iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Karolina Hird

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

NEW: Russian federal- and regional-level authorities organized the temporary deportation of teenagers from occupied Luhansk Oblast to Russia’s Penza Oblast to participate in a federally administered military-patriotic training course. Read more: isw.pub/OccupationUp...

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

NEW: Russia is training Ukrainian children to become drone operators for future service in the Russian military or employment in the Russian defense industrial base. Read more in the July 3 Russian Occupation Update from @karolinahird.bsky.social: isw.pub/OccupationUp...

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

1/ Russia is effectively banning Ukrainian-language education in schools in occupied Ukraine starting September 1. Here's a quick🧵 on how Russia uses constraints on Ukrainian language access as a tool of coercive control in occupied Ukraine.

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Eilish Hart @eilishhart.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

“When Russia says they’re ‘deporting’ someone, they’re not deporting them back to Ukraine.” My story on how Putin’s latest attempt to force Russian passports on Ukrainians paves the way for more war crimes in the occupied territories. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

meduza.io

‘A false semblance of choice’ Putin’s latest passportization deadline dials up the pressure on civilians in Ukraine’s occupied territories — Meduza

Ukrainians living under occupation have long faced pressure to assume Russian citizenship. But in March, Vladimir Putin turned things up a notch. In a decree aimed at boosting the Kremlin’s campaign t...

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Meduza in English @meduza.io · 16/06/2025

Occupation authorities plan to build and repair over 600 miles of roads in Crimea — a project experts and Ukrainian officials say is meant to bolster military logistics and facilitate the illegal extraction of resources from occupied territory. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

meduza.io

‘Neocolonial piracy’ In occupied Crimea, Russia is building roads to move weapons and stolen resources — Meduza

Over the next five years, the Russian authorities plan to build and repair more than 600 miles of roads in annexed Crimea. But it’s unlikely the goal is simply to improve life for locals. Experts and…

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

NEW: Kremlin-appointed Russian Commissioner on Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova tacitly acknowledged that Russia has illegally deported Ukrainian children. Lvova-Belova’s statements further confirm the illegality of Russia’s behavior vis-à-vis Ukrainian children. isw.pub/OccupationUpdate060925

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Lots of infrastructure developments in today’s Occupation Update. Russian infrastructure projects in TOT serve as powerful indicators of Russia’s plans to physically integrate Ukrainian assets into Russia, generating economic benefits for the Russian state + complicating reintegration efforts.

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 29/05/2025

Russian armed forces have committed crimes against humanity by deliberately targeting civilians with drones in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, according to a new report by the United Nation's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.

kyivindependent.com

UN commission says Russian drone attacks against Kherson amount to crimes against humanity

From July 2024, nearly 150 civilians have been killed and hundreds more wounded in drone strikes on Kherson city and 16 surrounding localities, according to the United Nation's Independent Internation...

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

“There’s a very clear and concerted effort to deport Ukrainian children and adopt them into Russian families and erase their Ukrainian identities." ISW's @karolinahird.bsky.social speaks with @thetimes.com about Russian efforts to destroy Ukrainian identity: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mIZ...

youtube.com

Putin's Plan To Destroy Ukraine's Identity I Times Explains

YouTube video by Times Originals

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

NEW: An international coalition comprised of Ukraine and its partners agreed to establish a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute the Russian crimes of aggression against Ukraine. (🧵1/3) Read more in the latest Russian Occupation Update: isw.pub/OccupationUp...

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Awesome to see @www.csce.gov calling out Russia's widescale deportation of Ukrainian children. We over at @thestudyofwar.bsky.social have been doing our best to keep this in the public eye, so please check out more of our work on the ISW website: www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder...

understandingwar.org

Institute for the Study of War

This page collects ISW's Russian Occupation Updates. The occupation updates examine Russian efforts to consolidate administrative control of annexed areas and forcibly integrate Ukrainian citizens in...

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 08/05/2025

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has identified over 19,500 children who have been forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or occupied territories, where they are subjected to intense propaganda designed to erase their Ukrainian identity.

kyivindependent.com

As Russia trains abducted children for war, Ukraine fights uphill battle to bring them home

Around the world, abducting a child is a serious crime punishable by years behind bars. But when the kidnapper is Russia, justice remains a distant hope. So does the child’s return home. Since the s...

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 30/04/2025

NEW: A source at State shared with me a memo from the DoD Joint Staff dated 4/15 confirming that the combatant commands support the Women, Peace, and Security program and collectively recommended to continue its implementation, contrary to Sec Hegseth claim that "troops HATE it"

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

NEW: Russia is once again preparing to escalate the forced removal and deportation of Ukrainian children during the upcoming summer months. (1/3) Russian Occupation Update, April 28, 2025: isw.pub/OccupationUp...

