WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST 2022

UKRAINE

UKRAINE, THE LATEST Podcast, The Telegraph

•  Day 175
• There have been strikes in Odesa. 
• A grain ship left for Africa.
• The Ukrainian strategy is creating chaos in the Russian forces.  The Crimean bridges to the east of Crimea, linking Crimea to Russia are illegal structures according to the Ukrainians.  They will probably come under attack. 
• There is no prospect of meaningful negotiations with Russia until they have experienced a significant military defeat.
• There have been some explosions in Melitopol, occupied Ukraine. 
• The Russians are saying they have captured “terrorist cells,” something they use frequently when things aren’t going well.
• People in the south are preparing for an energy blockade in the near future.
• The operator of the nuclear power plant has been subjected to a massive cyber attack.  There is shelling in the area which is extremely dangerous.
• Russian Arms Fair (Moscow)
• Russia is trying to cut deals (Article in Forbes) for arms sales.
• Some of the arms have been built in China and are being resold by the Russians.  This is a pattern whereby Russians are buying cheap Chinese tech and reselling them at incredibly increased prices. 
• India heavily invests in Russian armaments.  A lot of this is not working as advertised.  Radios that can be easily jammed, for example.  Russian products have been shown to be less than desirable. 
• Jewish Exodus from Russia
• 20,000 Jews are estimated to have left Russia since the war started.  Jewish people who have left are not inclined to speak about it.  There is pressure on the Jewish community to support the war.
• Growing repression of anyone who does not tow the line.
• A more totalitarian Russian state may spell great difficulties.
• The Jewish Agency works on immigration issues and repatriation to Israel.  An order was given to shut down the organization.  Normally quite friendly, Israel is furious at the shutdown of the organization.
• Whenever there is serious internal strife, the Jewism community suffers greatly.  There have been pogroms. They are targeted as “enemies within.”  There may be growing fears that a fascist state will not be a good thing for the Jewish community.  There is a deep historical understanding of this problem.  A more practical reason may be that if the war escalates, they may not be able to leave. 
• Cyber War
• Earlier this week it was thought that the cyber war had settled down.  Ukrainians, however, are saying that Russia is committing cyber “war crimes.”  If civilians are targeted it is defined as a war crime. 
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THE HELL THAT IS THE UNITED STATES

• Hageman, who used to be a close ally of Liz Cheney, beat her in the Wyoming primary.  Hageman is a lawyer who spent her career fighting environmental rules.