William Strohmacher

Following mostly Ukrainian, East Asian, and South Asian news. RTs=/= endorsements. Please note that I do NOT honor requests for cash donations.

[Dr. Alice Frost @PoliSciChick84]

Russia has been carrying out deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets for many years now. The purpose is to terrify the Ukrainian people and coerce the Ukrainian government. The strike on the train at the Yahodyn train station near the Polish border is just the latest example.

Russia under Putin is not only a state sponsor of terrorism; it is a terrorist state. There are few that share that distinction, and it appalls me that there are those in the West who are so morally bankrupt they are willing to restore ties with it (e.g., Trump, Weidel, Le Pen, to name a few).

For terrorist states, defeat is the only just and lasting outcome. The only way this war should end is with the withdrawal of every last Russian soldier from sovereign Ukraine (which includes Crimea), with the return of the kidnapped children, with reparations paid by Russia, and with commitments capable of deterring another invasion (such as NATO accession). Anything less risks rewarding Russia.

[🌊Zero Dark Twenty-Nine 🌊🖋️ @herotimeszero]

Ted's warning: If Dems win they will stop Trump's war, lower Trump's gas prices, lower Trump's food prices, put a muzzle on Trump's ICE, stop Trump's ballroom, stop Trump from looting America, and stop Trump from protecting the Epstein Class.

Hmm, I think I can live with that.

[Kaja Kallas @kajakallas]

We have seen Russia’s dangerous recklessness at full display in the past 48 hours.

A Russian warship fired flares at a Danish helicopter.
NATO jets had to shoot down a drone over Lithuania.
Russia struck a passenger train near the border with Ukraine.
And Poland pulled a drone from its shores.

We need to be clear-eyed: those are not accidents.
They are calculated attempts by Russia to weaken our resolve.

Europe will not dial back its support for Ukraine.

My intervention in #EPlenary ↓

[Lauren Windsor @lawindsor]

🔥🔥🔥

[Jürgen Nauditt 🇩🇪🇺🇦 @jurgen_nauditt]

This is the reality of this war—one that is all too easily lost amidst the figures, summits, and political debates: faces. People. Lives.

None of these soldiers was merely a number. Each was someone’s son, brother, father, partner, or friend. Each had plans, hopes, and people waiting for them.

Each of these soldiers is worth a thousand times more than a corrupt US president or a German chancellor afraid of his own shadow.

And perhaps all those who make decisions about this war should look at these very faces—and ask themselves whether their decisions do justice to such a sacrifice.

For the people who lost their lives, there is no next election, no second term, and no political fresh start.

They are not coming home.

We must never allow their sacrifices to become a footnote in history or just another figure in political statistics.

Three minutes for these faces is not too long.

In fact, three minutes is the very least we can do.

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

The Trump administration and the Pentagon have been actively lying to the American people and our allies.

[The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller]

He’s got a point!

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

This is so fucking damning.👇

[Tomi 🇺🇦🇫🇮🇪🇺 @TallbarFIN]

It appears that Trump's attempts to weaken Europe are leading to the same result as Putin's attempt to weaken NATO.

#MEGA

[George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d]

.@TheRickWilson and I have teamed up by forming a PAC that—we promise, and I think he and I are pretty credible on things like this—will cause a great deal of (very good) trouble. Hope you'll take a look, follow, and help.

[Katrin Göring-Eckardt @GoeringEckardt]

Dass in der Bundesregierung niemand ein Störgefühl dabei hat, wenn ein Bundesministerium neben das unter Spionageverdacht stehende Russische Haus ziehen soll, verursacht bei mir, nunja, ein sehr ernstes Störgefühl. Nicht umsonst fordern wir @GrueneBundestag die Schließung dieses russischen Propaganda-Palastes im Herzen Berlins.

[Sulkhan Metreveli @Sulkhan]

Iran supplies Russia's drones. Russia supplies Iran's air defense. North Korea supplies both with bodies and shells. China buys the oil that pays for all of it.

The West still treats these as four separate problems with four separate desks.

They're one supply chain. Attack it as one, or admit you're funding it as one — because your energy imports and export loopholes are the fourth link.

The axis isn't coming. It's operating. Ask the Strait of Hormuz what coordinated pressure looks like — then ask why the response is still ad hoc.

[Dominik Hasek @hasek_dominik]

Nothing surprising. The US president @realDonaldTrump is an enemy of the entire democratic world. And a collaborator and supporter of the worst dictators and criminals responsible for tens of millions of lost and crippled lives.

[Samantha de Bendern @samdebendern]

Pendant que j’étais en vacances la Corée du Nord intensifie sa coopération avec la Russie en Ukraine (missiles, potentielles troupes) et Trump va ajuster son aide à la Corée du Sud en baisse pour ne pas énerver Kim… 🫪 Donc Kim fait un cadeau à Poutine et Trump fait un cadeau à Kim. 🤷‍♀️Vive la rentrée 📚

[Art Vandelay @LJS527]

The Natalie Harp stuff is more interesting if you're willing to look past the partisan talking points.
For the last 6 years, Harp has been attached at the hip to Trump. She spent 2 of those years peddling election conspiracies for One America News Network.
She filters everything he sees.
It's kind of like... there's an episode of South Park, where Butters is forced to filter the social media comments that Cartman gets. And he spends all day making sure Cartman only sees the positive comments.
That is what Harp has been doing for Trump throughout his 2nd term. This is not something that should be reduced to a partisan non-story. In my view, it's significant that the leader of the country is so incredibly isolated from reality.
(See Biden, Joe, for more on why this is such a problem)

[John Brennan @jmbprime]

50,000 North Korean troops are on route to Russia to kill Ukrainians and President Trump extols the virtues of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. Americans have one last chance to end this madness on November 3rd.

[Sandra Navidi @sandranavidi.bsky.social @SandraNavidi]

Kim Jong Un zu Putin: Ich sende Soldaten, wenn Du hilfst, Südkorea zu schwächen. Putin zu Trump: Das Kompromat, das wir über Dich haben, gilt jetzt auch für Nordkorea. Keine gemeinsamen militärischen Übungen mehr mit Südkorea! Trump: Das schaff ich nicht, aber ich kann sie zumindest schon einmal reduzieren. Gib mir noch etwas Zeit, bitte... (fiktiv)

[Mark Zandi @Markzandi]

The economic angst many Americans feel has much to do with how the economic pie is being divided. From WWII to Y2K, workers received close to two-thirds of the pie, while capital received the other one-third. Since then, China’s rapid entry into the global economy, the Global Financial Crisis, the pandemic, and other forces have put labor on its heels, pushing the split closer to fifty-fifty. Measurement issues matter, and the exact shares are reasonably debated, but the direction is not. And it's not hard to imagine artificial intelligence supercharging this trend. Many Americans fear it will.

[Russel L. Honore' @ltgrusselhonore]

Depleted strategic oil reserve nears level that raises concerns about damage to caverns, operations https://t.co/9SpsMgoXAf C rying Damn Shame , all they dont F up They S..t On , @GOP @WhiteHouse @CNBC @CNNPolitics

[Dmytro Lubinets @lubinetzs]

❗️On July 23, I called on the IOC to reconsider its decision to reinstate the Russian Olympic Committee. Its response, received from IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper, referred to “neutrality” and the “complex geopolitical context». The IOC cites “complex realities.” For Ukraine, this means 682 athletes and coaches killed, 19 athletes in Russian captivity, 13 missing, and 891 sports facilities damaged or destroyed. The Russian flag must have no place at the Olympics while Russia wages war against Ukraine.