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

This absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, become normalized. This is the reality of Russia's occupation of Ukraine- don't ever look away.

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

3/ Russia is actively recruiting teachers from throughout the Russian Federation to teach in occupied Luhansk Oblast as part of the “Zemskyi Uchitel” (“Rural Teacher”) program. Read more from @karolinahird.bsky.social: isw.pub/OccupationUp...

isw.pub

Institute for the Study of War

Russia is extracting economic benefits from occupied Ukraine by exploiting Ukrainian infrastructure and logistics networks. The Russian Federal Agency for Railway Transport (Roszheldor) announced on A...

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Center for European Policy Analysis @cepa.org · 23/04/2025

Please, Do Not Betray My Crimea | "Crimea is not just a lump of land, it is the home to many hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. In exile or under occupation, it is a part of our soul." Elina Beketova

cepa.org

Please, Do Not Betray My Crimea

Crimea is not just a lump of land, it is the home to many hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians under occupation.

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Just a friendly reminder that 1) Crimea is Ukraine, and 2) the millions of people living under Russian rule in Crimea will basically be condemned to suffer indefinitely if Russia gets a carte blanche on its occupation from the US administration.

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Benjamin Wittes @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org · 18/04/2025

Dear Steve Witkoff: An elementary lesson on Ukrainian demographics. The fact that someone, or the majority of people in a region, speaks the Russian language natively doesn’t mean they want to be part of Russia. It doesn’t mean they are not bombed by Russia.

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Critical Threats Project @criticalthreats.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

NEW | The Rapid Support Forces has committed war crimes as it has intensified efforts to consolidate control over western Sudan. RSF atrocities include attacks on the Zamzam refugee camp and are possibly constituent acts of ethnic cleansing or genocide. www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/afr...

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

1/ Today's occupation update focuses heavily on Russia's efforts to deport Ukrainian children and teens to Russia and expose them to Russification programs. I discuss how programs such as "University Shifts" and "Cultural Map 4+85" are just a small part of a much larger ecosystem ⬇️

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 16/04/2025

⚡️US shuts down office combating Russian disinformation, Rubio says. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on April 16 the closure of the State Department’s office responsible for countering foreign disinformation, citing concerns about free speech and the rights of American citizens.

kyivindependent.com

US shuts down office combating Russian disinformation, Rubio says

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on April 16 the closure of the State Department’s office responsible for countering foreign disinformation, citing concerns about free speech and the rights of...

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Critical Threats Project @criticalthreats.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

NEW | External meddling in Sudan shows no signs of stopping amid the country’s now two-year civil war. US partners such as the UAE, as well as US adversaries such as Iran and Russia, threaten US interests in the Red Sea by fueling the war. (1/6)

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

"the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man mistakenly sent to a gulag... and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps. This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped" snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror

snyder.substack.com

State Terror

A brief guide for Americans

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

NEW: Russian Occupation Update, April 8, 2025 The Kremlin is using the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to consolidate social control over occupied areas of Ukraine and destroy any semblance of religious freedom. isw.pub/RussianOccup... MORE 🔽🧵(1/3)

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

MORE: The rate of Russian advances in Ukraine has been steadily declining since November 2024, in part due to successful Ukrainian counterattacks in eastern Ukraine. (🧵1/7) Full report: isw.pub/UkrWar040625

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Meike Eijsberg @meikeeijsberg.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

🚨 NEW: The number of Russian drone strikes targeting Ukraine has surged by more than 50 per cent since US-led peace talks began in mid-February w/ @harrietbarber.bsky.social telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2... 1/10

telegraph.co.uk

How Putin is using peace talks as a disguise to bombard Ukraine

Data show that Russia, despite its pledge for peace, has increased attacks in a bid to force concessions from Kyiv

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

An interesting (and insane) tidbit from today's @thestudyofwar.bsky.social occupation update: Russian veterans in occupied Simferopol, Crimea, are teaching children as young as seven military and combat skills in accordance with Spetsnaz, NKVD, KGB, and SMERSH training doctrine....

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Launching a new mini-product for @thestudyofwar.bsky.social tracking updates in Russian-occupied Ukraine. I fear we're increasingly losing sight (especially here in the US) of the stakes of this war for the millions of Ukrainian civilians living behind the frontline.

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Reposted by Karolina Hird

Razom for Ukraine 🇺🇦 @razomforukraine.org · 26/03/2025

Just announced! Join @razomforukraine.org and @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social for a virtual discussion on Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children and why the United States must work to return them. RSVP now 👉 www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/whats-...

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Extremely concerning and unacceptable. Yale HRL has been tracking the locations of 35 THOUSAND deported Ukrainian children in Russia, amongst providing other critical human rights monitoring functions.

