Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

Well, they had to pick one narrative or another for WWII.  Either they view themselves as part of the USSR's struggle against Germany or they view themselves as Ukrainian nationalists fighting against both. By picking UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) they make their choice. 

BTW, by doing this I suspect the next step is for Wikipedia to change its entry for UPA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Soviet_resistance_by_the_Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army

To remove

OUN-UPA was a terrorist organization, relying on terrorist tactics and collaboration with Nazi Germany that favoured the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) at the expense of more moderate Ukrainian organizations but not all UPA soldiers were members of the OUN or shared OUN’s ideology. UPA is also responsible for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of Poles, the mass murder of Jews as well as Ukrainians during the World War II and post-war anti-Soviet terror campaign in Western Ukraine

This reads a lot like Putin and Russian government propaganda and has to be removed ASAP.

I will say that the Russians should not overplay this on the other side and just assign to UPA the label "Nazi".  The fact is that UPA fought against both USSR and Germany although I agree they saved most of their fire for the Red Army.

A lot of this, obviously, seems influenced by politics of the moment. The collective West is supplying them arms and so the anti-communist side is what they go with. Whatever vile acts the OUN-UPA may or may not have done is old news, secondary...(no matter what any side on this conflict claims or does)
And thus we see a key difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian narrative. The Russian one is rooted in "Great Patriotic War 2.0", the Ukrainian one is rooted in "our sovereignty and ability to determine our destiny". The latter is a very distinctly post-communist one, while the Russian one is as communist as you can get, in that sense...

[Torie]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

Well, they had to pick one narrative or another for WWII.  Either they view themselves as part of the USSR's struggle against Germany or they view themselves as Ukrainian nationalists fighting against both. By picking UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) they make their choice. 

BTW, by doing this I suspect the next step is for Wikipedia to change its entry for UPA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Soviet_resistance_by_the_Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army

To remove

OUN-UPA was a terrorist organization, relying on terrorist tactics and collaboration with Nazi Germany that favoured the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) at the expense of more moderate Ukrainian organizations but not all UPA soldiers were members of the OUN or shared OUN’s ideology. UPA is also responsible for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of Poles, the mass murder of Jews as well as Ukrainians during the World War II and post-war anti-Soviet terror campaign in Western Ukraine

This reads a lot like Putin and Russian government propaganda and has to be removed ASAP.

I will say that the Russians should not overplay this on the other side and just assign to UPA the label "Nazi".  The fact is that UPA fought against both USSR and Germany although I agree they saved most of their fire for the Red Army.

A lot of this, obviously, seems influenced by politics of the moment. The collective West is supplying them arms and so the anti-communist side is what they go with. Whatever vile acts the OUN-UPA may or may not have done is old news, secondary...(no matter what any side on this conflict claims or does)
And thus we see a key difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian narrative. The Russian one is rooted in "Great Patriotic War 2.0", the Ukrainian one is rooted in "our sovereignty and ability to determine our destiny". The latter is a very distinctly post-communist one, while the Russian one is as communist as you can get, in that sense...

It is not as if Russia has a lot of narratives available to it as to just why it should conquer a country almost all of the citizens of which don't want to be part of Russia and are willing to pay a very high price to avoid that fate.

[jaichind]

A lot of this, obviously, seems influenced by politics of the moment. The collective West is supplying them arms and so the anti-communist side is what they go with. Whatever vile acts the OUN-UPA may or may not have done is old news, secondary...(no matter what any side on this conflict claims or does)
And thus we see a key difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian narrative. The Russian one is rooted in "Great Patriotic War 2.0", the Ukrainian one is rooted in "our sovereignty and ability to determine our destiny". The latter is a very distinctly post-communist one, while the Russian one is as communist as you can get, in that sense...

Yeah, but in this case, Ukraine should have just left the WWII narrative alone and focused on a post-1991 narrative.  By picking "Heroes of UPA Square" they are throwing themselves into that narrative debate.  I think deep down Ukraine and Putin do share one perspective which I think is mostly true despite postwar USSR narratives trying to deny this: That the USSR mobilization was based in large part on Great Russian nationalism.  Once Stalin realized he was in trouble in the summer of 1941 the USSR dropped all talk of Communism and Socialism and rallied the population around "defending the motherland" with clear Great Russian nationalism overtones. 

