Notes

Most Russians say they support the military, according to this pollster : NPR
I can do without access to the blocked social media platforms. But many Russians are being deprived not only of a meaningless feed with entertaining content, but also of memories, work, and also important and truthful information about what is happening, which can’t be obtained from a zombie box (television). One of my friends is against our government while her grandmother supports them, and I know that’s caused a quarrel between them. I don’t support that view, but I do think we need some changes. Due to Russian cards getting blocked and Russia being disconnected from SWIFT (the international payment system), my family had to send me some money in advance, just in case, and I had to withdraw it really quickly before I lost access to it. When I think about the conflict, I feel anxious, sad, and frustrated.


Only 10-12% of people surveyed by the Levada Center, many of them civil servants and members of the middle class, were aware of this connection. One reason is Russia's "extremely strict censorship" that cuts off most people from independent news sources. The majority of Russians are influenced by state propaganda and do not go online to get the news, Gudkov said. That's according to Lev Gudkov, a Russian sociologist who heads the analytical Leveda Center. Dubbed a "foreign agent" by the Kremlin in 2016, the Leveda Center is considered the only opinion research institute independent from the Russian state or state funding.

EU Threatens Russia Sanctions as NATO Backs Ukraine
The sanctions now hitting Russia are being described as economic war - they aim to isolate the country and create a deep recession there. Western leaders hope the unprecedented measures will bring about a change in thinking in the Kremlin. "I am scared here - people have been arrested for speaking against 'the party line'. I feel ashamed and I didn't even vote for those in power."


Excluding such data from climate models makes them less accurate, and the problem will get worse over time, a new study warns. "By neglecting Russian sites, we decrease our chances to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change," says Efrén López-Blanco of Aarhus University in Denmark, who is one of the authors of the paper, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Large-scale protests are reportedly planned in several Russian cities later on Thursday, and social media images have showed an increased number of single-pickets across the country. An authoritarian streak runs through Putin’s two decades in control of Russia and his government takes any opportunity it has to crush opposition and gag dissenters. It is this that makes the anti-war protests against the invasion of Ukraine so telling. “Everyone has their own opinion but in general, I believe that children and teenagers should not directly express an ardent point of view about politics, and about the special military operation.

Live
Roughly speaking, I just started helping another part of the population. Over 2022, I helped with humanitarian aid for visiting refugees from the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, collected humanitarian aid, and wrote letters for mobilised servicemen. For that, I was named ‘Volunteer of the Year’ in my hometown of Odintsovo. “Since we lived in Russia, the war affected us quite a lot.

When the earth thaws, it can destabilize building foundations, roads, pipelines and other infrastructure. But to combat the anxiety, we try to remember our connections with friends and family and enjoy the spring weather. Yet, sensing that a genuine large-scale pushback against war might be Ukraine’s best bet, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, on Thursday morning urged Russians to speak up. But it is difficult to determine how reliable these surveys are, in light of new crackdowns on free speech and dissent in Russia, where even the use of the word “war” to describe the invasion is now a crime. Surveys have suggested that the majority of Russians support the invasion. Pro-government circles echo Putin’s line, but criticism of the military’s action grows among public figures and Russians.
"I always pay with my phone but it simply didn't work. There were some other people with the same problem. It turned out that the barriers are operated by VTB bank which is under sanctions and cannot accept Google Pay and Apple Pay. Like other interviewees for this article we are not using his full name or showing his face for security reasons. Millions of Russians like him are starting to feel the effect of Western economic sanctions designed to punish the country for invading neighbouring Ukraine.

Ukraine attacking Russian gas and oil 'to cut overseas earnings'
In contrast, Ukraine’s three presidents since the 2004 Orange Revolution never organized anti-Russian media campaigns. https://gilliam-albrechtsen-4.technetbloggers.de/how-a-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-could-affect-you-npr throughout this period have never held negative views of Russians and only because of Putin’s aggression have Ukrainian attitudes turned against the Russian state and its leaders. Ukrainian citizens—unlike Russians—distinguish between Russian leaders and state institutions, which three-quarters of them abhor, and the Russian people, whom a majority of Ukrainians continue to view positively. “For me, the special military operation is a stage that must be passed – whether there should be an intrusion into so many lives is another matter.


By mid-2014, positive views of Russia had fallen to 52 percent. “My father has a very strange position – it seems that he simultaneously supports and does not support the special military operation. Overall, he’s always had nationalist views, so it’s not surprising.


A fire at a Russian fuel terminal caused by a Ukrainian drone attack has been extinguished after almost 36 hours. Volodymyr Zelensky has been condemned for claiming six Russian regions were “historically inhabited by Ukrainians”. Ukraine is shifting its military strategy to “active defence” after its counter-offensive last year failed to deliver significant gains.


My Website: https://gilliam-albrechtsen-4.technetbloggers.de/how-a-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-could-affect-you-npr