(Picture found here, artist’s site is here)
This is what the artist of the above piece, Stanislav Lunin of Lviv, wrote to accompany it:
Welcome to free Ukraine
Now there is a war in my country.
Russia has barbarically attacked Ukraine and bombed peaceful cities and peaceful people and children in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Vinnytsia. Moscow propaganda says that this is an operation to liberate Ukrainians, but Ukrainians do not want that. We are a independent and a country of great people. Everyone who comes to our land will rest in it. Good evening, and Welcome to Ukraine, bitches!I do not claim the approval of the art community, during the war I had to make a quick collage to motivate the resistance of my people, I hope for understanding and support from artists around the world.
Let’s start with the reporting from yesterday about Russia asking China for assistance. I mentioned it, but wanted to wait for more information before digging into it a bit and now we have more information to dig into. Dig it? Good.
(CNN)The US has information suggesting China has expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance as part of its war on Ukraine, a Western official and a US diplomat told CNN, and is conveying what it knows to its NATO allies.
It is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with that assistance, US officials familiar with the intelligence tell CNN. But during an intense, seven-hour meeting in Rome, a top aide to President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart of “potential implications and consequences” for China should support for Russia be forthcoming, a senior administration official said.
The series of events underscored the growing concern among American officials at the budding partnership between Moscow and Beijing as Biden works to isolate and punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. While officials have said the Chinese President was alarmed at what has taken place since Russia invaded, there is little to indicate China is prepared to cut off its support entirely.
That leaves open a troubling possibility for American officials — that China may help prolong a bloody conflict that is increasingly killing civilians, while also cementing an authoritarian alliance in direct competition with the United States.
In a diplomatic cable, the US relayed to its allies in Europe and Asia that China had conveyed a willingness to assist Russia, which has asked for military support. The cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided. One official also said the US warned in the cable that China would likely deny it was willing to provide assistance.
Among the assistance Russia requested was pre-packaged, non-perishable military food kits, known in the US as “meal, ready-to-eat,” or MREs, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The request underscores the basic logistical challenges that military analysts and officials say have stymied Russian progress in Ukraine — and raises questions about the fundamental readiness of the Russian military.
Forward-deployed units have routinely outstripped their supply convoys and open source reports have shown Russian troops breaking into grocery stores in search of food as the invasion has progressed. One of the sources suggested that food might be a request that China would be willing to meet, because it stops short of lethal assistance that would be seen as deeply provocative by the west.
The Chinese Communist Party leadership is not all in agreement regarding how to respond to Russia’s request for assistance, said one of the sources. Two officials said that China’s desire to avoid economic consequences may limit its appetite to help Russia. Officials separately told CNN that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been unnerved by how the war in Ukraine has reinvigorated the NATO alliance.
“There is real concern by some that their involvement could hurt economic relationships with the West, on which China relies,” said one of the sources.
Officials are also monitoring whether China provides some economic and diplomatic relief for Russia in other forms, like abstention votes at the United Nations.
There’s two things to be highlighted here. The first is that just as the Biden administration repeatedly released intelligence about Putin’s war planning (and more on that once we deal with these two things) to wrong foot Putin prior to his reinvasion of Ukraine, right now both Russia and the PRC have to be wondering just how deeply has the US been able to infiltrate Russian decision making and leadership circles in order to be able to have this type of information ready to be used as part of our Information Warfare response to Putin’s aggression. In the case of China they really have to worries. The first being just how much infiltration of Russia does the US have and, additionally now that information relating to China is being released, just how much infiltration of the PRC does the US have. The Ministry of State Security is going to be very busy trying to answer those questions.
The second thing to highlight is the request for food rations. A lot of people are commenting on this along the lines of “well, the Russians have terrible logistics and in central Ukraine they’ve moved beyond their supply lines ability to sustain them”. As well as “you can’t consider Russia a great power if it has to beg another great power for food and other supplies two weeks into a war”. While these hot takes are true, we actually have a better answer for why the Russian military needs food rations because we highlighted it in the 11 March update. The answer was provided by Bellingcat’s Christo Grozev in the tweets below. In short, the Russian kleptocracy includes selling the food rations the military needs to live off of during the war in Ukraine for profit on the black market.
