By now everyone has seen the big news, which everyone knew was coming since Trump’s kayfabe press gaggle with Zelenskyy last Friday.
US has stopped military aid to Ukraine as per Bloomberg.
“The US is pausing all current military aid to Ukraine until Trump determines the country’s leaders demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace, according to a senior Defense Department official”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article…
— John Helin (@jjhelin.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“The official said all US military equipment not currently in Ukraine would be paused, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or waiting in transit areas in Poland.”
— John Helin (@jjhelin.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
For years the right dismissed the claim that Trump does Putin’s bidding as conspiratorial derangement.
Zelensky didn’t disrespect the U.S. He didn’t disrespect Trump. He’s losing his aid for disrespecting Putin, the man slaughtering his people, which Trump and Vance took as a personal affront.
— Radley Balko (@radleybalko.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Don’t print lies in the newspaper. Trump is pausing aid because he’s on Russia’s side of the conflict and wants to help Putin. He falsely claims it’s to get a negotiated peace. WaPo prints it because Bezos wants to help Trump
This was always going to happen. Had President Zelenskyy not even been invited to the White House to meet with Trump, this would have happened. Had he been invited and declined, it would’ve happened and the declination would’ve been the excuse. If Trump didn’t get enough ketchup for his extra well done burger for breakfast, that would’ve been the excuse.
Also, this is why I kept hammering that the Biden administration needed to ship everything promised and allocated as soon as possible so that there was nothing left after 20 JAN 2025 that Trump could stop. All today’s announcement did was make official what had actually been going on: nothing has been sent to Ukraine since Trump was sworn in. Everything that Biden and his team left unsent has not and will not ever get to Ukraine.
Sanctions relief will be next. And expect Russia to increase its attacks all along the line of contact, as well as attacks in civilian targets and infrastructure away from the front lines, in the belief that they can break the Ukrainian’s because Trump’s efforts will have sapped Ukrainian morale.
For example:
“Russia plans to launch 500 Shaheds and other drones simultaneously at Ukraine in the first half of the year.” – Vadym Skibitskyi, representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
youtu.be/pr5s9IsZHIU— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 7:44 AM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Russia plans to launch at least 500 drones per aerial attack against Ukraine, Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), said in an interview with RBC Ukraine published on March 3.
Both Ukraine and Russia have heavily invested in drone technology throughout the war, significantly altering modern warfare tactics. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has launched thousands of cheap but effective drones at Ukraine.
Russia currently uses 150 to 200 drones per attack against Ukraine which occur on a daily basis, but Russian forces plan to increase their capabilities to 500, Skibitskyi told RBC Ukraine. Russia also plans to increase the number of sites from which drones will be launched.
Russian forces have significantly increased domestic production of various types of drones, according to Skibitskyi. Russia uses combat and reconnaissance drones, as well as so-called “decoys,” which are drones without a payload, he added.
“All of this simply overloads our air defense system. It is very difficult to distinguish between a drone flying with a warhead and one without,” Skibitskyi said.
“Earlier, in 2023 and early 2024, we knew only a Shahed (drone), then there were Geran-1, Geran-2, and that was it. Today, the range of these unmanned aerial vehicles is so large that it is not even always possible to count them on one hand,” Skibitsky added.
More at the link.
While we wait to see what the rest of NATO, the EU and its member states, and other exceedingly stressed allies and partners, here’s a non exhaustive, non comprehensive list of some charities and orgs you can donate to to help Ukraine if you are interested in doing so:
- United24, which has a variety of initiatives you can donate to, including defense.
- Patron’s shop, which has a direct link to his omnibus fund on the shop’s landing page. I buy the gift boxes for Ukrainian children every year at the holidays.
- Here is Patron’s linktree, which has links to his specific different endeavors.
- Illia Ponomarenko runs an ongoing fundraiser to provide therapy and prosthetics to Ukrainian vets.
- Dmitri (WarTranslated) is running one of his periodic fundraisers to get vehicles for Ukrainian units.
- Ukrainian Marine Kriegsforscher runs a fundraiser for equipment for his own unit.
- Saint Javelin not only donates their proceeds from sales to Ukrainian initiatives, but they have a list of vetted orgs to donate to.
- There’s also Liberty Ukraine, which I have also donated to.
- And Hachiko, which Nate Mook is involved with and takes care of Ukrainian animals.
Again, that’s not an exhaustive list and NO ONE is under any obligation to make a donation. This is solely for this interested in doing so.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
We Need Peace – Real, Fair Peace – Not Endless War; and We Need Security Guarantees – Address by the President
3 March 2025 – 22:24
I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!
A few key updates for today.
I held a Staff meeting where we analyzed support packages and some contracts secured over this time. There are good results on artillery contracts – Ukraine needs a solid foundation. Next – drones, an unwavering priority. Air defense – additional systems have now arrived in Ukraine from Lithuania. Thanks a lot, Mr. President. The Prime Minister of Ukraine reported today on finances for this year – we are securing all necessary funding and will get through 2025 financially. There were also some special issues concerning our national resilience on the Staff meeting agenda today – we are working on all possible scenarios to protect Ukraine. The baseline scenario is to hold positions and create conditions for proper diplomacy, for the soonest possible end to this war with a decent peace. We need peace – real, fair peace – not endless war. And we need security guarantees. It was precisely the lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago that allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. Then, the absence of security guarantees allowed Russia to launch the full-scale invasion. And now, because there are still no defined security guarantees, it is Russia that is keeping this war going. The whole world sees this, the whole world acknowledges this.
Today, we continued working with our European partners on a special diplomatic and security framework that can bring peace closer. In particular, this is what we discussed in London recently and what we had spoken about with many world leaders before that. Ukraine, all of Europe, and America – together, we can ensure decades of peace. And for this, we must stay constructive – work together, complement each other’s proposals, and speed up diplomacy to end the war.
I spoke today with the leaders of the Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. A good conversation. About the outcomes of the London summit. About opportunities and perspectives on all processes involving the United States. And about defense support that saves lives of our people. I am grateful to the Baltic states for standing so firmly with Ukraine – thank you once again for your support, friends!
Glory to Ukraine!
President Zelenskyy also sat for a press availability with British and Ukrainian journalists after the summit in London. Here is that video:
Georgia:
Day 96. So great to be confident that protests are there even when I have to miss them. #GeorgiaProtests
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Today is Mother’s Day in Georgia. The mothers of people arrested for participating in protests have organized a march and demanded the release of their sons.
#GeorgiaProtests
Day 96— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Salome Zourabichvili joined the protest march organized by the mothers.
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:06 PM
⭕️ Temur Katamadze, the flag bearer of #Batumi’s pro-European Protests, has been on a hunger strike for 46 days since January 17.
⭕️ Temur is facing deportation.
#GeorgiaProtests #RepressionInGeorgia #TerrorInGeorgiabsky.app/profile/netg…
— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 3, 2025 at 4:06 AM
🟥 On March 4, Judge Viktor Metreveli will decide whether Mzia Amaglobeli will remain in detention.
🔴 The founder and CEO of @netgazeti.org is in illegal detention since January 12.
#GeorgiaProtests #RepressionInGeorgia #TerrorinGeorgia
— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 3, 2025 at 5:21 AM
⭕️Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have imposed additional entry bans on dozens of Georgian citizens, including judges, prosecutors, high-ranking police officials, MPs, and others.
#GeorgiaProtests
netgazeti.ge/news/766051/— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 3, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Estonia has imposed travel bans on individuals involved in the Mzia Amaglobeli case.
#GeorgiaProtests
#RepressionInGeorgia
netgazeti.ge/life/766051/— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 3, 2025 at 7:49 AM
In Russian-occupied Abkhazia, they say Russia spent millions to support its favored candidate.
In the 2nd round of the de facto presidential elections in Abkhazia, preliminary results show that the Kremlin-backed candidate, Badra Gunba, won with 56.85%.
— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 3, 2025 at 6:49 AM
This is why you don’t hold elections when Russia is illegally occupying parts of your country as it would allow Putin and Russia to determine the outcome of the election.
Germany:
⚡️US deliberately orchestrated Zelensky-Trump Oval Office clash, Friedrich Merz says.
“It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelensky, but obviously a manufactured escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office,” Friedrich Merz, Germany’s likely next chancellor, said.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) March 3, 2025 at 11:02 AM
From The Kyiv Independent:
The American side deliberately orchestrated the confrontation during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House, Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the likely chancellor, said on March 3.
“It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelensky, but obviously a manufactured escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office,” Merz said at a press conference in Hamburg.
The visit was expected to mark the signing of a long-debated agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. on jointly developing Ukraine’s mineral resources.
The press conference between Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump turned into a heated exchange, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance berating the Ukrainian leader. Zelensky left the White House without an agreement in hand.
Merz said he was “quite surprised, including by the mutual tone of the dialogue,” adding that the incident fit a pattern in recent U.S. behavior.
“There is a certain sequence in a number of events in recent weeks and months, including the appearance of the American delegation in Munich at the security conference, and we are now seeing it from Washington,” he said.
At the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14, Vance stunned European leaders with a speech attacking European values and calling for cooperation with far-right parties.
According to Merz, these events serve as a wake-up call for Europe’s security policy. “I am in favor of preparing for the fact that in the coming years and decades we will have to do much, much more for our own security,” he said.
Merz, whose CDU party won Germany’s recent elections, is expected to become chancellor once coalition talks conclude.
He has been a vocal critic of the outgoing government’s Ukraine policy and has condemned Trump’s shifting stance on the war.
On Feb. 21, Merz called Trump’s statements about Ukraine “shocking” and aligning with Russian narratives.
The US (and Russia):
“The Trump administration has publicly and privately signaled that it does not believe Russia represents a cyber threat against US national security or critical infrastructure, marking a radical departure from longstanding intelligence assessments”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I think Russian intelligence services cannot believe their good fortune at everything that is happening right now. This is a bonanza across the board. The vicious attack on Ukraine, nutters at the FBI, Gabbard at DNI, shredding of CI capabilities. A monumental tragedy for the West.
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM
From The Guardian:
The Trump administration has publicly and privately signaled that it does not believe Russia represents a cyber threat against US national security or critical infrastructure, marking a radical departure from longstanding intelligence assessments.
The shift in policy could make the US vulnerable to hacking attacks by Russia, experts warned, and appeared to reflect the warming of relations between Donald Trump and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Two recent incidents indicate the US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cybersecurity threat.
Liesyl Franz, deputy assistant secretary for international cybersecurity at the state department, said in a speech last week before a United Nations working group on cybersecurity that the US was concerned by threats perpetrated by some states but only named China and Iran, with no mention of Russia in her remarks. Franz also did not mention the Russia-based LockBit ransomware group, which the US has previously said is the most prolific ransomware group in the world and has been called out in UN forums in the past. The treasury last year said LockBit operates on a ransomeware-as-service model, in which the group licenses its ransomware software to criminals in exchange for a portion of the paid ransoms.
In contrast to Franz’s statement, representatives for US allies in the European Union and the UK focused their remarks on the threat posed by Moscow, with the UK pointing out that Russia was using offensive and malicious cyber-attacks against Ukraine alongside its illegal invasion.
“It’s incomprehensible to give a speech about threats in cyberspace and not mention Russia and it’s delusional to think this will turn Russia and the FSB [the Russian security agency] into our friends,” said James Lewis, a veteran cyber expert formerly of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. “They hate the US and are still mad about losing the cold war. Pretending otherwise won’t change this.”
The US policy change has also been established behind closed doors.
A recent memo at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) set out new priorities for the agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security and monitors cyber threats against US critical infrastructure. The new directive set out priorities that included China and protecting local systems. It did not mention Russia.
A person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity said analysts at the agency were verbally informed that they were not to follow or report on Russian threats, even though this had previously been a main focus for the agency.
The person said work that was being done on something “Russia-related” was in effect “nixed”.
“Russia and China are ourbiggest adversaries. With all the cuts being made to different agencies, a lot of cybersecurity personnel have been fired. Our systems are not going to be protected and our adversaries know this,” the person said.
The person added: “People are saying Russia is winning. Putin is on the inside now.”
The New York Times has separately reported that the Trump administration has also reassigned officials at Cisa who were focused on safeguarding elections from cyber-attacks and other attempts to disrupt voting.
Another person who previously worked on US joint task forces operating at elevated classification levels to track and combat Russian cyber threats said the development was “truly shocking”.
