(Image by NEIVANMADE)
There’s a lot going on tonight, so I’m going to just run through the basics.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
Ukraine and America Deserve a Respectful Dialogue and a Clear Position From One Another – Address by the President
4 March 2025 – 20:00
Dear Ukrainians,
Today, many people have the same question: what will happen next with U.S. assistance?
I have instructed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, the heads of our intelligence agencies, and our diplomats to contact their counterparts in the United States and obtain official information. People should not have to guess. Ukraine and America deserve a respectful dialogue and a clear position from one another. Especially when it comes to protecting lives during a full-scale war.
Of course, in Ukraine, we have been receiving various signals for weeks now, and there has already been a precedent for aid being halted. There was a suspension of humanitarian aid, of energy aid. There was also a halt in military aid – at the end of January, but at that time, everything was quickly resumed. We saw the risks. Therefore, our agencies – both military and special services – managed to develop action algorithms for any developments in the situation. This is not 2022 anymore. Our resilience is stronger now. We have the means to defend ourselves. But for us, maintaining normal, partnership-based relations with America is essential to bringing the war to a real end. None of us wants an endless war.
Ukraine will always be grateful to the U.S. for all the support that has been and is being provided, and which is working to preserve the now rather fragile foundations of security in Europe. After all, this is not just about our country. It is about everyone in Europe. We seek constructive cooperation. Partnership-based relations. We can only regret what happened at the White House instead of our negotiations. But we must find the strength to move forward, to respect one another, just as we have always respected America, Europe, and all our partners, and to do everything together to bring peace closer. And I thank everyone who is supporting Ukraine in this effort.
Today, I have already spoken with the President of Finland, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister of Greece, the Prime Minister of Croatia, the NATO Secretary General, and the leader of Germany’s CDU party, Friedrich Merz – the very party that won the recent Bundestag elections. Clear support for Ukraine. Thank you. There is very important news from the European Commission about significant funds for Europe’s defense. For us, this primarily means additional air defense – more systems, more missiles, and increased ability to protect our cities and villages, our positions. And all of this creates a solid additional foundation for efforts to bring the war to an end. We will continue consultations, and new joint steps will follow. Ukraine deserves peace. Ukrainians deserve respect.
And one last thing.
We know that the Russians have not changed their positions or demands regarding Ukraine. They will insist on reducing our army, they will seek a legal renunciation of our territories, as well as a significant political deformation of Ukraine with the weakening of the Ukrainian Constitution. But I will say that, in fact, as long as we all in Ukraine stand together and stand strong, as long as we are here, no one will succeed in this – peace will be dignified.
Glory to Ukraine!
First Lady Zelenska visited the School of Superheroes, which was funded by her foundation and the government of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Video followed by the write up of the event.
Ukraine’s Largest School of Superheroes Center, Established with Financial Support from the Olena Zelenska Foundation, Begins Operating in Lviv
4 March 2025 – 19:10
The largest School of Superheroes center has fully launched in Lviv. This is the sixth educational space established with full funding from the Olena Zelenska Foundation. The Foundation’s partner, the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein, has become the donor of the project.
The First Lady of Ukraine, the Foundation’s team, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sports of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Dominique Hasler, visited the new School of Superheroes.”
I am grateful to the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein for supporting this project of the Foundation. Children who have to undergo long-term inpatient treatment desperately need communication, attention, and the opportunity to develop, and continue their education,” Olena Zelenska said.
The new center will operate at the Clinical Center for Pediatric Medicine, which in 2023 merged two hospitals of the region – Okhmatdyt and the Western Ukrainian Specialized Children’s Medical Center.
“This is an important step in expanding our capacity to implement the rights to education for the young patients of the hospitals. The center has educational spaces in two buildings of the hospital, which allows us to provide education to a larger number of children,” emphasized Nataliia Zhilinska, Director of the State Institution “School of Superheroes.”
Currently, the Clinical Center for Pediatric Medicine is one of the leading institutions in Ukraine in bone marrow and kidney transplants, as well as in the treatment of oncology, hematology, orphan and other pediatric diseases. Over 20,000 children from across the country receive assistance there every year.
During a meeting with Dominique Hasler, the team of the Foundation also discussed plans for cooperation, including support in expanding the network of the School of Superheroes.
“We thank the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein for their help with the project to provide humanitarian aid to large foster families. In particular, with donor funds, we were able to assist 92 such families from the Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, and Ternopil regions,” said Nina Horbachova, Director of the Olena Zelenska Foundation.
This year, with funding from the Foundation, six more branches of the School of Superheroes will be opened in Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Lutsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, and Mukachevo.
The School of Superheroes project operates under the patronage of the First Lady. These are educational spaces in children’s hospitals where young patients can follow the school curriculum while undergoing treatment.
Georgia:
Rustaveli is blocked again.
#GeorgiaProtests
Day 97— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Day 97. Non-stop protests continue in Tbilisi and small regional towns alike. #GeorgiaProtests
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Photos show supporters gathered outside the courthouse before Mzia Amaglobeli’s trial begins.
📷 Mindia Gabadze/Publika.ge
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Thank you, Ambassador Gasri! 🇫🇷 🇬🇪
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 9:51 AM
As the trial of Mzia Amaglobeli begins, she enters the courtroom.
#terroringeorgia #freemzia
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Proceedings at the Batumi City Court, where the pre-trial hearing for Batumelebi & Netgazeti founder and CEO Mzia Amaglobeli is taking place, are currently in recess. The court has been on break for over an hour, with attendees awaiting the resumption of the hearing.
#MediaUnderAttack
— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 4, 2025 at 10:54 AM
🔴 Judge Viktor Metreveli upheld Mzia Amaglobeli’s pre-trial detention, accepting the prosecution’s argument that she poses a risk of reoffending. Meanwhile, the court deemed nearly all evidence presented by the defense inadmissible.
#RepressionInGeorgia
#MediaUnderAttack— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) March 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM
There will be war in Europe, continuous or periodic, as long as Russia is able to wage wars.
Anyone discarding this truth is either naive or an enabler.
The only solution is to not leave any grey security zones around Russia.— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 2, 2025 at 11:22 AM
The EU:
We are living in dangerous times.
Europe‘s security is threatened in a very real way.
Today I present ReArm Europe.
A plan for a safer and more resilient Europe ↓
europa.eu/!MFPVMC
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu) March 4, 2025 at 3:52 AM
ReArm means:
• More fiscal space for national public funding for defence through the escape clause
• A new instrument for loans to EU countries for defence capabilities most needed
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu) March 4, 2025 at 3:53 AM
• More flexible use of EU funding towards defence investment
• More private capital mobilised via the Savings and Investment Union and the @eib.org
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu) March 4, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Full text of the von der Leyen statement on the “ReArm Europe” plan
— Steve Peers (@stevepeers.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 5:36 AM
“Eutelsat said it was in talks with European governments about providing additional satellite connectivity in Ukraine, as investors bet that the French satellite operator could replace Elon Musk’s Starlink in the country.” www.ft.com/content/f4cc…
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 10:22 AM
From The Financial Times:
Eutelsat said it was in talks with European governments about providing additional satellite connectivity in Ukraine, as investors bet that the French satellite operator could replace Elon Musk’s Starlink in the country.
Eutelsat, the owner of OneWeb, a rival to Starlink, said on Tuesday that it was “actively collaborating with European institutions and business partners”, adding that it had equipment that could be “deployed swiftly in Ukraine to connect the most critical missions and infrastructures”.
Ukraine has relied heavily on Starlink for its military campaigns as it has played a critical role in improving its communications on the battlefield, but there are fears this could be under threat after the US suspended military aid to Kyiv on Monday.
Shares in Eutelsat soared as much as 123 per cent to €4.50 before easing back to trade up 70 per cent, as investors bet that European leaders’ efforts to support Ukraine and shoulder more of the burden for its security would boost demand for the group’s services.
The shares remain far below the more than €10 they were trading at before Eutelsat announced its acquisition of OneWeb in 2022.
US officials have raised the possibility of cutting Ukraine’s access to Starlink’s satellite system, Reuters reported last week. Musk, Starlink’s billionaire owner and a key adviser to US President Donald Trump, said in a tweet that the story was false.
Eutelsat said its talks with European governments were focused on using a combination of its satellite constellations — OneWeb at about 1,200km above the earth and the Geo satellites at 35,000km — to strengthen satellite connectivity in Ukraine and the Black Sea region.
Both are capable of providing connectivity for Ukrainian drones, which have inflicted serious damage on Russian forces. Some military experts believe any large concentration of Russian troops or tanks would be decimated by Ukrainian drone attacks.
The EU on Tuesday proposed a package of €150bn in loans to capitals for defence procurement. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the move could facilitate “immediate military equipment for Ukraine”.
Eutelsat said that “the timing [of deploying additional user terminals for critical missions and infrastructure] depends on procurement decisions by European member states and the necessary infrastructure co-ordination”.
A commission spokesperson told the Financial Times that it was exploring “possible alternatives to Starlink in Ukraine”.
This could eventually include access to the GovSatCom system, which will pool the satellite capabilities of member states in a highly secure network for government services such as crisis management, critical infrastructure operation or surveillance.
This service is not due to be operational before next year, although it could be accelerated, according to one European official.
