Chilling photos from the Black Sea when you think of approaching Russian warships t.me/ukrinform_news…
Zelensky speech last night with Eng subtitles full video here. t.me/V_Zelenskiy_of… off to write my morning Substack, link in my bio if you’d like to subscribe it’s free
‼️Urgent desperate plea from mayor of Mariupol on the Russian blockade of the city and humanitarian catastrophe. He calls it a genocide. Please RT this is via google translate; link to Ukrainian text & source here t.me/mariupolrada/8…
@ZelenskyyUa this morning: “They wanted to destroy us so many times. They couldn't. We've been through so much! And if someone thinks that, having overcome all this, Ukrainians will be frightened, broken or surrender - he knows nothing about Ukraine.”t.me/V_Zelenskiy_of…
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My Moscow feed went silent. The mommy groups have moved to telegram and are scared to write anything. Soon the only way to get real info out of Moscow will be old fashioned phone calls on fixed lines, and who still has those? I fear Fortress Russia = information black hole.
There is strength in numbers but I don’t see Gen X rallying to protest. I see them leaving if they can. What will the young do? I don’t know. In the regions people are just trying to survive let’s not forget economic crisis. The Soviet shut up mentality does live on for many.
It sounds ridiculous to write this but memories of war and also of gulag are passed down by generations. Everyone in Russia knows the one thing you want to avoid is prison or worse. Can they arrest everyone? No. But no one wants to be the first. Any revolt has to come from elite.
A penny just dropped. We are worried about Moldova but today I heard from two separate Russians about the TikToks. The TikToks (which interestingly Russia did not block and we know pays people to make pro-Russian content) from Moldova. About Ukrainian refugees.
The TikToks are recorded by Moldovans in Russian and basically say: Ukrainian refugees aren't grateful, get mad when we speak Russian instead of Ukrainian to them, our help isn't good enough, etc. I thought what the hell, is this real? Now it makes sense. Part of the propaganda.
The videos of the Russian POWs calling their mothers sitting in front of Ukrainian flags are heartbreaking. Even if scripted (surely), the moms have no idea, have consumed Russian TV, think someone will soon rescue the kids. The boys are forced to say such things...
...that I don't see how they can come home to Russia after that. They are in tears. They so young. They are traumatised, it's hard to tell what is real but when they say everyone else died and our commanders just abandoned us I imagine that's 100% true.
They say "Mama, only you can stop the war, you have to take to the streets" and you know exactly that mom will barely be able to call the local army base to explain her son it seems is a POW in Ukraine. These moms cannot be the revolution. They don't understand what is happening.
I can’t listen anymore to discourse from smart people sitting safely in the west talking about what might come next. Even my favorite podcasts. Ukraine is suffering immeasurable loss, a human tragedy on an incomprehensible scale. And it’s here, right here. And they are there.
My Russian friends are spread all over; many left Moscow long ago. They are all going through their own private battles right now. Some men fled yesterday, destination unknown. Some Russians who cried on Thursday are now really angry — but not at Putin, they blame west/Ukraine.
It’s going to get even uglier. It’s going to hit even closer to home. It’s not going to be just limited to Ukraine. These wounds are forever wounds. They don’t heal. The hatred stays. The anger lasts. It’s going to be like walking on eggshells. Truth will become very subjective.