dima 🌻🇺🇦

a man with a fork in a world full of borscht • International Security, Politics, and Climate • UofT & Hertie • EPIS Thinktank • P!

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

I understand how Westerners, especially those who only turned their attention ~2014, get seduced by simple but myopic narrative traps. But it is fascinating to see Russians, presumably exposed to their local history and Putin's public record, still become good case studies🧵1/23

[Leonid Ragozin @leonidragozin]

This is from NYT’s latest. Ukrainian leadership is in the stage of bargaining, but very belatedly and at the worst possible stage in the conflict. But it’s not getting better, so there are no alternatives.

Said that, security guarantees is the most unpromising area of the bargain. NATO membership pledge is the root cause of this conflict, so hopes that Putin will end war on the conditions of delayed NATO membership or Israel-styled partnership with the US & EU are next to nil. What is being peddled as a means of protecting Ukraine is killing it - this is Putin’s main message.

He will agree to multilateral guarantees, involving his BRICS friends and EU, but on conditions of a small army and US/NATO intel operations and the rest of what he calls “NATO infrastructure” kicked out. He will also insist on Russian language and religious rights as well as a clampdown on the far right - hard to imagine him being flexible on that. Said that, organisations like Azov movement could be feasibly repurposed as pro-Russian - in the manner of Kadyrovtsy. It all depends on who these mafias will choose to serve in post-war period.

Territory and Russian compensations (from the frozen assets), on the other hand, is where Ukraine might be able to wage a modestly successful bargain. EU membership may also still be on the table - at least it was in Istanbul. This is attainable if Ukraine begins to care about its own future, not about the future of foreign political classes and war industry lobbyists invested in this conflict.

[Olena Tregub @OTregub]

Apocalyptic bird nest.

A Russian glide bomb knocks down a tree in Donbas. From the shattered branches rolls out a tiny bird’s nest.

Made of drone fiber-optic cable.

Source: Oleg Malchenko

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

@LucasKaplan_ You are totally correct and touch on aspects of algorithmically-influenced discourse here and elsewhere. But the sheer amount of media produced by televised sports provides clips for selective engagement farming like few other domains of culture/society

[☢ Napromieniowani.pl @napromieniowani]

Niestety, nie mamy dobrych wieści. Wygląda na to, że Narodowe Muzeum Czarnobylskie zostało doszczętnie zniszczone.

Pamiątki po bohaterach z 26.04.1986, operatorach IV energobloku (w tym po Anatoliju Diatłowie), notatki likwidatorów, oryginalne mapy z odręcznie naniesionymi pomiarami czy nawet kilkusetletnie drewniane przedmioty z czarnobylskiego Polesia - wszystko to spłonęło bądź zostało zalane przez wodę.

Z fotografii wynika, że górna kondygnacja jest zniszczona całkowicie, zawalił się dach oraz część ścian nośnych, a na parterze zalegają duże ilości wody po akcji gaśniczej. Według informacji dostępnych na moment pisania tego wpisu - w budynek uderzyła rosyjska rakieta.

Co gorsza, zaledwie miesiąc temu muzeum przeszło gruntowną renowację i unowocześnienie ekspozycji. Strata jest tym większa, że nie było tak drugiego miejsca, w którym zgromadzono by aż tyle znaczących przedmiotów. Muzeum czarnobylskich jest wprawdzie więcej, ale żadne z nich nie dorównywało rozmiarem zbiorów do tego.

Obecnie trwają próby uratowania tego, co przetrwało. Niestety, na ten moment wiele wskazuje, że większość przepadła na zawsze przez atak Rosji - kraju, który również został mocno dotknięty katastrofą z 1986 roku.

Fot. МВС України, Сергій Борденюк

[Yusuf Can @YusufCan_91]

Yet another dark day for Turkey.

The Erdoğan regime has deployed police to seize the headquarters of the country’s largest opposition party, the same party that won the most recent locsl elections.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former main opposition leader, practically a puppet of Erdoğan with negligible popular support, was seeking state backing to reclaim control of party headquarters after a court issued an illegal ruling reinstating him and removing Özgür Özel, the elected and only legitimate figure as party leader.

What’s happening within Turkey’s main opposition party is being deliberately framed as “internal chaos,” by pro-govt actors but the broader political reality totally different. The overwhelming majority of CHP voters back the party’s current democratically elected leadership, Özgür aözel, while most of the public rejects the ongoing lawfare and political campaign targeting the CHP.

This is a new stage in the civil coup that began on March 19 with the unlawful arrest of Mayor İmamoğlu. Now, the main opposition’s only legitimate leader has begun a march from party headquarters to the Grand National Assembly. This will not stop until Turkey’s multiparty system and its elections have been hollowed out entirely and reduced to a facade with nothing behind it.

Turkey is moving into uncharted political territory, a realm devoid of a clear plan by anyone, frankly. It’s evident that this government fails to provide the Turkish people with a future worth aspiring to. If it could, it wouldn’t resort to such measures. As long as the public remains resistant to the unfolding events, the crisis will only intensify. Such a shame.

[abdi @abditmr]

all this shai discourse does is reinforce how disturbingly manufacturable mass opinion really is people don’t even need to process information anymore they’ve already inherited their conclusions

[John Hudson @John_Hudson]

SCOOP: The U.S. has depleted much of its inventory of advanced missile-defense interceptors after expending far more high-end munitions defending Israel than Israeli forces used themselves, per DOD assessments of Operation Epic Fury 🧵

[Aaron Fritschner @Fritschner]

A mind-blowing-but-true fact about Trump's stock trading.

Trump traded up to ~$700 million in stock in Q1 of 2026.

The 535 Members of Congress made ~$635 million in trades in 2025.

