NewS Dude

[NewS Dude @MysticalRick]

Friends.

[Dr. Deepti Gurdasani @dgurdasani1]

The evidence for mask efficacy is now overwhelming, so there's really no point dredging up flawed conclusions from flawed studies.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

5. Now, the Western leaders are dead frightened that Putin will use chemical arms or nukes or that he will attack them (Germany). Therefore, they hold back so that Putin can kill additional thousands of Ukrainians. How will history judge these people?

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

6. Usually, a country that is attacked by another country responds with military actions in the aggressor country, but Russia is considered holy because it has nuclear arms & the West did not arm Ukraine properly in time. Sanctions gain momentum, but they should be tougher.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

3. Yet, the heavy arms - artillery, airforce, etc. - are late in their coming & in small quantities.
4. Western military experts have persistently overestimated the corrupt Russian military & underestimated the heroic Ukrainian army & got everything wrong.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

The absurdity of the Western attitude to Russia's assault on Ukraine is striking:
1. For years, the collective West refused to offer even defensive weapons to Ukraine. Obama & Merkel were the main culprits.
2. Finally, late in the day, the West realizes its mistake & offers arms.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Strange and interesting.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Ukraine lobbies for cuts in Russian Nord Stream 1 gas shipments
https://t.co/IW5ZojTAGB

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

This suggests serious elite struggles. A major change of ownership of Russian assets is likely & property & power are not unrelated.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Very interesting. The dominant owners of Novatek are Timchenko & Mikhelson, close cronies of Putin. The US has sanctioned Novatek, while Total is a third major owner. Another vice chairman, US citizen Mark Gvetyvay, was arrested in Florida for gross money laundering last Sept.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Sanctioned Rosselkhozbank (RSHB) failed to pay its $500M coupon on dollar-denominated Eurobonds maturing in 2023. As a result, it became the second Russian bank to default. (UBN)

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Ukraine will receive Slovenian T-72 tanks in exchange for German armor. Slovenia will hand over a large number of its main T-72 battle tanks to Ukraine. In return, it will receive Marder infantry fighting vehicles & Fuchs wheeled armored vehicles from Germany (Tagesspiegel, UBN).

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

The Latvian Saeima has recognized the Russian military aggression against Ukraine as genocide. (UBN)

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Denmark will allocate about $90M for weapons for Ukraine and will lead the restoration of Mykolayiv. (UBN)

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Spain has sent 200 tons of ammunition and 20 armored vehicles to Ukraine. (UBN)

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Official Ukrainian statement that Ukraine succeeded supplying Mariupol with necessities by helicopters at night.
https://t.co/NgrK3YFg7Y

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

This would be the third fire of strategic infrastructure inside Russia this week.

[XSovietNews @XSovietNews]

Other countries have been delivering weapons and there hasn't been a third world war.

[Thomas C. Theiner @noclador]

So far 50-60k people have died in putin's war:

• most were Ukrainian civilians
• second-most were russian soldiers
• rest were Ukrainian soldiers

This is because Ukrainian troops focus on killing russian soldiers... while russian soldiers focus on killing Ukrainian civilians

[Inna Sovsun @InnaSovsun]

Deputy commander-in-chief of central district of russia's troops has officially stated that #russia's goal is to seize #Donbas and southern #Ukraine in the 2nd phase of the war, to create a corridor to russia from #Crimea & russian-backed pseudo-state of Transnistria in Moldova.