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Roland Oliphant

@rolandoliphant.bsky.social
1.4K followers 275 following 150 posts

Chief Foreign Something @telegraph.co.uk

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Reposted by Roland Oliphant
Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 28/09/2026
Of all the bad things happening, the death of the newspaper has to be among the most consequential. We just no longer have a common reality, and reporting has been replaced by opinion, opinion and opinion. It's all reels and podcasts and personalised algorithms
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Kriszta Satori @fulelo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
#BBCNews - British army told to stop non-essential training exercises to save money www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
British army told to stop non-essential training exercises to save money
Units in the UK not preparing to be deployed have been told to cut back on training exercises due to cost pressures.
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Kharkiv tonight‼️ Russian attack set a monastery on fire.
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Euan MacDonald @euanmacdonald.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Ukraine practically under continuous attack, with record amounts of drones being launched by fascist Russia. Right now, 5 Tu-95s, 2 Tu-160s airborne - if they launched cruise missiles, the weapons are expected in 🇺🇦 airspace at 0830. ~150 Shahed drones also launched at 🇺🇦.
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Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University @interpolaber.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Our colleague @guttmannaviva.bsky.social is quoted in this @telegraph.co.uk article by @rolandoliphant.bsky.social shedding light on some of the intelligence dynamics of the US-Israeli war against Iran www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03...
telegraph.co.uk
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Raven Books @ravenbooks.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
"You have to put a lot of effort into not going mad." - @rolandoliphant.bsky.social relaying a message from his friend in Kyiv
It's not just a physical toll, it's a psychological one. I stayed in my apartment for 40 hours where it was -15. I didn't have electricity or water, you cannot flush the toilet, you cannot take a shower, you cannot make warm food. Everything is dark outside so it feels like the end of the world when you look out your window. You have to put a lot of effort into not going mad.
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Explosion in Kharkiv ‼️ our city is under russian drone attack right now ‼️
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
D Blair and I spent the week trying to understand how Europe could defend itself without America. Here's our answer: www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
telegraph.co.uk
What Europe must do to survive militarily without America
Trump has turned an unthinkable question into an urgent one. Can Nato still deter Russia without a superpower ally?
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
New Battlelines on the Nato civil war, King Trump versus Carney Cromwell(?), James Rothwell on sunsets in Greenland, David Blair on how he saved the West www.youtube.com/watch?v=seHW...
youtube.com
Battle for the West: Trump, Greenland and Canada's fightback
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Rest easy old friend. Adam Dobby, former SAS man who helped journalists cover the wars in Syria and Ukraine www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2...
telegraph.co.uk
Adam Dobby, former SAS man who helped journalists cover the wars in Syria and Ukraine
In Syria he slept with an AK on the roof of a house recently abandoned by ISIS to protect reporters under siege
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Reposted by Roland Oliphant
Justin Bronk @justin-br0nk.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
I enjoyed writing this for Foreign Affairs on why the US Military’s most serious Chinese capability problems in the Indo-Pacific cannot be solved with “cheap massed drones”: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
foreignaffairs.com
America’s Drone Delusion
Why the lessons of Ukraine don’t apply to a conflict with China.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Former HMA Washington Kim Darroch on Trump's new national security strategy: a rejection of 70 years of foreign policy, but which should not surprise anyone. youtu.be/zXm8smIIrQw?...
youtu.be
More Russia, less China and no Europe: Trump’s new security strategy unveiled
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
"It's not a tank!"
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Very tank nerdy episode of Battlelines: if Britain can't fix Ajax, can it still fight. With the Tel's Dom Nicholls and Ben Barry of IISS. Yes I know I know when is a tank not a tank etc share.google/xrGNBbcExnNE...
share.google
Why can't Britain build a decent tank?
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
I've met estate agents like this. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
politico.com
Allies worry US demands Ukraine deal before security guarantees
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies that President Donald Trump will negotiate long-term assurances for Ukraine’s safety.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Um..
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Iryna Voichuk @irynavoichuk.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
❗️Russian drone struck a residential building in Zaporizhzhia.
