Category: politics

#60. A New Beginning in Russia: Why Olga Petersen Left Germany

Interview
Published: August 27, 2026
By: Patrik Baab

Olga Petersen

In this interview, Olga Petersen, a former AfD member of the Hamburg Parliament, recounts her escape from Germany to Russia. The focus is on how a democratically elected representative was forced by political pressure, media smear campaigns, and the manipulation of state institutions such as the youth welfare office to flee her homeland with her four children and a dog.

The interview with Olga Petersen covers:
– The clandestine escape: Why Olga Petersen left Germany under the pretext of a vacation and how she only revealed the truth to her children upon arrival in Russia.
– Political pressure in parliament: The consequences of her refusal to give a Ukrainian delegation a standing ovation and how a “damaged image” in the media triggered a wave of reprisals.
– Election observation in Moscow: Her experiences during the 2024 presidential election and why her fact-based reporting was considered high treason against the German government’s narrative in Germany.
– Collective punishment and indoctrination: How schools and youth welfare offices were instrumentalized to exert pressure on their children – from gender ideology to direct threats against the family.
– Transhumanism and control regimes: An analysis of the attempt to erode human identity and the foundation of the family through pseudosciences such as gender theory.
– Educational comparison: Germany vs. Russia: Why her children in Russia now have to master a significantly more demanding curriculum and why the German education system is knowingly heading towards a “new illiteracy.”

“As soon as you’re not against Russia, you’re the enemy of democracy.”

Olga Petersen, who has now found new security for her family in Russia, advocates a return to German interests and a sovereign foreign policy. She sees the current developments as a dangerous dead end in which young people are being instrumentalized for foreign interests.
A discussion about the anatomy of political persecution in modern Germany, the courage to resist, and the vision of a new, honest partnership between Germany and Russia.

Timestamps

  1. Introduction: The Escape from Germany – 00:00
  2. The First Year in Russia: Arriving and Realizing – 01:40
  3. The Scandal in the Civic Assembly: Refusal to Applaud Ukraine – 06:10
  4. War in Donbas: The Suppressed Prehistory – 09:40
  5. Arms Mania: When Only the Weapons Industry Flourishes – 12:50
  6. Reprisals and Threats: Everyday Life as an Opposition Member – 14:40
  7. Election Observation 2024: Why Facts Became a Danger – 17:00
  8. “Men in Civilian Clothes”: Intelligence Service Pressure Upon Return – 21:20
  9. Gender Madness in Schools: The Indoctrination of Children – 24:00
  10. Collective Punishment: When the Youth Welfare Office Is Politically Instrumentalized – 26:30
  11. The AfD in Conflict: Transatlanticists vs. Realpolitikers – 29:40
  12. The Logic of Capital: Ideologies as Playthings of the Powerful – 33:20
  13. Transsexualism as a Health Insurance Benefit: The Government’s Priorities – 37:10
  14. Dehumanization: The Path to Transhumanism – 41:10
  15. Education Check: Why Russia Is Leaving Germany Behind – 44:50
  16. Values ​​and Homeland: The Significance of Anthem and Tradition – 48:20
  17. Patriotism vs. Nationalism: The Love for Two Countries – 50:40
  18. BlackRock and the Interests of the Globalists – 53:50
  19. The Last World War? The Danger of Nuclear Escalation – 55:40
  20. Outlook: Perspectives for a Sovereign Future – 57:30

#59. La Stampa (Italy) Interviews Ivan Katchanovski: Russia-Ukraine War and Peace

La Stampa 1 (Italy) Interview Concerning the Russia-Ukraine War and Peace
Published version in La Stampa (In Italian), July 28, 2026
Published English version: August 25, 2026
On: Substack
By: Ivan Katchanovski

Orlando Trinchi: Trump-Zelensky meeting: what do you expect?

Professor Ivan Katchanovski: Trump can be often unexpected and often changes his public views, in particular, concerning the Russia-Ukraine war and its peaceful resolution. I do not expect any viable peace agreement as a result of his meeting with Zelensky. Russia repeatedly stated that they would not accept any ceasefire unless Zelensky would agree to withdrawal of the Ukrainian forces from the remaining part of Donbas.

Orlando Trinchi: In your opinion, will new negotiations open to finally end the conflict in Ukraine?

Professor Ivan Katchanovski: The chances of ending the war in Ukraine via a peace deal are less than the chances of the continuation of the war until at least the end of this year. Putin and other Russian officials state that Russia can end the war on the terms of the informal peace agreement between Trump and Putin at the Anchorage summit. Withdrawal of the Ukrainian forces from all of Donbas and no NATO membership of Ukraine are key parts that reflect Russian demands. However, Zelensky and leaders of the UK, France, Germany and other European countries refused to accept it and proposed a peace deal on their terms, which are unacceptable to Russia. Marco Rubio-led Neocon faction of the Trump administration basically did the same and apparently persuaded Trump, at least for now, to do the same.

Orlando Trinchi: Donald Trump has guaranteed that Kiev will be granted a license to produce Patriot missiles. Do you think the US stance toward Ukraine has become more accommodating?

Professor Ivan Katchanovski: The Trump decision actually means refusal to sell the Patriot missiles to Ukraine via the NATO countries. The licensing of the Patriot missiles is unlikely to produce such missiles in Ukraine for a year or more. But Trump became more accommodating to Zelensky. He refused to use the leverage that the US has over Zelensky and Ukraine to compel them to accept the peace deal on the terms that were informally agreed by Trump and Putin in Anchorage. Trump also authorized the CIA to provide US intelligence and guidance for the Ukrainian long-range drone and missile strikes targeting the Russian oil refineries and Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Orlando Trinchi: There has been a change in military leadership, with Fedorov and Syrsky replaced, but the protests aren’t calming down. What do you think?

Professor Ivan Katchanovski: These relatively small protests demand that Zelensky reinstated Fedorov as the minister of defence. Zelensky is unlikely to do this because he sacked the entire cabinet to get rid of Fedorov, his long-term associate whom he now regards as his potential rival for presidency. Zelensky wants to eliminate any potential challengers for his rule Ukraine.

Orlando Trinchi: How do you assess the course of the conflict for the parties involved?

Professor Ivan Katchanovski: The Ukrainian forces this year launched a limited counteroffensive and were able to recapture some territory. Russian territorial advanced slowed down considerably this year compared to the previous one. But Russia still advances and captures more territory, in particular, Kostiantynivka, and approaches Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in Donbas. The Ukrainian drone strikes damaged significant number of Russian oil facilities. But they could not halt Russian oil production, refinement, and export. Russian oil revenues, including taxes from the oil extraction, increased significantly because of the oil prices jump as result of the US and Israel’s’ war with Iran and blocking of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran in response.

The claims and limited Ukrainian advances and long-range strikes are used to create the alternative reality in Ukraine and the West that Ukraine turned the tide of the war and winning the war. This this done to propagate the continuation of the unwinnable war for Ukraine.

Russia by all measures is winning the war with Ukraine, which is also a proxy war with NATO. It controls close to 20 percent of the territory of Ukraine and has escalation dominance. As my open access book “The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins” shows, the war is likely to end with a partial defeat of Ukraine.

Ukraine has advantage of using NATO countries as its weapons production, supply, and repair base, which is safe, at least for now, from the Russian strikes. Russia is likely again to target power plants and powers substations when the winter approaches. Russia will try to achieve its major war goal of capturing the territory of the entire Donbas.

But the size of the territory captured is not an accurate measure of the state of war of attrition. Relative military casualties are more important. My new in press book 2 estimates that at least 230,000 Russian and Donbas separatist forces members and around 250,000 Ukrainian forces members were killed during the Russia-Ukraine war. This estimate is based on killed and missing in action individuals identified by name by BBC Russian and Mediazona and the Ualosses site and adjusted for undercounting gaps to make them more comparable. The Zelensky government relies on forced mobilization. Thousands of videos posted by Ukrainians on the social media show use of force by military draft officers to mobilize men in by snatching them on the streets, in stores, buses, parks, homes, workplaces, etc.

Substack

Footnotes

  1. La Stampa (lit. ’The Press’) is an Italian daily newspaper. Headquartered in Turin and owned by the Agnelli family, La Stampa is one of Italy’s oldest and most prominent national newspapers. (Wikipedia) ↩︎
  2. An earlier version (2013) was published in ResearchGate ↩︎

#58. The “Vietnam Moment” In Ukraine Is Near

After 4.5 years of Proxy-War something is breaking: When the cracks in the pro-war narrative get so large that even Neocons have to admit the empire is running out of munition, an inflection point has been reached. And we have seen this before. What David Gibbs calls the “Vietnam 1Moment” is not far away anymore.

