Day 16, Phase 2

UK Defense Intelligence map

BBC on April 9, 2022 tells a story about the imminent inevitability¹ of Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, which U.S. and British intelligence services found out about during the summer of 2021.

The exact origin of the intelligence remains classified, but anonymous officials from both countries have said they obtained it from several sources and passed it on to Kyiv.

Jingoism-resistant Sabrina² over at the The New York Times says that it is too soon to say whether the systemic elimination (murder) of civilians in Bucha and Russia-occupied Ukrainian villages and towns should be compared to carpet bombing Chechnya. It’s the same Sabrina who fantasized about Ukraine’s pro-Russia insurrection during the spring and summer of 2014.

Ibrahim and Leonid provide a more accurate and entertaining take on the mess in Russia in their weekly Q&A show.

в России нет элит — есть только холуи, и они все потеряли

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And here’s another map:

c/o war_mapper

1. "The political and media discussion around the threat of a new escalation in eastern Europe is finally getting rid of excessive emotions. We see that even White House Spokeswoman Psaki said it was a mistake to use the word "inevitably" ["неминуче"] in relation to the threat of escalation. This is an important diplomatic result, thanks to the activity of President Zelensky," he said on February 3 in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. (Lost in Translation, February 4, 2022)

2. Footnote 13 takes you to the BBC and rebels, the misleading label used to describe invading Russia-occupation forces by clueless journalists, including Sabrina (Ukrainian Forces Close In on Rebel-Held Luhansk, Ukraine Pushes Back as Rebels Attack in the East, Patchwork Makeup of Rebels Fighting Ukraine Makes Peace Talks Elusive, Whisked Away for Tea With a Rebel in Ukraine, For a Weekend, Ukrainian Rebels Make Love, not War, et cetera) and Keith, who also helped invent and popularize jingo-resistant rebel bullshit. (Day 9, Phase 2. April 3, 2022)