Trump bought and sold more stock in 3 months than all of Congress put together did in a year.

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

@FinnAndreen @battleforeurope Thomas should apologize for tricking us with deliberate misinfo.

One must be more critical and vigilant about any unsourced claims (a screenshot is no source).

https://t.co/SRlXgmlidy

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

@battleforeurope This is deliberate misinfo upon review, and sharing news in a screenshot with no source was the first sign.

The EU Commission investigation described by spokesperson Balazs Ujvari here was about one minister and did not concern Russia.

Source: https://t.co/jESdonavrF

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

@IspusniVentil @battleforeurope Will Thomas apologize for tricking you with deliberate misinfo?

One must be more critical and vigilant about any unsourced claims (a screenshot is no source).

https://t.co/SRlXgmlidy

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

@battleforeurope This is deliberate misinfo upon review, and sharing news in a screenshot with no source was the first sign.

The EU Commission investigation described by spokesperson Balazs Ujvari here was about one minister and did not concern Russia.

Source: https://t.co/jESdonavrF

[dima 🌻🇺🇦 @sochnyev]

@battleforeurope This is deliberate misinfo upon review, and sharing news in a screenshot with no source was the first sign.

The EU Commission investigation described by spokesperson Balazs Ujvari here was about one minister and did not concern Russia.

Source: https://t.co/jESdonavrF

[Otro Culé Mexicano @OtroCuleMexa]

Ojalá nunca se deje de politizar el fútbol

[Sander Tordoir @SanderTordoir]

Useful for Europeans to get a reality check on the sometimes paralysing declinism that is gripping the continent.

I suppose it takes the outside perspective of Krugman to deliver it, in a good piece.

https://t.co/Z7Lfx5Ur1S

[Rob Lee @RALee85]

"For the first time this year, Mediazona and Meduza have updated the overall estimate of the actual number of Russia’s losses in its war against Ukraine. It is based on the Probate Registry and reflects the number of male Russian citizens aged 18 to 59 who died since the start of the full-scale invasion to the end of 2025: 352,000."
@mediazzzona @meduza_en
https://t.co/IfpXpjrdlc

[Seth Abramson @SethAbramson]

It is *fact*, not feeling or opinion, that when you don't know anything about what's happening in this country, you vote Republican. If you're informed, you vote Democratic.

That's been true for nearly the whole of my lifetime, not as a matter of rhetoric but a matter of *fact*.

[courtneybonneauimages @cbonneauimages]

The level of complicity of the @BBC in the ethnic cleansing of southern Lebanon is shocking. I am listening to their Jerusalem correspondent report that the ‘IDF are striking Hezbollah targets’ while I’m on the ground in the middle of it watching men, women and children being killed on a daily basis. My colleagues are being executed. Paramedics are being systematically murdered. All of this is happening in plain sight and the BBC correspondent here in Lebanon knows it.

May you all be put on trial for your deadly propaganda when the time comes. Shame on all of you, especially those on the ground who are too cowardly to speak out.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

China is rebuilding how occupied Ukrainian territories function — step by step.

It installs 6,000 Huawei base stations, replaces dollars with yuan, and keeps factories running with Chinese engineers. no ownership, no formal role, but everything depends on Chinese tech, Babel. 1/

[Barak Ravid @BarakRavid]

🚨🇺🇦🇮🇱 A senior Ukrainian diplomatic source tells me that if the vessel PANORAMITIS, which is allegedly carrying wheat stolen from occupied Ukrainian territories, enters the port of Haifa and unloads its cargo, it will lead to a crisis in relations between Ukraine and Israel
🚨"We are tracking this new vessel and won’t let this slide. If it’s permitted to dock and unload, there will be fallout, specifically for our bilateral ties", the Ukrainian diplomatic source said
🚨The Ukrainian diplomatic source added: "If this ship and its cargo isn’t rejected, we reserve the right to deploy a full suite of diplomatic and international legal responses"
🚨The Ukrainian diplomatic source said Israel has "essentially shrugged off" our demands regarding the previous vessel that unloaded stolen wheat in Haifa port
🚨"⁠⁠Frankly, this feels like a slap in the face given the strategic goodwill Ukraine has extended - from designating the IRGC as terrorists to criminalizing antisemitism", the Ukrainian diplomatic source said
🚨"Profiting from stolen cargo should be beneath Israel’s dignity", the Ukrainian diplomatic source said

[John Wakefield @JohnWakefieId]

Fun Fact: they had to specifically engineer a novel mechanism, called the Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APAS-75), because neither the USA or the USSR could accept being the "receptive" part of the operation.

[Lukasz Olejnik @lukOlejnik]

Germany's parliament speaker had her Signal account fully compromised by Russian SVR hackers. J. Klöckner, holder of the country's second-highest office was a member of a German ruling party CDU executive board Signal group that also included Chancellor Friedrich Merz. It is unclear if Russia read those chats and for how long. Merz's phone was inspected by counterintelligence and came back clean. Klöckner's did not.

The attack is insultingly simple. Fake "Signal Support" just ask to hand over the PIN securing the account. Many European policymakers fell for it. That's it. https://t.co/YsFnQ8Uq9E

[Jacqueline Sweet @JSweetLI]

NEW: After years operating in almost complete anonymity, the top content producers of Canary Mission have been identified. The doxxing site targeting academics and activists who expressed pro-Palestine views over the last year has been used by the Trump administration to select international students for arrest, detention, and deportation--even as those using it at DHS said they didn't know who was behind the site.

The five new highest-paid writers and social media employees associated with the site that we identified are all Americans who moved to Israel years ago, and have a range of ties to American nonprofits and groups. Link below: