Ukraine war thread

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

The EU issued nearly half a million tourist visas to Russians in 2025.

Not to dissidents. Not to refugees. Tourist visas. For holidays. The highest number since Putin sent his army into Ukraine, up 10% on the year. France, proud, principled, morally unimpeachable France, raised its Russian approvals by 23% in a single year.

When the numbers got awkward, the EU did what the EU does. It deleted them. Russian visa statistics quietly vanished from the official Schengen tracker in early 2026. Eight countries had to formally demand they be put back.

They hid the data. Not the policy. The data.

Ten countries, the Nordics, the Baltics, and the Netherlands among them, had to write an actual letter to get this onto a ministers’ meeting agenda. The remaining seventeen apparently saw nothing strange about any of this.

No law is coming before summer. Because before any law can exist, there must first be a proposal. Before the proposal, a consultation. Before the consultation, a scoping exercise. Before the scoping exercise, a working group must be convened to determine whether a scoping exercise is appropriate. The working group requires terms of reference. The terms of reference must be approved by a subcommittee. The subcommittee reports to a committee. The committee feeds into a framework. The framework informs a roadmap. The roadmap gets amended seventeen times and renamed a “strategic pathway.” The strategic pathway is then circulated to member states for comment. France requests more time. The whole thing goes back to the working group.

Any legislation won’t pass before 2027. Possibly 2031, if Italy has a strong summer season.

Ukraine is entering year five. Russians are entering Italy.

Four years of sanctions packages, candlelit solidarity vigils, and solemn declarations about European values, and Paris increased its Russian tourist approvals by nearly a quarter.

The EU didn’t fail to stop the missiles. It didn’t even try to stop the sunbathing.

[Dr Strangelove]

St. Petersburg Strikes: Ukraine successfully targeted oil terminal infrastructure and a Project 20380 corvette in dry dock within St. Petersburg, coinciding with the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (0:10-4:00). The attacks caused visible fires and disruptions, despite Russia's attempts to maintain a sense of normalcy for the event (5:40-6:25).
Perpetual War Narrative: While Putin publicly claims the war is nearing a victorious end, his own advisors at the forum acknowledged that Russia must prepare for a state of war potentially lasting decades (8:25-9:56).
Logistics Paralysis: Ukraine has intensified its strategy of systematically destroying Russian logistics trucks. With over 230 trucks destroyed in May alone, this effort is significantly hampering Russia's ability to supply frontline forces (19:20-22:15).
Crimea and Fuel Shortages: Due to effective drone strikes on supply routes and the isolation of the peninsula, Crimea is facing critical fuel shortages, leading to long queues at gas stations as the summer tourist season begins (26:40-29:10).
Missile Attacks and Air Defense: Russia continues to launch large-scale attacks using ballistic missiles, such as the Zircon and Iskander, against Ukrainian cities (30:00-31:30). Zelenskyy has made urgent appeals to Western partners for increased air defense production and licensing to help protect civilians, noting that current global production capacity is insufficient against Russia's ballistic missile output (33:30-36:00).
International Support: The video also touches on positive developments, including increased military aid from Norway and Japan, as well as Hungary dropping its veto on EU arms payments for Ukraine (37:00-38:20).

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]