(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Gonna be a shorter update tonight. We had thunderstorms overnight, meaning the Dog Lanterns kept getting me up to let me know we had thunderstorms overnight.

The Russians once again bombard Odesa’s granaries over night:

russian terrorist drones struck the grain infrastructure in Odesa again last night. When someone in the world brings up the global food crisis, keep in mind that hunger has long been a favorite tool of the kremlin's policy. pic.twitter.com/hoH4h6Ipza

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 16, 2023

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

Everything that was mentioned in our combat brigades is now the job of the General Staff, government officials and the Staff – address by the President of Ukraine

16 August 2023 – 20:26

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

I held a meeting of the Staff today. Frontline issues that are currently important. Defense issues that are strategically important.

The commanders reported on the situation in the eastern and southern directions. The Commander-in-Chief and the Ministry of Defense spoke about munitions. Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov and the State Special Communications Service spoke about drones and our technological capabilities in general.

In each combat brigade, warriors first ask about drones, electronic warfare, and military air defense.

The answer to such questions is our work with partners to supply the necessary drones and systems, and our work here in Ukraine. Production is necessary. We are increasing production significantly. However, we need to systematize what is already being supplied to the troops and used. Drones are the “eyes” and protection on the frontline. Of different ranges, for different purposes. Drones are a guarantee that people will not have to pay with their lives when drones can be used.

Basically, everything we’ve recently talked about with the boys in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, in our combat brigades, is now the job of the General Staff, government officials, and the Staff. The tasks are clear.

I also had a long meeting today regarding our international activities now, in the second half of August. New defense packages. New political decisions for Ukraine. Support for our country and people. This August should be fruitful for Ukraine – this is a task for the entire team of our country, for each and every one who works for the success of Ukraine.

Today, we have something to recognize our warriors for. The 80th separate airborne assault brigade – thank you, guys, for your strength near Bakhmut! It is an exemplary force that we can only be proud of. The “Fury” joint assault brigade of the National Police – thank you, warriors, for your success!

Areas of responsibility of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops. The 23rd separate mechanized brigade, the marines of the 35th and 36th brigades, the artillerymen of the 44th brigade – thank you all for the very good results for Ukraine! Well done, warriors! Do not reduce your power for a single day!

I would like to recognize Ukrainian rescuers today. Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Odesa regions, our ports. Everywhere where there have been Russian strikes this day and beyond. It is very important that our people help each other, take care of the victims, and always save lives everywhere and under any circumstances.

I am grateful to all the employees of the State Emergency Service, medics and police, all the military who are helping, local authorities and volunteers who are working for the sake of people and Ukraine. Every act of help now is a manifestation of our common strength, not only our faith, but also our strong belief that Ukraine will withstand, pull through all this and emerge victorious.

And one more thing. Something that everyone in the world should hear and see now.

Last night, Russian terrorists again targeted our ports. Our infrastructure, which is involved in ensuring not ours, but the common – global – food security. In just one month since Russia’s attempt to undermine the Black Sea Grain Initiative, this was the seventh, seventh massive Russian attack today. The port of Reni, the port of Izmail, Pivdennyi port, the port of Odesa, the port of Chornomorsk, Mykolaiv – every Russian attack on them is a blow to global food prices, a blow to social and political stability in Africa and Asia. The basic things that give every society a normal life are food on the family table. No terrorist in the world, except for Russia, has ever attacked the security of so many nations at once so blatantly and deliberately.

We need to respond to this. All of us! We need to counteract this – actively, with joint efforts!

I thank all the leaders and states that help Ukraine defend our country, and thus the common security of everyone in the world. Air defense systems for Ukraine, weapons for our warriors, sanctions, financial and political pressure on Russia are the main things now that guarantee security and the return of peace not just to one country, but to the whole world.

Glory to our warriors! 

Glory to our indomitable and strong people! 

Glory to Ukraine!

