This is (still) 'ukraine@war'

Lifting the curtain on war-adjacent bullshit

pgb

Jan 1, 2023

In the middle of a field somewhere in Chernihiv region (c/o abdymok)

This will be my online home during 2023 for reports, discussions, questions, podcasts, and other features about, er, breaking news in Ukraine and environs. And a lot more (including but not limited to well-dressed sexy robots, running very long distances, polo bunnies and cookie pushers — which are a few items I will add below, eventually).

For example, my last post was about the specific language Volodymyr Zelensky used in one of his end-of-the-year speeches, and the obvious and hidden ways the narrative fails to match reality (Update: that post is here. And two more about presidential messaging are here and here.)

Killing the Truth

For continuity’s sake, I have imported a some older posts from Medium, including Plan A, Operation Ы, Paul & Andriana and The Hill. Some published articles, notes and miscellany are still available c/o Google, including Nil Heard and Before the Coup. Maybe I’ll export them here after Substack improves indexing on Search.

I’m re-committing to this site this year because I want to find new ways to use the old, fundamental tools — conjecture and refutation — that originally compelled me to expose false narratives and journalistic bullshit about this part of the world. I want to apply them to the trends, the crises, and the possibilities of the moment for accurately reporting about the bloody mess I hope to survive.