In this talk, professor David Gibbs of the University of Arizona discusses his trip to the Baltics 2, arguing that anti-Russian feeling is widespread and that Russian-speaking minorities face exclusion. He and Pascal Lottaz compare Western messaging on Ukraine with Vietnam, debate the political costs of a setback, and discuss how culture-war language 3 can be used to support military intervention.

Links:
David N. Gibbs: https://dgibbs.arizona.edu/

Neutrality Studies Substack: https://pascallottaz.substack.com
Neutrality Studies YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

Timestamps:
00:00:00 Baltic Russophobia and Russian minorities 4
00:08:45 Russophobia, stereotypes and racism
00:14:15 Ukraine and a second Vietnam moment
00:26:28 EU elites, war narratives and crisis
00:32:03 Can a new anti-war coalition emerge?
00:42:51 What if Russia does not break?
00:49:00 Accountability, defeat and escalation
00:59:41 Where to find David Gibbs

Footnotes

  1. The Vietnam War (1954–1975) was a Cold War conflict pitting communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. It resulted in over 58,000 U.S. deaths, deep American societal division, and the 1976 unification of Vietnam under communist rule.
    1. Britannica – Vietnam War 1954–1975 https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War
    2. History – Vietnam War https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war
    3. History – Vietnam War Timeline https://www.history.com/videos/vietnam-war-timeline
    ↩︎
  2. Baltics: The Baltic states are three countries in northeastern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea: Estonia (capital: Tallinn), Latvia (capital: Riga), and Lithuania (capital: Vilnius). They share close regional ties, democratic governments, and membership in the European Union and NATO.
    ↩︎
  3. Cognitive Warfare. Posts:
    #32. NATO’s Cognitive Warfare
    #34. Dr. Tögel: State Terrorism and Cognitive Warfare – Understanding Propaganda
    ↩︎
  4. More about western Russophobia, and ethnic Russians in not Russian nations:
    #56. The majority of people living in Ukraine are ethnic Russians
    #57. Patrik Baab: “Is Russophobia a form of racism?”
    ↩︎

#57. Patrik Baab: “Is Russophobia a form of racism?”

Original title: Who is funding the conflict? Michael Schneider on the power of banks & BlackRock
Interviewer: Patrik Baab1
Guest: Michael Schneider
Published: July 26, 2026
By: Gegen den Strom @PatrikBaab-Official2
On: YouTube

My comment: see footnote3

In total this is a discussion about the hidden mechanisms of power, the necessity of civic courage, and the urgent appeal: Recognize the patterns of history before they repeat themselves.

Michael Schneider

Michael Schneider looks back on decades of work as a critical intellectual and bestselling author. He argues for a return to reason and shows why the loss of historical awareness poses the greatest threat to a peaceful future in Europe.
A discussion about the hidden mechanisms of power, the necessity of civic courage, and the urgent appeal: Recognize the patterns of history before they repeat themselves.

In this interview, writer and professor Michael Schneider analyses the historical and economic driving forces behind the current confrontation with Russia. While the official narrative often emphasizes moral values, Schneider looks behind the scenes of a system driven by financial interests and a deeply rooted historical repression.

The conversation with Michael Schneider covers:
– The Economics of War: Why the Third Reich’s campaign in Russia was also a gigantic amortization plan for the German economy and what role financial capital plays today in fuelling conflicts.
– The Power of Banks: How financial giants like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs extend their influence to the highest levels of government and use wars as a means of securing devalued loans.
– Reversal of Perpetrator and Victim: Why the crimes against Soviet citizens remain a taboo subject in Germany’s collective memory and how this repression is giving rise to a new, dangerous Russophobia.
– The Betrayal of Intellectuals: The failure of the academic elite and the creeping conformity in media and universities, which increasingly marginalizes critical voices.
– Civilizational Regression: How digitalization and AI are leading to a society without history and why the legacy of the Enlightenment is under such massive attack today.
– The Crumbling Empire: Why the USA, as a “bankrupt state,” is ruthlessly sacrificing its vassals in Europe for its own interests – from deindustrialization to the destruction of vital infrastructure like Nord Stream.
“An empire that treats its vassals this way only shows how deep in the shit it is itself.”

Michael Schneider looks back on decades of work as a critical intellectual and bestselling author. He argues for a return to reason and shows why the loss of historical awareness poses the greatest threat to a peaceful future in Europe.

Timestamps
01. Economics and History: Can a Lost War Be Won? — 00:00
02. The Russian Campaign as an Amortization Plan for German Industry — 01:45
03. “All Wars Are Bankers Wars”: The Role of Financial Capital in Modern Conflicts — 03:50
04. The Power of Banks: When BlackRock and Goldman Sachs Managers Rule — 06:10
05. Plundering Ukraine: Contracts on Raw Materials and Energy Resources — 07:50
06. Managing National Debt: How to Make Money from the Ruin of Others — 11:10
07. The Suppressed Crime Against Humanity: Commemoration Culture and Its Blind Spots —13:40
08. Perpetrator-Victim Reversal: The Creeping Inheritance of Russophobia — 16:40
09. Collective Relief: Why February 24, 2022, Was Used as a “Liberation to Hate” — 19:55
10. The Betrayal of Intellectuals: Careerism vs. Civil Courage — 25:45
11. Ideological Purge: Self-Censorship in Publishing Houses and Universities — 28:30
12. Embedded Philosophy: How the German Mind Became a Sycophant of Power — 32:20
13. Civilizational Regression: From the Enlightenment to a Historyless AI Society — 38:15
14. Identitarian Thinking as a Substitute for Reason: The Legacy of the Enlightenment in Danger — 43:10
15. Aggression Shift: How Social Anger Is Politically Instrumentalized — 50:10
16. A Tottering Colossus: The USA Between Financial Collapse and Aggression Against Vassals — 55:20
17. Nord Stream and Deindustrialization: When Empires Sacrifice Their Allies — 57:55

Footnotes

  1. Patrik Baab is a German journalist and author. His research has focused on topics including intelligence agencies and political assassinations, the war in Ukraine, Russia, and geopolitical issues. He has worked in Eastern Europe and Russia, Scandinavia, Ukraine, the Balkans, and the United Kingdom. Source: Website Patrik Baab, about ↩︎
  2. Gegen den Strom: @PatrikBaab-Official ↩︎
  3. My comment:

    At 24:08 Michael Schneider makes a big mistake by stating that it was a mistake of Putin to march into Ukraine. As the Russian investigative journalist, who worked for “Echo of Moscow” and “Novaya Gazeta”, Yulia Latynina said: “They left us no choice…” in the interview with the Ukrainian Diana Panchenko: “”I WANT TO RETURN TO RUSSIA.” A Big Interview with Latynina“, published on Panchenko LIVE channel, @PanchenkoOnline on July 12, 2026.
    The cause of the decision to enter Ukraine via the start of the special operation is directly related to all what happened before that day in 2022, and which started in 2014 in Maidan, with the massacre, orchestrated by the USA and the coup, that followed, also orchestrated by the USA.[1][2][5]

    The anti-Russians in Ukraine even wanted to stop the foodsupplements in 2015 to Donbass and to create a genocide there[2]. In the documentary “Donbass”[6], made by Anne-Laure Bonnel in January 2015, we can even witness a long convoy with trucks, from Russia, transporting food to Donbass. The docu is available on YouTube.
    There was a war going on, because of NATO expansion[8], NATO provoked the Russians by expanding, Jens Stoltenberg even admitted it[9], they did it in order to get the answer where they were begging for and are experiencing now. To make the western citizens believe that Russia started the war.
    The correct sentence is: Russia was provoked to start te war.

    At the end there was indeed no other choice left, than to start with the “enough is enough”, and that is not a mistake, but a must in order to stop the NATO violations, and even till the moment of the present, NATO continues provoking. It is, since the attacks deep inside Russia not about provocations anymore, but a real war and Russia reacts on it in the legal way, in the way NATO/the collective west has begged for, laughed about, and downplayed, humiliated the Russians, making the blood of the Russians boil and finally attacking targets deep inside Russia.

    A filthy, vile, extremely aggressive anti-Russia rhetoric, full of slander and hatred was and is used by NATO’s secretary general Rutte, a maniacal warmonger. We have all heard it, it was/is his face, his mouth, his voice and he was not forced to walk to the microphone, and not forced to speak. He did it voluntarily. With joy and pleasure. NATO has even started with hiring two psychologists from the Cambridge university, to create a psychological system that creates “mass formation[10]”, and is named “Cognitive Warfare”. It is published on the NATO website[11] and not hidden. Even the names of the psychologists are publicly available[11].
    What we witnessed and are witnessing is the big mistake of the west. Not of Russia.

    So, please correct that, Michael Schneider, and start to read the following utterly important books, articles and even 2 lectures.

    [1] “The Russia Ukraine War And Its Origins, From the Maidan to the Ukraine War” – professor Ivan Katchanovski
    [2] “What I saw in Ukraine – 2015-2022 – diary of an international monitor – far away from the mainstream narrative” – Benoît Paré
    [3] “Ukraine: The Great Manipulation – 2022-2024 – decryption of war propaganda” – Benoît Paré
    [4] “[Stalingrad] is our reference point now more than ever, an unparalleled symbol of resistance, our enemies’ worst nightmare…Whosoever tries it will meet the end of all the others – Swedes, Napoleon, the Germans and their allies…Russians are like the Scythians: they wait, they suffer, they die, and then they kill.” Source: The Franco-British Plot to Dismember Russia, written by investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg, on Substack, June 26, 2024.
    [5] Jeffrey D. Sachs: “The ninth anniversary of the Ukraine war“, published on his website, on February 28, 2023.
    [6] Documentary “Donbass”, made by Anne-Laure Bonnel in January 2015. Published on YouTube.
    [7] “Three types of Ukrainians, how we were divided“, a lecture by the Ukrainian Diana Panchenko, Панченко LIVE @PanchenkoOnline (21 April, 2026)
    [8] YouTube “The Expansion of NATO Since 1949” by @WawamuStats
    [9] YouTube “Jens Stoltenberg admits NATO expansion provoked Ukraine War“, by @World_Politics1
    [10] Book: “The Psychology of Totalitarianism“, written by Dr. Mattias Desmet. YouTube: Neutrality Studies / Pascal Lottaz, May 3, 2026: “EU in Grip of Deadly Mass-Formation”  | Prof. Mattias Desmet
    [11] Lecture: “Dr. Jonas Tögel: Die Kognitive Kriegsführung der NATO – mein Vortrag bei W.I.R.“, published by Dr. Jonas Tögel on his YouTube channel @DrJonasToegel – Brilliantly explained in the lecture, at 1:19:56 – “Inoculation Theory and Misinformation”, published 29th October 2021 in NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, by Jon Roozenbeek and Sander van der Linden. see post. ↩︎

#56. The majority of people living in Ukraine are ethnic Russians

Lecture by: Diana Panchenko1
Published: April 21, 2026
On: YouTube Панченко LIVE

Title:
Three Types Of Ukrainians: How We Were Divided

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Part I: Three Types of Ukrainians
04:53 How does the hierarchy work in Ukraine?
06:33 What is life like for “third-class” people in Ukraine?
08:31 Ukraine’s plan to destroy “second-class” people
10:10 How Zelenskyy betrayed his own mother
11:25 Taras Shevchenko – a second-class Ukrainian
14:21 Part II: Shame
17:00 How Zelenskyy’s complexes destroyed Ukraine
17:50 Part III: Who is Ukrainian?
19:05 How did the USSR create Ukraine?
20:58 The history of nationalism in Ukraine
24:05 Ukraine under the USSR vs. Ukraine under Zelenskyy
27:44 Who built Ukraine?
28:37 Conclusion

This is a very important and very personal video. It tells you everything you need to know about Ukraine’s tragedy.
I will tell you about three kinds of Ukrainians.
From the perspective of a third-class Ukrainian, born in Mykolaiv.
About how we were divided into the good and the bad. About how they decided to remake us, the bad guys. And those who couldn’t, to destroy.
I appeal to all residents of Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and other cities in the Southeast.
You should not be ashamed of yourselves.
You are not worse, but better.
You must and can stand up for yourselves.
I dedicate this video to you. And I believe in you.
Ukraine will not become Lviv. Rather, it will not become Ukraine.

Footnote

  1. Diana Panchenko was born 21 May 1988, in Nikolayev (Lviv region), Ukrainian SSR, USSR. In August 2025, Panchenko’s YouTube channel, which had 1.8 million subscribers and millions of views as of September 2024, was deleted following a request from Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation. See also: #55. A Big Interview with Yulia Latynina ↩︎

#55. A Big Interview with Yulia Latynina

“They Left Us No Choice.”
Latynina on the Maidan, the war,
and how the West “divorced” both Ukraine and Russia.

Published: July 12, 2026
By: Панченко LIVE 1
On: YouTube

Yulia Latynina [Source – CC BY-SA 4.0]

Today, our guest is Yulia Latynina—one of Russia’s most famous journalists, the former voice of Ekho Moskvy 2 and Novaya Gazeta 3, a person considered for years a symbol of the liberal opposition 4 and an unconditional supporter of the Western agenda.
But in this conversation, you’ll see a very different Latynina 5.

Who, in her opinion, fired shots on the Maidan? Why were Russian-speaking Ukrainians turned into strangers in their own country? How did the West exploit Ukraine in its own grand game? Why did a conflict they promised to prevent ultimately lead to Russians and Ukrainians finding themselves on opposite sides of the front?

After this interview, some will say that Latynina betrayed her own people. Others say she said for the first time what many were afraid to say out loud.

Timecodes:
01. Introduction — 00:00
02. Introduction and why Latynina watches Panchenko’s channel — 00:41
03. Russian language in Ukraine: what Russian liberals 6 overlooked — 02:09
04. How to admit your mistakes and not fear “cancellation” — 03:33
05. Accusations of a “new trough”: grants and USAID 7 , 8 — 05:32
06. Maidan 2014 through Panchenko’s eyes: “black sheep” in their own country — 07:06
07. “Three types of Ukrainians” — 09:59
08. Sternenko, the “Russo-cutter,” and the murder charge — 11:15
09. Who really shot on the Maidan? 9 , 10 — 15:32
10. Korsun, Anti-Maidan Buses, and Right-Wing Activists — 20:47
11. Odessa, May 2: Trade Union House — 22:12
12.The First Night of Maidan: Provocateurs, Inter, Lyovochkin — 24:00
13. A Pre-Planned Scenario and Yanukovych’s Flight — 28:20
14. Maidan Money: Oligarchs, USAID 11, Jeffrey Sachs 12, 13 — 34:03
15. Russia and Ukraine as “Western Colonies” — 38:42
16. 1991 and the Rosy Picture of the West — 42:24
17. What is “Victory” for Russian Liberals? 14 — 45:04
18. Soft Power: Activists as a “Second State” — 46:22
19. Zelensky, Paris, and 70 NGOs against Peace — 47:03
20. Do You Trust Putin Today? — 51:24
21. February 24, 2022: Elite Shock and a “Stream of Shit” Addressed to Russians — 52:16
22. The Victim Has the Right to Everything 15 — 55:52
23. Zelensky’s Team Euphoria and London 2020 — 1:04:06
24. Who’s Winning and Whom Latynina Is Rooting for — 1:06:38
25. Istanbul, Trump, and the Game Against China — 1:08:26
26. Who Benefits from War: The US, Europe, and the Thucydides Trap — 1:10:30
27. Balance of Power: Russia vs. Europe — 1:14:33
28. Does Latynina Want to Return to Russia? — 1:19:06
29. Would They Head an RT Analogue? — 1:23:39
30. Panchenko’s Personal Story: Losing Friends and Returning People — 1:25:08
31. The Idea of ​​a Great Debate: Solovyov, Korchinsky, and Others — 1:26:07
32. Can Russians and Ukrainians Fight Together Against the West? — 1:27:31
33. Are Russians Fighting Russians? — 1:31:13
34. Why Was the Russian Press Silent? — 1:35:14
35. Will Russia Become “Fashionable” Again? The Dud Phenomenon — 1:37:02
36. Poland’s U-Turn and Karaganov’s Signals — 1:38:21
37. Sacralization of Death and the Seizure of Churches in Ukraine — 1:42:11
38. “Ukrainians Are the Most Unfree People” — 1:44:00
39. Finale and Acknowledgments — 1:45:29

