(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Just a quick housekeeping note before we begin. On Thursday the President issued a new National Security Memorandum. This is National Security Memorandum/NSM-20, which deals with safeguards and accountability for defense articles services transferred to partners and allies. For those not sure what a NSM is, it is a statement of official policy regarding a national security matter. In this case, and clearly partially driven by Israel’s actions in Gaza, it provides the official guidance to the Departments of Defense and State, as well as others, regarding what has to happen when we provide or sell weapons to allies in partners if they misuse them. This is intended to create a forcing dynamic so that our allies and partners ensure that they are doing whatever they can to assess and then mitigate potential civilian harm when they use our equipment, ammunition, and material. This has been a huge initiative of this administration. You can read about that here if you like. I expect this was timed to try to focus Bibi’s attention before Israel does something galactically self defeating in Rafah. If you want a good analysis of where things may be at, I recommend Daniel Seidemann’s in this thread.

I want to make one other quick point. I am NOT ignoring what is happening in Gaza, nor Yemen, nor Sudan, nor 1/2 a dozen equally bad ongoing conflicts I could rattle off from memory without having to look up whats going on where. But I’ve only got so much time, energy, and appetite to cover this stuff right now. And I made a commitment that I would do these Ukraine updates. It isn’t that I don’t care. It isn’t that I don’t think they’re important. As I’ve been doing, I’ll try to do occasional weekend posts on them when I can.

At the beginning of last night’s update post I wrote:

It’s the small hours in Ukraine and reports are starting to come in of Russian strikes. It may be that a pre-dawn bombardment is starting. I’ll have some of the preliminary reporting on that after the jump.

This was in regard to social media reports, a couple I included in the update, that the Russians were once again targeting Kharkiv. Unfortunately, I was correct.

Overnight, russia attacked Kharkiv using "Shahed" drones. 7 people died, including 3 children—4 and 7 years old, and an infant.

The UAV hit civilian infrastructure—a gas station. There was a spill of diesel fuel and gasoline, which spread along the street with private houses. 14… pic.twitter.com/Q4ZmsrvOeV

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 10, 2024

Overnight, russia attacked Kharkiv using “Shahed” drones. 7 people died, including 3 children—4 and 7 years old, and an infant.

The UAV hit civilian infrastructure—a gas station. There was a spill of diesel fuel and gasoline, which spread along the street with private houses. 14 houses burned completely, 50 people were evacuated.

 

Gut-wrenching news from Kharkiv. 6-month-old baby, along with two children aged 4 and 7, found under the rubble after a Russian drone attack. At least 7 people killed. 15 houses destroyed, leaving half a street in ashes. pic.twitter.com/jnjgFDjdSJ

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) February 10, 2024

russian-iranian drones hit #Kharkiv overnight. Like every night. A family of 5 burnt alive. Including children of seven, four and a new-born.

Another sign for peace negotiations? All Ukraine needs to do is feed putin some more of its land, people & freedom.#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/QPJNFWlPZj

— olexander scherba🇺🇦 (@olex_scherba) February 10, 2024

It is impossible to fix the baby's body in place

The burning temperature was such that the baby's bones and body turned to almost ash.

A medical examiner is on site.

"We collect everything and take it to the morgue for examination.
We assume that the mother held the… pic.twitter.com/o35NNnJR86

— Oriannalyla 🇺🇦 (@Lyla_lilas) February 10, 2024

It is impossible to fix the baby’s body in place

The burning temperature was such that the baby’s bones and body turned to almost ash.

A medical examiner is on site.

“We collect everything and take it to the morgue for examination.
We assume that the mother held the children by hugging and pressing them to her chest,” — Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the Kharkiv Oblast Police Investigation Department

There are a lot worse pictures and video of what the Russians did to this family – including their dog – and several others. I’m not going to post them here. I suggest you not go looking for them. I’ve seen them and decided you don’t need to. Let that be enough.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier tonight. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

Combat commanders, brigades’ real-life experience must be implemented for the Armed Forces’ success – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

10 February 2024 – 19:14

Dear Ukrainians,

In Kharkiv, the clearing of debris and emergency work continues after a strike using Shahed drones. Four people have been rescued. Assistance is being provided to all who have been affected. Dozens of people have been evacuated. More than 20 buildings have been saved from the spread of fire. Unfortunately, there are casualties. Among them are three children, very young boys: seven years old, four years old, and seven months old. My condolences to their families and loved ones!

