#Crimean Spring

[lindenott]

🌹🇷🇺Десять лет со дня, когда в Россию пришла весна. И вежливость взяла города🇷🇺🌹

[mariacallous]

Events will take place across Ukraine this week to mark Crimean Tatar Flag Day. However, there will be no celebrations in Crimea itself. The Ukrainian peninsula has been under Russian occupation since the spring of 2014, with the indigenous Crimean Tatar population subjected to more than a decade of oppressive policies by the occupying authorities.

Since the beginning of 2025, US-led efforts to broker a compromise peace deal have focused primarily on talk of territorial concessions and geopolitical alignments. However, the plight of the Crimean Tatars is a reminder that steps to safeguard human rights must play a key role in any future settlement.

Since the Russian takeover of Crimea, the peninsula’s sizable Crimean Tatar population has been collectively and systematically persecuted for their perceived opposition to the occupation. For the Crimean Tatars, this mirrors the pain of past experiences with Russian imperialism. Following the Russian conquest of Crimea in the late eighteenth century, the native Crimean Tatar population was subjected to decades of harsh policies by the Russian imperial authorities, leading to a mass exodus.

Worse was to follow. In February 1944, the Soviet authorities carried out the deportation of the entire Crimean Tatar population to Central Asia. More than 200,000 people were forced to abandon their ancestral homeland overnight, with tens of thousands dying in a brutal deportation process and during the initial years of exile.

The deportation of the Crimean Tatars is one of the Soviet Union’s most notorious crimes against humanity. Ukrainian parliamentarians recently appealed to the international community to recognize the deportation as an act of genocide.

[falloutboylyricss]

Fall Out Boy and Places

note: this post only includes names of specific places, both real and fictional

Evening Out With Your Girlfriend

"I'm deep with futures like Chicago / No, Glenview never meant a thing to me, she never meant a thing to me" - Growing Up

Take This to Your Grave

"Pete and I attacked the laws of Astoria with promise and precision" - Saturday

"Landing on a runway in Chicago, and I'm grounding all my dreams of ever really seeing California" - Homesick at Space Camp

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago (title only)

"But there's a light on in Chicago, and I know I should be home" - Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

From Under The Cork Tree

none

Infinity On High

"Put love on hold, young Hollywood is on the other line" - The (After) Life Of The Party

"And everyone's looking for relief, United States versus disbelief" - You're Crashing, But You're No Wave

"New York eyes, Chicago thighs, pushed up the window to kiss you off" - I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers

Folie à Deux

"Erase myself and let go, start it over again in Mexico" - I Don't Care

"Let's hear it for America's suitehearts, but I must confess, I'm in love with my own sins" - America's Suitehearts

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet (title only)

"Plant palm trees on Lake Michigan before it gets cold" - The (Shipped) Gold Standard

"Said, 'I'll be fine 'til the hospital or American embassy'" - What A Catch, Donnie

"And you're a bottled star, the planets align, you're just like Mars" - 27

"A Roman candle heart, keep us far apart" - Tiffany Blews

"Have you ever wanted to disappear and join a monastery, go out and preach on Manic Street?" - 20 Dollar Nose Bleed

West Coast Smoker (title only)

"Got my degree in the gutter, my heart broken in the dorms of the Ivy League" - West Coast Smoker

Save Rock And Roll

"Did you trip down twelve steps into Malibu?" - The Mighty Fall

"Bel Air baby, did you get dressed up?" - The Mighty Fall

"But we are alive here in Death Valley, but don't take love off the table yet" - Death Valley

"When Rome's in ruins, we are the lions, free of the Colosseums" - Young Volcanoes

"Americana, exotica, do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?" - Young Volcanoes

PAX AM Days

"Cargo and despair, all American made" - American Made

American Beauty/American Psycho

"You know you look so Seattle, but you feel so L.A." - Irresistible

"She's an American beauty, I'm an American psycho" - American Beauty/American Psycho

"Take me down the line, in Gem City, we turn the tide" - Uma Thurman

"In between being young and being right, you were my Versailles at night" - Fourth Of July

"There's a room in a hotel in New York City that shares our fate and deserves our pity" - Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC)

MANIA

none

So Much (For) Stardust

Heaven, Iowa (title only)

"6 AM, Mulholland Drive, Moonlight Sonata and I" - Heaven, Iowa

Misc.

"I wanna put the Midwest home again" - Alpha Dog

"Sometimes, when I'm in Heaven, I get forgetful of the Earth" - Lake Effect Kid

"And joke us, joke us 'til Lakeshore Drive comes back into focus" - Lake Effect Kid

"I love you, Chicago, you make me feel so summer fling" - City In A Garden

"You know the world can get my bones, but Chicago gets my soul" - Super Fade

"Captain Planet, Arab Spring, L.A. riots, Rodney King" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Oklahoma City bomb, Kurt Cobain, Pokémon" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Nuclear accident, Fukushima, Japan / Crimean peninsula, Cambridge Analytica" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"More war in Afghanistan, Cubs go all the way again / Obama, Spielberg, explosion, Lebanon / Unabomber, Bobbitt, John, Bombing, Boston Marathon" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Stranger Things, Tiger King, Ever Given, Suez" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Elon Musk, Kaepernick, Texas failed electric grid" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Great Pacific garbage patch, Tom DeLonge and aliens / Mars rover, Avatar, self-driving electric cars" - We Didn't Start The Fire

[ohsalome]

(story taken and machine-translated from the official twitter account of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea)

Today's story is about a woman who was detained by the occupiers in the spring of 2022 and illegally sentenced to almost 7 years in prison. Iryna Danylovych is a nurse and citizen journalist.

She was threatened, blackmailed and forced to confess to things she did not do. Now Irina is in a Russian colony, her health is deteriorating due to the lack of quality and timely medical care.

Iryna Danylovych worked as a nurse at the Malachite rehabilitation center in Koktebel, maintained a social media page and several blog columns on the rights of healthcare workers and healthcare issues in the occupied Crimea.

The occupation forces abducted Iryna Danylovych in April 2022. She was returning from a night shift at the hospital when the occupiers searched her house and seized all her appliances, several books and documents.

There was no contact with Irina for more than a week. She was illegally detained by the FSB: she was subjected to psychological pressure, beaten, threatened with death, interrogated on a polygraph, threatened to be "taken to the forest" (ed. - meaning killed and buried in the forest) or "to Mariupol" (once again, killed), fed once a day, and not allowed to go to the restroom.

Eventually, the occupiers informed her relatives that a decision had been made to place her under "administrative arrest", allegedly because "she had transferred unclassified materials to another country". Later, they fabricated a "case" against Irina accusing her of "illegal actions with explosives."

The "proof" was the "discovery" of 200 grams of explosives in Irina's bag. And only on May 11, the lawyer managed to establish that she was in the occupation pre-trial detention center in Simferopol.