It is, for this reason, that Putin embraces the Great Patriotic War as central to the legacy he is trying to protect because to him it is a legacy of Greater Russian nationalism and not Communism/Socialism and the Ukrainian nationalists in Kyiv view things the same way and they choose their side appropriately and to some extent falls into the Putin "Nazi" trap.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

Well, they had to pick one narrative or another for WWII.  Either they view themselves as part of the USSR's struggle against Germany or they view themselves as Ukrainian nationalists fighting against both. By picking UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) they make their choice. 

BTW, by doing this I suspect the next step is for Wikipedia to change its entry for UPA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Soviet_resistance_by_the_Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army

To remove

OUN-UPA was a terrorist organization, relying on terrorist tactics and collaboration with Nazi Germany that favoured the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) at the expense of more moderate Ukrainian organizations but not all UPA soldiers were members of the OUN or shared OUN’s ideology. UPA is also responsible for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of Poles, the mass murder of Jews as well as Ukrainians during the World War II and post-war anti-Soviet terror campaign in Western Ukraine

This reads a lot like Putin and Russian government propaganda and has to be removed ASAP.

I will say that the Russians should not overplay this on the other side and just assign to UPA the label "Nazi".  The fact is that UPA fought against both USSR and Germany although I agree they saved most of their fire for the Red Army.

A lot of this, obviously, seems influenced by politics of the moment. The collective West is supplying them arms and so the anti-communist side is what they go with. Whatever vile acts the OUN-UPA may or may not have done is old news, secondary...(no matter what any side on this conflict claims or does)
And thus we see a key difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian narrative. The Russian one is rooted in "Great Patriotic War 2.0", the Ukrainian one is rooted in "our sovereignty and ability to determine our destiny". The latter is a very distinctly post-communist one, while the Russian one is as communist as you can get, in that sense...

It is not as if Russia has a lot of narratives available to it as to just why it should conquer a country almost all of the citizens of which don't want to be part of Russia and are willing to pay a very high price to avoid that fate.

Well, that is precisely why Putin has framed it in this way. The war against the Nazis was even more defining in the Soviet Union than it was in America, because tens of millions died. Meanwhile, American casualties numbered less than half a million under the most generous of estimates.

This historical legacy (and not just historic, some Red Army veterans are still alive today) makes it so powerful and very obvious to pull out. Putin doesn't need to consider another narrative; lying about Ukraine being a Nazi state is an easy way to graft hostile feelings about a state that sought to exterminate over a hundred million Slavs onto a designated enemy of the state. Ukraine has more options that make sense to use in counter and has a more complex set of choices.

[Storr]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

From Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko's telegram post:

https://t.me/vitaliy_klitschko/1496
"List of some of the renamed streets:

General Zhmachenko street ➡️ Prince Roman Mstislavich street
[Interesting change because Zhmachenko was a Soviet general, but ethically Ukrainian as well as was born in Zhytomyr Oblast and died (and is buried in Baikove Cemetery) in Kyiv.]
Marshal Malinovsky Street ➡️ Heroiv Polku "Azov" Street
Tulska square [Tula] ➡️ Heroiv UPA square
Budarina Street ➡️ Ukrainian Revival Street
Karl Marx Street ➡️ Hutsulska Street
Piterska [St. Petersburg] Street ➡️ London Street
Michurina Street (in Solomyansky district) ➡️ Sea Marines Street
Rostovska [Rostov] street ➡️ Lutska street"

[Storr]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

From Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko's telegram post:

https://t.me/vitaliy_klitschko/1496
"List of some of the renamed streets:

General Zhmachenko street ➡️ Prince Roman Mstislavich street
[Interesting change because Zhmachenko was a Soviet general, but ethically Ukrainian as well as was born in Zhytomyr Oblast and died (and probably buried) in Kyiv]
Marshal Malinovsky Street ➡️ Heroiv Polku "Azov" Street
Tulska square [Tula] ➡️ Heroiv UPA square
Budarina Street ➡️ Ukrainian Revival Street
Karl Marx Street ➡️ Hutsulska Street
Piterska [St. Petersburg] Street ➡️ London Street
Michurina Street (in Solomyansky district) ➡️ Sea Marines Street
Rostovska [Rostov] street ➡️ Lutska street"

