Tag: Kyiv

The Personal Trauma Behind “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” by Mark Ronson Ft. Miley Cyrus

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

🤦‍♀️

The Personal Trauma Behind “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” by Mark Ronson Ft. Miley Cyrus

Everybody Hurts

Ronson and Cyrus filmed the music video for “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” in Kyiv, Ukraine. There’s a breaking news report on TV where the chyron reads “Miley’s Wild Ride” as Cyrus is chased in her car by law enforcement.

Key scenes in the video include shots on the New Darnytski Bridge, which crosses the Dnieper River. Cyrus’s car also drives through a strip club as well as a shooting range with children inside firing guns.

The video speaks to the casual violence that consumes the news and the continued tragedy of school shootings in America.

Cyrus told British TV host Graham Norton, “Mark was very trusting about my ideas. It’s all about what is heartbreaking to us in society every single day—waking up to the news of violence, judgment, and hypocrisy.” She continued, “It’s about a deeper heartbreak than losing love in a romance or relationship.”

She wanted to focus on the things that break “us apart every single day.”

Raid at the Okean Elzy concert: Vakarchuk evaded the answer, and raids will be regular + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Raid at the Okean Elsa concert: Vakarchuk evaded the answer, and raids will be regular

On the eve of the raids took place in several major cities of the country, including Kiev. Employees of the Shopping Center, with the support of the police, raided nightclubs, restaurants and at the concert of the Okean Elzy group, which was held at the Kiev Sports Palace.

The leader of the Okean Elzy group, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, in a comment to TSN, evaded the question of how he feels about this event.

“It’s our birthday today, I hope you congratulate us too. We are very happy that so many people have come and come to support us, listen to our music. In general, this is a big holiday for us. These 30 years have been very important for us. We are very grateful to people for these 30 years. Including for the fact that they continue to support us now. For us it’s just a joy and a celebration. That’s all I want to say, my only comment. Period,” said Vakarchuk.

…

“There is a persistent sense of acute social injustice in Ukrainian society during mobilization. It is believed, and not unreasonably, that the bulk of those who are being mobilized now are residents of small towns and villages, ordinary hard workers or poor people who do not have money to pay off. This causes tension in society. In addition, there is tension in the army — the military are outraged that they are sitting in the trenches, while healthy men in the rear are sitting in restaurants, hanging out in clubs, going to concerts. In general, they live a full-blooded peaceful life. This annoys many front-line soldiers and reinforces the feeling of social injustice. That’s why we decided to arrange a demonstration raid so that the whole country could see — “the rich are crying too.” That is, party-goers can also be mobilized. Similar events are now planned to be held regularly. This is a political decision,” the source said.

Related:

Okean Elzy marks 30th anniversary with first English-language album

Read More »

Jailed as collaborators: the stories of Ukrainians who ended up in prison

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Jailed as collaborators: the stories of Ukrainians who ended up in prison

Most of the high-level turncoats managed to flee to Russia, meaning it is mostly lower-level collaborators who are in jail. As Russia continues to strike Ukraine, causing death and misery, there is scant sympathy for these people, as evidenced by one male prisoner with a 12-year sentence who agreed to be photographed but declined to share his name. He had been assaulted by his cellmates while in pre-trial detention. They tattooed the word “Orc” – a pejorative term for Russian soldiers widely used in Ukraine – on his forehead.

…

Holomb admitted her guilt, she said, because she felt she had no choice. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She is currently with her two-year-old daughter in prison, but after her third birthday the child will be taken away. “Everyone was in shock at the sentence. My mum hired a lawyer, we filed an appeal but it was too late,” she said.

Holomb has now signed a request asking to be swapped in a prisoner exchange and sent to Russia, as she thinks it is her best chance of being freed. She has never set foot in the country before.

Many of those the Guardian interviewed insisted their innocent activity had been misinterpreted and they had then been pressured into signing confessions. Valentyn Moroi, a 52-year-old from Sloviansk, said he had merely taken photographs of the warehouse where he worked, to prove everything was secure, and sent them to his boss, who was in Russia. The SBU had taken this as evidence he was sending classified information to Russian intelligence, he claimed.

[07-2023] Zelensky showing ‘authoritarian traits’, says Swiss intelligence report

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine is at a “critical point” in its democratic evolution as it heads towards presidential elections in 2024, says a confidential assessment by the Federal Intelligence Service.

Zelensky showing ‘authoritarian traits’, says Swiss intelligence report (archived)

H/T: Emil Cosman / Rand Paul

Related:

[2021] Ukraine’s Accelerating Slide into Authoritarianism

The Maidan Revolution alumni now seem to be trying to devour even some of their own members. In mid‐May, Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko charged agents of the SBU, Ukraine’s state security agency, had come to his apartment in what he denounced as a continuing attempt by his political rival, Zelensky, to put pressure on him. Earlier in May, the SBU, the state prosecutor’s office, and police carried out large‐scale searches of various units of the Kiev city government, accusing the local authorities of misappropriation of budget funds and tax evasion, among other offenses. Although Klitschko was one of the original leaders of the Maidan demonstrations, Zelensky apparently now regards him as an annoying rival, since the Kiev mayor was a close ally of former president Poroshenko.