The "arrest warrant" was issued by the occupation "court" during a closed court session - without the participation of listeners, journalists, or Irina's relatives.

But the real reason for the detention is different. For covering the problems of the healthcare system, the crimes of the occupiers, as well as for protecting and promoting the rights of healthcare workers in the occupied Crimea.

Iryna was one of the first correspondents of the Crimean Process; she supported Crimean Tatar activists in the "courts"; prepared materials for the editorial office of Inzhyr Media; supported medical activists, recorded violations of rights under occupation.

According to Irina, she was kidnapped, taken to Simferopol and illegally detained in a basement, tortured and starved, and forced to sign a confession under threat of death, having been viciously planted with explosives after the "confession" had been forcibly extracted.

Complete hearing loss in the left ear, deprivation of necessary medications, suffering from headaches and earaches. This is what Iryna is going through now.

Irina was transferred to the Krasnodar Women's Correctional Colony No. 7 in Zelenokumsk. Every day, Irina's health condition deteriorated: in the occupation prisons, she gradually lost hearing in her left ear, developed otitis media, constant headaches and dizziness.

Back in July 2022, the political prisoner reported being beaten by an FSB convoy and psychological pressure exerted on her by Russian security forces. The occupiers also took away the opportunity to read, not returning the collection of poems.

To get medical help, she went on a hunger strike, but stopped it after 10 days, believing the promises of the SIZO administration, but no one has treated her and is not going to, watching the prisoner's health deteriorate.

According to her father, the colony allocates 90 minutes for the distribution of medicines twice a week: on Tuesday and Thursday. During this time, only 20-30 people out of a queue of several hundred prisoners manage to receive them.

"There are periodic fights among the patients for the opportunity to be in the front of the line and receive medicines. Iryna does not participate in this and has been deprived of access to the medicines prescribed by doctors, which we regularly send in parcels, for several months now," her father said.

Despite the illegal actions, torture and pressure, the occupiers failed to break the Ukrainian journalist, she continues to support Ukraine and believe that she will soon return home. "Only in such a strong Ukraine could such a strong you be born," said Iryna's father Bronislav.

Even behind bars, Iryna Danylovych continues to resist the occupiers and support Ukraine. The song "I am free!" performed by her is a symbol of disobedience and struggle, which the occupiers do not like, and the tattoo on her body that reads "Freedom is our religion" is her life's credo.

[tikitania]

Hello!

Ig just recommended me a video of Stanton's Welch's Raymonda for Huston ballet. And it looked very pretty ( it was the one with Tyler Donatelli) so I watched some more! There's a video showing and speaking of what they did with the curtains, beey interesting! The set and costumes looks sumptuous and very luxurious. It looks very pretty... but that is only one part of the equation. And I don't know much about the dancing and story part.

Have you heard of this version of Raymonda? If yes what do you think of it?

there's a video of act 1, saying it's a secret meeting of Raymonda and Jean. So I can guess some of the story changes... But ultimately I don't know.

It looks very very pretty, so as a vain magpie attracted by what's shiny : I am interested in it.

I do like rewriting of classical ballets, like the one the dutch National did for Raymonda. It was a minor change they did, but it was enough to take away a big chunk of the racism and stereotypes of the original.

I haven't watched Rojo's Raymonda and I struggle with her, but if I separate the ballet from her, it looks very interesting and I would like to see it. (I hope it's respectful and not insensitive, considering where/when it takes place.).

Have you seen Rojo's Raymonda btw? It's produced in San Francisco now too I believe!

@dors-ee - You have no idea how happy this question makes me! Raymond's definitely been in the air and I've been watching various versions online since Khiteeva's debut in the Spring. I JUMPED at the opportunity to hear Glazunov's score played live and to see Raymonda as a full-length, aespecially as I live within driving distance of Houston. I attended the 6/6 performance with Danbi Kim and Chun Wai Chan. I was very curious about the revised libretto. Would it work? Would it give birth to a version of Raymonda that audiences would flock to again and again? I think the answer is yes, with some caveats.

I left the performance with a lot of thoughts and feelings, so many that I wanted to write a review. However, I was on vacation with the family and didn't take notes. By the time I could jot something down, my memory was too fuzzy. My overall impression is that the libretto change mostly works and definitely creates a story more palatable for American audiences. (Honestly, the original libretto is a bit of a dud, so I'm very open to changes.) Welch's version gains a lighter tone, but loses a bit its solemnity and Hungarian flair. That becomes a bit of a liability in Act 3, during the Grand Pas, because the music seems to come of out nowhere. Danbi Kim impressed. Chun Wai Chan seemed to have an off night. The men at Houston Ballet definitely impressed overall. As I was formulating my thoughts on this version, I came across this reddit review that hit the nail on the head, so I'm not going to write my full impressions here. I also added to that discussion.

Now that I have this version under my belt, I would really like to see the ENB/SFB version where the story is set during the Crimean War. I also want to see the DNB version, which seems most aligned with the original. Hoping that Raymonda appears more frequently stateside and we get a version that sticks around!

[pretordh]

The Russians completely destroyed the Tavrian Chersonesus in Sevastopol, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

This is reported by "UP. Life" with reference to Evelina Kravchenko, a senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The researcher told about this at the III International Forum of the expert network of the Crimean Platform . She emphasized that the Russians are destroying original architectural monuments and erecting new buildings in their place.

"Now negative processes are taking place with the only monument of world importance, which we managed to nominate and include in the list of monuments in Crimea - Chersonesus Tavriysky ," said Evelina Kravchenko.

It is noted that in 2015-2016, the developers fenced off the archaeological remains located on the surface: towers, walls and columns with viewing platforms. Later, an amphitheater was built on the site of the ancient citadel, and it carries a load of about a ton on the original structure.

In addition, a significant part of the found artifacts was taken to Russia: frescoes, dishes, household items and icons. After that, the construction of the archaeological park "New Chersonese" began on the site of the remains of the necropolis.

"The Russians did not know anything about the geological situation at this place, so they began to remove the soil on the territory with ordinary excavators. Somehow they dug up an ancient spring there, so everything flooded ," shared Evelina Kravchenko.

Now, in fact, a new city has been built on the site of the archaeological remains. The archaeological park covers old finds, and a number of excavated objects were gradually moved and rebuilt elsewhere.

What's more, the Russians built St. Volodymyr's Cathedral where the settlement used to be. It is consecrated by the Moscow Patriarchate and subordinate to it.

What is known about the Tavrian Chersonesus

The ancient city of Chersonesus Tavri (translated from ancient Greek - "the city of the Sun God Horus") is located on the territory of the Heraklion peninsula of Crimea. This is the largest monument of Byzantium in the world.

Chersonesus existed 900 years before the creation of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was built in the 6th century. to n. is.

This historic city was one of the local centers of the Hellenic civilization, which originated in the Northern Black Sea region and later spread to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean.

