alberteinars

[Sulkhan Metreveli @Sulkhan]

How Russian propaganda works abroad, in one sentence per layer:

For the right: "Russia defends tradition." For the left: "NATO caused this." For the pacifist: "Weapons prolong war." For the cynic: "Everyone lies equally." For the tired: "It's complicated."

Five contradictory messages, one output: do nothing.

Russian propaganda doesn't need you to love Moscow. It needs you paralyzed — and it has a script for whichever ideology you brought to the table.

Whenever a take ends in "therefore, inaction," check the return address.

[Christo Grozev @christogrozev]

@Meta Ten days later, and despite at least three formal complaints, @Meta /@facebook ar still hosting a video showing my full home address and endangering my kids.
Zero feedback, no case ID, pure criminal behavior of a corporate thug who fears no consequences.

[lita 🤠 @littlefreakks_]

abro hilo de mejores tweets de argentinos volviéndose locos después de que les ganásemos la final

[MercuryMarin(er)Strade @MarinStrade]

.@sashameetsrus, you’re like 5 years old and have Instagram brainrot, so let an old crank with two degrees in Russian (and East European) Studies who was actually alive during the time of the USSR lay some learnin’ on you.

In 1991, when the USSR collapsed, those of us who were fascinated by it were ecstatic, not because we hated it, but because we were SO EAGER to meet our russian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Georgian, Ukrainian (and so on) brothers and sisters.

For much of my life, I had been told that citizens of the USSR were just like us - they wanted homes and jobs and food.

But more importantly, they wanted freedom - freedom to move about their own country without control, freedom to travel abroad, to speak freely and write freely without being thrown into a gulag. Famous defectors like Baryshnikov only reinforced to all of us that the USSR was filled with wonderful, talented people who were essentially imprisoned in their own nation.

Sure, of course our leaders, governments and hardcore ideologues on both sides still had beef, still plotted, but even Reagan and Gorbachev (as well as Bush Sr.) cultivated a relationship based on trust and mutual respect.

Yes, I get that the breakup of the USSR was traumatic for many of those who lived in it. Yes, I acknowledge that the 1990’s were very hard for the average citizen of all former Soviet Republics.

But here’s the thing, Sasha. It was hard for Poland and Ukraine and Hungary and East Germany and really hard for the former Yugoslavia too. Every single former Republic and Iron Curtain country came out from under the yoke of the USSR and faced ENORMOUS social, cultural, economic, civil, judicial and military challenges.

35 years later though, which country is the only one left prosecuting bloody, genocidal wars, wasting lives and materiel, and truly squandering its prolific natural resources to kill Ukrainian children?

Which country is the only one cutting off the internet for its citizens, the same way it did for books and tv and radio during the time of the USSR?

Which country can’t get its
shit together and join the rest of the civilized - albeit imperfect - world?

Your precious russia.

Russia marinates in the past. It bathes in bitterness. It is the equivalent of a high school quarterback who never left its small shitty town and sits in a bar drinking to drunkenness cursing out his more successful classmates and picking fights.

It’s a place where children fall into potholes in Yakutsk so big they’re swallowed up but hey, dumb Oligarch bitches in Moscow need more Gucci and a house in Geneva so fuck them kids amirite?

That’s why nobody wants to engage with russia, Sasha.

Russia is a mean, ugly bully who won’t keep its military in its pants towards its own former peoples, who constantly threatens its neighbors, and just will not let the “glorious past” go when in fact the rest of the world just wants to get on with things in their own messed-up countries, drink coffee, try to go to Mars, etc.

One of my favorite songs growing up was Billy Joel’s “Leningrad”. Man, I wore that tape out listening to it. It’s one of his lesser-known songs, but it captivated me so much so that 8 years later, I myself would land in Leningrad, by then renamed to St. Petersburg.

While there, I met so many wonderful people, people just like me who had dreams of being singers or hairdressers or accountants (ew). But what the young people wanted most of all was to MOVE FORWARD.

It’s 2026, and russians once again find themselves imprisoned by their own government, cut off from the world, and forced to engage in a pointless fucking war.

I miss the promise of Leningrad, and you should too, instead of stanning a murderous dictatorship.

“And so my child and I came to this place
To meet him eye to eye and face to face
He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced
We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Leningrad”
— Billy Joel

[Very Brexit Problems @VeryBrexitProbs]

If I had a pound for every time a MAGA account bellowed these mad MAGA myths me, I could fund European defence myself.

1. "Europe would be conquered in a week without America"
Europe has 1.7 million troops, 515 nuclear warheads, five aircraft carriers and 1,400 combat jets. Russia couldn't take 20% of Ukraine in four years with a million soldiers. But sure, a week.

2. "Europeans live in no-go zones run by Sharia law"
The "no-go zones" are normal neighbourhoods with kebab shops. The most dangerous thing about them is the parking.

3. "Europeans have no freedom of speech"
Europeans can criticise their governments, protest in the streets and mock their leaders on live TV without getting tear-gassed or shot. In America, immigration agents check your social media, ICE arrests people for their opinions and deports them without trial. "Free speech", American style.

4. "Europeans pay 60% tax and get nothing for it"
Europeans pay tax and get free healthcare, subsidised university, a year of paid parental leave, 5 weeks holiday and a pension they can actually live on. Americans pay tax and get aircraft carriers.

