A False Flag Provoc?
Day 809: Russians are getting active on Kharkiv border; region on edge
Ukrainian Freedom News: The best daily window into the reality of Ukrainian culture and resistance
THE WRAP: Last week the Russians began a northerly invasion of the Kharkiv region, 18 miles from the edge of Kharkiv city, something that has not happened since 2022. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to bombard Kharkiv city, and a curious incident happens just across the border in the Russian city of Belgorod. Plus: scenes from Greek Catholic Easter this past week in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, and an analysis of the situation in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The biggest sign of hope: Ukrainians defiantly and cheerfully celebrate Easter this month.
The biggest concern: What are the Russian’s planning or trying to do in Kharkiv?
The biggest question for Washington: Is DC waiting to see what Ukraine does with the latest batch of ATACMs (Attack-ems), or are there already plans to keep sending more of the weapons needed? Why is Jake Sullivan, national security advisor, talking about 2025, not 2024?
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90 seconds — Who are the Greek Catholics of Ukraine? And why are they the most traditional among the Ukrainians?
LVIV—Take a look at eastern-calendar Easter festivities in the Catholic Ukrainian city of Lviv this past week. Have you seen such a culture in your country?
Virtue vs. Nihilism: this is perhaps the question before the world right now.
The most obviously religious part of Ukraine is the West, where most people are Greek Catholic, part of the Roman Catholic Church but with some independence and with eastern style liturgy, married priests, etc. The Soviets outlawed the Greek Catholics but underground they kept their faith and traditions alive. Whenever Russia occupies Ukrainian soil, they seek to eliminate Greek Catholics. This video gives you a glimpse of a culture under threat.
EXCLUSIVE: 9 MINUTES - DAILY WAR JOURNAL ON CHICAGO’S WGN RADIO
War Day 807: But your ancestors will always follow you from heaven: Eurovision, Kharkiv, Holding On
🇺🇦 Every Day Until Victory on Chicago’s WGN Radio with Bob Sirott: Joe Lindsley reports every single weekday 10 minutes from Ukraine 🎙️ Friday 10 May 2024 LVIV—At Eurovision, Ukraine's musicians sing about Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary in a pop song of hope, even as Russians pound the country with missiles--and as they make a sinister new incursion, just 18 miles from Kharkiv city.
What’s Happening in Belgorod, Russia—just across the border from Kharkiv?
Sergej Sumlenny, LL.M, founder, European Resilience Initiative Center: A destruction of a multi-storeys building in Russia-controlled #Bilhorod (#Belgorod) could not be a Ukrainian hit. It is either a Russian attack (deliberately or not), or a Russian false flag operation (most probably). Let me elaborate on this.
1) This could not be a Ukrainian attack. Until now, Ukrainians have not attacked civilian buildings in Russia. If it was a missile or a dropped bomb, it came from the north-east, i.e. from deeper Russia's territory. For the same reason, it was not "a Ukrainian intercepted missile.”
1.1) Russia has a long history of accidentally bombing own territory. As Russia uses hundreds of bombs DAILY bombing Ukraine, and these are improvised glided bombs of bad quality, some of them occasionally fall on Russian cities and villages close to the border, incl. Belgorod /3
1.2) Russia also deliberately shelled own territory with artillery fire, in particular #Belgorod / #Biholord in December 2023, killing own civilians, including children. The goal: summon UNSC. That Russian lie was easily debunked, see this thread: /4
2) Still, a very probable option in this current #Belgorod / #Bilhorod bombing case is not a shell or bomb (willingly or unwillingly dropped), but a pre-installed explosive device. Look closer at the explosion. It looks more like a lot of explosives detonating in the cellar: /5
2.1) The explosion happened exactly at 11:21:00, the blast comes from the ground floor / cellar, the massive smoke cloud comes out of the building and spreads against the direction of allegedly bomb trajectory. This looks like something exploded, what was stored inside. /6
2.2) In 1999, Vladimir Putin came to power after he ordered to blast several buildings in Russia, including this one in Moscow, Guryanova street. The operation is known today as "Ryazan Sugar". You cannot teach old horse new tricks. /7
3) So, what is the motive behind it? Probably, more propaganda in Russia and in the UN to strengthen Russia's new Kharkiv offensive. Do not buy it. Do not forget: Russia lies every time Putin or Lavrov or else open their mouth. /8
The Forests of War
Here, from our friends at Kharkiv Media Hub, is a little glimpse at the situation in the northern part of Kharkiv region where the Russians have made an incursion.
