The pro-annexation concert on Red Square is in full swing. Ivan Okhlobystin, the star of the Russian version of Scrubs, is saying that Kharkiv, Odesa, Mykolayiv, and other cities in "Russian Ukraine" are next to be annexed
Fuck me, they're singing the Donbas version of the sea shanty meme song, I kid you not
"We must defend Russian culture from western colonialist hegemony"
*sings ripoff of a TikTok sea shanty meme from two years ago*
There was also a bit earlier where the guy from Russian Scrubs said Russia was fighting a "holy war" and explained why it was the Russian version of jihad but I was too gobsmacked to record that part
This guy with the white dreads has a song that goes "I'm Russian, my blood is from my father [...] I'm Russian, to spite the whole world"
his name's Shaman but he was also wearing a cross – not very shamanic if you ask me
Nikolai Rastorguev is the oddest guy. All his songs are about the horrors of war but he personally seems to actually love war
Now a poetry reading from a 16-year-old from Luhansk who apparently joined a separatist battalion aged 9
Here's Putin. "It was Russia that created modern Ukraine by gifting it its own territories, along with the population, without asking them what they wanted. When the USSR collapsed it was the same."
(Actually, there was a vote in Ukraine and independence won overwhelmingly)
Jeez, this Backstreet Boys reunion is not what I was expecting
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It’s time for the annual Putin presser and phone-in, combined into one – the first time he’s done it since the invasion of Ukraine.
Pavel Zarubin is showing off a huge pile of questions supposedly sent in by ordinary Russians. Expect this to be even more stage-managed than usual
Zarubin, the Swiftie-esque Putin fanboy who is moderating this, says some questions have been resolved already. "In the morning I complained I hadn't been paid my salary, and by the evening I got it!", one ordinary Russian supposedly said.
Putin says Russia has "strengthened its sovereignty," and seen off a sanctions onslaught from the west. Putin credits the "high consolidation of Russian society" and "stability of the financial-economic system."
As their yacht bobbed on the Mediterranean, the microchip executive snapped a picture of his Russian partner asleep on the deck.
He only knew the Russian by his first name, Maxim. But he knew Maxim was using a shadowy network to get the chips for the Russian defense industry.
Marc Rocchi’s qcompany Ommic desperately needed Maxim’s business to stay afloat. A few months earlier Rocchi had flown to Greece to hand-deliver Maxim 230 microchips — €45,000 worth. Maxim had, at one point, offered Rocchi “cash and women” for more, though he declined.
Rocchi knew his ultimate customer was NPP Istok, which makes electronic warfare systems for the Russian military. Specialist microchips like Ommic’s high-performance gallium nitride and gallium arsenide-integrated circuit boards are vital to defense manufacturers like Istok.
Insane footage on Russian social media from Makhachkala in the North Caucasus region, where there have been several anti-Semitic protests this weekend.
A crowd of people, some with Palestinian flags, broke into the airport in search of passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv.
Remarkable to see security forces in Russia standing by for so long. By now, according to Baza, police in Makhachkala have chased them off the runway and outside the airport, where they are now protesting. The airport is closed t.me/bazabazon/22573
🚨 Belarus says it has convinced Prigozhin to stand down his armed uprising.
Lukashenko spent "the entire day" negotiating with Prigozhin after "agreeing on joint actions" with Putin and "additionally clarifying the situation through his own channels."
For more on Prigozhin, may I humbly directly you to a few pieces, such as:
This story with @ChristopherJM @SameralAtrush and @felschwartz about how Prigozhin cobbled together a coalition against Russia's army, but then saw his star begin to wane
@ChristopherJM @SameralAtrush @felschwartz Prigozhin's revolt also speaks to much broader problems at the heart of Putin's vision for Russia and plan to invade Ukraine, which @ChristopherJM, @felschwartz and I detailed here: