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Ukraine Invasion Day 390: boycott Tchaikovsky until the war ends? It's drag queens and libraries [1]

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Date: 2023-03-19

Russia’s anti-Nazi trope disinformation got a boost from Putin as he visited Mariupol like a drag reading in a library. It’s all Music Lovers and Stalin’s Organs, only reminding us how the show trials of denazification failed. This war is more than using actual cannons in performances of the 1812 overture.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the occupied port city of Mariupol , his first trip to Ukrainian territory that Moscow illegally annexed in September and a show of defiance after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges. Putin arrived in Mariupol late Saturday after visiting Crimea, southwest of Mariupol, to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday. He was shown chatting with Mariupol residents and visiting an art school and a children’s center in Sevastopol, Crimea. [...] Putin arrived in Mariupol by helicopter and then drove himself around the city’s “memorial sites,” concert hall and coastline, Russian news reports said. The state Rossiya 24 channel on Sunday showed Putin chatting with locals outside what looked like a newly built residential complex, and being shown around one of the apartments. www.msn.com/... (August 2022) The UN Human Rights Office says it is concerned by reports that Russia plans to try Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Russian-occupied Mariupol.

A UN spokeswoman said there was evidence that metal cages were being built in the Ukrainian city's concert hall, "apparently to restrain prisoners of war during proceedings."

The UN said prosecuting POWs for taking part in hostilities is a war crime.

Russia has previously denied unfairly treating prisoners of war.

Photos posted on social media in recent days - including by Ukrainian authorities - appear to show metal cages being built on the stage of the city's philharmonic hall. www.bbc.com/... x They just have NO SHAME and no place in a rules based society. I hope against hope that the brave young Ukrainians overrun Mariupol before they insult us with this atrocious show trial‼️. Russia Destroyed Mariupol. Now It’s Using It for Propaganda. - WSJ https://t.co/mOFLy8ptpH — Declan Farrell (@declanmfarrell) September 7, 2022 x And then suddenly, when the cages for the tribunal were ready, they are swapped for the father of Putin's goddaughter. For Russian nationalists, this is akin to the USSR capturing General Rommel along with an SS division in 1942 and swapping them for Stalin's son. 4/ — Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) September 22, 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin visited occupied Mariupol on March 19, likely to project the image of invulnerability and to continue efforts to portray himself as an involved wartime leader. Putin’s visit to Mariupol included highly staged meetings with residents, a bizarre drive around the city with Putin supposedly driving the car himself, and a briefing from Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin about restoration efforts in the city.[13] The Kremlin likely framed Putin’s first visit to occupied Ukraine outside of Crimea as a spontaneous jaunt in order to portray Putin as an invincible wartime leader who can visit the zone of hostilities without concern.[14] Putin likely chose to visit Mariupol because it is a city seized since May 2022 that is far away from the frontline, where Russian forces and occupation officials have already instituted stringent security measures. Putin also likely meant his visit to be a response to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for his involvement in war crimes connected to the deportation of Ukrainian children, at least 1,000 of whom Russian officials deported from Mariupol alone.[15] Putin likely sought to portray his role in the deportation of children and the destruction of Mariupol as beyond the jurisdiction of the international community and himself as safe from the Ukrainian military 80km to the north. Putin also visited the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar Krai, and received briefings from Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov and other Russian military commanders.[16] Russian media publicized Putin’s meetings with Gerasimov and previous theater commander Army General Sergey Surovikin to portray Putin as highly involved in the management of the war in Ukraine as well as possibly to signal that Gerasimov currently has Putin’s favor and that Survoikin, with his former Wagner Group connections, is now firmly subordinated under Gerasimov.[17] www.understandingwar.org/... Putin’s Mariupol visit likely also aimed to assuage a longstanding and pervasive fear in the nationalist space about a prospective Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine. Russian milbloggers that ISW tracks claimed en masse on March 19 that Ukrainian forces conducted a limited and localized counterattack near Novodanylivka, Zaporizhia Oblast, a disproportionate response to a frequent occurrence on other areas of the front.[18] Many of these milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces continue to prepare for a future counteroffensive on the Zaporizhia Oblast front line, which milbloggers have been claiming with varying degrees of urgency since October 2022.[19] Some milbloggers specifically linked Putin’s March 19 visit to Mariupol to a Ukrainian counteroffensive.[20] One milblogger claimed that Putin’s visit shows he is not a cowardly leader who is too afraid to leave Moscow Oblast out of fear of Ukrainian intelligence and claimed that the Russian ”surrender of the south [of Ukraine] will be Putin’s personal defeat.”[21] The milblogger added that Russian forces would have to work harder to defend against a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Former Russian officer and convicted war criminal Igor Girkin instead sarcastically claimed that Russian forces would ”do everything to be defeated” in order to ”blame everything on Putin,” noting that Putin appointed and kept in power all the Russian military commanders responsible for Russia’s performance in the war thus far.[22] The Russian occupation administration declaring Melitopol rather than Zaporizhzhia City as the capital of occupied Zaporizhia Oblast also likely reflects a desire to ease the palpable fear in the nationalist and domestic information space by portraying Russian occupation as long-term and certain.[23] www.understandingwar.org/...