President @ZelenskyyUa met with the soldiers and commanders of units that are currently fighting in the Donetsk region.
He thanked the soldiers of the 3rd, 5th, and 92nd Assault Brigades, the 24th Assault Battalion "Aidar" and the "Decepticons" platoon. The soldiers in turn… pic.twitter.com/rzITXb8A3F

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 16, 2023

President @ZelenskyyUa met with the soldiers and commanders of units that are currently fighting in the Donetsk region.
He thanked the soldiers of the 3rd, 5th, and 92nd Assault Brigades, the 24th Assault Battalion “Aidar” and the “Decepticons” platoon. The soldiers in turn presented their chevrons as a keepsake for the President.

Someone asked a few week back what they meant by chevrons. As I hadn’t seen a picture, I figured it was the NCO rank insignia. Based on the picture above, chevrons here should be read as unit patches.

General Cat, thank you for your report! At ease. pic.twitter.com/JYZ7E7jbq7

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 16, 2023

Odesa:

For the first time since July 16, a ship left the port of Odesa through the temporary corridor for merchant ships.
The container ship "JOSEPH SCHULTE" under the flag of Hong Kong.
The corridor will primarily be used to evacuate ships that were in Ukrainian ports.… pic.twitter.com/3iyqEJsfcI

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 16, 2023

For the first time since July 16, a ship left the port of Odesa through the temporary corridor for merchant ships.
The container ship “JOSEPH SCHULTE” under the flag of Hong Kong.
The corridor will primarily be used to evacuate ships that were in Ukrainian ports.
https://facebook.com/100004848136863/posts/pfbid0fXXt2bqRX2SqQ2V9oecSZDgXQy5oZLKrYX6hFzcRvM4PqUdqSh9AtS3XDxee6rorl/?app=fbl

From the linked Facebook page:

UKR/EN
Перше судно скористалося тимчасовим коридором для торговельних суден до/з портів Великої Одеси.
Контейнеровоз «JOSEPH SCHULTE» (прапор Гонконг) вийшов з порту Одеса та рухається встановленим для цивільних суден тимчасовим коридором до/з чорноморських морських портів України.
16 серпня 2023 року контейнеровоз, який знаходився в порту Одеса з 23 лютого 2022 року, вийшов за Воронцовський маяк і тримає курс на Босфор. На борту – понад 30 тис тонн вантажу (2 114 контейнерів), зокрема з продовольством.
Коридор першочергово буде використовуватися для евакуації суден, які перебували в українських портах Чорноморськ, Одеса та Південний на момент повномасштабного вторгнення російської федерації.
Згідно з навігаційним дорученням ВМС ЗСУ №6 тимчасові маршрути руху цивільних суден до/з чорноморських морських портів України почали діяти з 8 серпня 2023 року.
Україна запропонувала цей маршрут у своєму зверненні до Міжнародної морської організації (IMO). Рада ІМО визнає міжнародне право України на вільне торговельне судноплавство і закликає росію припинити будь-які погрози та дотримуватися міжнародних конвенцій.
Останній раз судно виходило в рамках Зернової угоди 16 липня з порту Одеса. Після зриву Зернової угоди, російська федерація вдалася до системних повітряних атак портової інфраструктури для зупинки українського агроекспорту. Разом з тим, спостерігаються інформаційні спекуляції та спроби провокацій у Чорному морі для впливу на на рух суден до українських портів.
EN
The first vessel used the temporary corridor for merchant ships to/from the ports of Big Odesa.
Container ship JOSEPH SCHULTE (Hong Kong flag) has left the port of Odesa and is proceeding through the temporary corridor established for civilian vessels to/from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine.
On August 16, 2023, the container ship, which had been in the port of Odesa since February 23, 22, left the Vorontsov Lighthouse and is heading for the Bosporus. It is carrying more than 30 thousand tons of cargo (2 114 containers), including food products.
The corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships that were in the Ukrainian ports (Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi) at the time of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.
According to the Navigational Order of the Ukrainian Navy No. 6, temporary routes for civilian vessels to/from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine came into effect on August 8, 2023.
Ukraine offered this route in its application to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO Council recognizes Ukraine’s international right for free trade navigation and calls on Russia to stop any threats and comply with international conventions.
The vessel last sailed under the Grain Deal on July 16 from the port of Odesa. After the disruption of the Grain Deal, the Russian Federation resorted to systematic air attacks on port infrastructure to stop Ukrainian agricultural export. At the same time, there are information speculations and attempts of provocations in the Black Sea to influence the movement of ships to Ukrainian ports.