The first archaeological park in Ukraine was created on the basis of Chersonesus Tavriyskyi. It is an object of cultural heritage of Ukraine.

On June 23, 2013, at the 37th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Cambodia, Chersonesus Tavri and its choir (agricultural district) were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

After the occupation of Crimea by Russia, it became impossible to preserve the integrity of Chersonesus Tavriyskyi. In 2015, the Russian army poured concrete over the site of an ancient manor on Cape Chersonese. Until now, the occupation authorities are constantly destroying the historical monument and looting it.

[colleenmurphy]

Dusting off the Vitaly Orlov x Kalyna Zinchenko pairing and a Drabble from the second home <3

The ticking of the oversized chrome diner clock was driving her insane. They had opened at eight on the dot and she had been given busy work until she’d been called back to prep some of the cabbage and other root vegetables for the borsht that was always served. The anticipated regular orders for take out were supposedly going to be quite hectic today, especially since it was Friday. Red or white anyway you served it, it was was still borscht. Not one soul had set foot over the threshold all morning and by eleven she was standing behind the counter watching the locals hurry past as a downpour of spring rain fell down and pattered against the front window. Anatoly’s new ‘policy’ of no music in the back was driving her insane and the music that was played upfront was just as bad, if not worse. Old instrumental folk tunes that did nothing for her these days.  The day had dawned dull and grey and the cityscape seemed even more harsh and unwelcoming than usual. She heard a clatter and a thud from somewhere in the kitchen, it was at this precise moment that Anatoly bustled in shrugging off his coat before settling into one of the tables before looking at her, he looked almost surprised that she was there. Kalyna was far from offended, she always had been a quiet person and the weather wasn’t helping her mood much. Neither did the fact that her mother, who was still in the throws of a break down due to Kalyna’s father’s passing, kept her up half the night turning the tiny apartment they shared upside down searching for something she was sure she had lost. She hated to admit that she was starting to see a pattern and that maybe her mother wasn’t going to come back from her trip over the deep end.

“Have you not started the knysh, Kalyna? Time is money my dear and with the standing we are making it now are we?” 

As much as she respected and adored Anatoly Orlov, he was like a second father to her; she still fought back the urge to say something. The words “make your own damn knishes came to mind but she didn’t dare say them. The Orlovs were good to her as well as her bat crap crazy mother. She’d grown up with the boys, Yuri; the eldest who seemed to be delving into a world she wanted nothing to do with, and the younger, Vitaly. She had always preferred Vitaly for some reason, he was softer, kinder and only a year older than she was. They had formed a kinship back in the old neighborhood back in Odessa and it had stuck. All through the emigration of their respective families, the elementary years when they were both enrolled in ESL classes ( and both made fun of their accents ), the slightly less traumatic middle school years and Hebrew school and then into the big bad world of high school. She was ultimately pushed outside of her comfort zone by her mother and made to try out for the cheer leading squad, Vit had been her biggest supporter even after one of the girls that was lusting after him back then dropped her during one of the home games. He never once told her that her dreams of being a ballet dancer were stupid or to get her head out of the clouds. He was the last person to see her off to the airport and the first to welcome her back and when she had totally lost herself after her father died he told her to do what she needed to do. Yet he still welcomed her back only a year ago as if no time had passed, had gotten her the job at the Crimean and was above all, still the best friend she could ever have. 

Speaking of Vitaly where in the world is he? She thought to herself as she ducked back into the kitchen and began prepping the dough ultimately taking out her overflowing frustrations on it when she heard the back door thud open and then slam shut once more. Familiar footsteps and the jangle of keys were heard as he stowed his things in the tiny locker around the corner from the even smaller break room off the left of the kitchen. 

“Why’s it so quiet back here?”

“New policy, no music in the back it seems.”

She answered as she dusted the stainless steel table once more and rolled out the dough before wiping her hands on her apron and turning to give him a small smile as was part of their usual welcome. Perhaps they brought it on themselves, especially after the last time Irina has walked in on them in a bit of a compromising position in the dry goods pantry. The radio had been utilized on a slow day to drown out noises. Kalyna's stomach had plummeted and she had wanted to just dig a hole and curl up and never come out, Vit, to his credit and his nature had laughed it off. His parents were less than pleased but never once said a word to them about it. 

“What? **** that, if I have to listen to Coyita one more time from the front I’m going to go **** insane. Just like that stupid sign they put up on the door."

Vit grumbled as he slipped on the usual apron over his regular ensemble of a white t-shirt and linen pants. Even though they were a small local business the Orlov’s still upheld a strict code of dress as well as conduct. Sensible attire at all times no matter if you were working front of back of house. 

“Sign? What sign?” Kalyna’s interest was peeked, maybe that was the noise she’d heard before Anatoly came in. 

“Go have a look then, it’s right up on the door where they know I’ll see it coming in.”

She studied him for a moment, he was all nervous energy it seemed. Trying to shake the idea that his family had always thought of him as ‘ the screw up.’ always comparing him and pitting him against Yuri. When would they see that their sons were two completely different people? If she were made to choose between the two Orlovs she would always choose Vitaly. Yuri’s greed for money, power, and status had long ago turned her from him. She now kept things civil and only spoke to him in passing. She wandered out the door and slowly closed it finally spotting the huge lettering. 

“Beware of dog.”

Anger boiled up inside of her and she glowered at the sign. Shoving the door open once more scowled as she tried to finish up cutting out rounds of dough and began mashing potatoes for the filling.

“What the hell are they trying to prove with that?” She asked herself more so than him but he turned from his spot at the stove where he was keeping an eye on the slowly boiling stock pots. 

“I think it’s their way of reminding me of the dog in me. The dog that wants to **** everything that moves, wants to fight and kill weaker dogs..”

Irina, still in her good clothes from the mass she had just attended popped in and gave us a once over before her heavily accented voice all but filled the room.

“Ah, I see you’ve gotten a head start. Anatoly and I are headed to Malkovich’s we’ll be back in an hour.”

The two younger adults looked at the older woman and merely nodded before watching her duck back out and hearing Anatoly’s voice boom form the front. 

“No American pop music! Only instrumental. Putting closed sign in window until we get back, take lunch break.”

Kalyna offered a mock salute before going back to dust her hands once more while filling and crimping the dough over onto itself. A wicked little thought entered her mind and a sly smile crept up the corners of her mouth. She ambled over to the ancient radio that was situated on the  dry good shelf and tuned it to a local station as a Springsteen song came on.

“Since when do you go breakin’ rules, Kal?”

He asked as she side stepped to the beat and took his hand. 

“Since I got it in my head to prove a point to you. Dogs do not dance, моя любов. Men do though and you are most certainly a man.”

She whispered in his ear before planting a kiss on his lips. 

