April 13, 2022

Rick Wilson tweet - Note to self: never invade Ukraine

This is an amazing video

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1514057557194817538

April 11, 2022

Report of poisonous substance dropped on Mariupol

https://twitter.com/markito0171/status/1513596289249906693

Comment in thread by Reddit poster on r/ukrainian Conflict:
IneptProfessional OP
18 min. ago

"The victims have respiratory failure, vestibulo-atactic syndrome. The consequences of using an unknown substance are being clarified."

Link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/comments/u1f16j/report_from_besieged_mariupol_about_an_hour_ago/


Also on this Reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/u1f43a/azov_reports_on_poison_gas_attacks_in_mariupol/

And from Ukrainian Pravda:

"Russians have been threatening to trap Ukrainian fighters at the "Azovstal" plant in Mariupol and use chemical weapons against them.
The 36th Separate Marine Brigade, which is involved in defending Mariupol from Russian forces, has published a video address to Ukrainians in the Russian language. The statement said that 11 April could be the last battle for all defenders of Mariupol, and that the Ukrainian military command had not contacted the fighters for two weeks.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi later reacted, saying that the command had contact with the defending forces in Mariupol. He added that the details of the defence operation of Ukrainian defenders should not be the subject of public discussion."

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/04/11/7338922/

Kyiv Independent

Monday, April 11 10:42 PM
external Azov: Russia used poisonous substance against Ukrainian troops in Mariupol.

The substance has been distributed by a drone, and its victims have shortness of breath and vestibullocerebellar ataxia, the Azov regiment said on April 11. It may be Russia’s first known use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

https://kyivindependent.com/tag/russias-war/

April 5, 2022

How the Ukraine War Will Likely End

By George Friedman
GeoPolitical Futures
April 5, 2022

As we consider how the war in Ukraine will end, we must first understand how it began. Russia invaded for geostrategic reasons – having Ukraine as a buffer state safeguards Moscow from invasion from the west – and for economic reasons, which have often gone overlooked. The transition from the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation wasn’t exactly lucrative. It may have increased total wealth, but Russia remains a poor country. Its gross domestic product ranks just behind South Korea’s, a respectable placement but hardly where a superpower should be. And in terms of per capita GDP, Russia ranks 85th, nestled between Bulgaria and Malaysia.

Economic statistics rarely tell the whole story, of course, but in Russia’s case they fairly accurately present a country that is poorer than it appears, masked superficially by a top layer of the superrich elite. Life in major cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow is luxurious for the wealthy and bearable for the rest. Life in the countryside is something else entirely.

Individual regimes can’t be solely blamed for Russian poverty. The size of the nation, and the difficulties in areas such as transport associated with its size, makes Russia difficult to govern. From the time of the czars, it has been the state rather than shared economic prosperity that has kept Russia together. Often this has been achieved through the security services, which are tasked with maintaining state power, not with building an economy. It’s little wonder that the country that boasted the Okhrana also produced a president who cut his teeth in the KGB. Rightly or wrongly, Russia’s size and inefficiency tend to demand a strong hand.

This has created an expectation that the state will be strong even if the people are poor. There was pride in the czars and in Stalin – the so-called “man of steel.” But for a ruler to govern Russia, they must demonstrate strength. The intellectuals in Russia speak of democracy and human rights. The people want protection against invaders from without and against impoverishing chaos from within.

More at https://geopoliticalfutures.com/how-the-ukraine-war-will-likely-end/

Friedman concludes that Putin likely will continue to cling to power and blame everyone around him. And the war against Ukraine will go on unless Putin is somehow forced out.

April 5, 2022

Excellent long article about Russian mentality from a Finnish intelligence officer

Excerpt:

The Russian idea of truth is interesting. After all, language tells how people think, how they perceive the world, and how society thinks. The United States has two words for positive rights: “liberty” and “freedom.” Russia has two words for truth and three words for lie. This is certainly not a coincidence.

There’s the word “pravda,” which is truth but not absolute truth. Rather, the kind of truth that gets rid of awkward or bad situations. It’s like tactical truth. “Istina” is the opposite of a lie. Istina is true, as true as can be. But pravda is rather… sometimes it can be true, at other times not so true.

There are three words for lie. “Vranyo” is a white lie but on the strategic level. It is also kind of a way to get rid of nasty situations. The Russians know it, but we don’t realize it. We think that there are only truth and lies in the world. It’s just black and white. But the lie in Russia was born under Mongol rule; violence and lying were the way to survive. This tradition has been in their system ever since.

Russia has the word “krugovaya poruka,” or gang guarantee. It means that when we have some set of people with a common goal. Be it the Kremlin leadership or the Russian armed forces or whatever. We have a common goal so I step out of the circle and lie to an outsider. My gang hears that I lie but they don’t judge me as a liar because they understand that I am using tactical truth (vranjo) to achieve the greater goals of our gang. The use of tactical truth, or a lie, is accepted if it is done for the benefit of the in-group. Just like you can steal when you don’t steal too much or from the wrong guy. You also get to lie if you lie for the sake of the gang.

https://ricochet.com/1214468/finnish-intelligence-officer-explains-the-russian-mindset/

My analysis: They are paranoid, cowardly bullies

April 2, 2022

Is your refrigerator running?

