Kasparov: On Bulgakov, my advice to Russian liberal society is simple: keep quiet.
While Russian missiles keep hitting Kyiv, Russians have no moral right to criticize Ukrainians for removing monuments tied to Russian culture, however much we value the literature. 1/
Kasparov: Every Russian missile that kills Ukrainian civilians widens the abyss between Ukraine and the Russian world.
It will take years before new generations can separate Pushkin, Bulgakov or Dostoevsky from the imperial culture now bombing them. 2/
Kasparov: Any participation in political procedures run by a fascist dictatorship helps legitimize it.
If the regime is illegitimate, how can you discuss the legitimacy of its elections? Even standing near the polling station means joining their staged process. 3/
Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko: Ukraine launched 140 drones at St. Petersburg. Capacity is up to 1,000. Russia has no air defense against it.
That's drone diplomacy — and Putin can no longer ignore Ukrainian insistence.
1/
Poroshenko: Every day the price of aggression grows. Putin's window of opportunity is now.
Unconditional, comprehensive ceasefire — stop the war, freeze the conflict, sit at the table. US and EU at the table. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.
2/
Poroshenko: Time stopped working for Putin. Every month he pays more. Ukraine will never surrender — we have no choice.
The sooner Putin understands that, the sooner he moves toward ceasefire. And ceasefire doesn't save Ukraine — it saves Russia.
Kuleba: Every meter of Ukrainian land along the border with Belarus and Russia is already, in fact or potentially, frontline territory.
Lukashenko’s actions today are different from what we have seen since 2022. I am not saying an attack is tomorrow, but this is different. 1/
Kuleba: Lukashenko is either preparing for war or demonstrating that he is preparing.
Does he want war? Definitely not. But he is not a free man. What he is told to do, he will eventually have to do. He is maneuvering, but something is happening in Belarus. 2/
Kuleba: Do not think linearly. It could be a local operation against an EU country and, at the same time, a massive attack on Ukraine — or the reverse.
Russia is in a negative dynamic in the war, and Putin needs to do something differently. 3/
Kuleba: Ukraine currently has no real leverage over Trump, but must keep looking.
Trump lives in a world of great powers, where big states decide what they want and everyone else obeys. Ukraine lives in another world: we are fighting a great power. 1/
Kuleba: For Trump, Ukraine defeating Russia is like Venezuela defeating the United States.
It simply does not fit his worldview. And he personally sympathizes with Putin; he would like to govern America the way Putin governs Russia. 2/
Kuleba: With European populists, do not just react to slogans.
Scratch the surface and you often find something else: a Russian trail, a business trail, domestic interests. Ukraine has to work with the people and businesses that influence them. 3/
My childhood friend covered me with himself, saved my life, and died in my arms. "I love you" were his last words. — Cobra, 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade fighter.
It was the hardest psychological moment for me. We were close to evacuation, but he didn’t make it. 1/
Cobra: When his mom found out what happened, she hit me really hard. My cheek was burning for 2 days.
She said “if not you, he would be alive.” But I didn’t ask him to do that.
Only his wife and daughter understood me.
2/
Cobra: During shelling, my son looked at me and said, "Mom, I don't want to die, I'm still young”.
I started crying hard. They aren’t in Ukraine right now, and I don’t want them to be. I can visit them, but I don’t want them to live through this.