OneWeb already provides services to Ukraine through a German distributor, but its technology is older than Starlink’s. Starlink has more than 7,000 satellites in orbit, while OneWeb has fewer than 700.
Germany:
MASSIVE FISCAL PACKAGE OUT OF BERLIN: 12-20%+ of GDP.
– 500 billion fund for public investment
– All defence spending above 1% of GDP not counted for debt brake.
– Federal states can borrow 0.35% p.y. for investment.Germany is back – economically and militarily.
1/x
— Sander Tordoir (@sandertordoir.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:26 PM
CDU (Merz) and SPD (Klingbeil) CSU (Söder) just gave the presser. Big question is whether greens will sign up – my guess is yes.
Focus of the package is on defence and infrastructure. But money is fungible: tax cuts can be paid by reshuffling into special fund.
2/x
— Sander Tordoir (@sandertordoir.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:28 PM
I’m this sure will rekindle the German growth engine.
Private consumption, industrial production, and confidence have been down for years (See chart).
Balanced package of defence, industrial policy, public investment and tax cuts will drive op demand, consumption and growth.
3/x
— Sander Tordoir (@sandertordoir.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Germany was stuck in a macroeconomic situation that is unique in its post-Cold War history.
Private household consumption and industrial production grew in line with German GDP, alternating as engines of growth. That is no longer the case.
4/x
— Sander Tordoir (@sandertordoir.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:33 PM
German industrial production has been declining for five years while private consumption never recovered from the pandemic shock (See Chart).
Fiscal policy that targets both will help.
So after years of not expecting growth, I’m raising my German growth estimates: Germany is back.
5/5.
— Sander Tordoir (@sandertordoir.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
This is massive. The real Zeitenwende.
— Annette Dittert (@annettedittert.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Merz conspicuously quotes Draghi’s 2012 “whatever it takes” (the moment in eurozone crisis when then ECB chief steadied market nerves by pledging to hold up the euro). A recognition of what is most at stake in present moment: Europe’s credibility.
— Jeremy Cliffe (@jeremycliffe.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Hard to know what’s more mind-boggling:
– debt brake, nemesis of Scholz government, suddenly defanged
– CDU/CSU u-turn within days of election
– sheer fiscal firepower unleashed (larger than GDPs of most European countries)
– old-school Merz dragging Germany into the present— Jeremy Cliffe (@jeremycliffe.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Hats off to Merz. Moving fast and breaking things before he’s even in office.
An (as yet) unelected leader showing the other EU 26 the scale of the massive changes required.
— Henry Foy (@henryjfoy.ft.com) March 4, 2025 at 1:29 PM
France:
Even leader of the French far-right party “National Rally,” Marine Le Pen, condemned the suspension of American military aid to Ukraine.
“This is very cruel to the Ukrainian soldiers who patriotically defend their country.” – she said.
www.lefigaro.fr/politique/ma…— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Finland:
“Trump will soon realize that his ‘peace strategy’ for Ukraine does not work.” – Finnish Foreign Minister.
According to Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, the White House’s strategy is essentially to appease Russia while pressuring Ukraine.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 11:34 AM
The UK:
Over the course of a week, the UK debate has completely changed. Just days ago, the right was still trying to use Trump to humiliate Starmer. Now, after the Zelenskyy meeting & Vance’s nonsense, there’s a consensus against the US administration. British Trump supporters utterly marginalised.
— Ian Dunt (@iandunt.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Managing to make Farage look like less of a Trump/Vance fluffer, this week of all weeks, is really some achievement.
— Alex Andreou (@sturdyalex.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Politics is about whose side you’re on.
Kemi Badenoch has just shown she is on the side of JD Vance rather than our brave armed forces and the families who’ve lost loved ones in conflicts over the past 40 years.
— Ed Davey (@eddavey.libdems.org.uk) March 4, 2025 at 8:43 AM
The US:
This is what Badenoch is trying to spin:
457 British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan after going to war to support America after America was attacked on 9/11. Has Trump ever said thank you?
Trump and Vance insult all of us.
— Shaun Pinner (@olddogua.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 6:05 AM
The Brits were also in charge of Multinational Division South (MND South) during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Brits took 179 uniformed KIA and at least three British government civilians were also killed in action.
The parallels with the Yanukovych regime are becoming increasingly eerie
— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 10:24 AM
🧵 A few words on US military aid to Ukraine. This comes in two flavours. Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) takes things from existing US stockpiles. Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) procures new things from US companies. (Chart: www.csis.org/analysis/ukr…)
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:35 AM
The bulk of PDA that was ‘notified’ by Biden was delivered by January 20th with the exception of some armoured vehicles which needed repair. There was about 3.8bn of that left. Big part of it was delivery of NATO-standard ammo. If that stops, Ukraine faces an eventual crunch—but not an immediate one
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:35 AM
USAI funding was used for some key weapons: air-defence systems, interceptors, high-end electronic warfare, armaments for jets. Orders in pipeline would/will deliver this year & next by default. Canceling it—rather than just pausing, as has happened—would require cancelling contracts with US firms.
