The main news item today, for me, is the Russian-made missile striking inside Polish territory. The investigation is still underway as to who fired the missile, but a report on Aljazeera states that it was likely fired as part of Ukrainian defenses against a missile barrage launched by Russia:
Moscow’s forces launched 110 missiles and 10 Iranian-made attack drones throughout the country, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said, leaving millions of households without power.
Ukraine said more than 70 missiles were shot down, but some hit the city of Lviv, near the border with Poland to the west.
Either way, it has made a stir. The fact that there are missiles flying around Europe at all should be our focus of attention. Why is this happening in the year 2022? Somewhere in the morning’s news items I did see that reports from Russia indicate that more and more people are speaking out, in social media at least, against the war and Putin. Good, please keep it up! And if there is anyone inside of Russia reading this that is still on the fence about where that country is going, in my expert opinion your trajectory is unsustainable. Or, in Russian, buduschego net. That it, unless you take action and make big changes in your government immediately.
Made With Bravery and United24
Recently I was introduced to the website Made With Bravery, a marketplace for Ukrainian businesses. The site launched in mid-September, and currently has around 250 merchants with products on the site. Not only do the merchants continue to do business, but the site donates all of their marketplace commissions, and an additional 5% if you pay with Visa, to United24. I am placing my first order today, for holiday gifts.
I mentioned Turkey and its importance in my last post. Here is an article originally from the Foreign Policy Research Institute that clearly states the importance of Turkey in the future of European security.
According to the Telegram channel “Find Yours”, at this point there have been nearly 38,000 Russians killed in combat in the Ukraine. This number will continue to rise, unless the Russian government, or the Russian people, come to their senses. Remember that the Soviet Union was a repressive, communist state. The Russian Federation is a repressive, oligarchic kleptocracy, and will likely become equally oppressive in due course. While there are many differences, glaring and subtle, throughout the two systems, the end result is the same. The people of Russia are servants of a corrupt dictator, to be used as he sees fit, sent of to work the fields, or to die in the fields of Ukraine.
The same Telegram channel reported the following crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine to date (translated using Google Translate):
The Office of the Prosecutor General has published updated data on the war crimes of the occupiers recorded since the beginning of the war
▪️The number of dead children increased to 347, another 646 were injured
Crimes committed by the Russian aggressors during their invasion of Ukraine, as of 07 July, 2022.
I have been reading lately about the weaponisation of water, food, and other resources. We are all familiar with the concept at this point, seeing it in use in Syria, Yemen, the Palestinian territories, and of course in Ukraine, to name a few places. Water is the last commodity, and it has more value than we can imagine. It is scarce in so many regions already, and once a crisis occurs and refugees concentrate in one location, it is only a matter of time before exploitation begins. Water and food are the most basic needs, and are easily controlled by governments and non-state actors. Water and food are now weapons in the latest iteration of hybrid warfare.
I recently read an article by Robert Legvold from the journal Foreign Policy from 1977. The title, On Power: The Nature of Soviet Power says it all. It helped put the current situation in perspective. The article mentioned interdependence many times. Back then, the Soviet Union was a relatively isolated country, and globalisation as we know it today, and thus the interdependence we have come to regret, was in what we might call its infancy (again, compared to today.) The article notes how interdependence might be used as a weapon. And now, 45 years later, witness today’s sanctions against Russia. Just one point of note.
Finally Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty reporting, though obviously having a distinct agenda, is full of background information, as well as current reporting, on the situation in Russia and Ukraine. For some background on the fall of the USSR, see the article The Undoing of the USSR: How it Happened. Here is a story about one Russians’ stand against Putin’s war.
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 systemFinland 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.
The world is on the right track. Support for Ukraine is absolutely necessary, and it is happening. Here is an update from today from the Telegram channel Ищи своих (translated in Google translate from Ukrainian.)
US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of military assistance to Ukraine for another $800 million.
The new deliveries will include heavy weapons, dozens of howitzers, tactical drones and 144,000 rounds of ammunition.
Biden also announced another $500 million in direct economic assistance to the Ukrainian government.
In addition, the United States expanded sanctions against Russia, banning Russian ships from entering American ports
Here is today’s disinformation check from the Telegram channel Center for Countering Disinformation.
The CCD staff has compiled a selection of russia’s fakes, manipulations and disinformation bogus stories as of the morning of April 21, 2022
❌The russian ministry of defense warned that “Ukrainian Mykolayiv may find itself in the zone of an epidemiological catastrophe: against the background of the difficult humanitarian situation public utilities are not working there and the central water supply has been cut off”
🔻Warning: it’s a fake!❌Representatives of the russian embassy in Washington said that “US sanctions are becoming increasingly absurd and speak of Washington’s inability to bend russia to its will”
🔻Warning: it’s a manipulation!❌russian media with reference to the odious Kadyrov reported that Mariupol plant Azovstal “on Thursday will be completely under the control of the russian armed forces”. It was also added that “militants who have settled in the metallurgical plant can still lay down their arms and surrender in the morning”
🔻Warning: it’s a manipulation!
Atrocity of the Day
8 April 2022
Crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide? It’s just a matter of degrees, and of course intent. For today, take your pick.
Reposted from Telegram channel Ищи своих.
Here is a translation of the accompanying text in the post:
Attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region. More than 30 dead and more than a hundred injured
The blow to the Kramatorsk railway station was inflicted by the Russian occupiers “Tochka-U”. On the rocket is the inscription “For children” – a favorite phrase of Russian propagandists. Also, the public authorities began to report that they allegedly hit the “concentration of forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Women, children, old people… They were waiting for the evacuation train…
At Five AM 