11 Comments
Mar 25, 2022·edited Mar 25, 2022

Thank you for putting that together, I hasn’t made the connection and it is eye opening. The authenticity of the people fighting for Ukraine has stood out so much - Zelensky saying that now not just theoretical, but real democracy is possible. The Klitschko brothers talking about realities of Putin’s actions and Ukraine’s values. You said recently that this war is something polarized people can agree on and I find that very true. I have seen it be the final straw for some people on QAnon, ending friendships over people believing Russian propaganda.

Zelensky, Poroshenko, the Klitschko brothers, and everyone fighting in Ukraine are showing true democracy and freedom, and the Russian talking points do look increasingly hysterical.

Thank you for this insight and showing us how to be free people. Here’s a Klitschko clip - “We will not be slaves!” 💛💙🦁🇺🇦 Slava Ukraine! https://youtu.be/vf6EAiE1i0U

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It takes a lot of knowledge to understand and explain the absurdity of Medvedev's story line. They're really spinning out. Thanks (again).

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What a fabulous newsletter today. I had really been looking forward to reading one. I have forwarded the link to a friend in Germany.

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Thank you for this! Understanding the relationships between these countries now and historically is very important for understanding where we are now. I appreciate this very much!

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Sowing confusion seems to be part of the arsenal of authoritarian rhetoric. The facts on the ground in Ukraine are clearing it all up.

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Some 25 years ago Samuel Huntington described a "civilizational" boundary between Orthodox Russia and Catholic/Protestant Eastern Europe. He thought Ukraine might divide between its Uniate west and Orthodox east. This war suggests that he was wrong about that; in fact, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church seceded from the Moscow Patriarchate and is now governed by an autocephalous Kyiv Patriarchate. But Huntington's point seems valid for the boundary between Russia and Catholic Poland.

I haven't read Medvedev's piece, but it seems strange he would go back four centuries to account for Polish feeling toward. Up until 1919 Poland was part of the Russian Empire--a master it had revolted against, and had been ruthlessly repressed by, several times. In fact it had to defend itself immediately thereafter in a war brought by a Russian army whose commander was Josef Stalin.

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I have a better understanding after reading your article…. Still having extremely hard time with the human atrocities…

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"the whereabouts of Russia’s high military leadership are unknown". Indeed, one might wonder if the Russian leadership even have their feet on the ground, or are able to look anyone in the eye.

I have been wondering why climate concerns, and the supposed subsequent replacement of fossil fuels, has not been mentioned more often as the existential threat it is to Putin and his regime. Europe now trying to avoid Russian oil and gas will make the threat appear earlier, without hitting any climate ambitions in the short term. What is even less spoken about is the impossible case of reducing CO2 emissions in warfare, or has anybody heard of tanks and fighter jets only fighting when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Nuclear submarines and naval ships are of course already there. Will they maybe have to use their nuclear weapons for fuel?

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So complex and, at the base of it all greed.

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Great article. Adds additional facts to the Putin’s mythology of Russia. Is there an English translation to the “recent text” that is linked?

Ken Z

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