ConvergeOne (C1) Sales Director (NW/Mt West Pub Sec) - Leading IT services & solutions provider; Posts on IT, Social, Sports, Outdoors & more...
Portland, OR.
Joined January 2010
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Brian Larson retweeted
🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦🇪🇺
Abu Dhabi’s big diplomatic breakthrough by Trump’s real-estate boys: Zelensky had to sit them down and explain, like they were five, that Ukraine isn't a distressed asset in Florida.
"I've had to explain this to the Real Estate Bros Kushner & Witkoff: the Donbass isn't my personal property to flip. I can't just gift them an extra two kilometers because it makes the term sheet look cleaner or because someone in Moscow offered a 'package deal'. The Donbas is not my building. People live there.
Try thinking about it as if Russians had already taken half of Florida and were asking Trump to hand over the rest so you two could finally close the deal and go back to building luxury resorts on the rubble."
Once again, Ukraine rejected the US plan to gift its regions to Moscow.
Brian Larson retweeted
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has laid out a five-point plan for peace in Ukraine:
1. Integrate Ukraine into NATO’s missile, air and drone defences and send all Patriots to Kyiv
2. Unfreeze Russian assets and give them to Ukraine
3. Enforce more sanctions on Russia and ban all Russian fossil fuel supplies to Europe
4. Move the Coalition of the Willing into Ukraine to defend rear areas and critical infrastructure
5. Develop ironclad security guarantees and expel countries from the Coalition that aren’t willing to fight Russia if a ceasefire breaks down
Brian Larson retweeted
When I received the second report from our negotiating team after their meetings in Abu Dhabi, they told me that the Russians think and say they have already occupied half of Donbas, which remains under our control. These were military officers, Russian intelligence, and they were serious about it. Our team told them, “We don’t know how you can even say such things. We have video footage, images, other things proving that these areas are under our control.”
This is the problem. Putin lives in a different reality. Of course, he will be sharing with the Americans that he needs one or two months to fully occupy the east of Ukraine. I can draw a picture for him too where I fully occupy Russia. But it’s not true. What was good is that the American side confirmed the Ukrainian assessment of what is happening on the battlefield.
This is why we need to sit and speak at the level of leaders. There are a lot of questions. Like we spoke about the city of Kherson that is divided by the river today. The Russians control one bank, we control the other. But people want to live united on both banks. This is a Ukrainian city. Such issues are sensitive, but we have to speak about them. I think that tomorrow the teams will discuss the possibility of meeting at the level of leaders. I'm not sure that Russia is ready, but we will raise this topic.
From a conversation with journalists.
Brian Larson retweeted
🔥Russians are panicking over Ukraine’s new refinery strike tactics. Drones reportedly switch targets mid-flight, and Trump can no longer simply pull the plug.
The Russian Telegram channel *Дневник Разведчика* (Intelligence Officer’s Diary, 147,800 subscribers) describes a major shift in Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign following the strikes on Kstovo, Samara and Yaroslavl.
Previously, Ukrainian drones were sent toward predetermined targets. If the first drones successfully hit a refinery unit, the rest continued toward the same target.
Now, according to the Russian channel, Ukrainian operators can monitor strikes in real time and redirect incoming drones while they are still in flight.
Once a primary distillation unit is hit, subsequent drones can be redirected toward storage tanks, cracking units, electrical substations or other critical equipment.
Instead of concentrating an entire wave on one target, Ukraine can distribute the damage across multiple parts of the refinery.
The Russians are describing something far more dangerous for their oil industry than simply larger drone attacks: the ability to adapt an entire strike while it is happening.
The channel attributes this capability to Israeli HiSKY SmartLight satellite communications terminals, which it says Ukraine is using as an alternative to Starlink.
It claims the terminals allow two-way communication over Russian territory, making it possible to adjust flight paths, identify air-defence positions and redirect drones around interception zones.
And then comes the most revealing part.
The Russian channel argues that American restrictions on Starlink have backfired spectacularly.
Its conclusion:
"Trump has simply lost his leverage over Kyiv’s long-range strikes."
And:
"Ukraine has slipped off the American leash and found a commercial alternative that the White House cannot switch off with a phone call."
