Ukraine Updates and Recommended Reading

Update for today- mostly links to background and current reports, all of which I consider pertinent for developing a solid view of the war in Ukraine, of Russia’s capabilities, tactics, and probable courses of action, and an understanding of Russia’s overall threat against freedom and democracy worldwide.

There is hope in Belarus, where they are still not following Putin’s doctrine to the letter, and may well act to thwart his plans- from 29 January, 2023, from the RFERL website, “Amid Worries Over Russian Forces In Belarus, Former Security Officer Says Belarusian Conscripts Won’t Fight.”

From the RAND website, from March, 2017, see the testimony to the House Armed Services Committee: Understanding Russian “Hybrid Warfare” And What Can Be Done About It  by Christopher S. Chivvis. This testimony, though it is from 2017 and as such its predictions and warnings have become history, is worth the time to read.

The testimony notes Russia’s goals in their hybrid war as creating division in and weakening NATO, subversion of pro-western and democratic governments, the creation of pretexts for war, and to justify the annexation of territory as a few of those goals. It covers briefly the development of Russia’s hybrid, non-military toolbox, growing out of the “traditional” espionage and subversion used by the USSR. It stresses the importance of countering Russia’s threats in the information realm- specifically in the media and news, on social media, and the internet in general, along with strengthening of governments’ cyber security and enhancing collection and sharing of intelligence among European, EU, and allied nations as key in the fight against the Russian threat.

Continuing in that realm, from the Army University Press website, September-October 2020, see “Russian New Generation Warfare Deterring and Winning the Tactical  Fight” by James Derleth, PhD.

For a quick, two-page introduction to Russian Military Doctrine from August, 2020, see “Russian Armed Forces: Military Doctrine and Strategy” from the Congressional Research Service website. Key points of note include hybrid and new generation warfare, non-kinetic strategies such as the use of the information sphere (control of media, social media, information creation and delivery, etc.), Russia’s historical and continued emphasis on offensive doctrine and targeting of infrastructure, and lack of concern for mass casualties due to lack of training, morale, and poor command and control.

This RAND page, “Russia’s War in Ukraine: Insights from RAND” has pages of resources- background, testimony, and commentary. It covers strategies and positions of all the players, and has sections dedicated to capabilities, humanitarian concerns, diplomatic and political aspects of the war, and more.

More background, from the United Sates Army War College Press, June 2011, “The Russian Military and the Georgia War: Lessons and Implications”  assesses Russia’s performance in Georgia and how it forced doctrinal changes in the Russian military.

Updates directly from Ukraine are available at the Ukrinform website.

For an update on the current situation on the ground in Ukraine, see the latest assessment from the Institute for the Study of War.

Finally, as always an update of Russian combat losses to date, totaling 131,290- an increase of 700 from the previous day. I read that a New York Times report puts the total number of dead and wounded Russian soldiers at about 200,000 so far. The number will only increase, with daily numbers increasing, until Russia comes to its senses, abandons the Tsar’s mania for conquest, and leaves all Ukrainian territory.

Russian combat losses as of 05 February, 2023

Ukraine Updates- Putin’s Demise, Orban’s Big Mouth, Czech Republic Elections, and Russian Dead

According to an interview with Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) on 24 Channel, not only is the dictator Putin’s time limited, but the the ability of Russia to continue to wage its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine is waning. There is plenty of evidence for the latter part of the statement, I just hope the first part is as true. Here are some of the main quotes form the interview as posted on the Telegram channel The Center for Countering Disinformation (part of the NSDC):

🔹 «Some events that have been in the aggressor country indicate that the russian dictator is already doomed to defeat»
🔹 «People who are in putin’s closest circle are increasingly aware that russia has no prospects of winning the war against Ukraine»
🔹 «The issue of putin in russia is almost closed. Some people have already known the name of the person who will work there after putin»
🔹 «Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have their own assumptions about what will happen next in russia and who can become the dictator’s successor»
🔹 «Ukrainians proved on the battlefield that they are capable of defending their independence and freedom»
🔹 «Ukraine’s partner countries will not allow russia to use nuclear weapons. And the nuclear blackmail started in the kremlin won’t have any consequences»

Here is the interview posted on YouTube (in Ukrainian without subtitles.)

Hungary’s Viktor Orban is at it again, acting as a puppet should, following Putin’s lead and stirring up trouble in the EU with disparaging remarks about Ukraine and threats of vetoes when it comes to sanctioning Russian energy. Not surprising at all. If only Orban could be replaced by a better candidate, as it seems the Czech Republic has chosen to do.  In elections there, former general Petr Pavel has beaten the billionaire Andrej Babis in the presidential election.

Comments on Russian “news and information”- remember that all “information” coming from Russia, out of Russia, via Russian sources is suspect,  tendentious, questionable to say the least, and in large part just lies. Manipulation of news and information is part of hybrid warfare and Russia is deep into it, though most of it seems targeted for a Russian audience, as anyone outside of the country with access to other sources will see right through the web of disinformation, propaganda, and in some cases downright humorous attempts at manipulation of facts that Russia passes off internally as news.

From the ISW website, see today’s RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT. From that assessment, comments on front-line Russian milbloggers and information control:

The Russian military command may also be attempting to resurrect its previously unsuccessful censorship efforts targeting the critical milblogger community.ISW previously reported that the Russian MoD conducted several unsuccessful attempts to promote self-censorship among milbloggers from different nationalist factions—including Wagner-affiliated milbloggers—in summer and fall 2022.[26] Russian military command also previously attempted to promote self-censorship among milbloggers by pushing the narrative that Russian milbloggers have been violating Russian operational security by uploading combat footage or revealing Russian positions online.[27] It is unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin is supporting these restrictions given that he had been appeasing pro-war milbloggers by meeting with them, allowing them to autonomously operate on the frontlines, and tolerating their criticisms.[28] The Kremlin is also continuing to integrate some select milbloggers by offering to let them host TV shows on Russian state broadcasters.[29] The Russian MoD may be conducting its own line of effort to silence the milbloggers independent of Putin. ISW will continue to monitor to see if Putin overrules the Russian MoD’s efforts to silence milbloggers.

The Russian military command is likely attempting to restrict milbloggers’ frontline coverage to regain control over the Russian information space ahead of a possible new offensive. Alexander Kots—a member of the Russian Human Rights Commission under Russian President Vladimir Putin and a prominent milblogger—stated that there are rumors that Russian authorities will require war correspondents to wear bright blue press vests to identify themselves as journalists in the combat zone.[20] Kots and other milbloggers criticized the rumored decision, claiming that high-visibility vests will only help Ukrainian forces deliberately target war correspondents embedded in Russian units.[21] Some milbloggers even admitted that they have been hiding their “PRESS” labels for years and noted that this allowed hundreds of war correspondents to independently work on the frontlines without anyone’s formal orders.[22] The Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) First Deputy Information Minister Danil Bezsonov also argued that generals who are introducing these regulations should be responsible for each war correspondent’s death after making them an easily visible target on the ground.[23] One milblogger accused the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) of deliberately introducing new bureaucratic requirements that will limit the milbloggers’ ability to operate on the frontlines.[24]

Finally, an update on Russian combat losses from the Ukrinform website clearly shows increasing daily numbers of Russian casualties. Since hitting the 100,000 mark about a month back, the number of dead Russian soldiers has increased by 25,000. That is 25,000 Russian “soldiers”… some soldiers, Wagner mercenaries/criminals, and conscripted students, workers, peasants, and aged fathers and grandfathers killed in about one month. But they are replaceable- according to today’s ISW assessment, Putin is issuing pardons for criminals willing to fight in Ukraine, and has also stated that conscription age will not change in the spring conscription cycle (at least not until reporting day gets closer.)

Russian combat losses as of 28 January, 2023

Ukraine Must Not Become Another Bosnia

I have pointed out the similarities, and the possible similar outcomes, between Ukraine and Bosnia many times in my blogs. I have repeatedly warned against allowing anything of the sort. Here is an article on Aljazeera by a professor at the University of Sarajevo, outlining exactly the same idea. In his article Why Ukraine should not accept Bosnia-style peace, Hamza Karčić explains the dangers of allowing western “experts” and “mediators” to help in the negotiating process. If you recall what happened in Bosnia in the early 1990’s then you know the dangers. If you are unfamiliar, use this article as a starting point to learn about the horrors of Bosnia at that time, and understand why Ukraine must be supported fully, to the end, when they drive the Russian invaders from their country.

Russia is a terrorist state. Ukraine must not become another Bosnia.

We can all help the people of Ukraine succeed in their fight.  Today and tomorrow all donations made to World Central Kitchen will be doubled, up to 10 million dollars! Give what you can and help feed the victims of Russia’s criminal actions.

In the meantime, the criminal Russian state continues to kill its citizens. As of today Russian war dead totals near 88,000 souls.

At the same time, Russian military incompetence, disorganisation, and poor training continues to fund the Ukrainian war effort. Let’s add more HIMARS to these armaments, and most important of all ATACMS!

Russian donations to Ukraine’s war effort.

 

The Russian Police State, World Central Kitchen, Russian Losses Updated, and Is the West Doing Enough?

My comments for the day begin thus: Russians are falling perfectly into step with the oppressive, authoritarian state, and state sanctioned lies. The propaganda fed to them by the brutal, murderous state is not questioned; the subjects take it as gospel truth, as good Soviet (Putinist) citizens should.  The work of the KGB (FSB) makes sure that fear rules that country; anyone speaking out in any way is subject to arrest as a foreign agent, with 15 years ahead of them. If this is not history repeating itself, then I don’t know what is. See Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, as I seem to be repeating in blog after blog. All of this just happened, and there are still people alive who saw it and lived it the last time.

Are we doing enough? From the Telegram channel Ищи своих, from 15 May, 2022 (translated using Google Translate):

West not doing enough to unseat Putin, Iranian analyst

“Regime change in any situation, be it in Russia, Iran or North Korea, will not be possible without the intervention of an internal factor or the people.”

Amir Taheri is sure: “Putin believes that the war in Ukraine will eventually be the first step towards the “Russification” of Europe. It is important to help the Russian people understand that Putin wants to go in the opposite direction of history and bring Russia to war with all of Europe.”

There you have it.  We are not doing enough- the US, Europe, the rest of the world. My immediate list- more opinions on my part- on what should be done:

• Every penny that is in any way traced back to Russia should immediately go into a fund for the eventual rebuilding of Ukraine, or for the fight against Russia right now
• Every Russian unit, every single soldier being held by Ukraine who was anywhere near the scene of any war crimes should be questioned, and if evidence indicates, put on trial immediately. The trials should be swift and just, more in keeping with Nuremberg- a year and half and they were completed. Not like the ICTY trials, and those still underway, in Bosnia- 30 years after the fact!
• Every last resource available to us, those of us outside of Russia, should be used to bring Putin and his regime down- economic means, cyber warfare, sanctions against Russia and sanctions against US companies and multi-nationals who still do business in Russia (these in place until they leave Russia for good), and finally good old fashioned subversion and psyops (psychological operations)- getting alternative information- truth, into Russia through radio, TV, social media, and even in print. Spreading accurate information in a closed society is a form of subversion. Subversion is a tactic that can gain more ground psychologically than possibly any other.  We see a few overt, active  subversive acts going on- the firebombing of recruiting stations for example (level 3 subversion includes sabotage). These firebombings should be only the beginning.

Again, my opinions. And yes, they are harsh. But the survival of Europe as we know it, and… not to be too much of a doomsayer here, but… possibly even our SPECIES is at stake here.

Feeding the hungry in Ukraine–  an update from the World Central Kitchen.  They continue to feed so many people in Ukraine- 25 million meals served to date!  They are always in need of donations. See the links above, right.

