On Monday, Russian officials said that the suspect they had arrested for shooting Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev — a 65-year-old man named Lyubomir Korba — had been located in Dubai and flown back to Moscow. How he got to Dubai was not explained.

Korba allegedly told them he had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence. Then they released surveillance video footage from the apartment building where Alekseyev was attacked — videos purportedly confirming the official story.

How convenient!

Immediately following the attempted assassination, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had already accused Ukraine of engineering the assault, without offering any evidence. And within a single day, Russia’s FSB intelligence agency had identified, located and detained two suspects, stating that a third had escaped to Ukraine.

One video — not independently verified — showed Korba saying that he had been recruited by Ukraine’s SBU agency in August of 2025 in Ternopil, Ukraine; sent to Kyiv for training; and promised $30,000 in cryptocurrency to kill Alekseyev.

And, to complete their story, the Russian FSB also accused Polish intelligence of having been involved in recruiting Korba. [Mike Eckel, RFE/RL, February 9, 2026.]

A second man, Viktor Vasin, was identified as the other suspect and arrested in Moscow, and was further accused of being connected to the late anti-corruption dissident Aleksei Navalny — a perpetual thorn in Putin’s side even now, two years after his mysterious death in a Russian penal colony. [Guy Faulconbridge and Gleb Stolyarov, Reuters, February 8, 2026.]

The third suspect has been identified as a woman by the name of Zinaida Serebritskaya. [Id.]

Putin has been said to have thanked Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the leader of the United Arab Emirates, for his help in locating and detaining Korba. No details of the arrest have been revealed by UAE officials. [Id.]

*. *. *

Based on the sketchy information available, the Kremlin’s story seems to me to be full of holes.

To begin with, when Ukraine has carried out surprise attacks on Russian territory, they have claimed responsibility, taking pride in their ability to strike back against the aggressors. But Kyiv is denying any involvement in this incident.

The shooting also doesn’t seem to fit the picture of a typical Ukrainian intelligence operation. Their attacks have been primarily aimed at strategic military installations, supply lines, bridges, and the like. Furthermore, it was a sloppy job, allegedly carried out by Russian citizens recruited at substantial expense — hardly necessary (or smart), in light of the proven effectiveness of Ukraine’s own intelligence operatives.

More information is needed, and we may never learn the whole story. But it would be interesting to know whether General Alekseyev had any personal enemies, or had perhaps incurred the wrath of the Kremlin, which has always been known for its ability to dispose of people who have become redundant.

He is fortunate to have survived this attempt on his life. But, whoever was responsible, Alekseyev will now have to live with the knowledge that someone — for whatever reason — wants him dead.

As for the two men who have been arrested and accused of the attempted assassination, whether Ukrainian agents or not, they are as good as convicted.

That is simply how it’s done in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/11/26

Anne Frank — the young Jewish German girl who spent two years in hiding from the Nazis until she and her family were arrested and sent to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp — is universally known for the diaries she kept during the period of their isolation.

Between the ages of 13 and 15, her writing naturally focused largely on the war, as well as her continuing hope for the future and her faith in what she believed was the innate goodness of mankind. But a recent reading of some segments of her diaries revealed a surprisingly mature understanding of women’s accustomed lot in life in the 1940s, and a view of what would later become known as women’s rights that places her decades ahead of her time.

This is what I found:

“Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers? . . . Women who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!”

– Anne Frank, “The Diary of a Young Girl”

Had Anne not perished in the camps just two or three months before the end of the war in 1945, she may well have become the German compatriot of Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the others of her generation who fought so valiantly for fair and equal treatment in a “man’s world.”

What a loss! But — thanks to her father, who was the only member of their family to survive the war — her words live on, as she would have hoped.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/11/26

Museums are among my favorite places to lose myself for a few hours. And yesterday I had the opportunity to do just that, with two good friends here in Savannah, who introduced me to the Museum of the Mighty Eighth — dedicated to the history of the U.S. Eighth Air Force from World War II.

I was previously unaware of the history of the Eighth Air Force, which was created in Savannah, Georgia, with seven recruits from the U.S. Army Air Force and not a single aircraft. In January of 1942 — just a month after the United States entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — the men, just teenagers and young adults, were sent to England to join our allies in the defense of Europe against Hitler’s Third Reich.

Over the course of the war, the Eighth became the largest air force in the world, consisting of 350,000 Americans on air bases across East Anglia, England.

By the end of the war in Europe in May of 1945, they had flown more than 600,000 missions and dropped over 670,000 tons of bombs.