That is coming from a Russian military channel, not Ukrainian propaganda.
Moscow is now discussing a scenario in which Ukraine can strike multiple critical refinery units in a single operation, adapt to Russian air defences in real time and continue its campaign without depending on American-controlled communications.
Putin has been trying to get Trump to restrain Ukraine’s refinery strikes. Now Russian military commentators are warning that even American pressure may no longer be enough.
The irony is extraordinary. Washington reportedly tried to limit Ukraine’s options. The Russians are now complaining that Ukraine has found a way around those limits.
The HiSKY deployment, electronic-warfare resistance and real-time retargeting capabilities are claims made by the Russian channel, not independently established technical facts. The attribution in the draft matters, especially for the claims about Trump’s leverage.
Brian Larson retweeted
Incoming chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chris Coons:
“Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, and anyone else who played a role in cutting off Ukraine's ability to defend itself must answer for it. Congress must get to the bottom of this.”
Brian Larson retweeted
A spa company was close to bankruptcy. Then a fund tied to Don Jr. and Eric Trump invested $30 million. Conveniently, a subsidiary of that fund landed nearly $39 million in taxpayer-funded contracts to handle Ebola in Africa…despite having no Ebola or international experience.
The Trump family connections are hard to ignore.
Brian Larson retweeted
When asked why he constantly allows the Russian dictator to humiliate him, the moron president first defends Putin, then loses his mind in a tantrum when a reporter asks "when will the appeasement end".
Brian Larson retweeted
We keep hearing again that Russia supposedly needs security guarantees. Even though no one has attacked Russia for many decades. Since the Second World War, Moscow has not gone through even one decade without starting a war or using military force against another country.
So when the Russians now talk about a security architecture for themselves, or about security guarantees for Russia – they are hardly talking about real security. And peace.
What they really want – is to freely interfere in the affairs of other countries, and to use force whenever they want, and to make sure that no one can support liberty inside Russia because Putin wants to keep his personal power forever and pass on his imperialist and, in many ways, simply fascist views to the next generations.
From a speech at the Danish Folketing. (3/3)
Brian Larson retweeted
❗️Ukraine could completely destroy Russian ballistic installations and stop missile launches if Elon Musk provided full access to Starlink over the Russian Federation, but he refuses to do so — Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh.
Brian Larson retweeted
Former CIA Director David Petraeus:
With Budanov now heading the Presidential Office, Zelenskyy has someone close to him who deeply understands the military situation and ongoing operations.
I know Budanov well. He is very direct in his assessments. We first spoke by video when he was near the russian border, commanding one of the first operations on russian territory.
Petraeus in an interview with SpyCast:
Ukraine has the largest and most innovative army in Europe. It is doing what NATO armies would otherwise have to do themselves if russia achieved its objectives in Ukraine. Moldova would be next, and possibly Lithuania after that.
During my recent visit to Ukraine, a russian jet-powered drone struck the locomotive of a train on the track next to ours. The passengers on trains leaving Ukraine are mostly women and children. It was terrifying for them.
Russia has suffered 1.5 million killed and wounded, more than the United States suffered during the entire Second World War. Last month alone, Ukraine estimated approximately 46,000 russian casualties, while russia recruited only around 30,000 soldiers.
New recruits receive very little training. Ukrainian forces have captured russian soldiers who had been in the army for less than two weeks. They are practically cannon fodder.
Ukraine has struck every russian oil refinery within 3,000 kilometers of its border, many of them multiple times. Russian oil production has fallen below 9 million barrels per day for the first time since 2009.
Russians now use smartphone apps to find gas stations that still have fuel. The National Welfare Fund has been redirected toward the military-industrial complex and is expected to run out by the end of the year.
It is time for Europe and the United States to seize frozen russian reserves and provide them to Ukraine.
We tend to assume that Ukrainians are far ahead in military innovation, just as we assume the United States leads in artificial intelligence. But when you look closely, the gap is not always that large. In some areas, the russians have developed capabilities before the Ukrainians.
China, North Korea, and Iran are carefully studying what is happening in Ukraine.
The West needs to learn from Ukraine much faster. Simply buying drones for existing tank units is not enough. We need to fundamentally rethink our military structures because many traditional Western weapons systems would no longer survive on the Ukrainian battlefield. And we need to do this immediately.