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:35 AM
My understanding is that, even without PDA deliveries, Ukraine would be fine for some months as long as it remained on the defensive. The serious problems arise down the line, not in days or weeks. Withdrawal of US intel or Starlink provision would cause more immediate disruption, of course.
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:35 AM
The sliver of good news. “More difficult would be stopping shipments of newly produced weapons from contracts Ukraine signed with the defense industry, though with funds provided by the United States. Legally, those belong to Ukraine.” www.csis.org/analysis/ukr…
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:50 AM
🥴 Reuters: US prepares plan for potential easing of sanctions against Russia
— Ukrainska Pravda 🇺🇦 (@pravda.ua) March 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
From Ukrainska Pravda:
The United States is working on a plan to potentially ease sanctions against Russia as part of Donald Trump’s efforts to renew ties with Moscow and end the war in Ukraine.
Source: Reuters, citing a US official and another person familiar with the matter, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The White House has asked the State Department and the Treasury Department to draw up a list of sanctions that could be eased. The sources said the list had been requested for discussion by US officials and the Russian side as part of broader negotiations by the US administration to improve diplomatic and economic relations.
The sanctions agencies are now preparing proposals on the lifting of sanctions from certain legal entities and individuals, including some Russian oligarchs, Reuters’ sources said.
The fact that the White House specifically requested this list in recent days underscores the willingness of Trump and his advisers to ease Russian sanctions as part of a potential deal with Moscow.
It is unclear exactly what Washington might demand from Russia in exchange for sanctions relief.
US sources say the White House asked State and Treasury Department officials to draw up the possible sanctions relief plan before Trump extended the state of emergency last week over the situation in Ukraine.
The state of emergency imposes sanctions on certain assets and individuals involved in Russia’s war. The measures, introduced by the Obama administration, have been in place since March 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea.
Background:
- In January, Trump threatened to increase sanctions against Russia if Putin was unwilling to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. But recently, Trump administration officials have openly acknowledged the possibility of sanctions against Moscow being eased.
- Earlier, Bloomberg reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had assured European allies that the US would maintain sanctions against Russia at least until an agreement is reached to end the Russo-Ukrainian war.
- In an interview with Bloomberg Television on 20 February, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said economic restrictions on Russia could be relaxed based on the Kremlin’s willingness to negotiate.
- Trump told reporters on 26 February that Russian sanctions could be eased “at some point”.
Who could’ve possibly predicted?
I haven’t even met Donald for negotiations and he’s already given me everything I want.
— Darth Putin (@darthputinkgb.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Back to Ukraine.
Trump says he wants peace, yet he’s stopping aid. In reality, he’s just helping Russia keep killing Ukrainians.
— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 12:27 AM
This isn’t a peace plan, it’s a trap to force our surrender. Siding with Russia never helped anyone. Putin isn’t negotiating—he wants our capitulation. Ukraine will remain strong 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Halting US aid to Ukraine means cutting off air defense—leaving homes, hospitals, and schools unprotected. Every intercepted missile saves lives. Without support, civilians will pay the price in blood. This isn’t just about war; it’s about humanity.
— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Ukrainian intelligence shows drones for long-range strikes. ‘Lyutyi’ drone can fly over 2000 km and carry 40-70 kg of explosives.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 12:55 PM
NEW: Ukrainian PM says artillery production in Ukraine has tripled in two years. Production of armored personnel fivefold, anti-tank weapons two fold, and ammunition by a factor of 2.5.
— Michael Horowitz (@michaelhorowitz.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 6:05 AM
According to the PM, Ukraine produces around a third of the weapons needed on the battlefield, and the goal is to reach 50%
— Michael Horowitz (@michaelhorowitz.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Odesa:
Russia attacked the Odesa region tonight, killing at least one person and destroying several households and infrastructure facilities.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Kharkiv:
There are Russian drones over Kharkiv that have been coming for several hours now. I can hear them flying nearby or the occasional sound of air defense, along with Russian ballistic missiles targeting the Kharkiv region outside the city.
This is just our life now.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Sumy:
Tonight, russia struck a children’s hospital in Sumy with a drone.
The drone was loaded with shrapnel.
It’s a miracle that the hospital was empty.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Kherson Oblast:
Cluster munition strike on the Russian military training grounds in the Kherson region.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Russian occupied Crimea:
A radar station, presumably 96L6E from the Russian S-300/S-400 air defense system, is burning on a highway in Crimea. t.me/Crimeanwind/…
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 5:57 AM
That’s enough for tonight.
