In the last issue, I hoped Putin will not Invade but he ended up invading. And exactly as discussed, the Russian military is getting embarrassed and blocked by the Ukrainian army. After two days of invading, the Russian army’s progress is limited except in the South where they are facing no resistance. In this battle of David vs Goliath, the Ukrainian military definitely has the upper hand till now. But the battle is long and hard and Putin will grow more frustrated and desperate as the battle stretches longer.
However, as the military movements are covered well in Media. In this issue, I try to highlight some of the lesser-known topics.
Urban legends Ghost of Kyiv
Urban legends are appearing of a Ukrainian pilot who apparently shot down 6 Russian jets including two Su-35. While most likely fake but even if there is a remote possibility that an old Mig-29 Fulcrum managed to shoot down not one but TWO new-generation Su-35, this casts huge doubt on how modern the Russian army is. Mig-29 shooting down a Su-35 is like a Honda Civic from the 1970s beating a Ferrari in a drag race.
Ghost of Kyiv might not be a hero that exists but is a hero people want to believe in and need.
German Intelligence Failure
How do you spell Intelligence failure?
When your Head of Intelligence is stuck in Kyiv because they didn't expect the Russian invasion and he has to evacuate through the road ( as airspace is closed) and gets stuck in traffic. You can’t make this stuff up.
Finnish Snipers
Russia tried to threaten Finland against joining NATO
And the Fins started some savage replies on Twitter. Let’s just say that Russians don’t have a good track record against the Finnish army.
Germany and Italy embarrassed on SWIFT
After the reports leaked that Germany and Italy are the countries trying to block the SWIFT sanctions against Russia to safeguard their economic interest, people started calling them on their hypocrisy which lead to a lot of public pressure on these governments.
And now apparently, Italy has made a U-turn saying we are supporting SWIFT sanction and if needed for their energy will turn on Coal plants again for the short term.
Meanwhile, Germany is closing its last nuclear plants this month, the failure of German energy policy warrants another in-depth issue, and tried to get away by saying that there is a technical challenge in cutting Russia from SWIFT.
Cutting Russia off SWIFT technically difficult - German govt spokesperson
I guess you can blame everything on software. However, after facing immense pressure internally and externally Germany finally became "open” to the idea of SWIFT ban.
Of course, I understand that Germany can’t decouple itself totally from Russia and make itself reliant on US energy but this is again is highlighting how much of a failure Germany’s energy policy has been.
And in the end some dark humor of the so-called sanctions imposed by the West
That’s all folks!