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What sources are you using to follow the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
I realised I relied on Reddit a lot for my news sources, but I generally meant to get my news closer to the source of possible, even before deleting my account. I already follow ISW, but that's daily and quite conservative in its analysis (which is good). Do you have good more frequent sources that you trust?
I follow a handful of analysts. Generally through some mixture of twitter, their professional writing, and podcasts. Mark Galeotti and his podcast In Moscow's Shadows is a good look at internal Russian politics. He has a long history as a Russia analyst, is pretty well regarded in the field, and I tend to enjoy his analysis and find it to be fairly even keeled. For more direct war related matters I pay attention to what Michael Kofman has to say. I pay for a membership to War on the Rocks so I can listen to his members only podcast The Russia Contingency but their free podcast will probably serve you just fine if you just want occasional updates on the war. Kofman seems to be the closest thing this war has had to a breakout star as much as that's possible for an analyst. I appreciate how good he is about expressing his limits and examining his failings. I also think he deserves his reputation.
After that there are a handful that I pay attention to, mainly when something particularly interesting is happening to get a better overall picture. In no particular order:
Dmitri Alperovitch and his podcast Geopolitics Decanted
Sam Greene and his substack TL;DRussia
Tatiana Stanovaya
Lawrence Freedman
Rob Lee
Max Seddon The Financial Times Moscow bureau chief for more up to the minute stuff
There's also War on the Rocks (the podcast and the website), RUSI, other assorted think tanks, The Modern War Institute podcast from The Modern War Institute at West Point, and I check the NYT most days just to get a basic overview of US and international news so sometimes I catch stuff there. Otherwise I pay attention to who the other people I'm following are quoting, or interviewing, or posting links to.
I'm more interested in the kind of wonky stuff. Generally, the sort of people who are not directly employed by governments (and so not quite as limited in what they can say) but are employed by think tanks and are likely to have connections with or be consulted by governments. Though I'll also pay attention to more specialized journalists on these topics and some of the people that are a bit of a crossover between active military and academic. Basically, I'm looking towards the scholarly and academic side more than anything else. I find the coverage tends to be a bit slower except when really exciting things are happening (like last weekend) but that coverage is more likely to be circumspect, in depth, nuanced, well thought out, and put forward by people with actual experience with and an understanding of the topic. Consequently I've found it to hold up well, be consistent with the outcomes I see, and provide me with a better picture of the war than what I've regularly seen around just catching glimpses of popular coverage on Reddit or even the NYT.
EDIT: Someone else brought them up down at the bottom but really wanted to shout out Meduza and their English language podcast The Naked Pravda. They're one of the last independent Russian investigative journalism outlets and they've been banned from the country but still provide in depth coverage on internal Russia stuff in both Russian and English. They're worth checking out and donating too if you have any interest in the topic at all.
Me and you basically follow the exact same people.
I have a bit of a man crush on Mark Galeotti, he's one of the few "serious" people who can weave humour into podcasts and interviews off the cuff on what can otherwise be quite dry subjects. Also his books are as interesting as his interviews/podcasts/articles, plus he's written 25(!) of them.
I thought about mentioning how funny he can be and the guys work schedule is insane. I don’t even understand how he does it. A weekly podcast, so many books, talks, conferences, newsletters, it’s truly nuts.
This is an incredible answer. Thank you so much for this.
Perun is a solid one, he sometimes makes videos about other things, but I'd say maybe half the time they're about Ukraine, with videos about Ukraine becoming a little less frequent perhaps as there becomes less and less new content to cover. But a lot of his old videos are about concepts that still apply today, like his video about the role of air power in Ukraine, nothing has changed to make that video not up to date.
Anders Nielsen makes some videos that are popular, but I've been a little less impressed with his, if you already follow ISW its unlikely he's saying much you don't already know, and the stuff he does say that is different, particularly in his most recent video about Wagner, seems inaccurate.
You can also wait for people like Secretary of State Blinken or NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg to give speeches, they won't really give you updates on details but more of updates on the policy of Western nations in general, which is still useful. But obviously they don't give speeches on a super regular schedule, and especially Blinken has other things to worry about besides Ukraine.
One thing ISW does do is list its sources at the bottom, which will include a lot of telegram channels for Russian and Ukrainian milbloggers. If you follow these yourself they can be pretty interesting, although they're obviously very biased and you need to rely on a translator because they don't speak English. I don't usually bother following these super closely unless something interesting (like, you know, Pringles marching on Moscow) is happening.
