Jimmy Rushton
@JimmySecUK
Kyiv based foreign policy/security analyst Currently focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine Freelance journalist - opinions mine alone
It’s no exaggeration that Ukrainian public opinion is in an absolute firestorm after the parliament today approved a law essentially dismantling independent anti-corruption agencies, just days after SBU raided key investigators. The law isn’t enacted until Zelensky signs it — and…
This is the first large-scale anti-government protest in Ukraine since February 2022; a few thousand are here, demanding Zelensky veto the passage of bill 12414.
⚡️ Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already signed a bill that effectively eliminates the independence of the anti-corruption agencies @nab_ukr and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, MPs Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Oleksii Honcharenko reported, citing sources.
I've rarely seen Ukrainian society so uniformly furious about the actions of the government as they are about the passage of this bill. A major misjudgement of the public mood here.
⚡️ BREAKING: Ukraine's parliament passes bill destroying independence of key anti-corruption bodies. The bill was passed with the support of 263 lawmakers, while 13 voted against it and 13 abstained. kyivindependent.com/bill-subordina…
Clarification on the number of additional Patriot systems that will be delivered to Ukraine courtesy of German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius: "Germany will contribute to the urgent delivery of five much-needed Patriot systems as quickly as possible".
Very loud in Kyiv tonight. Explosions, air defence, and the screaming engines of Russian-Iranian 'Shahid' drones as they dive towards their targets.
Sonic booms audible in Kyiv as Russian "Kinzhal" aeroballistic missiles overfly, but do not strike, the city.
🔥Troubling new findings: Orbán’s gov't & social media team got the photo of the anti-Hungarian graffiti and fire in Western Ukraine so quickly—despite both being swiftly handled by authorities—that they were likely in contact with the perpetrator, says Russia expert András Rácz.
A church fire in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia yesterday is likely a false-flag operation aimed at stoking ethnic tensions and discrediting Ukraine. 1/3
An indication of how Ukraine will probably ultimately gain access to billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets held in the West; through a succession of legal cases and awarded damages.
⚡️Ukraine to secure $6.9 billion in arbitration from Russian Gazprom, Zelensky says. kyivindependent.com/ukraine-secure…
🥊Usyk: I want to thank all the guys who are currently defending our country. I received many messages yesterday and today too. From the various units that defend my country on the front lines. Guys - Glory to Ukraine! You are incredible! You allow me to be here now.
💥#Breaking (!) Mossad director David Barnea was in DC this week seeking US support for the deportation of Gaza's population. Per @BarakRavid Barnea asked for US help in persuading Libya, Ethiopia & Indonesia to take hundreds of thousands of Gazans axios.com/2025/07/18/isr…
A day ago, Hijiri and Israel were said to be the only things standing in the way of a Druze genocide in Suweyda perpetrated by Syrian government forces. Today Hijiri is asking the Syrian government for protection and Israel is briefing that the government can indeed move its…
This is not satire. Through Al-Jazeera, the Druze narco-warlord Hikmat al-Hijri is now publicly begging President Ahmad al-Shar’a to send a protection force to Suwayda - to stop the tribal assault. In doing so, he has completely and utterly destroyed his own narrative that the…
This is both a horrific story, and a reminder that baseless conspiracy theories peddled by conscienceless grifters regularly have deadly consequences.
Last year, Kay “Kate” Shemirani murdered my sister, her own daughter, Paloma. Paloma was 23. She died from a totally curable cancer, 7 months after mistakenly putting her life in Kay’s hands. Kay was physically beating her until the week she died. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
A joint NATO statement, approved by the U.S. government, condemns Russia's "brutal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine". A significant improvement from previous administration statements which refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. nato.int/cps/en/natohq/…
Seems like the UK have just sanctioned every cyber spy and hacker we ever wrote about: gov.uk/government/new…
Trump continuing to arm Ukraine is one of the most popular things the administration has done, with all sectors of American society. This should be repeatedly pointed out to Republicans.
When Trump says we're arming Ukraine, the support follows. Big one here is the GOP shift but some interesting moves amongst independents and democrats as well.
As well as the UK's sanctions targeting the GRU, today the EU announced its 18th tranche of sanctions; a significant package which targets the Russian oil industry, officially bans the Nord Stream pipelines, and "puts pressure" on Chinese banks that enable sanctions evasion.
We are standing firm. The EU just approved one of its strongest sanctions package against Russia to date. We’re cutting the Kremlin’s war budget further, going after 105 more shadow fleet ships, their enablers, and limiting Russian banks’ access to funding. (1/3)
New tranche of British sanctions against Russian GRU agents just announced, including members of the notorious unit 29155, responsible for sabotage attacks in the U.K. and across Europe.
Britain exposes dozens of Russian spies and three GRU units it says are behind phone attacks of the Skripals years before Moscow's botched assassination attempt, as well as campaigns to hurt Western aid to Ukraine. telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…