Putin’s Victory Day speech:
🇺🇦 So May 9th has arrived, and everyone’s been looking at this date to see what Putin would do because he made such a big deal of it…but nothing was announced. Putin gave his May 9 Victory Day speech…and it was just a speech…no big conclusion or announcements.
🇺🇦 His speech was mostly benign, and used to defend his actions.
🇺🇦 Putin whined that the West won’t recognize Russia’s claim over a sovereign nation’s land.
🇺🇦 His speech justified his invasion by saying the West was going to invade Crimea (south east Ukraine) and Donbas (eastern Ukraine) so he had to invade it first to defend it. This isn’t even a parallel line to history, he’s ventured into total make-believe history.
🇺🇦 Putin said that NATO is taking control of land adjacent to Russia….which is just insane because NATO is a security agreement. NATO isn’t a country that acquires land, it’s an organization that countries need to apply to.
🇺🇦 …I don’t even know who Putin is referring to…Poland? Romania? Both of those countries applied to join NATO. They ran to NATO as fast as they could to make sure that Russia didn’t inflict the Russian brand of authoritarianism on them.
🇺🇦 Putin continued his whole Ukraine-is-full-of-nazis trope, and his anti-NATO messaging, but didn’t escalate anything.
🇺🇦 (Pictured) An honest version of the Victory Day parade in Russia
Other stuff:
🇺🇦 The president of the EU executive arm said that it will respond next month to Ukraine’s bid to join the EU.
🇺🇦 Russian forces are amassing in Belgorod to reinforce Russian efforts in northern Kharkiv to prevent the Ukrainian counteroffensive from pushing closer to the Russia border.
🇺🇦 Russian forces near Izyum focused on regrouping and replenishing in order to continue advances to the southwest and southeast of Izyum.
🇺🇦 Russian forces continued their ground attacks to drive to the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts but did not make any territorial gains
🇺🇦 Russian troops continued to assault the Azovstal Steel Plant
🇺🇦 Commander of the Azov Regiment Denis Prokopenko stated that the Ukrainian defense remains in Azovstal after the evacuation of all civilians and that fighting is ongoing within parts of the plant itself.
🇺🇦 Russian authorities are advancing efforts to integrate Mariupol into Russian economic systems.
🇺🇦 Russia wants to claim Mariupol in order to capitalize on Mariupol’s port access and integrate the city’s transport capabilities into Russia’s regional economic agenda.
🇺🇦 Russian troops may be preparing for a renewed offensive on the Southern Axis but are unlikely to be successful
🇺🇦 An unprecedented amount of low level hackers (arm chair hackers like you and me) are attacking Russia’s cyber infrastructure. Usually Russia is targeted by high tier hackers (such as the FVEYs alliance)
🇺🇦 Prior to Putin’s speech, Russian satellite TV was hacked to show information about the war in Ukraine
🇺🇦 I found out that China regularly hacks Russian networks as well.
🇺🇦 Lockheed will double it’s Javelin production.
📢 Countries apply to be in NATO. NATO doesn’t seek to expand. Saying NATO is encroaching on Russia is Kremlin messaging. Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the first
📢 Yes, Ukraine has a nazi problem, but it’s a very small percentage of the country, and not representative of the whole. Using a small group to smear the entire group is called “guilt by association.” Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the second.
📢 If you ever hear anyone say “What about America…” in an effort to redirect attention away from Ukraine and onto the west, that is called “Competitive victimhood” and the associated meme is *always* created by Russian-backed media. Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the third.
⚠️ Note: I got lazy with my citations and I apologize. My top sources are: Current and former military planners, singularly-focused pundits, and all manner of vetted open-source intelligence. Top cited open source pundits and sources include: CP Scott, Institute for the Study of War, Kyiv Independent, Aaron Parnas, Philip DeFranco, John Aravosis, Malcontent News, and mainstream news with high levels of journalistic integrity and track records. Sadly I can’t source private individuals, of course.
⚠️ These posts are not affiliated with my employer, nor done during my employer’s time. Every item I report is from my own research, my own opinion, and written during my own time.
⚠️ Note: War happens fast and even high fidelity news needs a ton of corrections after the dust settles. Also, I’ve been spoiled by social media’s format where I can update the final product every time I find a typo. That poses a problem because…
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