Ukraine
The Russian Defeat
Not everyone in the West believes Putin’s war in Ukraine is bad. Kyiv’s counteroffensive created alternative theories.
Estonia Warns the World
No Estonian needs to be told what occupation is like or what it does to a nation. None requires a tutorial about what Josef Stalin did to their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents in 1941 and 1949, or to be reminded of those events’ gruesome parallel to what Putin is today doing to Ukrainian families. Kallas’ mother, for instance, spent a good portion of her childhood in Siberian exile, after the Soviets deported her via cattle car at only six months old with her mother and grandmother.
Russia’s Arctic Resources Trump Sanctions
Since the end of February, Putin appears determined to push ahead with plans in the far north. “Taking into account all kinds of external restrictions and sanctions pressure,” Putin said, “special attention must be paid to all projects and plans related to the Arctic. Not to postpone them … but instead, we must respond to attempts to curb our development with maximum increase of the work rate on both current and upcoming tasks.”
The Pro-Russian Attempt to Link the Buffalo Shooting to Ukraine
“What it appears to be is a disingenuous attempt to use the Buffalo shooting to undermine support for arming Ukraine, sending aid to Ukraine and helping them to defend themselves against Russian aggression,” behavioral scientist and disinformation researcher Caroline Orr tells New Lines Magazine.
In the Balkans, ‘Stability’ May Not Be the Answer
For decades, the West has pioneered “stabilocracy” in the Balkans, a pernicious brand of diplomacy that prefers agreement to reform. That diplomacy was exported to their relations with Kremlin — with the extreme, bloody conclusion being the war in Ukraine.
History Stokes Putin’s Dream of a ‘Greater Russia’
Militant far-right social media channels have peddled what they call Slavic unity, pushing memes of three ancient Slavic “Bogatyr” warriors of the steppe depicted as beefy bikers on steroids. Another — arguably more aesthetic — meme appears on “trad” blogs, representing the “triune people” with nymph-like “Slavic sisters.”
Russia’s Inability to Shift Course May Doom It
The Russians are racing against a clock that will run out when they can no longer supply their forces or mobilize fighting formations, or when the domestic population or security apparatus is no longer willing to support the human and material costs of continuing the war.