Russian soldiers murdered by Putin so far- fast approaching twice the number who died in Afghanistan over the course of 10 years!

Russian combat losses as of 16 May 2022

 

Russia- a Terrorist State, Baltic States Back Ukraine, Russian Combat Losses

Points of note for today:

• Aljazeera reports first war crimes trail of Russian soldier will begin.
• Also causing a stir with Russia, Finland will join NATO, with Sweden likely to follow within days.
• UKRINFORM website reports Russia has used about 70% of its arsenal of high-precision missiles.
• The same site reports that Russia is unable to fully restore the combat capability of military units withdrawn from Ukraine.
• Add Bulgaria to the list of countries to keep an eye on as another Putin apologist, a former Bulgarian presidential advisor, works to destabilise Bulgaria and in crease support of Russia.

Finally, while we would like to believe that all large, multi-national companies are supporting Ukraine and have left Russia, this is not the case. Companies such as Nestle, MARS, Danone, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, and PepsiCo to name a few, are still doing business in Russia to one degree or another- still selling products, selling a limited range of products, and paying employees (and therefore taxes to the Russian government).

The following is reposted from the Telegram channel Center for Countering Disinformation, 11-12 May, 2022:

Russia as a terrorist state-

Given the beginning of Western countries’ recognition of Russia as a terrorist state, it is necessary to inform about the consequences of such a decision for it

• A state sponsor of terrorism is a country that, in accordance with the official position of the US State Department, provides support for acts of international terrorism.
• 10.05.2022 – Lithuania recognizes Russia as a terrorist country. The Lithuanian Seimas has adopted a resolution recognizing Russia as a terrorist state.
• 10.05.2022 – the US Senate registered a resolution recognizing Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.

Inclusion on such a list entails severe economic and political sanctions, including:

• ban on arms supplies (export and sale)
• control over the export of dual-use goods
• ban on economic aid
• various financial and other restrictions

Baltic States deny Russian propaganda victory- 

Russian propaganda claims that the campaign launched by the governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to recognize Russia as an aggressor country is not supported by the Russian-speaking population of these countries

But the kremlin’s hopes of using Russian-speaking minorities to justify the special operation proved futile.

🔺On April 21, the parliamentarians of Estonia and Latvia recognized the Russian actions as genocide of the Ukrainian people
🔺Latvian opposition Harmony party, which represents the interests of Russian-born voters, unanimously condemned the aggression
🔺Estonian faction of the Centrist Party, based on the Russian-speaking electorate, signed a statement in support of Ukraine
🔺Lithuanian parliamentarians unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing Russia as a state that supports and commits terrorism
🔺According to a survey conducted by the Baltic agency SKDS, 68% of Russian-speaking respondents support Ukraine, take part in actions in support of Ukraine and help refugees.

 

Russian combat losses as of 12 May, 2022

 

Nostalgia, Air Power, My Agenda and Russian Losses Updated

The Russian government… a brutal, schizophrenic, dissociated, draconian society of criminals and murderers. The question I personally always come back to is, how do so many millions, hundreds of millions of people live with such repression, hopelessness, isolation, suffering, lies, and murder as acceptable and normal? And this is not just directed at Russia, it is a global disease, that of collective insanity. But since my focus here is specific… Russia, you can fight- on the side of good, stand up, fight for freedom , like Ukraine, and perhaps die. Or you can remain passive, inactive, resigned to accept evil. And perhaps die. Do I need to remind you of Stalin? Gulags? Mass murder of your countrymen by your countrymen? It is a personal choice that many have to make- to die on your knees, or standing, defiant, fighting.

And here I will mention my agenda- I do have one; we all do. Mine is to remind people of history, to remind them of the difference between good and evil. Yes, things are mostly grey; black and white do not exist in this realm, other than as a fantasy. There will never be “peace”, bliss, paradise, perfection, so long as there is more than one human on the earth. But it is a matter of degrees- some systems are better than others, some include democracy, freedom, rule of law, human rights, endless possibilities for anyone strong enough to seek them. Other systems do not allow any of this. The line is clear. One only need look at Ukraine, and then Russia’s actions in Ukraine on this very day to see what it looks like on both sides of that line.