I found a research paper about "Urban Street Names as a Marker of Language/Authority Interaction in Ukraine: Soviet (1922-1991) and Post-Soviet Periods (1991-2011)" done by Halyna Matsyuk and renaming streets for ideological purposes is not a new phenomenon in Ukraine:

http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/BTPL/ICOS2011/040.pdf

"Researches in changes of pre-Revolutionary street names by the Soviet authorities testify
to the fact that changes took place in every Ukrainian city/town. For example, in the 19th
century in Kyiv the residents themselves created street names. In 1916 the most part of urban
street names were names originating from peculiar features of location (Soliana – Соляна,
“Salty”), objects located there (Kazarmenna – Казарменна, “Military Barrack”), its
residents (Chervinstkyi(’s) Lane), while only a small part of street names was of
administrative origin. Though, in between 1920-1927 the Soviet authorities renamed every
tenth street of the city. In the 60s the tendency prevailed to name Kyiv streets with names
originating from geographical objects of the USSR (Uralska, Kurska, Yeniseyska,
Hroznenska, etc.). When the process of renaming had been completed and the image of the
Soviet city modeled at the end of the 60s in Kyiv, there was only 7% left of pre-revolutionary
street names since all the other names were tightly linked with the Soviet values."

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

From Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko's telegram post:

https://t.me/vitaliy_klitschko/1496
"List of some of the renamed streets:

General Zhmachenko street ➡️ Prince Roman Mstislavich street
[Interesting change because Zhmachenko was a Soviet general, but ethically Ukrainian as well as was born in Zhytomyr Oblast and died (and probably buried) in Kyiv]
Marshal Malinovsky Street ➡️ Heroiv Polku "Azov" Street
Tulska square [Tula] ➡️ Heroiv UPA square
Budarina Street ➡️ Ukrainian Revival Street
Karl Marx Street ➡️ Hutsulska Street
Piterska [St. Petersburg] Street ➡️ London Street
Michurina Street (in Solomyansky district) ➡️ Sea Marines Street
Rostovska [Rostov] street ➡️ Lutska street"

A bit of an aside here, but it's a bit interesting that they had a literal Karl Marx street more than three decades are the fall of the Soviet Union. Also interesting that they replace General Zhmachenko with a Kievan Rus ruler in the late 1100s.
Boris Johnson leaves a solitary legacy, helping bring about the existence of a London Street thousands of miles away from London, in Kiev right in the heart of Eastern Europe.

[jaichind]

Speaking of Russians labeling UPA and Bandara as "Nazi" and then linking the current Ukraine government's embrace of UPA and Bandara as proof that Ukraine is "infested" with "Nazi" my retort would be that Putin has a point but is using double standards.  I would equate UPA with Chetniks in Serbia during WWII.  Chetniks fought against Germany/Italy as well as allies with Germany/Italy against Tito's Partisans since they viewed Tito's Partisans as their main enemy.  The fact is the current Serbian government embraces the legacy of Chetnicks as  Serb nationalists do not seem to prevent Putin from having positive relations with Serbia.  If Putin wants to equate all local nationalist military forces that might have at least tactically allied with the Axis power as "Nazis" that is fine but he then has to apply this logic in a consistent way.  And that is separate from me thinking the Ukrainian embrace of UPA is a PR mistake.

[NOVA Green]

Meanwhile a new update on "Filtration Centers" within Russian Occupied Ukraine:

The U.S. State Department and Yale University researchers said Thursday that they had identified at least 21 sites in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine that the Russian military or Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists are using to detain, interrogate or deport civilians and prisoners of war in ways that violate international humanitarian law. There were signs pointing to possible mass graves in some areas, they said.

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab said the sites were part of a “filtration system” used for processing detainees and prisoners. They reached their conclusions after examining commercial satellite imagery and open-source information. The detainees and prisoners could be forced to live outside the centers in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, imprisoned for long periods, deported to Russia or even killed.

The research was a collaboration between Yale and the Conflict Observatory program that the State Department set up in May to document war crimes and other atrocities committed by Russian or Russian-backed forces in the Ukraine war. The researchers released their findings through a report from Conflict Observatory.

The researchers also found evidence of disturbed earth on two recent occasions at the Volnovakha “correctional colony” near the village of Olenivka that they said was consistent with mass graves. The appearance of disturbed earth predated an explosion on July 29 at the prison compound that killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

One area of disturbed earth appeared in imagery from April 11 — “contemporaneous with an open source account of alleged gravedigging,” the report said, referring to an online account in which a former inmate discussed a cellmate working a shift digging graves. A second area of disturbed earth appeared on July 27, two days before the explosion.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/25/world/ukraine-russia-war-news#the-us-state-department-and-yale-identify-21-detention-sites-in-russian-controlled-territory

Here is a link to the Conflict Observatory Site for the full report.