One ration goes for 350 Rubles (USD 3) and can feed one for two days – a great deal for residents of the impoverished middle Russia.
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 11, 2022
Genius!
Just briefly, I want to touch on the Biden administrations release of what is clearly intelligence on what Russia is planning to do and doing as part of an ongoing Information and Psychological Warfare campaign. A lot of the people that were complaining that none of this should be taken at face value and therefore we couldn’t know if Putin was really going to reinvade were the same people stating unequivocally that Putin wasn’t going to reinvade. They were wrong then. They’re wrong now. And if you’re ever wondering why I don’t reference or post tweets from certain sources, this is most likely the reason to start.
Much more after the jump.
Ben Collins and Kevin Collier of NBC have a deep dive into how the US biolabs in Ukraine conspiracy theory was spread:
Pyrra Technologies, a cybersecurity and threat intelligence company, said the first mention of biolabs came on the far-right social network Gab on Feb. 14, 10 days before the invasion. The user included an awkwardly worded graphic, titled “Exclusive US biolabs in Ukraine, and they are financed at the expense of the US Department of Defense.”
The post largely sat idle for days. Welton Chang, the CEO of Pyrra, said posts about biolabs on the top 15 far-right social networks numbered in the single digits in the days before Russia’s invasion. But on Feb. 24, the day Russia began its invasion, the number of posts about biolabs on English-language far-right websites skyrocketed into the hundreds and only grew in the days after.
Boosted by far-right influencers on the day of the invasion, an anonymous QAnon Twitter account titled @WarClandestine pushed the “biolabs” theory to new heights, using the same “US biolabs” graphic initially included on the Gab post that went largely unshared the week before.
Twitter said the account and others that pushed the biolabs theory were banned for “multiple violations of our abusive behavior policy.”
The biolab conspiracy theory has taken over as the prevailing narrative on pro-Trump and QAnon websites like The Great Awakening and Patriots.Win.
Chang said the rhetoric on pro-Trump sites, which had largely been anti-Putin in the first days of the war, has shifted because of the biolab conspiracy theory.
“These communities already know what the rhythm and cadence of Covid conspiracies should be like to get people to buy it,” Chang said. “They had a lot of practice with QAnon. The kinds of things that get people excited, like any time you say ‘secret biolab,’ it gets people’s emotions up.”
Russian and Chinese officials have also boosted the theory. On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry began pushing the conspiracy theory, asking for a “full account” of Ukraine’s “biological military activities at home and abroad.”
By Wednesday, almost two weeks after the invasion, the conspiracy theory had reached Carlson, who led his show claiming that the “Biden administration was funding secret biolabs in Ukraine.”
Much much more at the link above. Unfortunately, Collins and Collier didn’t drill all the way down, as we have here in previous updates, and, as a result, they did not report that this conspiracy theory is a repurposed and reframed conspiracy theory that was originally being pushed by Dilyana Gaytandzhievia about US bio weapon labs in Georgia. And that she was one of the people that repurposed it for Ukraine.
Here’s today’s background briefing from the Pentagon as reported by Dan Lamothe:
A background briefing at the Pentagon about the Russian war on Ukraine just finished. It’s Day 19 of the war.
Basic takeaways:
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) March 14, 2022
- I’ll start with the strikes Sunday on the Ukrainian military training center at Yavoriv, near the border with Poland. A senior U.S. defense official says they were carried out by cruise missiles launched from long-range Russian bombers from Russian airspace.
- Note: That’s different than speculation and some reporting yesterday that they were carried out by sea-launched missiles from Russian ships. Those are still quite rare in this war.
- “More than a couple dozen” Russian cruise missiles were launched at the training center from aircraft, the senior U.S. defense official says. He notes that a no-fly zone patrolling Ukrainian airspace would not have stopped this strike.
- The Pentagon is not clear on whether any Americans there as volunteers for the Ukrainian effort were there. It’s not something they are tracking, the senior U.S. defense official says.
- Russian ground advances remain largely stalled, the senior U.S. defense official says. No “appreciable” change on advances on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, etc.
