Francis Farrell
@francisjfarrell
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Reporter at @kyivindependent | Aussie at home in Ukraine | Support us here: https://t.co/iZIVm6Wyq4
Kyiv
Joined May 2017
Very glad to see these meetings and conversations happen. When I met @Braze_Baiba and @Tsahkna in December, the clarity with which they are able to get across the moment we are in is a much-needed voice for the Trump Ukraine team.
When meeting General Keith Kellogg, the Baltic foreign ministers discussed forging a sustainable and durable peace in Ukraine. Peace through strength is the answer - ensuring continued support for #Ukraine and a strong NATO alliance. 🇺🇸🇱🇻🇱🇹🇪🇪🇺🇦
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This is good news, but with brigades and battalions often chopped up and holding sectors in very different parts of the front, never mind the overstretched state of the army, is going to be a massive challenge to implement on the ground. Hope it’s part of a broader culture shift.
The Ukrainian Army is reportedly planning to establish up to 20 Army Corps, including the 3rd and Azov Corps, with each corps consisting of at least five brigades. #UkrainianArmy #Azov
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RT @AlexBondODUA: Today, one of the best Ukrainian FPV drone operators, co-founder of the "Hostri Kartuzy" unit, Anton Spitsin, was killed…
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On point from @emilkastehelmi as always. As easy as it is to switch focus fully to Trump and the new geopolitical game, it is really, really hard to imagine peace until the southern Donetsk Oblast front is stabilised.
Vellyka Novosilka and Kurakhove have fallen, and Russians continue their offensive towards Pokrovsk. In this thread I will examine what is to be expected of the most critical area of the eastern front in the near future, and what can the Russians realistically achieve. 1/
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The Achilles drone battalion, one of Ukraine's largest and most effective specialist UAV units, is expanding to regiment level. I worked with their FPV team near Kupiansk last month, check out the (very eventful) story for @KyivIndependent here:
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There has never been a time when having strong and independent local media - and in turn, keeping a tight grip on reality on the ground here - has been more important, for Ukraine and the world. Read this important piece by @olya_rudenko.
"The sudden freeze of U.S. aid has caused harm to independent Ukrainian journalism on par with the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of Russia’s full-scale war," writes the Kyiv Independent’s chief editor, Olga Rudenko @olya_rudenko, in her recent op-ed.
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RT @GoldenTent: Finally worked up the wherewithal to watch @francisjfarrell’s moving, excellent documentary on Ukrainian military medics ge…
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RT @Mylovanov: Putin replies to Trump. This is a trap to test if Trump bites. If he does, Putin will see him as a weakling. The real play i…
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RT @emilkastehelmi: Ukrainians have continued their attacks in Kursk. Today, an armored column advanced towards Bolshoye Soldatskoye, and r…
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Joining @DomNicholls and @FrancisDearnley on Ukraine: The Latest right now, touching on a few important topics. Do drop by!
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A cautionary tale about systemic internal problems - in this case manpower quality and organisation- being so bad that well-intentioned, well-directed Western help goes to waste. Ukraine's newly-mobilised personnel must be utilized competently to have a chance at stopping Russia.
Yuriy Butusov wrote a long post about problems with the formation of the 155th Mechanized Brigade. He says more than 1,700 soldiers went AWOL before it deployed to the front line, including more than 50 soldiers while training in France. Among the problems, more than 2,500 soldiers were taken from the brigade during its formation and sent to other units as combat replacements, the brigade deployed to the front with an insufficient number of UAVs and C-UAS equipment, the brigade's leadership had little time to train with many of their soldiers who were assigned to the brigade (but remained in Ukraine) while they were in France, and the brigade's units have now been attached to other units instead of fighting as a brigade despite receiving modern equipment.
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This is only the first part of K-2's video, but in the meantime, for a pretty confronting look at what kind of hell a crack FPV team can bring to enemy infantry, check out my video with Ukraine's Achilles UAV battalion for @KyivIndependent:
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