As you read through it you can click on each of the (21) facilities for a more detailed report of identified activities at each "filtration center".

https://hub.conflictobservatory.org/portal/apps/sites/#/home/pages/filtration-1

[NOVA Green]

And another reminder about why cluster bombs are not good...

Cluster munitions have killed at least 689 people in Ukraine in the six months since Russia invaded the country, the Cluster Munition Coalition, an international disarmament group, said in its annual report on Thursday.

Cluster munitions include bombs, missiles, rockets, mortar and artillery shells that open midair to dispense smaller weapons or bomblets over a large area that are designed to detonate on impact. Civilians can be easily caught in their path.

And the many bomblets that do not detonate are still volatile, and can explode later if they are picked up or handled. In 2021, the Cluster Munition Coalition documented incidents in Laos and Lebanon in which groups of children were injured or killed from playing with remnants of cluster munitions.

The researchers could not establish whether all of the nearly 700 people killed by the munitions were civilian, as the status of some had not been reported, but said that it was clear that the vast majority were not combatants.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/25/world/ukraine-russia-war-news#the-us-state-department-and-yale-identify-21-detention-sites-in-russian-controlled-territory

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

What autumn will be like in the trenches (loud music warning):

https://twitter.com/tom_bullock_/status/1562494309126942721?s=20&t=Io_8_XWGr...
Edit: Bonus useful explanation about Ukrainian fall weather in the comments of the above post:

https://twitter.com/netsenzurnyj/status/1562547014335733760?s=20&t=Io_8_XWGr...

Historically in this region, it was the Rasputitsa of March to May that tended to stop campaign season due to "general mud."  After the Third battle of Kharkov in March 1943 fighting mostly stopped in the Ukraine region until the battle of Kursk in early July.

Once the 1943 summer campaign started in Ukraine the fighting continued until April 1944 when it came to a stop again due to Rasputitsa and exhaustion of both sides.

You posted these maps and without me looking at the dates I thought there had been a major escalation. 

[Middle-aged Europe]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

From Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko's telegram post:

https://t.me/vitaliy_klitschko/1496
"List of some of the renamed streets:

General Zhmachenko street ➡️ Prince Roman Mstislavich street
[Interesting change because Zhmachenko was a Soviet general, but ethically Ukrainian as well as was born in Zhytomyr Oblast and died (and probably buried) in Kyiv]
Marshal Malinovsky Street ➡️ Heroiv Polku "Azov" Street
Tulska square [Tula] ➡️ Heroiv UPA square
Budarina Street ➡️ Ukrainian Revival Street
Karl Marx Street ➡️ Hutsulska Street
Piterska [St. Petersburg] Street ➡️ London Street
Michurina Street (in Solomyansky district) ➡️ Sea Marines Street
Rostovska [Rostov] street ➡️ Lutska street"

A bit of an aside here, but it's a bit interesting that they had a literal Karl Marx street more than three decades are the fall of the Soviet Union. Also interesting that they replace General Zhmachenko with a Kievan Rus ruler in the late 1100s.
Boris Johnson leaves a solitary legacy, helping bring about the existence of a London Street thousands of miles away from London, in Kiev right in the heart of Eastern Europe.

Berlin currently has a "Karl Marx Boulevard" (originally the "Stalin Boulevard", renamed in 1961) in the formerly eastern and a "Karl Marx Street" (named so in 1947) in the formerly western part of the city.

Then again, Marx was of German origin and not Ukrainian one.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Interesting read but apparently some US experts are thinking that instead of a Kherson counter offensive in the next month that Ukraine is instead going to just spend the rest of the summer hammer Russian ammunition depots and bridges to cut Kherson off from the rest of the country and force Russian high command in the winter to either abandon Kherson ala Kyiv or launch the counter offensive then, the downside being though with no major offensive soon that certain western skeptics might call on ending support for Ukraine
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/08/ukraines-strikes-are-setting-stage-rough-russian-winter/376360/

[jaichind]

German consumer confidence collapses driven mainly by power prices and inflationary surges.

[jaichind]

https://www.ft.com/content/11c4568f-41e2-48d1-aae4-8f3fb1ef6a55

"Saudi Arabia sends message to Biden on oil"

It seems that if Biden thinks that doing a deal with Iran would open up Iranian oil onto the market to counter world dependency on Russian oil exports, then Saudi Arabia has threatened to cut oil production if Biden does such a deal with Saudi Arabia's rival Iran.