- Pentagon still sees no indications of the Russians sending in military reinforcements from elsewhere in Russia, the senior U.S. defense official said.
- “Siege mentality” by Russia still playing out, the senior U.S. defense official says. Heavy bombardment of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, etc. Mariupol and Chernihiv remain under attack and isolated.
- Senior U.S. defense official on Russia: “Clearly, they are increasing the amount of long-range fires they are applying to these cities, these population centers that are holding out … They are obviously continuing the bombardment and increasing that, no doubt about it.”
- Russia now has 100 percent of the forces it assembled prior to invading committed to the fight. It has under 90 percent of those forces available to them, after taking losses, senior U.S. defense official says.
- Pentagon still sees no indications of Belarus sending in forces to join the fight, senior U.S. defense official says.
- As of Monday, Russia has launched more than 900 missiles at Ukraine since the beginning the invasion Feb. 24, senior U.S. defense official says.
- No change in force posture for the about 5,000 U.S. troops in Poland following yesterday’s airstrikes on the Yavoriv military training center just inside Ukraine, senior U.S. defense official says.
- Russia still has not achieve air superiority over Ukraine, senior U.S. defense official says. But he couches by saying Russia has not achieved air superiority over “all of Ukraine.” Last week, lawmakers sent a letter to POTUS suggesting Russia had air superiority already.
Here’s a good thread by Russia’s former Foreign Minister:
Last week, I read critiques of my position on Putin’s rationality and possibility of nuclear war. Many are not realist enough about the nuclear threat or the right response.
I argue in this thread that if we “blink” on Putin’s nuclear threat, we will increase the risk of WWIII.
— Andrei V Kozyrev (@andreivkozyrev) March 14, 2022
- Nuclear deterrence is based on the belief that any attack with nuclear weapons will immediately trigger a mirror response in kind. For more than 70 years, this conviction – the balance of fear – was shared by nuclear powers and kept WWIII away.
- The use of strategic nuclear forces, which Putin ordered to be put on high alert (and apparently nothing happened), is a suicidal act given the policy of mutually assured destruction.
- As I explained in my other thread, he is not interested in pressing the strategic nuclear button, but is smart enough to threaten to do it. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who was fascinated with nuclear bombs, tried this before.
- What if during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev believed that JFK wanted to avoid the risk of nuclear war more than he did? As a result of JFK’s brinksmanship in the Cuban Crisis, WWIII was avoided. The balance of fear worked based on American resolve.
- What if Reagan had blinked on the Pershing deployments in Western Europe? Would Mr. Gorbachev tear down the wall then?
- For Putin and his team of ex-KGB officers, the Cold War never ended. The collapse of the USSR was just one lost battle in an ongoing contest. They probe the West with limited wars (Georgia), interventions (Syria), cyberwar (Estonia) and disinformation.
- The feeble responses to their actions in Crimea, Donbas, and Syria, convinced the Kremlin that the US and the West became decadent and lost the will to resist after declaring the post-Cold War era.
- Granted, the united response to the invasion caught them off guard. And the war is not going according to plan, with Western munitions greatly assisting the Ukrainians. Putin doesn’t like to be on the back foot, so now they’re checking if the threat of nuclear war is effective.
- The West willingly provided evidence of its effectiveness. The shameful game of hot potato around Polish MiGs started after Putin’s nuclear threat. Now the Kremlin wants to see what else they can stop with nuclear blackmail: they called Western arms convoys “legitimate targets”.
- Putin declared that the economic sanctions were “an act of war.” Can he force the West to ease sanctions with the specter of nuclear war? I don’t see why he wouldn’t try.
- I’m not calling for a No Fly Zone or any specific military move in Ukraine. The feasibility and effectiveness of these options is beyond my expertise. But, I am calling out political statements that give away “bargaining power” by ruling out options for fear of nuclear war.
Here’s a statement from Vladimir Klitschko, brother of Kyiv’s mayor Vitaly Klitschko, from the tour they took the news media on to the site of an air strike on Kyiv earlier today:
From the bottom of our heart and the center of Europe: we need YOUR support ??
