Putin is not a Russian anomaly. His regime is rooted in deeper structures of Russian imperialism, authoritarianism, political culture and state-society relations. The sooner the West recognizes this, the better positioned we will be to counter the Russian threat.

Anyone who claims that Europeans want to invade Russia and wage war against it either has a cognitive deficit or is acting in bad faith. Europeans simply want Russia to stay within its own fucking borders and stop interfering with us by trying to export its failed model.

I spoke to three European intelligence heads over the past week to try to understand how seriously to take the latest “Russia attack” scare. theguardian.com/world/2026/s…

3€ per litre let's goooooooooo

Of course they are.

I see many people already claiming that what’s happening in the Netherlands is because of the farmers, so I want to be very clear. For now, the fires and hay bales along the highways are very likely connected to farmer protests, especially given that Farmers Defence Force had already announced actions for today. The situation on the railways is different. The sabotage there is still being investigated, with Dutch intelligence also involved. That investigation will likely take some time. For now, farmers remain a possibility, but I would not consider them one of the main explanations for the railway sabotage without further evidence. We’ll have to wait and see what the investigation finds.

Pretty sure independent Ukraine will outlive Mearsheimer.

According to "The Economist" reports have leaked that Putin needs to take Donbas. Otherwise he believes to be "hanged" for this major blunder. As I have been saying for years, Russia has achieved nothing in Ukraine, except degrading itself on an unprecedented scale. Not a single major objective has been achieved. The meager advances have been stopped long ago, while losses are escalating, both at the frontline and at home. Especially the losses in the oil and gas sector are extensive and hit the oligarchy at its core. Even if Russia would somehow take the Donbas, which even at best prognostications are years away - if at all, nothing would change. Putin needs all of Ukraine and therefore this war will go one for as long as he draws breath. The moment he would pause the war, all the problems he swept under the rug will come back and end him, politically and physically. In that point, Putin is absolutely right. The only question remains until all in the West realizes that. There will never be peace with Putin. Never! Period.

The Russian assault in the Azov Corps area two weeks ago involved several interesting innovations. It failed, in part because they faced one of Ukraine's strongest corps, but it demonstrated that the Russian military is learning and is experimenting in how to employ armor on a drone-saturated battlefield. The Arena-M APS demonstrated effectiveness and will likely be improved.

EU Enlargement is about “reshaping Europe’s political and security architecture to create a Europe capable of competing with other major global powers,” @MartaKosEU says. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Ukraine, whose armed forces are among Europe’s largest, best-armed and certainly most battle-hardened. EU member states want Kyiv and its formidable military on their team, not angrily sulking on the periphery. But those benefits come with a colossal flip side. EU officials admit that the scale of concerns over corruption, judicial independence and other fundamental bloc values means the country would not have been granted a formal accession process without Russia’s invasion. via @HenryJFoy @mdunai ft.com/content/f8fc56ba-7088…

This is one of the best things about Europe - countries helping each other in times of need 🇪🇺♥️

NEWS: Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considering sacking Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, who is known as “the Butcher”, as he seeks to navigate a path out of the biggest military leadership crisis of his presidency. ft.com/content/1b34caa6-d909… via @FT

Russia's giant size is no longer strategic depth, but an enormous weakness. Long transportation is needed & can be attacked anywhere. Russia can only defend a few spots. Ukraine has invalidated Russia's whole strategy since the Napoleonic wars. kyivindependent.com/will-ukr…

There was a strategy?

An oil depot in Stavropol, Russia, has been struck last night and is still burning.

Kasparov: The imperial idea sits deeper than communism in Russia. Communist dictatorship lasted 74 years. The imperial idea has lived for centuries. It mutates, transforms, you can't simply pull it out You need a shock and I believe there is only one such shock that will work 1/

Kuleba: The biggest mistake about EU accession talks is calling them negotiations. They are not. A benchmark is a task Ukraine must complete. The EU says what needs doing — you do it. There is nothing to negotiate. This is a to-do list, not a bargaining table. 1/

a deal is closer. but don’t expect the war’s biggest issues to disappear with the signing ceremony. @gzeromedia

The hold up in negotiating an end to the Russo-Ukraine is not lack of a neutral mediator. It is lack of Russian interest in ending the war on terms other than its victory. If Russia wants to end the war, a means to negotiate can be found. If it does not, a neutral mediator cannot help.