The Ukrainian people have demonstrated extraordinary resilience. They have been absolutely unbreakable despite enormous pressure. But they are also exhausted, and another difficult winter lies ahead.
Source: SpyCast
Brian Larson retweeted
💥 A perfect example of why Stephen Miller is so thoroughly unlikable. Jim Acosta asks a legitimate question about America’s immigration values. Miller responds with arrogance, hostility and pure contempt. 🙄
Brian Larson retweeted
BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Republican Senator Ron Johnson just went on Fox News and admitted there is RAMPANT corruption within the Trump Administration. Every American needs to see this.
Brian Larson retweeted
Euro-step for the sack is crazy 😭
📺 @NFLonFOX | #RamsHouse
Brian Larson retweeted
🔥 NOW IT'S BECOMING CLEAR WHY RUSSIAN OIL REFINERIES CAN BURN IN SEVERAL PLACES AT ONCE AFTER UKRAINIAN DRONE STRIKES!
Russian Telegram channels are sounding the alarm. And here's what they're saying.
According to their reports, Ukraine has allegedly begun using a new Israeli-developed satellite communications system called HiSKY SmartLight.
Let me explain in simple terms what its potential advantage could be.
Previously, a drone would fly toward a predetermined target. Now, according to Russian sources, operators can maintain communication with drones, receive information during flight, and change their missions in real time.
What does that mean?
If the first drones strike one section of an oil refinery, subsequent drones could be redirected toward other facilities.
This is how Russian channels explain the multiple fires reported at refineries in Kstovo, Samara, and Yaroslavl.
And there's another detail that particularly worries the Russians.
They claim this new system could make Ukraine less dependent on America's Starlink and potential restrictions imposed by the United States.
In other words, if these Russian reports are accurate, Ukraine has developed new technological capabilities for its long-range drones.
And now for the best part.
The Russians themselves acknowledge that this could become a massive problem for their oil industry!
🇺🇦 THANK YOU TO OUR DEFENDERS, ENGINEERS, AND EVERYONE DEVELOPING UKRAINIAN TECHNOLOGY!
Let the aggressor feel the consequences of the war it started.
P.S. I'm moving from Twitter/X to Substack. Join me there and follow my work.
mykhailorohoza.substack.com
Brian Larson retweeted
❗️Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated that Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) with the help of Russian money, after which content controls on the platform were weakened and the number of bots and hate speech increased significantly. He emphasized that Russia uses Western social networks to wage an information war against Western societies, and the platforms allow this because they profit from it. Sikorski believes social networks should be held responsible for the spread of illegal content and must remove, in particular, calls for violence, and he advocated for the creation of a European alternative to X.
Brian Larson retweeted
If not restrained by the US, Ukraine could wipe out Russia's entire refinery sector, completely collapsing the Kremlin's war effort.
Russian economist Vyacheslav Shiryaev explains that Ukraine needs only 2-3 weeks to get the job done.
Brian Larson retweeted
🇺🇦トランプが「多くのロシア人も戦争で亡くなっている」とたびたび語ることについて、ゼレンスキー大統領はこう答えた。
「私たちの領土に入り、私たちの人々を殺しているロシア兵が死んでいくのを見ても、私は涙を流さない」
侵略を決め、兵士を送り込んだのはプーチンだ。そして現地で人々を殺し、住宅や学校、教会を破壊しているのは、ロシア兵自身だ。「命令されたから」で、その行為の責任が消えるわけではない。
トランプがロシア兵の死を憂うなら、その死を生み続けているプーチンに侵略の停止と撤兵を迫るべきだ。家族を殺され、故郷を焼かれた人々に、侵略者への同情を求めるのは筋違いだ。
Brian Larson retweeted
❗️Democrats in the US Congress are preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine of about $15 billion, which they may try to include in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) before the end of the current congressional session. They are also strengthening sanctions against Russia, prioritizing energy support for Ukraine, tightening control over Starlink services, and revising the Graham Act. Additionally, they plan to investigate the business interests of Trump’s envoys Witkoff and Kushner, according to the Financial Times.