Act now, find ways how to in my Bio ⬆ ?#SaveUkraine#Kyiv #StopPutinsWar #Standtogether #Ukraine #FreeUkraine #WeAreAllUkrainians #StandWithUkraine #StopTheWar #StopWar #SupportUkraine pic.twitter.com/Z4uiMDIOBn
— Klitschko (@Klitschko) March 14, 2022
And here’s Mayor Klitschko:
We are at the scene of a second attack in Kyiv one hour ago together with mayor Vitali Klitschko. One dead, six injured in this area. @BILD pic.twitter.com/sxeWPyBZml
— Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) March 14, 2022
At least two people died, three wounded after a Russian strike hit a residential block in the northern Obolon district of Kyiv. The rescue operation still ongoing. A residential block has been targeted in Kyiv in the first days of war: but it's the first time people were killed https://t.co/hedqzZg1AO
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 14, 2022
Firefighters rescuing people from the apartment building in Kyiv, badly damaged by Russian shelling on the morning of March 14.
Video by the State Emergency Service. pic.twitter.com/kiqlSX3Tjo
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 14, 2022
Video of the missile intercept in Kyiv:
An intercepted Russian missile falling down in Kyiv pic.twitter.com/kGfD6CR0e9
— Illia Ponomarenko ?? (@IAPonomarenko) March 14, 2022
The aftermath:
Another Russian #warcrime in #Ukraine.
??Air defense has intercepted a missile targeted at the residential district in central Kyiv – Podil district. Unfortunately, one man, 59 years old, has been killed and 5 people injured.#RussiaWarCrimes pic.twitter.com/gU4Dm3AwLz— Гюндуз Мамедов/Gyunduz Mamedov (@MamedovGyunduz) March 14, 2022
Here’s the first tweet in a long and very detailed thread on how things are going – not well – in the southeast of Ukraine. It has links and imagery embedded in the tweets, so click across to read the whole thread and to to see the links and images.
A longer thread ? on the alarming situation in #Ukraine's occupied southeast. The developments are fluid and both alarming and inspiring.
What we are seeing there is the attempt to set up Stalin-like police states (dressed as "People's Republics"). Worst is yet to come. /1— Mattia Nelles (@mattia_n) March 14, 2022
I tried copying and pasting from the thread reader app, but that just made a big mess. So just click on the tweet above!
Here’s more detail on what’s going on with the Russian’s arresting local officials, reporters, and activists:
As of now 4 #Ukraine’s servants of local self-govern. have been abducted by RU troops. Dniprorudne: Yevhen Matveyev (mayor). Melitopol: Ivan Fedorov, (mayor), Sergiy Pryima (Head of Melitopol district council), Leila Ibrahimova (deputy of Zaporizhzhya oblast council) ?1/
— Maria Zolkina (@Mariia_Zolkina) March 14, 2022
3/ Russia needs a picture, that local authorities face surrendered and work for occupiers. RU needs to make people shut up and stop protesting against invaders. They involve so called “public police” from occupied Donbas to clean up UA patriots in recently captured cities
— Maria Zolkina (@Mariia_Zolkina) March 14, 2022
Russian warships purportedly approaching the Ukrainian port city of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. Terrifying to see them so close to shore. https://t.co/sbUMQhOHk6
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 14, 2022
Mariupol:
A guy-wrenching bird’s eye view of the hell that Russian forces have unleashed on Mariupol, where more than 2,000 people have been killed. There’s no power, no heat, no running water. Food is running out. Video shared by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. pic.twitter.com/FQwkLnXjFC
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 14, 2022
A pregnant woman pictured being evacuated from a bombed maternity hospital in #Mariupol has died along with her unborn child.#StopRussianAggression#CloseUAskyNOW pic.twitter.com/hIM8ZizilC
— MFA of Ukraine ?? (@MFA_Ukraine) March 14, 2022
Pregnant woman injured in airstrike on maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 9 died along with her unborn child – VoA reporter Asya Dolina. This is her in the video. Russia is killing the living and the unborn. #GenocideOfUkrainians pic.twitter.com/X7H9ozc6II
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) March 14, 2022
“This is not enough,” Vereshchuk said, adding that Russia has blocked Ukrainian trucks and buses from evacuating more people.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 14, 2022
Kharkiv:
These are not scenes from some post-apocalyptic movie. This is what the downtown of Kharkiv, the second largest city in #Ukraine, looks like today.
