A Russian soldier raped 63-year-old Halyna Tyshchenko at gunpoint, then marched her naked into freezing cold.
Russian guards raped captives with bottles and sticks and threatened to inject expanding foam into their anuses. They said they would leave them childless — The WSJ. 1/
Russians shocked captives' genitals and forced them to stand, crouch, and parade naked for hours. Some guards simply enjoyed it, former captives said. 2/
Serhii Boychuk, 33, told his wife before he left for the front that if captured, he did not want to be taken alive. The Russians held him for more than two years.
Guards raped him with bottles and sticks and pressed a knife to his genitals. He still struggles to walk. 3/
Kasparov: Ukraine's drones now reach 4,000 to 5,000 kilometers, close to stripping Russia of its oil-refining capacity.
That cuts both ways: it pushes Putin to speed up escalation while gutting Russia's offensive capability. 1/
Kasparov: Talk of this war reaching the Baltics has moved from speculation into real policy discussion among Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states themselves.
Look at their actions: rising defense budgets, border fortifications, drone barriers along the frontier. 2/
Kasparov: Zelenskyy said Russia could begin a new mobilization as early as September.
Baltic leaders are now citing actual intelligence about a possible escalation scenario against their own countries. 3X
Kasparov: Putin is betting on Europe's election calendar.
France votes for president in ten months, and a Le Pen win, under 50% likely, would shift the EU fundamentally. Germany's AfD sits in regional governments. 1/
Kasparov: The EU's 21st sanctions package is stuck partly because one private Greek shipping company doesn't want to eat the losses from cutting Russian gas-transport quotas.
A single firm's profit margin is holding up a wartime sanctions measure. 2/
Kasparov: I'd stop issuing Schengen visas out of Russia entirely. Make applicants travel through Yerevan, Podgorica, or Almaty instead.
At minimum, require a public document renouncing the war, and let's see how many people actually sign it. 3X
Stubb: Ukraine is now on top militarily, politically and economically, stronger than at any time in this war.
Half of Ukraine’s drones that hit Russia reach their targets. Half of Russia’s oil-refining capacity is damaged. Russia loses 8 soldiers for every 1 Ukrainian.
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Stubb: For Lindsey, Ukraine was a victory for freedom, for the Europe-U.S. alliance, for NATO, for liberal democracy and for the free world.
He fought hard for his values, and Ukraine was one of the most important battles he fought.
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Stubb: Iran and Ukraine conflicts are linked. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are forging an alliance.
They feed the Russian and Iranian war machines. We must decide how to support Ukraine and help the U.S. stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Kellogg: You do not need a Gulf War-style invasion. Hit strategic targets.
Take Kharg Island, 16 miles offshore and central to Iran’s economy. Hold it and say: end this, and we give it back. This is for our kids and grandkids. No nuclear Iran.
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Kellogg: Russia and China are probably helping Iran as much as they can. This is no longer a military fight.
It is a political fight, a gut-check moment: are we closing them out or not? Trump has put real effort into negotiations, but now the question is how to finish this.
Zelenskyy: It’s a pity Crimea is not back on the table, or NOT YET. Land matters: it is our territory, history and homes.
Saving people comes first. Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire and diplomacy. Putin wants 500,000 more soldiers this autumn while losing 30,000 a month.
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Zelenskyy: Putin said he would occupy Ukraine in two or three days.
Now Ukraine has built a great miltech industry: 500 companies with strong technologies and soldiers holding the front. Putin loses 30,000 soldiers a month. The initiative is no longer in Putin’s hands.
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Zelenskyy: War changes every three to six months. Ukraine built a modern miltech platform because drones that work today may fail in six months.
We must change faster than Putin. He has more people. We must save our people and use more technology, not more bodies.