“I’m just the family **** up, Kal…”

Gently they swayed to the beat and she shook her head. How could he still think so little of himself after all this time? She blamed his family for treating in such a way, she tried ever so hard to get through to him that he truly was a treasure but somehow he had managed to build a wall around himself. That particular mindset was cemented hard and firm but if she kept trying to chip away at the wall she could somehow get through to him.

“No, you aren’t. You never were, you are a man that possesses two very rare things, Vitaly. A heart of gold, a conscious that can’t be corrupted, and a mind to change the world. I think they’re blind to the gifts you possess.”

She met his deep blue gaze as she brought her hands up to caress his face leaving a smudge of flour as she did so. 

“I don’t care what they call you, you are the greatest man I know, Vit and you always will be. Now, lead the way, sir. You dance divinely.”

She said as she gave him a sunny grin, she could see that she had lifted his spirits considerably and that lifted her own mood considerably, just knowing she had brightened his day made her heart skip a beat.  Her pulse picked up when he managed to give her a twirl before dipping her low and kissing her deeply. That was another thing his older brother would know nothing of, love. Vitaly was a well of deep emotion, he was more attuned to the feelings of others as well as his own and he was unafraid to show affection. Yuri would never know what it felt like to genuinely love someone. 

“Do you ever think of just taking off and starting over?” He asked as the song came to an end and they stilled breaking apart. He collapsing into two old counter stools that were now designated for breaks and her going back to double checking her crimped edges for the baked goods.

“Like just packing up and running off into the night? I don’t know, Vit. I tried that once, remember? Didn’t end too well for me.” Kalyna said as she set each knish onto a baking sheet and went about brushing each with an egg wash. Every move she made he watched with complete fascination, now he knew why his mother always left the turnovers, knishes, and pirogies in Kal’s hands. Each one was uniform, stuffed and crimped just so. A pang went to his heart when she mentioned her ill fated trek to the West Coast. That year she was gone was the longest and saddest of his entire life but he never could let her know it affected him. Although he did have a sneaking suspicion that she already knew because when he met her back at the airport that night she came back he saw the same lost look in her eyes that faded as soon as she spotted him at the gate. 

“I’m not talking about going our separate ways, what if we did it together, Kal?”

Kalyna almost dropped the pastry brush as she turned to look Vit in the eye. She couldn’t have possibly heard him right. 

“What about your parents and the business? What about my mother? Vit…I don’t know.” She was genuinely worried about leaving Little Odessa again, the last time she struck out and ended up coming home with her tail tucked between her legs. Having to accept defeat had been one of the hardest things she had ever done, it was came in second in the grand scheme of things, leaving Vitaly behind the first go around had nearly killed her.

“My parents’ll be fine. Besides, they’ve got the prodigal son at their beck and call they don’t need me…”

He went quiet for a moment, she could tell he was thinking; she could practically hear the wheels turning away in his mind and she couldn’t help but smile a bit. 

“We’ll take your mother with us. She might not know who the hell anyone is but hey, she’ll be safe.”

She couldn’t believe that he was even willing to start over with her of all people but let alone bring her mother with them. The man had a heart of gold, she had seen it so many times but especially since her mother’s break down. He had been there with Kalyna through her mother’s catatonic state, the night terrors, and now the ‘acute onset’ of neurological decline and was more help to both of them than he would or could ever know. 

“Where in the world would we go?”

Vitaly flashed her a grin that he only ever used when he had already come up with a solution to rival all solutions. 

“батьківщина.”

Home. Surely he couldn’t mean Odessa. A familiar pull of homesickness for the place where they had been born washed over her. She could still smell the market air and hear the street sounds, the familiar cadence of the Mother tongue that they still spoke. Here, in Brighton Beach the Ukrainians were intermingled with first  and second generations of Russians and Poles. This land that they had grown up in had called home and pledged allegiance to during their formative years still would never truly feel like it was their home.  Tears threatened to well up as she threw her arms around his neck and nodded. 

“Then I’d have to say yes then now wouldn’t I?”

A sickening thought entered her mind, the thought had a name and a face and it came in the form of the elder Orlov brother. 

“What about your brother?”

“What about him? It’s not like he can stop us.”

“What if he asks you for help again? You already turned him down for that trip to Africa and look how he well he took it…”

Kalyna remembered how she found Vitaly all but slumped over in the stairwell of her apartment building after her mother had refused to let him in, ultimately not recognizing his beaten and bloody face. Little did he know Kal had a plan of swift vengeance and she was merely biding her time. 

“He’s always saying how smart he is and how he could outsell any other gun runner known to man he’ll figure something out.”

She studied him for a moment before making her way to his side and pulling him into a hug. Gently playing with his dark brown locks and she felt a small smile. She planted a gentle kiss on the top of his head as he wrapped his arms around her waist. 

“I’ll have my bags packed tonight if you that’s what you want.” She said as he looked up at her with wide blue eyes, a smile gracing his face. 

“We leave early tomorrow morning for Odessa then.”

Today they would tie up loose ends, finish what needed to be done the diner and head home to their respective homes and pack their bags. Ultimately bidding the Land of Opportunity goodbye and head back to their homeland.

They were starting over back in the land where they each began. Somehow it couldn’t feel more right.  Together they would truly be home, together.

[ofradiances]

[KISS]: sender cups the receivers face in their hands before drawing them closer for a kiss.

REASONS TO CUP A FACE. ( Currently Accepting! )

Sometimes it's like a game with Ranulf. The cat never quite seemed able to keep still, like everything was a big game, or a joke, and Ike was just one of the many people involved. Was it a cat thing? No. Probably just a Ranulf thing.

He liked it, don't get him wrong! But it made him sometimes difficult to pin down. The day was warm. Spring melted its way into summer. Ike was getting agitated with the way Ranulf was darting about as they sparred. The warmth was nice. Tellius got pretty warm. Usually Crimean winters were mild. He did better when it was warm. Fodlan, at least the part of it they were in, had a weird heat to it though. A texture, a weight, like the warm was physical thing that took up space in the air.

He could say that was why he tripped up but that would be a lie. Ranulf had just gotten the better of him. Taken advantage of an opening. Their sparring match was coming to a quick end as he stumbled backwards.

He expected that to be it. He didn't expect Ranulf to grab his face and kiss him though. It was a surprise. A good surprise. But a surprise. He smiled when Ranulf pulled back and ended the kiss. "Not bad...Does this mean we're done sparring?"

[cyberbenb]

Russia mobilizes 40,000-45,000 troops per month, Ukraine 25,000-27,000, Zelensky says

Russia mobilizes around 40,000-45,000 men for its military every month, while Ukraine mobilizes about 25,000-27,000, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on May 27.

Moscow has only intensified its war effort despite calls by Kyiv, the U.S., and European partners for an unconditional ceasefire as a first step toward a peace deal.

“When the U.S. sends signals that it wants to do something positive with Russia, then Russia ramps up its mobilization,” Zelensky said, according to the NV outlet.

