ISW messaging has very recently become more robust. However, its top storyline “Ukrainian forces are engaged in an operational long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure and military assets, exploiting overstretched Russian air defenses” has not diffused with any conviction into US mainstream media. Likewise, counter mainstream US media isn’t picking up Ukraine stories at all.  
 
This could be a lack of messaging coordination in these post USAID days, but it could also be the MAGA wing “move along nothing to see” response aligning with neocon wing impulse to give no oxygen to a story that project Ukraine is one of the most disastrous miscalculations in the history of regime change calculations. Both of these responses lead to the narrative that this is a European problem. The more support Brussels etc. gives to Ukraine, even if just lip service,  the stronger this narrative becomes, so a kind of gordian knot. 
 
Interesting side note – USAID internet search responses seem remarkably truncated. 

Posted by: frithguild | Apr 30 2026 15:13 utc | 3

It should also set alarm bells clanging for those who still believe in “To the last Ukrainian”. I’ve been believing for months that the Ukrainians themselves aren’t going to agree with that.
Though OTOH, it can depend whether the Ukrainians are bestowed a choice to disagree, or not (or how much).

Posted by: Call it what u will | Apr 30 2026 15:27 utc | 5

Though OTOH, it can depend whether the Ukrainians are bestowed a choice to disagree, or not (or how much).

Posted by: Call it what u will | Apr 30 2026 15:27 utc | 5
 
Well, I dunno, it certainly looks to me like a choice to disagree is already being exercised, quite vigorously in some instances.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 15:48 utc | 7

Posted by: frithguild | Apr 30 2026 15:13 utc | 3
 
In the US MSM headlines, I am starting to see more Ukraine this and Ukraine that types of headlines.  Looks like the pause in Iran is for the US to redivide its forces and drones and air defense assets between Russia and Iran.  The use of emotionally charged words is increasing.  Considering the fact that we just used over 10k drones against Russia, some fired from Kazakhstan apparently, it seems like Russia is starting to resurface as a priority target, equal to or maybe even ahead of Iran.
 
It’s possible that Russia is taking lands bought by Blackrock.  That would account for the US devoting more resources to the Russian front.  The US is doing more doubling down, not backing down, from what I can tell.

Posted by: Woke American | Apr 30 2026 16:06 utc | 9

*** Must admit that I’ve long since given up expecting the Western mouthpieces to give any coverage whatsoever to actual happenings inside Ukraine. *** 
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 15:57 utc | 8
 
Mouthpiece is a 100% correct characterization. Media narrative is the enunciation of policy, official statements to follow. 

Posted by: frithguild | Apr 30 2026 16:16 utc | 11

Yesterday, New Recordings of NABU Wiretaps Were Published
 
https://x.com/anatoliisharii/status/2049405678091972835
 
“In these recordings, the corrupt official, thief and close associate of Volodymyr Zelensky, Mindich, is giving orders to Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Rusten Umerov.
 
He explains that they need to squeeze more money out of western partners for drones.
 
And already today, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, ceremonially announces that the first tranche of the 90 billion euro aid package from the EU to Ukraine will be allocated for drone procurement.
 
Like a mockery.”
 
Like a grift.

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 30 2026 16:28 utc | 13

@2 Brigitte Darling,
 
Go suck on a tailpipe.
 
Tootlepip.

Posted by: AleaJactaEst | Apr 30 2026 17:46 utc | 15

Yes, it is getting very difficult to get any solid information about the situation in the Ukraine. 
 
One point of interest — the commentator Mark Stein on his website has been reporting on his current trip into the Ukraine.  He seems to be anti-Russian, for whatever reason.  What his trip to Livov, Kiev, Karkov, Odessa does show is that — after 4 years of war and all its associated destruction — a private citizen can still travel by rail throughout the Ukraine, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, walk around the streets.  He reports lots of sirens, lots of explosions — but it seems life goes on.  Not really what I would intuitively have expected.

Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Apr 30 2026 17:53 utc | 17

Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Apr 30 2026 17:53 utc | 17
Not only that… On March 1st, pensions in Ukraine were increased by 12.1% for almost 11 million pensioners… almost exclusively with German taxpayers’ money… In Germany, pensions will increase nominally by 4.2% in 2026… Social housing construction in Ukraine is being subsidized with 233 million euros… again with German taxpayers’ money, as can be read in the “Declaration on a Strategic Partnership between Germany and Ukraine”… Ukraine is prospering while the Russian Federation is plunging into a deep economic and social crisis… The Jewish-neoliberal Trojan horse claps its hands in three-quarter time…

Posted by: Brigitte Mohnhaupt | Apr 30 2026 18:24 utc | 19

His website is steynonline.com.

Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Apr 30 2026 17:58 utc | 18
 
Is this the same guy?: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/mark-steyn-ofcom-legal-battle-gb-news-costs-b1190806.html
 
Or: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Steyn ?
 
Let’s just say he seems to be a “colourful character”, with some legal actions suggesting he may not be the most objective, impartial or even honest of commentators…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 18:33 utc | 21

On March 1st, pensions in Ukraine were increased by 12.1% for almost 11 million pensioners
 
Social housing construction in Ukraine is being subsidized with 233 million euros
 
Ukraine is prospering while the Russian Federation is plunging into a deep economic and social crisis

Posted by: Brigitte Mohnhaupt | Apr 30 2026 18:24 utc | 19
 
[sigh] here we go again, loads of claims, without any links!
 
Is @Brigitte actually @GM in drag?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 18:37 utc | 23

#6 & 8 – try “press gangs”.

Posted by: drinky crow | Apr 30 2026 19:12 utc | 25

Posted by: Brigitte Mohnhaupt | Apr 30 2026 18:24 utc | 19
—————
Perhaps you should yell at The Jewish-neoliberal Trojan horse named Merz who is ruining Germany to support Ukraine?

Posted by: scc | Apr 30 2026 19:23 utc | 27

Once the Russian Federation is finished

Posted by: Brigitte Mohnhaupt | Apr 30 2026 19:28 utc | 28
 
Good luck with that.
 
Have some Supertramp while you wait: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fdAFmtq-o8

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 19:43 utc | 29

Jeremy, don’t tell me you rely on Wickedpedia? You have to be better than that!

Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Apr 30 2026 20:04 utc | 30
 
Nope, all Wikipedia did was confirm for me that Mr. Steyn is a “limited hangout”, a Pied Piper of Hamelin. 
 
Don’t fall for his schtick. Several major points remain:

• Regions of Ukraine suffer frequent power outages/voltage instabilities, exacerbated by endemic corruption in the energy industry, some of which has links swirling around Zelensky
• The TCC “recruitment” forces are receiving significant resistance. There is also the taint of corruption surrounding much of their activities
• Since the start of the Zionist war against Iran, diesel thefts in Ukraine have leapt up
• There’s no air defence for anywhere except Kiev
• Even Kiev gets frequently hit

OK, I’m accused of relying on Wikipedia as a source and told to check out Mr. Steyn as a credible outlet, but apparently video clips and posts directly from inside Ukraine don’t count in your (or his) world view.
 
At least I know where you really stand now, thank you for the information.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 20:24 utc | 31

[Columbo voice on]
 
Just one more thing, ma’am, before I go, if everything was sweetness and light in the sunlit uplands of an EU-bound Ukraine, there wouldn’t be any need for violently compelled “conscription”, aka kidnapping for extortion with menaces, would there?
 
[Columbo voice off]

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 20:36 utc | 33

Well, well, well … situation on the ground is “complicated”. Inner situation in 404 is “moar complicated”. Situation in Russia ; Borat don’t cared about his borders, Borat will learn things…
VVP & DJT had a phone-call and what was said about it is laconic to said the least. Poor Peskov, not an easy job for him.
EAU leaving OPEC+ ? Oil for paper is such a good deal ?
Mali ? Leto y Arbaletta , the come back : how long will the EAU pay $500/day ?

Posted by: Hiro Masamune | Apr 30 2026 20:50 utc | 35

Once again, for those of you who missed it –
 

“Dogs of War” with Roger Waters, Andrei Martyanov & Stanislav Krapivnik

Live on the Fly with Randy Credico

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7y4WqAaiW0  For all interested – a really good listen. Roger and Andrei are in really good form and lots of aspects covered in this wide ranging discussion.
Posted by: tucenz | Apr 29 2026 20:30 utc | 355

Posted by: tucenz | Apr 30 2026 21:45 utc | 37

@Woke American
 
finally someone bringin some moonshine to the bar

Posted by: Macpott | Apr 30 2026 22:24 utc | 39

Posted by: Macpott | Apr 30 2026 22:24 utc | 39
 
Lots of moonshine to go around in this neck of the woods.  No I do not partake.  I pay a price for that.

