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Archive for the ‘Russia’ Category
Why invaders shouldn’t take the elevator (8-second video)
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Germany explains Nazis to Putin
Putin claims he invaded Ukraine to “denazify” the country. That drew hoots from the rest of the world, none more so than the Germans (read story here). When Russia’s embassy in South Africa tweeted that “Russia is fighting Nazism in Ukraine,” the Germans posted the repl[...]
March 4th, 2022 - 7:34 pm § in Foreign Affairs, Russia
Birth of a nation
Wars have unintended consequences. Gallipoli changed Australia from a place name on maps to a country with a national identity. Although Canada was farther along in its national evolution, to some extent that happened to Canadians at Vimy Ridge, too. National identity is an intangible thing, althoug[...]
March 3rd, 2022 - 11:13 pm § in Russia
A stupid way to fight a war
You shouldn’t believe everything Russian POWs say to the cameras. They don’t want to be shot. They’re going to say what they think their Ukrainian captors want to hear. “Nonetheless, there is an authentic sense that many Russian servicemen regret ever having come to Ukraine,&[...]
Is Putin or Trump more unhinged?
Good question. Right now, Putin’s mental state matters more, because he controls nukes and can start wars, while Trump no longer does and his aggression is stymied by Twitter. So, this question is more of a mind exercise than anything. I vote for Trump. That he’s unhinged, I mean. Everyo[...]
Wax Putin kicked off his pedestal
Putin’s effigy has been kicked out of the Paris Grévin Museum’s wax figure display collection (read story here). “Current events,” i.e. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, “mean we don’t want him here and the staff don’t want to walk past him every day,” the museum di[...]
What’s with Putin’s long tables?
This is new; he hasn’t held meetings this way before (photo, left). The media’s typical explanation is that so-and-so hasn’t been tested for Covid-19, or something like that (see, e.g., story here). However, there are other possibilities. It’s well known that Putin is paranoi[...]
What is Babi Yar?
Babi Yar is a ravine in Kyiv, the Ukrainian city now under Russian fire. During World War 2, a major battle was fought around Kyiv (then Kiev) in August and September 1941 (details here), in which a Soviet army of about 150,000 was encircled and destroyed. By September 22 the city had fallen to the [...]
Kids hiding under desks
Journalist Jill Filipovic (profile here), who frequently writes op-eds for CNN, says here, “Making the prospect of nuclear war … a part of the international calculus in potential conflict” — which is what Russia’s Putin did this week — is “a startling depart[...]