“There are thousands of US government employees and military working daily on the massive threat Russia poses as possibly the most significant nation state threat actor. Not to diminish the significance of China, Iran or North Korea, but Russia is at least on par with China as the most significant cyber threat,” the person said.
The person added:“There are dozens of discrete Russia state-sponsored hacker teams dedicated to either producing damage to US government, infrastructure and commercial interests or conducting information theft with a key goal of maintaining persistent access to computer systems.”
Cisa did not initially respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. Hours after publication of this article, it denied the memo was “from the Trump administration”.
Great news for money launderers!
— Eliot Higgins (@eliothiggins.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 6:04 AM
When you combine this with the shutting down of counter-Russian operations at CYBERCOM, CISA, other Intel agencies, and, I expect, the Combatant Commands, it leaves the US wide open. This actually makes the US weaker and more vulnerable.
They should call it the “Rubio-Lavrov pact”
— Daniel Knowles (@dlknowles.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Again, if you had 144 Tubervilles you’d have gross stupidity.
This is how absolutely fucked up America is right now. Trump’s mafiosi Secretary of Commerce accuses Zelenskyy of wanting Russians off Ukraine’s land and “wanting all the land”, as if part of Ukraine already belongs to Russia.
An orchestrated pile on. Things are going from bad to worse rapidly.
— Andy Scollick (@andyscollick.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Everyone in Europe, including Sir Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, should listen to Senator Andy Kim here regarding whether Trump would honour Article 5 (collective defence) of the North Atlantic Treaty.
— Andy Scollick (@andyscollick.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:34 PM
It seems Moscow’s quite pleased with how the last few days have gone. Today’s Russian papers:
· “Russia can’t conceal its malicious pleasure…”
· “The Western system is crashing like a house of cards.”
· Kremlin “New US foreign policy configurations largely aligned with Russia’s” #ReadingRussia— Steve Rosenberg (@bbcstever.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Sweden:
After the news about an attempt at sabotaging water supply on the Swedish island of Gotland, now also a sabotage attack at the LKAB iron ore mine in Kiruna in Northern Sweden.
www.svd.se/a/Vz21eJ/sky…
— Minna Ålander 🌻 (@alanderminna.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Water supply of strategic Baltic island Gotland was sabotaged last night.
Someone broke into the pump controls and destroyed them.
The pumps serve a large part of Gotland (pop 61k) and had it gone unnoticed could have left all island without water.
Security services are notified. Water is ok.
— auonsson (@auonsson.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Finland:
Finnish President just told Zelensky and Trump to “go to the sauna”. He suggested they take a deep breath, have a cold bath, visit a sauna, and then return to the negotiating table.
— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) March 3, 2025 at 12:52 PM
peeps fuming over this but you don’t know the subtle cultural reference buried in it;
during cold war the Soviets made repeated attempts to subjugate Finland more including “proposals” of joint military exercises and so forth.
One tactic to stymy was to sauna them to exhaustion till they gave up.
— Aki Heikkinen (@akihheikkinen.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Of course soviets were heavy into sauna too and boozing so it took a lot of stamina and Sisu!
— Aki Heikkinen (@akihheikkinen.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
trump’s gigantic, fragile ego makes him an excellent mark for such, just could not quit and take a break before the other yields first.
Zelensky could sit there for hrs melting the slob till timed exit and trumpf would sign anything to skip the 2nd sauna rnd without saying he can’t take no more.
— Aki Heikkinen (@akihheikkinen.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Denmark:
The European Commission:
European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, stated that Europe is working on concrete plans to strengthen support for Ukraine in case the U.S. administration decides not to continue its support.
youtu.be/CBBVX55m3U0?…— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Poland:
Former Polish President Lech Wałęsa and other former political prisoners criticized Washington’s expectations for gratitude from Ukraine, reminding them of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump.
www.facebook.com/lechwalesa/p…— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Can’t wait for the Party of Reagan to explain how Lech Walesa is a woke commie simp.
— Jonathan V. Last (@jvl.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
There is no longer a Party of Reagan.
Back to Ukraine.
Zelensky looks to be considering freezing the US out of the peace process, with the EU and Turkey taking the role of mediators instead.
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Zelensky also said he is ready to meet with Trump if he invites him to a “constructive dialogue”, and he is ready to sign a minerals deal.
He added that Ukraine and Europe consider the US a strategic partner, and if the US stop helping Ukraine, they will help Russia in the war.
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 4:02 AM
“This is essentially Russian propaganda coming from the mouth of the American president.” – said Nesty and Gas, American volunteers from the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, “Khartia,” who came to Ukraine last year to fight against the occupiers.
t.me/c/1377735387…— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Fact-checking for Trump and Vance: Journalists have counted at least 94 expressions of gratitude from Zelensky to the U.S. since the start of the full-scale war.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Trying to pressure Zelensky into an apology, knowing he won’t, is just an excuse for the US to shift blame for its own failure to reach a truce with Russia – something that would make Trump look weak. Do you expect Vance to ever treat Netanyahu the same way he did Zelensky?
— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM
When I see US officials gaslighting Zelensky, most Ukrainians perceive it as an attack on our Constitution, which only boosts his popularity at home. The level of disinformation from senior U.S. officials reminds me of Colin Powell’s anthrax vial demonstration at the UN
— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 11:59 AM
And to make things worse, after launching various grift cryptocurrency tokens, the US national strategy is now being sourced from TikTok and Facebook
— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Read this by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk: “Russia does not care whether there is war or peace — it seeks the destruction of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. It will gleefully pocket every concession from the Trump administration and then continue fighting.” on.ft.com/4bn2uSs
— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) March 3, 2025 at 1:23 AM
From The Financial Times: (emphasis mine)
The writer, co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Peace, is a human rights lawyer, board member of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, and heads the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv
I have some idea how Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must have felt during those difficult moments in the Oval Office this past Friday, because I sometimes find myself in the absurd position of having to convince people that I, a Nobel Peace laureate, truly want peace.
Let’s be clear, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is horrible. For 11 years, I have documented the war’s cost. With the full-scale invasion three years ago, my organisation established a network of human rights defenders to record mass atrocities — from the dead on the streets in Bucha to the mass graves in Izium. Our database now underpins the prosecutor-general’s listing of more than 150,000 Russian war crimes.