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Good News in My Backyard
Gin & Tonic
I did not have Marine Le Pen defending Ukraine on my 2025 bingo card.
Gin & Tonic
I’ve read both the Reuters and the Ukrainska Pravda articles about the idea of lifting sanctions, and maybe it’s late and my reading comprehension is shot, but I’m still looking for the part where either the US or Ukraine gets something from russia in return.
Jay
Thank you, Adam.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
That would be a no, for the US, never for Ukraine.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Nope.
Also, the new Tory leader appears to be a member of Blacks for Racists.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Trump thinks he’ll get cheap petroleum from Putin, which will help offset the effects of his tariffs.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: You’re welcome.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: That is delightful.
Jay
nitter.poast.org/IAPonomarenko/status/1896871853827788886#m
A long, hard watch to back this up, almost an hour,
youtube.com/watch?v=g_0v9UPFS_U
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
It won’t.
HopefullyNotcassandra
Thank you for this.
?? Is mr trump claiming to outlaw all attempts by university students to petition our government ??
?? Does he based this wildly unconstitutional “order” on anything at all??
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: I know that and you know that.
Adam L Silverman
@HopefullyNotcassandra: His antisemitism EO.
Jay
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
Kent State x 2000
Gin & Tonic
Tossing one out into the ether in case anyone has any ideas.
there was some talk in an earlier thread today about WWII experiences of commenters’ fathers, uncles, grandfathers. My father’s were a little different. He finished medical school in Krakow, and some time in mid-1939 was conscripted as a medic in the Polish Army. In September, of course, things went to shit in a hurry, and he was captured and sent to a POW camp. I knew the basic outlines, but my sister recently unearthed a document my mother wrote some time ago that sheds more light. According to her, the POW camp was in Kutno – that’s in central Poland some 50 klicks west of Warsaw. There’s a long and interesting story for another time about how she traveled there and found him (he was just her fiance at the time.) But the problem is I find no record of a German POW camp in Kutno.
Polish records about German POW camps are actually very comprehensive – locations, lists of POW’s held, etc. But nothing about Kutno. The level of detail provided by my mother is quite high, and it’s all internally consistent, so she wasn’t mis-remembering or making shit up. So I’m kind of stuck.
The other weird part is that by November he was out and back in Krakow. There is nothing in my mother’s writing about that, and I’ve long thought maybe this is a question that shouldn’t be asked.
Jay
wonkette.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-peace-plans
YY_Sima Qian
@Adam L Silverman: The US already has cheap fossil fuel. Russia & the US are competitors in the global oil & gas market.
Gin & Tonic
@HopefullyNotcassandra: In November of 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych cracked down on student-led protests in Kyiv (they were protesting his withdrawal from EU accession negotiations.) By January there were hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. By February 22, the Yanukovych government had collapsed and Yanukovych himself had fled to russia.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
does this help?
holocausthistoricalsociety.org.uk/contents/ghettosj-r/kutno.html
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Here is the comprehensive list of all the NAZI camps and ghettos. This includes POW camps.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: It may have also been a dulag or transit camp for POWs while they were being processed. Or a heilag, which were for POWs being repatriated. There were also two different types of POW camps – one for officers and one for enlisted.
Adam L Silverman
@YY_Sima Qian: I know that and you know that, but remember who we’re dealing with.
YY_Sima Qian
Long interview by the South China Morning Post with Dmytro Kuleba, summary thread on X below. Kuleba is an astute observer, & it seems clear that he is communicating to Beijing on behalf of the Ukrainian government. There has definitely been an uptick in engagement w/ Ukrainian voices in the PRC & PRC aligned press:
Gin & Tonic
@Jay: Thanks but not really.
Gin & Tonic
@YY_Sima Qian: Kuleba is a smart guy (my son worked for him for a while.)
YY_Sima Qian
@Adam L Silverman: Good point
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: Nothing in there that’s helpful, just two brief mentions of Kutno from much later in the war. Thanks anyway. My mother said the camp was huge.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Sorry about that.
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: I appreciate your efforts. I know my parents took a lot of information to their graves. Those were difficult years.
TBone
A tiny little part of me has always looked forward to Lichtenstein doing grand big things.
Leto
@Gin & Tonic: Here’s another source. It documents from 1939, but at least it’s more information.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
The Ghetto was closed in 1942, after that it was a forced labour camp for Poles.
Gin & Tonic
@Leto: Thanks, that’s the same thing Jay posted upthread. This wasn’t a ghetto or a “Jewish camp,” it was definitely POW’s. But Adam raises a good point: there were transit camps and repatriation camps, so maybe the records on those are different. Wikipedia actually has the most comprehensive list that I’ve found.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
From March 1942 on it was a “forced labour camp”.
