Ukraine Without Hype

Ukraine struck a deal to secure its grain exports, but Russian perfidy meant Moscow broke the agreement almost immediately.

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A rapid Russian advance finishes off the long battle for Luysychansk, allowing them to occupy the entirety of Luhansk Oblast. The Battle for Donbas shifts westward to the Seversk/Bakhmut line. Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces continue to make grinding progress around Kherson and Zaporizhia and force Russia to abandon Snake Island.

Finally, we take a Patreon question on Turkey's attempt to stall out Swedish and Finnish NATO ascension, Ankara's geostrategic positioning, and how much Russia is capable of retaliating against the two (spoiler: very little).

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A rapid Russian offensive captures territory around Lysychansk, leading to the Ukrainian withdrawal from Severodonetsk, with a tough fight still to come.

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Severodonetsk becomes the centerpiece of the war, as fierce urban fighting claims hundreds of lives.

Russian cruise missiles destroy a Kyiv civilian railcar repair plant in the first strike on the city in a month, increasing the difficulty of Ukraine's ability to export grain.

Three foreign-born fighters are sentenced to death by the Russian puppet authorities in Donetsk. We go over who these men are and why calling them mercenaries is malicious propaganda.

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Brief news update: While Russia advances through the streets of Sieverodonetsk, Ukraine breaks through enemy lines in an offensive on the Kherson region. The US agrees to send Ukraine a new type of long-range rocket artillery after some very confusing negotiations. The branch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine breaks away from Moscow and its future is uncertain.

(08:00) We have an interview with Christopher Atwood, a graduate student at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York. He is a co-author of a report by the New Lines Institute and Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights which makes a legal case to classify Russia's atrocities against Ukrainians as a genocide. We give special attention to the role played by Russian media in spreading genocidal rhetoric.

Report from New Lines Institute

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Christopher: @tca1_

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Anthony Bartaway goes over the latest updates from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(1:00) The fears of Russian general mobilization on Victory Day proved to be false.

(1:40) The defenders of Mariupol finally surrender, and their future is uncertain.

(4:30) The Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkiv successfully drives Russian forces away from the city, in some places straight to the border.

(7:50) A deep dive into the role played by the Siverskyi Donets River in the Battle for Donbas, and the advantages and difficulties that it gives either side.

(20:20) What Happens Next?

(26:45) Complete Change of Tone: Ukraine Wins Eurovision

(32:00) Patreon Question: What is the situation in Poland with refugees who have been raped by Russian soldiers and need abortion services?

Eurovision Winning Song "Stephania" by Kalush Orchestra

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The Russian offensive in Donbas becomes bogged down outside of Izyum and Sievierodonetsk, with only minor forward progress since our last update. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces take the initiative around Kharkiv and score more hits against the Russian Navy and its positions on occupied Snake Island in the Black Sea. Russia's effort to rope Transnistria into a suicidal war is subsiding, but still something to watch. The US lend-lease bill begins to show results in getting much-needed equipment to Ukrainian defenders.

(32:20) For our main segment, we focus on the incredibly antisemitic remarks made by Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and the Russian media who picked up on them. We do a bit of a deeper dive into the history and nature of Russian antisemitism, and how it is an integral part of the Russian imperial project.

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The Battle for Donbas rages on as the Russian army tries desperately to encircle Ukrainian forces in the east, while the defenders of Mariupol make their last stand in the ruins of the sprawling Azovstal metallurgical plant. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army presses in on Russian-occupied territory in the East from Kharkiv and the West toward Kherson. Ukraine has begun receiving shipments of heavy weapons in order to take the fight to the enemy.

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Russian soldiers have retreated from northern Ukraine and will try to re-focus on Donbas, but what they left behind is a path of destruction that must be called a genocide. There have been multiple statements from the Russian government showing genocidal intent, and that intent was followed with action. Evidence of mass murder and other crimes is found in nearly every location that Russia occupied.

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Plyve Kacha Po Tysyni, Traditional performed by Unattributed CC BY

Anthony Bartaway and Romeo Kokriatski talk about the current situation in the Russo-Ukraine War. Russian advances around Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv have been stopped by Ukrainian defenders, but have been replaced with artillery fire and rocket strikes. Along the Black Sea coast, the Russian army has been turned away from Mykolaiv, but is committing horrible war crimes to try and break Mariupol.

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