1:
Honestly, do people in Europe still hope Russia’s war will stop at Ukraine’s borders? How many alarms must go off before the danger is clear?
— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 6:43 AM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Editor’s note: The article was updated with additional comments.
Suspected Russian GPS interference forced European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane to land in Bulgaria using paper maps, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sept. 1, citing three undisclosed officials.
The European Commission later confirmed the incident, as well as suspicions of Russian involvement.
“We can confirm there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safe,” European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta confirmed for the Kyiv Independent.
“We have received information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this blatant interference was carried out by Russia,” Podesta said, adding that “threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions.”
Von der Leyen was flying to Plovdiv on Aug. 31 as part of her tour of the EU’s eastern member states, discussing Europe’s security with leaders of countries in Russia‘s vicinity.
During an approach to a Bulgarian airport, the aircraft lost navigational aids and, after circling for about an hour, the pilot decided to land the plane using analog maps, the FT reported.
Moscow has not yet commented on the incident.
2:
Just caught up this this. Wild.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a…
— Ciaran Martin (@ciaranm.bsky.social) August 30, 2025 at 4:55 AM
From The Guardian:
Russian hackers took control of a Norwegian dam this year, opening a floodgate and allowing water to flow unnoticed for four hours, Norway’s intelligence service has said.
The admission, by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), marks the first time that Oslo has formally attributed the cyber-attack in April on Bremanger, western Norway, to Moscow.
The attack on the dam, which which is used for farming fish, released 500 litres (132 gallons) of water a second for four hours until the incident was detected and stopped.
The head of PST, Beate Gangås, said on Wednesday: “Over the past year, we have seen a change in activity from pro-Russian cyber actors.” The Bremanger incident was an example of such an attack, she added.
“The aim of this type of operation is to influence and to cause fear and chaos among the general population. Our Russian neighbour has become more dangerous.”
he incident did not cause any injuries or damage because the water level of the river and the dam, which is close to the town of Svelgen, was a long way below flood capacity.
The alleged perpetrators reportedly published a three-minute video, watermarked with the name of a pro-Russian cybercriminal group, on Telegram on the day of the attack.
Kripos, Norway’s organised crime police unit, told the Aftenposten newspaper it was “aware this group brought together several actors who commit crime in the cyber domain” and had been linked to several cyber-attacks against businesses in the west in recent years.
Gangås said: “Russian intelligence services spend significant resources identifying, cultivating and recruiting contacts in Norway. Norwegian citizens could be good sources of information for them.”
More at the link.
President Zelenskyy did not make an address today.
First Lady Zelenska participated in a joint lesson at all the Superhero schools on the first day of the Ukrainian school year.
LTG Budanov say for an interview with TCH:
Georgia:
Day 278 of daily, nationwide protests in Georgia. 🇬🇪✊
— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
🟥The General Prosecutor’s Office is summoning the heads of civil society organizations for questioning as witnesses in the so-called “face masks” case over alleged sabotage against the state.
#RepressionInGeorgia
batumelebi.netgazeti.ge/articles-in-…— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) September 1, 2025 at 10:01 AM
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia announced that several NGO leaders have been summoned to the Prosecutor General’s Office for questioning as witnesses in the “sabotage case.”
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 8:50 AM
The Prosecution now wants to interrogate individuals from the CSOs whose assets were frozen over “hostile” steps such as “purchasing gas masks” for crackdowns.
In the worst case scenario, the individuals could face a sentence of 15 years.
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 9:46 AM
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 9:25 AM
1/🇬🇪 GD’s Mikheil Kavelashvili sent an open letter to Donald Trump, saying the U.S. “pays too little attention to Georgia.
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 3:25 AM
‘
2/ “This, against the background of complete value alignment between the governments, surprises Georgian society,” Kavelashvili writes.
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 3:25 AM
3/ “Unfortunately, instead of your administration, the so-called ‘Deep State’ is still active”, he says.
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 3:25 AM
4/ “You have even restored a partnership with Vladimir Putin. However, against this backdrop, your administration says nothing about Georgia, which, as I have already mentioned, is surprising to Georgian society.” – Kavelashvili writes to trump.