I have spoken with hundreds of survivors of Russian captivity. They have recounted being beaten, raped, electrocuted and subjected to other unspeakable horrors. The suffering of Ukraine’s children is especially harrowing. Reprogramming children to reject their native language and culture is a genocidal tactic aimed at erasing a people by destroying its future. More than 20,000 children have been illegally abducted to Russia — an offence for which Vladimir Putin now faces charges at the International Criminal Court.
Two conclusions emerge. First, victims believe their tormentors commit these atrocities with impunity. Fully aware that Russian forces have meted out similar brutalities in Chechnya, Syria, Mali and elsewhere without punishment, these soldiers feel free to continue their crimes in Ukraine. Second, occupation is not peace — it is only the beginning of a new phase of suffering. In Russian-occupied territories, people live in a grey zone without the means to defend their rights, property or even their children. Under international law, occupation remains an armed conflict. Rather than alleviating the horrors, it merely renders them invisible.
Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. But we demand real peace — a peace built on justice, freedom and sustainable security, one that assures us of our European future. We seek the freedom to live without the threat of renewed violence. This is the peace for which we have fought and suffered, died and survived.
As ceasefire negotiations continue above our heads, our greatest fear is that they will achieve nothing. Russia does not care whether there is war or peace — it seeks the destruction of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. It will gleefully pocket every concession from the Trump administration and then continue fighting. There is a long record of Russia breaching ceasefire agreements with a new aggression. But a hybrid strategy is equally likely, including mobilising proxy political forces, infiltrating institutions, fomenting social chaos and investing heavily in propaganda to sap Ukrainian resolve while Russia re-arms.
Ukrainians are very grateful to the US and all who have supported us. Yet to forge a real peace, I call on our western partners to add the human dimension to these talks. Security guarantees are essential, mineral rights and conflict lines are important, but I am shocked by how little discussion there has been about people.
More at the link.
As Ukraine steps up its mobilization efforts, attacks on personnel are becoming more frequent, driven by escalating social tensions as the war drags on. In search of the perpetrators, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) insists that Russian special services are behind the latest incidents.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) March 3, 2025 at 9:16 AM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Within a single week in February, several attacks against enlistment offices and personnel in Ukraine took place, resulting in injuries among both military and civilians. The most striking was the murder of an enlistment officer at a gas station in Poltava Oblast.
A man killed the officer during an attempt to kidnap his acquaintance who had recently been mobilized into the army. The soldier died immediately from the gunshot wounds. Two accomplices were detained later the same day.
“Killing military personnel in the rear is a red line that cannot be crossed,” Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, wrote on Facebook, reacting to the recent attacks.
“We have already seen cases of humiliation and aggression against our defenders, but I have not seen a strong public reaction. Now, we have direct armed attacks. This is how the enemy works,” Drapatyi added.
As Ukraine steps up its mobilization efforts, attacks on personnel are becoming more frequent, driven by escalating social tensions as the war drags on. In search of the perpetrators, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) insists that Russian special services are behind the latest incidents.
In the meantime, criticism of the government’s mobilization policy, as well as its inability to protect service members is also mounting.
“Everything that was done regarding mobilization was done in the worst possible way,” Andrii Osadchuk, a lawmaker of the Holos faction and deputy chairman of parliament’s Law Enforcement Committee, told the Kyiv Independent.
The consequences of poorly organized mobilization efforts have been emotional and psychological, creating a fragility of social relations in Ukraine that Russia is exploiting, Osadchuk said.
Throughout the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has had to confront Russian aggression not only on the battlefield. In February alone, the SBU detained dozens of individuals who it said were recruited by Russian special services and involved in sabotage activities in Ukraine.
Among the detained were both adults and underage citizens who acted on Russia’s orders. They reported the coordinates of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, set fire to military vehicles, and organized disinformation campaigns. Two cases were also related to attacks against enlistment office staff.
The SBU and Ukraine’s National Police on Feb. 5 detained Russian agents who had detonated explosives near an enlistment office in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
On the same day, the SBU determined the circumstances of the recruitment of another agent who blew himself up in an enlistment office in the western Ukrainian city of Rivne. The explosives were detonated remotely, killing the agent and injuring six other people.
According to Serhii Andrushchenko, SBU’s deputy head, the remote detonation of self-made devices is a new tactic of the Russian special services, allowing them to get rid of the perpetrator of the crime and not pay them the promised money for carrying out an attack.
“Russian special services simply use these people for their purposes as expendable material. An FSB (Russia’s Federal Security Service) officer does not care what happens to them after the task is completed,” Andrushchenko said.
Russian special services are trying to destabilize the situation with terrorist attacks against the military to discredit enlistment offices, disrupt mobilization, and sow distrust in Ukrainian forces, Andrushchenko added.
Osadchuk echoed Andrushchenko’s stance, saying that destabilization inside Ukraine is “an absolute priority” for Russia. The expert stressed that Russian special services have been operating similarly for decades in Ukraine but have been particularly active over the past two and a half years of the full-scale invasion.
Russia’s efforts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine are made easier due to the fact that people are “exhausted, traumatized, and tense,” Osadchuk said. The societal conditions are ripe for these types of crimes, he said.
Much more at the link.
Demanding Zelenskyy to apologize on camera to Trump and Vance, while simultaneously demanding he negotiates a ‘peace deal’ with russia—who invaded our country to kill, destroy entire towns, kidnap children, loot, and rape—is probably the most striking cognitive dissonance I’ve seen.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Peace through betrayal
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 8:10 PM
History will not forget
— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Kharkiv:
Russia drones in Kharkiv skies and sounds of air defense in the city‼️
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Yesterday’s russian attack in Kharkiv injured 8 people and heavily damaged a five-story building.
Emergency responders quickly dismantled unstable structures to minimize further risk.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 11:27 AM
The Russians also hit an animal preserve in last night’s attack. I’m not including any skeets regarding this because you don’t need to see a bunch of blown up deer and goats.
Odesa:
Odesa right now! Russia struck the city’s energy infrastructure with drones, injuring at least four people.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 6:05 PM
From The Kyiv Independent:
A Russian drone attack targeted energy infrastructure in southern city of Odesaovernight on March 4, causing power outages across the city and disrupting heating systems, according to local authorities.
At least four people were injured in the attack, according to State Emergency Service.
Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that a strike has damaged energy infrastructure, and confirmed that parts of the city were experiencing power cuts.
Odesa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov reported that the attack had knocked out three boiler plants, forcing officials to urgently search for alternative power sources to restore heating to residents.
