May 9th, 2023. Russia’s Victory Day Parade, a shadow of its former self. Propaganda spewed out by Russia; cyber warfare too, but Ukraine challenges them at every level with the support of the West.

MEN – A SHADOW OF WHAT VICTORY DAYS ARE NORMALLY ABOUT.

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With its declining population, with people moving out of the Far East, with an enormously powerful China in the east, I think the real destiny of Russia is to become closer to the West.

Zbigniew Brzezinski

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The jealous and intolerant eye of the Kremlin can distinguish, in the end, only vassals and enemies, and the neighbors of Russia, if they do not wish to be one, must reconcile themselves to being the other.

George F. Kennan

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In Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was propaganda. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One.

Yakov Smirnoff

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Bill Browder

@Billbrowder

May 8

While Russian official statistics show a 1.2% industrial production growth, we know they are lying. Interestingly, pollution data, which is a good proxy for industrial production, shows a 6+% decline in the last year.

wsj.com Pollution Reveals What Russian Statistics Obscure: Industrial Decline The satellite detection of pollutants in the atmosphere offers an independent look at what is really going on with Russia’s economy. ==========

Garry Kasparov

@Kasparov63

8th May 2023

Power abhors a vacuum. Interventionism requires critique, but the idea that the world would be a better or safer place after US retreat was as flawed under Obama’s naive multipolar dreams as under Trump’s quid pro quo isolationism.

Quote Tweet

Max Boot 

@MaxBoot

8th May 2023

In March, the Saudis reached a deal, brokered by China, restoring diplomatic relations with Iran. On Sunday, Iran’s ally Syria rejoined the Arab League. Meanwhile, Iran is moving closer to having nuclear weapons. Welcome to the post-American Middle East.

https://wapo.st/42cYQoU

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Mikhail Khodorkovsky Retweeted

Maria Snegovaya

@MSnegovaya

Discussing Russia’s futures and U.S. policy responses at the Milken Institute Global Conference w/

@mbk_center

and

@Kasparov63

. A link to our session: https://vimeo.com/event/3311672

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Glasnost Gone

@GlasnostGone

9th May 2023

#Ukraine‘s managed to reduce Russia’s so-called #VictoryDay parade to a village pageant. No modern tanks. No air force fly past. No ten thousand soldiers in their shiny uniforms. No credibility. Just one lone T-34 tank & a few lightly armoured vehicles.

https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1655865740258320387

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Jason Jay Smart Retweeted

Jason Jay Smart

@officejjsmart

9th May 2023

During Moscow’s Victory Day Parade, only one tank rolled across Red Square . I think it is safe to assume that Ukrainian farmers  now have a larger reserve of Russian tanks.

During Moscow’s Victory Day Parade, only one tank rolled across Red Square 🇷🇺.

I think it is safe to assume that Ukrainian farmers 🇺🇦 now have a larger reserve of Russian tanks. pic.twitter.com/EcvCX1GcFL

— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 9, 2023

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Jason Jay Smart

@officejjsmart

9th May 2023

 Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko became sick during the May 9 Victory Day Parade in Moscow . He was seen asking Putin to get him assurance.  Kremlin press reports JUST NOW “Putin and his colleagues returned to the Kremlin for lunch. Lukashenka is not here.”

⚡️⚡️⚡️ Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko became sick during the May 9 Victory Day Parade in Moscow 🇷🇺.

He was seen asking Putin to get him assurance.

🇷🇺 Kremlin press reports JUST NOW “Putin and his colleagues returned to the Kremlin for lunch. Lukashenka is not here.” pic.twitter.com/U11Yav6Gei

— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 9, 2023

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Francis Scarr

@francis_scarr

8th May 2023

Russian independent journalist Daniil Belovodyev gave Wagner a call and pretended to be interested in signing up. He asked them about the difference between going to Ukraine and Africa.

Russian independent journalist Daniil Belovodyev gave Wagner a call and pretended to be interested in signing up. He asked them about the difference between going to Ukraine and Africa. https://t.co/HlfvGesqA2 pic.twitter.com/H8YvEJCNi2

— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 8, 2023

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The Moscow Times

@MoscowTimes

9th May 2023

“Soldiers should not die because of the absolute stupidity of their leadership,” the Wagner mercenary leader said.

themoscowtimes.com Prigozhin Claims ‘Deception’ and ‘Threats’ from Defense Ministry Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Tuesday that he had received a letter from Russia’s Defense Ministry threatening to charge
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The Moscow Times

@MoscowTimes

9th May 2023

#OpEd Continued Russian military underperformance in Ukraine and the insistent use of World War II analogies raise the prospect that the government will be seen as besmirching the memory of the Great Victory, writes

@DrJadeMcGlynn

themoscowtimes.com The Great Patriotic Special Military Operation Opinion | One of the many jarring aspects of the pobedobesie (victory-mania) as Russia marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany
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The Moscow Times

@MoscowTimes

1h

“Civilization again finds itself at a decisive, critical moment,” Putin told the assembled soldiers and guests.

themoscowtimes.com In Victory Day Speech, Putin Says Russia’s ‘Future’ Depends on Troops in Ukraine Updated with details of military parade in Moscow and recast throughout.  Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a combativ

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Meduza in English

@meduza_en

May 9th 2023

“Then they transferred me to some other basement somewhere, where they started stabbing my eye with a knife.” How Russia’s Wagner Group spent hours torturing a fellow soldier they mistook for a Ukrainian spy.

meduza.io

Bruised kidneys and chemical burns How Wagner Group spent hours torturing a Russian soldier they…

In early May, Wagner paramilitary cartel Evgeny Prigozhin published a video online that showed him standing in front of numerous dead

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Meduza in English

@meduza_en

9th May 2023

Wagner Group head Evgeny Prigozhin said a Russian Defense Ministry unit fled its positions in Bakhmut on Tuesday, leaving a 2-km section of the front exposed. He also said the ministry has yet to provide Wagner Group with the ammunition it promised.

meduza.io Evgeny Prigozhin says Russian army unit abandoned positions in Bakhmut — Meduza Wagner Group founder Evgeny Prigozhin said in a new video posted to Telegram that a Russian Armed Forces unit abandoned its positions
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Dénes Törteli 

@DenesTorteli

9th May 2023

President Zelensky: “From now on, 9 May will be Europe Day – in the European Union and also in Ukraine. Today, we are meeting in Kyiv on this special day. Because Kyiv is such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe. Everyday, the brave people of Ukraine are defending the… Show

President Zelensky: "From now on, 9 May will be Europe Day – in the European Union and also in Ukraine. Today, we are meeting in Kyiv on this special day. Because Kyiv is such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe. Everyday, the brave people of Ukraine are defending the… pic.twitter.com/atMvTxOPQa

— Dénes Törteli 🇪🇺🇭🇺🇺🇦 (@DenesTorteli) May 9, 2023

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Mariam Naiem

@mariamposts

9th May 2023

How did May 9th, the day commemorating the victory over fascism, ironically transform into a neo-fascist cult in contemporary Russia?

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Defense of Ukraine

@DefenceU

9th May 2023

“In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

John McCrae Total combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2023:

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Saint Javelin

@saintjavelin

9th May 2023

The Gremlin from the Kremlin is out.