A long love and hate letter to my social class that I wrote for the Ideas Letter. Tough love mostly. Russian intelligentsia combines the aspects of perpetual subversiveness and extreme servility.>> www.theideasletter.org/essay/flight...

Trump has spoken to Putin and he is going to talk to Zelensky. Official statements are almost irrelevant at the moment. We won’t know the nature of the ongoing bargain until it results in a deal or fails. The former is more likely, I think, but maybe not right now.

Merz's 'dirty work' remark is appalling (as is the apparent quiet approval by other Europeans). It's like people openly admit that this whole 'rules-based thing' is just a pretense.

How one can be a Putinoid while hating Putin and Russia? Well, the pro-Israeli camp today shows exactly how - by supporting a war of aggression unleashed under a false pretext. By denying what Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch describe as genocide. >>

Netanyahu says the war will be long. Israeli army’s chief of staff says it won’t be only comprised of victories and that the Iranian response will be unprecedented. The far right coalition in Israel didn’t collapse and secured itself another six months of unchallenged rule. (1)

Now that Trump is boasting about his China deal, what’s the likelihood of him slapping 500% tariff on China as per Lindsay Graham’s Ukraine bill? The latter has always been a non-starter, but many in Ukraine still believe it’s feasible.

A hilariously biased and openly racist view on Russia, based on a Polish book from the 1930s, which however reflects - to a large extent - the current paradigm adopted by Western mainstream that still fancies itself to be “liberal”. (1) news.err.ee/1609718379/h...

This is a crazy, dangerous statement and a blatant lie - Russia is not at war with Britain. But having said that, Fiona Hill will have to do everything to prove her words to be true. This is how self-fulfilling prophecies have worked since the start of this conflict in 2014. (1)

Ukrainian milblogger Bohdan Myroshnykov points out that the Russians haven’t waged massive attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure for five months. That was the most tangible result of Trump’s involvement in mediation. (1)

Kellogg says the attack on Russian airbases is a path to escalation. Hegseth chooses not to attend Rammstein meeting, even by videolink. It doesn’t seem like the Ukranian triple attack on airbases, trains and Kerch bridge is delivering the desired result of swaying Trump’s administration. (1)

Being targeted by the lowlife of psy-ops world is a regular occurrence, but someone claiming that I worked for Channel One’s Vremya (or any Russian government media at all, for that matter) is a new. Did I also collaborate with Gestapo and crucify Jesus? What a jerk.

When Remchukov writes in the NG that Putin is ready to stop the war on the current frontline, he speaks for himself. It’s not a signal from the Kremlin. He says many out-of-the-box things by the standards of systemic intellectual in today’s Russia. All the time. (1)

Upbeat about his talks with Putin, Trump’s envoy Witkoff drifts away from his president’s unconditional ceasefire demand towards Putin’s demand of a comprehensive peace based on Istanbul framework plus occupied territory formula. www.foxnews.com/video/637149...

Lots of performative stuff in Zelensky’s CBS interview, but at one point he says something of substance - that the conflict will be resolved diplomatically because Ukraine can’t de-occupy the occupied areas. Interestingly, he mentions bilateral - that is unmediated - negotiations as a possibility.

Putin is not fighting for territory (or for erasing Ukraine’s statehood). He is fighting for a thick red line limiting NATO expansion and for Russia’s non-subordinate status in relations with the West. He might be getting what he wants. @al-jazeera-english.bsky.social aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/…

Ukraine’s Supreme Court rules that illegally mobilised men cannot be discharged from service because mobilisation is “irreversible”. t.me/stranaua/189...

Ukraine’s bridgehead in Kursk region is now encompassing 110 sq. km. That’s almost equal to the Russian bridgehead in Vovchansk (102 sq. km) without the nearby intrusion north of Lyptsy (86 sq. km).

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station emerges as a realistically attainable concession the US and Ukraine are trying extract from Putin, judging by Trump’s and Zelensky’s statements. Russian position on that is unclear. (1)

The realistically attainable framework of peace agreement in Ukraine is clear to all participants. It will be much harder to sell it to Ukrainians, as well as Western audiences, who have been fed with unrealistic expectations for three years. My latest for BNE: www.bne.eu/ragozin-what...

I asked Russia's foreign minister if Moscow still opposes idea of European peacekeepers in Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov replied "We see no room for compromise...this would mean no longer hybrid involvement, but the direct, official, unconcealed participation of Nato countries in war against Russia."