Ukrainian museums have been destroyed. Russia isn’t just physically attacking Ukraine; it is also trying to destroy our culture and memory. In the occupied territories, Ukrainian libraries have been liquidated, the word “Ukraine” has been erased, andhave been destroyed. Our ministry of culture and information policy has recorded more than 800 cases of destruction: monuments and works of art, museums, valuable historical buildings. This war is a civilisational battle over culture and history. On 5 September this year, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that refers to the “Russian peace”. The Kremlin made clear in the document that culture was a tool and even a weapon in the hands of the government, and that it would actively use all the opportunities available to it, from promoting Russian ballet to protecting the rights of Russian speakers abroad, in order to advance its interests. In the Kremlin’s mind, the world is divided between “traditional values” and “pseudo values”. The latter are a liberal threat to the former, and an irreconcilable fight is taking place between the two. The Kremlin is putting itself forward as the global leader of traditional values, claiming that its nation is built upon them. After Putin signed this document, he made it very clear he saw Russian culture as an instrument of his nation’s imperialist politics. Russian culture has been used by members of the Kremlin to justify their terrible war. Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister, recently cited Alexander Pushkin’s poem To the Slanderers of Russia on television. The broadcast featured footage of the G7 meeting, an image of Joe Biden against the background of the US flag, and symbols of Russian glory. The minister ended his speech with the following words from the poem: “Leave us alone: you’re unacquainted. With suchlike bloody sacred tablets; This family, domestic feud. Is alien, obscure to you.” [...] Representatives of Ukrainian culture today consider it their mission to overcome the violence and destruction caused by Russia. Rejecting representatives of Russian culture who support its totalitarian regime and preventing concerts of Russian performers who openly support its war of aggression are conscious steps for a mature democratic society to take. Along with political and economic sanctions, they will be necessary if we are to defeat Russia’s totalitarian project. www.theguardian.com/... Proud boy says he can't get back to Washington, goes to CPAC without permission, then brags about it on social media https://t.co/5j36CLiGnm Facts: drag queen story time was invented in 2015 by a woman named Michelle Tea who felt that story time events at libraries were too heteronormative. Another reason was that we needed to get kids back to children’s stories rather than new media and social media. Hence the idea to get kids back into libraries. That is a noble effort. And then came the Republicans. Republicans are now using drag queens as cultural-political pawns. Their argument: we’re confusing our children. Hmm…. let’s look at that a little. So a man dressed up in a costume is confusing and dangerous to children? Guess that means we’ll have to ban Ronald McDonald since he’s been known to do these story times. Heaven forbid that after seeing Ronald McDonald your child will want to wear an orange wig, orange lipstick, and an orange clown suit. And speaking of clowns, what about all the clowns that have done story time? Has that led to numerous children having a fear of clowns? Where are all the anti-clown legislations? qburgh.com/... x At the event a member of Proud Boys allegedly fought with defenders of Drag Story Hour, one of the people who was with the Proud Boys group says he got beat up "I came here to help, not get the shit beat out of me" - said the person, with visible blood on https://t.co/BchAxNeEt9… https://t.co/BlvRtz1vj1 — Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) March 19, 2023 Anti-drag queen bigots the Proud Boys got a dose of their own medicine while protesting at a family-friendly show in New York City this weekend. New York Attorney General Letitia James had organized a Drag Queen Story Hour at a Manhattan LGBTQ center this past weekend to show her office’s solidarity with the marginalized group. washingtonpress.com/... x Number of children sexually assaulted by Catholic priests: 4,228

Number of children sexually assaulted in the Boy Scouts: 82,000

Number of children sexually assaulted by drag queens during library story time: 0 — Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling 🌹📽️📻📺 (@tdoyleft) June 17, 2022

