How much military aid is the United States sending Ukraine?

April 29, 2022 February 25 through April 21: Biden authorizes $3 billion in security assistance (prior to that, he had authorized a total of $260m in 2021). (Feb 25: $200m, Mar 12: $200m, Mar 16: $800m, Apr 5: 100m, Apr 13: $800m, Apr 21: $800m) Note that this is specifically for military aid; there's quite …

War Update: Russia unleashes major offensive

Originally on FB, April 28, 2022 It looks like the long-anticipated Russian Easter Offensive is underway. General Gerasimov -- Russia's Chief of General Staff -- has arrived in Ukraine (at Izyum) and yesterday the Russians unleashed a massive bombardment across the entire central Ukraine. (This coincided with the visit of UN Secretary General to Kyiv.) …

Time for a little introspection: Obama’s failed policy on Ukraine

Originally on FB, April 28, 2022 One of the things that one must understand about the war in Ukraine is that it started in February 2014. I have written about this in the past and do not wish to rehash that material. Instead, I would like to address something that crept up again recently as …

Russia halts gas supply for Bulgaria and Poland

Originally on FB, April 26, 2022 Poland is clear: they are helping Ukraine. Bulgaria is less so: Russia is trying to engineer a coup and bring down the regime, which has been dithering about helping Ukraine but under tremendous pressure to do so. The Russian (traditional) attitude to Bulgaria is now on full display for …

How do you know Ukraine will win?

Originally on FB, April 26, 2022 When Zelenskyy gave the order to distribute arms and ammunition to all willing Ukrainians -- and enormous quantities were, in fact, distributed -- they did not go to depose him but to defend their country. I so wish Putin would distribute arms to the residents of Moscow. He would …

Putin’s original regime change plan — evidence

Originally on FB, April 26, 2022 More circumstantial evidence about Putin's original regime change strategy. December 2021: lawyers for the deposed former president Yanukovych sue in Kyiv's District Court about the illegality of his removal. January 2022: they file another suit, this time against the Parliament for removing Yanukovych from presidency. Despite the statute of …

Russia rewrites history textbooks to eliminate Ukraine

Originally on FB, April 25, 2022 Fascists and totalitarians always have an unhealthy interest in controlling history (our Republicans, take note!)1 Since 2014, Russian history textbooks have been progressively decreasing mentions of Ukraine or Kyiv in the context of any existence independent of Russia. With the invasion of February 24, the publishers "Enlightenment" (this is …

Russia’s descent into fascism continues

Originally on FB, April 24, 2022 The Directorate for Anti-extremist Operations of the Russian Ministry of the Interior announced that an unknown number of Ukrainian fighters are infiltrating Russia mixed with the refugees. It warned that vigilance is required, and that these could be "your neighbors, colleagues, clients, patients, cabbies, passengers," and so on. What …

Bulgaria — The Kremlin’s Trojan Horse

Originally on FB, April 24, 2022 Bulgaria's gutless, shameful, short-sighted, and immoral refusal to supply military aid to Ukraine is going to be a stain on the country that will poison relations with Europe and the US, not to mention Ukraine, for years to come -- and without getting anything more than the usual contempt …

Ukraine without guarantees

Originally on FB, April 24, 2022 As the Russian war on Ukraine rages on, the Kyiv government insists that any possible peace deal must include iron-clad international guarantees for the future security of Ukraine. But why? What we are seeing right now is the foundation of a new Ukraine -- made possible by the entire …