Gin & Tonic
@Jay: Yeah, but he was gone by November of 1939. They were married in December 1939 in Krakow and made their way back to Lviv, where they stayed until 1944.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Adam L Silverman: So, only some speech and some petitions
unconstitutional still
wjca
And that right there is the problem. You need to look for where Trump, personally, gets something from Russia in return. Getting something for the US, let alone anyone else, simply isn’t an idea which would occur to him — except maybe as an utterly insincere applause line.
YY_Sima Qian
Lo & behold, one of the biggest China Hawks out there is preparing the ground for abandoning Taiwan, said it out loud in his Senate confirmation hearing:
It’s interesting that Colby believes (& probably was told) back tracking from his prior militarism vis-a-vis the PRC will help his confirmation prospects, while he has also back tracked on his prior realism vis-a-vis Iran by now claiming Iran “represents an existential threat to the US” (read Israel). His prior realism on Iran was the singular cause of Congressional resistance to his confirmation. Tells all you need to know about how f*cked up the strategic thinking in DC is. Not that courting war w/ the PRC is evidence of sanity.
Taiwan spending 10% of GDP on defense will collapse its social welfare state, at a time of already increasing domestic discontent due to wealth disparity & lack of prospects for young people. & Taiwan is supposed to hallow out its advanced semiconductor manufacturing capability , its one leverage over the world, by transferring it to the US, spend 10s of billions of USD buying overpriced American weapons, & not even for an implied security guarantee.
BTW, Colby’s grandfather was a Director of the CIA.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: I understand. I’ve got the same hole with my paternal grandfather’s WW II service because the program he was involved with is still classified. As in the military historians I worked with at USAWC had heard of it/recognized the program from my description, but couldn’t tell me anything other than it was still classified.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
It became a “ghetto” in June, 1940. From December, 1939 it was a mixed use area. Some of the Polish POW’s were handed over to the Soviets and wound up in Katyn. There were several massacres of Poles in the area by the AKb-Action (SS pre runner) groups.
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Taiwan has already said, that if the factory gets built, it will manufacture the old shit, not the bleeding edge shit. Everybody by now has the US’s “number”.
Adam L Silverman
@YY_Sima Qian: As I’ve previously written, Colby, like the acting undersecretary (who is also expected to get a senior appointment), assistant secretary for strategy and plans, the dasd for the Middle East, and the guy running the dod transition and recruited these folks, are all out of the Koch funded natsec community. They’re all genteel isolationists, which is what Koch wants in those he pays for.
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: The US$ 100B announced investment by TSMC is supposed to be for the same node as the most advanced in Taiwan, & includes an R&D center. The idea is to being TSMC US to the same level as TSMC Taiwan, & keep it there. Given the shortage of human capital for semiconductor manufacturing in the US, TSMC will have to shift a lot of technical staff from Taiwan to the US, as it has been doing of the AZ fabs. That will necessarily start to blunt out Taiwan’s edge in advanced chip fabrication, if it actually proceeds. Who knows if the announced investment will actually materialize.
For the TechBro Fascists around Trump, I am sure part of the calculation is that when TSMC brings the US back to the leading edge in chip fabrication, the US can use one of those episodes of Cross-Strait tensions to sabotage TSMC in Taiwan, or outright destroy the TSMC’s fab there if there is any sign that Taiwan might capitulate or otherwise reconcile w/ the Mainland. Then they’ll nationalize TSMC US & leave the US the dominant supplier of advanced semiconductors. All of that assumes that the TSMC is wiling & able to get the US back to the leading edge, & that the PRC will not catch up to the leading edge, in that time frame.
Unsurprisingly, the commentary in Taiwan to the TSMC announcement has been overwhelmingly negative, toward both the Trump regime and the DPP government for its perceived weakness I face of US bullying. Among the young people, the US is viewed as no better than the PRC.
Decades happening in weeks.
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
TSMC just Foxconned the US
Ruslal-led?
Westyny
Thank you, Adam.
Darkrose
Trump will get a pat on the head from Daddy.
Everyone else gets nothing.
YY_Sima Qian
@Adam L Silverman: I remember.