Statements made by Ukrainian military officials on the pace and prospects of current Russian offensive operations may suggest that the overall Russian spring offensive may be nearing culmination. Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty stated on March 19 that Russia was unable to gather sufficient forces for the anticipated major offensive in Donbas and noted that current Russian offensive actions cannot be called a “major strategic operation.”[5] Cherevaty emphasized that Russian forces cannot even complete the tactical capture of Bakhmut, which supports ISW’s assessment that the Wagner Group offensive near Bakhmut is likely nearing culmination.[6] Russian forces are also notably struggling to secure operationally significant gains elsewhere along the frontline, particularly in the Avdiivka-Donetsk City and Vuhledar areas. Ukrainian Tavriisk Defense Forces spokesperson Colonel Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi noted on March 19 that Russian forces have been desperately attacking Avdiivka to restart offensive operations on Vuhledar, likely suggesting that continued Russian attacks in the Avdiivka area are meant partially to pull Ukrainian reserves away from western Donetsk Oblast to the Avdiivka-Donetsk City area.[7] Dmytrashkivskyi stated that this renewed offensive focus on Avdiivka has recently led to major Russian losses around Avdiivka amounting to the equivalent of one company, on which ISW has previously reported.[8] www.understandingwar.org/… Key inflections in ongoing military operations on March 19: Russian forces continued limited offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.[28]

Russian forces likely secured marginal gains near Bohdanivka (6km northwest of Bakhmut) amidst continued Russian offensive operations in and around Bakhmut.[29]

Russian forces continued offensive operations along the outskirts of Donetsk City and may have advanced towards Berdychi, about 10km northwest of Avdiivka.[30]

Russian forces continued erecting defensive fortifications throughout southern Ukraine.[31]

Unknown actors killed a Russian occupation Ministry of Internal Affairs Patrol Service platoon commander with a car bomb in occupied Kherson Oblast.[32] Ukrainian media hypothesized that the attack may have been a partisan attack or a result of Russian infighting.[33]

Russian federal communication supervisor Roskomnadzor blocked a website that helped Russians escape mobilization in continued crackdowns against resistance to mobilization.[34] www.understandingwar.org/...

x ⚡️ WAR IN #UKRAINE - MAR 19



No update - @Rebel44CZ still recovering from a knee injury



VISUALLY CONFIRMED:

3.12x losses to date ➡

2.74x since 🇺🇦 counteroffensive (Aug 29) ➡

3.33x 30-day average ➡



📈 https://t.co/pyAw2FXSPH pic.twitter.com/HSVGxwQTI5 — Ragnar Gudmundsson 🇮🇸🇺🇦 [email protected] (@ragnarbjartur) March 19, 2023

Ukrainian forces likely conducted a localized counterattack southwest of Bakhmut amid growing Russian discussion about a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Bakhmut area. Geolocated footage published on March 19 indicates that Ukrainian forces conducted a successful counterattack southwest of Ivanivske (6km west of Bakhmut) and pushed Russian forces further away from the T0504 highway in the area.[1] Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty reported that Russian forces conducted 25 attacks in the Bakhmut area on March 19, but Russian forces likely only secured marginal gains.[2] Russian sources amplified footage on March 18 alleging to show a column of Ukrainian armored vehicles along the T0504 southwest of Kostyantynivka (22km southwest of Bakhmut) and speculated that Ukrainian forces are preparing to launch counteroffensive operations southwest of Bakhmut.[3] A prominent Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces are currently capable of intensifying counterattacks to stabilize the front line around Bakhmut.[4] The growing Russian discussions about an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Bakhmut area suggest that Russian sources are increasingly uncertain about the Russian military’s ability to maintain the initiative around Bakhmut. www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/...

x You’re out of your mind if you think the Bush administration’s entire bogus run up to the war in Iraq was just one big foul up. Cheney et al *wanted* to go to war. So much so that they willingly misrepresented intelligence publicly and to lie to you and your boss. — Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) March 19, 2023

x If we had Iraq war coverage match what we’re seeing by western media in Ukraine, the #IraqWar would’ve evolved very differently. The west’s media coverage of #UkraineWar is standard setting. And nothing like anything we witnessed for American wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia,… https://t.co/FKhaQLpeyu — Dr. Michael Shank (@Michael_Shank) March 19, 2023

x Nothing screams "agency" and "sovereignty" more, than the US dictating the terms under which Ukraine accepts a ceasefire. As @caitoz perfectly put it, the only agency Ukraine has, is the Central Intelligence kind. https://t.co/lJJ5W3c32l — Dr. Strangelove (@_michalis12) March 19, 2023

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/19/2158964/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-390-boycott-Tchaikovsky-until-the-war-ends-It-s-drag-queens-and-libraries

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