Ilze Millere

Netvītoju, ja varu netvītot. Retvītoju, ja nevaru neretvītot.

[Shaun Pinner @ShaunPinnerUA]

Crimea is beginning to feel like a Mariupol moment for Russia.

Fuel shortages are spreading across the peninsula, strikes are hitting logistics, and the Kerch Bridge now appears higher on Ukraine’s target list than at any point in the war.

We’re also hearing from reliable local sources that property prices are being heavily discounted as Russians seek to leave the peninsula, taking whatever they can get for apartments before the situation deteriorates further.

For years, Crimea was presented as Putin’s greatest geopolitical triumph and home to the prized Black Sea Fleet. Today, the peninsula is facing fuel shortages, transport disruption and growing economic uncertainty, and now abandonment.

The bridge is more than infrastructure. It’s a symbol. If it were ever rendered unusable for a prolonged period, the military consequences would be significant.

The political consequences for Putin could be even greater.

[Sir William Browder KCMG @Billbrowder]

It’s kind of a relief that all her insane policy positions came from a Hindu cult leader and not from Putin.

[rAIva @nezobis]

Tikmēr: atceros, ka @KNABinforme prasīja naudu pretkprupcijas spēles izveidei. 60k, ja pareizi atceros.
Tikmēr: IUB sajāja IUB rezultātu lapu, lai grūtāk analizēt.
Tikmēr: JV paklusām un steigā izbīdīja grozījumus iepirkumu likumā, lai vieglāk shēmot un mazāk jautājumu.
Latvija, korupcija - sinonīmi.

[Jānis Rupeiks @JRupeiks]

1/ Pēdējā laikā veidoju brīvi pieejamu rīku publisko iepirkumu caurspīdībai. Tas analizē visu pieejamo IUB datu vēsturi — ~75 000 iepirkumu, 916 pasūtītāji — un izceļ modeļus, kas pelnījuši uzmanību. Nav apsūdzību saraksts, bet prioritizēšanas rīks. 🧵

https://t.co/Y20fOEkadT

[Feodalherren @Feodalherren1]

New whiteness map just dropped.
A little bit surprising but it is what it is.

[Birth Gauge @BirthGauge]

Lithuania is currently doing a much better job in getting their diaspora back home than Latvia and Estonia. Latvia in particular has a big potential to unlock if they become more prosperous.

[Branislav Slantchev @slantchev]

People don’t seem to understand just how racist by Western standards Russians (and many Eastern Europeans) actually are. The Russians in particular had an entire informal hierarchy for ethnicities and nationalities in the USSR: Russians at the apex, followed by “little brothers” and fellow Slavs Ukrainians and Belarusians, followed by Balts, followed by Christians from the Caucasus (Armenians and Georgians), followed by Muslims like Chechens and Tatars, with the Asian-looking minorities like Buratyans at the bottom.

The state would target entire nationalities, like Stalin did when he had Chechens, Ingush, Crimean Tatars, Kalmyks, Volga Germans, Karachays, Balkars, and Meskhetian Turks deported en masse.

Then there were the Jews who were sort of outside all of this and were frequent targets of antisemitism and state-directed purges.

Blacks don’t even make the cut as they would be considered backward Africans or degenerate Americans. I think there was an African American woman who moved to Russia to escape racism in the US and got seriously mauled by her own neighbors in Russia. She had appeared on RT to say how safe she had felt in Moscow before the incident.

Casual racism in Russia does not carry the same social stigma as it now does in West and while the Soviets had suppressed a lot of it under the “friendship of peoples” banner when they were inserting themselves in Africa, modern Russia has almost no such breaks, as this show amply demonstrates.

[Łukasz Kohut 🇪🇺 @LukaszKohut]

🇺🇦 Zelenski to druga osoba w historii, której odebrano Order Orła Białego. Pierwszą był Witos.

Kawalerami najwyższego polskiego odznaczenia pozostają Mussolini, caryca Katarzyna, Dzierżyński czy Macierewicz…

Nawrocki - radykalny populista, konfederata, coraz bliżej Kremla.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

He’s finding out.

[Dan Jørgensen @DanJoergensen]

As of yesterday, Russian pipeline gas under existing short-term contracts is no longer allowed into the EU.

One step at a time, we are phasing out all remaining imports of Russian gas from our system.

The goal is clear: getting to zero.

#REPowerEU

[Vic @vic_010100]

Russische sogenannte "Helden" des Ukrainekriegs organisieren sich nach ihrer Rückkehr zunehmend in bandenmäßigen kriminellen Strukturen.
Weil die ehemaligen Soldaten oft mit Drohnenerfahrung, Sprengstoffkenntnissen und illegalen Waffen nach Hause kommen, verüben sie mittlerweile hochgradig organisierte Raubmorde, um an das große Geld zu kommen.

Diese extreme Kriminalität entsteht vor allem, weil die Rückkehrer keinen Platz mehr im zivilen Leben finden. Ein gewohntes Frontgehalt von 200.000 Rubel ist auf dem normalen Arbeitsmarkt utopisch, und selbst die Justiz schreckt niemanden ab, da Kriminelle durch neue Militärverträge einer Haftstrafe sofort entgehen können.

Diese Frustration nutzen ultrarechte Organisationen wie die „Russische Gemeinschaft“ aus, die enttäuschte Veteranen gezielt als bewaffneten Flügel rekrutieren. Gleichzeitig brodeln innerhalb der Truppe massive Konflikte über Bestechungsgelder.

