As of 8:45 PM EST/3:45 AM local time in Ukraine, there are only air raid alerts for Donetsk, occupied Luhansk and Crimea, those two are always up, and Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts. There are drone alerts on the maps for the last two.
I have been saying for the past two weeks or so that the important question to ask every time Trump or Musk or one of the former’s surrogates and the latter’s minions do something is who benefits. We now know the answer to that in regard to the illegal efforts to shut down USAID. From Gizmodo:
Since coming into power, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has barraged USAID, the international aid agency that dispenses food and supplies to nations all over the world. It is likely that the agency will soon be shuttered and could be subsumed into the U.S. State Department. Now, new reporting shows USAID was actually investigating equipment from one of Musk’s companies at the time that he attacked the agency.
The Lever reported Tuesday that USAID’s inspector general was in the process of investigating its own public-private partnership between Musk’s Starlink and the Ukrainian government at the time that the billionaire’s DOGE crippled the agency. Publicly available information about that probe is still online. An announcement from last May reads: “The USAID Office of Inspector General, Inspections and Evaluations Division, is initiating an inspection of USAID’s oversight of Starlink satellite terminals provided to the Government of Ukraine. Our objectives are to determine how (1) the Government of Ukraine used the USAID-provided Starlink terminals, and (2) USAID monitored the Government of Ukraine’s use of USAID-provided Starlink terminals.”
Musk has called the agency “evil” and a “criminal organization,” though the fact that USAID was investigating the Starlink activities may suggest ulterior motivations for the billionaire’s vitriol. It’s unclear what the Starlink probe’s status is right now.
Musk’s “criminal” remarks are funny since it increasingly looks like Musk’s DOGE activities represent breaches of federal law and, therefore, may be construed as rampant criminal behavior. On Tuesday, the Washington Post noted that officials at half a dozen federal agencies had raised concerns over whether what Musk was doing was illegal. Those agencies included the “Treasury Department, the Education Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the White House budget office, among others,” the newspaper reported.
As we know from other reporting, this is why Musk has been going after the FAA and NHTSA, as well as other agencies, because of investigations into his own actions, SpaceX, and Tesla.
In better news:
French Mirages have arrived in Ukraine
— Ulrike Franke (@rikefranke.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 8:48 AM
🇳🇱🤝🇺🇦It has also been officially announced today that the Netherlands has transferred the second batch of F-16s to the Ukrainian Air Force. t.me/ministry_of_…
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
Within Two Weeks, a Clear, Effective and Understandable Support Program for IDPs Must Be in Place – Address by the President
6 February 2025 – 18:32
I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
Today marks six months of the Kursk operation. With our active operations on Russian territory, we have brought the war home to Russia, and it is there that they must feel what war is. And they do. Today, I honored the participants of the Kursk operation. Two of our warriors were awarded the titles of Hero of Ukraine, and I also presented the Crosses of Military Merit and the Orders of Ukraine. I want to thank every Ukrainian warrior and all our units involved in operations in the Kursk region. They have shown the world that, even with limited resources, we can act decisively, unexpectedly, and effectively. We are exposing Russia’s bluff for what it is – a bluff. We continue to defend our cities, Sumy and Kharkiv. We’ve significantly expanded our exchange fund with hundreds and hundreds of Russian soldiers, whom we are exchanging to bring Ukrainians back home from captivity. We also have North Korean soldiers in captivity. They are currently receiving medical treatment, as they were seriously wounded in combat. Their presence is proof that Putin has dragged yet another country into this war – North Korea – and is training them in modern warfare. This poses a threat to everyone, especially to every nation in East Asia. I am grateful to all our partners who understand how crucial it is to stop Russia now, so that there is no need to fight in years to come.
Once again, I want to recognize the brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine involved in the Kursk operation: the warriors of the 80th, 82nd, 95th, 22nd, and 61st Brigades, the 36th Marine Brigade, the 17th Separate Tank Brigade, the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, the 129th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, the warriors of the Special Operations Forces, the warriors of the Security Service of Ukraine and all the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine involved. I also want to thank Commander-in-Chief General Syrskyi for planning the Kursk operation. Both the diplomacy that will ensue and the history that will be written by Ukrainians – our people, not the occupiers – will reflect the significance of the Kursk operation.
I also want to express my gratitude to France and personally to President Macron for fulfilling our agreements. Our Air Force has now been reinforced with French Mirage fighter jets, marking another step forward in the development of Ukrainian military aviation. This will allow us to carry out more missions. I also thank the Netherlands – a new batch of F-16 fighter jets has arrived, and this is significant.
And one more thing.
