Ukraine Week 11C: Russian backtalk, Warmonger-Lite Joe

Two regional Russian legislators, both Communist Party members, were sacked and called traitors after calling for an end to the war.

==

Warmonger Joe Biden is clearly not interested in listening to any of the Goldilocks Three Bears of Chomsky, Kissinger and the NYT if he's going to give Ukraine long-range missiles. Dear #BlueAnon: You know who to blame for Biden's rising gas prices. That said, if you're a good environmentalist? Just think of it as a carbon tax. Meanwhile, vote in the poll at right: How many House seats will Democraps lose? Update: At least Warmonger Joe has the brains not to sell Zelenskyy long-range rockets. 

Or, I think he does. Per the official White House statement that also ran as a NYT op-ed, it's not clear to me, since I'm not a deep in the woods military hardware geek, if Biden is selling long-range stuff after all or not.

That said? Supposedly, Warmonger Joe is considering joining BoJo the Brexiter and sending some sort of US special forces to guard the US Embassy in Kyiv. James Dorsey has thoughts on that and more.

==

He's also not interested in listening to Putin himself, I'm sure, who told France's Macron and Germany's Scholz that he's open to more peace talks. They contacted him contra objections by warmongers in the US who might think Vlad the Impaler is trying to fracture NATO. That said, no, Putin's not withdrawing before a deal, and if Macron and Scholz think he is, they're almost as stupid as Biden.

==

The complexities of the Russian-Ukraine borderland. An ethnic Ukrainian woman who carried a SOVIET flag out to Russian troops at the start of the invasion is being propagandized by Putin, demonized by some of her neighbors, misunderstood by many, and ultimately a symbol of exploitation by oligarchs in Ukraine, who are as thick there as in Russia.

==

A socialist online news site reports from the Donbas, with a backstory on Odessa 2014. Even if you discount its claims by 50 percent, it's clear that the bullshit that "Russia is targeting civilians" is just that — bullshit.