Yesterday I deliberately avoided Christopher's foreboding article in The Financial Times regarding our democratic crisis1. After giving it a cursory read this morning, I've reached the same assessment I held before Russia attemped to decapitate the country:
Ukraine today is not unlike the Mohist equivalent of the trolley problem. Z has told us, “We must pull the lever,” but for the last two and a half years he has driven the country into a double-tracked curve in such a way that the rear wheel bogey jumped the rails and flattened the economy while simultaneously failing to prevent the grisly deaths of innocent civilians.
Looking on the bright side, this means that if you’re a good journalist in Ukraine, you don't have an Achilles' heel. Because you're just a piece of shit in the middle of the track that eventually is going to get run over. And if the trolley's going to be Z, then you're going to try and derail it2.
Z's reading habits (particularly his Akunin obsession) gave us a crystal-clear window into his intellect, and moral compass — so let's not pretend we couldn't see this train wreck coming back in early 2019. His attempt to impersonate Lukasheko’s strongman style of governance later that year was also revealing. Next came the Wagnergate scandal and the use of new H225 Super Puma helicopters bought by taxpapers for the State Emergency Service as taxis to ferry himself and his greasy clown friends, including Oleksiy Chernyshov, to the presidential residence in Synyohora (Huta), a 10,000-hectare playpen for public servants in Ivano-Frankivsk region. The list of self-indulgent screw-ups is endless. I stopped writing about them last year because dwelling on these unflattering acts, er, was a distraction from task #1: survival.
The Financial Times deciding to daintily wade into the swamp of the ultra-competitive Ukrainian politics now — euphemistically dubbed a "shift in behavior at a precarious time" — is pure bullshit. Z has been a jackass from day one.
Keith departed Ukraine last night, cutting short what had been billed as a week-long visit. What he learned from his latest trip is anyone’s guess. He’s late to our party.
On the war jacket, Anduril via Brave1 c/o Mezha:
Last time I checked, Mezha was owned by "Mediaholding Novyny" LLC, which was/is owned by Nestor Shufrych, who is in a Ukrainian jail charged with treason. Reuters doesn’t give details, but the story will eventually come out. What, exactly, Anduril is testing is anyone’s guess.
Pekhno gives us the front-line update:
Lots of maps, places to test.
Have a great weekend!
Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused of authoritarian slide after anti-corruption raids. Politicians, activists and diplomats accuse Ukraine’s leader of favouring loyalists and using wartime powers against critics (The Financial Times, July 17, 2025)
We must pull the lever! Get Z the hell away from the trolley car problem (November 27, 2021)