It appears that Aleksandr Lukashenko, the presumptive president of Belarus, is feeling the heat these days . . . thanks to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky, who has had his hands full defending his country against Russia’s continuing onslaught, nevertheless found time to issue an ultimatum to Lukashenko on June 19th. In a nutshell, he gave the Belarusian autocrat one week in which to remove communications equipment located on the territory of his country that is being used by Russia to guide drone strikes against Ukrainian civilians. And Zelensky warned:

“If he [Lukashenko] doesn’t do it, we will.”

[Roman Sheremeta, “The Economics of Power,” power.substack.com, June 20, 2026.]

Zelensky has shown the world that he does not make empty threats, and this action against Belarus has been long overdue. Russia has deployed relay stations across Belarus, mounted on mobile communications towers, to improve the guidance and control of Shahed drones used to attack northern Ukraine and the capital city of Kyiv. Although Ukraine destroyed several of those stations, they have been rebuilt. [Id.]

Lukashenko — who has consistently (and disingenuously) maintained that he does not want his country involved in the war — now faces a choice between turning against his friend and patron Vladimir Putin, or facing the destruction of those Russian relay stations by Ukraine, along with the possibility of collateral damage that always accompanies military actions.

I would not want to be in Lukashenko’s position. But it’s a problem of his own making.

Someone should have taught him long ago to choose his friends more carefully.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/21/26

In a week that has seen increased exchanges of drone and missile attacks between Russia and Ukraine, negotiations that aren’t really negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, and a disastrous performance by Donald Trump at the G7 meeting at Evian, it’s a relief to be able to say that at least there have been no new reports of politically-motivated arrests or hostage-takings.

On the flip side, there haven’t been any releases reported either. So once again, we pay homage to all of the victims of repression in Russia and elsewhere, with our continuing hope for their early homecoming:

*. *. *

Prisoners of War:

The 20,000+ Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin
Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Oleg Orlov
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Afghanistan:

Mahmoud Habibi (Afghan-American)
Paul Overby (American, missing since 2018)

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
Farid Mehralizada
Ulvi Hasanli
Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
Mahammad Kekalov
Hafiz Babali
Nargiz Absalamova
Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
Oleg Antipov
Artyom Azatyan
Georgy Azatyan
Aleksandr Bylin
Roman Solomko
Artur Terchanyan
Dmitry Tyazhelykh
Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
Aleksandr Andreyev
David Barnes (American)
Yevgenia Berkovich
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Yury Dmitriyev
Anastasia Dyudyaeva
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Mikhail Loshchinin
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika NovakSvetlana Petriichuk
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Lev Schlossberg
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)Karina Tsurkan
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

You have not been, and will not be, forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/21/26

In the belief that pictures really do speak louder than words, I offer the following evidence of the progress of my moving preparations:

As you can see, I’m feeling somewhat boxed in. And that’s only part of it.

Just another week until the movers arrive to pick it all up. Meanwhile, I also have to remember to send change-of-address notices to my bank, credit card companies, Social Security Administration, insurance company, doctors, dentist, pharmacy . . .

Whose bright idea was this, anyway?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/20/26

I know, I know . . . I’m supposed to be taking a break from the news while I pack for my move. But when my favorite Kremlin spokesman speaks, I find it hard to turn a deaf ear — even when he’s not saying anything we haven’t heard a thousand times before.

The only difference is that this time he was addressing the leaders of Europe instead of Donald Trump, most likely because he and his boss have come to the realization that a united Europe is indeed a force to be reckoned with, whereas Trump is . . . well, most likely . . .

Recently — with Trump focused (when he is able to focus) on ending or not ending his war with Iran, invading or not invading Cuba, finding someone to blame for the Reflecting Pool fiasco, and insulting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — the members of the EU have begun considering how best to deal directly with Vladimir Putin. The office of European Council President Antonio Costa said they have made “brief contacts at diplomatic level to open communication channels” with the Kremlin; and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker has suggested that the EU should push ahead with efforts to reopen negotiations with Putin. [Dmitry Antonov, Reuters, June 19, 2026.]

The response from the Kremlin was predictably cool. While acknowledging that common sense would dictate the need for such discussions, Dmitry Peskov offered this caveat when speaking with reporters on Friday:

“The Europeans have a very serious misconception: They assume that negotiations with Russia must be conducted from a position of strength and based on Russia’s weakness. This is the biggest mistake . . . Such talk will lead nowhere. Does this stem from European incompetence, misinformation, or stupidity? We don’t know for sure, but it’s a fact.” [Id.]

He added that Russia would be willing to talk if there was openness on Europe’s part to engage in real dialogue, “not to engage in moralising or, especially, to issue ultimatums.” [Id.]

That’s tough talk from a country that has lost over a million troops, gained no ground in its push through Ukraine for months, and now sees its main source of funding for the war — its oil industry — being decimated by Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries, some just a few miles from the Kremlin itself.

But Vladimir Putin is not one to surrender willingly; and in his mind, compromise is the same as capitulation. So he continues to spew his particular brand of braggadocio, hint at the nuclear option, maintain his ludicrous demands for one-sided concessions from Ukraine, and . . . what then? Hope that his bluffs will work?

Meanwhile, the whole of Europe has been strengthening its military defenses as well as its offensive capabilities, and stands united under NATO’s Article 5 guaranteeing collective defense.

Methinks it’s time for the Kremlin’s spokesman to work on a new script, because the old one isn’t really cutting it any longer.

Maybe this guy could help:

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/20/26

As Election Day in the U.S. approaches — now less than five months away — I can’t help thinking about the words of Thomas Jefferson:

“The government you elect is the government you deserve.”

I don’t know what we Americans have done that was bad enough to deserve what has happened to us in the past year and a half; but I hope and pray that we don’t make the same mistake again.