While Ukraine estimates that Russia has suffered close to 1 million casualties during the full-scale war, it has been largely able to offset the losses by fresh contract soldiers.

In late 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s Armed Forces to about 2.4 million, including 1.5 million military personnel.

Russia also aims to conscript 160,000 men for compulsory military service this year, marking the largest conscription campaign in 14 years.

Russia conducts conscription twice a year, in spring and fall, requiring eligible men to serve for one year. Although Russian conscripts are typically not deployed in active combat, Moscow has relied on financial incentives and pardons to recruit civilians for the war in Ukraine.

Following the unpopular September 2022 mobilization, which saw over 261,000 Russians flee the country, Putin has avoided another large-scale draft, instead using alternative methods to bolster troop numbers.

Unlike Russia, Ukraine faced serious manpower shortages in late 2024 amid a heavy Russian offensive in Donetsk Oblast. The Ukrainian leadership has sought to alleviate the crisis by broadening the mobilization pool and offering new incentives for volunteers.

Men aged between 25 and 60 can be drafted into Ukraine’s Armed Forces, while those aged 18-24 may volunteer to serve, according to the latest legislation. Zelensky said earlier this year that Ukraine has around 800,000 soldiers deployed against 600,000 Russian troops.

If Germany sends Taurus missiles to Ukraine, Russia has a major Crimean Bridge problem

A statement from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on May 26 about long-range strikes inside Russia resurrected a long-held hope in Ukraine — that Berlin is finally about to send Kyiv its Taurus missiles. “There are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine — neither by the U.

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

[al-mayriti]

i want to talk about this cause it's the only thing keeping me going besides the sims right now.

so. last year i think? i started this idea that takes place in this alternative earth i created with more countries and where the UN is actually useful and has a bunch of project to promote multiculturalism etc (another project i have is a UN promoted international academy where students are selected via lottery from all around the world. i'm actually envisioning it as a 4 seasons coming of age tv show, when i have more done i'll definitely share stuff about it here <3)

in this alternative world, the UN hires this couple of travel youtubers to travel to every single country in the world, collecting info about each place, and when they get home they'll create a blog where they talk about every country + a book financed by the UN, sorta like a travel guide but for all the world.

in order to make sure they are thoroughly visiting each country, i laid down some rules. for each country they have to visit:

3 largest cities

1 extra random city

1 natural area

1 man made monument (can be another city or town of special interest)

1 extra activity. can be a hike through the mountains, scuba-diving, a cooking class, etc. it depends on the country

they have to spend one day on every city (with exceptions), and also if the city is particularly big (i.e. tokyo, shanghai, delhi etc) they are there for two days.

excluded to this rule are micro-nations / city states, and countries with less than a million inhabitants. for those nations, they only have to spend a full day there. that's it.

the couple are leon solamhovich macasgaidh, who was born and raised in krasnodar, crimea, to a crimean mother and a scottish father; and dana jäppinen, from petroskoi (petrozavodsk) in karelia, to karelian parents. they met at the university of calgary, and have been together for 5 years as the start of the trip. they live in calgary, part of the blackfoot confederation. they'll get married as soon as i get to that country hehe, and i'll probably make leon propose when they're in karelia i think.

anyways, i'm on country 64, here's how the map looks like! they started in new zealand, and are currently in south india. i change the colour every 50 countries; the lighter shade is 1-50, the darker shade will be 50-100 (there's 250 countries in total btw). also i mark every year in a darker colour, that's why new zealand and manchuria are darker. so yeah, that means they've been over a year traveling and haven't made it out of asia yet lol.

below the cut i'll relay the order of countries they visited and the details of where they went, for how many days, etc abbrevieted as much as i possibly can lol

new zealand (july 23rd - august 3rd): auckland - hobbiton movie set tour - wellington - queenstown - te wahipounamu - christchurch - hanmer springs forest camp (archery).

new caledonia (august 3rd - 4th ): nouméa - blue river provincial park

australia (august 4th - 16th): brisbane - noosa heads (cruise to australia's everglades) - sydney - mungo national park - adelaide - melbourne - heide museum of modern art

fiji (august 16th - 18th): nadi - mamanuca islands

vanuatu (august 18th -21th): enam - tanna (diving class) - blue cave - cultural visit to a kastom village

tonga (august 23rd - 26th): neiafu - nuku'alofa - tongatapu island tour - paepae o tele'a

niue (august 26th - 30th): huvalu forest - niue island tour - mutalau (plantation tour) - avatele beach (snorkel) - whale watching

cook islands (august 31st - september 2nd): rarotonga - muri beach - punanga nui market - muri night market - avaavaroa (turtle sea scooter safari)

hawaii (september 3rd - 8th): honolulu - pearl harbour national monument - east honolulu - pearl city - hilo - honokaa (quad bike scenic tour near waipio valley) - hawai'i volcanoes national park

tahiti (september 9th - 10th): papeete - plage de ahonu (surf) - tapahi - arahoho blowhole - cascades de faarumai

pitkern island (september 12th - 15th): pitcairn island museum - island quad bike tour - christian's cave - diving in the hms bounty wreckage - adamstown - whale watching - st. paul's pool

samoa (september 19th - 21st ): sopo'aga falls - papaseea sliding rocks - piula cave pool

tuvalu (september 21st - 26th): vaiaku - funafuti marine conservation area - funafuti - tuvalu women's handicraft centre - david's drill - airstrip - nukulaelae - niulakita

nauru (september 27th - 28th): buada lagoon - wwii memorial monument - japanese wwii prison - central plateau

solomon islands (september 29th - october 1st): tenaru waterfalls - honiara - mbonege beach (snorkel)

chatham islands (october 2nd - 4th): ocean mail scenic reserve - kaingaroa

papua new guinea (october 5th - 16th): port moresby - varirata national park - mount hagen - kuk early archaeological site - goroka - lae - lab lab - gloucester - kimbe bay (diving) - rabaul

kiribati (october 17th - 18th): te umanibong - kiribati local produce market

marshall islands (october 18th - october 19th): alele museum - majuro bridge - elefa handicraft shop

federated states of micronesia (october 19th - 22nd): lelu ruins historic park - kosrae nautilus resort - shark island (diving) - utwa-wahlung conservation area - tafunsak beach - olum hiking trail

guam (october 22nd - 24th): lamlam mountain - valley of the latte adventure park - ypao beach

mariana islands (october 24th - 25th): nmi museum of history and culture - okinawa peace memorial - bird island observatory - helicopter tour of saipan - banzai cliff

palau (october 25th - 28th): badrulchau stone monoliths - etpison museum - airai bai - icebox park - japan-palau friendship bridge - rock islands - jellyfish lake

philippines (october 28th - november 6th): manila - quezón city - puerto princesa (subterranean river tour) - cebú city - oslob (whale shark watching and inambakan falls tour) - davao city - eden nature park

