The Ukrainian 2023 Offensive

Good Substack Reads on the War in Ukraine

Downtown Kyiv, March 2023 (Image: Author)

As many journalists and analysts have concluded, the Ukrainian 2023 offensive has begun. This is a fair assessment. The Ukrainian attacks in the south and east over the last few days, recent operational strikes and comments by Ukrainian officials (including the President) about their readiness all build a picture of a large-scale 2023 Ukrainian campaign to seize back territory in the east and south of their nation.

I will be writing much more about the Ukrainian operations in the coming weeks and months.

In the six months or so that I have been on this platform, I have found it an enjoyable way to write, post analysis on the war in Ukraine (as well as tensions over Taiwan) and receive feedback from readers. I quite like the process that goes into producing the articles that appear here, although I also enjoy producing my regular opinion pieces - in a different format - for the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC Australia.

Another thing I like about this platform is the other writers who are also sharing their work. There are so many outstanding authors writing pieces on a variety of topics. There isn’t enough time in the day to read them all!

That said, there is a smaller group of authors who are producing excellent assessments on various aspects of the war in Ukraine. As such, today I wanted to highlight a few of the ones I really admire and enjoy reading.

Hopefully you will too!

And if there are substacks that missing from this list that should be here, please let me know and I will update this article.

Lawrence Freedman’s Comment is Freed

Sir Lawrence Freedman hardly needs an introduction. A long standing scholar and author, Sir Lawrence is the Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London. He has been commenting on the strategic aspects of the Russo-Ukraine War, and he begins his decades of experience in producing first-rate commentaries.

Your can read Comment is Freed here: Comment is Freed

Margo Gontar’s Stories with Margo

Margo is a journalist, heralding from Kyiv, who covers the many human dimensions of the suffering caused to the Ukrainian people in the wake of the Russian invasion.

You can read Margo’s excellent newsletter here: Stories with Margo

Andrew’s Substack

Andy Milburn is a former U.S. Marine who also founded the Mozart Group in Ukraine. He has just started his Substack, but it clearly benefits from his huge network in Ukraine. He could do with a good name for his substack, though.

Your can read Andy Milburn’s newsletter here: Andrew’s Substack

Andrew Tanner’s Rogue Systems Recon

An excellent substack from retired solider, scholar and author Andrew Tanner. It has frequent updates on various aspects of the war in Ukraine. This is well worth your time to browse through regularly.

Your can read Rogue Systems Recon here: Rogue Systems Recon

Stefan Korshak’s FB Posts

Stefan Korshak is a journalist who has spent years in and around Ukraine covering different aspects of Russian aggression and its military invasion. As Stefan notes on his substack: This is a blog by a Kyiv-based reporter without much attempt to conceal bias or limit characters. Stefan is well connected in the Ukrainian military and government and his posts are well worth reading.

Your can read all of Sefan’s posts here: Stefan Korshak's FB posts

Timothy Snyders’ Thinking About…

Professor Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale as well as the author of On Tyranny, Blood Lands and many other books. He has an excellent class on the history of Ukraine, which he posts on his substack.

Your can subscribe to Thinking About… here: Thinking about...

Tim Mak’s The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak

Before starting his substack recently, Tim was be an investigative correspondent for NPR, and I am also a former U.S. Army combat medic. He has written for Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Politico Magazine, and the L.A. Times. He is also the author of a book about the inner workings of the NRA, called Misfire.

You can subscribe to Tim’s Newsletter here: https://counteroffensive.substack.com/about

Phillip’s Newsletter

A professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews (that is in the northern hemisphere somewhere), and author of How the War Was Won: air-sea power and Allied victory in World War II, Phillips P. OBrien has been a frequent commentator on the war in Ukraine since its beginning. He has also published numerous articles on the war in The Atlantic.

You can subscribe to Phillips Newsletter here: Phillips’s Newsletter

Ukraine Stories

This newsletter presents oral history, citizen journalism, deep dives, and on-the-ground reporting that is focussed on those who are living the invasion, fighting it, fleeing from it, writing about it, and supporting those trying to escape to safety.

The newsletter provides a chronicle of the humanitarian catastrophe that has resulted from the Russian invasion, told from a variety of viewpoints: refugees, organisations helping with humanitarian relief, artists, journalists, and more.

You can subscribe to the Ukraine Stories newsletter here: Ukraine Stories

War Updates

This is a good site that provides mapping as well as geospatial analysis and commentary. While Ukraine is its primary focus, it also covers other conflicts as well.

You can subscribe to the War Updates newsletter here: War updates

Tom Cooper’s Sarcastosaurus

Full of lively prose and some terrific graphs and imagery, I have found this a very interesting newsletter. Run by Tom Cooper, from Austria, who focusses on the analysis of contemporary warfare.

You can subscribe to the Sarcastosaurus newsletter here: Sarcastosaurus

Ukraine SITREP

A useful substack for updates on the war, although these are not a daily event. The analysis contained in the newsletter is very good.

You can read Ukraine SITREP here: Ukraine SITREP

Iuliia’s Substack

Written by Iuliia Mendel, who is a former journalist and press secretary to President Zelensky, this newsletter provides regular updates on the situation in Ukraine.

You can read Iuliia’s Substack here: Iuliia’s Substack

Ukraine Conflict Monitor

A very good site, which complements excellent social media and internet sites that contain analysis about Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the ongoing war. The newsletter provides weekly updates as well as briefings on special topics.

You can read the Ukraine Conflict Monitor substack here: Ukraine Conflict Monitor