When Putin says that there is no Ukrainian nation and no Ukrainian state, he means that he intends to destroy the Ukrainian nation and the Ukrainian state. Everyone gets that, right?
#Ukraine#UkraineRussiaWar#UkraineUnderAttack
Alexander Browder, a 17-year-old London teenager, has become Russia's youngest ever sanctions target. He has built a database exposing the crypto networks helping Russia and other rogue states dodge Western sanctions.
In March, @Alexbrowder_ published a report for the Henry Jackson Society think tank, describing money-laundering mechanisms involving cryptocurrencies and estimating the scale of such operations by Russia, Iran, and North Korea at around $350 billion.
▪️ Cryptocurrency as a sanctions-evasion tool
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a stable asset. This may be a currency, such as the ruble. This avoids the sharp price fluctuations typical of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, making the token convenient for payments and transfers.
According to Alexander Browder, this stability made the A7A5 stablecoin a useful instrument for sanctions evasion. The ruble-pegged token allowed payments to be conducted outside the banking system, which has been blocked for Russia by Western sanctions.
Alexander described A7A5 as one of the West's biggest challenges in the fight against money laundering. According to the British Foreign Office, more than $90 billion passed through the stablecoin network linked to the token in the past year alone.
That figure is comparable to roughly half of Russia's annual military spending. In late May, London imposed sanctions on 18 platforms in several countries, accusing them of creating shadow financial systems to circumvent restrictions.
▪️ Russia's response
On June 2, the Russian foreign ministry added Browder and four other British citizens to its sanctions list. They were accused of "slander and spreading false information." The teenager was banned from entering Russia.
Browder himself took the move calmly. According to him, the sanctions have become a badge of honor and proof that his investigation has "touched a nerve."
By the way, Alexander is the son of financier and human rights advocate William Browder @Billbrowder, CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital. His lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died in a Russian prison in 2009 after exposing a major tax fraud scheme. Browder Sr. is an outspoken critic of Putin and the initiator of the Magnitsky Act.
According to Alexander, it was his father's story that inspired him to pursue investigations. He believes that today's schemes for financing war through cryptocurrencies require a new, younger generation of analysts.
📹: DW
OTD in 1940, the Soviet Red Army invaded Latvia, beginning 50 years of Soviet occupation. Brutal repressions and the murder of innocent civilians followed.
Russia has not changed. Its ongoing war against Ukraine and hybrid-war clearly show why the aggressor must be defeated now.
Zelenskyy about peace with Russia: "We believe Europe should be part of this process ... We also believe that the United States must be part of the process."
"should" vs "must"
https://t.co/kYRrSv67yX
Remember: for Central & Eastern Europe the end of WW2 brought another occupation, not liberation. Russian troops left Czechoslovakia 🇨🇿 🇸🇰 in 1991, Poland 🇵🇱 in 1993, Baltic states 🇱🇻 🇱🇹 🇪🇪 betw 1992-1994 & Germany 🇩🇪 in 1994, after 50 years of Soviet occupation. #WordsMatter
War changes people. Meet Robert Brovdi aka “Madyar”. Formerly a successful businessman. Currently, king of drones and the worst nightmare of Russian occupiers.
Estonia's Internal Security Service in its annual review: "The activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) leave little doubt that the church cooperated with Russia’s security authorities during the preparatory phase of the aggression and continues to do so during the conduct of the war and the annexation of occupied territories. Cloaked in clerical robes, the Kremlin abuses the argument of religious freedom to undermine security and public order in democratic societies." https://t.co/vmeGCKa3JG
Madness – Orban is getting orders directly from Russia.
Siyjarto is passing on information from internal discussions among EU officials to Lavrov – audio recordings of the conversations have been leaked to the media.
Today, March 25, 2026, marks the finish of a multi-day Ukrainian operation to turn off the whole of Russia's Baltic oil and gas hub: Ust-Luga, Primorsk and Vyborg.
After Ukrainian strikes, the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk stopped shipping oil. By preliminary data, 40% of the Russian oil exports capacity has been disrupted.
◾️Ust-Luga: information is coming in about the sinking of two shadow fleet tankers, and full destruction of the Novatek oil shipping terminal.
◾️In Primorsk, oil reservoirs keep burning for two days in a row now, and the tankers are drifting at sea.
Russian exports through the Baltics has been de-facto paralyzed.
We received a request from the United States for specific support in protection against "shaheds" in the Middle East region. I gave instructions to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can guarantee the required security. Ukraine helps partners who help ensure our security and protect the lives of our people. Glory to Ukraine!
Europe must finally equip itself with real strength, real ability to defend its skies, its land, and its sea against any type of attack. In particular, this means building sufficient air defense production capacity — both against drones and against ballistic missiles.
The situation in the Middle East shows how difficult it is to provide one hundred percent protection against missiles and “shahed” drones. Even in the Gulf countries, which have more advanced air defense systems than those provided to us so far by our partners and have them in larger quantities, not all ballistic missiles are intercepted. There were also “shaheds” that air defense in the region has not stopped.
Everyone can now see that Ukraine’s experience in defense is, in many respects, irreplaceable. We are ready to share this experience and help those nations that helped Ukraine this winter and throughout this war. We are ready to work on developing Europe’s shared defensive capabilities. Europe must have enough air defense missiles, enough experience in shooting down drones, and sufficient production of modern interceptor drones. Together, we can make this happen.
Thank you to everyone working to strengthen the power of a united Europe.
If the Europeans had provided adequate support to Ukraine, Russia's war would have been over long ago. Europe would be respected as a security player—even by Trump.
The failure to support Ukraine properly lies at the heart of the current drama. It projects the image of weakness.
Even in the final months of the USSR, as the Russians were terrorizing the people of the Baltic states with not only physical brutality, but having cut off food and gas imports to starve the population, the US, UK, France and Germany pressured Vilnius to "ease tensions" with Moscow by offering concessions and to "cease the passing of anti-soviet laws".
The west never learns.
👏 Drones for Ukraine initiative has raised 92 000 euros❗️
Can we raise 100 000 by 19 November when 🇺🇦 resists Russia’s attack for 1000 days? ⤵️
https://t.co/kXjhGz28Nv
🙏 🙏🙏