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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
"Europe’s problem is not that it lacks options. It is that it refuses to use them". Jade McGlynn skewers both the Dmitriev/Witkoff plan for Ukraine's destruction, & Europe's refusal to act decisively enough to prevent disaster. open.substack.com/pub/smalldee...
open.substack.com
Circus
Amidst the absolute chaos of a Witkoff-stamped Russian psyop-as-peace plan, discussion is filled with anger at Washington and at Moscow.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Xi Jinping is purging the CCP leadership. So we spoke to @josephtorigian.bsky.social about how the Xi family's own purge-trauma informs how he runs China - and covets Taiwan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLxa...
youtube.com
China bosses vanishing as Xi Jinping’s childhood traumas trigger Mao style purge
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Joseph Torigian @josephtorigian.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
For the @telegraph.co.uk podcast Battle Lines, I talked to @rolandoliphant.bsky.social about my book "The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping" podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...
podcasts.apple.com
China bosses vanishing as Xi Jinping’s childhood traumas trigger Mao style purge
Podcast Episode · Battle Lines · 24/11/2025 · 33m
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Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 25/11/2025
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is in Abu Dhabi to meet with Russian officials, who will presumably tell him that Europe's revised 28-point plan is a nonstarter and it's the original Dmitriev–Witkoff document to get things moving or nothing. www.cbsnews.com/news/army-se...
cbsnews.com
Army Secretary Driscoll meeting with Russians in UAE as Trump administration presses for Ukraine peace deal
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is in Abu Dhabi to meet with Russian officials, two U.S. officials and two diplomatic sources who were not authorized to speak publicly told CBS News.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
The Witkoff-Dmitriev peace plan was lunacy. But the European/Ukrainian counter offer is very sensible: here's why. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11...
telegraph.co.uk
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Iryna Voichuk @irynavoichuk.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Russia struck an apartment building in Ternopil with an X-101 missile, killing 16 people, including a child. More than 60 people were injured, among them 14 children. Rescuers are still searching through the debris.
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Iryna Voichuk @irynavoichuk.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
The death toll from the russian missile attack on Ternopil has risen to 19. More than 65 people were injured, including 16 children.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Donald Trump's admin is full of War on Terror vets - and this week he welcomed one from the other side. Friday's battlelines looks at Ahmed al Sharaa: Why the West is betting on a millenial ex-Al Qaeda commander to fix Syria. youtube.com/watch?v=xf0x...
youtube.com
Trump and the ex-terrorist: why the West needs Syria to work
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Here's our piece on Iran's drought. Really fascinating - and a lesson for everyone about ignoring the creeping crisis of climate change. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11...
telegraph.co.uk
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Scott Rose @rprose.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Great piece for Russia watchers, from Roman Badanin www.proekt.media/en/guide-en/...
proekt.media
Society with no memory
Editor-in-chief of Proekt Media in conclusion of genealogical study of Russian authorities 'Fathers and Grandfathers'
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I've been lucky enough to report from Iran a couple of times over the years. Each time I was there, water was an issue on people's minds, including officials I spoke to. But if everyone knew there was a problem, how did Tehran end up on the brink of running dry? youtu.be/zlP2If9uzV4?...
youtu.be
'Worse than war with Israel': Why Iran's regime is on edge
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Fridays battlelines on El Fasher youtu.be/uPWsrH5XdDg?...
youtu.be
How a Middle Eastern superpower is fuelling the Sudan war
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
The Telegraph cannot keep its credibility if it is not transparently independent www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11...
telegraph.co.uk
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Verification asks: can we reliably establish what is true? Deliberation asks: can we debate and decide fairly together? Accountability asks: can we hold power to account? If one or more of those breaks down, democracy doesn’t just wobble, it hollows out.
