And all the only thing the Ukrainians seem to be doing with it. Is offering payments in crypto to Russian deserters and for the turn in of Russian equipment.
If they were able to cash that out and use it as money. I doubt the big thing going down there would be a propaganda move.
I believe the donations came unasked for. Crypto nards set up a thing to donate, they figured a way to hand it off to Ukraine. Zelensky has mentioned sending more crypto, but the only other place it’s come up is those payments for deserters.
I appreciate that this hotline is doing the right thing and trying to tell the truth about what is going on in Ukraine to galvanise Russian opposition - and they are to be lauded for that.
But the heartless cynic in me says that given Putin’s outrageous propaganda lies they could perhaps just instead tell every single caller - your son/husband/brother is probably already captured, injured or dead. Your army is being destroyed here. Your government is lying to you. There are no Nazis. Our President is Jewish. Your army is deliberately destroying hospitals and schools, with women and children in them. Your son/brother/husband will not come home until Putin is out of power and your army has retreated, if they ever come home at all.
Well, if we can prosecute Russian soldiers for war crimes based on evidence, it’s better to have some actual rules civilians can refer to, for their own protection.
I see where you are coming from but I respectfully disagree.
The Frauenkirche in Dresden is an absolutely unique building. It is a product of the exceedingly rare protestant Baroque and of the unique era of Saxonian enlightenment that began with August the Strong and brought us, among other achievements, the European reinvention of the porcelain formula. It is also an exceedingly beautiful building that lifts the soul upon entering.
You are coming to the building from the perspective of its destruction, I, as an archaeologist, can’t help but approach it from what it stood for from its construction all the way into the 1940s. I agree that there need to be monuments to what the German people brought upon themselves and, more importantly, upon others. I even agree that ruined churches, such as Berlin’s Gedächtniskirche are very effective reminders, but I can’t agree that this specific church isn’t worth saving.
I absolutely agree that the lack of rebuilding of synagogues is shameful, but my conclusion is that we should have rebuilt more of them as well, rather than rebuilding fewer churches.
I’d also like to add that the approach that heritage belongs to only one people is ironically a view very much held by those who ultimately caused the destruction of the church through retaliation against their horrors. The Frauenkirche was rebuilt to be enjoyed by everyone, not just by Germans. Conversely, if it hadn’t been, we would have punished everyone, not just Germans.
(Please don’t read that as me in any way insinuating that you hold nazi views! It’s a general observation on the nature of global human heritage. It’s why we have the concept of UNESCO world heritage)
“Welcome to McShutYourFaceAndEat. We have borscht and potato. We also got rid of decadent scary western clown and replaced him with equally scary Baba Yaga. She good with kids who don’t eat their soup too.”
Eh, you can’t telegraph your responses. They have made it clear they are trying to keep NATO boots out of Ukraine, and a chemical attack most likely would not change that.
Though, with the foreign legion assembling in Ukraine, they now have plausible deniability to start embedding special forces as private citizens who volunteered to fight.
The official and independent security experts say some of the potential foreign fighters may be white supremacists, who are believed to be fighting on both sides of the conflict. They could become more radicalized and gain military training in Ukraine, thereby posing an increased danger when they return home.
“These are men who want adventure, a sense of significance and are harking back to World War II rhetoric,” said Anne Speckhard, who has extensively studied foreigners who fought in Syria and elsewhere as director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism.
