#OTDinUkraine: Thread of Threads. March 3rd, 2014 .

RT @doctoradmiral: Operatives from the SBU's "Alpha" counter-terror unit.Outskirts of Sloviansk, April 24th 2014

RT @BBC_ua: Росія вдарила балістикою по порту Одеси. Є загиблі, серед поранених іноземці

I also recently wrote this piece focused on the initial rapid mobilisation/conscription and the experience of those who suddenly found themselves in an army totally unready for what was happening.

If you are interested in the Ukrainian army at the start of the conflict, how it survived and endured and evolved, how that process affected the course of the conflict, and everything else related, make sure to give me a follow.

Ukrainian army (not counting police, national guard, etc) was a very diverse beast. On the one hand you had these units, created basically from scratch with mobilisation under intense pressure (51st expanded tenfold). But you also had elite formations.

RT @jana_skhidna: с. Мирне, травень 2025.але мирне тепер тільки назва…. для когось це просто назви населених пун��тів, а хтось взагалі тільк….

Ukrainian Mi-24s firing a salvo at the Russian "Iskra" unit in Donetsk Airport's new terminal.May 26th, 2014

RT @anyamrch: average kyiv real estate developer unironically:.

RT @doctoradmiral: Blockpost: Ukrainian checkpoints in 2014. US and it's allies in the GWOT, Ukraine included, faced challenges in keeping….

Volunteer militias like the DUK usually looked a lot more uniform than the army units due to the civic/nationalist orgs they were in contact with, army units generally only had the soldiers' families and local activists, like Marteniuk in Volyn.

There was a lot of trouble with leaving the country for her because she needed to give up the card, lest someone used it in an airport that no longer existed. One of her friends in management stuck up for her, but IIRC she is still in problem with the SBU.

Haven't posted these here, I think: my mothers and grandpa's IDs from the Donetsk Intl Airport. Mother worked in security, so as far as I understand it, technically somewhere under the SBU.

RT @copesint: >bombed Iran with like 50% of our bunker busters.>we won't deliver Stingers.

One Ukrainian journalist wrote a pretty apt description of the soldiers that June; "Our army looks like a cross between Mexican sicarios and militants from the Caucasus".

Thank you for reading! I plan to turn this into a larger article to post on Substack, detailing these blockposts and the experiences of soldiers and civilians. If you'd like to support my work, consider sharing this thread and donating at

It isn't only in the Donbas that checkpoints were fortified and under threat of attack. For example July 8th, the "Koshary" blockpost near Odesa was attacked with small arms fire, wounding one of the marines manning it. Such cases were rare but continued through to 2016 at least

After the Minsk accords, the fighting intensity decreased, though it continued. During negotiations, the two sides agreed on several frontline crossing points between civilians. These were understood to be off-limit for attacks.

With time the difference between the two pretty much disappeared, except that the blockpost's main purpose remained unchanged - control the movement of traffic and yet allow civilian passage. Often, militant attacks coincided with civilian presence. Mass casualties were common.

Throughout June, Ukrainian forces made additional advances. The nature of the frontlines somewhat changed: it solidified, now positions were being built in the open in fitting areas - heights and so on.