I met with the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, who is currently visiting Ukraine. I am grateful for the EBRD’s support of Ukraine – its programs are directed toward many important areas. Today, we discussed, in particular, the need to support Ukrainian internally displaced persons – those who were forced to leave their homes because of the war, those who lost their homes. We must help these people receive proper housing in their new locations. This is the most pressing issue for millions of Ukrainian displaced persons – a home of their own. And our partners definitely have the resources to help with this. I have also given relevant instructions to Finance Minister Marchenko and Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration Kuleba. Within two weeks, a clear, effective and understandable support program for internally displaced persons must be in place.
Thank you to everyone who stands with Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
President Zelenskyy also sat for an interview with Piers Morgan. Here’s the video that was published yesterday.
Georgia:
Despite the rain, Rustaveli Avenue is blocked by protesters.
#GeorgiaProtests
Day 71— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Day 71 continuous, large-scale, nationwide.
Either the regime finishes with the Georgian state, or we finish with them.
#terrorinGeorgia #GeorgiaProtests— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Screenshot from David Chkheidze’s video since I’m stuck at home, grading papers.
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:06 PM
It’s day 26 of journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli’s hunger strike in unlawful detention. She is currently hospitalized, but she continues her strike and demands be transferred back to the prison. The regime left food in her hospital room to trigger her, adding to her mistreatment.
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
🔴 The Public Defender formed a group of doctors to assess the medical care provided to Mzia Amaglobeli by the Penitentiary Service. The panel was selected in consultation with her representatives, considering her health issues.
#GeorgiaProtests
#RepressionInGeorgia
#TerrorInGeorgia— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) February 6, 2025 at 10:13 AM
“The cat from the editorial office of @Batumelebi_ge, named News, has been waiting for Mzia for 26 days. Today marks the 26th day of Mzia Amaglobeli’s detention and hunger strike.
#TerrorinGeorgia
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 4:31 AM
From the BBC:
“I will not bow to this regime. I will not play by its rules,” vowed journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, who has been on hunger strike in a Georgian jail for 25 days.
The founder of two news websites in Georgia, her health is declining and relatives fear for her life. She was taken to hospital this week for treatment.
Amaglobeli, 49, has been in per-trial detention since she slapped a police chief during nightly protests that have galvanised Georgians since the end of November.
They accuse their government of rigging elections and turning their back on their country’s future in the European Union.
Georgia’s increasingly authoritarian government says she committed a serious criminal offence, but her pre-trial detention has turned her into a symbol of resistance.
“Today it is me, tomorrow it could be anyone who dares to dream of a just, democratic European Georgia, untouched by Russian influence, unshaken by oppression,” Amaglobeli wrote in a letter from Rustavi prison, not far from the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner says her pre-trial detention for assaulting a police officer is unjustified.
Colleague and investigative journalist Irma Dimidtradze says her boss had not been taking part in the daily anti-government protests.
But when Amaglobeli learned that a friend was among several protesters detained for putting up posters for an upcoming general strike, she rushed to the police station.
“People were chanting ‘sticking up posters is not a crime’, and to demonstrate that it is not a crime, Mzia did the same thing,” says Dimitradze.
Weeks earlier, as the protests took hold, the Georgian Dream government banned face masks at protests and increased fines for making “inscriptions or drawings” on building facades.
Amaglobeli was captured on video attaching a poster to the wall of a police station before she was led away by several officers.
“We learned later in the police report that she disobeyed a lawful order of the police that she was swearing and insulting them,” said Irma Dimitradze, adding that all of it was untrue.
She was charged with an administrative offence and released. Her niece, Iveta, was with other relatives waiting for her: “When Mzia came out, I even joked with her saying: ‘Look, if you wanted to rest, to have a day off, you did not need to do this.'”
But soon the situation escalated, and more arrests followed.
Amoglobeli was seen confronting Batumi police chief Irakli Dgeubadze. As he walked away, she grabbed him by his sleeve and slapped him.
Footage taken minutes afterwards shows her being led away by police.
Off camera, she is taunted with highly threatening and abusive language which witnesses have said is the voice of the chief of police.
Amaglobeli’s lawyers say he later spat in her face and refused to give her water or access to toilets. She was also denied access to her lawyers for several hours.
Batumi prosecutors argued that her slap was motivated by “revenge”. A judge rejected bail by her legal team and remanded her in pre-trial custody.
In the dock, Amaglobeli looked defiant, wearing in a blue hoody and holding a copy of the book by Nobel Prize-winner Maria Ressa, “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: the fight for our future.”
Twenty days into her hunger strike on 31 January, Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service urged Amaglobeli to stop “in the best interests of her health”.