Odesa, a port city on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast with a population of around 1 million, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks throughout the full-scale war.
On March 1, a Russian ballistic missile struck the Odesa port, damaging its infrastructure as well as a foreign civilian ship flying the flag of Panama. Two port employees were injured as a results of the attack.
Sumy Oblast:
⚡️ Russia trying to break through border in Sumy Oblast, cut off Ukraine’s Kursk logistics routes, Border Guard says.
Russia is attempting to enter Ukrainian territory with assault groups in the direction of the village of Novenke.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) March 3, 2025 at 9:25 AM
The Kyiv Independent has the details:
The Russian army is trying to break through the Russia-Ukraine border in Sumy Oblast and cut Ukrainian forces off from its logistics routes, State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on March 3 on national television.
Demchenko’s statement comes after Russian forces attempted to cross the Russia-Ukraine border in Sumy Oblast near the village of Novenke but were repelled the previous week.
Northeastern Sumy Oblast borders Russia’s Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion last summer to draw away Moscow’s troops from Donbas and disrupt Russian plans for an offensive from the north.
Demchenko said Russia is attempting to enter Ukrainian territory with assault groups in the direction of the village of Novenke that lies just across the border, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the regional center, Sumy.
The Ukrainian army is making every effort to prevent Russian units from gaining a foothold on Ukrainian territory, Demchenko said, adding that Russian troops mainly use “large numbers of equipment and personnel” in Kursk Oblast to achieve a breakthrough.
“These are not mass assaults. When the enemy tries to drive the Ukrainian Defense Forces out of Kursk Oblast, firstly, it puts pressure on our units within Kursk Oblast,” Demchenko said.
“And then, it (Russia) is trying to expand the area of active combat activities, trying to enter the territory of Ukraine. However, all elements of the Defense Forces are operating in that area to prevent this. All available weapons are being used,” he added.
Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024. After six months of fighting in the region, Russian troops have regained control of about 64% of the territory in the region, the Russian military claimed.
Russian casualties have reached nearly 40,000 in Kursk Oblast, including over 16,000 killed, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Feb. 6. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said last November that the incursion thwarted Russia’s plans to invade Sumy Oblast in an attempt to create a “buffer zone” in the region.
The Kursk cross border offensive:
47th Brigade repels Russian attack on the Kursk front: 3 T-80BVM obr.2022; BMP-3 and BTR-82 were destroyed t.me/brygada47/1291
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Kherson:
Right after this, a Russian tank across the river guided by a drone fired again, trying to kill us and the firefighters responding.
Listen to the sound—it’s what Ukrainians live through daily. Russia could choose to stop doing this.
— Nate Mook (@natemook.bsky.social) March 2, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Syrzan, Samara Oblast, Russia:
Russian oil refinery in Syzran was targeted by drones. This is second Russian oil refinery which was hit tonight. 800km from the frontline.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov Oblast, Russia:
Russian Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery on fire after a drone attack. Previous attack on this oil refinery was on the mid December 2024.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Tver Oblast, Russia:
Partisans in Tver burned down a command post with a target illumination radar and missile guidance system of the S-300 air defense complex.
The cost of the destroyed scrap metal was approximately $160 million.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 8:22 AM
That enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
There are no new Patron skeets or videos today. Here is some adjacent material.
The infantrymen, during the clearing operation, threw two beehives into the basement with the Russians when they ran out of grenades.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Open thread!
karen gail
The surprise isn’t that trump halted aid but that he didn’t do it in those first few hours when he was busy signing EO’s. As much as he despises the Ukraine for fighting Putin; I believe he was also driven by the need to humiliate Zelenskyy personally.
Thanks for tonight’s read.
Adam L Silverman
@karen gail: Actually they did halt aid immediately. They just did it without making a big deal about it. Nothing has been sent to Ukraine since Trump was sworn in.
Gin & Tonic
Thank you for that list of orgs/people to donate to. Very helpful for those who don’t follow this that closely.
Old School
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: You’re most welcome. I did a thread on Bluesky with them too.
Gin & Tonic
@Old School: That’s remarkable.
YY_Sima Qian
Absolutely sickening, even if completely predictable.
John S.
@Gin & Tonic:
Seconded. Thanks for the list of resources, @Adam L Silverman.
It’s amazing how anyone can think that Trump isn’t in the bag for Russia at this point. The amount of evidence is overwhelming and increasing daily.
YY_Sima Qian
So, I’ve been playing around w/ DeepSeek, which seems to be the most inspired poet among the LLMs. In light of the most recent adversities Ukraine faces, I asked DeepSeek to write a poem, in Chinese, about Ukraine’s struggle.
I have been using DeepSeek’s App hosted in the PRC, & the subject of the Russo-Ukrainian war appears to be sensitive, so DeepSeek sometimes spits out a response before blanking it out & instead says the query is beyond it’s scope. I tried to use ChatGPT to translate the above poem into English, but the result was literal & flat. After a few attempts, I got DeepSeek to produce a translation, which retained much more of the flair:
Nevertheless, the poem is much more impactful in Chinese. Call it an experiment.
way2blue
@karen gail: Yet Trump didn’t humiliate Zelenskyy. People can only humiliate themselves. Zelenskyy rather was resolute in stating the essential aspects of a real peace plan. Didn’t follow the script laid out for him.
Gin & Tonic
@YY_Sima Qian: Thank you. Makes me regret that I don’t know Chinese.
pieceofpeace
Thanks, Adam. Your reports are my only source of Ukraine information. Anything else crossing my vision seems thoroughly tainted by attempts at political manipulation, or deceptive media reporting, with little to no substantiation.
Adam L Silverman
@John S.: You’re welcome.
Adam L Silverman
@pieceofpeace: Thank you for the kind words. You’re most welcome.
Jay
Thank you, Adam.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: You’re welcome.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gin & Tonic: I asked DeepSeek to compose the poem in the style of Man Jiang Hong. Here is DeepSeek’s explanation of the style, & why its relevance in Chinese classical literature echoes Ukraine’s current struggle.
Jay
https://nitter.poast.org/Gerashchenko_en/status/1896168049499377720#m
pieceofpeace
@YY_Sima Qian: This is lovely writing. Thank you for requesting and then sharing it with us.
Wil
Is there a way to donate blood for Ukraine? Is that a thing? Would that even matter from a different continent?
