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Shannon Monaghan

@shannonmonaghan

Military Historian (PhD) / Ukraine book TO DIE WITH SUCH MEN (Hurst 2025) / WWII-Cold war book A QUIET COMPANY OF DANGEROUS MEN (Viking 2024) www.shannonmonaghan.com

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16.11.2024
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Latest posts by Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan

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He doesn’t have the cards. He has the interceptors.

05.03.2026 12:20 πŸ‘ 528 πŸ” 128 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 9
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Donald Trump must stop soon His ill-considered conflict risks descending into chaos

Excellent. "America needs a strategy in Iran, just as it needs one in the world." Gift link: www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

05.03.2026 20:32 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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In times of chaos, Europe is the muddled power the world needs In praise of the dreaded European working group

”In an age of blood-soaked realpolitik, Europe stands out. Yes, it is meek, a vegetarian in a world of omnivorous geopolitical rivals. [But i]f it is a sin to think that rules matter, the world could do with a few more sinners… the relative sanity found in Europe is a kind of defiance.”

05.03.2026 05:20 πŸ‘ 273 πŸ” 64 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 4
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Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptor drones to counter Iran Kyiv has pioneered cheap and mass-produced machines to battle Russian versions of the Shahed attack drone

No surprise there. I really hope that Ukraine can get something out of this for its own defence.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptor drones to counter Iran

05.03.2026 09:18 πŸ‘ 280 πŸ” 63 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 7
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Maybe just maybe the Ukrainian policy of reducing the number of their troops on the front line was the right one and the Russian one of slaughtering their own population the wrong one.
Thankfully the Ukrainians did not listen to the terrible western analytic community on this.

04.03.2026 10:49 πŸ‘ 647 πŸ” 157 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 3
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The Easy Promise of Hidden Revelations Don't blame LLMs. We have always yearned for slop.

LLM prose is everywhere now. How did it happen so quickly? I think at some point we have to stop blaming the technology. new post

03.03.2026 15:32 πŸ‘ 40 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 6
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Tell Me How This Ends More Iran thoughts

michaelwood627.substack.com/p/tell-me-ho...

03.03.2026 14:40 πŸ‘ 46 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
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Ukraine Depended on Western Weaponry. Now That Script Has Flipped. Kyiv’s European allies are snapping up its military know-how as they seek to build up their own defenses.

"European nations are snapping up Ukrainian front-line know-how, helping NATO militaries rewire themselves for a transformed battlefield that is dominated by drones and electronic warfare, and where even new weapons can become obsolete in a few months."

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

02.03.2026 23:55 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It is once again time for this joke:

Tired: extended deterrence
Wired: dissuasion Γ©largie

02.03.2026 20:56 πŸ‘ 92 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
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#closethesky :-)

02.03.2026 14:33 πŸ‘ 199 πŸ” 71 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 3
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A brief reprieve from the US-Israel-Iran war news to share some photos from Lviv, because the western Ukrainian city was absolutely glorious today, on this first day of spring. Signs point to the long, horrible winter and freezing cold being over. The Russian attacks, however, are likely to continue

01.03.2026 16:40 πŸ‘ 549 πŸ” 96 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 4
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πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸ«‚ Ukraine greets the first day of spring – the season we’ve been waiting for most after a long, cold, and one of the hardest winters in decades. Russia tried to leave us in the dark and freezing. We endured.

πŸ“· AFUkraine/Facebook, DSNS/Telegram, UkrzalInfo/Telegram,citykharkivua/Telegram

01.03.2026 11:24 πŸ‘ 73 πŸ” 24 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 1
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Journalists from The NYT interviewed more than ten Ukrainian women who suffered sexual violence during the Russian occupation. Some women say they became pregnant by Russian soldiers and now live with children who will forever remind them of their attackers.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/w...

26.02.2026 22:10 πŸ‘ 278 πŸ” 85 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1

The Trump admin has abandoned Ukraine. It hasn't actively put its lot with Ru's war effort. Does Rubio want to be congratulated for it? Or are they considering jumping in on Ru's side? Either way, the admin's Ukraine policy is shameful from a moral standpoint and the opposite of what Americans want.

26.02.2026 20:16 πŸ‘ 132 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0
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Neutral Ireland seeks closer ties with Nato over maritime security New Dublin strategy against backdrop of heightened Russia concerns could involve request for UK and French naval assistance

Good to see that there is *finally* some movement on this!

β€œNeutral Ireland is seeking closer co-operation with the UK and other Nato countries to defend its vast maritime area as Russia intensifies its surveillance of vulnerable undersea cables that criss-cross Irish waters.”