 

Urozhaine:

Liberation of Urozhaine village by the 35th and the 38th Marine Brigades.
The Ukrainian offensive operation continues. pic.twitter.com/wBcvSfG9vX

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 16, 2023

Kherson:

/2. Location of the targeted Russian training base. pic.twitter.com/dlXWbqj8Wr

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 16, 2023

Bakhmut/Soledar:

Tatarigami has a thread on PMC Wolves who are operating in the areas in and around Bakhmut and Soledar.

2/ While soldiers and instructors inside of the Wolves brigade identify it as a PMC, their operational contracts remain under the MoD. Despite possessing a certain degree of autonomy and additional financial backing, their status and activities are channeled through MoD. pic.twitter.com/KyZMHX7Kul

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 16, 2023

4/ They have a distinct operational pattern: typically, they stay for 3-7 days on the frontlines followed by an equivalent rest duration. However, quite often they stay much longer, which is frequently explained to them by "inability to evacuate on schedule". pic.twitter.com/Nr51hhyjJR

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 16, 2023

6/ Their primary focus continues to be concentrated within the areas of Soledar and Bakhmut, where their operational scope encompasses a range of tasks, spanning from assaults and reconnaissance to drone operations and artillery correction. pic.twitter.com/iJ5nkZsNpf

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 16, 2023

8/ If you found this thread valuable, please support by liking and retweeting the first message of the thread. Your engagement enables me to provide better materials more frequently.

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 16, 2023

Here’s a status report on Kupyansk from Colonel General Syrskyi posted at the Ukrainian MOD’s Telegram channel.

 

And a more general status report from Ukraine’s Military Media Center’s Telegram channel:

More on the strike on and adjacent to the Kerch Bridge:

This is amazing. Not only the bridge was unsecured to be attacked by two drones from two directions, Ukrainians also had access to the cameras on the bridge. pic.twitter.com/6KbxMZjOUM

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) August 16, 2023

/2.Footage of the “Sea Baby” drone pic.twitter.com/QTmxGhE5Hk

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 16, 2023

The cost:

"I always have a rifle in my bag," she said. Svitlana "Lana" Smolenska, a fearless machine gunner from the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, embodied bravery and audacity. Her comrades-in-arms remember her as a sister a true combat friend.
On July 9th, Lana… pic.twitter.com/Xg5pWeRDuR

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 16, 2023

“I always have a rifle in my bag,” she said. Svitlana “Lana” Smolenska, a fearless machine gunner from the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, embodied bravery and audacity. Her comrades-in-arms remember her as a sister a true combat friend.
On July 9th, Lana was wounded while carrying out a combat mission. On August 13th, her heart stopped beating in the hospital. She will forever remain in our hearts, and her legacy will be eternally honored.

Oh goody, the Russians have revised their history textbooks again.

“Knowledge of history allows you to not only evaluate past events but also to divine the future.”

This is the pontifical claim at the close of a new, highly partial, Russian school history textbook for years 10-11. Covering the post-war period to the present day, the “History of Russia” coursebook is not concerned with evaluating the past or with training students to apply history critically to understand global processes. Instead, it seeks to impose a view of Russian history with the goal of shaping expectations for the future.

Despite the furor around the textbook, its contents are not unusual when viewed against the Kremlin’s ongoing obsession with drawing from a re-imagined past in order to assert political legitimacy in the present. It portrays Russian history post-1945 as that of an innately great and special power betrayed by those it helped — eastern Europe and former Soviet republics — and under constant assault from the West and its collaborators inside Russia.

Ukraine haunts the coursebook. The first full page of text refers to the banderivtsy, a term used to describe followers of the Ukrainian nationalist and fascist, Stepan Bandera. However, since 2014, Russian propaganda has expanded the term’s use to label almost anyone who supports Ukraine as an independent nation. A sub-chapter blames Ukrainian nationalism for the high crime rates in the late 1940s. Another brief segment, centered on the wartime deportation of entire nations to Siberia and Central Asia, mentions only the Crimean Tatars by name. It explains that despite their collaboration with the Nazis, Soviet authorities put in every effort to make their “resettlement” as humane as possible.

