Scratch one collaborator. “Askyar Laishev, a former Ukrainian internal security service officer who defected to the Moscow-backed Luhansk People’s Republic.”
He would have known a lot of local names that the Russians wanted eliminated. He had held the position of Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Luhansk People’s Republic. A nice perk for switching sides.
He defected in 2014, so probably would have already shared all of his information.
Bad shot? Or prankster?
Bellingcat investigators this week exposed a deep-cover Russian spy.
They were helped by a fatal flaw in Russia’s spycraft - the passport numbers of the fake passports that their spies were given used consecutive numbers, sharing the same first six digits (out of the nine-digit code).
Bellingcat:
Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat:
Christo Grozev, Bellingcat:
regardless, the Russian left his rifle behind.
He sure left in a hurry! Maybe he remembered an appointment. 
It’s surprising he survived. He’s going to have some 'splainin to do about the missing rifle.
He was in a ditch, and the shrapnel went over him. Might have some hearing damage, and he may need to change his fatigue pants.
Jiminy Cricket, don’t the Russians know that the best lies are the simple ones?
CIA did the same thing essentially with credit cards when they extracted a Muslim cleric.
Here’s a link to the same story in case you might not like Twitter.. No offense, @Walken_After_Midnight
I’m surprised it took this long. I remember the men in the Crimea take over with military haircuts and regular clothes. It was widely felt they were Russian military.
I had to Google Schengen. That’s a big part of Europe with open travel borders. It includes Poland. There no easy way to track people’s movements.
Cite Schengen Area - Wikipedia
Guardian live blog
seems to be a crucial moment:
Odeska Regional Administration: “It’s Official: The Battle for Kherson Has Begun.”
(pre-emptying the arrival of the “new, whiter-than-white 3rd russian army”, it seems)
HISTORY IN THE MAKING!
Rumors are starting to trickle in about activity on the ground near Kherson. Reportedly, The Russians’ outer defense ring was broken through at least at one point. HIMARS have shifted from striking fuel and ammo depots in the rear and are now striking ground targets nearer to the front. This suggests this might be the start of what we’ve been waiting for.
This is all unconfirmed at this point, but if Ukraine is to launch a large counterattack towards Kherson this would appear to be the time to do so before Rasputitsa mud hits and winter follows.
The fresh Ukrainian troops trained in Britain should be a big part of any counter offensive.
No one knows how many. Britain and NATO partners have been training men all summer.
I hope Ukraine is prepared if a lot of Russian troops give up. Reports say their supplies are low and their commanders moved HQ across the river. Morale should be pretty low.
That’s the best possible scenario for Ukraine.
The absolute worst case would be Russian troops fighting to the last man inside Khershon City.
The next few weeks are going to be critical in this war. So much depends on how strongly the Russians defend their lines.
I admire these peoples determination to rebuild. It has to be an agonizing decision. Start now or wait for the end of the war?
Darth Putin, KGB:
The sound of gunfire and explosions can be heard in the city of Kherson this morning.
It seems most likely partisans and/or special forces. I don’t think regular Ukrainian forces are that close to the city.
Wonder if America could just let Ukrainian personnel fly Reapers (in Ukrainian airspace) from the usual drone-control stations in Nevada, so that technically it’s Ukraine doing the flying, but the U.S. techs are right there to guide and troubleshoot as need be.
on Twitter: “Let’s be careful about the reported Ukrainian breakthrough in Kherson Oblast. Fighting has indeed been hard and Ukrainian artillery worked all night long. Let’s see what comes next before we start expecting something really HUGE. https://t.co/HtPUek8pLL” / Twitter