singapore (november 6th - 8th): gardens by the bay - artscience museum - marina bay sands sky deck - lau pa sat - sengkang floating wetland

indonesia (november 8th - 19th): penang - jakarta - bekasi - prambanan - surabaya - mount bromo - kota kinabalu - kinabalu park - kiulu (rafting)

hong kong (november 19th - 21st): ngong ping - tung chung - hong kong space museum - tsim sha tsui promenade - avenue of stars - chi lin nunnery - nan lian garden - happy valley racecourse

macau (november 21st - 22nd): the cotai strip - a-má temple - macau tower

guangdong (november 22nd - 30th): xiaolan - yangjiang - kaiping (unesco watchtowers heritage and ancient villages tour) - guangdong - baiyun mountain - gulong gorge (glass bridge waterfall ravine underground river cave tour) - dongguan - shenzhen

indochina (december 1st - 13th): hanoi - tràng an - ban that hium - luang prabang - thakhek - pakse (4000 islands tour) - vat phou - wat - phousalao - phnom penh - ho chi minh city

thailand (december 13th - 22nd): bangkok - ayutthaya - nakhon ratchasima - kanchanaburi - huai kha khaeng wildlife sanctuary - nakhon sawam - chiang mai (dinner private course) - chiang dao valley (mountain bikes & kayaks tour)

kawthoolei (december 22nd - 31st): loikaw - kandarawadi palace - pan pet (guided tour) - myawaddy - hpa-an - mount zwegabin - saddan cave (kayak tour)

mon (december 31st - january 8th): moulmein - bilu island tour - ye - kyaikkhami - set sae beach - setse yele paya - sathuim (thaton) - kyaik htee yoe pagoda - sittaung

myanmar (january 8th - 20th): yangon - winga baw elephant camp - pyay (world heritage pyu ancient city, sri ksetra) - bagan - mandalay - naypyidaw - taunggyi - shan mountains horseriding tour

kachin (january 21st - 31st): myitkyina - mongkawng - indawgyi lake (birdwatching tour) - hpakant - puta-o (5 day trek on the lisu trail)

arunachal pradesh (january 31st - february 9th): hayuliang - dong valley - pasighat - kekar monying (brahmaputra river rafting) - itanagar - pakke tiger reserve - tawang

assam (february 10th - 22nd): guwahati - manas tiger reserved forest - nagaon - kaziranga national park (jeep safari) - jongal balahu - jorhat - charaideo maidam - hollongapar gibbon sanctuary - silchar - buban hills

nagaland (february 23rd - march 1st): dimapur - dzuleke village - chümoukedima (triple falls seithekema) - mokokchung - kohima - puliebadze wildlife sanctuary

manipur (march 1st - 10th): ukhrul - imphal - kangla fort - andro (3 days trek) - thoubal - keibul lamjao national park - loktak lake - churachandpur

mizoram (march 10th - 18th): champhai - murlen national park - aizawl - reiek tlang - falkawn - serchhip - paragliding in serchhip - lunglei

arakan (march 19th - 29th): sittwe - mrauk u - weaving lesson in mrauk u - myebon - kyaukpyu - ngapali fishing village sunrise tour

andaman (march 30th - april 1st): port blair - corbyn's cove beach (jet ski) - baratang island tour

bangladesh (april 1st - 10th): dhaka - gazipur - sylhet - chittagong - st. martin's island (scuba diving) - khulna (sundarban tour) - somapura mahavihara

meghalaya (april 10th - 19th): tura - nokrek national park - pelga falls - mawsynram (mawjymbuin cave) - mawmluh (speleology tour in mawmluh cave) - mawlynnong - jowai - shillong - dawki

tripura (april 20th - 28th): agartala - junpai hills - unakoti archaeological site - baramura eco park - khumulwng eco park - kamalasagar kasba kali temple - dumboor lake - chabimura - tripura sundari temple - udaipur - neermahal water palace - sepahijala wildlife sanctuary - dharmanagar

himalaya (april 29th - may 9th): phobjika valley - kumbu lhakhang trail - gangtey nature trail - punakha dzong - punakha - bagdogra - siliguri (darjeeling himalayan railway toy train) - koshi tappu wildlife camp (3 days safari) - kathmandu - pokhara (momo cooking class) - langtang national park - rasuwa gadi

tibet (may 9th - 17th): gyirong - mount everest base camp - tingri - shigatse - gyantse - karola glacier - yamdrok lake - lhasa - nyingchi (xiuba ancient castle)

sichuan (may 18th - 26th): shangri-la (thangka painting class) - kunming - chengdu - dujiangyan panda volunteer tour - chengdu panda base - leshan giant buddha - huanglong national scenic spot - lanzhou - yinchuan (shapotou desert tour)

mongolia (may 27th - june 13th): xining - qinghai lake - dunhuang (camel riding) - zhangye (3 days badain jaran desert tour with jeep safari) - baotou - hohhot - ulaanbaatar - terelj valley (camping horseback tour) - murun (uushigiin uver deer stones)

buryatia (june 13th - 15th): ulan-ude

sakha (june 15th - july 4th): irkutsk - taltsy museum - kabansk - chita - yakutsk - 10 day cruise on the lena river (khara-balyk, lensk, lipaevski island, olekminsk, lena pillars) - oymyakon

east siberia (july 4th - 17th): kosomolsk-on-amur - khabarovsk - anadyr - sledging in chukotka - mount dionysia (snowtubing) - gudym - bikin - terney - sikhote-alin nature reserve - vladivostok - yuzhno sakhalinsk

kamchatka (july 17th - 19th): petropavlosk-kamchatskiy - koryak volcano hike

manchuria (july 20th - 29th): harbin - jingpo lake - changchun - jingyuetan ski resort - ji'an - wandu mountain ancient city - shenyang - tonghua - dalian - shedao island

japan (july 29th - august 8th): tokyo - yokohama - kyoto - nara - osaka - ekawasaki (canoe house shimanto river kayaking) - matsuyama - amami oshima

korea (august 8th - 17th): busan - jeju island - suncheon bay ecological park - sinchang - namgye seowon - seoul - makgeolli brewing class in seoul - pyongyang

china (august 17th - 28th): beijing - 2 days great wall hiking tour - chinese calligraphy class in beijing - tianjin - luoyang - shennongjia national nature reserve - xiangyang - shanghai

hunan (august 28th - september 7th): hangzhou - wuzhen water town tour - yingtan (longhushan) - guilin - nanning - xiamen - gulangyu - 2 days fujian tulou tour

taiwan (september 7th - 16th): kaohsiung - tainan - taichung - new taipei - taipei - beitou hot springs - jin ping spring resort (mei-hua river tracing)

sri lanka (september 16th - 24th): colombo - kaduwela - maharagama - sripada peak wilderness sanctuary - nuwara eliya (tea plantation tour) - kandy - polonnaruwa

maldives (september 24th - 25th): kuda haraa - dhoni dolphin cruise

tamil nadu (september 25th - october 3rd): chennai - illanthope (paramotoring) - kumbakonam - thanjavur - coimbatore - madurai - mundanthurai tiger preserve

south india (october 3rd - ???): agumbe reserve forest - halebidu - bengaluru - hyderabad - warangal - visakhapatnam - jindhagada trek

