The House progressive caucus, led by Rep. Primala Jayapal (D-WA), released a well-meaning but awkward letter urging Biden to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war on Monday, October 24, 2022. Within 24 hours, they retracted and disavowed it (see story here). As described by The Hill here, [...]
Archive for the ‘Russia’ Category
Tulsi Gabbard’s delusions
Tulsi Gabbard’s recent public comments are so friendly to Russia you wonder if she’s on Putin’s payroll (I can’t prove she is). Just two years after running for the Democratic presidential nomination, the former Hawaii congresswoman is quitting the Democratic Party. This will[...]
October 20th, 2022 - 3:17 pm § in Russia
War in socks and shorts
Reports from behind the front indicate Putin’s conscripts have to buy military gear on the civilian market, where prices are soaring, and pay for it themselves. They’re complaining to wives and families back home that “the army has nothing” to issue them. “What little g[...]
October 17th, 2022 - 7:34 pm § in Russia
Wind energy isn’t hot air
I’ve seen conservatives pooh-pooh wind energy, and I’ll bet you have, too. But wind and solar energy have provided 24% of the European Union’s electricity since Russia invaded Ukraine, and increased renewables capacity has saved EU countries $97 billion “in avoided gas imports be[...]
October 9th, 2022 - 9:12 pm § in Russia
Putin’s faux outrage
“Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called the attack that damaged the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea ‘a terrorist act’ masterminded by Ukrainian special services,” Huffington Post reported on October 9, 2022 (read story here). Terror[...]
October 4th, 2022 - 12:18 pm § in Russia
Reports: Russian draftees are being sent to war with no training and inferior weapons
Back in July, Insider reported here that Russian replacements were being sent to Ukraine with little training. Following Putin’s mass mobilization to replenish his forces in Ukraine, other sources also report that conscripts get little or no training, and now aren’t even undergoing medic[...]
Where China stands on Ukraine’s NATO bid
On Sunday, in the state-owned Global Times, Beijing warned the U.S. that allowing Ukraine to join NATO — which the Biden administration doesn’t support — would inevitably escalate the conflict and increase the danger of nuclear war. The Global Times editorial, which is seen as spea[...]
October 3rd, 2022 - 12:06 pm § in Russia
Draftees in, draftees out
Ukrainians are really good at killing, wounding, and demoralizing Russian troops. That’s left Putin scraping the bottom of the barrel for new recruits. How’s that working for him? Not well, it seems. Previous reports have described Putin’s callup of 300,000 reserves chaotic and unc[...]
October 2nd, 2022 - 11:06 pm § in Russia
What might happen if Putin goes nuclear
While there’s no sign right now of Russian preparations to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, U.S. and NATO officials are taking Putin’s latest threats “very seriously.” A Russian ex-oligarch who knows Putin well predicts he’ll try to turn things around with the 3[...]
September 30th, 2022 - 11:20 pm § in Russia
Putin can’t do anything right
What the heck is Putin celebrating? He’s losing his war. His conscription scheme is chaos, and Russians are fleeing the country. He doesn’t have control of the Ukrainian territory he annexed, and his Nordstream pipeline sabotage is backfiring. Nothing is going right for him. He hasnR[...]