Andrew Beatty

'Russian bombers are burning en masse' — Ukraine's SBU drones hit 'more than 40' aircraft in mass attack, source claims "Currently, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3," a source told the Kyiv Independent.

If even a fraction of this is true, it’s a remarkable achievement & a mark of how far Ukr deep strike has come. ‘An operation by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has hit ‘more than 40" Russian bombers at air bases “in the rear of the Russian Federation”…’ kyivindependent.com/enemy-bomber...

Ukrainian security service sources tell @financialtimes.com the agency is conducting "a large-scale special operation to destroy enemy bomber aircraft" deep inside Russia.

"SBU drones are targeting aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities every night." Claims 40 aircraft have been hit.

How much coffee is too much? Studies suggest moderate consumption is harmless. It may even be beneficial

How much coffee is too much?
economist.com/science-and-...
from The Economist

C’mon American academics. Get yourself to European universities. Way better food, better wine, more history, less book burning*

*last bit not always true.

What’s a “Congress”

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command

This is like O.J. attending Nicole’s funeral (which he did, and for the same reason).

Which Trump acolyte wants to go to jail for contempt?

Translate for me, NPCs are the new untermensch, yeah?

Is this is 2025 equivalent of burning books?

L'État, c'est moi

Elon Musk’s Starlink Expands Across White House Complex Trump administration officials said the company donated the internet service, saying the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office.

Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure.

old Soviet joke for our times:

Guy stops by the newsstand every day, scans the front page, doesn’t buy the paper. One day the vendor asks what he’s up to.

Guy says: “looking for an obituary.”

Vendor says “those are towards the back of the paper, comrade.”

Guy says: “not the one I’m looking for.”

The interaction of potential large scale issuance of safe Euro-denominated government backed defence bonds and creeping questioning of the role of US Treasuries in global finance is going to be fascinating to watch.

Do you see the US (or Russia) going for this? Seems to me Trump’s primary concern is normalising relations with Russia, so he’s likely to oppose anything the Kremlin would reject.

Belfast has entered the chat!

Norway rethinks €1.7 trillion sovereign fund to boost support for Ukraine - Euractiv The Nordic country has so far spent €3.35 billion on aid to Ukraine, paling in comparison to its Nordic counterparts Denmark and Sweden.

Norway is considering using its €1.7 trillion sovereign fund to boost support for Ukraine

www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

The Trump administration ‘wants to destroy the European Union’

Former US ambassador to the EU Anthony Gardner on the priorities European countries should have ahead of the Ukraine summit, and to keep wary of the US

1/7
Some Sunday thoughts on America and the defense of Norway and Europe.

Some input values: I have been an Atlanticist, believed in America as a beacon and the leader of the free world and strong proponent of as close as possible bilateral defense relationship.

Sadly, it’s possible that Trump’s clumsy attempt to befriend Putin, force Ukraine’s surrender and emasculate Europe will extend the war for years. It’s now a point of deep transatlantic division, so Putin has a new interest in keeping his costly bloodbath going.

Emmanuel Macron went to Bratislava in 2023 to say, in essence: "Central Europeans were right about Russia & we should have listened".

I wonder if any Central Europeans will travel to Paris to say: "You were right about the risks of relying on America for European security & we should have listened"

Or to put it another way (using words short enough that I understand them), any European plan that treats conflict as a *future* problem is already out of date.

Europe’s independence day Incoming German chancellor Friedrich Merz is an unlikely candidate to lead a decisive break with the US. But an erstwhile über-Atlanticist and fiscal conservative might be the only German politician…

Friedrich Merz, an unlikely candidate for radical change, is vowing to shift Germany—and Europe—towards true independence from the US. Can he bury the debt brake and reshape Europe’s future?

By Mark Leonard👇

As Trump warms to Putin, U.S. halts offensive cyber operations against Moscow Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to pause cyber and information operations against Russia as Trump seeks to bring Putin to the negotiating table to end war in Ukraine.

SecDef has ordered a pause on offensive cyber and info operations while the US & Moscow are in talks, though planning for operations continues, according to sources. While such a pause is not unusual, the move comes as Trump accommodates Putin in his designs on Ukraine.
wapo.st/4kjGtrI

The Puzzling Diplomacy over Ukraine's Future Podcast Episode · War on the Rocks · 02/28/2025 · 38m

I listened to the latest @warontherocks.bsky.social podcast yesterday, on the “diplomatic” wrangling over Ukraine’s future: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

It made stark the many parallels between these developments & the negotiations to end the war in #Afghanistan. A 🧵 on those. 1/n

I can definitely imagine a scenario where US military aid stops, US sanctions on Russia are lifted unilaterally and the White House + Kremlin are actively trying to support far right parties and overthrow pro-democratic govts in Europe. But we're not there (yet).

Here's What Ukraine Needs in Missiles, Shells, and Troops to Win. It's Completely Doable After two years of the Russia-Ukraine war with still no end in sight, NATO members have begun asking what it will take to turn the tide in Ukraine's favor. To fully expel Russian forces in the next tw...

This is a few months old, but I would imagine fairly relevant still www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

I'm not sure he would oppose EU purchases. But say he does, there is not one answer to that. Short term, I gather certain things would be really difficult (ground-based air defence systems for example), other things would be easier.

Beyond Appeasement: What is Feasible for Ukraine Accepting Russian conditions is not justified by the current situation in Ukraine. Instead, sustained Western assistance to Kyiv has strong prospects of securing a stalemate that protects European sec...

"Europe has the capacity to backfill for U.S. security assistance to Kyiv, assuming the willingness of the United States to sell its weapons to Europeans that they can then transfer onwards to Ukraine" www.csis.org/analysis/bey...

Europe’s dependence on US tech is a critical weakness In order to protect their sovereignty, the continent’s leaders must invest in a digital ecosystem independent of America

As Europe reckons with the new transatlantic reality, its leaders should start treating the Silicon Valley giants cheering Trump on as adversarial powers ↘️ on.ft.com/3X8hv4D