Footnotes

  1. Панченко LIVE: owner is Diana Panchenko, born 21 May 1988, Nikolayev(Lviv region), Ukrainian SSR, USSR. In August 2025, Panchenko’s YouTube channel, which had 1.8 million subscribers and millions of views as of September 2024, was deleted following a request from Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation. ↩︎
  2. Wikipedia English: Echo of Moscow; Wikipedia Russian: Эхо Москвы ↩︎
  3. Website: Novaya Gazeta / Wikipedia English: Novaya Gazeta / Wikipedia Russian: Новая газета ↩︎
  4. Liberal opposition: see also the post: 53. Yulia Latynina: the Russian opposition journalist ↩︎
  5. Read also the post: 53. Yulia Latynina: the Russian opposition journalist ↩︎
  6. The term “liberals” is in Russia used for those who oppose the Putin government. See also 53. Yulia Latynina: the Russian opposition journalis ↩︎
  7. USAID: see also blog post 12. Ukraine and USAID ↩︎
  8. USAID: See also the short video on Panchenko’s YouTube channel about this subject “Bags of money on the Maidan“: “I saw money being handed over on the Maidan myself.”
    Panchenko and Latynina discuss who financed the Maidan: Western money through USAID, oligarchs’ money, and funding of Ukrainian media. And why no “Maidan” is possible without the support of the media and intelligence agencies. ↩︎
  9. Referred to is professor Ivan Katchanovski, who researched the entire “Maidan” revolt and massacre, and this is all collected in the book, available on the website of Springer Link: see The Russia Ukraine War And Its Origins, From the Maidan to the Ukraine War
    NOTE: Please sign 51. An Open Letter in Support of Academic Freedom and Ivan Katchanovski (Published) ↩︎
  10. See also the short video: “The “victim” label justifies everything“: Latynina on one simple question about Maidan 2014: if the shooting took place from the Ukraina Hotel (as Ivan Katchanovsky’s investigation shows), then why hasn’t the authorities found the snipers in over 10 years? Because they didn’t want to. ↩︎
  11. USAID: See also the short video on Panchenko’s YouTube channel about this subject “Bags of money on the Maidan“: “I saw money being handed over on the Maidan myself.”
    Panchenko and Latynina discuss who financed the Maidan: Western money through USAID, oligarchs’ money, and funding of Ukrainian media. And why no “Maidan” is possible without the support of the media and intelligence agencies. ↩︎
  12. Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, website / YouTube ↩︎
  13. See also the short video on Panchenko’s YouTube channel about this subject “Bags of money on the Maidan“: “I saw money being handed over on the Maidan myself.”
    Panchenko and Latynina discuss who financed the Maidan: Western money through USAID, oligarchs’ money, and funding of Ukrainian media. And why no “Maidan” is possible without the support of the media and intelligence agencies. ↩︎
  14. Liberals: see also footnote 6, and the short video: Latynina: Russian liberals are useful idiots. Yulia Latynina, in an interview with Panchenko, discusses how the independent Russian press, in her opinion, was integrated into the vast USAID machine and failed to notice what she saw with her own eyes on the Maidan. ↩︎
  15. See also the short video: “The “victim” label justifies everything“: Latynina on one simple question about Maidan 2014: if the shooting took place from the Ukraina Hotel (as Ivan Katchanovsky’s investigation shows), then why hasn’t the authorities found the snipers in over 10 years? Because they didn’t want to. ↩︎

#54. Yulia Latynina: Being an enemy of the West is dangerous. Being its colony is fatal

Introduction

Being curious about Yulia Latynina’s way of analysing the current situation in Russia “Sustainable Politics” publishes this video, as a following up of the former post: 53. Yulia Latynina: the Russian opposition journalist. It is surprising to hear her mentioning the name Ivan Katchanovski1, and touting his research on the Maidan Massacre.

Video (subtitles available)

“Being an enemy of the West is dangerous. Being its colony is fatal”. Interview with Zhivoy Gvozd
Published: July 15, 2026
By: Yulia Latynina

Timestamps
00:00:00 Start of broadcast
00:00:18 Fuel crisis in Russia and gasoline shortages
00:10:45 Crimea’s status and perception of the North-Eastern Front
00:24:30 Propaganda, public sentiment, and the state of the Russian economy
00:36:20 Konstantinovka and the situation at the front
00:47:40 Donald Trump, sanctions, and Western policy
00:59:30 What could change the situation in Russia
01:07:10 Answers to viewers’ questions
01:11:30 End of broadcast

  1. Professor Ivan Katchanovski: The Russia Ukraine War And Its Origins, From the Maidan to the Ukraine War, his work is mentioned in the video, in a chapter that starts at about 9:35 in the video-interview. ↩︎

#53. Yulia Latynina: the Russian opposition journalist

Original title: Yulia Latynina: de Russische oppositie journaliste 1
Published: June 30, 2026
In: Eurazië Instituut
By: Marie-Thérèse ter Haar 2

Dutch text translated with a machine translator by Admin.
Footnotes by Admin
Photo Yulia Latynina: from Wikipedia, added by Admin.

Yulia Latynina [Source – CC BY-SA 4.0 ]

Yulia Latynina: the Russian opposition journalist

I have been following Yulia Latynina for more than twenty years; she is one of the most important journalists one can count among the opposition in Russia. Latynina knows how to give her criticism of the Russian government such substance and form that I can accept this much better than that of the Navalny followers, the Albats3 screamers, or the liberal Nemtsov machos. I may disagree with her thoroughly, but I know that I can take her criticism seriously.
Because of her expert investigation into domestic affairs in Russia, the corruption, the misdeeds in the government, the governors in the Russian provinces, the censorship, and the media, and what not. Latynina writes for Novaya Gazeta4 and she has been reporting since the time of Anna Politkovskaya, around the turn of the century.

Almost all opposition members call themselves ‘liberals’, indirectly also referring to ‘being Western’, and idealize the West disproportionately, in my view. Apart from the constant criticism of their own people and their government in domestic reporting, my biggest problem with them was and is that they know nothing of the great international power game. For example, from 2002 onwards they criticized the Kremlin’s actions in Chechnya but never reported on American intervention in Afghanistan and/or Iraq. They wrote about Putin’s actions in Abkhazia, Dagestan, or North Ossetia (domestic affairs) without shedding light on the background of Western geopolitics. They know nothing of the Wolfowitz Doctrine. Let alone that they have knowledge of the ongoing NATO expansions and how this relates to the national security of their own country. In 2014, Latynina wrote touting words about the Ukrainians on Maidan Square who were fighting for their democracy. She felt that the Russians should follow their example. But what did Latynina, as a journalist/activist, know about the neocolonialistic objective of the West?

When Crimea joined Russia shortly thereafter, it was Latynina who harshly condemned Putin. She wrote that Crimea had to remain part of Ukraine, despite the fact that most ethnic Russians had indicated in a referendum that they wanted to belong to Russia and not to the pro-Western government in Kyiv. Most striking in her analyses was her lack of geopolitical context. Knowledge regarding the geopolitical strategy of the US and NATO, and how these clash with the interests of Russian national security, was lacking. Consider, for example, the enormous geopolitical importance of the Russian port in Crimea for the Russian navy. If Ukraine were to become a NATO member, Russia would most likely lose its access to the Black Sea. Or NATO military bases that would be built in Ukraine where American troops could be stationed upon Ukrainian NATO membership. Or, at least as important, an anti-missile shield that is currently in use in Poland and Romania but which could also be built in Ukraine. This installation could also be used against Russia in the future.

The fact that Russia would be increasingly surrounded by Western NATO troops is not an issue for the Russian opposition. Until far into the year 2022, Latynina remained an important voice within the Russian opposition and condemned Putin’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine. Her slogan was: ‘No to war’ and she supported the Ukrainian
war efforts to liberate the Donbass region from Russian troops. After that, I saw very little of her articles. At the time, I still thought that Latynina had been silenced. In 2023, I suddenly saw an article by her with the title: How can we explain to our allies that Ukraine needs weapons to cleanse Crimea of ​​biological waste?5

I thought a mistake had been made in the article’s headline…

But no, it turned out to be Latynina who was criticizing Zelensky and the West. I suspect she took a crash course in geopolitics to understand the background of the Ukraine-Russia drama. Then you cannot avoid studying the American/NATO strategy within the great international power struggle. Her fellow opposition members and followers started describing her as a traitor and became furious. In 2024, I started following her more on social media, or in her blogs and articles (all her articles can be found at Novaya Gazeta). She literally accuses the Zelensky government of having carried out ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Crimea and the Donbass. She also accuses Zelensky of wanting to prolong the war to stay in power. She blames the West for making Ukraine ‘addicted’ to arms deliveries. She adds that all these weapons lead to deaths on both sides, which, according to her, benefits Washington. In 2024 (January), she wrote in her column: ‘The Ukrainian Impasse: Why the West is no longer waiting for Zelensky’s victory’. In this, she blames Zelensky for rejecting Putin’s conditions (in April 2022) with the quote: ‘Such a peace would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides and would have enabled Ukraine to develop like South Korea. But it would have been a political death sentence for the president.’

In 2025, Latynina’s articles have become even more critical, particularly regarding the actions of ‘The hand of the collective West’. Among the Russian opposition, there is bewilderment and disbelief: ‘One of their most critical journalists criticizes the ‘good West’, how is that possible?’ She is portrayed today as a conspiracy theorist and a traitor. The Moscow Times had the story in January 2026: ‘The mole who betrayed the Russian spies’. I feast my eyes on the social media of the Russian opposition, at how their hero is being attacked. The Russian opposition leaves no stone unturned in its criticism of her. They are the greatest admirers of the (liberal) West and they could never admit or realize that that same West also has very dirty hands.