Posted by: Woke American | Apr 30 2026 22:29 utc | 41

@30
 
“the Far Left which dominates most media,”
 
Now, which universe are we talking about??

Posted by: nuther steve | Apr 30 2026 22:34 utc | 43

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/183149#

Kallas stated that the EU does not intend to restore relations with Russia even after the end of the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile two countries from the frontline: https://estonia.news-pravda.com/en/russia/2026/04/29/28980.html

The Presidents of Estonia and Finland, Alar Karis and Alexander Stubb, said at a joint press conference in Helsinki that Europe would inevitably have to restore communication channels with Russia in the future.
 
The question came against the background of Karis’ recent words that Europe needs to prepare for a possible resumption of contacts with Russia after the end of the war in Ukraine.

I don’t see how EU can keep the pressure up. It’ll just get worse. Brussels has no troops. Will the 150 German soldiers in Ämari do it? 🙂
 
Kallas is Estonian but acts as an EU functionary. Sacrificing Estonia for Brussels’ goals is fine with her but not necessarily with local elites who have something to lose.

Posted by: Konami | Apr 30 2026 22:55 utc | 45

@44
 
In which universe is the news media that is overwhelmingly owned and operated by and for the oligarchy, “Far Left” ??

Posted by: nuther steve | Apr 30 2026 23:37 utc | 47

In which universe is the news media that is overwhelmingly owned and operated by and for the oligarchy, “Far Left” ??
Posted by: nuther steve | Apr 30 2026 23:37 utc | 47
 
This is a tell they’re getting their information from Fox News and affiliated media.
 
Seems to be a unique talking point I haven’t seen outside of that circle.
 

Posted by: Khoa | May 1 2026 0:17 utc | 49

@bernie
 
ich finde es echt faszinierend wie du die bösesten und verblendetsten der blender anlockst, geil – ich hoffe du machst das noch langeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee und schönen feiertag dir guter herr <3

Posted by: Macpott | May 1 2026 1:24 utc | 51

*** One point of interest — the commentator Mark Stein on his website has been reporting on his current trip into the Ukraine. He seems to be anti-Russian, for whatever reason. ***
Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Apr 30 2026 17:53 utc | 17
 
Steyn is from Ontario and therefore Anglophillic, notwithstanding his conservative creds. He was educated in Britain. Canada is chocked full with Galicians, especially in Manitoba. Great hockey players. So this “Polish” culture has been blended in to Canida. That Steyn is a Zelensky bootlicker is no suprize. 

Posted by: frithguild | May 1 2026 1:52 utc | 53

Posted by: Brigitte Mohnhaupt | Apr 30 2026 18:24 utc | 19
I haven’t been to Eastern Europe in a few years, but I knoe people on both sides of the war. My Ukranians sources, even the most patriotic, don’t think that Ukraine is prospering. As to the Russian ones, they paint a very different picture from what you say, and most of them think that the economic and social crisis is something actually happening in Germany.

Posted by: Kot | May 1 2026 4:13 utc | 55

There’s talk about the USA, or even “Trump” withdrawing from NATO. Alll that is obvious bullshit IMO. Here’s a data point on the matter:

https://t.me/ClashReport/81046#
 
Germany will embed a senior U.S. colonel inside its Army Command (Operations Division) starting October, an unusually deep level of military integration meant to strengthen NATO coordination and joint planning.

Posted by: Konami | May 1 2026 9:36 utc | 57

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 30 2026 20:42 utc | 34 “Oh yes, thanks for the reminder; I had forgotten about how Ukraine shoots down every single Kinzhal, Oreshnik, Iskander, Zircon and Kalibr that flies across its territory.”
.
Seems odd you would claim that as Zelenskyy has been in the western media saying with the missiles, particularly with the Kinzhal, Ukraine is practically defenseless.  There haven’t been enough Oreshniks mean much.  With the others there is some possibility of shooting them down.  UWDude quotes 50%.
 

