The 🇺🇦 presidential office reports that the Russian occupiers have kidnapped Ivan Fedoro, the major of Melitopol in southern #Ukraine. Security camera of the city hall seem to show the abduction.
*Ivan FedoroV
About 2000 people showed up to demand the release of Ivan Fedorov, the detained major of Melitopol #Ukraine
Source: t.me/kt20220224/166
The Russian military arrested Olga Gaisumova, one of the main coordinators of daily protests in Melitopol. Her Facebook page literally writes:
"The occupiers kidnapped Olga Gaisumova just from the peace rally!" pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2022/…
New videos from today‘s protests in the occupied city of Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhia region. Residents do not accept the Russian occupation.
Source: t.me/Pravda_Gerashc…
In this video you hear and see how the Russian forces shoot in the air to intimidate protestors. Needless to say, the Kherson’ites are unimpressed. #Ukraine
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. @shashj is right: the transcript of the Tucker Carlson interview with Steve Witkoff worth analyzing… What stands out to me is how much he empathizes with Putin and how much he parrots the RU position. That simply doesn’t make a good negotiating strategy. /1
Few examples: Witkoff praises the recent progress and seems to be unaware of previous negotiation efforts in Qatar in the summer of 2024, where both sides already were reportedly close to a moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes. See:
This part wasn’t new but it’s cringe 😬 they don’t seem to grasp the RU flattery as a serious strategy to influence and ultimately woe the Witkoff and Trump… /3
The CDU and SPD, the two German parties currently negotiating their new coalition, have ushered in a fiscal revolution that will allow Germany to spend "whatever is needed" on defense and boost infrastructure spending, too. That's a bid deal. Here is what you need to know: /1
Why now? The parties agreed to amend the constitution with the old convocation of the parliament BEFORE the next Bundestag comes into session in about two weeks. They do it because the new convocation, the political forces from the left and right could simply block this move. /2
What's in the deal?
In short: unlimited debt for rearmament and plenty of money for infrastructure.
The amendments foresee a reform of the constitutionally mandated debt break to allow the government to take debt for spending above 1% of the GDP. /3 faz.net/aktuell/politi…
Fresh polling shows that 67% of Germans back 🇩🇪’s military support for Ukraine. Within this group, 27% favor increasing military aid to Kyiv, while 40% believe 🇩🇪should maintain its current level of support. Only 27% of respondents called for a reduction in weapons deliveries. /1
The poll also shows that a majority of Germans would be in favor of the Bundeswehr participating with other European troops in securing a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. 59% of Germans are in favor of Bundeswehr involvement and 35% are against it. /2
There are differences between East and West: while the majority of West 🇩🇪 are in favor of 🇩🇪 participation (61%), only 45% of East 🇩🇪 are in favor of this. In contrast, 50% of East 🇩🇪 oppose a Bundeswehr involvement in a possible European mission to secure a ceasefire (50%). /3
Umfrageergebnisse einer Bevölkerungsbefragung des Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr zeigen, dass die Wahrnehmung der Bedrohung durch RU und die Unterstützung für die militärische Unterstützung der 🇺🇦 leicht gestiegen ist.
Mini 🧵 /1
Daraus kann die Politik entweder einen Angst- oder Unterwerfungswahlkampf oder einen Case machen, warum die Freiheit verteidigt werden muss und wir dafür mehr ausgeben müssen… /2
Die Ergebnisse zeigen mir, dass die Politik besser erklären sollte, warum die Unterstützung der 🇺🇦 in unserem Interesse ist und auch eine Investition in unsere eigene Sicherheit darstellt. Fast alle Parteien machen diesen Case bisher nicht (gut genug). /3
Angela Merkel gehört zweifelsohne zu den wichtigsten Persönlichkeiten der 🇩🇪 Nachkriegsgeschichte. Leider beschäftigt ihre «je ne regrette rien» Einstellung zu Russland ihr pol. Erbe. Ihr kluges Spiegel Interview offenbart eine gewisse Unbelehrbarkeit. /1 spiegel.de/politik/deutsc…
Nord-Stream 2 verteidigt Merkel noch heute als Mittel günstiges Gas für die 🇩🇪 Wirtschaft zu organisieren. Kein Wort über die erzeugte massive Abhängigkeit. Dass Merkel diesbezüglich keinerlei Fehler sieht, muss man ihr und ihren politischen Koalitionspartnern klar vorwerfen. /2
Damals warnten zahlreiche Experten, dass wir uns nicht nur einseitig abhängig machten, was RU als Zeichen der schwäche ansah, sondern auch Milliarden in die russische Kriegskasse spülten und damit den Krieg heute auch ermöglichten. Das alles zu verschweigen, finde ich falsch. /3
The government and ruling 🚦coalition in Germany collapsed after the chancellor fired the Finance Minister and head of the liberal party. Now, new parliamentary elections will take no later than March 2025. What's next and what does this mean for #Ukraine? Small 🧵
The background: the coalition was bitterly divided over how to handle the sluggish 🇩🇪 economy and future investments, in particular. Polling for all three ruling parties was down (see current polling versus results of 2021) and liberals are fearing for the political survival. /1
Amid the toxic state of the government, Scholz together with the Greens asked his Liberal coalition partner and Finance Minister to lift the constitutionally mandated debt brake to among other things finance 3 additional billion EUR winter aid for Ukraine. Lindner refused. /2