[2021] KIIS poll: Every fifth Ukrainian ready to vote for Zelensky in presidential elections

If presidential elections were held soon, incumbent head of state Volodymyr Zelensky would receive about 21.8% of the vote, according to the results of a sociological survey “Social and Political Sentiments of Ukraine” conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

Media Bias: Ukraine Blocks Journalists From Front Lines With Escalating Censorship

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

After Ukrainian forces regained control of the port city of Kherson last November, following eight months of Russian occupation, some journalists entered the liberated city within hours. Without formal permission to be there, they documented the jubilant crowds welcoming soldiers with hugs and Ukrainian flags. Ukrainian officials, who tightly control press access to the front lines, responded by revoking the journalists’ press credentials, claiming that they had “ignored existing restrictions.”

Ukraine Blocks Journalists From Front Lines With Escalating Censorship

As if Ukraine doesn’t create ‘propaganda’!? 🙄

Related:

Inside the high-stakes clash for control of Ukraine’s story:

The heated clashes have remained largely behind the scenes because the credentials are vital to report from the country, and journalists worry that a public conflict might further threaten their access. Most of the journalists from Western and Ukrainian news organizations who have clashed with their handlers spoke on the condition of anonymity.

More Details: Putin Shows African Leaders Draft Treaty on Ukrainian Neutrality from March 2022

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Putin Shows African Leaders Draft Treaty on Ukrainian Neutrality from March 2022

Putin’s claim reflects an article published in Foreign Affairs last year that cited multiple former senior US officials who said Russia and Ukraine tentatively agreed on a peace deal in April 2022. They said the agreement would have involved a Ukrainian promise not to join NATO in exchange for a Russian withdrawal to the pre-invasion lines, and Ukraine would have received security guarantees from several countries.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met face-to-face in Istanbul on March 29, 2022, which was followed up with virtual consultations. After the meeting, Russia’s lead negotiator described the talks as “constructive,” and the Russian Defense Ministry announced it would “drastically” reduce military activity near the northern cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv, which led to a full Russian withdrawal from the north.

Putin said after the Russian withdrawal, Ukraine abandoned the treaty. “After we pulled our troops away from Kiev — as we had promised to do — the Kiev authorities … tossed [their commitments] into the dustbin of history,” he said. “They abandoned everything.”

Ukraine accused Russian troops of intentionally killing civilians in the northern areas it withdrew from, most notably in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. But if Putin’s account is true, Western pressure could have also led to Ukraine scuttling the treaty.

Then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv on April 9, 2022, a few days after Russia completed its withdrawal from the north. According to a report from Ukrainska Pravda, Johnson urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to negotiate with Russia and that even if Ukraine was ready to sign a deal with Putin, Kyiv’s Western backers were not.

The Ukrainska Pravda report said at the time, Russia was ready for a Putin-Zelensky meeting, but two factors stopped it from happening: the discovery of dead Ukrainian civilians* and Johnson’s visit.

Then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet was trying to mediate between Putin and Zelensky in March 2022 and gave a similar account of the West’s position. He said the US and its allies “blocked” his mediation effort and that he thought there was a “legitimate decision by the West to keep striking Putin” and not negotiate.

After peace talks were scuttled in April 2022, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he expected the conflict to end after the Istanbul talks but then realized some countries in NATO wanted to prolong the war to “weaken” Russia. A few days after Cavusoglu’s comments, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted that one of the US’s goals in supporting Ukraine is to see Russia “weakened.”

As the war has dragged on, the Biden administration has come out explicitly against a ceasefire. Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined the position earlier this month and said the US would continue building up Ukraine’s military rather than push for peace.

Related:

President Putin reveals details of draft treaty on Ukraine’s neutrality

*Bucha, Kramatorsk & Kremenchuk

Bucha was staged to sabotage the peace talks!

Don’t Forget WaPo’s Report From December About Kiev’s Plans To Blow Up The Kakhovka Dam

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Major General Andrey Kovalchuk admitted to the Washington Post last December that his side had previously planned to blow up part of the Kakhovka Dam as part of its Kherson Counteroffensive. It therefore seemed unthinkable that Kiev would ultimately do just that over half a year later and then gaslight that Moscow was to blame when the Mainstream Media itself earlier reported the existence of Ukraine’s terrorist plans after quoting the same official who bragged about them.

Don’t Forget WaPo’s Report From December About Kiev’s Plans To Blow Up The Kakhovka Dam