[President Johnson]

Meanwhile, Russia burns tons of natural gas that was intended to be exported to Germany; causing an environmental disaster.

https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/1563224260159500288

[Storr]

Not a great day to be a collaborator:

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1563160607603318784?s=20&t=UMORY_...

[Storr]

Unfortunate timing, comrades:

https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1563177438179651584?s=20&t=UMORY_lzC7...

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1563214188054548481?s=20&t=BI9be0...

[jaichind]

https://english.alarabiya.net/business/economy/2022/08/24/European-governments-spend-278-billion-to-cushion-energy-crisis

"European governments spend $278 billion to cushion energy crisis"

This is unwise.  Economics is about the allocation of scarce resources that have alternative uses.  High prices are just a signal that there is excess demand for a scarce resource.  Just handing out free money to mitigate the impact of high prices does not increase the supply of said scarce resources.  The solution to high prices is high prices.  The fact is high prices just mean some demand for these scarce resources will just have to go unmet with allocation going to those willing to pay more which represents a greater need.

[Omega21]

https://english.alarabiya.net/business/economy/2022/08/24/European-governments-spend-278-billion-to-cushion-energy-crisis

"European governments spend $278 billion to cushion energy crisis"

This is unwise.  Economics is about the allocation of scarce resources that have alternative uses.  High prices are just a signal that there is excess demand for a scarce resource.  Just handing out free money to mitigate the impact of high prices does not increase the supply of said scarce resources.  The solution to high prices is high prices.  The fact is high prices just mean some demand for these scarce resources will just have to go unmet with allocation going to those willing to pay more which represents a greater need.

The choice is basically:

1) Let parts of the industry/economy suffocate due to inability to compete on the intl markets, thereby relieving demand, whilst causing an unemployement crisis + recession

2) Somehow convince Putin to turn on the tap and increase supply (like turning on NS2).

Choice 1 sacrifices our economy and the bottom 50% of the population, choice 2 sacrifices the "commitment to Ukraine"

So, something has to go. This dream of printing money or "subsidizing" high energy prices is beyond foolish with raging inflation and an already weak euro.

https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1563129148620836864

https://twitter.com/jsblokland/status/1563067641626894336

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

Well, they had to pick one narrative or another for WWII.  Either they view themselves as part of the USSR's struggle against Germany or they view themselves as Ukrainian nationalists fighting against both. By picking UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) they make their choice. 

BTW, by doing this I suspect the next step is for Wikipedia to change its entry for UPA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Soviet_resistance_by_the_Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army

To remove

OUN-UPA was a terrorist organization, relying on terrorist tactics and collaboration with Nazi Germany that favoured the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) at the expense of more moderate Ukrainian organizations but not all UPA soldiers were members of the OUN or shared OUN’s ideology. UPA is also responsible for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of Poles, the mass murder of Jews as well as Ukrainians during the World War II and post-war anti-Soviet terror campaign in Western Ukraine

This reads a lot like Putin and Russian government propaganda and has to be removed ASAP.

I will say that the Russians should not overplay this on the other side and just assign to UPA the label "Nazi".  The fact is that UPA fought against both USSR and Germany although I agree they saved most of their fire for the Red Army.

A lot of this, obviously, seems influenced by politics of the moment. The collective West is supplying them arms and so the anti-communist side is what they go with. Whatever vile acts the OUN-UPA may or may not have done is old news, secondary...(no matter what any side on this conflict claims or does)
And thus we see a key difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian narrative. The Russian one is rooted in "Great Patriotic War 2.0", the Ukrainian one is rooted in "our sovereignty and ability to determine our destiny". The latter is a very distinctly post-communist one, while the Russian one is as communist as you can get, in that sense...

It is not as if Russia has a lot of narratives available to it as to just why it should conquer a country almost all of the citizens of which don't want to be part of Russia and are willing to pay a very high price to avoid that fate.

Well, that is precisely why Putin has framed it in this way. The war against the Nazis was even more defining in the Soviet Union than it was in America, because tens of millions died. Meanwhile, American casualties numbered less than half a million under the most generous of estimates.

This historical legacy (and not just historic, some Red Army veterans are still alive today) makes it so powerful and very obvious to pull out. Putin doesn't need to consider another narrative; lying about Ukraine being a Nazi state is an easy way to graft hostile feelings about a state that sought to exterminate over a hundred million Slavs onto a designated enemy of the state. Ukraine has more options that make sense to use in counter and has a more complex set of choices.

Zelensky has, in fairness, been doing a certain amount of Great Patriotic War recuperation himself; he's revived the "hero city" designation and early in the war made a lot of historical-fraternal appeals to the Russian public. This other rhetorical tack might be coming from the Kyiv local government and/or people in Zelensky's administration whose roots are in Western Ukraine rather than Southern.

[Middle-aged Europe]

2) Somehow convince Putin to turn on the tap and increase supply (like turning on NS2).

Choice 1 sacrifices our economy and the bottom 50% of the population, choice 2 sacrifices the "commitment to Ukraine"

Why would you need to "convince" Putin to turn on Nord Stream 2? It was the German government's decision to suspend the pipeline project, not the Russian's one. That argument doesn't make any sense to me.

You would maybe be able to convince the SPD, or at least parts of it, to open up NS2 if things get even tougher than they are now. I guess you wouldn't be as lucky with Greens and FDP, despite Kubicki's recent shenanigans (especially considering that FDP's Strack-Zimmermann would be Kubicki's polar opposite on NS2). So we are essentially talking about realizing the "dream" of a SPD-AfD-Left Party coalition. Good luck with that.

And there's another aspect to consider: Public opinion. I don't think I have seen any polling data from this week, but mid-August 71% were in favour of continuing to support Ukraine "despite high energy costs".

22% were supportive of "reducing" military aid to Ukraine, 35% wanted to maintain the aid at current levels, and 36% even wanted to expand the military support for Ukraine.

Either we're a democracy now or we ain't. If you're unhappy with the decisions of a democratic society... well, that's too bad for you.

So, you can of course hope for a drastic shift in public opinion coming soon, or you can try to operate under the conditions of political reality.

If you try to operate under the conditions of political reality, I would perhaps also point out that the same opinion poll I've just cited showed 65% in support of expanding the life-span of nuclear power plants, 61% said the same with regard to coal plants.

(This is not necessarily my personal opinion, I'm just trying to give you my political advice here... my own opinion at this point would probably amount to something like "nuclear yes, coal no".)

[Omega21]

2) Somehow convince Putin to turn on the tap and increase supply (like turning on NS2).

Choice 1 sacrifices our economy and the bottom 50% of the population, choice 2 sacrifices the "commitment to Ukraine"

Why would you need to "convince" Putin to turn on Nord Stream 2? It was the German government's decision to suspend the pipeline project, not the Russian's one. That argument doesn't make any sense to me.

You would maybe be able to convince the SPD, or at least parts of it, to open up NS2 if things get even tougher than they are now. I guess you wouldn't be as lucky with Greens and FDP, despite Kubicki's recent shenanigans. So we are essentially talking about realizing the "dream" of a SPD-AfD-Left Party coalition. Good luck with that.

And there's another aspect to consider: Public opinion. I don't think I have seen any polling data from this week, but mid-August 71% were in favour of continuing to support Ukraine "despite high energy costs".

22% were supportive of "reducing" military aid to Ukraine, 35% wanted to maintain the aid at current levels, and 36% even wanted to expand the military support for Ukraine.

Either we're a democracy now or we ain't. If you're unhappy with the decisions of a democraric society... well, that's too bad for you.

So, you can of course hope for a drastic shift in public opinion coming soon, or you can try to operate under the conditions of political reality.

If you try to operate under the conditions of political reality, I would perhaps also point out that the same opinion poll I've just cited showed 65% in support of expanding the life-span of nuclear power plants, 61% said the same with regard to coal plants.

(This is not necessarily my personal opinion, I'm just trying to give you my political advice here... my own opinion at this point would probably amount to something like "nuclear yes, coal no".)

Those opinion polls are flipping faster than a burger at McDonalds, at least here in Austria.

However, this survey also shows that only 25 percent fully agree and a further 21 percent mostly agree that Austria supports the EU sanctions against Russia. This 46 percent in favor contrasts with 40 percent who are mostly (18 percent) or totally (22 percent) against the sanctions.

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000138470821/nur-knappe-mehrheit-der-oesterreicher-steht-hinter-eu-sanktionen

Anyway, the German consumer still has no idea what is coming, so guess we will have to take another look at the polls in a few months when they are paying the full "sanctions tax".

Explanation of what I mean by German Econ professor:

https://twitter.com/SDullien/status/1563145392895586307

As for NS2, we can open it, but that does not mean Putin will send gas through it, thats why I said "convince Putin". Gazprom has said that they would supply at full capacity through NS2 if it were opened, so it seems he would be open to turning on the tap if it was certified (and yes, I know thats a shaky and unreliable promise).

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://oopstop.com/in-kyiv-95-streets-were-renamed-the-names-of-which-are-associated-with-russia-and-the-ussr/

"In Kyiv, 95 streets were renamed, the names of which are associated with Russia and the USSR"

Changes include "Marshal Malinovsky Street" is now "Heroes of Azov Regiment Street", "Tula Square" is now "Heroes of UPA Square".

They have a perfect right to do this.  I just think regardless of the current situation it is unwise to hand to Russia the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.  Now Russia will be able to hog the entire legacy and credit for victory in the Great Patriotic War something I am sure Putin would very much want.

This seems like the exact opposite of what Ukraine would ideally do. Ukraine could have highlighted the Ukrainian contribution to the Soviet war effort and even highlighted how Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Red Army against the Nazis as evidence of Ukraine's credentials in the face of utterly ludicrous Russian propaganda. Instead we see them do this. It's an unforced error in an information war that they've played incredibly well overall.
In fact, Ukrainians were, (I believe) the biggest contributors of soldiers on the Soviet side in the "Great Patriotic War" if you adjust for population and rank it per capita. In this capacity, they helped save the world.

Well, they had to pick one narrative or another for WWII.  Either they view themselves as part of the USSR's struggle against Germany or they view themselves as Ukrainian nationalists fighting against both. By picking UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) they make their choice. 

BTW, by doing this I suspect the next step is for Wikipedia to change its entry for UPA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Soviet_resistance_by_the_Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army

To remove

OUN-UPA was a terrorist organization, relying on terrorist tactics and collaboration with Nazi Germany that favoured the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) at the expense of more moderate Ukrainian organizations but not all UPA soldiers were members of the OUN or shared OUN’s ideology. UPA is also responsible for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of Poles, the mass murder of Jews as well as Ukrainians during the World War II and post-war anti-Soviet terror campaign in Western Ukraine

This reads a lot like Putin and Russian government propaganda and has to be removed ASAP.

I will say that the Russians should not overplay this on the other side and just assign to UPA the label "Nazi".  The fact is that UPA fought against both USSR and Germany although I agree they saved most of their fire for the Red Army.

A lot of this, obviously, seems influenced by politics of the moment. The collective West is supplying them arms and so the anti-communist side is what they go with. Whatever vile acts the OUN-UPA may or may not have done is old news, secondary...(no matter what any side on this conflict claims or does)
And thus we see a key difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian narrative. The Russian one is rooted in "Great Patriotic War 2.0", the Ukrainian one is rooted in "our sovereignty and ability to determine our destiny". The latter is a very distinctly post-communist one, while the Russian one is as communist as you can get, in that sense...

It is not as if Russia has a lot of narratives available to it as to just why it should conquer a country almost all of the citizens of which don't want to be part of Russia and are willing to pay a very high price to avoid that fate.

Well, that is precisely why Putin has framed it in this way. The war against the Nazis was even more defining in the Soviet Union than it was in America, because tens of millions died. Meanwhile, American casualties numbered less than half a million under the most generous of estimates.

This historical legacy (and not just historic, some Red Army veterans are still alive today) makes it so powerful and very obvious to pull out. Putin doesn't need to consider another narrative; lying about Ukraine being a Nazi state is an easy way to graft hostile feelings about a state that sought to exterminate over a hundred million Slavs onto a designated enemy of the state. Ukraine has more options that make sense to use in counter and has a more complex set of choices.

Zelensky has, in fairness, been doing a certain amount of Great Patriotic War recuperation himself; he's revived the "hero city" designation and early in the war made a lot of historical-fraternal appeals to the Russian public. This other rhetorical tack might be coming from the Kyiv local government and/or people in Zelensky's administration whose roots are in Western Ukraine rather than Southern.

That's true, I had not considered this. Ukraine's approach is more nuanced on this than I gave it credit for.

[ProudModerate2]

Latvia brings down Soviet-era obelisk in capital.

Watch video of its downfall here ... https://youtu.be/03k5Ijy2AM8