Category: The Current Situation

In a recent tweet, Odile Turcu reminded us that “Generally speaking, March is a bad month for Russian leaders”. She backed up her point with these names, which I’ve expanded upon:

• Tsar Nicholas I — Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland — who brought Russia into the Crimean War and whose domestic and foreign policies are considered disastrous, died on March 2, 1855.
• Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (better known to the world as Joseph Stalin) — Chair of the Ministers of the Soviet Union and Supreme Commander of the Red Army — totalitarian and killer of millions by famine, died on March 5, 1953. Happy Stalin’s Death Day!
• Tsar Alexander II — Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland — pacifist, emancipator of serfs, and generally less of a dick than many historical Russian leaders (a low bar, to be sure) — still was enough of a dick to his lower half blown off by a bomb by the “People’s Will” movement on March 13, 1881.
• Iván IV Vasilyevich (better know to the world as Ivan the Terrible) — grand prince of Moscow and the first to declare himself Tsar of all Russia — general rage-a-holic and purge-a-holic, a-hole behind the massacre of Novogrod and the burning of Moscow by Tatars, and the murder of his own son, died on March 28, 1584.
• Tsar Paul I — son of Catherine the Great and her husband Peter III (or perhaps by her side guy with a name so appropriate it’s almost Dickensian: Sergei Saltykov) — was killed by his own officers on March 24, 1801.

Once again: Happy Stalin’s Death Day!

The Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map is a public resource for mapping, documenting, and verifying significant incidents that happen in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Its goal, as stated on its webpage, is to “provide reliable information for policymakers, journalists as well as justice and accountability bodies about the evolving situations both on-the-ground and online.”

Created by Centre for Information Resilience and contributed to by Bellingcat, Mnemonic, Conflict Intelligence Team, and other members of the open source intelligence (OSINT) community, the purpose of the map is to provide reliable information. Its content is logged in a central database whose contents will be archived for future use by researchers, reporters as well as justice and accountability bodies.

Incidents or events are indicated on the map with colored “pin” icons. Each has been verified via image — photo, video, or satellite imagery — to confirm where and when it took place.

Green map pins indicate the movement and buildup of military assets. You’ll see many of these outside Ukraine, as they’re often visuals of supply convoys or trains bringing weaponry or soldiers.

Yellow map pins indicate “other footage” that don’t fit any of the other pin categories.

Orange map pins indicate evidence of gunfire, bombing, shelling, or explosion, but not necessarily civilian casualties, infrastructure damage, or military losses.

Red map pins indicate civilian casualties, infrastructure damage and military losses.

Click on a map pin to get more details about the incident at its location:

Another way to view incidents on the map is to use the list on the right side:

For more about the Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map, see Bellingcat’s article, Follow the Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map, as well as this CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s national public broadcaster) report:

I know that the current situation in Ukraine has a lot of American firearms enthusiasts excited (and hey; guns are cool and fun to fire), but can we have a moment of honesty here? You’re less likely to fight neo-Soviets on U.S. soil and more likely to kill for something dumb.

In case you were wondering about the Florida man who shot — and killed — someone in a movie theater for texting (it happened here in Tampa, and he fired after the texter threw popcorn at him), here are some links:

• Tampa Bay Times: Curtis Reeves trial: Jury issues not guilty verdict for retired Tampa police captain
• ABC Action News Tampa Bay: Curtis Reeves had previous run-ins with moviegoers, but they won’t be testifying
• CBS New Miami — Retired Florida SWAT Officer Curtis Reeves Acquitted Of Fatally Shooting Fellow Moviegoer Over Cellphone Use
• CNN: Curtis Reeves, retired police captain who fatally shot man in movie theater, acquitted

“Caturday” may not be the internet phenomenon it once was, but I thought that this photo was both timely and appropriate.

Я подумав, що це буде відповідне фото.