Jul 11 Buonasera Mag
Day 138 Ukraine: RU missile strikes, UA strikes RU ammo, UA prepping for battle for the east, emergency Duma meeting, RU shuts KZ-EU pipeline, Bannon, Trolling RU, Yikes Boris, UA donations
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
As per Ukrainian media, 10,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been KIA and 7,200 are MIA.
On Jul 10 Ukraine's armed forces hit three Russian ammo depots: in Chornobayivka, Khartsyz'k, and Kadiyivka. This makes the total of eight in two days.
Andriy Tsaplienko: as a result of the strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, the loss of Russians in killed and wounded is almost 340 people.
As reported by Samuel Ramani, Ukraine can now export agricultural products along the Bystroye Canal linking the Danube River to the Black Sea This is a major byproduct of Ukraine's expulsion of Russia from Snake Island.
Head of Luhansk military administration, Haydai has reported that Russian military shot 56 people in Luhansk region. Russian soldiers in Kremennaya drove up to nursing home on a tank and started shooting at point-blank range at elderly people. The Russian invaders killed 56 people.
Latvia joins Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Denmark with conscription: Russia has destroyed security assumptions in Europe, says former president of Estonia, Toomas Hendrick Ilves.
According to the EU Foreign Affairs Chief Borrell, 323 million people are on the brink of starvation due to the global food crisis exacerbated by Russia's war and the subsequent blocked of Ukrainian ports.
Ukrainian rescue workers have recovered 15 bodies after Russian rockets hit a five-story apartment block in Chasiv Yar, a town of about 12,000 between Bakhmut and Kramatorsk late on July 9.
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia wants to rename the President of Russia the ruler of Russia. Zhirinovsky's death has not stalled his party's advocacy for totalitarianism in Russia.
Russia’s State Duma chairman Volodin calls back everyone for an emergency session for later today: “The need for an extraordinary plenary meeting is due to the fact that issues have accumulated that require urgent solutions. Including government initiatives will be considered.”
Russia Shuts Kazakhstan-EU Oil Pipeline: On July 5, 2022, a district court in Novorossiysk, Russia's biggest Black Sea port, ordered the shutting off of a pipeline exporting oil from Kazakhstan to the EU for a month. This decision follows a phone conversation between Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and European Council President Charles Michel during which Kazakhstan announced its support in helping the EU overcome its current energy crisis.
83% of Russians support the revival of Soviet brands for consumer goods. Soviet car brands, such as Moskvich, Volga and Pobeda, are already returning in response to Western sanctions.
Russian party proposes abolishing the title of ‘president’ for Putin and adopting ‘Ruler of Russia’ instead.
In the coming months, German government expects to supply Ukraine with a large amount of ammunition for the German Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. Der Spiegel reports that German authorities have agreed with a manufacturer in Norway on the production of shells.
Germany has been blocking the EU’s 9 billion euros aid for more than a month, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper's sources. Berlin approved only the first tranche of 1 billion euros.
Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died in the hospital after he was shot twice at a political campaign event, the BBC reports.
Italian PM Mario Draghi has had to consult with president Mattarella about the current government crisis. There’s a war on, and an energy crisis the likes not seen since 1972 and the 5 Star Movement can’t seem to look beyond its own navel.
NYT: Steve Bannon agreed to testify before the Jan. 6 panel in a remarkable about-face days before his contempt of Congress trial is set to begin.
Russia’s keeps the trolls popping up
As Russia’s war against Ukraine keeps raging, so too does it’s information warfare machine. In the information space, every Russian operation is prepared and executed by developing ever evolving narratives and tactics aimed at exacerbating social rifts in the target country. Russia watchers are monitoring these new developments, as in this case brought to our attention by Sergej Sumlenny.
In Italy, Russian trolls attack those who support Ukraine and its defence, while they also push forward narratives that justify the ‘pacificist’, anti-American, and anti-NATO position. They have two main strategic goals: to weaken the collective West’s response to Russia’s aggression (lifting sanctions), and to decrease arms deliveries to Ukraine. Russia is trying to mobilise the internal factions that oppose support for Ukraine.
Antonova, How to troll Russian officials
1. Use superstitions
Russian officials pretend to be pious and religious — religious reactionaries form a big part of Putin’s support network — but in reality most are just superstitious.
Feel free to tell them things like:
“Hellfire is getting closer” [Ад близок]
“You are cursed. And you know it.” [Ребята, вы давно прокляты. И вы это отлично знаете]
“Congrats. Generations of Russians will pay for the evil you’ve unleashed. Your fake patriarch won’t save you” [Расплачиваться будете долго. Не отмоетесь. Никакие молитвы продажного Гундяева не спасут]
Variations are always welcome and encouraged. Make sure to impart a sense of doom. They feel it already. It’s why many are hysterical online.
Cepa, Poland Begins to Fortify a New Iron Curtain
As the war in Ukraine – now in its fifth month – becomes a grinding battle of attrition, a new geostrategic realignment along NATO’s Eastern Flank is in full view: a fault line has emerged, running north-south, from Scandinavia and the Baltics down through Poland and into Romania and Bulgaria.
Forbes, New Laws In Russia: People ‘Can Be Imprisoned For Almost Anything’
Western companies hoping to return someday to the Russian market received more bad news with a set of new laws that further erode the rights of businesses and individuals in Russia. The latest actions by the State Duma follow Western sanctions and increasing domestic repression that darken the country’s political and economic prospects.
Mother Jones, How a Former Transcendental Meditation Devotee Ended Up Funding America’s Wildest Right-Wing Spy Op
There was the way Maier and LaRocca seemed to mimic them—claiming to own a Belgian Malinois, just like them; getting engaged, just like them. And there were their wild ideas, schemes that seemed more at home in the world of black ops than grassroots organizing. In private, Martin and Provenza joked that their new acquaintances were moles. But they were friendly enough. And besides, who would want to spy on Wyoming Democrats?
Jeremy Vine, My Boris Johnson story
With four minutes to go, Boris Johnson ran in. I was already concerned – maybe more concerned than Boris. It was an awards ceremony at the Hilton, Park Lane. The room was packed with financial people in bow ties. It was a couple of years before Johnson became Mayor of London. At this point he was a backbench Conservative MP and newspaper columnist. Right now he was due to make a funny speech.
Maria Avdeeva reports
Recommended reading…
Cristina Maza’s Lazo Letters
This newsletter is written by Cristina Maza, a journalist and dual citizen whose work and curiosity have led her to report from places like El Salvador, Serbia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Cambodia, to name a few. The publication is for and about internationally-minded people, including migrants, expatriates, diasporas, minorities, dual citizens, third culture kids, and anyone crossing borders or thinking multiculturally.
The Cosmopolitan Globalist
“We’re a group of mostly writers and journalists, but also also academics, think tankers, Marine combat veterans, diplomats, mathematicians, geologists, and lots of other things. If you’re our friend, you’re a Cosmopolitan Globalist.”
Donations for Ukraine
We’re signing off. Thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott