index ukraine geopolitics

[Link] Hundreds of Wagner Men Vanish From Putin’s Designated Exile

Read: 22/8/2023 www.thedailybeast.com

Wagner fighters are reportedly leaving Belarus in droves, just weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin had them exiled in the aftermath of their failed march on Moscow.

africa exile prigozhin putin russia russia and africa russia belarus relations russia geopolitics ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war wagner wagner mutiny


[Link] The Russification of Ukrainian IP Registration

Read: 25/2/2023 www.kentik.com

Last summer we teamed up with the New York Times to analyze the re-routing of internet service to Kherson, a region in southern Ukraine that was, at the time, under Russian occupation.

crimea geo-blocking geolocation geolock internet internet infrastructure ip addresses ip blocks ripe russia ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion


[Link] A Rare Look Inside Russia’s Massive ‘Satan’ Nuclear Missile

Read: 23/11/2022 www.vice.com

In April 2022, two months after Russia escalated its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin test fired a RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a weapon the West calls the Satan 2.

icbms military military analysis missiles nuclear nuclear agreements nuclear negotiations nuclear proliferation nuclear secrecy nuclear submarines nuclear tests nuclear war nuclear weapons osint russia ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war us russia relations usa vice.com weapons tests


[Link] Russia to Build Its Own Orbiting Space Station, Abandon ISS

Read: 27/7/2022 www.vice.com

Before he was removed as Russia’s space chief, Rogozin feuded with NASA astronauts, implied that Russia could crash the station into the United States, and shared a video that joked about the nation marooning an American astronaut in space.

international politics iss russia russia geopolitics russia sanctions russia space russian government space space stations ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war us russia relations us space vice.com


[Link] Shitposting Shiba Inu Accounts Chased a Russian Diplomat Offline

Read: 12/7/2022 www.vice.com

An unofficial army of cartoon Shiba Inu dogs is making life hard for people who post Russian disinformation about the war in Ukraine online.

diplomacy diplomats dogs interviews russia russia diplomacy russia geopolitics shitposters social media social media blowback social media callouts social media communities social media use trolling twitter ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion vice.com


[Link] Vladimir Putin Explains Why State Media Is Better Than Wikipedia

Read: 6/5/2022 www.vice.com

“Of course, objective, important, in-depth information that’s been gathered properly and skillfully…this is in great demand,” Putin said, according to a translation of the video by journalist Kevin Rothrock. “And that’s why you can’t just use Wikipedia.

belarus belarussian dissidents belarussian repression interviews lukashenko putin russia russia belarus relations russia censorship russia crackdown russia geopolitics russia history russia internet russia today russian government russian law russian politicians russian politics state media ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war vice.com wikipedia


[Link] Putin’s Former Judo Buddy Calls Him ‘Cowardly’ After the Russian Leader Lost His Black Belt

Read: 13/4/2022 www.vice.com

TOKYO — One of Japan’s most distinguished judo leaders has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, calling out his “cowardly” acts and joining a chorus of condemnation from civil society worldwide.

athletes callouts east europe japan judo martial arts public statements putin russia russia geopolitics russian politicians russian politics sport ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war vice.com


[Link] British man fighting in Ukraine forced to surrender to Russians

Read: 13/4/2022 www.theguardian.com

Aiden Aslin, from Newark, joined Ukraine’s marines in 2018 but has told friends and family that he and his comrades cannot hold out any longer as the Russians gradually tighten their grip on the southern port city.

east europe europe europe geopolitics isis northern syria prisoners of war rojava syria syrian democratic forces ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian foreign fighter ukrainian military united kingdom ypg


[Link] $35m chalets, $14,000 bottles of wine and $700 tips: Russians made this town rich. Now they have vanished

Read: 10/4/2022 www.abc.net.au

Before the war against Ukraine started just over a month ago, the exclusive French ski resort of Courchevel was buzzing with wealthy Russians. They constituted 7 per cent of its tourist population, but in terms of the town's income, Russia's elite were a goldmine.

activism asset seizure banking banks billionaires boris yeltsin bourgeoisie direct action france international banking millions oligarchs oligarchy putin rich people russia russia geopolitics russia history russia sanctions ski resorts squatting swift payment system tourism ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war us russia relations us sanctions wealth wealth inequity



[Link] Ukraine Accuses Russia of Using WhatsApp Bot Farm to Ask Military to Surrender

Read: 3/4/2022 www.vice.com

The message, according to the press release, said: “The outcome of events is predetermined! Be prudent and refuse to support nationalism and leaders of the country who discredited themselves and already fled the capital!!!”

attributed to russia bot farm bots cybercrime infrastructure cyberpunk future cyberwar disinformation infocalypse misinformation psy ops russia russia crime russia cyber capability russia cybercrime russia geopolitics russia internet russia telecoms russian espionage russian foreign relations russian government russian military ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine cybercrime ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian government ukrainian military vice.com whatsapp


[Link] Sean Penn calls for billionaire to step up and buy aircraft for Ukraine

Read: 3/4/2022 www.theguardian.com

The Hollywood actor Sean Penn has called for a billionaire to come forward and buy two squadrons of F-15 or F-16 aircraft for Ukraine in an unlikely attempt to tip the scales against the Russian invaders in the five-week-old war.

actors air defense aircraft billionaires billions crowdsource documentaries east europe europe fighter planes fundraising military aircraft sean penn ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian government ukrainian military us celebrities usa vice vice.com


[Link] Ukraine accused of helicopter attack on oil depot inside Russia

Read: 2/4/2022 www.theguardian.com

Russia has accused Ukraine of sending attack helicopters across the border to strike an oil storage facility in what would be the first raid on Russian soil since the outbreak of the war if confirmed.

bombin conflict helicopters russia russia geopolitics russian government russian military ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war war


[Link] How Russia Used the War in Ukraine to ‘Occupy’ Another Neighbouring Country

Read: 16/3/2022 www.vice.com

The Belarusian dictator’s complicity in letting his country be used by Russia to attack Ukraine has effectively turned Belarus into a Russian client state and amounts to an occupation, the country’s opposition says.

belarus belarussian dissidents belarussian repression diplomacy east europe elections geopolitical analysis geopolitics lukashenko nuclear agreements nuclear power nuclear proliferation nuclear weapons putin russia russia belarus relations russia geopolitics russia history russian government russian military russian occupation ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war vassal states vice.com


[Link] 'Hooliganism': Russian court fines journalist after marathon grilling for three-second on-air protest

Read: 16/3/2022 www.abc.net.au

News editor Marina Ovsyannikova was ordered to pay 30,000 roubles ($390) for flouting protest legislation. It was not immediately clear if she could also face other, more serious charges. Her lawyer was not immediately reachable for comment.

dissent police police powers police tactics russia russia censorship russia crackdown russia crime russia geopolitics russia police russia today russian dissidents russian government russian law russian military russian politicians russian politics state media ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war


[Link] There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Non-Kinetic’ No-Fly Zone

Read: 13/3/2022 www.vice.com

On March 7, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich tweeted a thread of various Ukraine and defense updates.

cold war reheated emps explanations geopolitical analysis military military equipment military tactics no fly zone proxy war ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war us russia relations vice.com weapons


[Link] U.S. Police Have So Much Extra Gear They're Sending It to Ukraine

Read: 13/3/2022 www.vice.com

Police departments around the U.S. are donating tactical gear to Ukraine, whose annual defense budget is smaller than the NYPD’s.  

donating arms nypd police police militarisation ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war ukrainian military us pentagon us police us state department usa vice.com


[Link] First Popularized in the US, Russia Adopts 'Crisis Actor' Conspiracy Theory

Read: 13/3/2022 www.vice.com

The official Twitter account for the UK’s Russian embassy is accusing a pregnant Ukrainian woman, seen in photos of a maternity hospital blast in Mariupol on Wednesday, of being an actor placed in the scene by propagandists in support of Ukraine.

bombings civilian deaths civilian harm conflict conspiracy theory crisis actory theory diplomats disinformation east europe embassies misinformation politicians social media propaganda propaganda allegations russia state caused death state media twitter ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war vice.com war


[Link] Transparency Org Releases Alleged Leak of Russian Censorship Agency

Read: 13/3/2022 www.vice.com

Transparency organization Distributed Denial of Secrets has released what it says is 800GB of data from a section of Roskomnadzor, the Russian government body responsible for censorship in the country.

anonymous group censorship dist. denial of secrets east europe government leaks internet censorship leaked documents leaks lmao censorship roskomnadzor russia russia censorship russia crackdown russia cyber capability russia geopolitics russia internet russia telecoms russian dissidents russian government russian law russian politics telecommunications ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war vice.com


[Link] Russian Agent Maria Butina Says Ukraine’s Jewish President Is ‘Reviving Fascism’

Read: 13/3/2022 www.vice.com

In 2018, she was convicted in the U.S. for acting as an agent for Russia. Now she's backing Putin's war on Ukraine. Maria Butina's attempts to infiltrate the NRA and Republican political circles as a Russian agent got her an 18-month prison sentence in the United States.

east europe espionage exposed spies interviews lmao misinformation putin russia russia fsb russian espionage russian government russian politicians russian politics spies ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war us espionage act usa vice.com


[Link] Zelenskyy Says Ukrainian Forces Are Ready to ‘Fight to the Last Soldier’

Read: 13/3/2022 www.vice.com

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian armed forces are ready to fight as long as it takes to roll back Russia’s invasion.

conflict interviews politicians public statements ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian government ukrainian military ukrainian politicians vice.com volodymyr zelenskyy war


[Link] Huge Russian convoy outside Kyiv disperses after reports of food, fuel shortages

Read: 13/3/2022 www.abc.net.au

Satellites have captured imagery of a convoy of Russian forces that had been slowly advancing towards the Ukraine capital having dispersed and redeployed into nearby locations.

conflict east europe europe military military equipment military support military tactics russia russian military ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia war war



[Link] How Ukraine is using a powerful weapon that is too difficult for Russians to detect

Read: 9/3/2022 www.abc.net.au

Ukraine's allies have sent some 17,000 anti-tank weapons into the battlefield, in a bid to help fighters bog down the Russian offensive.

anti-tank weapons asymmetric warfare east europe europe main battle tanks military military equipment military support military tactics missiles nato proxy war russia russian military ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian military ukranian military weapons


[Link] Bellingcat's Eliot Higgins Explains Why Ukraine Is Winning the Information War

Read: 9/3/2022 time.com

The ability of anyone with a phone or laptop to see Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfold in almost real time—and to believe what they’re seeing—comes to us thanks to the citizens operating what’s known as open-source intelligence (OSINT).

bellingcat conflict crowdsource crowdsource information crowdsource tagging data cross referencing intelligence intelligence agencies intelligence sharing interviews military military equipment military social military tactics misinformation open source open source community osint russia russia internet russian military social media social media archaeology telegram twitter ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian military us intelligence war


[Link] Medieval Blacksmiths Are Helping the Ukrainian War Effort

Read: 9/3/2022 www.vice.com

On February 22, the “Art of STEEL” workshop posted a photo of medieval-style steel gauntlets on its Facebook page. Four days later, it posted a video of steel spikes connected by a long chain. “Helping to protect the city,” the post said.

armorers asymmetric warfare blacksmiths europe general mobilization guerillas insurgency ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war vice.com


[Link] 'Escape From Tarkov' Players Feel the Squeeze of the Ruble's Collapse

Read: 9/3/2022 www.vice.com

Russia’s currency, the ruble, has collapsed. It’s worth less than Roblox's in-game currency, robux. The economic collapse has also affected the video game Escape from Tarkov, which uses the ruble, euro, dollar, and bitcoin as in-game currencies and uses real world exchange rates within the game.