Perun's latest video on the offensive (so far) to get you to the channel: https://youtu.be/olH2-_Gtczw
I like Beau of the Fifth Column. He does fairly calm, matter of fact updates on what's been happening in Ukraine, US political news, and various other US topics. He may look like a redneck (because he is,) but don't let the pretty face fool you.
I particularly appreciate his stuff because he's never ever excitable about things. Even the serious stuff, he'll take it seriously, but won't get all shouty about it. Too many places try to hook you by ramping up your emotions. He says what he says, and you can argue with him if you want, but it doesn't need to get loud. I like it.
I've installed an RSS reader that I fed with a lot of sources of any kind, in my language and english. It results in big stories showing up repeatedly over the day, but I stay up to date on a lot of stuff and the war in Ukraine is always a huge topic that I keep my eye on.
It's basically reddit without the jokes, tweets and videos. It also keeps the disinformation in check because I filtered the fringe stuff by not adding it in the first place.
The local newspapers do cover and analise the war pretty well in my opinion.
What RSS reader do you use?
Offline RSS reader for Android by Niklas Baudy (the paid version)
Thanks
For summaries of what has happened recently and what may happen in the coming weeks on the operational level, I can recommend two podcasts: War on the Rocks and Geopolitics Decanted. I am particularly fond of Michael Kofman's analyses whenever he appears in either show.
In order to follow day-to-day, often minute-by-minute reporting and analysis, the war got me into using Twitter. Which is something that should be added to the long list of Putin's war crimes. My Ukraine list includes the following:
~news works for me, more specifically:
https://tildes.net/~news/176w/weekly_megathread_for_news_updates_discussion_of_russian_invasion_of_ukraine_june_29
Edit: Otherwise just search the web and fish out info from the results.
https://tildes.net/~news?tag=recurring.weekly if you want to see all the previous ones.
If you're not terminally online, The Telegraph's Ukraine: The Latest(Spotify link, but it's also available on Apple or YouTube) podcast is excellent for a short blurb on the different kinds of happenings. Think military, diplomatic, and geopolitical updates, and sometimes interviews with interesting Ukrainians.
They can be a bit late because of their release schedule so you may have already seen their news if you've read it elsewhere online.
I listen to Ukraine: The Latest as well. They do a good job of summarizing all of the latest developments (once a day Mon-Friday) from a knowledgeable standpoint.
I also check the r/WorldNews subreddit's pinned post to see tweets linked there from prominent news sources. The comments section sorted by new can also yield timely but completely unvetted pieces of information.
My list is nearly the same as /u/AnEarlyMartyr but i also follow a few translators.
@ChrisO_wiki Finds interesting articles in Russian and creates threads translating them.
Dmitri @wartranslated Who translates video/audio/telegram content coming out of Russia/Ukraine.
@AlexGabuev Who is a Eurasian specialist and tends to bring the view point from China and central asia into the picture.
@Neil Hauer who is a true journalist who focuses on the Caucasus but also visits the Ukr/Ru front line fairly often. Recently posted "I don't want to toot my own horn but an editor asked me to write about this whole Wagner business and I replied 'give me a few days to see the news so I don't sound like a moron in a week' and folks that is a totally fine approach to take" which i appreciate.
Hate to be using Twitter these days but if you're after latest but also somewhat curated it's just the best. Below is the list of various accounts that are mostly reliable, don't speculate much and don't spread random rumours from Telegram. Descriptions copied straight from their profiles due to laziness (but should suffice in most cases). Essential / insightful / good track record in bold.
Yaroslav Trofimov
@yarotrof
Chief Foreign-Affairs Correspondent of The Wall Street Journal. Author of Siege of Mecca. Endorsing nothing.
Vlad Vexler
@VladVexler
Philosopher - ethics, politics, music | Slowly writing a book on Isaiah Berlin | Born in Russia, home is London | Living with ME since 2003. | 🔗 🎥
Michael A. Horowitz
@michaelh992
Geopolitical and security analyst, Head of Intel @LeBeckInt. Views are my own.