5. "Europe has open borders and anyone can walk in"
The EU's border agency Frontex has 10,000 guards and some of the strictest visa requirements on earth. The difference is Europe doesn't cage children on camera to win votes

6. "Europe would be speaking German without America"
The British Empire fought Germany for over two years before America joined. The Soviet Union lost 8.7 million soldiers fighting Hitler. The French Resistance ran the intelligence network that made D-Day possible. America showed up in Dec 1941. The war started in 1939.

Every single one of these is repeated daily by people who've never owned a passport and likely never will.

[Maksym Borodin @adnashmyash]

God bless technological progress and video archives!

Here's almost four minutes of Putin's evolving statements from 2008 to 2024:

2008: "Crimea is not disputed territory of Ukraine, and the issues of Russian speakers are internal issues of Ukraine."

2013: "Russia certainly doesn't plan to send troops into Ukraine."

2014: "After the annexation of Crimea, Russia doesn't plan to further divide Ukraine."

2019: "It's nonsense that Russia plans to attack anyone in future."

2022: "Russia's Special Military Operation does not involve the occupation of Ukrainian territories," and "Russia has acquired new territories during the Special Military Operation."

2023: "The conflict in Ukraine is not a territorial conflict—we have plenty of own territories."

2024: "Anyone who wants Russia to give up CONQUERED TERRITORIES in Ukraine must understand that this is impossible."

2024: "Could Russia attack Poland or Latvia? That's nonsense." Why do we need this?

2024 "Russia has no plans to attack NATO..."

How stupid do you have to be to not understand that negotiations and promises don't work with a lying and hypocritical dictator?
All he and Russia understand is strength and the ability to deliver a real rebuff to Russia's imperialist dreams!

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Steve Witkoff ran away when I confronted him about his financial ties to Russia.

His real estate company has been bankrolled directly by a former advisor to Vladimir Putin's sovereign wealth fund.

He’s been making pro russia statements for months.

[ITV Wales News @ITVWales]

BREAKING: The former leader of Reform UK in Wales, Nathan Gill, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to eight bribery charges while an elected member of the European Parliament.

The charges relate to making favourable statements about Russia in exchange for money during his time as a member of the European Parliament.

Read the latest updates here: https://t.co/VBSGMLnPat

[JP Lindsley | Journalist @JPLindsley]

1/ British-Iranian attorney Elica Le Bon destroys the "poor Putin" narrative:

"Oh, Putin is put into a corner because democracies are coming near an authoritarian regime."

Actually it is Putin who is cornering humanity!

Her argument is full of much-needed moral clarity 🧵⤵️

[Dr. Ian Garner @irgarner]

Public displays in Moscow calling the "neo-Nazi" Baltic peoples "nedonarody": un-nations, untermenschen. A perfectly normal country.

[Paige @paigeinkansas]

It's embarrassing. Please stop.

[Joni Askola @joni_askola]

1/7 The scam of the century:

Putin didn’t just start a war—he sold the whole world a lie.

He lied about invading, lied about genocide, lied about NATO, and lied about Ukraine itself.

This war is built on fiction, and it’s time to tear the mask off—so people don’t forget

[Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 @GLandsbergis]

🧵1/4
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister recently stated that, in order to achieve peace, NATO must “withdraw” from the Baltic states. Many found this shocking—but the demand is not new.
As early as the 1990s, when it became clear that newly independent states from the former Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union might join NATO, the Alliance sought to assuage Russian concerns by signing the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1997. The document aimed to mitigate Russian objections to NATO’s enlargement.
One of its key political commitments was that NATO would refrain from deploying “substantial” permanent combat forces in the territory of new member states. In return, the Act reaffirmed core international principles, including respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the UN Charter.
Russia has since repeatedly violated these very principles - most notably with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

[West Wing Report (Edited by Paul Brandus) @WestWingReport]

Bellingcat CEO Eliot Higgins:

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

I hope JD Vance watches this video.

Yesterday, JD Vance complained that his 3-year-old daughter was scared by a group of protesters shouting “Slava Ukraini.” He even went so far as to call some of them “sh*t.”

The hypocrisy in his statement is staggering. His and Trump’s actions are directly leading to Ukrainian children being killed daily by russian missiles and drones. Now, what would you call a person like that?!

The girl in the video lost her leg due to a russian attack. Yet she continues to smile, she continues to live. She is a symbol of the unyielding strength of the Ukrainian people who are fighting pure evil.

[Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 @GLandsbergis]

The Trump-Putin Pact already exists, and we should act accordingly. There are some things we will never change with nice words or smart clothing. If you are worried about those things, you should understand where Trump's tactics come from. From Russia.
A thread. 🧵1/14

[Daractenus @Daractenus]

Seeing how the USA now hellbent on emulating their newfound ally of Russia, both at home and abroad, I find myself obliged to repost my dive into Russia's posh cities, just to give your average MAGA a glimpse into the greatness Trump is sure to bring about! Do enjoy!🧵

[Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @JoshEakle]

Musk: "What are Ukrainians dying for? What exactly are they dying for?"

Their homes.

Their freedom.

Their autonomy.

Their prosperity.

Their speech.

Their future.

What are you fighting for, @elonmusk?

More money, power, and racist jokes on X?

[Darth Putin @DarthPutinKGB]

OTD in 2014 we sent masked soldiers to occupy Crimea

2014 “they’re not Russian soldiers but local militias. Russia has nothing to do with them”
2015 “They were not Russian soldiers but we “stood behind them”
Later 2015 “They were Russian soldiers"

But we are not lying this time

[Morag Mitchell @MoragMitchell3]

I just read this on Facebook:

Someone asked "Why do many British people not like Donald Trump?"

Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:

1/