In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll talk about why we’re doing this: why we think Ukraine is so important and why we believe that souping vatniks and debunking their propaganda narratives is so crucial to counter Russia’s and their allies’ wars of aggression and achieve real peace.
1/20
Trump tells donors they’ll receive his national security briefings in return for money: www.cnn.com/2026/03/13/p...
Stares in “constitutional presumption of innocence until proven beyond a reasonable doubt by admissible and relevant evidence in a fair trial” face.
How the Russian intelligence services, with an okay from Putin, decided to use DHL parcel deliveries to bomb warehouses all across Europe. An essential read on Russia's idea of hybrid warfare against Europe. www.bbc.com/news/article...
A military investigation has determined the U.S. carried out the deadly Tomahawk strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials & others familiar with the preliminary findings. Latest w/ Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager, Helene Cooper
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/u...
I am old enough to remember when Putin + the Kremlin pinky promised they were not going to launch a second invasion of Ukraine.
In February 2022.
Since then, Russia has murdered, tortured, and raped countless 🇺🇦 civilians and POWs and kidnapped thousands of children.
www.npr.org/2022/01/10/1...
The question was raised how bad a task would it be to clear the Strait of Hormuz if it was mined. The answer is "pretty bad".
New: The FBI has lost 300 experienced national security agents over the last year, including 45 fired. Now the threat environment is as perlilous as it’s been in a long time. The DOJ has also lost experienced natsec lawyers.
www.ms.now/news/doj-los...
The US has burned through over 1,000 Patriot interceptors ($4 million each) to stop an onslaught of Iranian drones ($20k to $50k each).
Using my last gift link from Bloomberg, which is doing some of the best reporting anywhere on the war.
🎁 🔗
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Ukraine is helping America counter Iranian drones and protect our Servicemembers in the Mid East.
Russia is providing targeting intelligence to Iran to kill American servicemembers.
🫡🇺🇦
www.npr.org/2026/03/09/n...
A seventh American service member died yesterday, from wounds taken after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US forces in Saudi Arabia. First US death outside of the six killed in the drone strike in Kuwait. No details or ID yet, per US notification policy. taskandpurpose.com/news/7th-us-...
Congratulations, that’s awesome news!
New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an IRGC facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls’ school, where 175 people were reportedly killed, including children.
Read our analysis of the video showing a US Tomahawk missile strike next to Girls’ School in Iran on February 28 here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
Q: "Did the U.S. bomb a girls' elementary school…and kill 175 people?"
Trump: "No. In my opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran."
Q: "Is that true, Mr. Hegseth? It was Iran that did that?"
Hegseth: "We're investigating it."
Trump: "It was done by Iran."
Staff at the nation’s largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility have placed bets on which detainee will be the next to die by suicide, according to new reporting from the Associated Press based on 911 calls and detainee accounts.
These are Olena Udovichenko and her son Hordii.
A Russian missile killed them today.
Olena was a teacher in a Kharkiv school, Hordii was a second-grader there.
Last night, Russia killed 11 people in Kharkiv, including Olena and Hordii.
RIP.
Soldiers were literally on their hands and knees to roll out a red carpet for Putin recently.
apnews.com/article/trum...
Russia v Ukraine
Russia + Iran drones v Ukraine
Iran v US
Iran + Russia intel v US
US not really helping Ukraine v Russia anymore.
Ukraine is coming to the aid of the US to help us protect against Iran’s drones.
US lifting sanctions on Russian oil tankers.
I hope the findings of this investigation are made public
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/w...
NEW
The White House has submitted its War Powers report to Congress for the attack on Iran.
The justification for military action rests on 1) Iran's supposed continued quest for nuclear weapons and 2) the threat Iran's missiles pose to US forces, vessels, civilians and those of partners. 1/n
WSJ: “.. U.S. officials and lawmakers with access to classified information say the Trump administration’s assertions about threats from Iran are incomplete, unsubstantiated, or flat-out wrong.”
@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
The Pentagon says it’s ‘lethalitymaxxing’. Why has ‘incel’ slang crossed into the mainstream?
A great fun fact for your next engagement with a Christian Nationalist type is that Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century überBaptist known as the "prince of preachers," was an avowed pacifist.
EXCLUSIVE: A draft executive order that would allow Trump to take unprecedented control over federal elections is reportedly being circulated with the White House.
Democracy Docket obtained a copy.
Read the full, 17-page order below👇
Claims of 40 dead after an Israeli airstrike on a elementary girl’s school in Iran
www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...
BREAKING — 51 Iranian children are dead after a strike hits Minab girls elementary school in Iran.
The USA and Israel have started bombing Iran and Trump has announced an explicit political goal, full regime change for the Iranian people. Air power is certainly about to have a moment. I put together this free primer on what we know and what we should be asking. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Investigative Post obtained this video of Border Patrol abandoning Nurul Shah Alam, the nearly blind Burmese refugee who was found dead
www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/26/t...