Even though these are “only” mid-terms, and not a presidential election, they are our chance to begin restoring honor and integrity to our governing bodies, and sanity to our lives.

Let’s not blow it a third time.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/19/26

One picture says it all:

None of them was perfect. But they all did more good than harm . . . and who can ask for more than that from anyone?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/19/26

Finland — the beautiful land of Jan Sibelius, the Northern Lights, a top-flight educational system, great seafood, and the official home of Santa Claus — has just announced the lifting of its decades-long ban on nuclear weapons.

And the world is a little bit sadder today.

It is sad because the nation voted the happiest country in the world was forced to make this decision by its neighbor, Russia — with whom it shares an 833-mile border — invading its air space; establishing some 130 military installations capable of housing 2,000 troops in Kamenka, about 35 miles from the border; and now constructing a new military base, also just miles from the border, with a capacity for up to 6,000 military personnel. [Anthony Blair, New York Post, June 17, 2026.]

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen has announced that the Parliament voted 125-to-61 on Wednesday to facilitate the movement of nuclear weapons on its territory, reversing its 1987 ban that prohibited the import, manufacture, possession and detonation of any such explosives within its borders. Hakkanen wrote on X that:

“This historic reform strengthens the security of Finland and of NATO as a whole.” [Id.]

Earlier this year, he had argued that the existing nuclear restrictions no longer reflected the geopolitical realities of the country, which became a member of NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Id.]

But such is the world we live in . . . a world in which a handful of tyrants call the shots for eight billion people who only want to live in peace and relative comfort. And thus it has always been.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/19/26

It seems that one mystery — their trip to Crimea — isn’t enough for Vladimir Putin’s favorite emigre family; they’ve now hit us with a second one, before offering any insight into the first.

No sooner did I post this morning’s thoughts on the unusual lack of videos from their recent visit to the land of sun, sea and Ukrainian drone strikes, when a “short” appeared on Facebook showing Arend and Anneesa Feenstra attending an “awards ceremony” in Moscow.

You heard me. Their most recent teaser — like their other videos, undated — shows the couple in Moscow, dressed in their Sunday finest, at an undisclosed location for an unspecified awards ceremony. Presumably, though not specifically stated, they are to be recipients of an honorific . . . coincidentally (?) immediately following their return from a four-month trip to Canada and the U.S., and a one-week boondoggle to Crimea.

And just to remind you — when they first announced the upcoming Crimean trip for the entire family, they said they were to be accompanied by “friends,” though those individuals are yet to be identified. Then there was silence, followed by an apology from Arend for the delay in keeping their followers posted.

So I repeat . . . What the hell?!!

Seriously, what kind of an “award” are we talking about, for a simple farming family who are still years away from qualifying for Russian citizenship? And why all the intrigue surrounding their activities?

Which leads me to the biggest question of all: Who are the Feenstras, really?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/18/26

Here’s a little Thursday frivolity, just for the heck of it. Sing along with me, if you like:

Oh, where, oh where have the Epstein files gone?
Oh, where, oh where can they be?
They’re not in Iran,
Nor in Greenland, for sure.
Oh, where, oh where can they be?

Are they buried somewhere way down in Fort Knox?
Or at the home of JD?
In an FBI vault?
The “Department of War”?
Oh, where, oh where can they be?

Like everyone else, I haven’t a clue
As to where those damned files might be.
But I do know for sure
That each time they’re revived,
A distraction there shortly will be.

An incursion here, a threatened war there,
Or a dust-up with Russia we’ll see;
Anything to distract
In the hopes we’ll forget
To ask “where, oh where can they be?”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/18/26

Five days ago, Arend Feenstra posted a short video from a train on the way to their mysterious visit to Crimea. (See my post of 6/13/26: “We Interrupt This Sabbatical . . .”) He offered no explanation as to the purpose of the trip, other than a quick mention of checking out some farming-related matters; no apparent concerns about leaving the homestead in Nizhny Novgorod at the busiest season of the year; and, as usual, no indication of the actual date on which the video was being made.

Two days after that, there was a second quick communique, this time from Crimea, saying how excited they were to be there, looking forward to visiting some “agricultural places.” That’s all.

And the following day, Arend shows up again, now back in Nizhny Novgorod, apologizing for the delay in posting videos of the Crimea trip — delays that he attributed to “technical difficulties . . . out of our control.” He said there were unexpected problems with the videos, which needed “some more stuff to be done” to them, and thanked their viewers for their patience while “we wait for these unforeseen things to pass.”

Now, that could mean any number of things, and he was clearly having difficulty finding the right words to explain the problem without actually explaining it. But considering where they are — and what has been going on in Russia since the war against Ukraine has come home to bite the Putin regime in their big Russian yagoditsiy (buttocks) — my best guess is that there are two things going on: first, the well-known interruptions and shutdowns of social media and other communications by the Kremlin; and second — though this is purely speculative — the need for some official editing of the videos before their release can be authorized.

Consider:

Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea in 2014, and has illegally occupied the entire peninsula ever since. From the time of his second invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the usually peaceful Crimean Peninsula has been dragged into the ongoing conflict.

Perhaps the Feenstras were witness to some of the effects the war has had on the Ukrainian residents, observed the heavy-handed behavior of the Russian occupiers, and even expeienced some of the retaliatory attacks by Ukraine’s forces. If so, I can think of a number of reasons why their videos have been delayed, and why Arend Feenstra appears hesitant to say more.

And I have to wonder whether the Feenstra family, who left Canada because it was too “woke,” may be starting to realize that the choice of Russia as their new home could turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives.

In any event, I will keep an eye out for further word from them. So stay tuned, friends. Because I think there is a lot more to this story.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/18/26