Leading Georgian Dream figure in parliament Mamuka Mdinaradze said it was wrong to portray her as “a person who has committed great heroism… she should start eating and everything would be over”.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, another leading light in the party, suggested Amaglobeli could come out and admit “I made a mistake, and I apologise”, as the Batumi was a dignified police officer.
However, several groups have said it is the authorities who are in the wrong by detaining her in the first place. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association says her prosecution is “politically motivated”.
More at the link.
Activist Nancy Woland, member of “Daitove” team says police forced her to strip naked and do squats during a Feb 1 house police search.
Former Public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated that this was degrading treatment, tantamount to torture, and prohibited by law.
#TerrorinGeorgia
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:33 PM
🟥 Rezo Kiknadze, 26, one of over 50 imprisoned in connection with the #GeorgiaProtests, told the court that he had with him Mario Vargas Llosa’s book The Feast of the Goat, which was not allowed into the courtroom.
⭕️He said: “In the end, everyone abandons the dictator – even his own people.”
— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) February 6, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Banditry and lawlessness only just begin in Georgia. The men attacked with a bottle on Rustaveli weren’t even protesters.
The regime DOES NOT have oppressive and economic resources to stabilize the dictatorship in any scenario.
Either we win now and our partners help us avoid 1/2— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
whatever costs can be avoided via sanctions and open demands for new elections, or Georgia will be a source of great instability for the region for a long, long time. #terrorinGeorgia
📷 Dodie Kharkheli 2/2.— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
It must be noted that all regime prisoners in Georgia and their families are very determined to fight as opposed to frightened. I hear their speeches at trials and I have the privilege of communicating with the families.
They know they are fighting for liberation from Russia.— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
How Russia’s New Naval Base Could Choke Asia-Europe Trade Routes | WSJ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO5d…
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Back to Ukraine.
I can’t think of a more russian headline if I try. Their wunderwaffe is nothing but malfunctioning crap
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Oopsie!
HIMARS strike with cluster missiles M30 DPISM on the accumulation of Russian military vehicles. t.me/pidrozdilsha…
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Obligatory:
The Kursk cross border offensive:
Today marks six months since Ukraine launched Kursk operation — the boldest move on Russian soil yet. It crossed every non-existent red line, exposing Russia’s inability to defend its own territory and bringing the consequences of Putin’s war closer to home.
— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Happy 1/2 birthday!’
Russian telegram channels report that the Ukrainian Armed Forces may be advancing toward Ulanok in the Kursk region, which is causing serious concern among Russians.
t.me/c/1377735387…— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Kharkiv:
Kharkiv has just been hit by another russian drone‼️This one is so silent that I couldn’t even hear it approaching
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Another restless night for Kharkiv as russian forces targeted the city’s—and one of Ukraine’s—largest markets with a drone. Already heavily damaged, it remained partially open. Last night, over 100 pavilions were damaged, leaving many people without jobs.
— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Last night, russia launched an attack on a market in Kharkiv, causing damage to around 250 stores and pavilions. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Russian drones in Kharkiv skies right now ‼️
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Kherson:
🚨Russian military drones attacked a church in Kherson on Feb 5. (I interviewed this priest before)
Russian military drones attacked yesterday:
🔴at least 16 civilians in Kherson region
🔴1 garbage truck💔1 killed
💔11 injuredHuman safari takes lives every day.
— Zarina Zabrisky (@zarinazabrisky.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Velyka Novosilka:
In Velyka Novosilka, the enemy is using the local population as human shields.
Russians are employing their favorite tactic. While moving through populated areas, they take civilians with them, putting their lives at risk, knowing they won’t be fired upon in such circumstances.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 9:53 AM
This is a war crime.
Toretsk:
“Toretsk is completely destroyed. The city no longer exists.” – photographers Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov shared images from the outskirts of the city.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Kyiv:
⚡️Barrage of explosions heard in Kyiv.
A series of explosions rocked the capital city of Kyiv late at night on Feb. 6, according to local Kyiv Independent reporters. The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that air defense units were at work in the area.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) February 6, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Pokrovsk:
⚡️More Russian soldiers died near Pokrovsk in January than in entire Second Chechen War, military says.
Spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said that 1,000 more Russian troops died near Pokrovsk last month than in the 10-year war on Chechnya.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) February 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Russia lost more soldiers in the Pokrovsk sector in Ukraine during the month of January than its total losses in the Second Chechen War, Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, said during a television broadcast on Feb. 6.
The embattled city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast is among the most hotly contested areas of the front. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi previously claimed that 7,000 Russian soldiers were killed near Pokrovsk in January alone.
Trehubov reiterated these numbers in his report, comparing the casualties to Russia’s 10-year military campaign against Chechnya.
“The Second Chechen War for the Russians for the entire period — 6,000 dead,” he said.
