I do feel like a break could do DW a favour. It needs a change of some sort.
I hope it comes back, anyway, but after the last few years, I can’t say I’m either shocked or … well, care particularly much any more, and won’t be surprised if that doesn’t happen. Sigh.
finally got around to buying the last SP book.
not 100% sure I even want to read it - lost that mojo ages ago - but .. I’ve read the first 17 books + all the extra books, so I sort of feel like I should make the effort...
Last night’s drone incident in Estonia reflects the spillover of Russia’s war against Ukraine, now in its fifth year. This drone was not directed at us. There were no casualties.
An investigation is ongoing, and we are working closely with allies in the region.
Tomorrow at the JEF meeting in Helsinki, we will discuss how to accelerate efforts to strengthen air defence across the EU and NATO’s eastern flank, increase support for Ukraine, and further constrain Russia’s ability to wage war.
The full two months without a single day above freezing was nice. I’d rather we’d have continued on that course instead of yesterday’s and today’s freezing rain and every single road and path and pavement turning into an ice rink. A very slippery ice rink.
The temperature in Ukraine is below -20°C (-4°F). Overnight, Russia attacked with 450 drones and over 60 missiles, including ballistic ones.
Primary targets: energy and residential houses in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa, and other regions.
Putin waited for the temperatures to drop and stockpiled drones and missiles to continue his genocidal attacks against the Ukrainian people.
Neither anticipated diplomatic efforts in Abu Dhabi this week nor his promises to the United States kept him from continuing terror against ordinary people in the harshest winter.
We are dealing with terrorists who must be forced to stop violence.
The world has the tools. Strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and energy resilience. Increase pressure on Moscow.
Deprive the Russian war machine of energy revenues and access to technology. Isolate the Russian regime. Stop and confiscate Russia’s illegal oil tankers.
Putin must be deprived of illusions that he can achieve anything by his bombing, terror, and aggression.
please don't forget about ukraine. we are still bombed every day. our houses razed to the ground. our electricity stations destroyed so we sit in darkness and cold. our children kidnapped and given to russian families. in occupied territories, russians take our homes.
In light of Russia's attempt to freeze millions of Ukrainians to death by destroying the energy sector during the coldest winter in years, keep in mind that anyone saying that this is "a border dispute," "provoked by NATO," or "just a war" is engaged in genocide denial.
not a big fan of this sudden lack of water in almost the entire city tonight.
saw that a crisis meeting has been held and divers are out working trying to thaw the water intake thingies but .. ffs, this shouldn’t happen in the year 2025. not even that cold tonight.
I feared it’d be more difficult to avoid The War Between spoilers but somehow I’ve managed, yay.
(I’m not incredibly interested but since my Disney+ subscription doesn’t run out until July, I’d like to give it a go anyway. If it airs there before that…)
@Rassah@KurgkurgX@ivan_8848 Definitely not here, yeah.
Also, the clothes (school uniform) and hair style is 100% off for the time period and location - there is exactly zero chance of this being an actual photo of any Estonian schoolgirl around 1987-1988.
@MikhailKom49617@sandraveinberga@TheFl0orIsLaVa I can’t vouch for every decade but this look is very far from the mandatory school uniform in Estonian SSR in the 1980s, at least in Estonian-language schools.
OTD in 1994 Russia signed the Budapest memo, guaranteeing Ukraine's territorial integrity in exchange for their nukes, 44 Ukrainian heavy bombers (Tu-22) and 1,068 Kh-55 cruise missiles.
Which have been fired at Ukraine in this war.
This is not speculation. It is written directly into Russia’s new State Migration Policy Concept and the updated Siberia Development Program.
These documents outline:
— the “redistribution of population” and relocation of new residents to Siberia and the Far East,
— the “demographic rebalancing” between European Russia and Siberia,
— the creation of conditions for moving “young families” into these regions.
For Russia, Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories are simply treated as “Russian citizens.” Those who refuse Russian passports can be reclassified as “illegal migrants” and forcibly relocated to any region the Kremlin chooses. Deportation can be disguised as “employment relocation” or “humanitarian assistance.”
Families we have rescued describe the same threats again and again:
“Take the passport or we’ll send you to Siberia.”
“If you’re not loyal, we’ll deport you with nothing.”
“We’ll take your child. You’ll go to a labor camp.”
Occupation administrations are already collecting lists of teachers, doctors, and municipal workers to be sent on “long-term assignments” to the Far East.
This mirrors Soviet-era deportations of Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians from the West, Chechens, and other peoples targeted for displacement.
For children, this is not just relocation.
It means forced passportization, digital surveillance, russification, and a future risk of military conscription after turning 18. In practice, it is an attempt to erase their identity.
At the same time, Russia is restructuring the demography of the occupied territories: deporting Ukrainians, moving Russian citizens into their homes, offering subsidized mortgages, and importing workers from remote regions.
This is not chaos. It is a deliberate system of demographic engineering.
And while Russia builds legal and administrative tools to uproot Ukrainians, we must intensify efforts to rescue and return those who are still trapped under occupation.
@SaveukraineUs continues to evacuate families, restore their documents, provide shelter, and help them rebuild their lives in safety.
Please speak about this. Share the facts.
Every rescued Ukrainian is a direct answer to Russia’s attempt to erase us from our own land.