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Ex-GD PM Giorgi Gakharia, who is the only leader in exile, & runs in the local elections against the majority will of the democratic electorate, again from exile, stated today that the Parliament boycott was a mistake and that he might allow his members to take up seats after the local elections. 1/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
This is when many people are consolidating around the idea of an acute revolution, and when the refusal to legitimize the Parliament is seen as arguably the most efficient political step in this entire process – 2/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
something that first triggered regime isolation both at home and abroad, and something that helped restore basic trust towards the democratic parties (many feared the opposition wouldn’t be able to resist the benefits and a comfortable life). 3/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Kids, fighting a dictatorship isn’t hard because you face the regime, it’s hard because you are surrounded by all sorts of unreliable people. (However, truth be told, my biggest beef isn’t even towards Gakharia because at least he’s consistently been reliable in his unreliability). 4/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Thankfully, Gakharia no longer “makes the weather” in Georgia, as we say. The society has moved on from him. Funny how he positioned himself as the kingmaker for years, and also how he mocked Mikheil Saakashvili for his exile. 5/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I try to not lash out at other parties but this isn’t something that can be ignored. 6/6.
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The US:
Here’s a field good story TaMara forwarded to me. From Colorado Hometown Weekly:
On a sunny August morning, Ievgen Potykun and Hanna Boiarska completed some bike repairs before opening their bicycle shop in Boulder for the day. The first person to come in that day was an old co-worker and friend of Boiarska’s who stopped in to check in on the couple.
This routine of fixing bikes and catching up with friends and regulars has become the new norm for Boiarska and Potykun, but it was not always like this.
Three years ago, the couple and their two children watched as Russian forces began invading and bombing the Kyiv region, which is where they lived. The family then went to live with Boiarska’s mother to escape the bombing, as she lived about 60 miles from Kyiv.
“They started to bomb Kyiv immediately, and we were crying, just calling all our relatives, it was terrible,” Boiarska said. “Now, after three years, you can speak about it, but at that moment, I remember grabbing all the kids documents, and that’s it.”
After Russian forces were kicked out of the Kyiv region, the family decided to return and try to resume working and continue their life there again. But Boiarska’s mother was soon contacted by a friend who she had worked with in the U.S., about the Uniting for Ukraine program.
The program, started under the Biden Administration in April 2022, allowed Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members to come to America if a supporter/friend in the U.S. was willing to host them and give them financial support. Once both parties agreed, the program would fly the Ukrainians to the U.S., where the program would help them get visas as well as work visas.
Boiarska’s mother declined, wanting to remain with her own mother in Ukraine, but she told Boiarska about the program.
“It was never our goal to emigrate somewhere. We love our country …,” Boiarska said. “But my husband told me, ‘You should go for the summer,’ so I went for the summer, and now it’s been three years.”
Boiarska and the children, who are now 5 and 12 years old, arrived in Washington, D.C., on May 29, 2022. But when they arrived, the friends they were supposed to stay with did not have enough room for her and the two children, since they were only expecting Boiarska’s mom. So, the friends in Washington, D.C., contacted another friend who lives in Longmont, who had a fully furnished basement in their house that Boiarska and her children could stay in.
Boiarska and the children lived in the basement for three weeks before moving into their own apartment. A Boulder County housing program helped them to get the apartment since Boiarska was not able to make any income at that time. But she did not realize that they would be moving into an unfurnished apartment.
“We slept for two weeks on the floor,” Boiarska said.
That summer, Russian forces became more aggressive and started bombing throughout Ukraine. Because of this, Boiarska and Potykun decided that she and the children should stay longer in America, and Potykun decided to leave everything they had in Ukraine and join his family in Colorado. With an unfurnished house, and knowing they would stay into the fall – having only brought summer clothes – Boiarska needed help.
The friend that they had lived with in Longmont told Boiarska about NextDoor, an app where community members can buy, sell, or ask for help between neighbors.
Laura Ankeny saw the post and reached out to Boiarska via NextDoor.
“Hanna posted on NextDoor that she was looking for a bit of help and support, and she had just arrived three weeks prior with two little boys,” Laura said. “I said, meet me at Target. So I met her at Target and we got the kids’ supplies and got clothes.”