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Sam Greene @samagreene.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Reupping this article from February — because nothing has changed. Putin is still being allowed to fight at the table for what he can’t win on the ground. Trump is still pursuing normalisation at the expense of Ukraine. Europe is still prostrate. www.newstatesman.com/world/europe...
newstatesman.com
This is Europe’s war now
The continent’s future depends on outflanking America. British troops in Ukraine is the first step.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
This old chestnut gets wheeled out every decade or so. Might as well build a tunnel on the moon. Would be as useful/feasible/viable
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Tomorrow evening: Giants of journalism @andreisoldatov.bsky.social, Irina Borogan and Catherine Belton on what Putin did to Russia. No one can tell the story better, so come along: www.theconduit.com/upcoming-eve...
theconduit.com
Inside Russia - The Conduit
Tue 14 Oct, 6pm - 7:30pm How do you understand a country where the truth itself is under siege?
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Telegraph Global Health Security @telglobalhealth.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
🚨Almost nine in 10 clinics in war-ravaged DRC run low on medicines @icrc.org warns that health centres in the eastern region face a dire situation amid a mass exodus of medical staff @benfarmerdt.bsky.social has the latest www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
telegraph.co.uk
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Taking questions on this topic in the comment thread from 1500. Ask away: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10...
telegraph.co.uk
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
How China Spies: or why Beijing's way of espionage is a bit different to the Western (and even Russian) way www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10...
telegraph.co.uk
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
In 1916 it was the tank. In 2025, it is lasers and stuff. How the war in Ukraine is sending us hurtling into the grim darkness for fully automated robot war. Taking questions this afternoon: post in the comments and lets chat about techno distopia www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10...
telegraph.co.uk
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Taking questions on this piece now. Post in the comments on the homepage and I'll try to reply www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
telegraph.co.uk
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Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 10/09/2025
Russia dropped a bomb on a Ukrainian village yesterday that murdered at least 23 elderly people.
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Iryna Voichuk @irynavoichuk.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Russia hit a village in Donetsk Oblast with an aerial bomb as locals were receiving their pensions, killing 20 people and wounding 20 others.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Just finished this film about Kharkiv. Made me feel ashamed at how numbed I have come to the news from that wonderful city. Watch: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
bbc.co.uk
Eye Investigations - Kharkiv War Diaries
Video diaries from people who chose to stay in Ukraine’s frontline city. Filmed over a year, and shared with BBC Eye, the film captures human stories from the aftermath of Trump’s new style diplomacy.
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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
In other words, the coalition of the willing is unwilling to help until Ukraine doesn't need its help. Surely at some point someone has to realise that this approach just incentivises Putin to keep the war going?
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
David Blair on why talk of leaving the Refugee Convention - "a painstaking and entirely reasonable attempt to strike a balance between humanitarian compassion and national sovereignty" - is half witted. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...
telegraph.co.uk
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
North Korea analysts are a very thoughtful bunch, which made reporting this a fascinating and enjoyable job. On the Kim dynasty's succession plans: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...
telegraph.co.uk
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Olena Halushka @halushka.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The clearing of the rubble in a Kyiv high-rise house bombed by russia — which claimed 25 lives — has just ended, and already a new swarm of russian drones fills our skies, with Tu jets preparing for takeoff and the launch of cruise missiles. This is a never-ending 9/11.
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
They asked me to write about Donbas so I wrote about the rivers. Again. In maps: Why the entire peace deal hangs on this small strip of Ukraine www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...
telegraph.co.uk
In maps: Why the entire peace deal hangs on this small strip of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has made it clear he wants the entire Donetsk region as a price for peace. Here’s why Ukraine refuses to give it up
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Mark MacKinnon @markmackinnon.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Major development in Ukraine, which for more than three years has seen all sides largely put politics aside to focus on the war against Russia…
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Really privileged to have the great Irina Borogan and @andreisoldatov.bsky.social on Ukraine the latest today, talking about Our Dear Friends in Moscow www.youtube.com/watch?v=brWk...
youtube.com
Ukrainian hackers 'wipe databases' in major cyberattack | Ukraine: The Latest
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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Roland Oliphant @rolandoliphant.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
Was in the chair for Ukraine: the Latest on Friday. Highly recommend Jade McGlynn’s insights on understanding Russia and the mad way so many people project their own obsessions on it youtu.be/E2FQ7h81ERc?...
youtu.be
Unmasked: The Russian spies who targeted Europe on Putin’s orders | Ukraine: The Latest
YouTube video by The Telegraph
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