? by @ngumenyuk. pic.twitter.com/Bn1RxHDKfO
— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) March 14, 2022
⚡️ Governor: Russia hits Kharkiv with ballistic missiles.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov claimed that Kharkiv was hit by short-range Iskander ballistic missile systems stationed in Russia.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 14, 2022
The Russians are still targeting Lviv:
Air raid sirens sounding in Lviv. This is Ukrainians’ new disturbing reality. pic.twitter.com/5Ng9ozVmFp
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 14, 2022
The power is off, again, in Chornobyl!
⚡️Russian occupiers damage Chornobyl power line again.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said that a high-voltage power line was damaged a day after electricity supplies were restored to the facility. The critical cooling system at the plant needs power to operate normally.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 14, 2022
The daily reminder of why I don’t think the sanctions and other economic measures are going to be effective:
BREAKING: The IMF predicts that Ukraine's economy will shrink by 35% in 2022. The Russian economy is expected to shrink 7%.
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) March 14, 2022
For when you want to reach out and touch someone!
#Ukraine: Insane footage of a Ukrainian BTR-4 in use in the vicinity of #Mariupol against Russian armour, damaging a T-72B3M and totally destroying a BRM-1K.
Never quite seen anything like this so far. pic.twitter.com/486rmcEI87
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 14, 2022
#Ukraine: Ukrainian Artillery was claimed to hit a Russian convoy in #Kyiv: one vehicle can be seen on fire, and another with ammo inside detonates. pic.twitter.com/4bjUpRODbi
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 14, 2022
Your daily bayraktar (TB-2 is their alphanumeric designator):
#Ukraine: Another Russian Tor-M1 SAM system was destroyed by a Ukrainian TB-2 drone strike in the vicinity of the #Kherson bridge. pic.twitter.com/SLY7rEGtdi
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 14, 2022
Is this upgrade package available in the US?
#Ukraine: A open top BMW 6 series with a NSV 12,7×108 heavy machine gun mounted – is not something you see everyday. pic.twitter.com/wWGrg5ddEU
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 14, 2022
Here’s a final bit of info so far on Marina Ovsyannikova. As has been reported, the last details we have of her is that she was taken into police custody. Everyone keep a good thought that they want her presentable and in good shape for the show trial!
To give you an idea of how sweeping the wartime censorship laws are in Russia: Novaya Gazeta, Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov’s paper, published a picture of Ovsyannikova’s protest that looks like this pic.twitter.com/ydzuVQ19eR
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 14, 2022
Veronika Melkozerova, has had an op-ed published in The Atlantic.
Every day Russians commit more and more atrocities in my country. Only after Putin unleashed hell on our lands did the West finally unite in support of Ukraine, providing more weapons. Finally, the collective democratic world squeezed Russia with unprecedented sanctions.
However, this has not stopped Putin from bombing and destroying Ukraine. If anything, his resolve has only strengthened. The Kremlin knows that Russians will feel the full impact of sanctions in a month or so. It also knows that Europe is so dependent on Russian fossil fuels that such harsh sanctions likely won’t last long. I already see more and more tweets sympathizing with Russians, saying those people do not deserve the limitations imposed against their nation for Putin’s war.
The Kremlin knows that the West, despite its public admiration for Ukrainian courage, has left Ukraine alone on the actual battlefield. Westerners would rather help Ukraine with weapons and money but stand aside.
People in these countries are scared of World War III. I understand the fear—but don’t you understand that World War III may have already arrived? Ukraine has been begging NATO to establish a no-fly zone, to protect us from Russian bombs, or at least give us fighter jets so we can better protect our skies. So far, the answer on both is “no.”