50 MINUTES - SILICON CURTAIN: Navigating Propaganda
What’s Happening In the Country of Georgia? 15% of the country is marching in the streets!
Eto Buziashvili is an expert in Influence operations, foreign interference, social media manipulation and digital authoritarianism. She is a Research Associate at the Atlantic Council. Her work has been cited by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Foreign Policy, and Voice of America, among other media outlets and global magazines.
Battleground Ukraine Podcast: Analysis by British military historians
UKRAINIAN FREEDOM VOICES
Step by Step Ukraine Destroys More Russian Jets
by Alessio Rebola, Innovation Manager, Italy
In less than 2 weeks of May, 3 Russian Su-25 attack aircraft have already been shot down.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky personally announced the first downed Su-25 on May 4. Information about the second downed attack aircraft appeared on May 9. The third became known yesterday from the 110th Mechanized Brigade.
It is important to understand that all three planes were shot down in the Avdeevka area. Where they have recently ruled with impunity and unchallenged.
This indicates that in this location, a certain toolkit for fighting Russian aviation has finally appeared.
As for the Su-25, the losses of these aircraft for the ROV are considered painful. This is due to the fact that the Su-25 is not produced in Russia. They are repaired, serviced, modernized, but not produced.
According to data from open sources, at the beginning of 2021, the Russian Aerospace Forces included up to 200 Su-25 attack aircraft of various modifications and degrees of combat capability. Since 2022, the verified losses of the Su-25 have amounted to 31 aircraft; according to general data, the losses are much higher.
And every such loss is irrevocable.
At the same time, the Su-25 is the main working bird of army aviation to support ground operations at the tactical level. The annihilation of this component may lead to the fact that at a certain moment such support for ground operations by such a component will become impossible for Russia.
Mazal tov!
War is hell. But amid the adrenaline you maybe don't realise that hell until you encounter the little terrible uncomfortable details.
Before the big war, I drank the fine wines of Serhiy Stakhovsky, who once beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon. And that’s why, when I heard that he returned to his native Ukraine as a volunteer warrior, I wanted to talk to him, to understand how you can get from the world of elite tennis championships to the hellish scenes of Bakhmut and the trenches of Donbas.
You can watch our full conversation from @ukrpravda_eng at the link in @jplindsley’s bio. | @stakhovsky.wines
—Joe Lindsley, American reporting in Ukraine every day since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Chicago’s WGN Radio.
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I was reciting Rudyard Kipling’s “If” with friends on a supply delivery trip to Donbas.
And during that road trip I realized this: In the ancient and still flourishing Ukrainian language, the word for “if” literally means “how-what”: a workman like idea of how to achieve the impossible. Because Ukraine never colonized other countries, the Ukrainian language is an easy window into how early Indo-European humans forumated language based on necessity and possibility. —Joe Lindsley
Quick Hits
Many people praised Robert Kraft for demanding that Putin give him back the Super Bowl Ring the Russian tyrant stole from the New England Patriots owner in 2000.
But at this point, who cares about a ring, when Putin is unleashing hellfire upon free people day and night? Here’s what Kraft might have said instead, if he wishes to use his platform for good …
LVIV—Look at these scenes from Easter in Ukraine’s Greek Catholic city of Lviv. Why is Russia trying to erase this? I think there is no where like this in the world.
Kharkiv: The Soul of Freedom.
Episode 1: “You’re beating the wind.”
Here the Kharkiv writer Anna Gin offers her reflections on living in a city that the Russians shell day and night. “Who do you want to scare?” she writes. “There’s no way to break us. We can’t be broken.”
intro illustration by @citiesandsketches
Superhumans
… and here is Ukraine’s Eurovision song. More on this tomorrow!
Ukrainian Freedom Supply: Tools for victory
Thanks to our WGN Radio audience in the USA for continued support of our war reporting and of the civilians-turned-soldiers who stand at the front. Here’s a greeting from a Ukrainian Border Guard—incredibly crucial as Russian desperately tries to break into Kharkiv region—saying just how great it is that we got them some walkie-talkies. These little things make a positive difference. We welcome support here.
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