YY_Sima Qian
@pieceofpeace: The general consensus seems to be that DeepSeek significantly outstrips other SOTA (State of the Art) LLMs in creating linguistic/literary works, & not just in Chinese (as the English translation shows). Apparently DeepSeek has an entire team of PhDs from Peking University’s (the PRC’s Harvard) Chinese Department to help train its models, & the result shows. Its command of Classical Chinese is far more impressive compared to other Chinese SOTA LLMs, let alone Western ones.
Gin & Tonic
@YY_Sima Qian: Thank you. I always learn a lot from your posts.
Gin & Tonic
@Wil: As a very frequent blood donor (here in the US) – blood is perishable; shipping it overseas is not really sustainable.
pieceofpeace
@YY_Sima Qian: Thank you.
Jay
@Wil:
No. You can donate blood in the US in Ukraine’s name, as a thanks for US support for Ukraine, but that’s not a thing anymore. US support Ukraine that is.
Jay
https://nitter.poast.org/jimsciutto/status/1896537407618531671#m
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: Yeah, this was clear from the immediate aftermath of the sorry spectacle at the WH.
sanjeevs
That sounds like a threat on his life.
JoyceH
We know darn well that Trump has already promised Putin we would stop arming Ukraine. He and Vance picked that fight to give them the excuse they need to stop the shipments. They’d already stopped them, but folks were probably starting to nag about it. So now it’s “Zelenskyy’s fault”. Too transparent.
BTW, something kinda eerie. I’ve been reading a book I’d read before but it was fifty or more years ago, so I don’t remember details of the plot. The book is a political thriller, Night of Camp David. Premise is that dynamic President is prepping to run for reelection. He’s jettisoned his scandal-plagued old VP and planning to replace him with a young first term senator. The senator is the protagonist/POV character and as he has private in-depth discussions with the president, he begins to suspect/realize that the president is insane.
I’ve just reached the point where the thought of insanity first crosses the senator’s mind. And what is the grandiose plan that is so wacky that it makes a guy think “crazy”? Annexing Canada.
Brrrrrrrr!
leeleeFL
I will read thru all of this tomorrow, when I am more awake.
Unfortunately, I am here because I just watched video of Jeff Sachs talking to an EU meeting. He says this mess is the fault of the US breaking the promise to Russia not to expand NATO Eastward after the fall of the Soviet block. That Ukraine was a last straw and Biden talked Zelenskyy into not signing a peace deal with Putin in 2022. I am unconvinced because of the deal made later to convince Ukraine to give up their nuclear arsenal for protection of their sovereignty by us. To me, that’s NATO level protection, and we owed it to Ukraine, but Sachs is pretty adamant. How do I refute this to people I know are believing it. I saw this video because someone I know posted it to FB.
HELP, Adam!
Adam L Silverman
@sanjeevs: It is.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gin & Tonic: For the purpose of DeepSeek’s creative writing, perhaps it is fortuitous that rivers figure so prominently in both Chinese (the Yellow & the Yangtze Rivers) & Ukrainian (the Dnipro) cultural consciousness. Resistance to foreign invasion & domination, too. Even though for most of its history China has been the hegemonic/imperial power, the more recent “Century of Humiliation” dominates.
Yue Fei’s “Man Jiang Hong: Wrath Sets My Crown Ablaze” has become a touchstone for Chinese nationalism (or proto-nationalism) through the centuries. Yup Fei was a famous general of the Southern Song dynasty who sought to reclaim the vast territories lost to the Jürchen invaders. He was having some success, but was recalled by the imperial court that wanted to make peace & hold on to the rump territory, & was then framed as a traitor & executed to help facilitate that peace. The work gained salience through the Southern Song & Yuan (when all of China was conquered by the Mongols) Dynasties. Its impact faded during the Ming Dynasty, which was an empire w/ a Chinese ruling dynasty that had evicted the Mongols & reestablished Chinese hegemony over the eastern 3rd of Eurasian landmass. It regained salience during the Qing Dynasty, as a form of literary resistance against the ruling Manchus invaders, who claimed direct descent from the Jürchens. It became part of the national rallying cry against invasion by Imperial Japan in the ’30s & ’40s, & remained relevant during the Cold War, when the PRC was confronting both superpowers.
It is part of the standard Chinese curriculum for lower middle school students to this day.
Jay
@sanjeevs:
Budanov vs. Tulsi, no contest.
YY_Sima Qian
@sanjeevs: Once again, emulating Putin.
Gin & Tonic
@leeleeFL: The “the US promised not to expand NATO eastward” canard has been debunked by none other than Mikhail Gorbachev, but it persists. The Budapest Memorandum, unfortunately, only binds every signatory to respecting the pre-1993 borders of Ukraine; to refrain from military action or economic coercion. But it does not provide Article 5-type guarantees, so when russia violated its commitments under that Memorandum, the US was not obligated to respond.
But Jeff Sachs is a known bullshit artist, who’s been a useful idiot for russia for decades.
ETA: Maybe ask your interlocutor(s) why russia should be entitled to annex any Ukrainian territory; especially those oblasts which it does not militarily control. By that logic why should not Ukraine own Kursk?
Jay
@leeleeFL:
https://bitterwinter.org/myth-of-the-american-coups-in-ukraine-4-the-nato/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAw5W-BhAhEiwApv4goMaKdAxeB7IHnDq_Ib1tB6jWIyNVTxpwygzUvSw-8h8U6IS9sfPSpRoCxAUQAvD_BwE
further reading on the scumbag,
https://vatniksoup.com/en/soups/166/
YY_Sima Qian
@leeleeFL: Aside from what G&T & Jay already shared, people like Jeffrey Sachs & Noam Chomsky gain credibility w/ parts of the Left & much of the world outside of the West w/ their criticism of US’ (& the West’s) hegemonic, exploitative & militarist practices. However, they rarely apply the same standards to the likes of Russia, the PRC, or India, almost the inverse of the Western defenders of “Liberal Hegemony”.
I am not sure what happened to Sachs, perhaps working through his guilt for having advocated “Shock Therapy” in the fUSSR (that broke the economies & societies of most of the fUSSR states)? Then again, by that reasoning, Ukraine was one of the victims, too, & he does not seem to have any sympathy
In any case, Sachs did not have much real influence, & now the Trump gang does not really need his help.
leeleeFL
@Gin & Tonic: Thanks!