Posted by: ed4 | May 1 2026 10:39 utc | 59

Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update, 1st May 2026: May be Useful to Some: Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update

Posted by: The Busker | May 1 2026 11:16 utc | 61

@55 Kot
Your Russian friends are right but it is a slow motion collapse here. People know that they are running out of money due to economic crises, to pay for all this war rubbish but the media never ever mention sanctions as a major cause. They also never ever mention the corruption. My favourite red pilling is to dig out information on luxury car sales and ask them how Ukraine can be no. 3 in world Bugatti sales? 
 
The locals here don’t want to riot but the AfD are going to get a lot more votes in the next election. We will see if that really makes a difference.
 
JB

Posted by: Judge Barbier | May 1 2026 13:01 utc | 63

I really doubt Ukraine will run out of money “soon”, as the EU will get more and more inventive to feed it, politicians who oppose will be throttled, etc. Expect more frog-boiling escalation (seizing “shadow fleet” for instance) from Europe, and Russia will likely continue its bend-don’t-break engagement posture. Every conflict is different, but historically once the timeline passes a certain date, usually it gets locked in to 10 years or more, from start to completion.

Posted by: Call it what u will | May 1 2026 13:26 utc | 65

The europoodles have fuck all capacity to interdict Russian shipping to any meaningful extent. When will the clowns pretending to be Western strategists admit they have steered their own stupid asses into untenable situations that guarantee stareygic loss? Its because these dumbfucks get locked into a plan and dont adjust it and dont really have a fucking clue what theyre doing. At this points its improvisation all the way down with the goal being to forestall the fall of the USD. Another fucking sisyphean task.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | May 1 2026 14:36 utc | 67

Posted yesterday’s at the other thread half an hour before this one came up, and din’t notice this one before posting again today
 
bringing them over from last thread (ok, healthy 70 posts, not the shock I thought)
 

Another 1.125 AFU casualties day, but one AD hit, so nice day. https://tass.com/politics/2124927
Posted by: Newbie | Apr 30 2026 14:04 utc | 338

1.210 AFU casualties, no fresh marat and not evn a tass daily, just the weekly https://tass.com/defense/2125359 and a couple of posts in 24 hours must be a new low
Posted by: Newbie | May 1 2026 15:15 utc | 340

Posted by: Newbie | May 1 2026 15:21 utc | 69

@ N_H §70:
Agree. It´s one of the great triumphs of the methods of Edward Bernays that have been adopted by the West over the past century.
Their use of and mega-funding of Bill Browder to kick off the “Magnitsky Acts” (the start of illegal sanctions against Russia) has been eloquently exposed by Alex Krainer´s “Grand Deception” (Red Pill Press 2018). But the damage had been done. Browder got wall-to-wall coverage and Krainer´s book was banned from High Street bookshops.
Trying to tell the brainwashed Western citizen that Putin is almost the opposite of how he is portrayed is exhausting and frustrating.
So kudos to you for finding a method . . .

Posted by: John Marks | May 1 2026 18:52 utc | 71

” even I am beginning to think Russia needs to respond to the long range attacks” 
 
Posted by: watcher | May 1 2026 22:02 utc | 72
 
 
That risk of a Russian response is touched on briefly by Commodore Jermy towards the end of this conversation with Ian Proud. (set to 37 minutes)  “How long will the Russians be prepared to put up with this.” 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grh3t-kkdbQ
 
Only thing is, the European politicians need a Russian military response very much more than the Russians, so far, need to give them one.  The European electorates are increasingly dissatisfied and only the threat of war could now rally those electorates in line behind their politicians.
 
Not forgetting that the Russians have the equivalent of counter-sanctions at their disposal and could be more likely to impose those than to engage in military action against Europe.
 
Still a tense time though, given that all that’s left to the European politicians is to double down even more on a losing hand.  So they could well continue to attempt to provoke a Russian response.
 
……………………… 
 
If listening to the whole, should say it’s I think target 2 that’s being referred to.  “Surovikin line” also referred to incorrectly, unless I’m mistaking the line mentioned.  I can’t fully agree with the Commodore’s account of the first and second phases of the SMO. 
 
Those minor points aside, that’s the best concise account of the SMO I’ve come across.  Sobering, the extent to which it differs from the accounts of the SMO given to us by the Western press.  Sobering, also, to compare the straight good sense demonstrated throughout the conversation with the nonsense the Prime Minister, or his office, gave the King to deliver to the US  Congress.

Posted by: English Outsider | May 2 2026 0:30 utc | 73

thanks EO
 
No time to look at it now but i certainly will.  Hope it matches my ouwn analysis, otherwise i will have to rewrite something major.