The Soviet dream… I would characterise it as a nightmare. Undated photograph from Telegram channel Ищи своих.  Maybe it’s 1982, or is it 2022?

 

Mariupol, 2022, or Sarajevo 1992? Is Ukraine on the way to the same?

And finally for those interested, a Brookings webinar from earlier this week- The Future of American Air Power is available online to watch at your leisure. A few points of note from the talk, regarding Ukraine.  First, the panelists noted that Ukraine has maintained complete command and control, free from infiltration from cyber attacks from the top down, on all levels, during the current war. Russia has not been able to penetrate any of their systems as regards the cyber threat. I wonder how much the U.S. has contributed to that stability? Another point that was made is the Ukrainian air defense capabilities and their effectiveness- the mix of old, Soviet-era equipment, offensive and defensive, along with modern weapons have allowed Ukraine to maintain security in the air. Intelligence sharing as well as the effective use of drones seem to play a large part in this model. Slava Ukraine!

Russian combat losses as of 06 May 2022.

Perception Management, News Sources, and Russian Combat Losses

In recent days I have had visits with various friends, neighbors and acquaintances.  In each case the war in Ukraine has come up, and in each case I was astounded to find out how little everyone understood about the war, the implications of the war for the world, and the history of Russia, to say nothing of their knowledge of modern hybrid warfare, disinformation, propaganda, narrative creation, and the use of history in modern conflicts. One neighbor even asked me what the flag on my hat meant- the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag. And let me say that these are what I would consider professional, successful, and “educated” people.

I suppose not everyone is like me, not everyone has been a student of history, obsessively so at times,  amongst other disciplines, for their entire lives. For context, I began “monitoring” the cold war at age 14, in 1979 with the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. I spent 10 years in the U.S. Army, from 1982-1992, with a mission centered on eastern Europe and Warsaw Pact countries. That is where I began.  I like to believe I have some background to support my statements.

Perception management is a phrase which encompasses the modern use of propaganda, disinformation, historical revisionism, and narrative creation- essentially a monumental form of behavioral engineering. Russia is expert in the field. Not that our country is far behind- take the Trump debacle for example- yes, debacle, to put it very kindly- same tactics, same targets, same goals.

Perception management is easily done in our modern society- the internet and social media, along with modern advertising and management concepts are perfect tools.  The need for instantaneous media updates are practically wired into our brains at this point- I suspect most people sleep with their hands instinctively outstretched to their nightstand where their phone sits.  They are ready as their eyes open for the latest bit of news/emotion forced upon them by “news” sources.  And then, to complicate matters, they are stuck in information bubbles, feedback loops where one is only exposed to information conforming to that which they already search for, read, and know about.

News sources– most of what passes for such, especially in the U.S. (Fox, Breitbart, Newsmax, Washington Post, CNN, Apple, MSNBC- any source which corners a person into a box and keeps them there) and decidedly so in authoritarian societies such as Russia where they are all state controlled- and controlled down to the word, are presenting nothing short of modified entertainment,  brief hyperstimulating video and soundbites to capture the average person’s few seconds of attention. They are pandering to base emotions, attempting in the shortest possible time frame to capture attention, elicit a response based on their government/corporate/personal agenda, and then as a bonus to focus attention on a clickable link to sell a product or service. Welcome to “news” in the 21st century.

How to counter it all?  Be informed. Read as many news sources as you can. Find the same report across a number of channels and platforms, from extreme left to extreme right if you have the time and inclination.  Then arrive at your own conclusions based on discretion and critical thinking.  For reference, here are some of the sources I regularly turn to, and use to cross-check and cross-reference a report that I find questionable: Ukrinform (Ukrainian news source), BBC, Aljazeera, Brookings Institute, Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Courier, RFE/RL, TOLO (Afghan news service), Balkan Insight, the Economist, and Financial Times. If you search any of these sources on a site such as mediabias/factcheck.com you will find them in the center of the scale, with high marks for accurate and unbiased reporting.

As a final note- and then my rant for the day will end- if we are not informed, we will fall. To paraphrase Ray Bradbury from an interview in the 40th anniversary edition of Fahrenheit 451 in my library, if the world collapsed, the only buildings we would need to survive are a hospital to treat the injured, and a library where all knowledge we need to rebuild is held.  Knowledge is power, and ignorance will be our death.

Ignorance  continues to lead to the death of many, many Russian sons, fathers, brothers, and uncles:

 

Russian combat losses as of 04 May 2022- continuing to grow.

The Creation of the New Russian State- Digging a Little Deeper

I have mentioned Masha Gessen’s book, The Future is History, in a previous post.  I highly recommend the book if you want to understand modern Russia, and how the current Russian mafia state grew out of the post-communist USSR. Gessen’s book will give you a clear and disturbing understanding of what went on in the background, and how Russia arrived in the present day.

Digging deeper, the word “hypernormalisation” turns up. From the Wikipedia page outlining the movie of the same name, here is the first paragraph of explanation:

The word hypernormalization was coined by Alexei Yurchak, a professor of anthropology who was born in Leningrad and later went to teach in the United States. He introduced the word in his book Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation (2006), which describes paradoxes of Soviet life during the 1970s and 1980s.^[3][4] He says that everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine an alternative to the status quo, and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society.^[5] Over time, this delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy and the fakeness was accepted by everyone as real, an effect that Yurchak termed hypernormalisation.^[6]

The bold italics are my own, to emphasise in less than two sentences where the new Russia comes from.  It is a creation, a societal delusion in the 1970’s and 1980’s that was enforced by a feat of advertising and theatre from the 1990’s onward; it is a monumental hoax perpetrated on 150 million people. (And not just on Russia- to be fair we cannot leave out the rest of the world. Having survived Trump’s attempt at creating the same in the U.S.- this time- we are not very far off. The question is, can we survive it again?) As a side note, the documentary Hypernormalisation, begins in New York in 1975, with Donald Trump.

If you have a free two hours, you can watch the BBC documentary on youtube here: Hypernormalisation by Adam Curtis.

For more on one of the minds behind the creation of Putin, and the latest iteration of the Russian delusion, you can read about Vladislav Surkov on wikipedia. To summarise, he (probably) served on the GRU intelligence staff, studied theatre direction, and worked in advertising and public relations for some very influential Russians.  He is credited with creating Putin’s image, he is an expert at doublespeak, and seems to have perfected the mobile truth that characterises the Russia of the past 60 years or so.

A prime example, Surkov is one of those who claims “there is no Ukraine,” and backs it up with fiction, lies, conspiracies, and historical revision, feeding it to a gullible, depressed, confused, and beaten Russian populace.  And thus we arrive at the present day.

A final note on this post- please do not take any of this as the gospel truth. It is information that is available on the internet. Hypernormalisation, the documentary… borders on the conspiratorial… crosses the line in fact, here and there. Take everything with a grain of salt, and do your own digging. My personal philosophy on information I receive- even that which I see with my own eyes- vacillates between “trust but verify” and “never trust anyone.”  Proceed with caution.

 

Speculation, Disinformation, and Finland Joining NATO

Today on Telegram channel Ищи своих there is a post about the questionable health of Putin.

Vladimir Putin looking less than healthy; there was not date or location given for the photograph.

Translation of text from post via Google Translate:

In the mountains of Sochi, the 37-year-old general director of the Krasnaya Polyana resort Andrei Krukovsky died recently – he fell off the mountain path.

Over time, there were rumors that not everything is so simple. Political figure Mark Feigin suggested that the deceased could know too much about the state of health of Vladimir Putin, about visits to Krasnaya Polyana by oncologists and other doctors.