26.02.2026 11:17 πŸ‘ 293 πŸ” 53 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 5
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Today marks four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. These are some thoughts (recorded yesterday) on what Ukrainians have done for all of us and what we can learn from them.

24.02.2026 17:40 πŸ‘ 1283 πŸ” 521 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 25
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Today marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Over a thousand days of fighting, six million refugees abroad, and tens of thousands killed.

We honor those who gave their lives, thank those who fight on, and continue to believe in victory.
Glory to Ukraine.

24.02.2026 10:14 πŸ‘ 395 πŸ” 86 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 2

Putin has failed on a monumental scale in Ukraine. For four years he’s been dependent for survival on a war he started but which Russia cannot win. In the process, he’s turned Russia – which he desperately wants to be a great power - into the dependent of an actual great power.

24.02.2026 14:39 πŸ‘ 109 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Today, people are rightly focusing on Ukraine. But it’s also worth taking a moment to think about the monumental stupidity and failure of Putin and his subordinates, who started the longest, most destructive European war since WW2 even though there was no threat to Russia. 🧡

24.02.2026 14:39 πŸ‘ 237 πŸ” 85 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 16

I wrote for @ukandeu.bsky.social on the end of the US-Europe alliance.

23.02.2026 16:13 πŸ‘ 93 πŸ” 43 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Donald Trump to see through Russia’s β€˜games’ [FREE TO READ] In an FT interview, Ukraine’s president says conflict at β€˜beginning of the end’ because both sides need a ceasefire

On the eve of the 4th anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told @financialtimes.com Russia and Ukraine are at the β€œbeginning of the end” of Europe’s biggest war since WWII, but urged Trump to see through Putin’s negotiating β€œgames”.

Free link: as.ft.com/r/9b99f21a-e...

23.02.2026 21:06 πŸ‘ 129 πŸ” 43 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

And now, Foreign Policy have kindly made this short piece available without a paywall - foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/23/r...

23.02.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 46 πŸ” 21 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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A reminder that Europe has plenty of cards...Geostrategic Europe Taskforce report at www.geostrategic-europe.org/publications...

23.02.2026 20:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Tomorrow everyone will be asking: when will the Russo-Ukrainian war end? The right question is: what can we do to make the Russian invasion fail?

23.02.2026 13:57 πŸ‘ 2734 πŸ” 795 πŸ’¬ 51 πŸ“Œ 12
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To Die With Such Men | Hurst Publishers Based on interviews and body-cam footage, a gripping account of British and American volunteers fighting in Ukraine, from Kyiv to Bakhmut.

US & UK volunteers joined the International Legion to fight for Ukraine & democracy. Read their gripping accounts in β€˜To Die With Such Men’ by @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social

β€˜Explores in bloody detail… what it’s really like to volunteer on Ukraine’s front line.’ @thetimes.com

tinyurl.com/bdhkjdd6

23.02.2026 14:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It turns out that Europe's greatest strategic problem (and this includes France) is that De Gaulle was right, but no one really listened to him.

19.02.2026 09:24 πŸ‘ 216 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 4

Your regular reminder that anyone who pushes "let's give Donbas to Russia to end the war" as a solution is either ignorant or pro-Russian. Donbas is not a "disputed" nor a special region and therefore its occupation by Ru doesn't solve anything at all. Ru wants all of Ukraine.

19.02.2026 03:48 πŸ‘ 249 πŸ” 70 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
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Vladimir Putin is caught in a vice of his own making Russia’s president cannot win the war, but fears peace

"In the Great Patriotic War, from June 1941 to May 1945, the Red Army advanced 1,600km from Moscow to Berlin. In this longer war, Russian forces in Donetsk, the main focus, have advanced just 60kmβ€”the distance from Washington to Baltimore." www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

19.02.2026 21:47 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | When Will This War End? The Question Is Meaningless.

β€œIt can seem that the world watches Russia’s war on Ukraine as if it were a film. When attention wanes, there is a demand for an ending β€” if not good, then bad. For Ukrainians, this is not cinema but reality. It will last as long as it lasts” β€” Nataliya Gumenyuk. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/o...

16.02.2026 22:02 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How a four-year onslaught has changed Ukraine The border guards who faced Russia’s tanks were changed for ever, like their country

"The border guards say February 24th taught them a lesson: the only security guarantee worth anything is your own guns. β€œGod forbid you ever face what we did,” says Koshyk. β€œBut if you do, remember it’s on you [...] Because no one else will do it for you.” www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

18.02.2026 21:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0