Russian terrorists must and will be held accountable for all their actions. History must remember that those responsible for such killings did not escape punishment. And it will.

Today, I spent the entire day in meetings with military leadership and the Government. We continue to reboot the management team in the Armed Forces. Now, people who are well-known in the army and who themselves know well what the army needs are taking on new responsibilities. Combat commanders of this war, whose experience will be useful at the all-army level.

Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi – his focus is on unmanned systems and the development of utilization of drones by our soldiers, and Colonel Andriy Lebedenko – his focus is on innovation, specifically the technology component of the army and combat systems – have been appointed deputies of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Clear practice with new technologies is needed. There are more than enough theories; everything must work in practice for the sake of Ukrainian goals and the maximum preservation of the lives of our soldiers. Brigadier General Volodymyr Horbatiuk – his focus is on operational work, staff work, planning, management, in every staff, they must fully understand the front, Brigadier General Oleksiy Shevchenko – his focus is on logistics, ensuring maximum quality of logistics in our army, and Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapatyi – he will be responsible for the quality training of our military – have been approved as deputies of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. All the real-life experience of combat commanders, combat brigades, our units, who have built a quality training system for soldiers and evaluation and analysis of combat actions – all this experience must be implemented for the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

I also held a detailed and wide-ranging meeting regarding Ukrainian arms and ammunition production – everything we already produce and what we plan to produce. Drones, drone munitions, artillery, and rounds, our equipment. The development and provision of mobile fire groups was in focus. The Commander-in-Chief, commanders, government officials. Clear tasks regarding financing and expediting contracts. Everything planned for the year will be executed.

And one more thing. I spoke with President Macron of France. And these were very fruitful, much-needed talks. Needed right now. The content of the talks, which strengthens us for sure – all of us in Europe. I informed Emmanuel about the situation on the battlefield – everything very clearly. About the threats, about our needs. We thoroughly discussed what will strengthen our soldiers. EW and air defense, artillery. I thanked him for the effective French Caesar systems. We discussed the current shortage of artillery rounds and how we can fill it. Ukraine appreciates France’s leadership in the Coalition to strengthen our artillery created within Ramstein, which adds perspective to our defense against Russian attacks. We also discussed in detail the security agreement between our states – security commitments. We are already finalizing the agreement. Teams are actively working, and we can reach a very ambitious level, which will be a necessary signal to the entire global community. A signal that Europe knows how to protect lives, knows how to add security – for generations. Emmanuel, Mr. President, I thank you!

Thank you to everyone who helps Ukraine! Glory to all our warriors – everyone who saves us from Russian madness.

Glory to our people!

Glory to Ukraine!

In addition to throttling and corrupting the ability to embed the posts from Ukrainian/pro-Ukrainian accounts on the platform formerly known as Twitter, including videos of the effects of Russian attacks posted by Ukrainians, such as the one from Bakhmut I was going to post, but can’t as it won’t embed the Starlink Snowflake has decided the same thing that every arms supplier eventually learns: you can make more money selling to both sides.

Many thing say this is true.
Russians now supposedly use Starlinks for war.
This screams for an urgent action from the U.S. government. https://t.co/UHoB4uPrv1

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) February 10, 2024

Defense One has the details:

Russian forces appear to be using SpaceX’s Starlink communications service inside Ukraine, suggesting that a company celebrated for helping the defenders is now also aiding the invaders.

Ukrainian troops first detected Russia’s frontline use of the satellite-connected devices several months ago, according to one Ukrainian source. A second Ukrainian source confirmed the use of Starlink, and added that its usage appeared to be increasing. Both sources were granted anonymity to discuss topics that they were not authorized to discuss.

Right now, Russian forces appear to be using tens of Starlink terminals across the long front, the first Ukrainian source said.

“When they have hundreds, it’ll be hard for us to live,” the first Ukrainian source said.

Russia’s use of Starlink compounds the problems faced by the Ukrainian military, which is already severely short of munitions. Ukrainian artillery units, for example, are firing around 2,000 shells per day, barely a fifth as many as their Russian counterparts.

Reports that Russian forces were using the Starlink service within Ukraine first appeared in Ukrainian media, citing social-media posts. Prominent Russian volunteer groups supporting the Russian invasion have also shown off Starlink terminals purchased for army units.