Posted by: watcher | May 2 2026 1:47 utc | 75

Further to 76: Friends of Azov Nazis: Birds of a Feather flock together…
 
Prof Timothy Snyder:
 
Permanent Fellow Timothy Snyder Receives Tryzub ‘Friend of Ukraine’ Award (2022)
 
https://www.iwm.at/news/permanent-fellow-timothy-snyder-receives-tryzub-friend-of-ukraine-award
 
“IWM Permanent Fellow Timothy Snyder has been honoured with The Friend of Ukraine Tryzub Award on May 12, 2022. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada presented him with the award in recognition of his contributions to and support for Ukraine and democracy [Nazism!].”

Posted by: John Gilberts | May 2 2026 3:42 utc | 77

English Outsider | May 2 2026 0:30 utc | 73
 
“the European politicians need a Russian military response very much more than the Russians, so far, need to give them one.  The European electorates are increasingly dissatisfied and only the threat of war could now rally those electorates in line behind their politicians.”
Strongly agree – all European leaders are in desperate need of an external enemy, and Russia fits the bill.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | May 2 2026 8:34 utc | 79

RUAF units cleared a forest far NW of Kupyansk. That implies the front has moved NW of Kupyansk, contrary to what is shown on current front line maps. Also seems AFU is gradually pushed out of Kupyansk, RUAF gaining more control of the city, definitely controlling the northern half of the city.
 
AFU may have taken a few field areas W/NW of Stepnogorsk. Earlier discussion on Military summary was that they want to create a buffer there, directly south of Zaporozhye. Eventually it probably won’t change anything much, as the main RUAF axis of advance toward Zaporozhye is Orekhov and the areas north/NE of it.

Posted by: unimperator | May 2 2026 9:55 utc | 81

My position is neither pro Russian, nor pro Ukrainian.  I stand on the side of anti-war.  A responsible president of a stronger country would aim at all costs to reduce or eliminate the irretrievable loss of human lives.  This president although portrayed as silent, patient intelligence is in fact committing war crimes on his own brethren, civilians, and greater humanity. His silence unabated. 
 
The endless war (smo).
 
War chronicles 42 – @LordofWar
 
After the fighting died down, we began to gather our forces. The commander sent us to comb the forested area on the right—where the heaviest gunfire had been in the morning. Our men fought there to the last, and three guys were considered missing in action. Missing in action is a terrible word; it means they could be alive, but without contact, with no way to get out. Or they could be lying in the mud with their eyes open, and no one knew exactly where.
 
Half an hour later, Mityai called out to me. His voice was strange, muffled. I went to the edge of the crater where he was looking. There, huddled at the bottom, lay one of ours, a very young one. Sanya Zuyev, twenty years old, call sign “Zuy.” He had been wounded early in the battle; they dragged him behind the parapet and bandaged him. Then a mine landed, and he was buried under the earth. We thought he had retreated to the rear with the others. But he hadn’t. He lay in that crater, covered in branches and clods of dirt, trying to bandage himself. A torn first aid kit lay nearby, bandages unwound, soaked in blood, a hemostatic bag. He didn’t make it in time. Or couldn’t. The wound was in the stomach, deep, shrapnel.
 
I climbed down and turned him over. His face was calm, his eyes closed, dried dust on his lips. His hands, still warm, rested limply on his chest. He died quietly, without a cry, alone in that dirty crater. No one held his hand, no one said his last words. He simply stopped breathing while we were two steps away, fighting off an attack on the other flank. I climbed out of the crater, sat on the ground, and clasped my head in my hands. Mityai stood nearby, smoking, his lips trembling. We were silent for a long, endless time. Then I took out the radio and pressed the button. “Commander, Zuya has been found. He… he hasn’t come out.” The radio crackled, there was silence, then the commander said, “Understood.” “Take him. We’ll bury him later.”
 
We placed Sanya on a stretcher and dragged him toward the road. He was as light as a child. The mud squelched under our feet, and somewhere in the distance, shooting started again, but we no longer cared. Along the way, we came across the body of the man I’d shot that morning. He lay in the same position, his eyes open. I stopped, looked at him, then looked at the stretcher, at our Sanya’s arms folded across his chest. And I understood one simple and terrible thing: the man on the other side also had a mother. And she, too, would wait. And she, too, would never live to see him again. I didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. It was unbearable. It burned inside. We passed by, leaving him there. We had no strength for hatred or forgiveness. There was only fatigue and bitterness.
 
