The Russian controlled ship, full of ammonium nitrate, a floating bomb, we've all been watching for the past week, somehow allowed to get close to Norway, now claims it's lost control. Is Putin really going to do this?

1/ A Russian colonel has been charged with extorting at least 1 million rubles ($10,800) from his subordinates over the past year. He is reported to have blackmailed his men and threatened to send them to join stormtrooper units, with a high chance of being killed. ⬇️

So we’re doing this again

❗️Immediately lift all restrictions on attacks by Ukraine deep into the russian Federation - the European Parliament has adopted a resolution with such a call to the EU countries. 425 MPs voted in favor, 131 against. Another 63 abstained Will actions now follow?

Germany has handed over a large military aid package to Ukraine, which includes: 📍 22 Leopard tanks and spare parts for them 📍 22 MRAP armored vehicles 📍 12 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers 📍 three Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery systems 📍 reconnaissance

Cate Blanchett narrated movie "Ukraine: Life Under Attack" about living and surviving in Kharkiv, available on Amazon Video, Apple TV and Channel 4. That’s what an actual documentary looks like. TIFF

Revenues from frozen assets are already financing the production of Ukrainian weapons "400 million euros from the first tranche of revenues from frozen Rosatom assets have been allocated to finance Ukrainian defense companies - the production of Ukrainian 2C22 Bohdan howitzers

There is a lot going on in the news at the moment, but there is a story that is consistently being underreported: Russia. A 🧵 (potentially with 🖍️)

And in the UK - we have to recognise that Russia, and her actions, are the NUMBER ONE strategic threat that we face.

And with the failure of the 2023 Ukrainian offensive (remember that?!), the West’s strategy of waiting out Russia is the wrong one. The Russian economy is resilient, they are still able to trade (especially oil), and they are going on the offensive elsewhere in Europe (of which

(As if you could escalate a genocidal war where children are kidnapped and taken back to Russia, and where civilian water and power infrastructure are bombed with impunity).

Yet whilst the Biden administration has failed to get the signalling right, Europe has failed to step up to the moment. It took six months - SIX MONTHS - to lay the UK orders for increased munitions after the Feb 2022 invasion. This is a dereliction of duty. It’s a complete

Look at this. 1) Russian invasion of Ukraine 2) Russia throwing elections in Georgia 3) Russia interfering in Moldova referendum 4) Wagner in Sudan / Central African Republic 5) Wagner in Mali and wider Sahel 6) Russian submarine and naval activity off west coast of Ireland

This is Europe’s time. Whatever the results of the US Presidential Election - Europe needs to step up, and start rolling back Russian activity in the European periphery.

And that starts in Ukraine. We - the UK - have to gain the clear sense that Ukraine winning the war is the primary strategic priority for the UK (and for Europe).

Ukraine losing is catastrophic for us because it opens up a number of strategic pandora’s boxes. The three most important of these (quite apart from Russian activity in the European periphery being emboldened) are:

1) If Ukraine’s territorial integrity is not restored, NATO Article 5 (mutual defence) will be tested, probably in the Baltic states. 2) Nuclear proliferation will increase dramatically because the lesson from this conflict will be that nuclear powers (i.e. Russia) can face

Ukraine is the strategic centre - hold Ukraine, and these other elements, can be rolled back. Lose Ukraine (i.e. some shoddy deal) and we will be looking at generalised conflict.

Over the next few weeks, I will unpack each of the areas in this thread (with 🖍️!) to illustrate just how pervasive Russian activity is. I will also try and link to things that I think the UK government should be doing.