Laura Ankeny had grandparents who had immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, and she grew up in an area of Pittsburgh that had a refugee community.
“I just kept thinking about my grandparents and how somebody helped them years ago,” Laura Ankeny said.
Potykun arrived in late October after being away from his family for almost half the year. It was a decision he could not go back on, because the Uniting for Ukraine program works like a one-way ticket. Under the program, if they were to visit Ukraine to see family, they could not come back to the U.S..
“It was a big decision because I left everything,” Potykun said. “They destroyed many electric facilities, electricity plants, and stations. They tried to make Ukrainian life black out.”
Boiarska found that enrolling the kids into the school system was easy, but receiving a work permit took till December. In the spring of 2023, she got a job as a manager at the Safeway on Arapahoe in Boulder. Potykun ended up getting a job around the same time as a children’s soccer coach and referee at Boulder and Longmont Indoor Soccer complexes.
Throughout all of this, the family’s relationship began to strengthen with Laura and her husband Chuck, who had founded Freedom Folding Bikes, a bike shop in Boulder, in 2015.
“The first dinner they invited us to was Thanksgiving. It was like, you guys won’t be alone,” Boiarska said.
Boiarska and Potykun began expressing their concerns about how the area and people who lived in their apartment complex were not safe. The Ankenys understood that children should not be in that environment, so they invited the family to rent out a part of their home in Longmont. Already, the Ankenys were beginning to spend more time in Arizona as they were getting ready to fully retire there.
“It is weird to rent your house when you didn’t intend to rent your house, but in this case, it was really a good thing,” Laura Ankeny said. “You know the house is filled with laughter.”
About six months after getting her job, Safeway changed Boiarska’s hours from 4 a.m. to noon.
“I don’t remember this time of my life,” Boiarska said. “I was asleep, I didn’t see my husband, I didn’t see my kids.”
But since the Ankenys still owned the bike shop, on 28th Street in Boulder, and were beginning to get ready to fully retire, Chuck Ankeny began expressing concerns to Boiarska and Potykun about what he was going to do with the shop, as he didn’t want to have to give up on the business.
Then, after a dinner that the family had with Chuck Ankeny, they mentioned the idea of possibly taking over the bike shop. As it turns out, Chuck Ankeny was thinking the same thing, but neither the couple nor Ankeny had wanted to bring it up, concerned about asking too much of the other.
In June of 2024, with only four months left on his Boulder lease, Chuck Ankeny hired Boiarska to work at the bike shop with the intention of getting her ready to take it over. Potykun soon followed.
Much more at the link!
Back to Ukraine.
🇺🇦 Today marks the beginning of a new school year. This day has been made possible thanks to our Ukrainian soldiers! We are grateful to them for their protection and remember the fallen heroes!
— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
🇺🇦 We want children to study under peaceful skies. We want their school memories to be about adventures, friends, and teachers, not bomb shelters and sirens.
— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Skynex shooting at Russian Shahed in the sky over Ukraine www.facebook.com/reel/1138187…
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Odesa and Mykolaiv Oblasts:
At a briefing held by Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the russian army, a map was behind him that showed the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions as part of russia.
Russia does not want peace. They are planning to continue their conquest.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Donetsk Oblast:
⚡️Ukraine liberates village of Novoekonomichne in Donetsk Oblast, General Staff says.
Ukrainian assault groups spent two weeks fighting to liberate the settlement, raising the national flag in the village center on Aug. 31, according to the General Staff.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) September 1, 2025 at 2:14 PM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Ukraine’s 425th Regiment has liberated the village of Novoekonomichne in Donetsk Oblast and raised the national flag, the General Staff announced on Sept. 1.
Novoekonomichne, with a pre-war population of nearly 2,800 people, is located about 14 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of the embattled city of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian assault groups spent two weeks fighting to liberate the settlement, raising the national flag in the village center on Aug. 31, according to the General Staff.
Since mid-July, the village has appeared in the “gray zone” on maps published by the DeepState monitoring group, indicating ongoing fighting. As of Aug. 31, despite the General Staff’s statement, Novoekonomichne remained in the “gray zone.”
