Putin's war

A Ukrainian sailor has admitted trying to sink a yacht owned by the head of a Russian state arms firm, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

The 48m (157ft) Lady Anastasia, which belongs to Rosoboronexport director general Alexander Mikheev, was docked in Majorca in Spain when the mechanic opened valves in its engine room.

He was arrested by Civil Guard officers on Saturday and later released on bail.

He told a judge that he regretted nothing and would do it again.

The man said he tried to scuttle Mr Mikheev's yacht after watching news reports from Ukraine on the television,

"There was a video of a helicopter attack on a building in Kyiv," he was quoted as saying by local media.

"They were attacking innocents."

There was no immediate comment from Mr Mikheev or Rosoboronexport, which exports Russian defence products, including tanks, fighting vehicles, aircraft, ships, weapons and ammunition.

It’s worth remembering now, as so many Republicans pin “Stand with Ukraine” images to their profiles, how little most of them cared when Donald Trump withheld critical military assistance from the country in 2019 as he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to do his political dirty work.

At the time, Trump’s bold attempt to get Zelensky to announce sham investigations into the Biden family and 2016 conspiracy theories were primarily viewed as a domestic affront. But the sight of Russian rockets raining down on Kyiv this week was a reminder that this obscene “drug deal” had real-world consequences. At the center of the Ukrainian scandal was a sickening truth: Trump did not see the Ukrainians as the heroes we see today; he saw them as pawns to be used for his benefit.

When Zelensky spoke with Trump in that “perfect” 2019 phone call, the newly-elected 44-year old Ukrainian President didn’t want much. Just two things: the military aid Congress had already approved and a White House meeting to show the world that America stood with Ukraine against Russian aggression. Both would have been so easy to give. But Trump never gives anything unless he gets his beak wet, so he tried to use his leverage over the Ukrainian people to coerce Zelensky into doing him a favor.

Trump didn’t care about the people of Ukraine—their lives or their democracy. He simply understood that he had power over them and could abuse this power to help his re-election.

And his fellow Republicans, almost to a person, either helped him with this blackmail or defended it once it came to light.

I wonder how they feel about that now.

(...)

With restrictions in force limiting how much the Russian central bank can do to prop up the currency, the rouble plunged 41.5% to a record low when the markets opened, sinking to as low as 119 per dollar from 83.7 at its close on Friday. It recovered a little ground later on Monday to stand at 107 to the dollar, a fall of 28%.

Analysts at Rabobank in Singapore said that Monday could see a “complete collapse in the rouble” after the asset freeze on the Central Bank of Russia means it cannot sell foreign currency reserves to support the rouble.

Russia’s central bank more than doubled interest rates to 20%, and banned foreigners from selling local securities, in a bid to protect its currency and economy.

There is war in Europe. Millions of people are losing their homes. Too many of them also their lives. The pandemic leaves behind a deeply divided society in which the voices of fascists and enemies of democracy are growing louder. And in our region, the existence of almost all businesses and countless people is threatened by the closed Rahmedetal Bridge on Autobahn A45 by Luedenscheid, Germany. An artist collective of 70 people is making a statement and transforming this bridge into a monument of cohesion in times of division and hate. The result is one of the largest street art installations in the world - on an area of over 6000 square meters, with a length of about 300 meters and a height of 70 meters. Against war, against division and for togetherness: Let's build bridges. Peace.

The Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island in the Black Sea who were thought dead are apparently alive after all. This was announced by the Ukrainian navy. According to the statement, they were not killed in combat with Russia, but were captured by Russian forces. It is unclear whether all of the 13 border guards believed dead are actually alive. The navy wrote that it was pleased that the men were doing well.

Source: Ukraine navy @ facebook

The European subsidiary of Russia's biggest bank was on the brink of collapse as savers rushed to withdraw their deposits. Economists warned that the Russian economy could shrink by 5%.

The ruble lost about 20% of its value to trade at 100 to the dollar at 6 a.m. ET after earlier plummeting as much as 40%. The start of trading on the Russian stock market was delayed, and then canceled entirely, according to a statement from the country's central bank.

The latest barrage of sanctions came Saturday, when the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada said they would expel some Russian banks from SWIFT, a global financial messaging service, and "paralyze" the assets of Russia's central bank.

"The ratcheting up of Western sanctions over the weekend has left Russian banks on the edge of crisis," wrote Liam Peach, an emerging market economist at Capital Economics, in a note on Monday.

Putin knew he had the power to conquer Ukraine. But would the Ukrainian people just accept Moscow’s puppet regime? Putin gambled that they would. After all, as he repeatedly explained to anyone willing to listen, Ukraine isn’t a real nation, and the Ukrainians aren’t a real people. In 2014, people in Crimea hardly resisted the Russian invaders. Why should 2022 be any different?

With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Putin’s gamble is failing. The Ukrainian people are resisting with all their heart, winning the admiration of the entire world – and winning the war. Many dark days lie ahead. The Russians may still conquer the whole of Ukraine. But to win the war, the Russians would have to hold Ukraine, and they can do that only if the Ukrainian people let them. This seems increasingly unlikely to happen.

Each Russian tank destroyed and each Russian soldier killed increases the Ukrainians’ courage to resist. And each Ukrainian killed deepens the Ukrainians’ hatred. Hatred is the ugliest of emotions. But for oppressed nations, hatred is a hidden treasure. Buried deep in the heart, it can sustain resistance for generations. To re-establish the Russian empire, Putin needs a relatively bloodless victory that will lead to a relatively hateless peace. By spilling more and more Ukrainian blood, Putin is making sure his dream will never be realised. It won’t be Mikhail Gorbachev’s name written on the death certificate of the Russian empire: it will be Putin’s. Gorbachev left Russians and Ukrainians feeling like siblings; Putin has turned them into enemies, and has ensured that the Ukrainian nation will henceforth define itself in opposition to Russia.

Nations are ultimately built on stories. Each passing day adds more stories that Ukrainians will tell not only in the dark days ahead, but in the decades and generations to come. The president who refused to flee the capital, telling the US that he needs ammunition, not a ride; the soldiers from Snake Island who told a Russian warship to “go **** yourself”; the civilians who tried to stop Russian tanks by sitting in their path. This is the stuff nations are built from. In the long run, these stories count for more than tanks.