war.”

US Deputy Representative to the UN Tammy Bruce responded to this criticism as follows:

“Our view is that certain language in the resolution is likely to distract from ongoing negotiations.”

Her comment refers to the clause on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Apparently, it greatly hinders the trading of Ukrainian land in negotiations. After all, how can one “negotiate” peace if the text explicitly states that sovereignty and borders are inviolable? This destroys the entire structure of the “agreement” that Washington is trying to build behind Ukraine’s back.

That is why Ukraine should not rely on anyone's “goodwill” or wait for permission to strike the enemy. Our strategy is simple and clear: destroy Russia's military-industrial potential, undermine its economy, and deprive it of the ability to continue fighting. No oil refinery, no factory, no port working for the war should feel safe. This is the real path to peace.

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

Between 1:15 and 1:18 in this video I believe you can see an ICE agent clapping his hands with glee as Alex Pretti continues to be shot https://t.co/249hTS87MZ

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

State sponsored murder in the USA. What is going on in the USA? https://t.co/kN3KrM5ZOD

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@Microinteracti1 Just seen this and followed. Do you have the source for these statistics? Before I reshare I would like to check.

[(TCAG) Командир Бред Кроуфорд (CDR Brad Crawford) @evo1tactical]

Call it whatever you want, but this is what a losing invasion looks like in real life.

I have spent years in Ukraine, on training grounds, near the front, and inside the system. If Russia were winning, this war would not look like this in year four.

They would not still be grinding forward meters at a time. They would not be burning through equipment from the Soviet stockpile, pulling out T-62s and T-55s, and fielding poorly trained replacements to fill gaps left by massive casualties.

Armies that are winning do not mobilize repeatedly, empty prisons, or trade tens of thousands of lives for small pieces of ground.

Your Iraq comparison is exactly right. If the United States had invaded Iraq, lost hundreds of thousands of troops, failed to secure the country after years of fighting, and only controlled a fraction of the terrain, no serious person would call that victory. They would call it a strategic failure. The same standard applies here.

Ukraine is still fighting. It's command structure still functions. Its society is still intact. It's military is adapting faster than Russia is. Russia is not advancing because it is strong. It is advancing because it is willing to spend lives at a rate no professional military would accept. That is not winning. That is attrition without an exit.

Anyone calling this a Russian victory has never planned operations, never trained soldiers for combat, and never watched what a real winning campaign looks like.

This war has exposed Russian weakness, not strength, and it has done so in front of the entire world.

Slava Ukraini. Heroiam Slava. 🇺🇦

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

Any lads in Sheffield or South Yorkshire fancy free outdoor workouts and a genuinely supportive men’s community? No cost, no catch, just turn up and put the work in. I’ve been doing it in Leeds for 10 months and the results speak for themselves 💪💚 share with a guy who needs it!

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

Hi fellas & x-o-sphere, I am a Trustee for the Leeds Ukrainian Community Association a charity that supports displaced Ukrainians in Leeds and sends life saving aid to Ukraine. I know it's a tough time of year but if you are able to give then please do so. https://t.co/6dMTdGEf66

[Jakub Wiech @jakubwiech]

Hi, I’m from Poland, and I recently read in the US National Security Strategy about Europe’s supposed “civilizational erasure.”

So I’d like to tell you a bit about European civilization.

🇪🇺We have a more modest GDP, yet we still run a trade surplus with the United States, employ 2.5 times more industrial workers, have a higher export share in GDP, and maintain lower income inequality.

🇪🇺We don’t have a heavily privatized healthcare system, yet our life expectancy at birth is about three years higher, and infant mortality is nearly half that of the US.

🇪🇺We don’t have universal and unconditional access to firearms, yet European cities are far safer: we have clearly lower rates of homicide, violent crime, and car theft.

🇪🇺We don’t design our entire spatial order around a single mode of transport; instead, we build transport systems with a strong role for public transit, including rail.

🇪🇺We don’t have tech giants pumping up stock-market valuations, but we do equip ordinary workers with things like paid monthly vacations, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, and contracts that prevent sudden dismissal.

So let’s ask ourselves:

which of these things truly reflects the kind of civilization we want to pursue?

PS

In the photo I’m sitting and waiting for some delicious food, did I mention that Europe is superior in this as well, because we have regulations that limit the use of harmful food additives?

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

On this day, 31 years ago, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum. Under this agreement, Ukraine relinquished the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances from the United States, the United Kingdom, and russia.

Before the Memorandum was signed, renowned political scientist and international relations scholar John Mearsheimer warned that Ukraine should keep its nuclear weapons. He argued that this was the most effective way to prevent a future russian-Ukrainian war, describing such a war as a potential “catastrophe” that could lead to repeated conquest of Ukraine and “undermine peace across all of Europe.”

Despite these warnings, Ukraine was pressured by the US into signing the Budapest Memorandum and dismantling its nuclear arsenal. As part of the agreement, Ukraine destroyed its fleet of long-range strategic bombers and transferred more than 1,000 cruise missiles. The United States even assisted in destroying Ukraine’s bomber fleet.

In return, Ukraine received “security assurances” from the US, the UK, and russia.

Russia, of course, has brutally violated these assurances along with dozens of other treaties. In fact, the same missiles Ukraine surrendered to russia are now being used against Ukrainian cities.

And now, instead of honoring those commitments, the United States is pressuring Ukraine to surrender its own land to the aggressor — offering another set of “assurances” that will collapse the moment they are tested.

Budapest was a historic mistake. Repeating it today would not bring peace — it would pave the road to the next, even bloodier war.

[Bajen Vespa, NAFO-NORD, Reborned Fella @bajenvespa]

@Microinteracti1 History on repeat 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@nafoviking Best of luck and thank you for driving and helping Ukraine 🇺🇦

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

Leeds 10k Video

https://t.co/nRHryFXS8v

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@AstroBenn @RodrigoProp @ElectionMapsUK Yes but the majority of people are still picking a mainstream party is what I'm saying

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@RodrigoProp @ElectionMapsUK Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats are mainstream political parties last time I checked.

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@NOELreports So Russia agrees to stop all military spending that strengthen the Russian army?

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

History can repeat itself or it can rhyme badly... imagine if 1940s USA had acted like Trump and MAGA act now - hesitating, enabling the aggressor, and prioritizing isolationism.
https://t.co/JweDogVbRD

[Ben McDougall 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺 @benmcdougall]

@SpaghettiKozak @ZelenskyyUa Trust Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Understand they are under pressure from the US and Trump. They will negotiate the best possible terms that they can in the circumstances.