blowback currency currency collapse currency exchange escape from tarkov exchange rates first person shooters markets microtransactions multiplayer games russia russia crackdown russian currency russian video games ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war video game markets video games


[Link] Russian soldiers accused of firing on civilian vehicles in Ukraine

Read: 9/3/2022 www.theguardian.com

Russian soldiers have been accused of multiple instances of deadly fire on civilian vehicles across Ukraine.

civilian deaths civilian harm europe russia russia geopolitics russian military ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian refugees war crimes


[Link] The Antonov An-225 Seems To Have Been Destroyed After All

Read: 3/3/2022 hackaday.com

Something that probably unites most Hackaday readers is a love of machines, particularly unique or interesting ones.

air travel aircraft airstrikes cargo aircraft european history hackaday historical preservation history kyiv oldtech russia history soviet history ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian military


[Link] Ukraine and Russia end second round of peace talks in regret, as reports dispute port city's fall

Read: 3/3/2022 www.abc.net.au

Ukraine says that a second round of ceasefire talks with Russia had not yielded the results Kyiv hoped for, but the sides had discussed humanitarian corridors and agreed to speak again. Both sides said they wanted a possible ceasefire for evacuating civilians through humanitarian corridors.

airstrikes artillery attacks on infrastructure bombardment ceasefire talks civil infrastructure conflict denazification diplomacy east europe europe europe geopolitics kyev military military tactics negotiations pariah state refugee migration wave refugees russia russia geopolitics russian government russian military state of siege ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ukrainian government ukrainian military ukrainian refugees war war refugees


[Link] Morrison government asks Facebook, Twitter and Google to block Russian state media ‘disinformation’

Read: 3/3/2022 www.theguardian.com

The Australian government has asked Facebook, Twitter, Google and other digital platforms to block content generated by Russian state media to curb “disinformation in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.

aus internet australia australian news censorship internet censorship misinformation news media political news russia russia crackdown russia geopolitics russia internet russia today russian foreign relations russian law russian military russian politics russian prison sky news ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war united nations world news


[Link] Russian Cybersecurity Giant Kaspersky Tries to Maintain Neutrality During Ukraine War

Read: 1/3/2022 www.vice.com

The statement encapsulates the company’s position since Russia invaded Ukraine six days ago—that of attempted neutrality in a war where silence or fence sitting is implicitly siding with the Russian forces.

antivirus cybersecurity cybersecurity industry kaspersky russia russia crackdown russia geopolitics russian companies russian law sanctions ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war vice.com


[Link] We Followed a Foreign Fighter on His Way to Join the War in Ukraine

Read: 1/3/2022 www.vice.com

PRZEMYŚL, Poland - In the dead of night outside the Polish town of Przemyśl, an ex-British soldier named Luke hopped into a taxi after flying from Birmingham, England earlier that day, and made his way to a nearby border checkpoint with one goal in mind: Joining the Ukrainian war effort.

air defense conflict europe foreign fighters interviews poland uk ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine invasion ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war vice.com war


[Link] Ukraine declares state of emergency as fears of Russian invasion grow

Read: 23/2/2022 www.abc.net.au

Ukraine has introduced a nationwide state of emergency in which special restrictions will apply in order to keep the country calm and protect its economy amid fears of a Russian invasion, a senior Ukrainian security official says.

army reserve belarus borders conscription donetsk east europe europe europe borders geopolitics guns info lockdown luhansk occupation right to bear arms russia russia geopolitics russian foreign relations russian military russian occupation russian politics state of emergency ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war


[Link] Sweden returns to cold war tactics to battle fake news

Read: 6/2/2022 www.theguardian.com

A top official from Sweden’s new “psychological defence” agency said the country had decided to bring back the cold war-era government body amid fears over Russian aggression against Ukraine.

cold war east europe election interference election season elections europe free speech geopolitical analysis geopolitics interviews misinformation propaganda psy ops russia russia geopolitics social media sweden sweden government ukraine ukraine conflict 2022 ukraine geopolitics ukraine russia relations ukraine russia war ussr