Russians in the Caribbean
Plus: Hamas and Russia, partners in crime
Want to know what’s happening in Ukraine? Read on for the real intelligence and mood, from the most informed voices.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Ukrainian grass-roots fundraiser shares story as he prepares to join the army
“Ukrainian farmers don't need help from major chemical food companies.”
A reminder of life in the Soviet Union. It wasn’t nice.
Ukraine has destroyed much of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, so don’t worry about the Russians in the Caribbean?
SILICON CURTAIN — with host JONATHAN FINK in OXFORD
Dimko Zhluktenko - Tech Entrepreneurs are Helping Accelerate the Military Tech Revolution in Ukraine
An ordinary Ukrainian trying to help his country. He runs Dzyga's Paw to purchase tech equipment for 🇺🇦 Ukrainian Defenders. He is a former software engineer, in civilian life.
“In the end, in the first year, we have been able to generate about I think 700,000 US dollars, which was a tremendous result starting as a literally nobody on the social media. I had maybe a thousand followers that I have met throughout my IT career on various conferences and just my friends.”
Key Points:
Dimko has been successful in crowdfunding and providing technological equipment to Ukrainian defenders, raising millions of dollars and making a significant impact on the battlefield.
The use of commercial technology, such as Starlink and Chinese drones, has revolutionized the economics of warfare, allowing for more cost-effective and impactful operations.
Dimko’s decision to join the armed forces of Ukraine after getting married is driven by a desire to defend freedom and make a greater impact in the military, utilizing his skills and knowledge in UAVs and reconnaissance.
You can join Dimko’s 80K+ followers on X.
WGN RADIO DAILY WAR JOURNAL — 10 Minutes Daily: Watch, Listen, or Read
War Day 839: Ukraine's Resilience and Global Engagement
The only American news show reporting live from Ukraine EVERY WEEKDAY of Russia’s full-scale invasion; with Bob Sirott in Chicago and Joe Lindsley in Lviv
Ukrainian Push for Utilizing Frozen Russian Assets at G7
Lviv—Good afternoon from Lviv. Calm, kind of chilly day here. At the G7, I think one theme that Ukrainians are hoping to push there is, as we discussed before, this $300 billion in frozen Russian assets that are held by the US by many countries throughout Europe. Those assets were frozen at the beginning of Russia's big invasion, and they're untouched. Ukrainians are saying, why don't we start to use some of this money to pay for the cost of defending Ukraine for reconstruction? So I do think that will be a big topic.
NATO Secretary General said that he wants to push to make it mandatory for all NATO members to provide weapons for Ukraine at some point.
Do Ukrainian Farms Need Chemicals, or Victory?
We look also at some of the discussions from that reconstruction conference in Berlin. One of the key figures there was Penny Pritzker. She has been appointed by President Biden from Chicago actually appointed by President Biden to oversee reconstruction for Ukraine. And she said at this conference, she said to anyone who's involved in Ukraine, “it's personal, it's hard not to be taken in by the commitment of the people. And that carries you through.”
And I see that from people, whether it's hardened veterans of Afghanistan to liberal college professors to high level officials on the left and the right. Everyone that comes here is sort of captivated by the spirit that they see. And you see that even from these high level officials.
And I think I've even seen a change in that because a few months ago, Penny Pritzker was focused on using big agriculture companies to help Ukrainian farmers. And she had a more distinctly local message this time in this conference in Berlin. And I think as you spend more time here, you see, for example, in the case of farmers, Ukrainian farmers don't need help from major chemical food companies in America. What they need is no more landmines. They need clearance of landmines and they need not to be conscripted to fight, which means they need victory.
And so we're starting to see, I think more of an awareness that instead of talking about reconstruction, talk about getting Ukraine, the weapons that they need to win. And as an example of this Kharkiv city now after two years, now that Washington has permitted Ukraine to fire back in a limited way in the neighboring Russian region Kharkiv is significantly calmer than it was a few weeks ago….
Personal Stories Highlighting Reduced Russian Attacks
I want to share with you some words from Kate. She's a Ukrainian blogger in Kharkiv, and she said, “while Russian missile strikes still occasionally occur and glide bombs can still approach our northern suburbs, it's not entirely safe. But I increasingly venture outdoors, the omnipresent threat has diminished to a tolerable level. The restrictions which lasted over two years left our key vulnerable and suffering despite our pleas. It seemed no one would intervene. But then when you”—speaking to the people around the world—“but then you spoke up, although your leaders may have been deaf to our appeals, they listened to you. I'm profoundly grateful for your advocacy and moves me to the brink of tears.”