When we reached the place where they kept the “pill,” they were already waiting for us. Sanya was placed in the car, carefully, almost tenderly. The driver crossed himself. The commander approached and removed his helmet. We watched the car drive away, disappearing into the gray mist. I remembered how Sanya had laughed yesterday, told jokes, asked for a cigarette. How he had been afraid of dogs and loved condensed milk. How he had said that after the war he would go to the sea. Now he would go home in a zinc coffin, and the sea would be of no use to him. I turned to Mityai. He stood with his head down.
 
 

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | May 2 2026 10:28 utc | 83

@ unimperator §84:
Better targets would be Chatham House, GCHQ and MI6, 85 Embankment . . .

Posted by: John Marks | May 2 2026 11:15 utc | 85

The only real first target for Russia is Flyingdales for an Oreshnik.

Posted by: Truthsayer | May 2 2026 11:23 utc | 87

Posted by: John Gilberts | May 2 2026 3:42 utc | 77
 
Also 76.  A great survey.
 
The same subject covered by Ian Proud, the British ex-diplomat mentioned above:-
 
“Covering up Ukrainian Nazis is nothing new
 
“The Canadians have been doing it for almost 80 years”
 
https://thepeacemonger.substack.com/p/covering-up-ukrainian-nazis-is-nothing
 
Also covered, well before the war in Ukraine became the SMO, by Mearsheimer.  He was talking about us leading the Ukrainians down the garden path from very early on.  We’re still doing it to the poor devils.  Rough, being a proxy.
 
There’s a very good study, put out by Stanford University before ’22, of the Azov and its international  reach.  Unfortunately now unavailable.  Didn’t print out a copy when I could have.  Damn.  It gave chapter and verse on the appeal of Azov to various elements in the West.  But the subject was also covered extensively in the Western press before ’22 and many of the articles I noted then still have working links.  Not a lot said about it in remnant Ukraine now, not publicly, though Ishchenko and a few others do cover the subject.  Mostly from outside the country, 
 
After February ’22 those Ukrainian ultras suddenly became heroic Freedom Fighters.  Now, as you point out, they’re quite respectable.
 
You remember Brexit?  In 2016 I was in Germany, just after the time of the British referendum vote.  A close friend picked up somehow that I’d voted “Out” and asked, more in sorrow than in anger, how I could have done such a thing.
 
My German’s nowhere near good enough to go into the constitutional ins and outs of the matter.  Not even sure my English is!  You have to have a deal of specialist knowledge to plumb the depths of Euroland.  There’s only one man in England I’ve seen do it competently.   So I contented myself with saying I didn’t feel like backing an EU that was actively supporting the activities of the neo-Nazis in the Donbass.
 
Blank amazement.  How could one possible make any such assertion?  But my German friend was nothing if not thorough.  He pushed off and did some research.  A few days later he came back and said “Astonishingly, you’re right.  That’s what we’re doing.”
 
Anyone not watching what was happening in the Donbass 2014 to 2022, ATO and all, hasn’t a hope in hell of understanding why the Ukrainian Civil War morphed into the war in 2022 that the Russians term the SMO.  Your comment illustrates how very thorough the attempts to airbrush all that away are. 

Posted by: English Outsider | May 2 2026 12:03 utc | 89

Europe’s €90 billion loan to Ukraine is not what it appears — and Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris of The Duran break down exactly why.
 
Germany is set to funnel €20 billion directly to Kyiv in what looks less like a loan and more like a financial sleight of hand, all while German citizens endure austerity cuts at home.
 
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s long-promised EU membership is hitting a wall of resistance from existing member states — raising a devastating question: was that promise ever real? The Duran traces this deception all the way back to 2013, when the EU dangled membership as bait to rupture the Ukraine-Russia relationship, not to genuinely integrate Ukraine into Europe.
 