Earlier, Ukrainian forces regained control of the village of Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 24.
Kharkiv:
In Kharkiv, children began the school year in underground classrooms. Windowless shelters built for survival. No child should ever have to attend such a school, but we have no choice.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Kharkiv right now ⚡️
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Lutsk, Volyn Oblast:
🖼🇺🇦 The painting does not scream — it hurts! Fear, loneliness, but at the same time — an incredible power of survival. This is an image of all children who are forced to grow up in the shadow of war, and a reminder that the most precious thing is the life we hold in our arms. 🧵
— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🇺🇦 Mariana Krokhmalna is a young Ukrainian artist from Lutsk.
She graduated from the Shevchenko Kyiv State Art Lyceum and the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.
In June 2025, her series of works entitled “Alarm” was presented at the Beaux-Arts de Paris gallery in Paris.— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Kherson Oblast:
Air strike on Russian drone operators base in Kherson region.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Russian occupied Crimea:
The unit “Prymary” carried out another operation in occupied Crimea. Using drones, they struck the Russian military airbase in Hvardiiske near Simferopol, destroying two Mi-8 helicopters.
Additionally, a Russian tugboat, likely BUK-2190, was hit in Sevastopol Bay during an air attack.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Russian occupied Mariupol:
Water crisis. Mariupol.
Today, according to the schedule, there was supposed to be water in Mariupol. In the end, the water was supplied — but again not where people were waiting for it. And where it was expected — there was no water.— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Pokrovsk:
HIMARS and FPVs struck an assault column in the Pokrovsk direction.
As a result, Russia’s 155th Brigade lost between 50 and 100 personnel and 7 pieces of heavy equipment.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Belgorod Oblast, Russia:
Somewhere in the Belgorod region of Russia on August 26, eight officers of the Russian FSB were killed at once as a result of a missile strike.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 5:18 AM
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
There are no new Patron skeets or videos today. Here is some adjacent material.
There is tenderness and loyalty in his stillness, as if he were the guardian of this morning, a small beacon on four paws. There is light ahead, and it is for everyone. Seagulls cry out in the distance, but the silence is stronger—it gently covers thoughts like a blanket.
Odesa 💙💛— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Open thread!
Betty
Such a comprehensive post. Thanks for putting it together. Ukrainians continue to be so impressive as they carry on despite all the loss and sorrow.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty: You’re welcome.
Jay
Thank you, Adam.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: You’re welcome.
Gin & Tonic
Minor linguistic note relative to that post/video from Crimea – “prymary” may look to you like “primary” but it is actually the plural of “ghost” or “apparition.” Good name for a covert unit operating behind enemy lines.
Jay
In ruZZian Occupied Ukraine, even the dead are held hostage.
nitter.poast.org/saintjavelin/status/1962491540338598304#m
hotshoe
I don’t know what Europeans can do to stop Russia, but it should be something, not nothing which it appears to be so far. They cannot rely on Ukraine absorbing all of Putin’s attention and keeping the rest of Europe safe on the other side of some country boundaries.
Putin obviously wants to overturn western govt even where he cannot possibly attack with military forces. Where is the European retaliation when Putin performs hostile acts against them? Is everybody just waiting around for Putin to die like we are waiting for Donnie to die, and hoping that the next guy will be less aggressive?
Gin & Tonic
@Jay:
This doesn’t make sense. He was detained, then released, then did the job?
Jay
@hotshoe:
The EU are the largest contributor of weapons and other military aid to Ukraine, outstripping the US by far. When you add in the rest of the Coalition, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc, US contributions are pathetic for a so called “Superpower”.
ruZZia has donated more tanks and armour than the US.
On the Civil Aid front, the US compared to the EU is a joke.
Everybody in NATO and the rest of the Coalition have promised back up their “Security Guarantee’s” , should there ever be a Ceasefire or a Peace with boots on the ground. The USA, well TACO.
Sanctions, TACO.
While the EU is cutting trade with ruZZia, the US is trying to Make Trade With ruZZia Great Again.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
As near as I can parse it so far, in exchange for his son, body, location, proof of life, what ever he was promised, he did the legwork of setting up the murder, but was discovered and arrested before he could carry out his plot.