Russian Naval Exercises in the Caribbean: Context and Reassurance
Russia has made a big show about its military exercises off the coast of Cuba, and they have ships in Havana. There are American and Canadian ships, I think even a British ship that are watching this very closely and making the show to keep the world afraid it seems. But as we discussed yesterday, it's safer right now for a Russian ship to be in the Caribbean than it is to be in the Black Sea because Ukrainians have destroyed so much of Russia's Black Sea Navy.
Russia was forced last fall to move the headquarters of its Black Sea Fleet from occupied Crimea, from Sebastopol all the way across the sea toward the nation of Georgia, so on Russian mainland to be safer from Ukrainian drone strikes. And so Ukrainians have shown that a mighty Navy can be defeated with very innovative small seed drones. And so I think if Ukrainians can do this, and I don't think Americans have great reason to be afraid of the Russian Navy in the Caribbean.
And that's happened even before Russia's big invasion of Ukraine. I think four or five years ago there were similar exercises, but the one thing that should keep people in America calm is to look at what Ukrainians have done with their drones to destroy so many the key Russian ships. And that's why we've seen a decrease in attacks upon Ukraine from the Black Sea because of that.
Understanding the ‘Danse Macabre’ of Russian Missile Strikes
And as I was thinking about that big Russian missile attack two nights ago, most of those missiles came from bombers that were flying deep over Russian territory. Very often they launch over the Caspian Sea, which is deep into Russia and into Asia.
And just imagine, I was thinking of the distances because as I was sitting here in Lviv, we get reports, oh, missiles are coming toward Aviv, and then they're turning toward Kyiv or Dnipro. That would be like if you're sitting in Chicago and you're reading your messages on your phone and it says, missiles are coming to St. Louis or Kansas City. Oh wait, now they're coming to Aurora and now they're turning towards Chicago and now they're going back to Kansas City. It's that insane over this huge distance because the missiles are traveling very fast and they're twisting and turning. And so just to give you a little feel of what on American geography, what that feels like.
Volodymyr Kukharenko
Helping translation companies to automate business and project management | Protemos Translation Business Management System
I see some university smoothie kids criticize Western capitalism and praise USSR times, wearing T-shirts with Che Guevara … Well, let me share some facts about USSR everyday life:
1) Up till 1970s, villagers could not leave their places of residence without permission, and worked for “workday units” that could be exchanged to goods. No documents, no money, like sefrs. My grandparents were living like that. Not in 18-19th century like in your country, but in 2nd half of 20th!
2) In USSR, doing ANY business was a criminal offence. E.g. you buy a car and sell it at the higher price and they discover it, you go to prison. That's why the first business in 1990ties was founded by semi-criminal groups, they at least had some organized business processes.
3) Since I mentioned the car, you should know that its cost was equivalent to 5 years income of average Soviet citizen, so if you eat and dress, it means 10 years. But even if you had money, you could not just buy it. You had to wait 5-10 years until it gets produced. You had to wait years to get a flat, a furniture, anything. We've got really big shopping malls just about 20 years ago.
4) You had to repair your car yourself, there was no special service. You had to do anything else with your own hands, from plumbing and electricity to building a house and refurbishing your apartment. In older generation, there is still a remaining gender stereotype of "real man" as the one who can do anything with his hands.
5) The food in city shops was scarce and not fresh. I still remember the smell of rotten vegetables. Some were lucky though, as they had parents in villages who were supplying vegetables and meat to their urbanized children. Again, do-it-yourself philosophy. Again, people from the older generation still grow their own potatoes even though it's cheaper to buy them in a supermarket.
6) Dentists from horror movies. No anesthetics, a challenge for real “toxic masculinity” men (and women too, also kids when needed). Those who remember the times still have a phobia of dentists.
7) No toilet paper. We used newspapers and books of Lenin for this purpose. This is how I read some parts of them...
And that’s all about relatively good times, not bloody carnages of 1920-1930ties and forced suicide attacks in WW2. Stalin was the 2nd mass murderer in history after Mao. He was more bloodier than Hitler. So take your smoothie, and find better things to do if you do not want full immersion into all the above. Some folks similar to you shared nukes technology with commies in 1940ties, as they believed they were making better world, and now your government doesn't know what to do with Russian nukes.
Hamas and Russia: Partners in Crime?
Hamas has raped and slaughtered innocent Israelis. But do you notice what Russia has done to innocent Ukrainians?
Maybe pay attention to these connections, because the Kremlin and Hamas surely do.
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