Meanwhile, more than 2,187 people have died because of Russian attacks in Mariupol alone, according to officials there. Russian attacks from the air have almost destroyed Volnovakha, Kharkiv, and many other towns in Ukraine. Ukraine’s authorities, who first pressured world powers to impose preventive sanctions, then pushed them to cut Russia from the SWIFT international-payment system, then pushed them to cut Russia from the rest of the world, have been asking how many more people should die for the skies to be closed over Ukraine.
What I see from NATO is a version of this message: The war in Ukraine is not our war. We will come forward only if Russia attacks an alliance member or bombs our convoy to Ukraine.
People of Europe and the U.S. have been pressing their governments to take a proactive position. They sent donations. They sent thoughts and prayers. The governments, especially in Europe, are still very cautious when it comes to making any move that might provoke Russia. Leaders such as Emmanuel Macron still seem to believe that dialogue can persuade Putin to stop his atrocities. For many in Europe, Russia’s petroleum and gas are more valuable than Ukrainian lives.
I understand the Western governments’ position.
I also used to say “This is not my war” while watching Russia’s atrocities in Aleppo. I also sent my thoughts and prayers to the people of Syria, also destroyed with the help of Putin. And back in 2008, I was so young that I did not even care to think about Georgians, whose land was also devastated and divided by Putin. And before that Moldova, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Libya, and other African countries.
We in Ukraine also did not believe that Putin would dare to launch a full-scale invasion. But he did. Because in Moldova, Georgia, Syria, and Ukraine, Russia got away with its crimes. It did all this after the infamous “reset” of relations with the United States, and the United States allowed it. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on March 3, the West will “get over” its “hysteria” about Ukraine too.
I am afraid he might be right. And I am afraid of what that will mean for the rest of the world. Russia can’t let itself lose in Ukraine and has enough resources to keep its economy alive. Putin has made clear that he doesn’t see Ukraine as a sovereign nation and that he would rather destroy it than let it exist as a free European nation. Many, if not most, Russians share his view. Even many who claim to be liberals have tended to see Ukraine as a “special country,” meaning their country.
So maybe by saying “This is not our war,” the world’s leading democratic countries are simply showing that they are in denial about what will happen next. What if World War III has already started? Perhaps it began in Georgia, Moldova, and Syria. Perhaps in the future, the invasion of February 24 won’t be seen as the start, but as a key turning point.
It is obvious that Russia will not stop its crusade against democratic values and common sense in Ukraine. Russian propagandists have been talking about which country will be invaded next. Ukraine’s Defense Secretary Olexiy Danilov has said it might be Lithuania, a NATO member. Will NATO act only after Lithuania is invaded?
I don’t know. And I don’t call upon the peaceful nations of Europe to join our war either. All I can ask is that you think about your beloved cities and the people who might one day become Putin’s next targets.
The truth hurts. Much, much more of it at the link above.
Finally, here’s another excellent socio-cultural and historical pol-mil deep dive by Galeev. Just two quick points. First, like almost everyone, he botched the Chamberlain references. A review of the correspondence between Chamberlain and British military leadership including civilian leaders like Churchill, as well as the parliamentary record, makes it clear that Chamberlain, his government, the MOD, and the senior uniformed officers all knew what was coming and had developed a policy and strategy towards Hitler where the objective to be achieved was time. Specifically, Britain needed time to rearm for this coming war. Cold comfort to the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled, but Chamberlain wasn’t appeasing the way he is normally accused whose lives were the ways and means to achieve this objective.
Second, what Galeev leaves out of this, though he alludes to it, is that Putin has gone all in in pushing the fabricated history that the Russians are a divine race that originated in the arctic then came to Europe through the Kievan Rus. This rewrites the actual history of the Kyivan Rus and fuses it with something that is one part Aryan NAZIsm and one part North Korean Juche.
How to defeat Putin?
Many recognise the importance of coercive measures against Russia and necessity to give it a way out
And yet, some presume that the way out should be given to Putin to force him to negotiate. That's a disastrous idea. There's no way he can roll back now? pic.twitter.com/dO2TU85TzW
— Kamil Galeev (@kamilkazani) March 13, 2022
Open thread!
War for Ukraine Update 20: Things Are Continuing As They’ve Been GoingPost + Comments (99)