Kevin Rothrock
Kevin RothrockMoscow sounds the "false flag" alarm again, accusing Kyiv of planning to stage Russian airstrikes outside Kharkiv on Friday that will kill civilians, as Putin is in Alaska. Zelensky's boys will have to find a window when Moscow's usual civilian targeting isn't already scheduled. https://t.me/mod_russia/55501
Kevin RothrockAs dumb as this administration is, even Trump's staff finally seem to realize how idiotic it was to invite Putin to Alaska without having secured a plausible ceasefire plan. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt now says Friday's summit is "a listening exercise for the president." Uh, right. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/white-house-says-trump-putin-meeting-is-listening-exercise-2025-08-12/
Kevin RothrockWhen Putin meets Trump in Alaska this Friday, it seems the wind beneath his sails will include a major Russian advance toward one of Kyiv's key strongholds in the Donbas, and possibly even Pokrovsk's encirclement. In card-analogy terms, it's definitely something royal. https://meduza.io/en/news/2025/08/12/russian-breakthrough-near-pokrovsk-raises-risk-of-encirclement-of-ukrainian-forces-at-a-key-donbas-stronghold
Kevin RothrockanchoRAGE. think about it.
Kevin RothrockZelensky is opening the door to opening the borders for Ukraine's men between the ages of 18 and 22, billing lifted travel restrictions as a way to breathe life into the country's education system (though the logic is somewhat lost on me).
https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/zelenskiy-doruchiv-uryadu-sprostiti-peretin-1755004911.html
Kevin RothrockIt's official: Anchorage will be the Alaskan site of Friday's summit with Putin. https://www.c-span.org/event/white-house-event/white-house-press-secretary-briefs-reporters/435652
Kevin RothrockBad news for all you data-snooping sleuths who rely on hacked personal data to track Russian officials: Telegram's crackdown on doxxing and defamation-based extortion is already making it harder (but surely not impossible) to access that precious personal info.
https://t.me/novaya_europe/53350
Kevin RothrockSix North Korean workers who fled Russia, activists, scholars, and South Korean govt officials tell the BBC that "thousands of North Koreans are being sent to work in slave-like conditions in Russia to fill a huge labor shortage." (A huge labor shortage of thousands?) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2077gwjlvxo
Kevin RothrockFor comparison, HRW says close to 3.3 million migrant workers from Central Asia were in Russia in 2024 (probably an underestimate). Makes "thousands of North Korean slaves" seem like less of a labor shortage remedy than a geopolitical stunt, even if it's as large-scale as the BBC describes.
Kevin RothrockSix North Korean workers who fled Russia, activists, scholars, and South Korean govt officials tell the BBC that "thousands of North Koreans are being sent to work in slave-like conditions in Russia to fill a huge labor shortage." (A huge labor shortage of thousands?) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2077gwjlvxo
Kevin RothrockAt least a dozen foreign volunteers in Ukraine’s military (fresh recruits from USA, Colombia, Taiwan, Denmark) were killed in July in Russian missile strike on a training camp’s mess hall — one of the deadliest attacks on foreign fighters of the war. “Lax security had been a source of grumbling.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/world/europe/foreign-soldiers-ukraine-russia-missile-attack.html