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/

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/

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: 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/

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/

5,000 tons of Russia’s Navy ammunition near St. Petersburg is gone.

Eight Ukrainian deep strike drones got through air defenses and triggered a massive secondary detonation — United24. 1/ The target was the Russian Navy’s 15th Arsenal near Bolshaya Izhora in the Leningrad region — a key ammunition hub for the Baltic Fleet. 2/

Zelenskyy: Abramovich came to Kyiv with a message for me and wanted a message back to Putin. My main message was that we will not leave Donbas.

And all the compromises must be after the ceasefire. The ceasefire is the biggest compromise from our side to your side.

1/ Zelenskyy: Russians don’t use social media in their capital.

Even our soldiers on the front lines have social media and can use them.

2/

Zelenskyy is meeting Starmer, Macron, and Merz in London to decide how to force Putin into a ceasefire.

What pressure to add, which Russian targets to squeeze, and how Europe keeps negotiations moving while Trump is focused on Iran, — The Telegraph. 1/ The summit follows Zelenskyy’s open letter challenging Putin to a face-to-face meeting and a truce along the current front lines.
Putin: “I don’t see any point for now.” 2/

GPS jamming has reached space, and from orbit a single source can blank an entire continent at once, far beyond any jammer on the ground.

Scientists traced short GPS outages across Europe, from Iceland to Italy, to three Russian satellites in at least 3 of 75 cases logged since 2019, NYT. 1/ The disruptions are short, lasting under 10 seconds, but they spread across a continent.

They hit the GPS networks of the U.S., China and the EU. Russia's own system stays untouched. 2/

FT: Zelenskyy invited Roman Abramovich to Kyiv on May 21 and asked him to tell Putin he was ready for their first one-on-one summit after more than four years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukraine tried a direct peace channel. Putin still saw no point in meeting. 1/ Ukraine wanted to prove it takes direct peace talks seriously while the US, which tried to broker a ceasefire, focuses on the Middle East war.

Kyiv also sees leverage in Russia’s slowed offensive, huge casualties, and Ukraine’s deep strikes behind enemy lines. 2/

Snyder: Ukraine is a test of whether people put their country’s interests first or follow the whims of leaders who admire oligarchs and dictators.

People understand that Ukrainians have the right to defend themselves and that they can and should win this war. 1/ Snyder: You're always in history and your choices matter. Not making a choice is also a choice. Trump has weaknesses. He can't win wars, he loses them.
His corruption and greed create vulnerabilities. History won't solve these problems on its own. 2/

Russia spent three years flattening Ukrainian cities with glide bombs. Ukraine now has its own.

Kyiv built the Vyrivniuvach "Equaliser" in 17 months, a 500-pound glide bomb designed to strike fortified positions and command posts, The Telegraph. 1/ Russian pilots launched glide bombs from inside Russian airspace, outside the reach of Ukrainian air defenses.

Cheap guidance kits turned old Soviet bombs into precision weapons that destroyed city blocks from Kharkiv to Kherson. 2/

Putin's chief propagandists can no longer explain what Russia is fighting for.

Aleksandr Dugin spent decades justifying Russia's war against the West. Asked what is worth fighting for today, he failed to give a clear answer, The Atlantic. 1/ Dugin answered with a fantasy of Russians leaving cities for the countryside, living among "neo-ancient ruins" and connecting through an "internet of Russian villages."

Even his interviewer, Sobchak, struggled to keep a straight face. 2/

Petraeus: The single most catastrophic imaginable event would be conflict between the U.S. and China.

America is spinning more plates than at any time since the Cold War, but the China plate is bigger than all the others combined. It cannot even wobble. 1/ Petraeus: Xi’s goal is Taiwan, reunification is his last bucket-list item. The task is to make sure that every morning in Beijing, when Xi looks at Taiwan, he concludes: not today.

That is the most important mission of the U.S. military. 2/

Petraeus: The U.S. is in a strategic cul-de-sac with Iran. Any route out has downsides.

Iran has been badly weakened militarily, but it still has drones, missiles, fast boats and the ability to create serious problems in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. 1/ Petraeus: The challenge is restoring freedom of navigation through Hormuz without giving Iran authority to charge tolls or navigation fees.

While still dealing with enriched uranium, sanctions, proxies and the future of Iran’s nuclear program. 2/

Petraeus: Ukraine now has an advantage over Russia on the front lines.

Being outnumbered 5 to 1 and heavily outgunned matters less when Ukrainians are inflicting over 90% of Russian casualties with unmanned systems. 1/ Petraeus: The front lines are no longer really lines. The “kill zone” now extends roughly 35 km on either side.

Trenches and rural fighting positions are exposed because if there is a way to shoot out, a drone can fly in. 2/

Kasparov: A temporary ceasefire with Putin could make things worse. His army will not go home; it will go elsewhere.

Europe knows this, yet some still look for compromise while Poland, the Baltics and Finland are already preparing for war. 1/ Kasparov: Putin will not cut military spending. He will squeeze Russian businesses, oligarchs and the population harder.

He may still have resources for a year or two, but every strike on oil infrastructure hits someone’s business interest. 2/

Kasparov: This war has been a war of miracles from the beginning. On February 24, 2022, how many people expected Ukraine to survive at all?

Now we are in the fifth year, and Putin has failed to achieve his objectives one after another. 1/ Kasparov: Putin may no longer be able to continue this war on the basis of economy, production and numbers, but he cannot end it either.

If he ends the war without a meaningful result he can sell to Russia, he could be politically cooked. 2/

Putin faces a succession crisis in Chechnya that could erupt into a new war inside Russia, draining troops and money he needs for Ukraine — Christian Caryl, Foreign Policy.

The region's ruler Ramzan Kadyrov, 49, is probably terminally ill, and his heir is his 18-year-old son. 1/ Putin built his presidency by crushing Chechen rebels in the late 1990s, then made a deal with Akhmad Kadyrov. Kadyrov suppressed the insurgency and accepted Moscow's rule, and in return ran Chechnya as he pleased.

A bomb killed Akhmad in 2004. Power passed to his son Ramzan. 2/

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US, Stefanishyna: If Russia had any real desire to negotiate or compromise, there would be zero obstacles.

Ukraine has shown openness and flexibility in every format proposed, including by President Trump. The aggressor never had real intent. 1/ Stefanishyna: Ukraine’s capabilities are now seen and felt by Russia on its own territory.

They deprive Moscow of the ability to attack Ukrainian cities and kill more families. That pressure is one reason Putin is being forced back toward the option of dialogue. 2/

Gen. Wesley Clark: Putin is trapped. He sees no way out that preserves his survival as Russia’s leader, so he keeps pushing and hopes Trump’s friendship, Chinese help, Iranian help and U.S. distraction will cut support to Ukraine until Ukraine somehow collapses. 1/ Clark: Putin really believed he could seize Kyiv, capture Zelenskyy, shoot him in the street and take over, despite 10 years of war already showing Ukraine’s resistance.

He did not understand the spirit of Ukraine and was blinded by his own desire. 2/