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

My latest for @thestudyofwar.bsky.social is out today, examining Russia's continued efforts to deport Ukrainian children. Especially salient given this new UN OHCHR report detailing the impacts of over 3 years of war and occupation on the lives of Ukrainian children. www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...

ohchr.org

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

The Kremlin has been propagating these talking points for more than a decade.

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James @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

"Why would they want to absorb Ukraine," man asks as Russia marks 3 years since launching a war to annex portions of Ukraine

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 19/03/2025

The State Department has ended funding for the tracking of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and U.S. officials or contractors might have deleted a database with information on them, according to a letter that lawmakers plan to send to Secretary of State Rubio.

nytimes.com

Trump Administration Ends Tracking of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children in Russia

A Democratic lawmaker is drafting a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking whether a database on thousands of children has been deleted.

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Shane Harris @shaneharris.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Ukraine’s other allies will continue to share intelligence, most importantly the British. But the effect of US cutting off this assistance will be acutely felt. Tying Ukraine’s hands, blinding their forces, pick your metaphor. Hard to see how the US could still be called Ukraine’s ally now.

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Christopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com · 03/03/2025

Read this by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk: “Russia does not care whether there is war or peace — it seeks the destruction of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. It will gleefully pocket every concession from the Trump administration and then continue fighting.” on.ft.com/4bn2uSs

on.ft.com

Negotiations over Ukraine are missing a human dimension

Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. But we demand real peace

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Anastasiia Lapatina @lapatina.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I am not a Zelensky voter, but I literally teared up after watching the way Trump and Vance humiliated him in the Oval just now. What a dark, humiliating moment in our history. At a loss for words, tbh

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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Ok. Once and for all. Trump is anti Ukraine, anti Democracy, anti Europe and, above all, pro Putin. There can be no more doubt—it’s just a disaster it’s taken so long for people to understand it.

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ian bremmer @ianbremmer.com · 28/02/2025

putin doesn’t need to engage directly with zelensky—the americans are doing the lifting for him. surely the kremlin is surprised with how directly the president trump is willing to confront zelensky.

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Karolina Hird @karolinahird.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Utterly shameful behavior from Trump + Vance. Belittling and humiliating an ALLY who has done everything to fight for the literal survival of his people (and the free world). Russia's daily atrocities against the Ukrainian people clearly mean nothing to this admin- and that's a bad precedent to set.

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Liam Karr @liamkarr.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Don't cover Ukraine, but this is awful & embarrassing. This is the patronizing approach that people have criticized the US for using with African allies for years. We are bad partners to treat our allies, who are fighting for their existence, in this way.

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

NEW: Russia's outreach to US adversaries continues despite Putin's efforts at rapprochement with the Trump administration. (🧵1/7) Putin spoke w/Xi Jinping on Feb 24, the 3rd anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian officials also met w/Iranian + North Korean officials on Feb 25.

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Anastasiia Lapatina @lapatina.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

I can’t believe I’m finally saying this, but our narrative show — ESCALATION — is finally out everywhere! @tylermcbrien.bsky.social and I walk you through the history of US-UA relations from the 1990s to the present day. podcasts.apple.com/ua/podcast/e...

podcasts.apple.com

Escalation Ep 1: Chicken Kyiv

Podcast Episode · Escalation · S6 E1 · 38m

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

NEW: Russia Has Failed to Break Ukraine: isw.pub/RussiaRetros... Russia dedicated staggering amounts of manpower and equipment to several major offensive efforts in Ukraine in 2024, intending to degrade Ukrainian defenses and seize the remainder of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. (1/3)

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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 17/02/2025

This Thursday @alexakoenig.bsky.social joins us talking about covering gender based violence sensitively with open sources. Join live at 11am EST/5pm CET to discuss the issue of obtaining consent and other ethical dilemmas you might be faced with when reporting remotely. discord.gg/Hb5zjnEe?eve...

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Tatarigami @tatarigami.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Zelensky was elected with a majority of Ukrainian votes. His presidency was extended per the Constitution during the war. It’s odd to hear him called a dictator by someone who led a failed coup and is now expanding the executive branch in violation of American norms and processes

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Doug Klain @dougklain.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Yale Humanitarian Research Lab published a landmark investigation into Russia's systemic abduction of Ukrainian children. It was in partnership with the State Department. The link to this report is now dead—has the DOGE purge destroyed it? hub.conflictobservatory.org/portal/apps/...

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Critical Threats Project @criticalthreats.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Iranian Brigadier General Behrouz Esbati’s leaked December 2024 speech provides a rare look into how Iran is coping with its strategic defeat in Syria and how it will revise its regional strategy and security doctrine moving forward. Here’s what you need to know 🧵

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