Here is June 27th's update! TLDR? Here's the summary.

Here is June 28th's update! TLDR? Here's the summary.

Here is June 29th's update! TLDR? Here's the summary.

Here is June 30th's update! TLDR? Here's the summary.

I won't be able to write an update for today and tomorrow (as well as Sunday, my day off) due to work and travel - and honestly, due to overexposure to the words "international rules-based order" and "wage-price inflationary spiral" and "insignificant advances", I probably need a little time to unmelt my brain. I'll post some articles - good or bad - where I have an internet connection.

Links and Stuff

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Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Add to the above list if you can, thank you.


Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins


Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map, who is an independent youtuber with a mostly neutral viewpoint.

Moon of Alabama, which tends to have good analysis (though also a couple bad takes here and there)

Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources.

Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict and, unlike most western analysts, has some degree of understanding on how war works. He is a reactionary, however.

On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the Ukrainian warzones.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.


Telegram Channels

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

Pro-Russian

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ Gleb Bazov, banned from Twitter, referenced pretty heavily in what remains of pro-Russian Twitter.

https://t.me/asbmil ~ ASB Military News, banned from Twitter.

https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.

https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday Patrick Lancaster - crowd-funded U.S journalist, mostly pro-Russian, works on the ground near warzones to report news and talk to locals.

https://t.me/riafan_everywhere ~ Think it's a government news org or Federal News Agency? Russian language.

https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Front news coverage. Russian langauge.

https://t.me/rybar ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense.

https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine

With the entire western media sphere being overwhelming pro-Ukraine already, you shouldn't really need more, but:

https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.

https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.


Last week's discussion post.


  • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]
    hexagon
    ·
    2 years ago

    Summary

    News

    Europe's industry is in a slow collapse and the gas rationing hasn't even started yet, with Bloomberg saying that any crazy idea should be considered (aside from removing the sanctions - that's just absurd). The EU says that all natural gas storages should be kept at a minimum of 80% for preparation for winter (Germany can last 2.5 months if 100% full). Balkan countries are unhappy at being ignored by the EU for not improving while Ukraine is allowed to join the membership candidacy process. Only 4% of German businesses and 3% Japan's businesses are leaving Russia. Biden and Scholz are forming some kind of bromance. Boris says that the new Northern Ireland trade law which breaks the EU agreement could be passed this year. A significant number of Ukrainians in the UK face homelessness, while in the Netherlands, hundreds of Ukrainian refugees are facing eviction. France's energy situation is fucked and so they need contigency plans, and their public finances are fucked too, meaning that they can't really protect households from surging prices this year.

    Asia's urban water situation is not good, with low freshwater availability and very low efficiency. Inflation and financial strain is really starting to hit Asian countries too. The DPRK denounces US aggression and vows revenge on US imperialists. Japan warns that Tokyo could have power shortages as the heat wave this year came earlier and is more intense than usual. Vietnam says that they could export more rice to help the global food situation. India could be a backdoor into Europe for Russian oil, which I'm sure European economics are very upset about. Sri Lanka sends ministers to Russia to negotiate for oil. Sydney climate protestors block roads and tunnels, making the police and nearby... whatever the Australian version of a chud is (do they also have gammons, like the UK?) very unhappy.

    The US reveals they had a secret meeting with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar about military cooperation to coordinate their air defenses against Iran. Meanwhile, Iran shoots a rocket into space, and will soon unveil new missiles with 300km range. They will also soon produce 1000 megawatts from a solar energy project. Raisi says that Iran fully backs peace in Yemen as well as lifting the siege. However, food consumption in Iran decreases as prices soar.

    Egypt says that want to power their railways with hydrogen. Angola is doing better on paying off its debts to Chinese banks due to higher oil prices, though China has also helped by giving them a three-year debt moratorium signed in 2020 due to the Angolan recession from 2016-2020. Power cuts in South Africa continue as workers continue to protest. An oil/gas well in Nigeria has been spilling fossil fuels into the Niger Delta for over a week.

    In the US, households are sacrificing their saving flows to keep up current rates of spending, so spending will likely slow down soon. The US military is struggling to fulful its 2022 recruiting goals, at its lowest rates in decades. Canada thinks it could still do a soft landing.

    Protestors in Ecuador are forcing a halt to oil production, according to the government, due to roadblocks. Brazil's military has exacerbated the Amazon's destruction.

    Food export bans by countries like India and Argentina will raise global food prices and fuel inflation if maintained, thus making a deadly positive feedback cycle. The World Bank says that inflation could last two years, and some countries will find it very difficult to avoid recession.

    Conflict and Climate

    Civilians continue to be evacuated from the Azot industrial zone. The US is sending an 'advanced medium-to-long range surface-to-air missile defense system' to Ukraine, as well as artillery ammo and counter-batter radars.

    Russia's neighbours says that the NATO plans aren't good enough, as it assumes that e.g. Estonia would be overrun by Russia for half a year before it would then be retaken by NATO forces, and who knows what heinous war crimes Russia would be framed -- I mean, would definitely, 100% do to the people of Estonia?

    Bloomberg brings up floating cities as one solution to rising sea levels. Drought increases rural suicide rates.

    Dipshittery, Good Takes, and Hope

    Boris says that reports about the death of democracy in the US have been exaggerated, and that America is still the "shining city on the hill". An "ex-CIA" (nobody's really ex-CIA) insider says that Putin's inner circle could oust him because of how badly things are going for them, apparently. A Minnesota publisher succumbs to suburban madness and decides to go commit suicide by going to fight for Ukraine, likely to be soon shot in the back of the head by a neo-Nazi when asked if they can retreat. Zelensky pleads with Belarusians to not let Putin drag them into this war, saying that they're "not slaves and cannon fodder", and that "your lives are worthless to them", without even a hint of irony. Two of Russia's oligarch's wives say that Putin is dying from a secret illness. UK intelligence says that Russia will rely more on reserve forces as Russia continues to lose as they retreat further west into Ukraine. An international human rights lawyer says that right now, and absolutely NOT several decades ago, is the right time to take countries bombing hospitals more seriously.

    Russia slips into a forced default due to the US preventing them from paying money to bond holders, though they have set up an alternative mechanism for them to use in the meantime. Boris says that the "price of freedom is worth paying", referring to the cost of the Ukraine War. Zelensky says that he wants the war over by the end of this year. The G7 bans Russian gold imports, and then Germany says "Wait, hang on, let's talk about this for a little longer, guys!" The G7 also wants a price cap on Russian oil, which will obviously not work if you have even the slightest amount of knowledge on how trade and economics works, which they clearly don't, I guess. The G7 also launches a $600 billion infrastructure plan over 5 years to counter China's BRI, without Biden actually first asking Congress if he can have $200 billion. Politico releases an actually-okay article on the G7, revealing that there's 18,000 (!) police officers guarding them.

    Left organizations in the UK are all in support of the British Rail Strike, as they lead the fight against the cost of living crisis. Latin American feminists are winning abortion rights in even very religious countries, in stark contrast to the fucking disaster in the United States right now.

    • SoyViking [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Politico releases an actually-okay article on the G7, revealing that there’s 18,000 (!) police officers guarding them.

      Democracy is when you deploy a small army to prevent elected leaders from getting close to the people who have to live with the consequences of their decisions.