Doug Klain

MSF stops sharing Syria hospital locations after 'deliberate' attacks Médecins Sans Frontières believes giving GPS coordinates of its facilities to Assad and Russian forces increases chance of direct targeting

OTD in 2016 @msf.ca stopped sharing the locations of their Syrian hospitals with Russian Air Force cos we kept using the info to bomb them.

The EU punished me for this by agreeing to open nordstrean 2.

www.theguardian.com/world/2016/f...

A country with a literal “Revolution of Dignity” will not back down when it comes to commemorating innocent people killed in war - and they do not accept false equivalencies or regulations about expression

Heraskevych’s choice to forfeit the medal chance instead of give up the memorial helmet is the biggest story in Ukraine today. Everyone is heartbroken but there is a unanimous consensus that this was what had to happen rather than to give up.

Bezos's Washington Post notes that it was Texas that started the redistricting war—but rather than call for an end to partisan gerrymandering and give all voters a level playing field, the Editorial Board merely urges voters to reject *Democratic* gerrymandering.

Congratulations!!

Friends, an update: This week I joined @repmarcykaptur.bsky.social's team as her new Legislative Assistant for Military & Foreign Affairs. I'm thrilled to join Congresswoman Kaptur's team and to serve the people of Northwest Ohio. It's a big change, but an exciting one.

The second vid is out.

YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official 2000 Meters to Andriivka (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

2000 Meters to Andriivka was snubbed by the Oscars, but it's still the absolute best documentary of modern warfare. When the soldiers who survived stood up after the film's premier in Kyiv last summer, they received a 15 minute standing ovation.

Watch here 👇

Yes, because when I think of the “Russian threat” at this exact moment I obviously think about Greenland and nowhere else!

Great new @cepa.org report from Marianna Fakhurdinova on military assistance to Ukraine. Here's one of many findings: how have the weapons sent from the US to Ukraine impacted what systems the US still has available?

A Failed State Shaped the 20th Century. Can Today’s Leaders Avoid Its Fate?

The ultimate lesson of the Weimar Era, historians say, lies not in any particular parallel, but in a point that is both obvious and often overlooked: Democracies are imperfect institutions that need to be constantly defended, because they can be torn down from within.

U.S. seizes Russian-flagged tanker that fled Venezuela blockade The tanker Marinera had been pursued by the U.S. Coast Guard for weeks.

Seizing tankers in Russia’s shadow fleet is the right move. Often uninsured and aging, these vessels are floating espionage and environmental risks. Seizing them sends an important message to Moscow.

Congress has legislation tee’d up to expand shadow fleet sanctions.

If the US is smart, we'll partner with our friends in Ukraine and learn from their remarkable wins in digital governance. It's smart policy (and politics!) to take the best ideas out there and use them 📲

Jan. 6, 2021: A visual archive of the Capitol attack NPR’s Jan. 6 archive brings together reporting, video, documents and testimony to show what really happened during the Capitol riot. Explore the timeline, cases and evidence behind the attack.

5 years ago there was consensus that January 6 was a riot to overturn American democracy. Now the Trump admin is rewriting history—it pardoned the perpetrators, deleted records of their cases, and fired the prosecutors.

@npr.org is preserving a public archive of what really happened.

What happened to “with Liberty and Justice for all?”

What’s in the new US defense bill for Ukraine? The NDAA includes the best legislative support from Congress that Ukraine has received all year. At the same time, it also underscores the dramatic reduction in overall US support for Ukraine during 2...

The NDAA is finally passed—so what’s in it for Ukraine? I break it down for @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social.

My take: While it includes most welcome support for Kyiv, the NDAA’s Ukraine provisions are largely about mitigating potential harm from the Trump administration.

Trump gives Zelenskyy ‘days’ to respond to peace proposal Ukrainian president pressed by US envoys for a swift response with an aim to agree ceasefire with Russia ‘by Christmas’

New: Zelenskyy told European leaders he feared the EU would drop a plan for a “reparations loan” to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian central bank assets, mainly over fears of upsetting Trump and losing support on Euro defence and security guarantees. w/ @henryjfoy.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/ea36...

Zelensky rules out ceding land to Russia, refusing to bow to Putin or Trump Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would not give up territory, not to hasten peace talks, not to satisfy Washington and not under pressure from Moscow.

If we are indeed at the end of this latest round of Ukraine negotiations, it's important to keep in mind that the party to blame for a collapse in talks is Russia.

Russia keeps pushing for more, even demanding fortified land it cannot take by force.

This NDAA is also better than what either the Senate or House originally passed on their own, and hard work clearly went in to finding ways to continue supporting Ukraine despite an admin that isn't interested in doing so.

Votes to pass this NDAA are expected in the coming days.

It's also remarkable to step back and realize just how much US support for Ukraine has ended. It's unlikely it will ever return to levels seen under the last administration as long as Trump is in office, and this legislation does not guarantee new arms to Ukraine.

So what to make of all this?

First, this is the first and likely only legislation passed by Congress to support Ukraine in 2025.

Second, it's hard to force the admin to arm Ukraine. That USAI money isn't mandatory spending. But the NDAA does minimize potential harm.

Sec. 8363: The Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act from Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. @amyklobuchar.com.

Here's a big win: the Senate passed this legislation to support operations to return Ukrainian kids stolen by Russia, and it made it into the final NDAA.

A key goal here is to make sure congressionally appropriated funds to arm Ukraine are being used as intended—essentially, it doesn't want the Trump admin forcing Ukraine or allies to reimburse the US for weapons it already sent or pledged to send.

Congress is creating new reporting requirements to understand exactly how the admin is using PURL, what it's sending, and to ensure that it isn't double-dipping by getting reimbursed by Europe for arms already paid for by Congress under USAI.

Sec. 1245: Oversight of US arms sales for Ukraine.

Here's a lengthy but important section. The Trump admin replaced military assistance with arms sales to Europe, largely through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). But few have understood how it's working.

Repeatedly this year, the Trump admin has threatened to end intelligence support for Ukraine.

Sec. 1244 creates new oversight mechanisms requiring Congress to be notified immediately if that happens, signaling there would be serious backlash to such a move.

Here’s an important point to note: The Trump administration doesn’t want to provide arms to Ukraine without getting paid to do so. Congress is reasserting that it is indeed in the US interest to arm Ukraine. The American public also agrees, according to recent polls.

Trump administration redirects 20,000 anti-drone missiles meant for Ukraine, Zelensky confirms "We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it's a special technology," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Remember in June when the Pentagon seized 20k anti-drone interceptors built for Ukraine? Here's a refresher from @kyivindependent.com if not.

Sec. 1243(7) creates new requirements to make that more difficult, and requires the Pentagon to ensure whatever is seized is ultimately replaced for Ukraine.

The Trump administration likely has billions in remaining PDA and USAI authorities, but has not used them this year (this NDAA also mandates reporting on exactly how much remains).

This bill authorizes $400m to USAI for this year and next, and allows it to be used until 2029.

First, a quick reminder on how the US (used to) militarily aid Ukraine:

Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA)=direct transfers of arms from US stocks.

Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI)=issuing contracts to build new arms for Ukraine.