The day before, the British tabloid The Sun wrote that Putin is preparing for surgery – amid reports that he is battling abdominal cancer.

And during his absence, the country will be led by Nikolai Patrushev.

About Nikolai Patrushev from Wikipedia:

Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev is a Russian politician, security officer and intelligence officer who has served as
the secretary of the Security Council of Russia since 2008. Previously, he served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) from 1999 to 2008 (replacing Putin as director… and now replacing Putin as authoritarian leader?) Patrushev belongs to the siloviki (a politician who came into politics from the security, military, or similar services) of president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

And finally, from the Telegram channel The Center for Countering Disinformation:

Russia intimidates Finland because of its intention to apply for NATO membership

Finland is due to decide to apply to NATO on 12 May. It was reported by the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti, citing anonymous sources in the government.
In response, russian politicians have called Finland a fascist state and claim that:
🔺Finland and Sweden automatically switch to moscow’s opponents
🔺The state duma is ready to terminate the lease agreement for the Saimaa Canal, one of the most important transport arteries
🔺russia will begin a demonstrative strengthening of the ground forces and air defense forces on the border with Finland, as well as the fleet in the Gulf of Finland
🔺russian hackers will disrupt the Finnish banking system

Finland is already a partner of the North Atlantic Alliance, joining NATO will provide it with security guarantees received by full members of the organization

With the start of the war in Ukraine, the level of support for Finnish citizens to join NATO has increased from 20% to 70%.

Russia is desperate. Good luck to them sending “troops” to the border of Finland.  Who will be left to send?  “Putin youth”, 12-18 year old children?  Their forces, equipment, and morale are being decimated.  Soon the people of Russia will have had enough. We had all better hope and pray that this happens before that last moment of desperation, before the nuclear button is pushed.

In the meantime, please continue supporting the brave people of Ukraine.  Pass on information, and if you can, please  donate through one of the links at the top of this page.

Lies, Losses, and the Long Road Ahead

I often wonder these days if I should even make the effort to repost and refute Russian propaganda lies. One thing should be perfectly clear, for anyone who has eyes to see- every single word, phrase, statement that comes out of Russia is a lie, pure propaganda, and should only be taken for its value as a piece of propaganda to be added to all the rest in order to arrive at some shred of truth (most often the exact opposite of what is being stated.)

Remember this- dictatorships, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, and the Russian mafia state all have a common leadership style- that of maintaining an unstable society, a society of division and shortages,  through terror and fear, in order to legitimise and necessitate their rule.

Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, their war crimes and crimes against humanity there, there inciting of anti-state, pro-Russian aggression in Ukraine and Moldova, and their desires in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia and elsewhere, along with their threats of nuclear war should be keeping the world awake at night. These facts should be prompting world leaders to do much more than they are doing. We are faced with an existential threat- our very lives are at stake.  The lives of everyone living, and for many generations ahead, hang in the balance. Every possible action that can be taken against Russia, Russian interests, Russian partners- any country with ties to Russia must be taken.

Putin must fall, the Russian state must fail, the Russian people must be freed. Only then will Ukraine and the rest of the world be safe again.

On to Russian combat losses for today. The following comes from the Telegram channel The Center for Countering Disinformation.

Russian combat losses as of 30 April 2022

From the same Telegram channel, the morning’s Fake/Fact post:

❌Despite the position of Western countries on the inadmissibility of nuclear blackmail and the prevention of nuclear war, russian foreign minister lavrov said that russia will never flirt with the topic of nuclear war, Zelensky spoke about it in Munich
🔻Caution: it’s a fake!

❌russia’s propaganda continues to spread the thesis of the return of peaceful life in the territories temporarily occupied by the russian army. Thus, the russian ambassador to the US officially stated that a peaceful life is being established in the territories liberated from the Nazis
🔻Caution: it’s a disinformation!

❌russia continues to influence the world community. In particular, in an interview with the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Lavrov said that the russian military in Ukraine does everything to avoid casualties among the civilian population
🔻Caution: it’s a manipulation!