Pentagon spokesperson Jeff Jurgensen said U.S. officials are aware of the reports, but referred questions to “our Ukrainian partners for any current operational information regarding satellite communications activities of this kind.”

In a Feb. 8 tweet, SpaceX officials said the company “does not do business of any kind with the Russian Government or its military. Starlink is not active in Russia, meaning service will not work in that country. SpaceX has never sold or marketed Starlink in Russia, nor has it shipped equipment to locations in Russia.”

Multiple Russian companies advertise Starlinks for sale, including iMiele.ru and DJIRussia.

“If Russian stores are claiming to sell Starlink for service in that country, they are scamming their customers,” the tweet said.

But Russians can easily acquire Starlinks from abroad and then bring them back to distribute to their forces, the second Ukrainian source noted.

“It’s purchased through third parties,” the source said. “I’m amazed they didn’t do this sooner.”

SpaceX’s tweet did not directly address reports that Russian forces are using Starlink’s services within Ukraine.

It did say, “If SpaceX obtains knowledge that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorized party, we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal if confirmed.”

SpaceX is capable of preventing the use of Starlink devices in Russian-occupied territory. According to a biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, he refused a request by Ukraine to enable Starlink access in Russian-occupied Crimea to enable a Ukrainian attack.

However, Russian troops may be obscuring their use of Starlink to SpaceX, according to Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Russia could simply “provide a false GPS signal to the Starlink terminal so it thinks the user is in Ukrainian-held territory,” Clark said. Clark also supported the idea that Ukraine could tell if Russia was using Starlink, as the terminals’ signals can be identified with signals intelligence equipment.

SpaceX may also be hesitant to tightly police the location of Starlinks, said Todd Humphreys, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. With Ukrainian forces at times pressing attacks against Russia, SpaceX may “fear that a mistake in defining the front line could leave Ukraine without Starlink coverage,” he said.

More at the link.

Musk’s security clearances should be pulled and caged. Every one of his assets should be frozen pending forensic examination. SpaceX should be nationalized. Don’t take my word for it, here’s the Chief of Staff of the Azov Brigade:

The situation with @elonmusk Startlink shadow sales through third countries to the russian army could be fixed quite quickly. US Gov. should nationalize @SpaceX. @elonmusk is possessing a threat to US National security in the first place, regardless of him understanding it or not

— Bohdan Krotevych (@BohdanKrotevych) February 10, 2024

Speaking of the Soldiers of Mariupol, this is more evidence of Russian war crimes:

WARNING!! WARNING!! DISTURBING IMAGERY!! WARNING!! WARNING!!

This is not the former inmate of a Nazi Concentration camp in WW2, or the inmate of a Serbian Concentration Camp in Bosnia in the 1990s. This is Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov, a resident of Mariupol and soldier of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. Before being a POW his… pic.twitter.com/D1839aFQGh

— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) February 10, 2024

This is not the former inmate of a Nazi Concentration camp in WW2, or the inmate of a Serbian Concentration Camp in Bosnia in the 1990s. This is Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov, a resident of Mariupol and soldier of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. Before being a POW his weight was 95 kg. He returned with 57 kg (his height is 191 cm).

Source of picture: @nexta_tv

#Ukraine #Mariupol

ALL CLEAR!!!!

Avdiivka:

According to @Deepstate_UA, Russian forces have advanced further in northern Avdiivka, expanding their foothold across the rail line. https://t.co/8umlPNDjM9 pic.twitter.com/8l50l7n5eT

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) February 10, 2024

The US Republican party is now handing Putin the domestic pre-election win he needed by limiting arms to Ukraine sufficient that their positions in the east are overun by Russians.

That is now happening as Russia is pressing into the city of Avdiivka under the cover of… pic.twitter.com/jb5Y4H4x3p

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) February 10, 2024

The US Republican party is now handing Putin the domestic pre-election win he needed by limiting arms to Ukraine sufficient that their positions in the east are overun by Russians.

That is now happening as Russia is pressing into the city of Avdiivka under the cover of Iranian/North Korean artillery.

Never again wonder what Putin gets from his disinformation behemoth’s billions spent on promotion of Republicans.

