Chris York

The Kremlin's 'bad cop' — 5 things you might not know about Dmitry Medvedev An international war of words erupted on July 30 when U.S. President Donald Trump squared up on social media to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "(...)Tell Medvedev, the failed former presid...

Thanks to @chrisdyork.bsky.social for quoting me in this @kyivindependent.com article about Medvedev and his role in Russian foreign policy rhetoric (also, regarding the 5th on the list in the article: who else remembers 'dance like the president' flash mobs? 😹)
kyivindependent.com/the-kremlins...

Zelensky's big blunder, explained For many who came to know Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky only after Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the president's recent move on anti-graft agencies was jarring. In the early...

Zelensky's big blunder, explained.

Editorial: Zelensky is one signature away from betraying Ukraine’s democracy Last week, we warned of a coming anti-democratic backslide. Now, we see it happening. A parliamentary vote, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lawmakers, today took away the independence of Ukrain...

"Last week, we warned of a coming anti-democratic backslide. Now, we see it happening."

Ukraine's parliament about to vote on bill destroying independence of key anti-corruption bodies The proposed legislation would grant the prosecutor general new powers over investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and cases led by the Specialized Anti-Corruption...

This is very, very bad

A pretty bleak chart showing how much Russia is ramping up drones strikes on Ukraine.

Full story here: kyivindependent.com/russia-launc...

Russia just accidentally admitted to its staggering troop losses in Ukraine A senior Russian official on June 19 inadvertently confirmed the staggering troop losses incurred by Moscow's forces during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with CNN, Russian Ambas...

Whoops.

The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.

Thank you!

As Russian losses in Ukraine hit 1 million, Putin faces an economic time bomb Russian losses in Ukraine hit a massive, and grim milestone on June 12 — 1 million Russian soldiers killed or wounded during the 39-month-long full-scale war, according to figures from Kyiv. Although...

Yeah 1 million is cool, but what about the economic time bomb

Dude, he definitely fucking realises.

Kyiv is under a massive Russian ballistic missile and drone attack.

This is what it sounds like sitting in your hallway listening to them explode, as the walls shake.

Editorial: Russia just said it doesn’t want peace. This is what you need to do Russia is now saying the quiet part out loud. It has no intention of stopping the war in Ukraine. We in Ukraine knew this all along, of course, but to sate the demands of international diplomacy, Mo...

Any notion of a peace process is effectively over, and there's only one remaining hope — those Americans who actually mean what they say and truly want the war to end must follow through and finally apply some good old-fashioned global superpower pressure on Russia.

After all that time spent accusing Biden of being mentally unfit for office, and Trump can't even remember one of the main things his administration has been working on for 119 days.

I know it's a high bar these days but this is fucking astonishing.

www.axios.com/2025/05/20/t...

After call with Trump, Putin still refuses full ceasefire, again cites Russia's 'root causes' of war in Ukraine The Russian president made no mention of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire — the key demand pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump and accepted by Ukraine back in March.

But if you do want more details, we've got em here:

kyivindependent.com/after-call-w...

All you need to know about the Trump-Putin call is that Russia has, once again, refused to a full ceasefire.

It's almost as if they don't really want to stop the war...

'Not what Putin was expecting' — What we know (and don't know) about Ukraine, Russia peace talks in Istanbul Russian President Vladimir Putin may have gotten more than he bargained for when, on May 11, he rejected calls for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire and invited Ukraine to engage in direct talks in Ist...

'Not what Putin was expecting' — What we know (and don't know) about Ukraine, Russia peace talks in Istanbul.
@chrisdyork.bsky.social
@kyivindependent.com
kyivindependent.com/not-what-put...

As Ukraine, Russia peace talks loom, all eyes are on Putin's next move With just two days to go before Russian-proposed peace talks might begin in Istanbul, the Kremlin is still refusing to confirm whether or not President Vladimir Putin will attend the event. President...

Thanks @chrisdyork.bsky.social and @martinfornusek.bsky.social for including my thoughts, among those of several others, about what to expect from #Putin's next move
kyivindependent.com/as-ukraine-r...

Trump says he hopes Zelensky, Putin will attend Istanbul peace talks on May 15 "I believe both leaders are going to be there," U.S. President Donald Trump said.

Very significant — Trump has said he expects "both leaders" to attend the Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul.

Ukraine ramps up drone strikes on Moscow as Russian-friendly leaders set to attend Victory Day parade For the second night in a row, the Kremlin has reported downing Ukrainian attack drones on their approach to Moscow. While not an unprecedented event, the timing of these attacks on the Russian capit...

Thanks @chrisdyork.bsky.social for quoting me, along with John Foreman and @warinthefuture.bsky.social, in this @kyivindependent.com article about drone strikes in Moscow as we approach Victory Day
kyivindependent.com/ukraine-ramp...

And when exactly is a good time to launch mass missile attacks against civilians?

Multiple massive explosions over Kyiv right now, Russian ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones.

But sure Trump, Zelensky is the one who’s the obstacle to peace…

Trump's reported 'final' ceasefire offer includes major concessions to Russia, few benefits for Ukraine The U.S. reportedly presented its peace proposal last week during a meeting with Ukrainian officials in Paris.

More utterly depressing details here:

— Steve Witkoff planning his fourth love-in with Putin.

— Not even bothering to meet America's supposed allies today to discuss the future of Ukraine.

Tells you everything you need to know about the new United States.

Moscow declared an Easter ceasefire. According to Ukrainian soldiers, the shooting never stopped Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an Easter ceasefire starting on April 19, claiming that it would "test Ukraine's sincerity in pursuing peace talks,"  but across the front line, Ukrainian so...

To the surprise of no one but Trump and Witkoff, the Easter "truce" is total bullshit.

For reference we're currently at Stage 2

The Kremlin playbook unfolding right now:

— Russia announces 'truce'
— Russian state media report explosions in Donetsk
— Russia accuses Ukraine of violating 'truce'
— Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine
— Trump swallows it all whole

Probably safe to assume a mass Russian missile and drone attack on Monday morning I guess.

Just minutes after Putin declares an "Easter truce," the air raid sirens are blaring in Kyiv because a Russian recon drone is doing its thing above the capital.

Russia's embassy in Kenya would like you to believe they're totally chill about tariffs.

They very much aren't kyivindependent.com/trump-spares...