Ultimately, I think guys like Colby are motivated by grift, their analyses pander to the dominant zeitgeist. He started w/ advocating achieving military overmatch against the PLA in the Taiwan Strait, to prepare for a war he saw as inevitable, which would surely result in intensified arms racing. Then he changed to achieving military overmatch vis-a-vis the PLA, to deter war w/ the PRC, same wine different bottle, still pursuing arms racing. Then he started suggesting that the balance of power is shift against the US, & that the US must focus solely on the “Indo-Pacific” & leave the distractions such as Ukraine to the Europeans. Then he started suggesting that the US should not fight for Taiwan if Taiwan is not willing to sacrifice its liberal democracy by militarizing its society & economy, & threatened to bomb TSMC’s fabs in Taiwan if Taiwan is about to fall. Now he is saying the US is no longer strong enough to protect Taiwan, but Taiwan should proceed w/ militarizing its society & economy & buy loads of overpriced American weapons, anyway. To which voices in Taiwan (long present & surely magnified by PRC influence operations, but now becoming mainstream) respond:”if it is hopeless w/ US involvement, what hope does Taiwan have fighting alone”. All the militarization & weapons procurement will do is to delay the inevitable, at far greater cost.
Many among the Washington strategic class see Colby as a Realist, of which Colby is a transparently insincere one. The rest see him as a primacist advocating for the US to be the leading great power in an ethno-nationalist multipolar world, which I suppose is not incompatible w/ genteel isolationism, at least at the surface. They are likely to see Taiwan as inevitably part of the PRC’s sphere of influence, just as they see Ukraine as Russia’s. The Western Pacific region becomes the buffer/sacrificial zones.
There is a reason the Kochs help funded the Quincy Institute.
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: We’ll see. The US has a lot more leverage over TSMC than Foxconn. The majority of shareholders of TSMC are US institutional investors, TSMC is highly dependent on US customers for its production, it is completely reliant on EDA software & semiconductor manufacturing equipment from US suppliers.
That is the reason the AZ fabs ended up getting built, even though it did/does not make sense financially for TSMC, & Foxconn’s Wisconsin plant languished.
no body no name
@YY_Sima Qian:
More shit from famed companies like apple, who had the highest suicide rate at their foxconn area, is from foxconn with TSMC. And foxconn bolted on us under Republicans. TSMC is hot because of nvidia right now. This is not that simple.
Jay
And Rusal?
Adam L Silverman
@YY_Sima Qian: No arguments here.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
Does anyone have any thoughts about the madness that unfolded in the Serbian parliament? I have never seen anything like it.
Did anyone else see Joe Scarborough ‘s reaction to the news that military aid to Ukraine had been suspended and what Vance said? He was talking to Anne Applebaum who is currently in Europe when he suddenly blew a gasket and went positively incendiary over the entire situation. I must say I really enjoyed it.
Starmer IMHO, has shot him and his allies in the foot by waffling on about how important America is to Europe’s defence. While technically correct, it gave the scrofulous lot currently squatting in the White House an opening. An opening that was taken. I’m sick of people playing “nice” with others who don’t deserve it. It’s gross, it’s offensive and it’s not working anyway. Then again, I hate realpolitik so what do I know?
Thank you Adam. Hope your girls are doing well.
YY_Sima Qian
@Adam L Silverman:
What I find disorienting is that the transformation of Colby happened in < 4 yrs. The balance of power in the Asia-Pacific has been shifting, but not that fast.
Medicine Man
@YY_Sima Qian: At this point I would not be sad in the least to see Ukraine secure their survival by cutting deals with China. If China sees their partnership with russia as a means towards ending the era of US dominance, this would seem both appropriate and perhaps deserved in some ways.
Jay
@Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom:
Serbian Ruling Party corruption. Train station canopy collapsed, (fraud) killing a bunch of students and others, protests for weeks, denials of the fraud, now have entered Parliament.
YY_Sima Qian
@Medicine Man: The PRC will act selfishly, certainly not out to defend Ukrainian interests at the negotiations table. Nevertheless, Ukraine might get a better deal w/ the PRC at the table than w/o. That certainly applies to Türkiye. The EU will try to bolster Ukrainian interests, but it now has little leverage over Russia. Türkiye & especially the PRC do have leverage they can apply, & neither are hostile to Ukraine, certainly not in the way Putin & Trump are. Most importantly, beyond securing terms that might be less unfavorable to Ukraine, Türkiye & especially the PRC at least have some ability to make the deal stick.
Crazy world we live in.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: interesting, and complex.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: OT: I have a couple of poems for you! Will share in the late night open thread.
wu ming
@YY_Sima Qian:
among young KMT/TPP supporters, maybe, but china remains extremely unpopular among most young taiwanese. it is true that there was more support for harris last election, and trump’s reputation—weirdly high in the recent past, for some of the same dumb reasons as in hong kong and china—is no doubt collapsing, but support for china is not increasing. if anything, taiwanese are getting more upset with china of late, as they keep doing those threatening military exercises offshore, and cutting sub-sea cables.
Quinerly
Thanks, Adam. Appreciate your posts. Always read.
Have generally checked out of BJ and following other posts and commenting.
Life is good in Santa Fe. Meeting a friend next week in LV at Charlie’s Spic and Span.😎
Quinerly
Thanks, Adam. Appreciate your posts. Always read.
