We neither live in a simulation nor a ‘real’ universe, if ‘real’ here means an environment unaffected in its meaning by linguistic and material interactions among humans and between humans and that world. We co-construct the sense of the real through social interaction as well as via individual perspectival practices. The real is enacted, not passively observed. — Joshs
On average the demand for foreign currency and cash rose about 30% but in southern regions near the mutiny and in large cities, demand rocketed up by 70-80%, according to an update by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.
Tickets for direct flights to Belgrade sold out. One-way tickets to Belgrade via Sochi soared in price to 63,700 roubles ($742). Tickets to Istanbul quadrupled in price.
But within the elite, there is now a fear that Putin will seek to assert his position and remove those he felt did not profess their loyalty with enough ardour.
“Heads will roll,” said another senior source. “They will look at who kept silent, who did not speak in support of unity and of the president.”
he wanted to have a politically apathetic population and that is exactly what he got — Jabberwock
I am ashamed that I allowed lies to be told from TV screens, that I allowed Russian people to be zombified. — Marina Ovsyannikova (Mar 2022)


Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Saturday his forces were ready to help put down a mutiny by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and to use harsh methods if necessary.
In the Tavry direction, the Defense Forces liberated the territories near Krasnohorivka in Donetsk region, which had been occupied since 2014. The movement of our forces continues. — Oleksandr Tarnavskyi (Jun 24, 2023)
But Beijing might see a bigger prize in playing kingmaker for [...] — Count Timothy von Icarus
It's all about following the money. You've got to understand that these private militaries, they need money to function, they need resources to function... We're talking about billions of dollars here, perhaps even more. — David Otto
Experts estimate Wagner's projected revenue for the timber alone to be close to $1 billion, while the potential revenue from the Ndassima mine — now run entirely by Wagner — is estimated conservatively at around $2.7 billion. — CBS · May 16, 2023
Strengthening Ukraine is not tantamount to weakening Russia. The tsarist and Soviet past cannot be defined by Moscow alone. It is a past shared with other countries, whose perceptions differ greatly from those of the Kremlin. If Russia wants safe and stable borders, it should offer the same to its neighbors. — Rudolf G Adam
Gloninger’s experience is not an isolated one.
this is not an armed rebellion, but a march of justice — Prigozhin (Jun 23, 2023)
The [Rostov] border guards came out to meet and hugged our fighters — Prigozhin (Jun 23, 2023)
The Defence Ministry is trying to deceive society and the president and tell us a story about how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO [...] — Prigozhin
I am a military officer, my duty is to protect my country from aggression. I don't have to become an accomplice in a crime. No one explained to us why this war started, why we had to attack Ukrainians and destroy their cities? In the military no one believes the authorities. They can see what is really happening. They are not some civilians in front of the telly. The military do not believe official reports, because they are simply not true. — Dmitry Mishov
This year has seen 25 measures enacted restricting abortion access and 30 protecting and expanding abortion access, according to Guttmacher.



Does light, traveling at the speed of light not get affected by time dilation? — Sir2u
If it eases with the centralized control, it will break up. If it would be more multicultural or give more autonomy to the regions, it would break up. Or so the Russian thinking of the present elite goes. — ssu
We can’t know what will come tomorrow. So we live for today. Why not celebrate and have a party? Maybe there will be no tomorrow. — Igor Moroz

It's narratives and turtles all the way down. — yebiga
You will either defeat the enemy as a single fist with our Motherland, or the indelible shame of cowardice, collaboration and betrayal will engulf your family. — Maxim Ivanov (WION · May 30, 2023)
The water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir was at a 30-year high
They dismissed the theory that a catastrophic dam breach could have been caused by mismanagement alone.


Russian propaganda is also trying to play the cui bono card. Their western proxies amplify that narrative: — SophistiCat
Although it is unclear who was responsible for the attack, last year, Ukrainian troops fired on the dam in an attempt to raise water levels downstream, and the military leadership had publicly contemplated destroying it altogether. — World Socialist Website
It [Dutch court] found that Russia had "overall control" over the separatist forces.