What the flurry of diplomatic activity and heated rhetoric over Ukraine conceals is damage control and the ensuing blame game. What else to expect from a political culture, in which messaging trumps substance. My latest for @al-jazeera-english.bsky.social www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

If you are extremely shocked by how the conflict in Ukraine is culminating, then perhaps your echo chamber shields you from crucial facts and creates multiple blind zones. (1)

Other signals, apart from virtue signalling: “Despite pledges of support for Ukraine, some European leaders have signalled to Kyiv that they would rather see them repair their ties with Washington than move on completely without the US.” www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

It didn’t have to end like this for Ukraine. It could have ended with lofty words, shy smiles, pats on the back and gentle nudges towards negotiations table. (1)

Reviving my dormant Substack with this post about Trump’s paradox. What if this perceived political baddie stops a brutal conflict which his supposedly virtuous opponents helped to foment? Editors wishing me to develop it into a longer piece are welcome. t.co/K9mCxpza6m

NEW: Trump has often argued the war in Ukraine “would never have started” if he’d been president at the time. @leonidragozin.bsky.social explains why that may well be right:

Interesting analysis on @nonzeronews.bsky.social from @leonidragozin.bsky.social . The primary culprit in the invasion of Ukraine is Vladimir Putin. Trump will likely make matters worse. But Biden's hawkish instincts didn't help either: www.nonzero.org/p/how-biden-...

Like anyone offers him NATO membership if he steps down.

⚡️ Zelenskyy: I am ready to step down as president for peace or in return for NATO membership

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments at NATO HQ marks a remarkable shift from delusion to realism. (1 of 9)

UP’s Rada source quotes Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as saying during parliamentary hearings that Ukrainian statehood could collapse if peace is not reached by summer. Quite a journey from the same man promising Ukrainian troops in Crimea by summer 2023.

Trump is a wildcard, but there is a chance that his presidency could result not just in peace for Ukraine but in reversing the 30 years of catastrophically erroneous policy of excluding Russia from Europe that led to the rise of Putin and his aggression in Ukraine. www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

Russian nazis fighting on the Ukrainian side mocking Russian nazis fighting on the Russian side for siding with the Chechens is *all you need to know* about this conflict.

Oops, this war is about NATO after all

The Russian TG channel Two Majors posts an advert for recruits in Samara. The package for those willing to fight in Ukraine includes: - A one-off payment of R4m (€38K) at the time of signing the contract - Forgiving debts of up to R10m (€94K) - Monthly pay of R260K (€2,460) >>>

Also Boris Johnson

In which a Ukrainian army spokeswoman, Natalia Kindrativ, says over half a million of Ukrainians are on the wanted list for draft dodging.

Some elite kids in Kyiv have been deliberately creating traffic jams and driving dangerously in luxury vehicles while shooting it all on video. In one of the videos, they played “I am Russian” - a song by Shaman, the nazi-styled pop icon propagating Putin’s aggression. www.unian.net/incidents/v-...

Here’s an essay I’ve penned for the Ideas newsletter about the mendacious Manichaean vision of Russo-Ukrainian conflict which only benefits those who want it to be a forever war. www.theideasletter.org/essay/darkne...

Cryptic statement by Zelensky (he was asked whether he will run for the second term): “I don’t know how this war will end. If I manage to do more than I can, I will look at it [re-election] more positively.”

Russian cargo ship Ursa Major owned by a defence industry company has sunk as a result of an explosion in the engine room off the Spanish coast. Two crew members are missing and 14 have been rescued. www.rbc.ru/society/24/1...

Interesting piece by Zelensky’s former press secretary Yulia Mendel arguing that Ukraine’s best chance is immediate ceasefire and that Kyiv should take initiative and launch talks with Putin before others do over its head. tomorrowsaffairs.com/if-ukraine-d...

Countries the US president-elect has pissed-off/intimidated so far: - Canada - Panama - Greenland To be continued…

Outspoken MP Mariana Bezuhla said earlier today that the employees of Deep State, Ukraine’s best war mapping service, are facing military draft. She framed it as an attempt by commander-in-chief Syrsky to shut down their project. Now Deep State appears to confirm the news.

Everyone you don’t like is a communist in America. Or Russian agent.

Pro-war think tanks and other usual suspects are waging a campaign to cajole and blackmail Trump into doubling down on escalation in Ukraine. This piece by Hudson Institute’s Luke Coffey starts on the old trope that Russia will come back if the conflict is frozen.

Marvels of Odessa philosophy

With all the mains roads cut off and Makarivla fully encircled, the fall of Velyka Novosilka seems imminent. When it happens, the Russians will be able to proceed with the occupation of Zaporizhzhia region in Huliai-Pole area and to start entering Dnipropetrovsk region if they wish.

Population pyramid explains well why Zelensky’s administration resists American pressure to start drafting men aged 18-25. There are simply very few of these left because of economic difficulties and emigration 20 years ago. Pic from sceeus.se/en/publicati...

Senior Azov Movement figure Dmytro Kukharchuk posts a photo with the new Ukrainian land force commander Mikhailo Drapaty and the backdrop of two Týr runes. The rune (usually single) is a neo-nazi symbol also used by the Russo-Ukrainian Wotanjugend platform currently based in Ukraine.