#ukraineaidnow

"MAGA Mike" Johnson needs a ride (to Mar-a-Lago) not ammo.

Vicariously, Vladimir Putin is House Speaker these days. 😡

Twenty-five years later, not least because of the security guarantees that NATO provided us, we have become the fifth largest economy of the European Union, and the main buyer of US military equipment as I’ve already mentioned.

Victorious Ukraine may follow a similar path.

[ … ]

Ladies and gentlemen, whether we want it or not, Putin’s decision to start the biggest war in Europe since the defeat of Nazi Germany has already changed the course of history. It is up to us to decide if we want to shape that course ourselves, or let it be shaped by others—in Moscow, Tehran, or Beijing.

Helping Ukraine by defeating Putin is the right thing to do in the broadest sense of the word.

It is morally sound, strategically wise, militarily justified, and economically beneficial.

It outweighs politics. It transcends partisanship.

Now is the moment to act. Let’s get this done. »

— Foreign Minister Radosław "Radek" Sikorski of Poland speaking Monday at the Atlantic Council.

You can see his address and the following discussion in this vid.

In response to a question from the audience, Pan Sikorski gave this insight on Putin's thinking regarding the war:

[T]he trouble is that Putin doesn’t have an incentive to make peace. He’s already indicted at the Hague for stealing Ukrainian children. And he probably thinks that he—that it’s better for him to have a bad war than an unsatisfactory peace.

The only way to end the war is to make it way bad for Putin to continue it.

Putin is counting on the notoriously short American attention span while manipulating US politics through his vassal Donald Trump. We need to understand that wars don't go away just because Americans get bored with them.

Sweden officially joined NATO on Thursday. It had been neutral since 1814.

One of Putin's pretexts for his illegal invasion of Ukraine was to prevent NATO expansion. What the invasion really did was to cause NATO to become reinvigorated and expanded.

With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, the land border between Russia and NATO has doubled in length. And the Baltic is now a Sea of NATO with Russia holding only a couple of relatively short strips of coastline near Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg. This represents a spectacular strategic failure for Putin.

Sweden on Thursday formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden's "instrument of accession" to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department. "This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for alliance. It's history for the transatlantic relationship," Blinken said. "Our NATO alliance is now stronger, larger than it's ever been." Kristersson wrote in a social media post that "we are therefore a safer country." Later Thursday. Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address to Congress.

Ukraine will eventually join NATO but it probably won't happen while active hostilities continue. Expect to hear Sweden mentioned at the State of the Union address.

Biden, in his speech to Congress, is expected to cite Sweden's accession to NATO as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin's intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion. And, the Democratic president is expected to use Sweden's decision to join to step up calls for reluctant Republicans to approved stalled military assistance to Ukraine as the war enters its third year. Biden and his NATO counterparts have vowed that Ukraine will join one day, too.

Yet another Russian warship is sleeping with the fishes. Vladimir Putin, his minion Donald Trump, and his minion "MAGA Mike" Johnson are all in tears.

This time it's a missile-corvette called the Sergey Kotov. It is a relatively new vessel, having been commissioned just over 19 months ago. It was hit by MAGURA V5 sea drones built and operated by Ukraine. The Sergey Kotov sank off the coast of Feodosiya (also transliterated as Feodosia) in Russian-occupied Crimea.

It will not be easy to replace this vessel.

Another Month. Another Russian Warship, Blown Up On The Black Sea. Ukraine’s drone boats are relentless.

The 308-foot, 1,700-ton Project 22160 corvette reportedly sank off of Feodosiya in southeastern Crimea. If confirmed, the sinking would extend the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s losing streak as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds into its third year. Since February 2022 the Ukrainians have blown up or sunk four Russian landing ships, a cruiser, a submarine, a supply ship, several patrol boats and small landing craft and now two missile-corvettes.

Why these sinkings in the Black Sea are significant.

Russian shipyards still manage to build large submarines, but they struggle to build surface warships heavier than a few thousand tons. And while the Russians might eventually be able to construct a new Project 22160 to replace Sergei Kotov, they wouldn’t be able to sail the new ship into the Black Sea. That’s because the only major waterway in and out of the Black Sea—the Bosporus Strait—is controlled by Turkey, a NATO member. And, during wartime, Turkey doesn’t allow any warships into the Black Sea. Allied or enemy.

This was not a short distance operation. The drones had to travel around the southern tip of occupied Crimea.

Two years ago on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians that he and other high ranking officials would remain in Kyiv and defend the country against Putin's illegal invasion.

The video above, made less than 48 hours after the start of the invasion, was intentionally filmed outside recognizable buildings in Kyiv. At the time, Russian assassination squads were out looking for Zelenskyy. Invading Russian troops committing war crimes got within 22 km of the government district.

This video was one of the most audacious uses of the internet to date. If top government officials were willing to stand and fight, Ukrainians felt more confident they could do the same. 730 days after the start of Putin's planned three-day "special operation", Ukraine still stands.

Here's the Ukrainian text of that vid:

The Oscar for best documentary feature went to 20 Days in Mariupol. It documents the horrors of Russian war crimes in the early stages of Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Rather than have me tell you about it, you can watch the entire film right here.

If you live in a Congressional district represented by a Republican, contact him/her and describe the contents of the documentary. And ask: Why are you helping Putin commit war crimes?

Not sure who represents you? Use your ZIP+4 to find out here…

Find Your Representative

One word I didn't expect to hear describing Joe Biden's State of the Union speech was "energetic" – but there it was bigtime. 😎

Dark Brandon was in the House and wasn't taking any prisoners. His fervent advocacy for progressive and pro-democracy policies left no one in doubt that he is The Anti-MAGA.

President Biden sounded like an older version of Harry Truman though without swear words. And much of the speech was aimed directly at the Republicans and at the GOP Supreme Court – calling them out right to their faces.

Biden wasn't just energetic, he absolutely taunted Republicans on an issue they've shot themselves in both feet on – immigration reform.

Biden’s Border Taunts Clearly Hit a Republican Nerve

Finally, he arrived at the topic that he knew Republicans couldn’t resist, because it represents that party’s most embarrassing recent failure. He reminded the country that at Donald Trump’s direction, Republicans had killed the strongest immigration bill in years, one that would reduce the flood of asylum seekers and bolster security at the southern border. And immediately the boos poured in from the red side of the chamber. “What are you against?” he asked, finally laughing at the opportunity to expose a bit of rampant hypocrisy. “Oh, you don’t like that bill?” It would save lives and bring order to the chaos at the border, he said, reducing fentanyl smuggling and giving every president the ability to shut down crossings when the surge of migrants became too great. [ ... ] Biden’s provocation on this issue may have been the most successful moment of the evening, one that will be replayed many times in the months to come on the campaign trail. And the power of it could be seen in the downcast face behind him of Speaker Mike Johnson, who wouldn’t bring the border bill to the House floor. All he could do was shake his head and hope Biden changed the subject.

Democrats have reason to feel good about this speech and it showed. His departure from the chamber was delayed by enthusiastic Democratic House members who were asking for selfies and getting autographs from Biden while chatting with him. If they had thought the speech was a dud they would have fled immediately.