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Shannon Monaghan

@shannonmonaghan.bsky.social

270 followers 110 following 110 posts

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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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · Apr 15

My new book To Die With Such Men, which follows a unit of Western volunteers fighting in Ukraine, is out in the US today:

"Even if you have experienced combat, these men's incredible courage, toughness and loyalty to each other leaves you in awe." -- Gen. Walter Boomer (Retd), USMC

bit.ly/4j5kbsE

To Die With Such Men: Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion

To Die With Such Men: Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion [Monaghan, Shannon] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. To Die With Such Men: Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion

bit.ly

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Keir Giles @keirgiles.bsky.social · 3d

Here is @nigelgould-davies.bsky.social on Russia’s disruption campaign against Europe. I’m not sure I would be so optimistic on the Kremlin being worried by US & EUR behaviour, but the conclusion is unshakeable: absent a serious response, this will get much worse.

www.iiss.org/online-analy...

Screenshot from linked article, saying Western officials are puzzled, but they shouldn’t be.

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Jeanette Serritzlev @serritzlev.bsky.social · 4d

"Russia appears to be conducting concerted preparations as part of the physical and psychological condition-setting phase for war contingencies."

- ISW:

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 4d

NEW: Russia appears to be accelerating the informational and psychological condition-setting phase — “Phase 0” — of its campaign to prepare for a possible NATO-Russia war in the future.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 6, 2025: isw.pub/UkrWar100625

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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.bsky.social · 4d

And here we go. I never wrote this article, and yet it is cited here.

www.liberalbriefs.com/geopolitics/...

And of course, it sounds so plausible, I seriously checked whether I had forgotten it, or the footnote was slightly wrong.

#AIisnotresearch

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Fabian Hoffmann @frhoffmann.bsky.social · 4d

Hi all,

I published my latest Missile Matters post earlier today, examining the reported drop in Ukraine’s ballistic missile intercept rate from 37 to 6 percent, as covered by the Financial Times.

Access the full post here:

missilematters.substack.com/p/what-happe...

Short summary below.

1/6

What Happened to Ukraine's Ballistic Missile Defense? Explaining the Reported Drop in Patriot's Effectiveness

Explaining the Reported Drop in Patriot's Effectiveness

missilematters.substack.com

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Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 4d

Hard agree. It's a paradox that in Denmark right now, there is a discussion about whether it would be an aggressive move to acquire long-range strike capabilities that can reach Russia. How do these people assume we will be fighting a war if we don't have weapons that can reach the enemy?

Corporal Frisk @corporalfrisk.com · 4d

I subscribe to too many emails, but one of the few I actually read is Missile Matters. It’s suitably geeky, and provides a deeper understanding of missile warfare which is a topic you see discussed surprisingly often in news and social media these days 😅

This week’s conclusions are spot on.

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Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 5d

Ukraine seems determined to prevent another winter of Russian attacks on its power grid by adopting an eye-for-an-eye approach. This shows that Ukraine is now confident enough in its strike capability to use it not only for ongoing attacks, but also as a tool of military deterrence. ⬇️

What is Ukraine saving its missiles for?

YouTube video by Anders Puck Nielsen

youtu.be

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 9d

EU decision making reminds me of what Bill Gates said about how we overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.

EU close up looks pretty slow, but as Max points out, taken together it moves faster than you think.

Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 9d

So much of the coverage of the EU is hyper-micro. It's all about the sausage making. So story out of Copenhagen European Council is "dithering," "all talk, no action," nothing fully agreed, etc. It's an effing meeting! Take a step back... they are moving on Eurobonds/frozen Russian assets. 1/

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WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · 10d

On October 1, Ukraine marks the Day of Defenders of Ukraine. Zelenskyy honored the memory of fallen soldiers on Maidan.

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Keir Giles @keirgiles.bsky.social · 11d

Spoiler: "Putin's escalation" is not "far worse" than anybody thought, if they have been paying any attention at all.

But there's no doubt it *will* get "far worse" without effective and determined deterrence from Europe.

inews.co.uk/news/world/p...

Putin's escalation is far worse than we thought - Europe's drone wall is not enough

Europeans have little idea of the true scale of Russia’s 'hybrid attack' campaign against them – this must change if we are to respond adequately

inews.co.uk

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 12d

Everyone should click through to watch the map populate. Absolutely horrifying. Thank you for sharing, @alanderminna.bsky.social

Minna Ålander 🌻 @alanderminna.bsky.social · 13d

A systematic mapping of the Russian human safari strategy:

”Kherson’s so-called ‘Red Zone’ – an area never officially declared, but marked by Russian soldiers and military bloggers as a place where civilians were fair game – grew exponentially, until it encompassed nearly the entire city.”

Witnessing a War Crime: Russia’s Human Safari – Tochnyi.info

tochnyi.info

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Minna Ålander 🌻 @alanderminna.bsky.social · 12d

Imagine spending massive amounts of money trying to buy votes and even threatening to blow up the Moldovan embassy in Brussels to sway the elections and failing so miserably:

Maia Sandu’s pro-EU PAS has won a majority in the elections Russia made a huge effort to interfere with.

Via @politico.eu

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 12d

And a reminder that if you aren't receiving Stefan Korshak's FB-posts-to-Substack-newsletters, you're missing out on valuable analysis of the war in Ukraine (esp. items that the Western press often misses): stefankorshak.substack.com/p/sept-26-20...

Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 12d

A beautiful essay from @shekhovtsov.substack.com's highly recommended Substack.

Anton Shekhovtsov @shekhovtsov.substack.com · 14d

Saturdays are slow, good for reflective reading. I’ve just published "From Valsaín to European Imperium", an essay weaving travel writing, cultural reflection, and political analysis – from a Castilian hamlet to Europe’s future. buff.ly/dCxm31d

Reposted by Shannon Monaghan

John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 16d

“The Russian state has consistently demanded recognition as a great power, even as it has consistently lacked the material, political, and moral means to sustain one.”

tomorrowsaffairs.com/putins-lies-...

Putin’s Lies Hide Weakness

Russia has thrived on lies for centuries; its undoing will come when truth proves more powerful than the fictions it desperately spins

tomorrowsaffairs.com

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 14d

"Even as Moscow tests Nato’s responses with recent violations of airspace on Europe’s eastern borders, Russia’s less visible but similarly brazen undersea spying operations are causing increasing concern among European security and defence officials."

Toomas Hendrik Ilves @ilvestoomas.bsky.social · 15d

on.ft.com/3VDTlxN

The Russian spy ship stalking Europe’s subsea cables

Covert operations in waters surrounding the British Isles pose a grave threat to critical infrastructure and a fresh challenge to Nato

on.ft.com

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Minna Ålander 🌻 @alanderminna.bsky.social · 16d

Wrote a longer article on why the heated debate in Europe about whether and when to shoot down Russian jets that violate our air space misses the point. It may have to be done, but it’s not a silver bullet with an automatic de-escalation logic.

Europe Dispatch with @phillipspobrien.bsky.social

To Shoot or Not To Shoot Down Russian Jets

Some probably unpopular opinions in this week's Europe's Dispatch by Minna Ålander.

open.substack.com

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 17d

Great interview: "Taken together, the events of the last three and a half years demonstrate that this war was not precipitated by geopolitical wrangling between Russia and the West. Rather, it was driven by Russia’s ongoing goal to destroy Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence."

Maria Popova @popovaprof.bsky.social · 17d

My wide-ranging interview about the Russo-Ukrainian war for the Forum for Ukrainian Studies. One take-away: "The only reason there is an inkling of hope that the international world order will survive this enormous challenge is because Ukraine is resisting."
ukrainian-studies.ca/2025/09/23/i...

ukrainian-studies.ca

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 17d

"Once mere pit stops, gas stations are now pillars of Ukraine’s war effort. Offering a fleeting taste of regular life for soldiers subsisting on rations and enduring constant Russian fire, they have become symbols of resilience through a grinding conflict and won a place in Ukrainians’ hearts."

John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 17d

Even better than Wawa.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/w...

To Understand Ukraine at War, Stop by a Gas Station

www.nytimes.com

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Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 17d

Trump's statement that Ukraine can win back all it's territory is mostly a message to Putin that Russia should more seriously engage in peace negotiations. It does not mean new US support for Ukraine, but it does signal that Trump will not obstruct Europe's efforts. 1/4

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Toomas Hendrik Ilves @ilvestoomas.bsky.social · 19d

And the US isn't helping.
Gift link: on.ft.com/3K8y5Oj

Putin is playing a dangerous game with Nato

All is far from quiet on the alliance’s eastern front

on.ft.com

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 19d

Really useful essay with detailed history and historiography; worth a read.

John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 19d

“As scholars of Russia, we need to undertake a searching moral inventory to see the ways in which we have taken the Russian state’s point of view as a default.”

www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

How Western scholars overlooked Russian imperialism

For far too long, Western academia has ignored the legacies of the Russian Empire and colonisation.

www.aljazeera.com

Reposted by Shannon Monaghan

Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 21d

Putin's provocations of Nato are because he wants us to stop supporting Ukraine. It's an advanced version of the escalation threats, and he wants us to spend the resources on our own defense instead of sending it to Ukraine.

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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.bsky.social · 20d

Reason number 5728 to build up the European military industrial base

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

The U.S. Is Quietly Pausing Some Arms Sales to Europe

As part of the “America First” agenda, the Department of Defense is stockpiling weapons.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sven-Erik Volberg @volberg.bsky.social · 22d

The Kremlin cannot defeat NATO militarily, so it fabricates a myth of Western betrayal and NATO “encirclement,” weaponizing grievance to demand concessions.

John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 22d

“Its hybrid warfare is not the strategy of a strong power but of a weak one trying to mask its fragility. We should see it for what it is: not the projection of strength but the confession of weakness.”

tomorrowsaffairs.com/putins-lies-...

Putin’s Lies Hide Weakness

Russia has thrived on lies for centuries; its undoing will come when truth proves more powerful than the fictions it desperately spins

tomorrowsaffairs.com

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Shannon Monaghan @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social · 22d

"'Russia simply does not have the wherewithal to fully subjugate Ukraine by force. Yes, they are winding forward on the battlefield, but at a snail’s pace and horrendous cost, and Putin’s army is still far short of its original invasion objectives,' said Moore." www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Putin In No Mood to Negotiate, U.K. Spy Chief Says

In a veiled message to President Trump, the departing head of MI6 warned that the Russian president has no intention of stopping his war in Ukraine.