But the cost was high. The Eighth lost 26,000 airmen in action, with another 28,000 taken as prisoners of war. Among the members, they received 17 Medals of Honor, 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, and more than 420,000 Air Medals. [Source: Mightyeighth.org]

The Museum — privately owned and maintained — is a beautiful tribute to those men. And it is a reminder, as that generation nears extinction, of the horrors of war and of the sacrifices that have been made in the defense of freedom and democracy . . . something we must never allow future generations to forget, lest it happen again.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/11/26

In the belief — or at least, the hope — that the world will survive without my undivided attention for a few hours, my rollator and I are heading out with friends today to take in the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.

Good friends, a nice lunch, and a stroll through history . . . it doesn’t get any better than that.

Sorry about the swastika … it’s part of history.

I’ll try to avoid another scene like the one I created in the Moscow Military Museum in 1993 (see my January 31st post: “This Day in History: The Golden Arches Rise in Russia”). But knowing my penchant for mischief, I make no promises.

Stay tuned.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/10/26

Yesterday, I reported on an economic proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said had been presented to Washington by Moscow as part of the effort to end the war in Ukraine:

“‘The Dmitriev Package.’ So named by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Russian envoy and money-man Kirill Dmitriev, it refers to a $12 trillion economic proposal that Zelensky says has been presented by Russia to the U.S. as part of the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. This comes to light as the Trump administration increases the pressure on Ukraine to bring an end to the war by June, while Moscow increases its bombardments and continues to insist that Ukraine cede approximately 20% of its sovereign territory to Russia.” [The Associated Press, February 7, 2026.]

As I was reading the AP article, I wondered why Donald Trump had suddenly focused on June as the deadline for a peace settlement. According to Zelensky, it has to do with the rapid approach of the U.S. midterm elections in November:

“Elections are definitely more important for them. Let’s not be naive. They say that they want to do everything by June . . . so that the war ends. And they want a clear schedule.” [Christopher Miller, Financial Times, February 7, 2026.]

That makes perfect sense. Together with a potential economic windfall, Trump would own the bragging rights to having settled a real war . . . in plenty of time to try winning back the swing states whose votes could determine control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Not to mention his push for that elusive Nobel Peace Prize.

And now, it appears that Vladimir Putin may also have an incentive to offer some compromise toward a settlement. According to his economic advisers, Russia needs that “Dmitriev Package” more desperately than the rest of the world may realize.

Putin talks a good game, bragging about advances on the battlefield and the strength of the Russian economy. But the truth is, his treasury is hurting, thanks in large part to a 50% drop in oil revenues over the past year due to worldwide sanctions, a growing budget deficit, spiraling inflation, and increasing unemployment figures. [Jason Ma, Fortune, February 8, 2026.]

Following last week’s trilateral meeting at Abu Dhabi, President Zelensky said:

“America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams — Ukraine and Russia — meet in the United States of America, probably in Miami, in a week. We confirmed our participation.” [Id.]

So here’s how it might play out:

> First, Putin offers Trump a $12 trillion economic package (the details of which are as yet unknown, but it’s bound to be mutually beneficial). Meanwhile, he steps up his deadly attacks on Ukraine.

> Next, Trump convinces Zelensky that he has a choice between giving up 20% of his country or losing it all, because Putin is never going to stop his assault.

> An agreement is finally reached, and Putin saves face by claiming he really only wanted Crimea and the Donbas in the first place. Plus, he gets back onto the world stage and maintains his grip on power at home.

> And Trump . . . well, he gets to be the “Peace President” — the stable genius who did what no one else in the world could have done, and who deserves a chest full of medals, his name affixed to every government building in the country . . . and, of course, next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

So everyone wins . . . well, except Ukraine. They will have lost hundreds of thousands of military troops and civilians, one-fifth of their territory, and much of their infrastructure. And why? Because a pair of power-crazed autocrats made a deal.

*. *. *

As for Trump, he may think he won the day; and to an extent, that may be true. But with all of the accolades and the gold-plated awards, it would still take the Wizard of Oz to provide him with the three things he has never had, and never will have: a heart, a brain, and courage.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/10/26

The generation of Americans who lived through, and still remember, the McCarthy Hearings of the 1950s is rapidly shrinking and will soon also fade into memory. But — like the Holocaust, Watergate, and other monumental events — we must not allow the historic records of those tragedies to be erased, for if we do, they will most certainly be repeated.

Joseph McCarthy was a United States Senator from the state of Wisconsin, who, in the early years of the Cold War following World War II, became obsessed with the belief that the U.S. government, educational institutions, and even the film industry were riddled with communists attempting to undermine and overthrow the government.

