Esben Ridder

OTD in 2014 we sent masked soldiers to occupy Crimea

2014 “they’re not Russian soldiers but local militias. Russia has nothing to do with them”
2015 “They were not Russian soldiers but we “stood behind them”"
Later 2015 “They were Russian soldiers"

But we are not lying this time

Soon enough you'll be connecting all these dots to the forthcoming general mobilisation that you don't think I'll risk doing.

But losing this war is a far bigger risk.

I was convinced already after Maidan. As I told a friend back then: Look what Ukrainians are capable of doing, the level of organisation in a civil society under pressure, and imagine what they can accomplish under honest leadership. You are an amazing people and an inspiration to all.

ICE are violent and stupid by design. Their role is to provoke a confrontation, not just with civilians but also and especially with local law enforcement and politicians. Then Trump will declare a state of insurrection in the states most opposed to him and exclude them from voting. Hope I'm wrong.

I hadn't noticed this but the victim is clearly trying to wave ICE through, and then they jumped her.

I was fully expecting this to happen sooner or later, but the shock is surprisingly visceral.
The US as seen from Europe has slid very far down the fascism slope already. ICE are Trump's "brown-shirts", and the FBI is turning into the Gestapo. The Hegseth army seems to be aiming to become the SS.

Meanwhile Ukraine has increased their unmanned systems capabilities and honed their strategy to the point where they're killing/immobilising almost as many invaders as russia can replenish on a monthly basis, as well as increasing their strategic bombing campaign. Because actions, not words, matter.

Vi kommer til at kæmpe med rusland mange år endnu. Så længe russerne forbliver imperialistiske, vil Ukraine være truet. Så længe vi støtter Ukraine, vil vi være truet. Det eneste, der vil være endnu værre, er en russisk sejr. Ikke mere ønsketænkning. Det her er en kamp vi bare skal vinde.

American tech companies are not truly concerned about censorship, as they happily operate in countries with strict regulations.

You never hear the Trump administration complain about Saudi Arabia, Russia, or China.

This is about bullying Europe, nothing more

Russians sunk several barges at the entrance of their naval port pier in Novorossiysk, so that no other Ukrainian drone can enter it.

This also confines the remnants of the Russian Black Sea Fleet to this little basin. Russians literally barricaded themselves. Embarrassing..

If Europe doesn't manage to achieve consensus on taking Ru's frozen assets and giving them to Ukraine, then its strategic, moral, and self-preservation instincts are weaker than I thought. I'm a big believer in the European project, but failure here will be a bad sign for its future.

Journalist to Trump: "So, you're the President and Commander in Chief, and you hold the most powerful office on Earth."
Trump: "Yes"
Journalist to Trump: "Then how come you're constantly such a whiny little bitch?"

It's not at all far fetched to imagine the opening salvo of a war being thousands of drones launched from the cargo holds of civilian ships at anchor off the coast.

Exactly right.

And given the new US NatSec policy, in the future we'll need to look for similarly disruptive US scripts.

Europeans are waking up this morning to find the new US National Security Strategy (quietly) released. And what it has to say on Europe could not be clearer. On the „stark prospect of civilizations erasure“ for example. 👇

Every night Russian drones kill Ukrainians and they keep flying only because over 5,000 Western and Asian parts power them.
x.com/United24medi...

Putin: ‘Russia is ready to keep fighting until the last Ukrainian dies.’

Western politicians & press: ‘Peace talks have stalled…’

Russia has zero interest in peace. Calling Kremlin demands for Ukrainian surrender ‘peace talks’ is just another way of spreading their propaganda.

This is beyond pathetic from the Belgian PM. A serious (and less cowardly) politician would have said "Due to our unique position in this question, Belgium needs commitments & support from the rest of EU to offset the risks, this decision incurs."

Ignore any Trump admin and/or Ru apologist talk about progress. Ru demands remain maximalist, outrageous, and, most importantly, disconnected from the realities of the battlefield. Only an immediate ceasefire is progress. The discussion in Moscow today was useless noise. Ru continues its aggression.

"We made our war very comfortable for the world" www.facebook.com/share/p/1Kxn...

Circus Amidst the absolute chaos of a Witkoff-stamped Russian psyop-as-peace plan, discussion is filled with anger at Washington and at Moscow.

"Too many European governments still behave as if losing Ukraine would be unfortunate but manageable. This is fantasy. The destruction of Ukraine would reshape Europe’s security architecture for decades, and not in Europe’s favour."

Strong message by @drjademcglynn.bsky.social.

German-made machinery still quietly fuels Russia’s war production despite sanctions.

🧵 1/7 ⬇️

People have done a massive disservice to Ukraine and Europe by pretending Trump might do the right thing and help Ukraine. It raised hopes in a fantasy and kept people from facing reality. Trump is with Putin and all Europeans need to face that squarely.

Elon Musk’s new pay package would feed all forty million Americans on SNAP for the next ten years. He wouldn’t notice the difference but the country would.

If you can, avoid anything with Musk behind it. It will rot your brain. And that's a feature, not a bug.

Moscow has no claims on anything within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine. Nothing at all. They must not be granted any influence at all in any shape or form. No concessions, only punishment.

Beautiful. Call them out, all of them. Whether truly Kremlin propagandists or just criminally negligent in their research, people like Sachs are aiding the murderous Kremlin regime.

This is spot on: As I recall, the EU/US sought a transitional government with Yanukovich still involved as an end to the Maidan revolution. Typical bureaucratic diplomacy. And the Maidan protesters pulled a coffin with a murdered protester on stage & said basically "Fuck no, Yanuk has to go"

👀