The fact that this very critical Latynina has conducted so much research speaks in her favor. Not because I think she is right, but because she is brave enough not to remain entrenched in her opinion after 25 years. Finally, then, a skilled Russian opposition woman who has delved into the geopolitical power struggle. I wish our journalists would also conduct the necessary research to uncover the causes of the conflict. And then you also have to have the guts…

Source: Eurazië Instituut / Blog

Footnotes

  1. PDF in Dutch ↩︎
  2. Marie-Thérèse ter Haar is a Russia & Eastern Europe expert. From the communist era (1987) until 2022, she spent six months in Russia and six months in the Netherlands. From the very beginning, she shared her knowledge of and experience with Russia and other countries of the former USSR by giving lectures, seminars, and organizing trips. Later, this expanded to include advising the business community, and in 2001 she founded the Russia & Eastern Europe Academy. The aim here is to build a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe. Due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the current name is the Eurasia Institute. ↩︎
  3. Albats: Russian opposition journalist Yevgenia Albats, a fierce and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin’s government. She lives in self-imposed exile in New York, USA, and works as a political scientist for the New York Post. See more: Wikipedia, a mainstream —which means following the neoliberal West’s and its anti-Putin point of view— website. Because of that, “Sustainable Politics” does not support, neither recommends Wikipedia. Wikipedia is heavily censoring real, in-depth, independent, objectively monitored investigative information, even independent objective science, creating therefore disinformation, tolerating even slander and lies about those who do not follow the mainstream media opinion because Wikipedia’s chief-editor keeps a strict eye on providing the mainstream opinion to avoid losing followers and payments, so in this case all what is mentioned about Yevgenia Albats will be uncensored by Wikipedia editors, since she is a fierce and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin’s government, and therefore supporting the mainstream opinion.
    Note 1: the Wikipedia page about political scientist professor Ivan Katchanovski, the author of the book “The Russia Ukraine War And Its Origins, From the Maidan to the Ukraine War“, contained slander, lies, bias, until he discovered it. He found the right way to correct it. But not all have this possibility, do not know the way to change it into the correct info.
    Note 2: Yulia Latynina has a [Russian language] page in Wikipedia. Since she mentions this Russian language page on her website, I assume that she knows what is written about her, and that all is correct. However: if you chose for instance the English Wikipedia version, that version can contain lots of lies, disinformation and even slander about her, and the best is therefore to translate the Russian version into your own language, by copying the Russian text and paste it into a machine translator, for instance Google Translate. Only then you will get the correct info. ↩︎
  4. Novaya Gazeta, Yulia Latynina, Юлия Латынина, articles in Russian, no new articles since March 2024. The article where Marie-Thérèse ter Haar refers to: How can we explain to our allies that Ukraine needs weapons to cleanse Crimea of ​​biological waste?, written in 2023, was published in Novaya Gazeta, but removed. See for more: footnote 5. ↩︎
  5. The article where Marie-Thérèse ter Haar refers to: “How can we explain to our allies that Ukraine needs weapons to cleanse Crimea of ​​biological waste?“, written in 2023, was published in Novaya Gazeta, but has been removed, most likely by the chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, afraid to lose readers. More: the Ukrainian (thinking and writing anti-Kremlin) website IDPO.ORG.UA, article How Former “Good Russian” Latynina Came to Support the “Amputation” of Ukrainian Territories, published January 28, 2025. In this article you can find a screenshot of the article, as was published in Novaya Gazeta. Admin made a screenshot of the screenshot as published in IDPO. Above the screenshot in the article you can read: In November 2023, Latynina saw social media comments as a threat to Russians in Crimea. Some users referred to Russians as “biowaste,” prompting her to write: “If Russians are “biowaste” and make up the majority in Crimea, how can we explain to our allies that Ukraine needs weapons to cleanse Crimea of “biowaste”? ↩︎

Additional information about Yulia Latynina

  1. Biography
  2. Photos
  3. YouTube

#52. Russians are like the Scythians

“[Stalingrad] is our reference point now more than ever, an unparalleled symbol of resistance, our enemies’ worst nightmare…Whosoever tries it will meet the end of all the others – Swedes, Napoleon, the Germans and their allies…Russians are like the Scythians1,2: they wait, they suffer, they die, and then they kill.” Source

Scythians, Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND)

This post is opened with a quote from an article published on Substack in June 2024, by Kit Klarenberg (investigative journalist): The Franco-British Plot to Dismember Russia, because I was impressed by the last sentence of that specific quote: “Russians are like the Scythians: they wait, they suffer, they die, and then they kill“.

That last sentence fits Russia’s president Vladimir Putin’s system, in the way he protected his sacred red line, dating back to the 1990s: “Ukraine must never join NATO”, and all that has followed ever since, and what has created a logical historical timeline about what has been provoked by the west, by NATO expansion, and it seems that the last point of the quoted sentence has been reached: “…. then they kill”. Reason to believe so: the constantly increasing amount of shameless, provoking Ukrainian (=NATO) drone attacks, deep inside Russia, created severe, deadly answers and more are expected3,4.

To offer eventual readers the possibility to become updated about the causes of the long awaited answers from Russia on Ukrainian (=NATO) drone attacks on targets even deep inside Russia, the following articles and videos are published here, without additional personal comments.

Admin.

1. NRK5 shows a map

Ukraine: The Lord of the Drones
Fredrik Tombra – Correspondent
Torstein Georg Bøe – Photojournalist
Published June 20, 2026

Map, published on June 20, 2026, 12 days before the Russian strikes on Kiev and Sumy. Published by NRK, in their article Ukraina: Dronenes herre

2. Col. Douglas Macgregor6 explains

Published: June 30, 2026, 2 days before the Russian strikes on Kiev and Sumy
Published: July 1, 2026, 1 day before the Russian strikes on Kiev and Sumy.

3. Stanislav Krapivnik7 explains

Published: July 2, 2026, after the Russian strikes on Kiev and Sumy

Timestamps
00:00:00 Donbas school strike report
00:08:20 Targeting civilians and terror claims
00:19:01 Diplomacy, trust, and Trump
00:26:23 Russia prepares for wider war
00:35:23 Retaliation and war aims
00:45:51 NATO control and war cohesion

4. Alexander Mercouris8 explains

Published: July 2, 2026, after the Russian strikes on Kiev and Sumy

Timestamps
00:00:00 Introduction and Kiev strike overview
00:00:37 Scale of the massive strike
00:02:20 Missile and drone types used
00:04:32 Oreshnik hypersonic speculation
00:09:28 Why Oreshnik was held back
00:11:41 Russian justification for the strikes
00:14:09 Targets hit including Volgograd factory
00:16:15 Casualties and future strike campaign
00:17:04 Why Kiev is being targeted
00:20:37 Zelensky warns of Belarus threat
00:22:34 Source confirms Chernihiv offensive plan
00:28:01 Kupyansk situation update
00:33:30 Kharkov region recapture plan
00:34:14 Donbass pressure and Dobropillia advance
00:37:01 Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka clearing operations
00:41:11 Zaporizhzhia and Orikhiv front
00:47:21 Zelensky floats autumn elections
00:48:43 Zelensky requests more EU funding
00:50:48 UK defense spending controversy
00:59:04 Europe energy crisis and Trump LNG threat

5. The Duran9 explains

Published: July 2, 2026, after the Russian strikes on Kiev and Sumy

Timestamps
00:00:00 Russia launches massive strikes on Kiev and Sumy
00:00:58 Why Russia calls these strikes retaliatory
00:01:58 The pattern behind Russia’s escalating campaign
00:06:24 Russian air campaign targets Ukrainian logistics
00:08:32 Drones hit gas stations to choke supply lines
00:11:04 Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles strike
00:12:34 The new Dirty Dagger missile threat
00:17:56 Russia’s gasoline import mystery explained
00:18:30 Zelensky’s Pantheon of Heroes sparks backlash
00:21:35 Belarus Lukashenko meets Putin as Syrsky10 breaks with Zelensky

Footnotes

  1. Information about the Scythians is published on the Russian Wikipedia page, marked as a good article with a silver star. Скифо-сибирский мир. Since not any other language offers guaranteed correct information, it is a must to read all other languages with caution: Wikipedia can also provide misinformation, this depends on the editors. The opening text of the Russian page, machine translated:
    —- The Scytho-Siberian world (sometimes Scytho-Saka, Scythian world/circle, etc.) is a conventional name adopted in archaeology for a cultural and historical community whose sites are widespread in the steppe, part of the forest-steppe, and foothill zones of Central Eurasia (from the Lower Danube region to the Baikal region and Mongolia). It included a number of archaeological cultures, primarily united by the presence of three distinctive artefact complexes (the so-called Scythian triad). The probable place of formation is Central Asia, and the period of existence is the first millennium BC. This period in the Eurasian steppes is commonly referred to as the Scythian era.
    —- Representatives of the Scytho-Siberian world are Iranian-speaking Caucasoids, sometimes with Mongoloid elements. The majority were nomadic pastoralists, while a small portion of the population in the forest-steppe were sedentary herders-hunters and pastoralists-farmers. In the Eurasian steppes, the advent of the Early Iron Age is associated with the cultures of the Scytho-Siberian world; they had contacts with Ancient Greece, China, the Near East, and other countries.