Pjotr Sauer
@PjotrSauer
Reporter @Guardian covering Russia and Ukraine. Write to me: pjotr.sauer@theguardian.com
Def Mon
@DefMon3
2024 Governor candidate of Peoples Republic of Bilhorod Enjoys 🍒 http://buymeacoffee.com/defmon3
(((Tendar)))
@Tendar
Tyrants are my enemies | Si vis pacem para bellum |🇩🇪🇪🇺| Das Böse triumphiert allein dadurch, dass gute Menschen nichts unternehmen |Military & History
Francis Scarr
@francis_scarr
With @BBCMonitoring watching Russian state TV so you don't have to | Radio stuff: https://soundcloud.com/francis-scarr
Timothy Snyder
@TimothyDSnyder
Levin Professor of History at Yale. Author of "On Tyranny," with 20 new lessons on Ukraine, "Our Malady," "Road to Unfreedom," "Black Earth," and "Bloodlands"
Steve Rosenberg
@BBCSteveR
Russia Editor for BBC News
Kevin Rothrock
@KevinRothrock
hyper-professional Russia guy and managing editor @meduza_en. email: kevin at meduza dot io & Mastodon: kevinrothrock@infosec.exchange
Eliot Higgins
@EliotHiggins
Founder and creative director of @Bellingcat and director of Bellingcat Productions BV. Author of We Are Bellingcat. Tonal Whiplash Zone.
Michael Weiss
@michaeldweiss
Senior Correspondent @yahoonews, @foreignoffpod. ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror: http://goo.gl/Jb6uEA. Next book: GRU @twelvebooks. macspaunday@protonmail.com
Jakub Janovsky
@Rebel44CZ
Military history, SCW, OSINT, space, electric cars. NATO/EU supporter. Bellingcat and Oryx Blog contributor. http://ko-fi.com/rebel44cz
max seddon
@maxseddon
moscow bureau chief @FT. in soviet russia, news reports you: max.seddon@ft.com
Bellingcat
@bellingcat
Want to support our charity? http://bellingcat.com/donate/ Buy our book "We Are Bellingcat" here: http://bit.ly/2EP09EN Our award-winning podcast series: http://apple.co/36LJURI
ChrisO_wiki
@ChrisO_wiki
Independent military history author and researcher. Also at https://mastodon.social/@ChrisO_wiki
Rob Lee
@RALee85
Senior Fellow @FPRI. Previously @USMC, @ColumbiaSIPA, @CentreAST. Focused on Russian defense policy.
Christo Grozev
@christogrozev
Investigative journalist, radio investor and hobby coder. Immediate blocks for whataboutism.
Michael Kofman
@KofmanMichael
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment. Principal Research Scientist, CNA. Focused on the Russian military & defense analysis. Opinions are mine alone, hopefully.
OSINTtechnical
@Osinttechnical
Boat enthusiast, analyst @CNA_org, my views/freezing cold takes are my own. Standard spiel about not endorsing retweets, likes, and comments.
Dmitri
@wartranslated
🇪🇪 Estonian blogger focusing on Russia/Ukraine | Visit: http://linktr.ee/wartranslated | DMs open for submissions
My news sources of choice are:
www.smh.com.au (Sydney Morning Herald - I subscribe)
www.abc.net.au/news (Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Australia's public broadcaster)
The Reporting from Ukraine YouTube channel does daily updates on the front-line situation which are well explained, up-to-date, and reasonably even handed. Obviously done from a Ukrainian perspective, but still very interesting. Complements the ISW update nicely.
I particularly appreciate the tactical discussions about why particular villages, woods, or heights are being targeted, or defended by each side.
Here are some not yet mentioned.
Illia Ponomarenko | Kyiv Independent Journalist
For raw reports:
NoelReports
Faytuks
Rybar Twitter(wont be linking this one) for information from the other side.
Rybar is a Russian milblogging tool, but his maps are actually fairly credible. It also shows, credibly, Russian retreats. Something other Russian milbloggers have a hard time with.
One source that I haven't seen mentioned yet, is the Youtube channel 1420. It's not really news about the invasion of Ukraine, but a independent group of young journalists that do interviews with regular people on the streets. As far as I've found, it is the best insight into what is actually going on in Russia and how people think and respond to the situation. I really respect the people behind the channel, as they put themselves at risk doing these interviews.
I don't? I didn't know people were so obsessed with this until recently. If something actually important happens, it'll likely appear somewhere on one of the sites I frequent, or a newspaper.
If you’re looking for a decent source from the Russian perspective, I’d check out @rybar on telegram. They are definitely pro Russian but they actually report Russian Ls which gives them some credibility in my book.
I follow a mix of Russian and Ukrainian telegrams. I also follow Steve lookner (agenda free tv) whenever there is a big crisis going on. Western based open-source-intelligence guys are good to follow. @OSINTDefender is one of them. Western think tanks like
Bellingcat and ISW are good as well, but definitely a bit biased towards the Ukraine side. Standard western media is honestly almost as bad as standard Russian media.