Jana, an outstanding volunteer, often visits Avdiivka, risking her life to aid servicemembers. Trusted by the Ukrainian volunteer community, she delivers hundreds of drones to our soldiers. Your support for her is highly valued, given the perilous situation in Avdiivka. https://t.co/DQRcxofIiB

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) February 10, 2024

сьогодні як завжди ми кажемо Авдіївка це Україна🙏🏼

ці вулиці більше не розповідають щасливих історій, на них більше не чути сміху…

ці вулиці розповідають історії про боротьбу і нескореність!

підтримати Авдос можна туть:https://t.co/sTNNASoqua
рр — [email protected] pic.twitter.com/nmD6ESnmal

— ⚒️ яна східна (@jana_skhidna) February 10, 2024

Machine translation:

today, as always, we say Avdiyivka is Ukraine 🙏🏼

these streets no longer tell happy stories, they no longer hear laughter…

these streets tell stories of struggle and insubordination!

you can support Avdos here:
http://send.monobank.ua/jar/yzzi7qW5w
yy — [email protected]

 

Russian occupied Luhansk Oblast:

Russian 50P6E of the S-350 Vityaz air defense system which hit a mine.

“The complex belongs to one of the units of the Russian Airborne Forces.

Fortunately for the crew, the launcher missiles did not detonate. There were no casualties.

The chassis was badly damaged. The source… pic.twitter.com/ou6yEOkcSF

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 10, 2024

Russian 50P6E of the S-350 Vityaz air defense system which hit a mine.

“The complex belongs to one of the units of the Russian Airborne Forces.

Fortunately for the crew, the launcher missiles did not detonate. There were no casualties.

The chassis was badly damaged. The source claims that the launcher still stands in the same place. They are afraid to evacuate because of the large number of mines.

The S-350 Vityaz is a very rare beast. Adopted into service in 2020.

February 6, 2024.

Lugansk region.”

https://t.me/dosye_shpiona/489

A Russian military base somewhere. I’ve gone to the original Telegram post and it does not indicate if this is in Russian occupied Ukraine or in Russia proper.

Here’s the link, because this is another one of these tweets that won’t embed because Musk has had the code for them tweaked to make them not work properly as retweets, quote tweets, and/or embeds.

Moscow:

Russian Telegram channels reported that the interview with Carlson and Carlson himself was not to Putin's liking, and the interview itself was considered a failure:

"The Kovalchuk clan sharply criticizes the idea of an interview with the American journalist Carlson. They say… https://t.co/sCql6QuhkW pic.twitter.com/iyPZDTP2JW

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 9, 2024

Russian Telegram channels reported that the interview with Carlson and Carlson himself was not to Putin’s liking, and the interview itself was considered a failure:

“The Kovalchuk clan sharply criticizes the idea of an interview with the American journalist Carlson. They say that the problem is the unpreparedness of the interview arrangement – it was Gromov’s and Peskov’s mistake. Putin should have talked about conservative values, the creation of a conservative alliance, and moving on – but he went into history and platitudes about Ukraine. Naryshkin, who allegedly planted ideas with documents of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and nonsense with Poland, also played a negative role here. He set Putin up to the fullest. Medinsky would not allow such a thing.”

According to reports, Putin didn’t like Tucker Carlson – “a snob and a useful idiot who got a meaningful fee, but was lazy and lacked creativity.”
Kovalchuk family believes they could have done better with Tucker Carlson, but “everything was wasted.” There’s a wave of complaints in the Kremlin.

We all know what Putin does to useless idiots that annoy him. If I was Tucker I’d stay away from windows, any building with more than one floor, tea, all other beverages, food, bathroom sinks, bathtubs, household furniture, sharp objects, projectile weapons, etc.

Here's Tucker, waiting for Putin for 2 long hours.https://t.co/Hop1pT56Ko pic.twitter.com/M4dGHY1Gdn

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) February 10, 2024

Speaking of idiots:

Last night’s @TuckerCarlson's interview with Putin shows that Russia is open to a peace agreement, while it is DC warmongers who want to prolong the war.

That is why I’m voting to stop 60 BILLION MORE of our tax dollars to this conflict.

— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) February 9, 2024

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron tweets or videos tonight. Here’s some adjacent materials from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Same camo.

📷: 22nd Mechanized Brigade pic.twitter.com/DLYv3Q4AIO

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 10, 2024