    Name
    The name “Scytho-Siberian world” refers to the geographic distribution of this cultural and historical community, limited to the territory of its most famous tribes, the Scythians, in the west and encompassing part of the Siberian region in the east. Literature also sometimes uses the term “Scytho-Saka world,” adding another eastern boundary—Central Asia, inhabited by tribes known collectively as the Sakas. A shorter name, simply the “Scythian world,” is also used. Some authors use the word “world” in parallel with the meaning “circle,” for example, the Scythian-Siberian circle of archaeological cultures or monuments. Also synonymous is the term “Scythia” in the broad sense of a toponym or the Scythian-Siberian historical and cultural region. The term “Scythian cultures” is also present in literature.
    For all other following info please visit the Russian Wikipedia page.

    Since it is relevant here: Russian classical music, composed by Alexander Borodin, the video: In the steppes of East Asia – Mongolia ↩︎
  2. World History: Scythians ↩︎
  3. Videos APT, July 2, 2026
    – Russian Drones Hit Central Kyiv, Damaging Biochemistry Research Institute | APT
    – Russia Pounds Kyiv Overnight: Missiles, Drones Kill 11, Apartment Blocks Reduced to Rubble | APT
    ↩︎
  4. Ray McGovern: Ukraine has launched a string of high profile drone strikes on Moscow, St Petersburg and oil refineries. Commentators are, once again, claiming Russia is losing the war. But is it? ” Read his full article, published on June 23, 2026, on his website, and on Substack. ↩︎
  5. NRK is the Norwegian public broadcasting, radio corporation and news website. The corporation is state-owned, guided by its bylaws and ethical guidelines, with a board partly appointed by the government, through the Ministry of Culture and Equality, and elected by staff. Its bylaws and ethical guidelines secure independent editorial control for journalists and editors. ↩︎
  6. Colonel Douglas Macgregor is is a decorated combat veteran, an author of five books, a PhD, and a defense and foreign policy consultant. Macgregor was commissioned in the Regular Army in 1976 after 1 year at VMI and 4 years at West Point. In 2004, Macgregor retired with the rank of Colonel. In 2020, the President appointed Macgregor to serve as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, a post he held until President Trump left office. He holds an MA in comparative politics and a PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia. YouTube playlist – Substack ↩︎
  7. Stanislav Krapivnik is a former US Army officer, supply chain exec and military-political expert, now based in Russia. He was born in Lugansk during the Soviet times, migrated to the US as a child, served in the US army, did not like what it was doing in former Yugoslavia, quit, and returned to Russia. Mr. Krapivnik is an independent contractor and consults and appears in the international media in his areas of expertise in military matters, NATO, America, history, economics and supply chains. Substack ↩︎
  8. Alexander Mercouris (The Duran) is a writer on international affairs with a special interest in Russia and law. He has written extensively on the legal aspects of NSA spying and events in Ukraine in terms of human rights, constitutionality and international law. He worked for 12 years in the Royal Courts of Justice in London as a lawyer, specializing in human rights and constitutional law. His family has been prominent in Greek politics for several generations. Together with Alex Christoforou he hosts the “The Duran” YT channel, plus his own YT channel. Bio, Videos ↩︎
  9. The Duran is a very popular YouTube channel, founded on 25 May 2016, by Alex Christoforou, a geopolitical analyst and Alexander Mercouris, who is a writer on international affairs with a special interest in Russia and law. He has written extensively on the legal aspects of NSA spying and events in Ukraine in terms of human rights, constitutionality and international law. He worked for 12 years in the Royal Courts of Justice in London as a lawyer, specializing in human rights and constitutional law. His family has been prominent in Greek politics for several generations. Videos. Total views, as of July 2, 2026: 256,185,789 and total subscribers is 530.000. ↩︎
  10. Oleksandr Syrskyi is a Ukrainian military officer holding the rank of four-star general who has served as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 8 February 2024. ↩︎

#51. An Open Letter in Support of Academic Freedom and Ivan Katchanovski (Published)

An Open Letter in Support of Academic Freedom and Ivan Katchanovski (Published)
Published: June 21, 2026
By: The New Paradigm magazine with signatures of 248 people from 36 countries, including 116 scholars

An Open Letter in Support of Academic Freedom and Ivan Katchanovski is published by The New Paradigm magazine. 227 people from 36 countries, including 116 scholars, now signed it.

It can still be signed by sending to openletter2026@gmail.com the name, position/job title, institutional affiliation, country, and if prefer that the name is not published and only institutional affiliation and country are listed.

We, the undersigned, express our support for academic freedom and Dr. Ivan Katchanovski. We might differ on various issues, but agree on the importance of academic freedom and the need to protect it when it comes under attack. Professor Katchanovski is a well-known Ukrainian and Canadian political scientist at the University of Ottawa. A recent collective letter denounced him and his open access book The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins: From the Maidan to the Ukraine War. The letter baselessly linked this peer-reviewed book published by a major Western academic press to Russian propaganda and the high popularity of the book to behind-the-scenes promotion by Elon Musk.

Dr. Katchanovski’s other recent academic press book titled The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: The Mass Killing that Changed the World was banned by the Ukrainian State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting led by a far-right OUN leader. Professor Katchanovski was also blacklisted by Myrotvorets hit list for his scholarly studies of the Maidan massacre that were published in peer-reviewed journals and books and for his exposure of a Waffen SS Galicia Division veteran, who was given standing ovations in the Canadian parliament. He also reported that his home and all other property in Ukraine were seized in retaliation to his scholarly studies. Though we might not share all of Dr. Katchanovski’s academic perspectives, we denounce the persecution against him for his scholarly research.

Dr. Katchanovski is one of the most cited political scientists who specialize primarily in the politics and conflicts in Ukraine. His academic publications include 7 books and 3 dozen refereed journal articles and book chapters. He currently teaches at the University of Ottawa. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics at the State University of New York at Potsdam, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and a Kluge Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. He received his Ph.D. from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University under the direction of Seymour Martin Lipset.

We note that Dr. Katchanovski has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 from the start, called for a long time for European Union membership of Ukraine, and supported democracy and freedom in Ukraine since before its independence. He is also widely quoted in many outlets around the world, does numerous media and social media interviews, and presents his research at major academic conferences in the field.

Academic freedom in both the West and Ukraine is especially important during times of crisis and conflict, such as the tragic Russia-Ukraine war. Academic freedom has to be protected even for scholarly research that challenges prevailing narratives. This particularly concerns politically charged topics regarding this war and its origins. Scholars and their books and other academic publications should not be subjected to collective denunciations, censorship, sanctions, criminal prosecution, and other such retaliation for their academic research. Scholarly publications need to be judged by academic standards. Scholarly disputes need to be settled in academic venues.

This applies to Dr. Katchanovski, his book The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins: From the Maidan to the Ukraine War, and his other publications. Our position also applies to other scholars researching this war. We advocate for the defense of academic freedom and its application in the case of Dr. Ivan Katchanovski and his research.

Please send your name, position/job title, institutional affiliation, country, and whether you prefer that your name be published (or just your institutional affiliation and country) to openletter2026@gmail.com.