Here and elsewhere, the textbook relies on omissions and outright lies to make its case. Stalin’s post-WWII “anti-cosmopolitan campaign” is summarized in terms suspiciously well-suited to describing Putin’s denigration of so-called “foreign agents.” There is no mention of the antisemitic nature of the campaign, nor the antisemitism behind the later “doctor’s plot” — allegations that prominent medical specialists intended to murder leading government and party officials.

At the same time, the Soviet Union’s post-war occupation of Eastern Europe becomes a defense of “people’s democracies” against American imperialism. The Brezhnev era of stagnation is reframed as a “welfare revolution.” Glasnost’ was not a concession to popular demands for freedom of speech, or driven by the failure of Soviet propaganda to win its battle against reality. Instead, it was a foolish move that paved the way for the Western ideological indoctrination of the Soviet people and ultimately destroyed the U.S.S.R.

After reading the full text, one can only conclude that there were no dissidents in the Soviet Union, only Western agents, Western dupes, and Ukrainian — or sometimes Baltic — cryptofascists.

Vladimir Medinsky, the former PR man for the infamous MMM ponzi scheme, is responsible for overseeing and writing large chunks of the text. In his past role as Minister of Culture, he spearheaded the use of patriotic memory campaigns as a form of defense against Western influence on the Russian public. He currently serves as a presidential aide on matters of memory and history and is widely rumored to have written Putin’s infamous 2021 essay on the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians.

The textbook carries all the hallmarks of Medinsky’s vast oeuvre, especially his “Myths About Russia” book and television series, which insists that enduring stereotypes about Russians as heavy drinkers or favoring cruel authoritarian leaders are the result of centuries-old Western disinformation campaigns, designed to shame Russians.

Clearly, Medinsky sees the new textbook as an important corrective and defensive weapon against Western cognitive warfare on Russian identity and historical memory. Consequently, it is a tad ironic that the Russian people — confusingly conflated with the Soviet people at many points — are blamed for the few Soviet “excesses” that do feature in the book. The deportations of “collaborator” nations apparently occurred because public opinion demanded it. Likewise, many Soviet citizens who had the misfortune to end up as forced laborers under the Nazis or who lived in Nazi-occupied territories were sent to the Gulag because that is what society wanted.

So, while the patriotic message of the textbook might initially evoke a sense of inspiration — you are the heirs to a truly heroic and magnanimous nation — beneath the surface is an altogether more menacing argument: you cannot separate yourself from the state’s crimes; they are also your crimes, uniting us in the present just as they did in the past.

The intended reader is constantly made part of the Soviet people’s triumphs and the injustices they endured, achieved through the textbook’s personalized content and constant references to the present. Descriptions of the post-war erection of Red Army monuments dwell on their present-day removal by Poles, Ukrainians and others. The reader is assigned responsibility for defending the memory of Soviet exploits and the book concludes by calling the reader to do just that — for their own sake, but for Russia’s future as well.

This is a departure from earlier textbooks, which adopted a more restrained tone. Moreover, whole sections from the 1970s to the present-day have been rewritten to align with a post-revisionist view of the Soviet collapse as part of an ongoing Western war against the “historic essence” of the Russian nation.

The book also has the dubious marker of being the first “universal textbook” since 1991 — normally, teachers would have a choice of several books developed in accordance with cultural-historical standards. The man responsible for creating these standards is Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the Russian Historical Society and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

Despite these changes, the textbook is far from a revolution in Russian historiography. Many of its core assertions align with well-established and mainstream views in Russian society, media, and popular culture. This should hardly be surprising given the aggressive manner in which the Kremlin has propagated its memory politics and prosecuted those who have dared to express dissent over the past two decades. The arguments presented in the textbook owe their existence to the 2009 presidential commission on historical falsification, the criminal charges brought against Russian citizens who stated the truth about Soviet atrocities, and notably, the degradation of the Great Patriotic War’s sacred memory into a tool of propaganda aimed at fomenting hatred against Ukrainians.

Much more at the link!

What could possibly go wrong?

Also, coming soon to AP World History in Florida’s high schools.

That’s enough for tonight.

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