This was supposed to be a red line.

In #Russia ‘s Hybrid War on #Europe , #Moldova ’s Critical Next 15 Months: with my quotes for U.S. Institute of Peace . The Kremlin will do its utmost to derail upcoming Moldovan referendum to join the EU then win parliamentary elections coming next year. New interference:
usip.org/publications/2…

🧵THE DEAL THAT NEVER WAS

How Russia sought to subjugate Ukraine, the West rightly refused to play the ball, and Putin became personally responsible for the failure of the Ukrainian-Russian talks

OTD in 1941 the Soviets had a military parade in Moscow. So they invited their Nazis allies cos it would be rude not to.

Good overview of the debate and convincing rebuttal of Charap’s recent args. Charap parrots the Mearsheimer assumption that only the US has agency and can choose bn different policies; Ru reacts but has no own ideas/goals, only security concerns. This piece emphasizes Ru agency

#Moldova elections coupled with a referendum to join #EU - “ #UK Warns of #Russia 'Hybrid' Attacks Before Moldova Votes.”

P. S. Tbh, interesting to see UK that left EU via a referendum Russia meddled with, warning Moldova about Ru meddling in EU referendum bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Mearsheimer's latest concoction of half-truths and lies to claim the Soviet Army fought more humanely in WWII than the Allies demonstrates again his commitment to knee-jerk, dumb anti-Americanism. How disappointing that he's well-known, widely-cited, and often platformed.

#Moldova was at a time dependent on &blackmailed by #Russia owned Cuciurgan power plant that consumed Ru gas, sold electricity to MLD, then Ru claimed that gas as MLD debt to Russia… Stopping that was key to stop Ru political blackmail. This changes now tnx to Victor Parlicov 👍

The largest western banks in Russia paid the Kremlin more than €800mn in taxes last year, a fourfold increase on prewar levels, despite promises to minimise their exposure after the invasion of Ukraine, ⁦Euan Healy⁩ and ⁦Anastasia Stognei⁩ report on.ft.com/3UBv6k3

Remember the GRU unit that did the Salisbury poisonings in #UK , blew up military depots in #Bulgaria & #Czechia ? They don’t work alone. Read about their “illegals” who immigrated post USSR & recruited locals for Kremlin’s work, as if USSR didn’t fell.
KGB / GRU continuity…

‼️ The Czech illegals: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

A new investigation by The Insider has identified two Czech nationals working as deep-cover GRU Unit 29155 agents in Europe.

theins.press/en/politics/27…

Russia Determined to Take Over #Moldova or Break It - Vlad Socor about the recent launch in #Russia of the political block for MLD elections. If Kremlin cannot invade, it will revert back to interference to undermine EU referendum. Fear of loss of empire. jamestown.org/program/russia…

That happens when you don't mobilize enough men and then fire the general, who keeps telling you to mobilize more men...

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Today Moldova marks 10 years of visa-free travel to the EU. This saved 2.1 million Moldovans travelling to Europe 270 million euros, the Institute for European Policies and Reforms has calculated

“But there is still a limit” for corruption under current Kremlin rule? Seems like it’s just scapegoating.

Yes, you are seeing correctly that Russian Urals crude also has no problems moving through the Houthi-controlled zone of Bab-al-Mandab Strait. #Velsig

This is the first time I see a Russian confirming what I called a feudal relationship system in politics & Rus driven “separatism”, except this time it’s reflected in defense & Russian volunteer efforts to invade Ukraine (confirms prior high support % for this “patriotic” action)

Why have Russian forces advanced in multiple directions and what are the implications? What are the future prospects? Today's analysis by Frontelligence Insight centers on Chasiv Yar, Kurakhkove, and Ocheretyne

Before proceeding, please like and share to aid visibility. 🧵Thread

Report by Swiss paper: Chinese ships caught transporting North Korean weapons to Russia. (In German) Neue Satellitenbilder aufgetaucht: In China liegt ein Schiff, das Russland wohl mit Waffen aus Nordkorea beliefert nzz.ch/international/… via NZZ