Signed (in alphabetical order, updated July 25, 2026, total from 227 to 248)

A (20)
Abelow, Benjamin, M.D. Formerly, Lecturer in Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine
Acerbo, Maurizio, former member of the Italian Parliament
Agha, Moji, Iranian-American retired psychologist; Human rights activist; Founder, National Peace and Democracy Coalition of Iran (US)
Alper, Muzaffer Ege, Senior Researcher, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland
Amar, Tarik Cyril, Associate Professor, Department of History, Koc University, Istanbul
Ames, Mark, Journalist, podcast host, “Radio War Nerd,” New York, USA
Anonymous, Dr., School of Political Science, University of Ottawa, Canada
Anonymous, former senior police officer, Italy
Anonymous, PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Anonymous, PhD Candidate & Lecturer, York University, Canada
Anonymous, PhD Candidate and Lecturer at the University of Potsdam, Germany
Anonymous, Photographer, freelance, Germany
Anonymous, Retired, Norway
Anonymous, Retired Solicitor, Inverness, Scotland
Anonymous, Student of Economic Sociology, University of Turku, Finland
Anonymous, Teaching Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada
Anonymous, Vocational College BS Wilhelms BURG, Germany
Anonymous, Worker, Slovyansk, Donetsk Region, Ukraine
Aunola, Otso, Political Science student, University of Helsinki, Finland
Azad, Nahid, Dr. retired physician, Professor of Medicine, University of Ottawa

B (20)
Bakić, Jovo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, Serbia
Ball, Karyn, Professor, Department of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton
Baumgarten, Helga, Professor emeritus, Birzeit University, Palestine
Baysha, Olga, PhD, Associate Professor in Political Communication, National Research University “Higher School of Economics, “Moscow, Russia
Beauchamp, Jonathan P., Associate Professor, Department of Economics, George Mason University, USA
Belorusets, Yevgenia, writer, artist, Ukraine, Germany
Berekashvili, Bakar, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, Georgian American University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Bergeron, Frédéric, Librarian, Quebec, Canada
Bihr, Alain, Professeur honoraire de sociologie, Université de Franche-Comté
Blackburn, Matthew, Senior Researcher, The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway
Blot, Lionel, copy editor, Éditions Gallimard, France
Bloxham, Donald, Richard Pares Professor of History, University of Edinburgh, UK
Blumenthal, Bud, artist, activist, Brussels, Belgium
Bolotenko, George, PhD in History (U of T, 1979), retired, former an adjunct prof at Ryerson University, a professor at the Scarborough Campus of the University of Toronto, an archivist at Library and Archives Canada
Borozna, Angela, California State University Fullerton
Bouzek, Tomáš, Mgr., military historian, Opava, Czech Republic
Brandist, Craig, Professor of Cultural Theory and Intellectual History, University of Sheffield, UK
Buhre, Isabelle, MSc MA, Political scientist and latinist, The Netherlands
Buls, Zintis, IT support manager, Latvia

C (14)
Cafruny, Alan W., Henry Bristol Professor of International Affairs, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, USA
Carpenter, Cathy, Canada
Castelein, Luc, admin of the Karl Popper page on Facebook, Belgium
Cato, Jasper, retired conservator, previously at the Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Cavallari, Gerard, Ethnomusicologist, UK
Chaufan, Claudia, MD, PhD, Professor, Health Policy, York University, Canada
Chebani, Rhizlaine, Retraitée, Québec, Canada
Cinquini, Nicolas, intelligence analyst, former French intelligence officer in counter-terrorism, Corsica
Clayton, James, Journalist, World Socialist Website
Colley, Philip, Literary executor, The Gareth Jones Society, United Kingdom
Cooke, Sophie, Associate Lecturer, The Open University
Cosma, Valer Simion, Dr., historian, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
Crews, Robert, Professor of History, Stanford University
Cuccoli, Lorenzo, independent historian, Centre d’études russes, caucasiennes, est-européennes et centrasiatiques (CERCEC, EHESS), France/Italy

D (7)
Dall’Asta, Monica, Full Professor, University of Bologna, Italy
De Leonardis, Fabio, Ass. Prof. of Semiotics, Shanghai International Studies University, PRC/Italy
De Zayas, Alfred, Prof. Dr. Geneva, Switzerland, Geneva School of Diplomacy, former UN Independent Expert on International Order (2012-18), former Secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee, former Chief of the Petitions Department at OHCHR, former President PEN International Centre Suisse romand 2006-09 and again 2013-17
Depoortere, Johan, Journalist, Belgium
Dergunov, Yuriy, Senior lecturer in Sociology, Donetsk
Dionisi, Davide, Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Doherty, Niall, Project Officer, Ireland

E (3)
Eckert, Laura, Artist, USA
Elkhoury, Ann, Dr, Sydney, Australia
Ewald, Engelen, Professor of Financial Geography, University of Amsterdam

F (3)
Federl, Doris, Germany
Forsgren, Mattias, Stockholm, Sweden
Frijters, Paul, Emeritus Visiting Professor, London School of Economics

G (12)
Gamet, Frédéric, copy editor, Paris, France
Garcin, Javier, journalist, Mexico
Garman, Sebastian, Dr., retired Senior Lecturer, Brunel University, London School of Economics and Brunel University, United Kingdom
Geddes, Brian, Ph.D., Physics
Gigantino, Bryan, Lecturer, Georgian-American University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Gjefle, Karsten, International Development Professional, Oslo, Norway
Golinkin, Lev, author and journalist, USA
Golovan, Sergey, Senior Scientist, USA
Gerling, David-Ross, PhD, USA
Grable, Alexander, PhD Candidate, King’s College London, United Kingdom
Grenier, Paul R., President, Simone Weil Center for Political Philosophy
Grinshpun, Yelyzaveta, Germany

H (11)
Haack, Jonathan, Adjunct Faculty, Santa Fe Community College
Hahn, Gordon M., Expert, Corr Analytic
Hagen, Alexander, Founder, ISP, Montara, California
Håkan Julander, actor, poet and podcaster for Dissidentpodden, Sweden
Håkan, Danielsson, retired, Göteborg, Sweden
Hammond, Philip, Emeritus Professor of Media & Communications, London South Bank University, UK
Hanley, Brian, Clinical Asst. Professor, UTRGV School of Medicine, USA
Havryshko, Marta, Dr. Thomas Zand Visiting Assistant Professor in Holocaust Pedagogy and Antisemitism Studies, Clark University, USA
Herman, Daniel, Professor, Central Washington University, USA
Hill, Alexander, Professor in Military History, University of Calgary, Canada
Hough, H.P (Pierre), Chairman, SALM, South Africa

I (5)
Ilkowski, Filip, PhD habil., University of Warsaw
Ingledew, Francis, Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature, Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA/Germany
Ioffe, Grigory, Professor Emeritus, Radford University, Radford, VA, USA
Ishchenko, Volodymyr, Dr., guest researcher, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Israel, Lena, former associate professor media science, Sweden

J (7)
Janssen, Antoinette, Blogging Pensioner, Norway
Johnová, Radka, PhD, Retired Assistant Professor at Czech Technical University and external lecturer in economics and marketing at Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Johnson, Charles, Worker, Organizing Director for a Peace Organization, Certificate in Unarmed Civilian Protection, Former Educator, United States
Johnson, Mary, private citizen, USA
Jones, Peter, Professor, Faculty of Design, OCAD U, Toronto
Juncker, David, Professor, McGill University, Canada
Jurema, Bernardo, Research Associate, Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ, Germany

K (11)
Kalb, Don, Professor of social anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway
Kalkanis, Gregory, school teacher, United States of America
Kallio, Timo, PhD (tech.), Helsinki, Finland
Kaplan, Marina E, Emerita Associate Professor, Spanish and Latin American Studies, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA
Karrasch, Ulrich, pensioner, Berlin, Germany
Kien, Tran Manh, Vietnam
Klein, Daniel, Professor Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Kotsaba, Ruslan, founder and head of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, anti-fascist and anti-militarist, prisoner of conscience according to Amnesty International, currently in New York as a political refugee
Kozlovsky, Gregory, Ph.D., Owner, Locust Software GmbH, Zurich, Switzerland
Kragsterman, Johan, retired, Stockholm, Sweden
Kuzmenko, Oleksiy, erstwhile researcher of the Ukrainian Far Right

L (23)
Laakso, Mertz, entrepreneur, Sweden
Lagercrantz, Lova, architect, Sweden
Lagos, Rodrigo, teacher, France
LaMotta, Greg, Retired Federal worker, United States
Lane, David, Fellow Academy of Social Sciences (UK), Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Lashmankin, Aleksandr, graduate student, sociologist, Samara University, Russia
Latva-Nevala, Marko, Key Account Manager, Stockholm, Sweden
Lauterbach-Lang, Anastassia, Dr., Professor of AI and Cybersecurity, Founder AI Edutainment GmbH, an AI Literacy company
Law, Simon, Retired, Australia
Lerchner, Johannes, PhD, Senior scientist, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany
Lévesque, Jean, Associate Professor of History, Université du Québec à Montréal, QC, Canada
Libby, Jacob Aaron, OTR-CHT
Lieven, Anatol, Dr., Andrew Bacevich Chair in US Diplomatic History. Director, Eurasia Program, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Lilja, Christer Carl, retired, Sweden
Lindquist, Björn, retired psychiatrist, Sweden
Lippy, Saskia Hostetler, MD, Portland, Oregon, USA
Lodynski, Andrzej, London, UK
Loewen, Helmut-Harry, Lecturer, Criminology and Sociology (retired), The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada
Löfquist, Johan B, journalist/photographer, Oslo, Norway
Lorenzo, Stefano Di, Journalist, East And West, EU
Lorincz, Tamara, PhD, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University
Lottaz, Pascal, PhD. Associate Professor, Kyoto University, Japan
Lucas, Jeffrey, Retired, UK

