The Olympics should stand for peace and sportsmanship. Instead, from promoting Nazi Germany to “neutral” Russians, from “Chinese Taipei” to disqualifying Ukrainians, the pattern is the same: the IOC chooses victim-blaming and accommodating dictatorships over Olympic ethics. 15/15

In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It’s mostly known for organizing sporting events, and for being supposed to foster the Olympic ideal while actually submitting to dictators. 1/15

Ukrposhta has released a new stamp that pays tribute to Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych and his helmet of remembrance at the Milan/Cortina Olympic Games. The image takes us back to the start of the war when Ukrainian soldiers refused to abandon Zmiinyi (Snake) Island.

Publicēti 6️⃣ Saeimas paziņojumi, t. sk. paziņojums par atbalstu Ukrainas sportistiem, godinot Ukrainas aizstāvēšanās karā kritušo biedru piemiņu Milānas un Kortīnas 2026. gada olimpiskajās spēlēs. 🔗Oficiālā publikācija: vestnesis.lv/op/2026/31.1

Russia claims it is building a railway from Donetsk to Mariupol for “tourism.” Mariupol’s exiled city council says the line will instead transport military supplies and steel looted from destroyed factories Ukrainian partisans are sabotaging the construction. euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/13/r...

🇨🇦🇺🇸 Far-right Canadian separatists from the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) say they met three times with “very, very senior” Trump administration officials in 2025, with another meeting planned, - The Daily Beast

The IOC banned his helmet. Lviv put it in the city hall. Heraskevych was disqualified from the 2026 Olympics for honoring athletes killed by Russia. The city of Lviv responded with a poster: "Remembrance is not a violation." In 2022, Beijing, the IOC praised the same athlete for protesting war.

Who are the 22 athletes Russia killed — and the IOC disqualified Heraskevych for honoring on his Olympic helmet? Children, Olympians, soldiers — the youngest was 9, the oldest 41. Read all 22 stories in our article: euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/13/a...

Starptautiskā sporta arbitrāžas tiesa noraidījusi ukraiņu skeletonista Vladislava Heraskeviča apelāciju par viņam noteikto diskvalifikāciju. Latvijā daudzi jautā – kā šāds lēmums vispār sākotnēji pieļauts? Kāpēc Latvijas sporta funkcionāri klusēja un neiebilda? 🖥️ youtu.be/Mif4AksUS8g

"We confirm that freedom of expression is allowed at the Olympics, but not at the competition venue." - CAS Secretary General Matthew Reeb. What an utter BS, #IOC! Pretty much every athlete expresses something at the venues! #SlavaUkraini

Sašutumu raisījis SOK lēmums diskvalificēt Ukrainas skeletonistu Vladislavu Heraskeviču, jo viņš atteicās mainīt ķiveri, uz kuras attēloti vairāk nekā 20 ukraiņu sportisti un treneri, kas nogalināti Krievijas sāktajā karā. #LSM #ZiemasOS2026 🖥️ youtu.be/U-gqRbybanc

🇺🇦 President Zelenskyy has awarded Vladyslav Heraskevych the Order of Freedom. “For his selfless service to the Ukrainian people, his civic courage, and patriotism in defending the ideals of freedom and democratic values,” the presidential decree states.

Ukrainian drones flew 1,700 km to strike a Lukoil refinery in Ukhta, near the Ural Mountains, setting a new distance record for the war. Previous records at Orsk were hundreds of kilometers shorter. 🔗 euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/12/u...

Russia hit Ukraine’s thermal power plants again overnight - the 11th mass attack on its stations since October. DTEK has recorded over 220 strikes on its facilities since 2022 as Russia’s winter attacks keep grinding down Ukraine's energy grid. euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/12/r...

Ukrainian hackers say they set up fake Starlink activation channels - and Russians fell for it. They collected 2,400 data packages on Russian terminals, pocketed $6,000 in crypto, and passed it all to Ukrainian authorities. Every identified terminal was permanently disabled.

Jaunie Olimpiskie apļi

🫂 Netherlands, UK, Norway and Sweden allocate US$500m to buy US weapons for Ukraine

@jesseduquette.bsky.social 🔥🔥🔥

21-year-old Ukrainian figure skater Kyrylo Marsak dedicated his performance to his dad Andrii, who is currently defending Ukraine. Kyrylo skated to the song called "Fall on Me," a father-son duet by Andrea and Matteo Bocelli. His dad sent it to him.

Armed terror and planted ‘prohibited literature’ against Crimean Tatar family khpg.org/en/1608815513

Gada laikā jānokārto LV vadītāja apliecība,līdz tam brauc kā grib. Nav prasība par apmācībām, teorētisko eksāmenu. Pieredze rāda,ka zīmes nav viņu stiprā puse. Ne tikai indiešu. Sodi arī simboliski,ja pec gada nav LV VA. Mums tāda jēla attieksme pašiem pret savu drošību,ka šādi ļauj. Nav pašcieņa

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych’s memory helmet shows the faces of Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed by Russia’s war. More than 650 Ukrainian athletes&coaches have lost their lives. Remembering them is an act of dignity and courage. 📹🖊️MFA_Ukraine

Remembrance is not a violation

Cartoon by Jeff Koterba

Remembrance is not a violation #RemembranceIsNotAViolation

The EU completed delivery of 500 generators to Kyiv, with the second batch of 323 units arriving to power individual heating points in apartment buildings. The equipment comes from the EU's rescEU civil protection reserve. The first batch is already operational euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/13/5...