As the front lines grind on and drone strikes hit Russian infrastructure, one question remains: has Ukraine been fighting a decade-long conflict for a future it was never actually going to receive?
00:00:00 Intro – Ukraine’s €90B EU loan & what’s really going on
00:00:53 Germany’s €20B direct transfer: a confidence trick?
00:02:32 Germany implementing austerity while funding Zelensky
00:04:09 Ukraine demands EU membership – the promise revisited
00:05:20 Maidan 2013: it was always about EU entry, not NATO
00:07:19 EU pushback: member states don’t want Ukraine in
00:08:57 The EU bait: Moldova, Serbia – the same playbook
00:12:14 Ukraine was duped – hook, line and sinker
00:21:02 Drone attacks on Russia: Tuapse refinery explained
00:30:08 Putin’s indecision? Kremlin leadership under scrutiny

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WclCxszHJc

Posted by: unimperator | May 2 2026 13:10 utc | 91

A poignant anniversary:

May 2. 2014. Odessa.
Twelve years have passed, but the pain has not become quieter. The House of Trade Unions, smoke, people at the windows, cries for help – these shots are impossible to forget.
Dozens of people died that day. Hundreds were injured. Everyone had a name, a family, a home, their own life until this terrible moment.
More terrible than fire was the fact that justice did not come after it. There was no fair trial. There was no repentance. Only sneers, excuses and silence of those who were obliged to call murder murder.
We remember Odessa.We remember the dead.And we believe that they will answer for this blood.

https://t.me/tsargradtv/132367 (via translation add-on.)

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 2 2026 14:37 utc | 93

Another remembrance of the massacre.
 
https://nitter.net/News_of_Donbass/status/2050481799277445434#m
 
News of Donbass   @News_of_Donbass#DateInHistory
 
“On May 2, 2014, supporters of the neo-Nazi government in #Kiev burned down oppositionists in the #Odessa House of Trade Unions
 
The Ukrainian neo-Nazis forced the protesters into the building, and then set it on fire with Molotov cocktails;
 
All those who tried to get out of the burning building were killed on the spot by supporters of the Kiev regime;
 
A total of 42 protesters were burned that day, and 6 more people were killed.
 
This was only the beginning of the terror of the Kiev regime.”

Posted by: GreatLakesObserver | May 2 2026 15:41 utc | 95

@ frithguild §94:
Yes indeed.
And, to an outside observer, the roles have reversed: Russia good, Canada bad.

Posted by: John Marks | May 2 2026 17:31 utc | 97

frithguild@94:
 
Yes, Ukrainians good, Russians bad is still widely held here aside from some vague irritation by Canadians at the billions successive governments have  spent on ‘defending Ukraine’ or the extravagant costs of supporting Ukrainian refugee benefits here, even as housing and health services deteriorate rapidly, austerity bites, and the cost of living skyrockets ever higher. But in truth the vast majority of Canadians pay little attention to Ukraine amid the worsening economy while Carney’s empty promises to transform Canada into ‘a leading global energy superpower’ etc, and relentless msm support keep his polling numbers high. 
 
English Outsider@89:
 
Thanks. Economist Costas Lapavitsas has done some excellent work on the problem of Brexit – especially the ‘Boris Brexit’ – as well as the EU generally. See Learning From Brexit:
 
https://monthlyreview.org/articles/learning-from-brexit/
 
Yes, Ian Proud is excellent on the topic. Canada’s long history of support for an anti-Russian Ukraine is outlined also by WSWS in a series they did some years ago:
 
Canadian Imperialism’s Fascist Friends
 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/05/16/vxen-m16.html
 
“Ottawa’s decades long alliance with the Ukrainian far-right and the NATO war on Russia.”
 
 
On Germany’s support for Ukraine proxy war and recent alarming developments there, this might be of interest if you haven’t already seen it:
 
Germany’s Churches Ready For War
 
https://thedissidentvoice.org/2026/04/germanys-churches-ready-for-war/
 
“In the following I’m linking to the so called ‘ecumenical framework concept’ that Dr Ulrike Guerot shared with me in a recent talk. It’s a scary read, because it shows how far the war psychosis has already gone in Germany…”
 
Neutrality Studies: Dr Ulrike Guerot: ‘Germany Wants War’
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlsw64AOHp4
 
“Europe is lost: war preparations at every level.”
 
Under Bilderberger Carney, along with his newly strengthened umbilical cordage to the EU warmongers, Canada will almost certainly be ‘all in’, and Canadian Forces are being rapidly and massively upscaled as we speak. Hope this is helpful.
 
 
 
 

Posted by: John Gilberts | May 2 2026 18:11 utc | 99