So the ruZZians found another victim to do the job using his legwork.
Traveller
@hotshoe: To be honest, I….by a fairly large degree….prefer the incoherent policy chaos of Mr Trump being alive to any of JD Vance with Mr Trump being dead.
This may sound crazy, but my real terror is Mr Vance in control of US Policy towards Ukraine. Vance’s hostility & extreme malice is obvious. This is not a happy thought. Traveller
Jay
@Traveller:
No sanctions every two weeks, vs no sanctions?
Exxon being asked to invest in ruZZian oil vs Exxon being asked to invest in ruZZian oil?
Weak Obama sanctions, Biden sanctions being lifted vs. weak Obama sanctions, Biden sanctions being lifted?
Restrictions on every “ally” but Israel using US weapons and Tech vs. restrictions on every “ally” but Israel using US weapons and Tech/
Traveller
@Jay: there remains some weapons flow US>>>>>Ukraine. There remains (most) intelligence sharing…and some free use of US Technology.
Under a Vance Presidency, all this would come to a skidding stop.
August 10, 2025
he (Vance) warned that America is “done with the funding of the war”.
The Ambush
Vance lectured Zelenskyy and argued the wartime leader hadn’t shown proper gratitude for the billions of dollars in military assistance the United States has given to his country. Vance suggested better “diplomacy” could have prevented the Russian invasion, accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful.”
The blowup led to speculation that Vance had deliberately set up Zelenskyy for public ridicule.
Most Recently
“Mr. President, so long as you behave, I won’t say anything,” Mr. Vance recounted to Fox News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, adding that the Ukrainian leader chuckled in response.
It was not the first time that Mr. Vance had addressed Mr. Zelensky during a critical diplomatic summit with words more commonly spoken to toddlers than heads of state.
**********
I think Vance has even said Ukraine is not a State…I can’t find it now.
Traveller
Jay
@Traveller:
The US missiles that the US have “allowed” Ukraine, and the EU to buy on Ukraine’s behalf, can’t be used by Ukraine against ruZZia or Crimea. So their long range is tactically and strategically useless.
What few Patriots Ukraine has, still can’t be used against ruZZian aircraft in ruZZian airspace, so Ukraine is still reliant on Vietnam War era SA-2’s.
Starlink still geofences Ukraine to occupied Ukrainian territory, excluding Crimea and Ukrainian occupied Kursk.
I doubt ruZZian asset Tulsi is sharing any intel of value with Ukraine.
Mr. Bemused Senior
First, as always, my thanks to Adam for his work here and elsewhere.
I am a powerless bystander, reading these reports almost nightly and despairing. I thought it time, though, to set down my thoughts.
It’s obvious at this point that the West, and the U.S. in particular, are under sustained attack from Russia. Vladimir Putin is in many ways responsible, but it seems clear to me that a large portion of Russian society at least acquiesces, and perhaps applauds, this policy and feels justified in pursuing it regardless of the cost or means used. We have numerous indications: disregard for casualties, torture of prisoners, kidnapping of children, targeting civilians, assassinations. No doubt some of the details are suppressed but can Russians be completely ignorant of these atrocities?
Donald Trump is a mirror-image of this world view. He makes no secret of his admiration for Putin. He enjoys violence and humiliating his opponents. In my mind he regards Putin’s tactics as something to be emulated. I recall his comment “you think we’re so good?” He is the distillation of all that is wrong with American society. Do all his supporters subscribe to this bleak vision of humanity?
I have no prescription for action to oppose this, to me, appalling state of affairs. I hold onto the hope that this isn’t what most people in this country want.
I have one notion, based on the work of the ICIJ, that going after money hidden by criminals, terrorists and corrupt leaders including Putin himself would help. I don’t expect that to happen any time soon.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
Westyny
Thank you, Adam.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
Thank you Adam.
Miss Bianca
Thanks Adam, and TaMara too, for the Colorado link. I’m going to put into my Valley News letter next week.
As for the rest, well, I got no words. As usual.
The rest is silence.