[thesquireinvictus]

The dash of British cavalry officers was never greater than at the opening of the Crimean campaign in the spring of 1854. These aristocratic horsemen were, in the idiom of the day, "plungers," "tremendous swells." They affected elegant boredom, yawned a great deal, spoke a jargon of their own, pronouncing "r" as "w," saying "vewwy," "howwid," and "sowwy," and interlarded sentences with loud and meaningless exclamations of "Haw, haw." Their sweeping whiskers, languid voices, laced in by corsets, and their large cigars were irresistible, frantically admired, and as frantically envied. Magnificently mounted, horses were their passion; they rode like the devil himself, and their confidence in their ability to defeat any enemy single-handed was complete. Cavalry officers were saying in London drawing-rooms that to take infantry on the campaign was superfluous; the infantry would merely be a drag on them, and had better be left at home.

[mariacallous]

In a move likely to cause considerable offense in the White House, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has compared US President Donald Trump’s “America First” concept to Nazi propaganda. This provocative statement from Russia’s top diplomat offers an indication of the mood in Moscow as the United States and Russia engage in preliminary talks over a possible deal to end the invasion of Ukraine.

In an article published on February 4 by the Russia in Global Affairs journal, Lavrov accused the US of undermining the international order with “cowboy attacks,” and claimed that the rhetoric of the Trump administration was reminiscent of Nazi Germany. “The ‘America First’ concept has disturbing similarities to the ‘Germany Above All’ slogan of the Hitler period,” he wrote.

Such attacks are nothing new, of course. The Kremlin has a long history of branding critics and adversaries as Nazis that can be traced all the way back to the height of the Cold War. When the Hungarians rebelled against Soviet occupation in 1956, Moscow condemned the uprising as a “fascist rebellion” before sending in the tanks. It was a similar story during the Soviet suppression of the Prague Spring of 1968. Communist officials even referred to the Berlin Wall itself as “the Anti-Fascist Protective Wall.”

This trend survived the Soviet collapse and has been enthusiastically embraced by the Putin regime. Labeling opponents as Nazis is regarded as a particularly effective tactic in modern Russia as it strikes an emotive chord among audiences raised to revere the staggering Soviet sacrifices in the fight against Hitler’s Germany.

Throughout Putin’s reign, domestic political opponents including Alexei Navalny have been routinely demonized as Nazis. The same strategy is frequently employed in the international arena. When Estonia sought to remove a Soviet World War II monument from Tallinn city center in 2007, the Kremlin media went into a frenzy about “Fascist Estonia,” sparking riots among Estonia’s sizable ethnic Russian population. A long list of other international critics and adversaries have faced the same Nazi slurs.

The most notorious Russian accusations of Nazism have been leveled at Ukraine. Ever since Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, Russian state propaganda has sought to portray Ukrainian national identity as a modern form of fascism that is virtually indistinguishable from Nazism. This propaganda campaign is rooted in Soviet era attempts to discredit Ukraine’s independence movement via association with World War II collaboration. It reached new lows in 2014 as Putin attempted to legitimize the occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and Donbas region.

Moscow’s efforts to portray Ukraine as a Nazi state escalated further following the onset of the full-scale invasion three years ago, with a massive spike in references to “Nazi Ukraine” throughout the Kremlin-controlled Russian media. In this increasingly unhinged environment, few were surprised when Putin announced that one of his two principle war aims was the “denazification” of Ukraine.

It has since become abundantly clear that Putin’s frequent talk of “denazification” is actually Kremlin code for “deukrainianization.” In other words, the ultimate goal of Russia’s current invasion is to create a Ukraine without Ukrainians, with false accusations of Nazism serving as a convenient excuse to justify the destruction of the Ukrainian state and nation.

The history of nationalist politics in independent Ukraine is far removed from the Kremlin’s fascist fantasies. In reality, Ukrainian far-right parties have never come close to holding political power and typically receive far fewer votes than nationalist candidates in most other European countries.

When Ukraine’s frustrated and marginalized nationalists banded together into a single bloc for the country’s last prewar parliamentary election in 2019, they managed to secure a meager 2.16 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Russian-speaking Jewish comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election of the same year served to further highlight the absurdity of Russia’s entire “Nazi Ukraine” narrative.

Ever since Zelenskyy’s election, Russian officials have been tying themselves in knots attempting to explain how a supposedly Nazi state could elect a Jewish leader. In one particularly infamous incident during a spring 2022 interview with Italian TV show Zona Bianca, foreign minister Lavrov responded to questioning about Zelenskyy’s Jewish heritage by claiming that Adolf Hitler “also had Jewish blood.”

Lavrov’s latest comments do not signal a significant shift in the Kremlin position toward the United States and should not be blown out of proportion. Nevertheless, it is always worth paying attention when Russia plays the Nazi card. In this instance, the decision to target Trump personally with Nazi slurs by comparing one of his core political messages to Hitler’s propaganda suggests a degree of unease in Moscow over what the Kremlin can expect from the new US administration.

If Trump follows through on his threats to pressure Putin into peace talks, this unease may soon give way to outright hostility. At that point, we can expect to see yet more lurid Russian accusations of Nazism, this time aimed at the United States. That, after all, is how the Kremlin propaganda machine works. Putin claims to venerate the memory of World War II, but he has done more than anyone to distort the legacy of the conflict for his own political gain.

[xtruss]

How “War Criminal And Thug Zelensky” Turned Ukraine Into What Trump Has Dubbed A "Massive Demolition Site"

— Wednesday February 19, 2025 | Sputnik International

© AP Photo

President Trump and War Criminal & Thug Volodymyr Zelensky have become embroiled in a war of words a day after the Russia-US meeting in Riyadh focusing on Ukraine. Trump slammed Zelensky over his refusal to hold elections, saying he's down to "4% approval" and that Ukraine looks like a "massive demolition site" under his leadership. He's not wrong. Here's why.

Didn’t Make Peace

Zelensky did not make good on his promise to end the war in the Donbass – the single biggest reason he was elected in the spring of 2019.

Declaring verbal support for the Minsk Agreements in October 2019, Zelensky triggered large-scale street protests led by nationalist thugs threatening to oust him. He quickly backed down, never returning to the issue again.

In February 2022, amid raging tensions between Russia and NATO over US plans to drag Ukraine into the alliance, Zelensky upped the ante, heading to the Munich Security Conference to demand membership, and threatening to revoke Ukraine’s non-nuclear status if it wasn't granted.

During this period, Ukraine’s military massed on the border with the Donbass in preparation for a large-scale invasion, ultimately prompting Russia to start its 'special military operation'.