March 28, 2022

President Biden Haiku

"For God’s sake, this man
cannot remain in power"
(He is a monster)

March 28, 2022

Poison is a coward's weapon

and Vladimir Putin is a chickenshit coward

An unknown number of Putin's perceived enemies have died or been sickened by poisoning over the years.

If there is forensic evidence that the three-member Ukrainian negotiating team including billionaire Roman Abramovich was poisoned during talks in Kyiv earlier this month, there must be a full investigation. The world needs to know the source and nature of the poison, find out who administered it, and who ordered it. Unfortunately, the people who administered poison, and those who told them to do it, may conveniently disappear. Nothing will ever point back to the poisoner-in-chief, Putin.

Putin is a coward who keeps a 30-foot-long table between himself and his closest associates. Contrast this with our President Joe Biden, who sits down to talk with U.S. and NATO troops face to face.

Would Putin dare sit among his troops to chat with them? Never. He's too scared of being killed by one of the many who loathe him.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is repeatedly shown standing among Ukraine's defenders, visiting the injured, grieving for the dead.

Would Putin dare to walk among his faltering soldiers to boost morale? Heavens no, he's too scared that some angry soldier might shoot him. Would he visit the injured, or show up at funerals for the dead? Hell no. They are mere cannon fodder for his illusions of empire. And besides, someone might shoot, stab or poison him.

No, the chickenshit coward Putin is safely isolated in some super-secure hideaway, firing 1000 of his closest aides and servers and replacing them with new ones. Just on the off-chance that one or two - or possibly all 1000 - hate him enough to risk their own lives trying to kill him.

Putin's relentless punishment of those who dare to disagree with him has bred fear and hatred. He dares not walk among his own people. If he feels victimized, it's his own fault. He is obviously too weak and cowardly to face even the slightest criticism. Such a delicate snowflake.

Sociopaths like Putin never accept responsibility for their own actions and poor decisions. Someone else always needs to take the blame. Someone else gets tortured. Or executed. Or tossed out a window. Or poisoned. Or imprisoned for life. And someone else carries out his orders, because Putin is afraid to get his own cowardly hands dirty if there are witnesses.

March 28, 2022

Abramovych and two other participants in Ukraine's talks with Russia have symptoms of chemical poiso

Abramovych and two other participants in Ukraine's talks with Russia have symptoms of chemical poisoning, - Bellingcat


Russian oligarch Roman Abramovych and two other delegates who took part in talks between Ukraine and Russia on the night of March 3-4 have symptoms of chemical poisoning.

***

"Bellingcat can confirm that three members of the delegation who took part in the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on the night of March 3-4, 2022, experienced symptoms of chemical weapons poisoning. One of the victims was a Russian businessman Roman Abramovych", the statement said.

Bellingcat journalists remind us that Abramovych took part in the talks, which were also attended by the People's Deputy of Ukraine Rustem Umerov. Earlier, several media outlets reported that Umerov was allegedly poisoned. The deputy himself denies it. "I'm fine. Here is my answer to all the rumors spread by the tabloids. Please do not trust unverified information. We have an information war going on," he tweeted on the morning of March 28.

According to investigators, the night after the talks, three members of the talks experienced symptoms of poisoning - inflammation of the skin and sharp pain in the eyes. The symptoms did not subside until morning. The next day, they left Kyiv for Lviv, and from there traveled through Poland to Istanbul to continue negotiations.

Source: https://censor.net/en/n3329341

ALSO reported by Reuters, Wall Street Journal and more

(Reuters) - Sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

ALSO on Twitter by a reporter for The Guardian

https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/status/1508471898929258496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1508471898929258496%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Ftqd2dh%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dfalse

March 27, 2022

Ukrainian 'witches' plan ritual to topple Putin

Express Tribune
News Desk March 26, 2022

Witches in Ukraine want to perform a three-day ritual – in collaboration with foreign partners – in efforts to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia Today reported the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) as reporting after a social media post by a Kyiv-based Witch Cauldron shop.

According to the shop’s Instagram post: “On March 31, on the 29th lunar day, the day of corruption and curses, we, the witches of Ukraine, in collaboration with foreign partners, will perform a ritual of punishing the enemy of the Ukrainian people – Vladimir Putin”.

The first phase of the ritual is set to happen at Ukraine’s “place of power” which may refer to the Bald Mountain outside of Kyiv. The site is a location in Slavic folk mythology and is linked to witchcraft.

The second stage is to be held in an unnamed “Slavic country” with the aid of the witches’ “foreign colleagues”. Lastly, they wish to create a “stone sack” for Putin which will allegedly cause him to face “isolation, ousting from power and loss of support from the inner circle”.

More at link:

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2349793/ukrainian-witches-plan-ritual-to-topple-putin

This seems to be a publication in Pakistan

March 16, 2022

World Court orders Russia to cease military operations in Ukraine

Source: Reuters

REUTERS

AMSTERDAM, March 16 (Reuters) - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia on Wednesday to stop the military actions it started in Ukraine on Feb. 24.

"The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on Feb 24, 2022 in the territory of Ukraine," the judges said.

The judges added Russia must also ensure that other forces under its control or supported by Moscow should not continue the military operation.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/world-court-orders-russia-cease-military-operations-ukraine-2022-03-16/?utm_source=reddit.com