“That is, under Pokrovsk alone in January the Russians have more dead than in the entire Second Chechen War.”
Russia launched the Second Chechen War in August 1999, marking its second and ultimately successful attempt to suppress Chechen rebels in the North Caucasus republic. International human rights groups condemned the Russian military for purposely targeting civilians and committing war crimes throughout the decade-long conflict.
The total losses incurred by Russian forces in the Second Chechen War are difficult to verify, though official government figures claim the number is around 6,000.
Moscow is now seeing staggering lossesin its ongoing assault against eastern Ukraine, with some reports indicating that over 1,000 soldiers are killed or wounded per day. Russian forces continue to sacrifice high numbers of personnel for limited territorial gains— a grim tactic that can push back significantly outnumbered Ukrainian troops.
The Ukrainian military, which has published daily estimates of Russian losses since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, has reported that 845,310 personnel have been killed or wounded since the start of the all-out war.
According to a report from the monitoring group DeepState in late January, Russian forces have been concentrating nearly half of their attacks in the Pokrovsk direction.
Trehubov said that Russia launched 24 assaults against Pokrovsk over the past day, but that Ukraine continues to hold the city.
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron.
A new video from Patron’s official TikTok.
@patron__dsns Pov: ви вийшли на звичайну прогулянку з джек-расселом, але він вирішив викопати тунель посеред лісу🙂↕️ #песпатрон
Here’s the machine translation of the caption.
Pov: you went for a regular walk with Jack Russell, but he decided to dig a tunnel in the middle of the forest 🙂↕️ #песпатрон
Open thread!
Gin & Tonic
Kind of interesting about that, since for many decades that city was actually named Krasnoarmiisk or, basically, “Red Army Town.” It was only renamed to Pokrovsk in 2016, under Ukraine’s “de-communization” laws. The name Pokrovsk comes from the Ukrainian “Pokrova,” which is an Eastern Christian religious holiday, of significant importance in Ukraine, Belarus and russia. Those who may be interested in the theological aspects can read the Wikipedia page Intercession of the Theotokos, as it’s too much detail for me to summarize here.
Jay
Thank you, Adam.
Patron is a good digger and sniffer.
Jay
https://nitter.poast.org/Teoyaomiquu/status/1887567924719985098#m
Constantine buys and delivers commercial engineering vehicles for Ukrainian Units via crowdsourcing. Trucks, excavators, etc so that they can build better defenses faster.
Steve Crickmore
In other Russian news, as reported in the London Times
Russian musician who opposed Ukraine war dies after window fall
A ‘bard’ who posted anti-Putin views online fell from the tenth floor in St Petersburg, on Wednesday. In an open account on VK, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook. Strokykin had written “This idiot [Putin] declared war on his own people as well as a brother nation,” he wrote in March 2022, a month after the invasion began. “I don’t wish for his death; I want to see him tried and put in prison.” Other posts that he made on VK may have attracted the attention of the authorities. When opposition leader, Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony on February 16 last year, Stroykin produced a single word: “Bastards.” Vadim Stroykin kept on recording songs and giving guitar lessons in the new Russia — until his life came to an abrupt end this week when he “fell out” of the window of his tenth-floor apartment in St Petersburg while being visited by the security services. Critics of Putin will see a sickening familiarity in the reported circumstances. Law enforcement officers called on Stroykin, 59, on Wednesday over an allegation that he donated money to the Ukrainian army, according to local news website Fontanka. The musician is said to have stepped into his kitchen “for a glass of water”. He was then found dead on the ground below his window.’ There’s no covert or underhand methods employed anymore, just gangsterism. The world is slowly going mad.
Jay
@Steve Crickmore:
This week, so far, two of Pootie Poot’s “associates” also fell out of windows,
It appears that Armen Sarkisyan , the Ukrainian traitor, was killed by a Chechen suicide bomber with a ruZZian clone of a Claymore mine, after a conflict with Kadyrov. Not the GUR.
Jay
If you are googling it, Armen Nagapetovich Sargsyan
Steve Crickmore
@Jay: Yes, I read about that. The Russian Security Services, the FSB, the successor of Putin’s old bosses, the KGB are not showing much imagination or modernization in their customary method(s) of murder, even to someone as non threatening as a folk singer. It shows just how little they have to fear from the courts or any non-existent independent opposition or free press. Defenestration, or murder by throwing out of a window, emerged as a ritual punishment in Prague in the Middle Ages and reappeared in the modern era. In 1948, after the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, the body of its foreign minister, Jan Masaryk, was found in pyjamas below his bedroom window in the Czernin Palace. While the KGB was widely assumed to be responsible, murder was never conclusively proven. Putin and his thugs are a disgrace to humanity.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam