1/ Donald Trump's aggressive tactics over Greenland are causing consternation among his far-right allies in Europe. With European publics overwhelmingly against surrendering Greenland, leading European far-rightists have come out in opposition to Trump's plans. ⬇️
2/ Bloomberg reports that Trump's designs have forced his ostensible allies to reconsider their support for him. Some may fear voters turning on them for their past support of Trump, much as Pierre Poilievre suffered in Canada in 2024.
3/ 🇩🇪 Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel says that Trump has acted no differently to Vladimir Putin in his actions in Venezuela and threats against Greenland. "Trump has violated a fundamental campaign promise — namely not to interfere in other countries," she says.
4/ 🇩🇪 The other AfD co-chair, Tino Chrupalla, has rejected Trump's "Wild West methods". His opposition is particularly notable as he is considered to be pro-Russian within the AfD.
5/ 🇫🇷 National Rally leader Jordan Bardella has denounced the US capture of Venezula's President Maduro as "a return to imperial ambitions" and a world in which "the law of the strongest trumps respect of international rules."
6/ He says that "by President Trump’s own admission" the intervention "paves the way for the economic interests of American oil companies," and calls his threat to seize Greenland "a direct challenge to the sovereignty of a European country."
7/ 🇸🇰 Milan Uhrik, leader of Slovakia's Republic party, has also denounced Trump's actions as violating international law. "Who has ever seen a commando from one country abduct the president of another? Where would we end up if international conflicts were resolved this way?"
8/ Although the recently published US National Security Strategy talks of supporting far-right forces to combat "civilizational erasure" in Europe, Trump's approach – particularly towards Greenland – is making it politically much harder for the far-right to ally with him.
9/ Far-right parties are likely to be worried that being on the wrong side of an anti-Trump wave, as happened to Canada's Pierre Poilievre, will severely damage their prospects. In Canada, Trump's threats led to a sudden Liberal revival and decisive victory in 2025. /end
1/ Gas prices were lowered, restrictions were lifted, and queues vanished temporarily for a visit to Irkutsk by Vladimir Putin. Russians are calling it a modern-day Potemkin village, but it appears to show how hard Putin's underlings try to hide Russia's problems from him. ⬇️
2/ The original Potemkin villages were said to be fakeside river towns built by Grigory Potemkin to fool Empress Catherine the Great in 1787 (though it appears to be a myth). However, it was an attempt to fake success, rather than hiding failure from a leader inhabiting a bubble.
3/ The Russian Telegram channel 'Honesty, and that's final' reports on unusual events that happened during Putin's recent visit to the western Siberian city of Irkutsk:
1/ Russia isn't winning in Ukraine and it's all the fault of Russian society, says an angry Russian warblogger. Seeking an explanation for why (in the eyes of warbloggers) Russia has not yet started "fighting for real", he blames ordinary Russians for apathy and cowardice. ⬇️
2/ Russian society has been massively atomised under the rule of Vladimir Putin, with the near-destruction of most civil society organisations (apart from a limited number approved of or tolerated by the state). Passive subservience is welcomed; collective action is discouraged.
3/ This nuance seems to have passed by the author of the 'It's Time To Go Home ZOV' Telegram channel, who thinks that his fellow citizens, rather than the oppressive regime they live under, are to blame for the current situation:
1/ Wildberries sellers are generally blaming the Russian government, rather than Ukraine, for their losses. It's an interesting and striking dynamic, which Russian warbloggers say the Russian government itself has created through its suppression of bad news. ⬇️
2/ Over the last couple of weeks, Russian social media has been flooded with videos of distraught Wildberries sellers weeping over their huge losses as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes against warehouses across Russia.
3/ Tens to hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses have lost much if not all of their stock, with total financial losses just from inventory alone already reckoned to be in the billions of dollars. Ukraine, however, has received surprisingly little blame.
1/ A rare Russian armoured assault on 22 June ended in disaster, with the loss of numerous vehicles and the reported deaths of scores of Russians. Russian warbloggers are scathing about the losses, seeing the attack as incompetent. ⬇️
2/ FT military correspondent Andrey Filatov is highly critical, using a standard euphemism for the Russian army to evade censorship:
3/ "The enemy's video report is all standard fare: analog FPV, fiber optics, Mavics. The new thing is a strike wing approaching a stationary "shed" [turtle tank] All these threats can be worked on, but they're not for the brilliant commanders of the Laotian army...
1/ Vladimir Putin has strongly hinted that Russia should claim the entire eastern half of Ukraine, going far beyond the existing annexation of the Donbas and southern Ukraine. He foresees a future in which western Ukraine is also annexed by its neighbours. ⬇️
2/ In a meeting with sailors in St Petersburg to mark Navy Day today, Putin extensively discussed Russia's historical rights over Ukraine, highlighting in the process his obsession with Russian and Ukrainian history and his dubious reading of it.
3/ He told them that "Ukraine has always been divided into Left-Bank and Right-Bank. Left-Bank Ukraine has always been considered not just Russia-oriented, but part of Russia."
1/ Vladimir Putin is today celebrating the 330th anniversary of the Russian Navy. However, it's a muted, shrunken event held under the shadow of Ukrainian drone strikes and with the Black Sea Fleet blockaded in Novorossiysk. Russian commentators fear for the Navy's future. ⬇️
2/ Putin has today been at the Main Admiralty of the Russian Navy in St. Petersburg for Navy Day to mark the Navy's 330th anniversary since its foundation under Peter the Great. He spoke of the Navy and Marines' "important role in the Special Military Operation."
3/ "Shipborne complexes are delivering devastating strikes against the enemy with high-precision weapons. Marines are advancing, fighting bravely, skillfully, and fearlessly. The entire country supports them and awaits their return home with victory."