@Jay: Thanks!
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
leeleeFL
@YY_Sima Qian: Thanks! I knew this was the place to come! I wonder how he went over with the Conference he was addressing.
YY_Sima Qian
@leeleeFL: There are parts of European polities looking to disengage from Ukraine.
Westyny
Thank you, Adam.
Wil
Thanks.
Darkrose
@YY_Sima Qian: That’s amazing, even in translation.
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian: The EU Parliament has a lot of marginal parties there as a resentment vote.
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: Yes, even worse than the national parliaments, some of which are already bad enough.
Jay
@sanjeevs: Putin wants Zelenskyy gone and one of his puppets in place instead . So DJTdiot, following “his Master’s Voice” wants the same thing.
Problem is, as long as there is a State of Emergency and ruZZian occupation, including Crimea, there can be no new elections, according to the Ukrainian Constitution,
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
lt was bitter funny watching all the Brit Politicians sucking on the teat of the EU Parliament for salaries and pensions, supporting Brexit.
TS
For those of us who have depended on the US for the past 60 years for their defence, who supported them in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq & anywhere else they decided to venture, all trust is gone forever. This is of little help to Ukraine, but it has opened the world to RW love of money above all else, their hatred of anyone who does not bow down before them and their dog given divine right to rule. It has always been there but now it is openly shown.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: thank you for this poem. The layers of imagery, combined w your notes about the allusions to history and resilience, make it so powerful.
i had a little poem on the blue sky Poetry page, in reply to someone else’s poem, but I recast it towards Ukraine. I’ll see if I can rustle it up. Many of the poems there wax political, there’s a lot of feeling going around.
Jay
Will nobody think of the poor Tankies?
Now suddenly it’s okay for a US Government to try to overthrow a Democratically elected Government to steal their resources,//
Stephen
Oh well, I shouldn’t use naughty words, but I’m so enraged about Trump’s actions. Thank you onmce again, Adam.
Gloria DryGarden
These don’t have the echoing depth of history and form of YY’s deep Chinese AI poetry.
just some haiku
cendrinemedia.bsky.social: Cendrine Marrouat wrote
Daily Haiku Prompt for March 1, 2025: plow (North)
_______________________
Summer in the world—
the stillness of the field
after the plowing.
___________________
my reply (Gloria DryGarden):
Awaiting war’s end,
Rich fields of goodness desire
To grow food again.
Grains and vegetables rise up,
Feeding our bodies again.
Grains and vegetables rise up
to feed our hearts again.
__________________________
I mean it as a well wish and a prayer, even though it’s simple, and I’m only a human gardener. I’m holding this thought: that there will be a just peace.
ETA After several arguments w autocorrect and my memory, I have gotten the other poet’s name correctly spelled.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: Thank you for sharing it! It’s sweet!
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: Turbulent times make plentiful material for great (especially the provocative kind) art, unfortunately.
YY_Sima Qian
@Darkrose: I have been fascinated by DeepSeek.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: indeed. There has been a lot of material. It’s too big for swear words. And, thanks. Brazen of me.
many nights I’ve been awake until 4 am or later writing 5-8 poems, thinking I’ve got nothing to say, then a flood of thoughts to write down. On a tear. Write it down, fix it up, and if it’s trying to be haiku, edit and adjust. Write it down, no matter if it’s no good, I won’t know that until after. Takes 10-20 lines to settle the syllables and best words for a haiku.
I’m still learning about this extended haiku, the tanka, i think, that has two more lines of 7. It’s good to crystallize big thoughts into 3-5 lines of essentials.
im trying to balance my angry writing with optimistic or hopeful poems.
Sloane Ranger
Thanks Adam for this roundup. Depressing, but not unexpected.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: I am not familiar w/ Japanese poetry, so I had to look up haiku, then went down the Wikipedia rabbit hole. I was not aware that English haiku is even a thing!
Gloria DryGarden
We learn haiku in elementary school, along with limericks, and some other forms of poetry. I think everyone gets a tour of “stopping by woods on a snowy evening,” and “the road less travelled” – is that the same poem? And the jabberwocky. And we all crank out some limericks, and some haiku with the 5-7-5 syllable format, and some free verse, and alliteration, and I forget the name of the shaping poem, where you write about an apple but make the words line up so it’s shaped like an apple, or you write in a spiral instead of straight lines.
im so happy to have introduced you to haiku, there’s a ton of it on the micropoetry feed on blue sky. A mix of political, and classic imagery ( mist, lake, branch, rock, stillness, cherry blossom, bird, rain, snow, stillness). When you came to the USA weren’t you in high school?
i hope you loved the examples Wikipedia gave you.
do you know limericks? Usually political and /or baudy. There’s a limericks lady on micropoetry, too.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: I will have to check them out.
I emigrated to the US at start of 7th grade, so must have missed it. By the time I got to high school, it was already Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats & Shelley.
Or maybe it was taught in 7th grade, but my knowledge of English was non-existent at the time, so it went over my head.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: I don’t know limerick, either. Will have to check it out, too.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: wrote you a limerick and a haiku, meaning no disrespect to the importance and solemnity of this thread. Thank you Adam!
There once was a country so grabby,
It (had) started to feel quite stabby
It started some fights
It attacked day and nights
But The whole world got so very crabby
________
(limerick always has this exact rhythm. You can jam extra syllables in there, but have to double time them to fit. And it has to rhyme like that. Very entertaining to compose)
And a haiku as tribute to the writing you post that broadens and deepens our knowledge and awareness so much. This goes for a lot of front pagers and commenters around here.
Search for useful words
Deeply describe profound thoughts
Write them down, tell us
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: Thank you! The limerick made me laugh, & the haiku flatters me.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: it was “write them down for us”. Seemed intrusive. But tiny adjustments..
It’s not flattery. It’s gratitude. I beg you to keep doing it. I learn a lot, you open doors to parts of the world I wouldn’t be able to access. And you’re good at explaining, writing clearly, conveying really useful, applicable information. You often bring up things no one else is saying. it’s often astonishing. Especially because you make it accessible, and easy to read.
bet it was easier to swallow in a bitty haiku..
Several people here offer something similar, amazing insights and synthesis, and important facts.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: You are too kind! I do love the community here, for the reasons you cite, despite the periodic internecine fights.
