Facundo Argüello

NEW: Russian forces conducted another large, combined strike package against Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight on February 16 to 17 — the eve of trilateral US-Ukrainian-Russian negotiations in Geneva. 🧵(1/6)

Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar021726

Ukraine just built an air defense system that doesn't care what missile you feed it.

The new Shershen fires five different types — Soviet, Western, and Ukrainian-made — from a single launcher.

Color me skeptical that he didn't instead have a falling out with his officers or peers, or committed a serious crime back home. You don't suddenly find out about prisoner executions when you are already an elite soldier.

Russian UAV operator Myroslav Simonov from the elite "Rubicon" unit has defected to Ukraine’s side. He says that after being deployed near Kupiansk and seeing how casually orders were given to execute prisoners, he went AWOL and crossed over to the Ukrainian side.
youtu.be/Xq4f8MHrl_o?...

1/ Telegram will not be restored in Russia, and tighter restrictions will be imposed on mobile phone ownership, says Sergey Boyarsky, head of the State Duma IT Committee. He cites scammers, pro-Ukrainian sabotage, and drone attacks as the reasons behind these moves. ⬇️

Inside Ukraine's Underground Maternity Wards Four years after Russia invaded, Ukrainian health workers are shoring up maternity care to protect the most vulnerable--and preserve Ukrainian identity.

Ukraine’s efforts to fortify its maternity hospitals have become a way to protect the most vulnerable—and preserve Ukrainian identity.
https://bit.ly/3ZwfYpS

Russian troops are being forced onto MAX a state-run messenger controlled by security services according to the Ukrainian channel Taras Shevchenko Reports.

After restricting Telegram and MAX, Russia has removed YouTube and WhatsApp from the authorized DNS of state regulator Roskomnadzor. The two most popular platforms in the country are now inaccessible through official DNS filtering systems. #Russia

1/ Russian soldiers overwhelmingly prefer to use Telegram for tactical communications despite the Russian army having its own dedicated military messengers. The reason isn't complex – the military's own alternatives are unreliable and difficult to use. ⬇️

Russian propagandist Tsaryov writes that the WhatsApp messenger has also been blocked in Russia.

Well, now it turns out that it’s no longer enough for Russia for Ukraine to hand over what remains of Donbas without a fight, its strongest fortified region, so that “the war can end.”

1/ The Russian authorities have published details of three people accused of Friday's shooting of Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev. Two men have been arrested, one in the UAE, while a woman is said to have escaped to Ukraine, which is blamed for the attack. ⬇️
bsky.app/profile/wart...

Adobe Acrobat I do not want to know What’s New. I do not want to turn my PDF into a podcast with my team. I want to look at the PDF. Please stop

He was about to be sanctioned for breaches of GPS related laws in the USA. I can't remember the exact reasoning though.

Not that it’s new information, it isn’t, but I hate this world a lot. We only pretend to be civilized; in reality, we burn families in their beds with missiles and freeze them in their homes for geopolitical goals.

Russia Turns Epstein Files Into a Disinformation Weapon Against Macron and Ukraine The Insider exposes Matryoshka's coordinated disinformation effort tying Epstein's investigations to Macron and Ukrainian youth.

⚡️ Russian bot networks are flooding social media with fake reports using the Epstein files to smear President Macron and Ukraine.

Trump said that India is stopping oil purchases from Russia.

1/ Why are 'penguins' being seen wandering around the front line in Ukraine and getting blown up? The answer lies in a flood of dubious "anti-drone ponchos" being sold on Russian online marketplaces. ⬇️
bsky.app/profile/sain...

Just checked GPU prices again. Up 50% in a month? Surely this is sustainable. (It is not sustainable.)

When this bubble bursts it will pop very loudly.

Local channels in Kharkiv are publishing footage of the moment a Russian drone deliberately struck a residential high rise building. The attack targeted once again shows Russia’s continued use of drones to terrorize Ukrainian cities. #Ukraine

Ukraine destroyed over 9,000 Russian armored vehicles in three years. Russia replaced them all.

Here's the catch: they did it by draining Soviet-era storage from 10,400 vehicles down to 1,800, according to @Rebel44CZ.

Production adds just 900 vehicles a year. Russia loses 2,300+.

Cerca de 80% de los venezolanos votaría por María Corina Machado en unas elecciones presidenciales Casi 8 de cada 10 venezolanos votarían por la líder opositora María Corina Machado si las elecciones presidenciales fueran hoy.

Interesting public opinion survey results of out Venezuela today:

- 68.4% don't believe that the US is running the country
- 52.7% believe that the US' main interest in the country is oil (vs. 7.9% who said "human rights")
- 78.3% would vote for Machado

www.elnacional.com/2026/01/la-m...

🚨Russia will soon be able to control Shahed drones via Starlink, making them immune to electronic warfare, according to Ukrainian soldier and blogger Flash‼️

Today, for the first time, control of a BM-35 drone using this system was recorded.

Russia was behind attempted 2024 arson attack, Lithuania says Lithuanian authorities accused Russia's GRU military intelligence service on Friday of masterminding attempted arson attacks on a plant that supplies radio wave scanners to Ukraine's army.

Russia was behind attempted 2024 arson attack, Lithuania says reut.rs/3Zdx2AH

The ongoing protests in Iran mark the most serious domestic unrest that the Islamic Republic has faced. The protests could alter the character of the regime fundamentally, or even topple it. www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/ind...

Arms manufacturing giant Rheinmetall has received a site in Ukraine to build a munitions production plant, the company says via Ukrinform. Rheinmetall is fulfilling its commitments and already has an active contract to supply equipment for the future factory.

In this first (and maybe last?) Basiji Soup, we’ll look at… the Islamic Republic of Iran, its disinformation operations, its hypocrisy, how it sells its atrocities as virtue and its repression as morality, how it serves the Kremlin, and the current protests against it.

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Huge crowds are out on the streets again in Iran. In Tehran’s Tehranser, Punak, and Saadat Abad districts, footage shows large gatherings chanting slogans like “We’re waiting for Pahlavi, we’re not going anywhere!”

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on the international community to increase pressure on Iran, linking Tehran's support for Russia's war with its domestic repression.

Iran: In Shiraz there are clashes with regime forces. In Punak, the regime cut the power, but demonstrators returned with flashlights and phone lights. Meanwhile, in Lorestan province, reports suggest the Kurdistan Freedom Party may have attacked IRGC barracks.