Unclear. Ambiguous. Anonymous. Classified.

Day 345-ish

The last thing anyone wants to hear – during the days of rotting flowers and spattered walls, through the nights of wailing sirens – is advice on how best to buck up, move on with life, hit the ground running. It always seems blatantly secondhand.

If in the warzone of Ukraine your instinct is to cut loose and part with whatever pride you can salvage, then fair enough and on your e-bike. But know that in doing so, it’s entirely likely that elements of what attracted you to the other side of the burning bridge in the first place, and indeed all the reasons you even care enough to be upset in the moment, are going to congeal and ferment and blow spitballs at the back of your head forever.

Which brings me to Mozart Group.

Hard Drinking and Murky Finances: How an American Veterans Group Imploded in Ukraine. (The New York Times. February 1, 2023)

As we observed 11 months ago, Russia’s “further military invasion” has followed the script of the latest post-apocalyptic installment of the Road Warrior franchise. The story follows the the archetypical "Western” frontier movie motif, as deepwoken legionnaires rediscover their humanity, travel to a foreign land and help local inhabitants liquidate marauders led by Putin’s chef¹.

Volunteer fighters from the USA, France, Poland, Lithuania, Brazil, Canada, Georgia and Ireland have arrived

Horror stories involving the International Legion popped up over the summer as various foreign paramilitary volunteers — many with deep-rooted personality disorders — fanned out across the country. Some stayed, many left².

Oh, and this just in from the wizards at the Pentagon, who briefed U.S. lawmakers about the situation in Ukraine last week.

Ukraine can’t retake Crimea soon, Pentagon tells lawmakers in classified briefing. The assessment from the DoD officials is likely to anger Kyiv, which wants to recapture the peninsula from Russia (Politico. February 2, 2023)

Alas, American policy makers remain confused, especially House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who appears even less than clueless about fascistic Russia’s genocidal campaign and prospects for ending it.

1. Day 14. What will happen can’t be avoided (March 9, 2022)

2. Ukraine’s International Legion. Problems in paradise? (August 22, 2022)