Against Putin’s Terror-State

“A major Russian missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 20 people and hits a children’s hospital.” That is a headline from the Associated Press, this morning. (Article here.) Putin’s Russia is a terror-state. The defeat of Putin would be a victory for Ukraine, of course. But it would also be a victory for all mankind, including Russians.

• From Yaroslav Trofimov, the chief foreign-affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal:

From Tim Mak, the American journalist, one of the leading reporters in Ukraine:

The opinion of Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Russian democracy leader and political prisoner:

• A report in the Moscow Times begins, “Jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza has been transferred to a prison hospital and his lawyers were denied access to their client, his wife said Friday.” “Hospital,” sure — but make no mistake: They are killing Kara-Murza, Putin and his men are. It ought not to be allowed to happen quietly.

• We Americans have just celebrated our independence day. For Ukrainians, it is August 24. They declared their independence in 1991. The Kremlin and its allies are determined to take it away from them, through violence. I hope the invaders fail, and that Ukraine remains free.

• X (formerly Twitter) now has news headlines. One from this morning reads, “Orbán Meets Xi: Eyes on Ukraine Peace.” I don’t think “peace” is the word, at all. In fact, I once wrote a book on this theme (Peace, They Say, a history of the Nobel Peace Prize).

• The prime minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, had a reaction to Orbán’s huddle with Putin:

• Here is Orbán in Beijing. Xi Jinping as peacemaker (Orbán says). You may call Orbán naïve – but I doubt it. I think he is fully knowing. (I imagine the same is true of his admirers in America, who are all around us.)

• From the beginning of Russia’s full-scale assault — February 24, 2022 — Britain has been foursquare behind the Ukrainians. Boris Johnson was one of the first foreign leaders to travel to Kyiv. Through the various other prime ministers, Britain has been unwavering.

Here is a message from the new defense minister:

• Have you heard that the wife of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky bought a Bugatti — a high-end sports car — with U.S. dollars? In the last week, many people on social media have informed me of this. It is, of course, a lie — another piece of Kremlin propaganda.

Alex Demas, of The Dispatch, wrote about this, here. Also of interest is a report from the BBC, headed “A Bugatti car, a first lady and the fake stories aimed at Americans.” The report begins,

A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the US election, a BBC investigation can reveal.

A former Florida police officer who relocated to Moscow is one of the key figures behind it.

Last year, the Kremlin put it about that President Zelensky and other Ukrainians were buying yachts with U.S. dollars. See this BBC report: “How pro-Russian ‘yacht’ propaganda influenced US debate over Ukraine aid.” The propaganda was duly echoed by American politicians, including J.D. Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio.

On Steve Bannon’s show, Vance said, “There are people who would cut Social Security, throw our grandparents into poverty. Why? So that one of Zelensky’s ministers can buy a bigger yacht?”

This man, Vance, may be vice president, soon.

• Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, has been a political prisoner in Russia — a hostage of Vladimir Putin’s — since March 2023. Here is a message, with photos, from the chief of world coverage at the Journal:

• A headline from the Odessa Journal: “Heartbreaking loss on the frontline: British volunteer and combat medic Peter Fouché was killed.” The article is here. To read about this man is inspiring, at least to me. I admire him a great deal.

Yesterday, RFE/RL posted this: