Erica Marat 🇺🇦

'No turning back': More and more Ukrainian women join the army to fight Russia An increasing number of women are joining the Ukrainian military, with thousands serving in front-line roles, as Russia's war on Ukraine nears its fourth year — with no peace in sight.

An increasing number of women are joining the Ukrainian military, with thousands serving in front-line roles, as Russia's war on Ukraine nears its fourth year — with no peace in sight.

Turkish military plane with 20 on board crashes in Georgia A Turkish military cargo plane has crashed in Georgia near the Azerbaijan border, according to Turkish and Georgian authorities.

A Turkish military cargo plane has crashed in Georgia near the Azerbaijan border, according to Turkish and Georgian authorities.

This was during C5+1 meeting tonight.

Exclusive: HUR reveals number of Cubans fighting for Russia in Ukraine HUR claims they receive only two weeks of training at the Avangard training center in Moscow Oblast before being sent to the front line.

At least 1,076 Cuban nationals have fought or are fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 15.

Ninety-six are known to have died or gone missing in action.

And even though he was lucky, and stumbled on an entire continent no one knew about, he still persisted in his idiotic delusion he had made it to India… which was still 9000 miles away.

Worst. Navigator. Ever.

My semi-regular Columbus Day message:

Columbus wasn’t called crazy because he thought the world was round. That had been known for 1000 years.

He was called crazy because he thought it was so small he could reach India by going west. And they were right! He was a delusional fool!

But lucky.

Back to Bukhara How memory, tourism, and the diaspora sustain the last vestiges of Uzbekistan’s Jewish heritage — Meduza Best known as a stop on the Silk Road trade route, Uzbekistan’s ancient city of Bukhara was home to a thriving Jewish community for more than 2,000 years. But since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the ...

While traveling through Uzbekistan this summer, I became curious about the history of the Bukharan Jews and decided to examine how tourism is shaping what remains of the community, for my latest in @meduza.io's The Beet. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Our next RUTA will focus on the role of embodied and rooted knowledges as catalysts of change and drivers of shifts in power. Deadline for submissions is on Nov 15. We welcome a wide range of presentation and art formats, while prioritising transregional and global panels, discussion and dialogues

Putin turns 73 on October 7. He was 46 when he first became Prime Minister in August 1999. Since that time he has been either Prime Minister or President for more than 26 years, more than 1/3 of his life. In 2004, he said "one could go crazy" working as president for 7 years.

Eventually you have to accept that no matter how many different notebooks you buy, they won’t make you a better writer. For that, you need to spend a lot of money on the right pen.

My feed today

Moldovan voters have (yet again!) thwarted Ru’s efforts to intimidate, buy, and manipulate them into abandoning their pro-EU course.

Moldovans cast ballots in a tense election plagued by Russian interference claims Moldovans are heading to the polls to cast ballots in a tense parliamentary election plagued by claims of Russian interference.

BREAKING: Moldovans are heading to the polls to cast ballots in a tense parliamentary election plagued by claims of Russian interference, a vote seen as a choice between integration with the European Union or a drift back into Moscow’s fold.

Boeing Gets Order From Uzbekistan Airways
The companies said Uzbekistan Airways would buy 14 of Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliner jets, with options for eight more

gift article
www.wsj.com/business/air...

Russian strategic bombers have taken off and likely heading to bomb Ukraine.

We’re in for yet another hellish night. Once more. Keep us in your thoughts.

Genocide or Not? The 1931–1933 Famine in the Collective Memories of Kazakhstan’s Post-Independence Generations This article presents the first study of how the 1931–1933 famine is remembered by Kazakhstan’s post-independence generations. The famine in the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic claimed ...

Genocide or Not? The 1931–1933 Famine in the Collective Memories of Kazakhstan’s Post-Independence Generations by
Berikbol Dukeyev www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Uzbek Fighters in Russia’s War Face Relatively Mild Punishments at Home The number of Uzbek nationals fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war remains significant, and the price of returning home has become little more than a grounding.

Latest from @niginakhon.bsky.social: The number of Uzbek nationals fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war remains significant, and the price of returning home has become little more than a grounding.

thediplomat.com/2025/09/uzbe...

Don’t Look A Gift Horse Meat In The Mouth

Speaking to a standup comedian Nurzhamal from Almaty, did Conan O’Brien just promise to visit Kazakhstan? 😁
open.spotify.com/episode/1Gts...

Excited to see this book by Shoirakhon Nurdinova, out in January 2026! 🤩
link.springer.com/book/9789819...

Thank you Diana!

Can’t wait to get started in 2026! 🤩

This is amazing. (Is there a precedent?)

The Ukrainian Embassy in DC becomes THE welcome place for some of the world’s most powerful leaders.

European unity is on display and Ukraine is the host and unifer.

United for just and sustainable peace.

Video c/o President Zelensky’s Official Telegram

Awesome dispatch from @meduza.io's The Beet on how Wikipedia's Central Asian-language pages are being built up/translated/grown: mailchi.mp/meduza.io/wi...

just realized that Ivan the terrible, Peter the Great, and (indirectly) Stalin all killed their own sons. in russia today these three are considered the country's greatest rulers. almost like a metaphor for russian history or something

During a missile strike on Kyiv, two schoolgirls and their mother were killed.

Their school announced that Alina and Anastasia Humeniuk died along with their mother. They were internally displaced people from Donbas who had sought refuge in the capital. Russia found them and killed them there.

I needed this today

Guys

‘Commanders Saw Us as Expendable’: A Russian Soldier’s View of the War Mikhail Simdyankin was lured into the military by a generous sign-on bonus and was stunned by what he found in Ukraine. ‘If I could, I would rewind and give all that money back.’

Oh the bottomless western sympathy for Russians willing to kill Ukrainians to pay off utility bills

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

A russian strike hit the entrance of a metro station in Kyiv packed with people sheltering from the ongoing attack.