On this date — February 9th — in 1950, he began what would become his notorious “Red Scare” crusade when he delivered a speech before the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, during which he waved a sheet of paper in the air and declared:

“I have here in my hand a list of 205 [State Department employees] that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.” [“This Day in History,” History.com, February 9, 2026.]

Over the course of the next four years, his repeated — though unverified — accusations, carried out to the world through televised Senate hearings, destroyed the lives of countless innocent people, including government officials, academicians, and movie stars. He was finally stopped and censured by the Senate in 1954. He died in 1957 at the age of 48 — officially of “Hepatitis, acute, cause unknown,” though there were rumors that his decline into alcoholism was the real cause. [Joseph McCarthy biography, Wikipedia.]

“McCarthyism” entered the English lexicon as a reference to extreme anti-communist activities. Eventually, its usage broadened to signify demagogic, reckless and unsubstantiated accusations, along with public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. [Id.]

And that is the lesson to be learned, and reinforced, from the madness of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Whatever his original intent — whether a sincere desire to protect the country from a perceived communist infiltration, or his own narcissistic political ambition — his method was not new; it had been used by demagogues and authoritarians throughout history, and continues to this day. It is, quite simply:

Repeat it often enough, with sufficient authority, and the people will begin to believe. Instill in them a fear of something they are helpless to control; convince them that you have the answers and the solution; and they will follow you.

Sound familiar?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/9/26

Indian-born, British-American author Salman Rushdie has seen more than his share of adversity in his lifetime, which inclines me to heed his advice in dealing with the low points in life:

“It was the resilience in human beings that represented their best chance of survival, their ability to look the unimaginable, the unconscionable, the unprecedented in the eye.”

– Salman Rushdie, “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights”

Our resilience is being tested today as never before in my memory. I only hope we have the strength and the courage to stand up to the evil and not just look it in the eye . . . but also to spit in it, stand up to it, and defeat it.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/9/26

Last week brought us another bombardment of news that ranged from merely bad, to really terrible, to mind-blowingly disgusting. It has left me too mentally exhausted to reexamine any of the stories in depth, so I thought I’d start this week with a brief roundup of the past weekend’s biggest news stories.

The Olympics. Let’s begin with something uplifting. Did you see the Free Dance performance of Evan Bates and Madison Chock? Not since 1984, when Britain’s Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean brought down the house to Ravel’s Bolero, have I witnessed such technical perfection, synchronization, and personal magnetism in a skating couple. In fact, though I never would have thought it possible, Chock and Bates’ fiercely passionate dance has set an entirely new standard of excellence and beauty.

Sadly, American skier Lindsey Vonn, recently out of surgery for repair of a torn ACL of her left knee, crashed on her first downhill run. She was airlifted to a hospital, where she underwent surgery for a leg fracture, said to be a possible career-ender for the 41-year-old. Best wishes to Lindsey for a speedy recovery.

*. *. *

The “Dmitriev Package.” So named by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Russian envoy and money-man Kirill Dmitriev, it refers to a $12 trillion economic proposal that Zelensky says has been presented by Russia to the U.S. as part of the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. This comes to light as the Trump administration increases the pressure on Ukraine to bring an end to the war by June, while Moscow increases its bombardments and continues to insist that Ukraine cede approximately 20% of its sovereign territory to Russia. [The Associated Press, February 7, 2026.]

*. *. *

The Middle East. It’s all about Iran right now; and honestly, it’s too complex to wrap my head around on a Monday. Maybe later.

There is still the Gaza issue, of course; but we’ll no doubt be hearing more from Trump’s “Board of Peace” on that score when they meet in Washington on February 19th.

*. *. *

The Caucasus Region. Simply put — although there is nothing simple about the history or politics of that corner of the former Soviet Union — Armenia and Azerbaijan are in, and Georgia is out. At least, that’s what Donald Trump is indicating. Stay tuned.

*. *. *

The White House. It’s still standing . . . well, two-thirds of it, anyway, minus the East Wing. Rumor briefly had it that Lincoln’s ghost was back, pacing the floor in his former bedroom and carrying some sort of torch. But it turned out to be the glow from Trump’s phone as he furiously spewed his nightly ration of venom into cyberspace, and then hastened to delete some of it (you know the part I’m talking about). Has anyone ever explained to him that you can’t un-ring a bell?

*. *. *

And finally . . .

The Epstein Files. They’re like cockroaches, in so many ways. It’s not only that they’re vile and disgusting, which of course they are; but it’s also the speed with which they multiply! And now a whole new nest has been discovered, containing material deposited by friends of Epstein from various parts of the world, including the UK and Russia. If this were a TV or movie script, it would probably be dismissed as too grotesque to appeal even to the most whacked-out audience. But it’s not fiction. It’s real, it’s tragic, and it makes me want to vomit.

And it shows no sign of ending any time soon.

*. *. *

So . . . Happy Monday, folks. I think it’s going to be a double-Haagen-Dazs day.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/9/26

Perhaps since the beginning of time, but certainly for as long as I can recall, men have been obsessed with “bigness” as a measure of their success in life and of their very masculinity: the size of their homes, their cars and boats, their bank accounts and investment portfolios, their wives’ bosoms, their . . .

Okay, you get the point.

World leaders are no different from the guy next door, except that the scope of their obsession with size is . . . well . . . even larger. It extends to the expanse of their territory, their military forces, and even their conference room tables.

But an event that occurred on this date in 1904 should serve as a reminder to Vladimir Putin that, at least when it comes to winning wars, size isn’t everything.

On February 8, 1904, the (comparatively) tiny island nation of Japan invaded the vast Empire of Russia over a dispute concerning the territories of Manchuria and Korea. In a move that would be repeated by their air force nearly four decades later at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Japanese navy launched a surprise attack against the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, decimating the Russian fleet.

The Russian Tsar at the time, Nicholas II — also, not coincidentally, the last Russian Tsar — was no military genius. He and his forces seriously underestimated the Japanese military capabilities. In the ensuing months, Russia suffered three major defeats: the fall of Port Arthur to Admiral Heihachiro Togo in January 1905; the victory of Japanese Field Marshal Iwao Oyama at Shenyang, China, in March; and the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Togo in May. [“This Day In History,” History.com, February 8, 2026.]

At that point, Russia gave in to Japan’s imperialist drive in East Asia, and in August a peace treaty mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was signed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The metaphorical “David” had again slain his “Goliath.”

*. *. *

There are two important lessons to be learned from this little bit of history:

First, for Vladimir Putin, who may have forgotten that that defeat by Japan was a major spark that lit the flames of the 1905 Russian Revolution: He thought he could overrun the much smaller and weaker Ukraine in a matter of days, and instead now finds himself entering the fifth year of a war in which he has gained only 20 percent of the territory he had expected to own in its entirety.

Those who forget history . . .

And second, for Donald Trump, who is so frustrated by Barack Obama’s having won a Nobel Peace Prize when the same honor has eluded him: Teddy Roosevelt was also the recipient of the coveted prize, for his role in negotiating the Russo-Japanese peace treaty of 1905.

Nyah, nyah!

Of course, that was a real war, and Roosevelt really did bring it to an end; whereas, the eight “wars” that Trump claims to have ended . . . well, you know. And then there are the ones that he is working so hard to start. But — unlike Putin, who may have chosen to overlook an historic detail or two — Trump was never in possession of the facts in the first place.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/8/26

I’ll say one thing for Donald Trump: he doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet. When he decides to do something, he does it.

Of course, it’s not always the smart thing to do, or even legal. But, like a man who has suddenly come to the realization that he is, after all, a mere mortal with a non-negotiable expiration date, he just plunges ahead in the blind certainty that it will work out because he wants it to.

And it appears that is also the case with his newest brainchild: his “Board of Peace.”

Only unveiled in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, there are about two dozen countries — mostly with authoritarian regimes, and notably excluding most EU nations, the UK, Canada, and Japan — signed on to membership. He has now invited the signatories plus an unknown number of other countries to send their representatives to the Board’s inaugural meeting in Washington on February 19th.

According to a U.S. official and a diplomat from an invited country (both unnamed), the meeting is to be held at the U.S. Institute of Peace (which Trump earlier renamed the “Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace”). [Jennifer Hansler, CNN, February 7, 2026.]

The U.S. official also said that the meeting is intended in part to be a fundraiser; however, they stressed that the details are still being ironed out. At Davos, Trump said that permanent membership on the Board — as opposed to the standard three-year term — was available for the bargain price of $1 billion.

It is unclear at this time how many of the current signatories have plunked down the money; but Vladimir Putin — who has not yet committed Russia to membership — did say that he would consider joining and paying the $1 billion if Trump would release frozen Russian assets.

We’ll see how that goes.

In fact, we’ll see how the whole thing goes. European nations have expressed concern about the true intent of the organization, fearing that Trump may be planning to supplant NATO, the EU, and possibly the United Nations. And considering the roster of initial members,* as well as the fact that the Board’s charter gives total and exclusive control to Trump for life, and the authority to appoint his own successor, their concern appears well founded.

* Members of the Board of Peace to date: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam [Source: “Board of Peace,” Wikipedia.org.]

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/8/26