Master's student at @FletcherSchool. Previously reported in 🇺🇦. Was also once @dpa Vietnam bureau chief.
Massachusetts
Joined March 2009
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I spent the past week and a half in the Donbas, where I embedded with the 28th Mechanized Brigade in the Bakhmut direction. The shell hunger is acute, with FPV drones the only thing keeping the line steady. But Ukraine's grim determination continues.
thedispatch.com/article/hope… – at Ukraine
Bennett Murray retweeted
Awful news. Dara is a fantastic journalist, and has been responsible for a hefty percentage of the reporting on Cambodia's online scamming industry, including its connections to the country's political elite.
Cambodian freelancer journalist @MechDara1 was apprehended during his return journey from Sihanoukville with his family. As of now, there is no official confirmation regarding the nature of his charges.
This thread illustrates a point often lost in the U.S. and elsewhere. The predominant strain of Ukrainian nationalism since 2014 has been highly civic in nature, and doubly so since 2022. If it was of the blood and soil variety, they would have probably lost the war years ago.
The fact that Ukraine is letting a whole CNN team so close to the front in Sudzha is a pretty good indication that Russia simply doesn't have FPV and other drone assets in place there. Meanwhile, Ukraine almost certainly does. Will be a very lopsided fight until that changes. – at Marlborough, MA
"It's very surreal to be inside Russia with Ukrainian forces leading the way."
@npwcnn gained some of the first access to Ukrainian-held Russia, witnessing their control over the town of Sudzha and the intensity of the fight.
My dear friend Nguyen Chi Tuyen is about to go on trial for the audacity of demanding an end to single party rule in Vietnam. He wouldn't hurt a fly. All he wants is free elections. And the Communist Party might destroy him for advocating for it.
the88project.org/who-is-anh-…
6 weeks ago, Evan Wright called an article I wrote from the frontline a "great piece of work." The funny part is that it was in the context of us arguing. Never interacted with him beyond this exchange, but I was beyond flattered. Hard to believe that he's now gone. – at Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
That is great piece of work. If you were to reread my post, you would notice that I'm on your side.… I was actually trying to explain to advocates of Ukraine, but I think you're shooting yourselves in the foot, when you start attacking opponents of Ukrainian aid here as MAGA idiots. .. I'm simply reporting that from my perspective if you go out in this great land of America, there are many Americans who are deeply mistrustful of another international crisis that demands our military involvement. First, it's good. But who knows what comes next.… I'm actually on your side. But I'm trying to explain in a democracy, the last thing we should be doing is ramming a war down our citizen's without debate.
Bennett Murray retweeted
Click through the link below and see what happens
Latest: An analysis of open source evidence, as well as multiple missile experts, have pointed to a Russian launched Kh-101 cruise missile being the weapon that struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/…
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Bellingcat has a high credibility rating. This link is safe.
mediabiasfactcheck.com/bellingcat/
Stumbled upon this 4th of July party in Tirana. First full day in Albania and I'm getting the sense that I'm not in Belgrade anymore. – at Albania
Bennett Murray retweeted
Not exactly the prompt but in the 60s the Cuban gov suddenly cancelled all accountant degree programs in higher ed bc they considered accounting a bourgeois science that was unnecessary under socialist political economy, before scrambling to restore the degree a year later
Russia wants to sell more weapons to Vietnam. They'd also like Vietnam to open up their shell stockpiles to them. But China will prevent RU from selling the really good stuff, and Vietnam is too pragmatic to give Russia firepower for use against Ukraine.
scmp.com/week-asia/politics/… – at Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Lavrov can't visit Serbia anymore because none of the surrounding countries allow his plane to overfly their airspace. If the EU/NATO is paying attention, they'd do the same for any Belarusian extradition flight for this guy.
Three top Belarusian athletes told me Andrei Gnyot was instrumental in setting up a network of sportspeople in opposition to Lukashenko.
Now Serbia plans to deport him to Belarus on a dubious Interpol warrant
theguardian.com/world/articl…
This story has been live for almost a week and I'm sort of shocked at how little traction it's getting from anyone. Not even the predictably "America bad" types seem to have noticed a well-reported account of a literal Pentagon psyop concerning vaccines.
reuters.com/investigates/spe…
These Russian ISR drones are a terror on the battlefield. They don't shoot at you but certainly relay info to those who can (I know from experience). But shooting them down in volume simply hasn't been cost effective... at least up until now. This could be a game changer.
I'm begging everyone wildly speculating about the motives of the recent assassination attempt in Slovakia to please first Google the words "Fico" and "Mafia."
Bennett Murray retweeted
Formal positions don’t really mean much, but Patrushev is really the only person that is really worth the kremlinology over.
Sergei Shoigu is now going to head the Russian security council instead of Nikolai Patrushev, arguably Putin's closest aide. No word on where the latter is going.
t.me/rian_ru/245180
No one, military or civilian, uses convoys in Ukraine anywhere near the frontline. The UN and most major NGOs avoid the area entirely. The rough equivalent would be giving credit to Israel for not striking an aid convoy in the Golan Heights since October 7.