M (19)
Malmsten, Hasse, Sweden
Mandel, David, Retired professor, Department of Political Science, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Marcetic, Branko, staff writer at Jacobin magazine, USA
Markwick, Roger, Dr. Honorary Professor of Modern European History, the University of Newcastle, Australia
McCormack, Tara, Dr., Lecturer in International Politics, University of Leicester, UK
McCracken, Ian, Retired, Norway
McFarlane, Peter, Writer, former Chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, Canada
Mécontent, Gueux, Secretary of the 3R association, Strasbourg, Alsace
Meder, Sigyn, teacher, Sweden
Mercouris, Alexander, YouTube Commentator, The Duran, United Kingdom
Minghelli, Giuliana, former Associate Professor in Italian Studies at McGill University and Harvard University (US)
Mkrtchian, Alexander, Research associate, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Germany/ Ukraine
Modlich, Hans, M.Eng, Toronto
Mølster, Magne, Theologian / pastor, Estonian Lutheran-Evangelical church, Estonia/Norway
Monte, Francesca, Retired business owner and investor, USA
Moscicki, Pawel, Professor, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Muggler, Reto Andreas, Self-employed, Switzerland
Munley, Frank, Associate Professor (retired), Roanoke College, United States
Mutt, Maria, retired, Sweden

N (3)
Ng, Ryan, graduating student & Chick Fil A worker, College of Staten Island, USA
Nikitin, Vadim, Contributing writer to the London Review of Books and the Nation, United Kingdom
Nirody, Suresh, President, Naught Foundation, U.S.A.

O (3)
ÓhAiseadha, Coilín, Senior Medical Officer, Health Service Executive, Ireland
Öhlin, Mats, Retired Director of Education, Sweden
Olofsson, Erika, Librarian, Sweden

P (15)
Paikin, Zachary, PhD (University of Kent), Senior Fellow, Institute for Peace & Diplomacy, Canada
Pearce, James, Dr, history and languages lecturer, City College Peterborough, UK
Peck, Michael, PhD, Retired, Sydney, Australia
Petersen, Henrik, writer and translator, Stockholm, Sweden
Pettersson, Ulf, economist, Stockholm, Sweden
Petrov, Alexey, Hanover, Germany
Pfefferkorn, Roland, Professeur émérite de sociologie, Université de Strasbourg
Pflugbeil, Sebastian, Dr.rer.nat,Dipl.Phys., retired, cofounder of the NEUES FORUM, Minister after 1989, former Member of the Berlin House of Representatives, founder of “Children of Chernobyl”, former President/board of the German Society for Radiation Protection, Germany
Picker, Jean-luc, MD, FRCS (Ed), Retired director of International Centre for Therapeutic Research, France
Pochapsky, Jason, artist and craftsman
Poenaru, Florin, lecturer in sociology, University of Bucharest, Romania
Popova, Ruja, Historian, Assistant Professor, PhD, Institute of Balkan Studies with Centre of Thracology at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria, Sofia
Proskurnyak, Olga, Postgraduate student of political science, University of Sydney, Australia
Prudnikov, Vladimir, PhD Student, Department of History, Princeton University, USA (citizen of Latvia)

Q (1)
Quinn, Kevin J, BA, Owen Sound, Ontario

R (13)
Ragozin, Leonid, freelance journalist, Latvia/Russia
Raviot, Jean-Robert, Professor of Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, Université Paris Nanterre, France
Read, Christopher, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Warwick
Richards, Alan, Professor Emeritus, Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Roberts, Geoffrey Member of the Royal Irish Academy. Emeritus Professor of History, University College Cork
Robinson, Piers, Dr, Co-director, Organisation for Propaganda Studies, Research Director, International Center for 9/11 Justice, Germany
Rodin, Andrei, associated researcher, Paris-Cité university
Rosenzweig, Mark Charles, Easton PA , USA, Former director of Reference Center for Marxist Studies, NYC
Roos, Carl-Erik, Retired, Sweden
Ross, Eric, PhD, MBA, Retired, USA
Rotlid, Steinar, Norway
Ruiz, Daniel, PHD, Researcher, UNED, Spain
Runo, Fredrik, Svetsare, Sverige

S (29)
Sakwa, Richard, Professor Emeritus of Politics, University of Kent, England
Sand, Bo, Retired nurse, Denmark
Sanduja, Utsav, Founder and Chairman, Hindus for America First, USA
Sanzo, Luis, Former Head of Statistics in Employment and Social Needs, Basque Government, now retired, Spain
Sapir, Jacques, Professor of Economics (retired) at EHESS-Paris, Professor at School of Economic Warfare – Paris
Sazib, Zahidul Islam, Freelance Translator and Photographer, Bangladesh
Schoendorff, Benjamin, Clinical Psychologist, Liberpsy, Montreal
Sedefian, Zachary, graduate student, Department of Political Science, Brooklyn College, USA
Senyk, Sophia, Historian, Professor Emeritus, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome
Seymour, Michel, professeur honoraire, Université de Montréal
Shakarian, Pietro A. Dr., Lecturer in History, American University of Armenia, Yerevan
Shannon, Paul, Executive Committee of Massachusetts Peace Action, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Simons, Greg, Professor, Department of Journalism, Media & Communication, Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Sjölund, Per Olof, history graduate from Lund and Malmö university, Sweden
Skaperdas, Stergios, Professor of Economics, University of California, Irvine, USA
Skogholt, Karl, fisherman, Norway
Slanař, Zbyněk, Businessman-Director/amateur researcher, Pardubice, Czech Republic
Sloper, Miko, retired teacher, Leipzig international school, USA/Thailand
Smirnov, George, Professor of Physics, Retired, Switzerland
Smouter, Youri, journalist/host of 1+1 on Youtube
Söderström, Henry, economist and translator, Stockholm
Solar, Marc, MSc. Physics, Teacher in Bern and CEO Serenity Audio
Solomon, Jon, Professeur des universités, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 et Université Paris Nanterre, France
Soshnikov, Alexander, Professor of Mathematics, University of California at Davis, USA
Spinoso, Salvatore Fabrizio, Professore, Docente di Conservatorio, Italia
Spriewald, Götz, former photo lab technician and media designer, Germany
Stranne, Frida, Associated Professor Peace- and development Studies, Senior Lecturer Political Science, Sweden
Surovell, Jeffrey, Adjunct Professor, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Szamuely, George, PhD, Author, broadcaster and podcast host

T (8)
Taras, Raymond, Professor Emeritus, Tulane University, New Orleans, United States
Tasić, Vladimir, Professor, University of New Brunswick, Canada
Terekhov, Ievgen, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, Ukraine
Thelin, Ace, historian, journalist, California, USA
Tikhonov, Vladimir (Pak Noja), professor, Oslo University, Norway
Tokarczuk, Wiesław, Master of Science in Forestry, retired, Poland
Trégouët, Gildas, retraité, Montréal, Canada
Turner, Hugo, independent historian, USA

U (1)
Utter, Paul, entrepreneur, Spain/Sweden

V (10)
Van de Beek, Eric, investigative journalist, Media Pro – Pro Media, The Netherlands
Van de Water, Rob, Former Special Adviser to the Group of Progressives and Democrats in the European Parliament, Germany
Van der Kelen, Thomas, Translator, Antwerp, Belgium
Van der Pijl, Kees (Prof Dr), retired from University of Sussex, UK, the Netherlands
Vidojević, Jelena, Research Fellow, New South Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa
Vielmini, Fabrizio, MA, Analyst – Russia & Eurasia V&GT – International Institute for Global Analyses, translator of the Italian version of the Maidan Massacre book
Villaseñor, Dario, Mexico City, Mexico
Vollan, Tore, Cinematographer, Norway
Voronin, Anatoly, multilingual blogger, Ukraine
Vuorinen, Esa, Professor Emeritus, Dept of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå Univ. of Technology, Sweden

W (6)
Wahlby, Mercédès, Senior physician, in internal medicine and geriatrics, Sweden
Webster, John, Retired, UK
Weskamp, Axel, retired teacher, Germany
Williams, Rob Lyons, former member Province of Saskatchewan Legislature
Winzer, Beate, Dipl. Pol., free Researcher, Berlin
Wünschmann, Doris, Academic Student – master of governance, Fern Universität, Hagen, Germany

Y (2)
Yoshida, Hiroshi, Associate Professor of Okayama University, Japan
Youril, John, Artist, USA

Z (2)
Zaeh, Rudi, retired, Germany
Zaslavskii, Oleg, Senior Scientific Fellow, V N. Karazin Kharkiv University, Ukraine

The open letter can still be signed by sending to openletter2026@gmail.com the name, position/job title, institutional affiliation, country, and if prefer that the name is not published and only institutional affiliation and country are listed.

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