Have generally checked out of BJ and following other posts and commenting.
Life is good in Santa Fe. Meeting a friend next week in LV at Charlie’s Spic and Span.😎
Quinerly
Deleted. Repeat posts.
The 2AM BJ gremlins.
wu ming
@YY_Sima Qian:
i could see the PRC seeing future postwar reconstruction in ukraine being a good match for their belt and road foreign investment strategy. plus, ukraine has a lot of experience using drones to punch way above their weight that china would be keen to learn from.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
@Jay: I knew about that, and there had been several large protests because of it. What I didn’t expect was the absolute circus that erupted in parliament.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: cool. I’ll look forward to it.
I was trying to remember, you wrote once whereabouts you live in china, but I didn’t grab a map right away, and now I’m wondering again. Trying to grasp the time zone difference, as well. Maybe my calendar book has it.
Are you able to access BlueSky from over there?
I hope you tried to write some limericks…
YY_Sima Qian
@wu ming: I didn’t say young Taiwanese’ opinions of the PRC has improved, but that of the U.S. has cratered.
I think there is also disparity among different age groups of “young Taiwanese”. IIRC, those < 22 are disaffected from all of the 3 major parties, but the DPP & the KMT especially. This cohort is also far more concerned about issues such as housing cost, wages, income equality than cross-Strait relations & geopolitics.
Trump’s past popularity in the Sinopshere is actually understandable, if idiotic. Taiwanese & Hong Kongers saw in Trump someone willing to “stand up to the CCP” (yeah right), while Chinese nationalists in the Mainland saw Trump as someone who would “punch liberals” & expose the hypocrisies of the U.S., not to mention undermine the U.S.’s fundamental competitiveness.
YY_Sima Qian
@wu ming: I think the biggest driver for the PRC is actually potential rapprochement w/ the EU, and cement the trans-Atlantic break. The reconstruction contracts are enticing, but I expect the EU & Türkiye will try to grab most of those opportunities.
As far as learning from the Ukrainians on drone warfare, you forget that the Russians have become pretty proficient at it too. Both continue to source massive quantities of drones & drone components from Chinese suppliers. Recent footage of PLA exercises have shown that drones of all kinds & sizes are being integrated into organizations, operations & tactics at all levels.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: well, what a fabulous job of undermining he’s done. So very effective in that. Hope it hurts a few American billionaires.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: I live in Wuhan (where COVID-19 started), but all of the PRC is on Beijing time.
I do read BlueSky via VPN, but I find that I don’t have time for both X & BlueSky. Unfortunately, the network on X is still much bigger, many of the people I follow are not yet on BlueSky, & even many that are still post duplicate content on the two platforms. Very few people I follow are exclusively on BlueSky, & my time there is to follow those accounts.
While I’d like to think that I am a competent writer, no one will ever accuse me of being a poet. Haha!
Darkrose
@Adam L Silverman: I just want to shake her. She wants that poisoned chalice so bad that she thinks they’ll ignore her being a Black woman. When they turn on her, she’ll be alone because she pulled up the ladder behind her. Too bad; so sad.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: cool. I can probably manage to remember Wuhan. It’s become an unforgettable place name. But I do need to pull up a map. And I see you guys are 13 hours ahead of New York time. In a week, it’ll be 12 hours because we change our clocks..
It must be strange to look up when your sunset is, when it’s all one time zone, but big enough for 4. And yet it’s sensible for business and homogeneity.
I ask about blue sky, not because I think there’s enough time to be online in so many places, but because I’ve posted maybe 20 recent poem things on blue sky, accessible via my page. A mix of mediocre and pretty good, sharpness and sweet optimism, mostly short pieces, if you get in the mood for some of that.
I think you’re a good writer.
playing with poetry is a bit like learning a musical instrument even if you’re not great at it. It’s a language, and a practice, just fun to engage in it. Something else for the mind to do besides sudoku.
thanks for bringing us info about China Ukraine relations as it develops.
It’s all like watching football games during play offs, when you know your team is out of the competition now…
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: I will definitely check it out. Same handle as here?
As for one time zone for all of the PRC, it is nonsensical other than for political symbolism. So locals (regardless of ethnicity) in Xinjiang out west operate on a de facto local time that is 2 hrs behind Beijing. All of the government, public & state own institutions operate on Beijing time, but all of the private businesses operate on the de facto local time. So government offices open at 8 AM Beijing time, when it is still pitch dark. IIRC, schools operate on the de facto local times, bowing to the reality of nature.
If you ask when a place opens, you have to make sure if the answer is in Beijing time or de facto local time, as they are 2 hours apart. It’s a real inconvenience to visitors unfamiliar w/ the situation, easy to miss appointments due to the misunderstandings.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam