Some interesting links
A combination of travel and the holiday has resulted in my procrastination and ultimately, no newsletter this week. Instead, here are some links to interesting stories I’ve come across this week.
Ukraine withdraws troops from Chasiv Yar-while Russia’s advance in the Northeast has been stalled, they are unfortunately making small gains in the Donbas.
A new post-Putin constitution proposal-this is unlikely to happen, but interesting to think about an alternative Russian future.
A Trump deal with Putin-this story from the Kyiv Independent suggests Trump has considered a deal for a ceasefire that would include Ukraine giving up its NATO hopes. As Trump’s position in the presidential race grows stronger, it’s important to consider how a potential second Trump presidency will affect Ukraine. Perhaps we will focus on that next week.
Russia’s settler-colonial project-a very thoughtful article about Russian aggression and what they are trying to accomplish.
A fake news story about Ukraine’s first lady-a reminder that Russia attempts to influence opinion in the West through misinformation and propaganda. Also why it is important to limit the public stage of politicians such as Nigel Farage, Robert Kennedy Jr and others who often parrot this Russian propaganda.
Farage’s Reform Party in the UK-speaking of Farage, he did get elected to parliament in UK’s July 4th election, however the Reform Party only gained 4 seats in parliament. This is 4 more than they had, but less than was predicted. The rest of the election went as anticipated, with Labour winning big and the Conservatives losing big.
Tomorrow, July 7th, France goes to the polls-France will have its second round of parliamentary elections tomorrow. The National Rally party is expected to win, however its support is weakening. As the article discusses, there is also fear of violence associated with the elections. There have already been attacks on politicians leading up to the election, so fear of post-election violence is not unwarranted.