Die Behörden wissen genau, was vor sich geht, und versuchen, die 167.000 Heimkehrer durch Verbote zu überwachen, doch sie wissen auch, dass sie das alles nicht mehr unter Kontrolle bekommen.
Da sich in Russland niemand um die Heimkehrer kümmert und sie völlig auf sich allein gestellt sind, muss sich Russland nun darauf gefasst machen, dass eine Welle brutalster Mörder und Verbrecher unaufhaltsam in die Heimatstädte rollt.

[Armands Broks @Broks]

Viena no lietām, ko man nekad nav izdevies līdz galam saprast, ir Saeimas vasaras darba režīms.
Vairāk nekā divus mēnešus nenotiek regulārās parlamenta sēdes. Jā, deputāti turpina strādāt komisijās, notiek tikšanās un šogad ir labi, ka ieplānotas vismaz divas ārkārtas sēdes vasarā, zinot visus izaicinājumus.
Taču jautājums – kāpēc likumdevēja darba kalendārs joprojām ir veidots tā, it kā valsts vasarā apstātos?
Nevienā uzņēmumā nav iedomājama situācija, kur divus mēnešus nenotiek regulāras vadības sanāksmes un būtisku lēmumu pieņemšana tiek atlikta uz rudeni.
Satversme neprasa divu mēnešu pārtraukumu Saeimas darbā. Tas ir pašu politiķu noteikts darba modelis. Kāpēc valsts svarīgākajai lēmējinstitūcijai joprojām ir darba kalendārs, kas veidots pēc principiem, kuri vairāk atgādina pagājušo gadsimtu nekā mūsdienu valsts pārvaldību.

[Regina Bauer 🇪🇪🇺🇦 @petite_michelle]

Ever notice how Swedes and Finns always get a long Midsummer weekend, while Estonians sometimes get stuck celebrating Jaanipäev on a Tuesday?

That’s not luck — it’s policy. Sweden fixed Midsommarafton to the Friday between June 19–25 back in 1953, and Finland did the same with Juhannus in 1955, pinning it to the Saturday between June 20–26. Result: both countries guaranteed themselves a floating holiday that always lands on a weekend. This year that’s literally today — June 19 is Midsommarafton in Sweden, and Juhannuspäivä falls on June 20 in Finland.

Estonia never made that switch. Võidupüha (June 23) and Jaanipäev (June 24) are locked to the calendar date, not the weekday — so in 2026 they fall on a Tuesday and Wednesday, splitting the week instead of extending it. Let's be real - Jaanipäev week is literally an extra week off in Estonia.

[Mykhailo Lavrovskyi @Lavrovskyi]

A year ago today, I had one of what are now many "bonus" birthdays. This is a long story that is probably not suitable for twitter but anyway:

1/ On the evening of June 16, I got back home from command training. I was absolutely exhausted, but then I saw on the monitoring channels that the Russians had launched a massive wave of drones. I knew right then it was going to be a lively night. My apartment at the time was on the 17th floor, and those drones frequently flew by- and hit- right near us, tracing their deadly geometry. So, being a reasonable guy, I set up my makeshift bed in the safest bunker the place had to offer: the walk-in closet.

[B. Warzy 🇵🇱🤝🇺🇦🖕🇷🇺 @BWarzy]

For decades, Eastern Europe warned Western Europe about Russia.

On Nord Stream.

On Crimea.

On Minsk.

On imperial revanchism.

They were dismissed as paranoid, historical, too emotionally invested.

They were right.

[Mykhailo Fedorov @FedorovMykhailo]

Ukraine launches TrophyLab: we are opening access to captured Russian weapon technologies for our global partners. Every missile, drone, and vehicle seized on the battlefield is now a source of knowledge for the free world.

Through this secure platform, allied governments, labs, and defense tech manufacturers gain access to deep technical data, reports, and vulnerabilities. Users can also request physical equipment for testing, significantly shortening the development cycle for countermeasures.

What was meant to be the enemy's secret advantage is being dismantled to defend democracy. Join the platform:
🔗 https://t.co/xoeCfXsIy3

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

There’s no doubt that Putin fears the return of his army home. That is why he is so afraid of the war ending without victory. And there will be no victory. He is physically afraid of his own army. That is why, if there is no ceasefire backed by specific security guarantees, he will return to war. And this time, others may be the ones under attack.

Today, Ukraine is de facto the second army of NATO – one that is not inferior to the second army in the world. And that is why NATO needs us – specifically us – de jure. This is already a fact recognized by all leaders. Putin will remain in the Kremlin until his death, and he has one goal: the restoration of the Soviet Union. Without Ukraine, this is impossible, and that is why things are so difficult for us.

From answers to journalists’ questions. (3/3)

[Saint Javelin @saintjavelin]

The same tank launching into the air over Moscow from a different angle🔥

And the barrel that exploded was hit by a missile from Russia’s own air defense system.

[Julian Röpcke 🇩🇪🤝🇺🇦 @JulianRoepcke]

➡️Im Vordergrund: brennende russische Wohnhäuser, getroffen von Putins Flugabwehrraketen.

➡️Im Hintergrund: brennende russische Raffinerien, getroffen von Selenskyjs Kamikazedrohnen.

[J 🇬🇧 🇬🇪 🇺🇦 🎗️ Cyber Partisan △🦩🦩🦩 @Highpeaked]

@Gerashchenko_en Excellent reporting and summarising the situation by one of mozcows top reporters 🔥