Gloria DryGarden
I got Macbeth in old spanish, my first semester in Uruguay, when all I knew was cat, dog, bathroom, you are, I am. It went right over my head, although the teacher gave me some of the feeling of lady Macbeth. What little I could understand. Shakespeare still goes over my head, unless I see actors present it.
please look up ‘the jabberwocky’ It’s worth it. It has nonsense words in it that incite the imagination by sounding like other words you might know. Quite delightful, and bright, and perhaps sinister. starts off
‘‘twas brillig , and
the slithy toves,
Did gyre and gimbal in the wabe,
all mimsy, were the borogroves
and the mome wraths , outgabe”
something like that. And autocorrect, um, doesn’t like it.
it comes together though.
did you get ee cummings, in middle school? Another famous but slightly odd poet. Never capitalized anything. Delicious interesting stuff, often short, w layers of images.
How long did it take you to start understanding English? Must have been rough, at first.
Barney
“Sanctions relief will be next” – yeah, Reuters has already reported that Trump wants a list of sanctions to lift:
White House directs officials to draft proposal to lift US sanctions on Russia | Donald Trump | The Guardian
I’m not sure if that last sentence is naivety or sarcasm from The Guardian. Of course Trump won’t specifically seek something in return, at least publicly; privately, he might ask for cash, a hit on one of his enemies, or a belly rub.
Gloria DryGarden
@Barney: i just hope that man relies on imported ketchup from a country that sanctions us…
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: Jabberwocky is delightfully wacky!
At 13, I could still absorb languages relatively easily, & the junior high I went to at Oxford, MS actually provided one-on-one ESL instruction an hour a day for the 1st semester (of 7th grade). After a semester I was able to communicate easily, by the end of 1st year I was mostly caught up in classes (was always heavily advantaged in math). Moved to NYC for 8th grade, by the end of which I was able to do well enough on the standardized test to get into one of the 3 technical high schools in the city. Perfect score on math pulled much of the weight, but I had to do well in English, too.
Of course, it would be much tougher now, a lot of international students from East Asia already very well prepared in English (& everything else) competing for slots at elite high schools & universities.
zhena gogolia
@leeleeFL: Jeffrey Sachs should STFU forever.
zhena gogolia
For me the lesson is that we should have been all in, dear leader supportive of Biden. He was our only hope. We dumped on him relentlessly throughout the election season.
Gin & Tonic
@YY_Sima Qian: I had a number of friends who went to Stuyvesant or Science. A real ticket up for children of immigrants. As was CCNY.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gin & Tonic: I went to Brooklyn Tech. I had scored high enough for Bronx Science, but it was too far away.
We always regarded the Stuyvesant kids w/ a mixture of jealousy and contempt. Their math teams were always stronger than ours, their families tended to be more well off, more of their kids went to elite universities, but the student body was far less diverse (which a lot of Caucasian/Jewish/East Asian parents held against Tech.)
Studying at Tech certainly helped me to get into Cornell.
Professor Bigfoot
@YY_Sima Qian:
@Gloria DryGarden:
THANK YOU BOTH, for this has been an absolutely fascinating conversation— I learn so much here; you ladies and several others are why I keep coming back here.
Also, let me once again thank Adam for his informative posts, even though they piss me off to absolutely no end. Man, you were right, you’re still right, and goddammit, it’s embarrassing as an American, the whole goddamn thing.
Gin & Tonic
@YY_Sima Qian: Kinda forgot about Tech, but actually one of my closest friends then (and still) went to Tech then to Brooklyn Poly for BS and MS. Don’t know if this is still a thing, but Poly had a low-power FM radio station (where he was a DJ) with the call sign WINO.
Stuyvesant, back in the day, was the best choice for the smart Ukrainian kids from the East Village, as it was a short walk up to 18th St, or 20th, or wherever it was. I know it has moved downtown.
YY_Sima Qian
@Professor Bigfoot: Just to clarify, I am male.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: I was wondering if I should say something; I thought for sure you were a guy.
Im so glad you already knew the jabberwoky, oh now I can’t spell it. Thanks for inviting that incredible poem out of ai, and finding a rich translation. It composed the whole thing? I’m still marveling that AI can write poetry. There has been an ai poet on the micropoetry page on blue sky. I had no idea.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: DeepSeek composed the whole thing in Classical Chinese, & did the entire translation! I only made a couple changes to word choices to the translation to make it flow better. I can think of a couple of more edits I am make to the translation.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of DeepSeek’s creating writing in both languages. I have read such praise from many Chinese & international users, but this is my 1st attempt at using the LLM this way.
Professor Bigfoot
@YY_Sima Qian: I HUMBLY beg your pardon, sir!
AND revise my mental picture!
(but my gratitude remains)
YY_Sima Qian
@YY_Sima Qian: Here is the poem w/ another a few more edits from me, mostly to remove awkward repetitions in word choice (changes in italic):
YY_Sima Qian
@Professor Bigfoot: No worries! You are too kind!
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: did you already say what prompt or requests you gave it? Just Ukraine/ china/ war?
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: i like your changes, flows more , more readable, the images Leap to mind more easily. Cool.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: I started by prompting DeepSeek in Chinese to write a Chinese poem in the style of Man Jiang Hong, w/ the Russo-Ukrainian War as subject matter, from Ukraine’s perspective. DeepSeek wrote a version w/ the standard 93 character long version of the poem, in the style of Man Jiang Hong, & then it suggested to explicitly emphasize themes pertaining to the Dnipro, Kyiv, sunflowers, the Ukrainian flag, the history of the Holodomor, & Slava Ukraini. I took its advice, DeepSeek produced an improved version.
I then asked DeepSeek to double the length of the poem, to flesh it out more, which DeepSeek duly did, & made the poem 186 characters long. I then asked it to translate the Chinese poem into English, & changed all instances of “Dnieper” to “Dnipro”.
That was it, aside from a few edits of my own on word choices.
I am sure if I ask DeepSeek to write a poem from the Russian perspective, it will create one w/ equal force & flair. It is not intelligent, after all. But I have no interests in doing so.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: i wonder what it would come up with on the dismantling of the us government a la elon..in the style of, you pick, maybe wb yeates or Robt frost, robert bly David white, alice walker, joy harjo, amanda Gorman. Or in an ancient Chinese style, translated to English. Could be fascinating. No one can quite express the incandescent anger and other shocked states.