Remembrance is not a violation. Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers stand with the athletes of Ukraine’s Olympic team who remind the world of those killed by Russia. #RemembranceIsNotAViolation #MemoryCannotBeBanned

Top NATO allies don’t think the U.S. helps deter enemies anymore, a new POLITICO poll found. Across countries polled, far more respondents described the U.S. as an unreliable ally than a reliable one, including 50% in Germany and 57% in Canada. Read the story: politi.co/4aM7EIU See the data👇

Make him your X also! I did ! #fckmsk

💥🔥 Volgograd refinery halts operations after drone attack — Reuters Lukoil's oil refinery has halted oil processing after a fire caused by a Ukrainian drone attack. The AVT-1 unit has a capacity of about 18,600 tons per day.

Starptautiskā Olimpiskā komiteja ceturtdien īsi pirms sacensībām diskvalificēja Ukrainas skeletonistu Vladislavu Heraskeviču, kurš atteicās mainīt ķiveri, uz kuras attēloti vairāk nekā 20 ukraiņu sportisti un treneri, kas nogalināti Krievijas uzsāktajā karā

Starptautiskā Olimpiskā komiteja ceturtdien īsi pirms sacensībām diskvalificēja Ukrainas skeletonistu Vladislavu Heraskeviču, kurš atteicās mainīt ķiveri, uz kuras attēloti vairāk nekā 20 Krievijas nogalinātie ukraiņu sportisti un treneri. #LSM #ZiemasOS2026

The IOC disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from the 2026 Olympics over his memorial helmet tribute to fallen athletes Fellow teammates Olena Smaha and Dmytro Shepiuk displayed solidarity messages during their competitions. euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/12/i...

Start taking assets from this criminal….

🤷🏼

Nadler's question to Bondi about how many of the abusers on the Epstein files she has indicated or charged - she yelled at him and never answered the question but rather chose rant about the Dow. Everyone needs to watch the whole hearing! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vrQ...

Epstein survivors raise their hands to signal they've been ignored by Trump's DOJ as AG Pam Bondi refuses to look at them (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty)

BREAKING: Pam Bondi appears to have just committed a federal crime by lying under oath. Ted lieu just caught her in a lie and called for her resignation live on TV.

Remembering is a crime apparently. Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics after wearing a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia’s 2022 invasion. His team plans to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. #Ukraine

Latvijas Nacionālajā operā koncertā Ukrainas atbalstam vienosies vairāk nekā 130 mūziķi www.leta.lv/home/importa...

Krievija turpina nogalināt bērnus un drīkst piedalīties Olimpiskajās spēlēs, bet, kad ukrainis grib pieminēt nogalinātos kolēģus, tas nu gan ir pilnīgi nepieņemami. Gribētu teikt, ka šis ir prātam neaptverami, bet uz šo brīdi jau esam aptvēruši. Varam tikai turpināt atbalstīt Ukrainu: stopify.org.ua

Do you think they’d ban someone honouring people died in a natural disaster or an accident or because of an illness? I doubt it. Meanwhile, Russia can kill you and be sure institutions like that will look away coz Russia made your death “political” and “we don’t talk politics here. It’s a bad taste”

If you want to be a geopolitical power, you have to be a strong economic and military power. We are already a strong economic power, but we need to increase our competitiveness, simplify procedures, improve access to capital and build partnerships to diversify our trade portfolios. My doorstep ↓

Remembrance is not a violation

Russia is not winning this war. Its casualty rates are surging, and its economy is struggling. Today, Ministers will discuss how we can further support Ukraine. On the table are proposals to establish two training facilities inside Ukraine and to mobilise additional private capital.

In today’s Wumao Soup, we’ll tell you 15 things about the People’s Republic of China that you didn’t learn from TikTok, Douyin or DeepSeek. 1/20

Russia has long given up its pretense that it doesn't attack Ukrainian civilians.Now,it's proud of its war crimes&wants to harm Ukrainians more and more Russian propagandist Solovyev: "We must destroy it [energy infrastructure], finish it off completely"

Man trūkst spējas saprast tik elegantu tango. Ar Citskovski tika ātri galā, viņu sista krustā nekavējoties, tagad 10x lielāka summa, un nekas, gaidīsim. 50 miljoni tāds nieks vien ir. Pieņemti miljonu lēmumi neiedziļinoties, arī nekas. Es būtu kādā valdē, ietu cietumā, arī ja būtu labticīgi lēmusi.