Turned Ukraine Into Authoritarian Hellscape

After fighting began, Zelensky imposed martial law, imprisoned political opponents, banned opposition, attacked the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, instituted press-ganged conscription and canceled elections.

His commanders sent hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men to pointless deaths in failed counteroffensives in 2023 and 2024.

Sold Ukraine Off To “War Criminal, Hegemonic, Liar, Double-Faced, Complicit in Genocide and Fake Democracy Preacher, The West”

To fund the conflict, Zelensky exploded the debt (from 49-95% of GDP between 2021 and 2024), tanked Ukraine’s credit rating, and auctioned off the country to the highest bidder, touting “cooperation with giants like BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs.”

Western corporations benefited immensely, eyeing Ukraine’s black soil, minerals, and its people – many of whom, having fled to Europe, fell into exploitation as cheap laborers.

Russia’s military hounded the Zelensky regime throughout the past three years through a series of revelations based on seized documents on the presence of dozens of US biowarfare and Big Pharma-controlled labs on Ukrainian soil, turning unwitting Ukrainians into human guinea pigs.

Built a Massive Fortune For Himself and His Allies

A 2022 CBS News report revealed that only 30% of Western weapons were making it to the front. Earlier this month, Zelensky admitted in an AP interview that Ukraine couldn’t account for $102 billion of the $177 billion in US military aid. “I don’t know where all this money is,” he said.

In January, opposition lawmaker Oleksandr Dubinsky accused Zelensky and his team amassing a $100 billion fortune over the past five years, from payments off government projects and contracts to kickbacks in the courts, law enforcement, customs and the grain trade.

Provoked Russia Into Targeting Infrastructure

Finally, Ukraine’s status as a “massive demolition site,” as Trump put it, is in large part the result of Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure starting with the Crimean Bridge attack of the fall of 2022, and retaliatory Russian strikes, which Ukraine has had trouble repairing thanks to Zelensky’s bribery and corruption-based administration.

[spatialapprentice]

Captain Planet, Arab Spring, L.A. riots, Rodney King

Deep fakes, earthquakes, Iceland volcano

Oklahoma City bomb, Kurt Cobain, Pokémon

Tiger Woods, MySpace, Monsanto, GMOs

Harry Potter, Twilight, Michael Jackson dies

Nuclear accident, Fukushima, Japan

Crimean Peninsula, Cambridge Analytica

Kim Jong Un, Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man

We didn't start the fire

It was always burning since the world's been turning

We didn't start the fire

No, we didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it

More war in Afghanistan, Cubs go all the way again

Obama, Spielberg, explosion, Lebanon

Unabomber, Bobbitt, John, bombing Boston Marathon

Balloon Boy, War on Terror, QAnon

Trump gets impeached twice, Polar bears got no ice

Fyre Fest, Black Parade, Michael Phelps, Y2K

Boris Johnson, Brexit, Kanye West and Taylor Swift

Stranger Things, Tiger King, Ever Given, Suez

We didn't start the fire

It was always burning since the world's been turning

We didn't start the fire

No, we didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it

Sandy Hook, Columbine, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice

ISIS, LeBron James, Shinzo Abe blown away

Meghan Markle, George Floyd, Burj Khalifa, Metroid

Fermi paradox, Venus and Serena

Oh-oh-oh, Michael Jordan, 23, YouTube killed MTV

SpongeBob, Golden State Killer got caught

Michael Jordan, 45, Woodstock '99

Keaton, Batman, Bush v. Gore, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire

It was always burning since the world's been turning

We didn't start the fire

No, we didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it

Elon Musk, Kaepernick, Texas failed electric grid

Jeff Bezos, climate change, white rhino goes extinct

Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Tom DeLonge and aliens

Mars rover, Avatar, self-driving electric cars

SSRI's, Prince and The Queen die

World trade, second plane, what else do I have to say?

We didn't start the fire (we didn't start it)

It was always burning since the world's been turning (oh)

We didn't start the fire (we didn't start it)

But when we are gone, it will still go on (oh-yeah)

And on, and on, and on, and on

And on, and on, and on

We didn't start the fire (fire)

It was always burning since the world's been turning

[darkmaga-returns]

Georgiy Muradov, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea - Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of the Russian Federation.

Our author, Georgiy Muradov, is a professional diplomat, his bio can be read here. He’s now 70, and has acquired the authority to speak about the myriad interconnected topics he discusses in his essay. He brings some points to light that are often ignored and go undiscussed both in the West and Russia. This will be the final essay from this issue of International Affairs I’ll translate. I hope readers enjoyed the first two.

The Crimean Spring as an Impetus for the Formation of a New Polycentric World Order

Our discussion, colleagues, is very important from the point of view of analysing and forecasting events. In my opinion, the situation is developing very alarmingly. President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have repeatedly noted that the world is entering an acute phase of confrontation. And if our adversaries continue their policy of pumping Ukraine with new types of weapons, supplying it with intelligence, providing it with finances, instructors and military specialists, this will lead to a dangerous confrontation on the brink of nuclear war. I will begin with a general assessment that the Crimean Spring, the tenth anniversary of which we are celebrating this year, the reunification of Crimea with Russia, became, as we noted at our forums and earlier, a turning point in the development of the world. This event marked Russia's transition to the phase of gathering the Russian world and restoring its civilisational forces. And the subsequent, albeit long, events related to the upholding of the rights of the Russian people of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics and the start of a special military operation have shown that Russia has firmly

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.8 (before 1860)

70 – After the capture of Herod's Palace the previous day, a Roman army under Titus secures and plunders the city of Jerusalem. 617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty. 1100 – Election of Antipope Theodoric. 1198 – Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans) 1253 – Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, killed by King Bolesław II. 1264 – The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland. 1276 – Pope John XXI is elected Pope. 1331 – Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia. 1334 – The Battle of Adramyttion begins in which a Christian naval league defeats a Turkish fleet in several encounters. 1380 – Battle of Kulikovo: Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance. 1504 – Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. 1514 – Battle of Orsha: In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army. 1522 – Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation: Victoria arrives at Seville, completing the first circumnavigation. 1565 – St. Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. 1655 – Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge, making it the first time the city is captured by a foreign army. 1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children. 1755 – French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George. 1756 – French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition. 1760 – French and Indian War: French surrender Montreal to the British, completing the latter's conquest of New France. 1761 – Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 1775 – The unsuccessful Rising of the Priests in Malta. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory. 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote. 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa. 1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. 1813 – At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. 1819 – 1819 Balloon riot occurred at Vauxhall Garden in Philadelphia, PA and resulted in the destruction of the amusement park. 1831 – William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1831 – November uprising: The Battle of Warsaw effectively ends the Polish insurrection. 1855 – Crimean War: The French assault the tower of Malakoff, leading to the capture of Sevastopol.