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Ukraine Solidarity Group ✊ A Digest of News from Ukrainian Sources ⚔ 25-May-2026.

In this week’s bulletin

⬤ Kremlin perfect storm.
⬤ The coming bad peace. 
⬤ More evidence of Russian torture.
⬤ Russia’s use of chemical weapons.
⬤ Repression numbers game.
⬤ The tale of Yermak. 
⬤ Kremlin trolls on the march.

News from the territories occupied by Russia

Death sentence without witnesses in Russia’s latest conveyor-belt trial of Crimean Tatar political prisoners (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 22nd)

Ukrainian sentenced to five years for writing that Russian-occupied territory is part of Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 21st)

Russia passes life sentence on ‘treason’ charges against Ukrainian accused of acts of resistance (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 20th)

Weekly update on the situation in occupied Crimea (Crimea Platform, May 19th)

71-year-old Ukrainian patriot Halyna Dovhopola unbroken after 7 years in Russian captivity, but “won’t survive another such winter” (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 19th)

55-year-old Crimean seized at Russian airport and tortured to fabricate treason charges over donations to Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 18th)

Russia’s fake ‘secret witness’ exposes fabricated charges against five Crimean Tatar political prisoners (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 18th)

Suspect in the deportation of children from occupied Kherson region becomes an ombudsperson in Russia (Zmina, May 14th)

News from Ukraine

Mass protests, hundreds of pages of amendments – what comes next? Human rights defenders and media professionals call for revisions to the draft Civil Code (Zmina, May 20th)

The tale of Yermak: How Zelensky’s former right-hand man ended up under arrest on corruption charges (The Insider, May 16th)

“Good customs” vs human rights: ZMINA brought together more than 60 participants to discuss the risks of the new Civil Code (Zmina, May 15th)

War-related news from Russia

“I Don’t Want to Get Used to the War” (Russian Reader, May 23rd)

Russia stages third ‘trial’ of Ukrainian POW, adds 2 years to illegal 18-year sentence for comments about Russian war crimes (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 22nd)

Institute of Philosophy raids target Aristotle translation project (Meduza, 22 May)

Azov Brigade chief medic tortured to death in Russian captivity (Ukrainska Pravda, May 22nd)

Trolls on the March on Kremlin’s Orders (Posle.Media, May 20th)

Inner Emigrants (Russian Reader, May 20th)

Ukrainian ex-prisoners in Russia remain in detention (iStories, 20 May)

The cold shoulder, instead of a “time for heroes”: Russian policy on war veterans (iStories, 19 May)

Political Repression Is a Numbers Game in Russia (Moscow Times, May 18th)

Analysis and comment

The political economy of Ukraine’s war and the politics of a coming bad peace (Europe Solidaire Sans Frontieres, May 21st)

Kyiv says war has reached a pivotal moment (Meduza, 22 May)

The Kremlin’s Perfect Storm (Posle.Media, May 19th)

«Civil Society is the Backbone of Democratic Resilience». Center for Civil Liberties at the OSCE Civil Society Parallel Conference (Centre for Civil Liberties, May 15th)

War in Ukraine: How Has Our Analysis Changed? (September Collective, May 5th)

Research of human rights abuses

Memory that shapes the future: ZMINA joined the “Generation Nika” Award Ceremony in honour of Veronika Kozhushko (Zmina, May 20th)

How Russia Uses Chemical Agents Against Ukrainian Military Personnel (Tribunal for Putin, May 19th)

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Situations of Armed Conflict: human rights defenders made a submission (Zmina, May 18th)

International solidarity

Ukrainian on flotilla now out of Israeli captivity (Facebook, May 20th)

Upcoming events

Tuesday, 26th May, 19.00, Edinburgh. Voices Against Putin's War: An Evening in Solidarity with Ukraine. Lighthouse Bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DB. More information here.

Wednesday 27 May, 19.00, Glasgow. Voices Against Putin's War at Mount Florida Books, Glasgow. With Simon Pirani & Fellow Readers More details here.

🔴This bulletin is put together by labour movement activists in solidarity with Ukrainian resistance. More information at Ukraine Information Group.

We are also on twitter. Our aim is to circulate information in English that to the best of our knowledge is reliable. If you have something you think we should include, please send it to 2U022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com.


We are now on Facebook and Substack! Please subscribe and tell friends. Better still, people can email us at 2022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com, and we’ll send them the bulletin direct every Monday. The full-scale Russian assault on Ukraine is going into its third year: we’ll keep information and analysis coming, for as long as it takes.

The bulletin is also stored on line here.

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News From Ukraine 💣 Bulletin 197

Dixie Elliot ✊Ah. but you do David Cullinane.


You need your leadership to define your politics otherwise you'd be out of Sinn Féin on your ear.

For example, Mary Lou McDonald has said on a number of occasions that she was willing to form a coalition government with either FF or FG, while at the same time she was also saying that they need to end the dominance of both parties in Southern politics.

The reason being is that Sinn Féin just wants to get into government and they are willing to jump into bed with any party to get there.

As for Mary Lou, she just wants to become the first female Taoiseach.

That's all that matters to them, and party members like David Cullinane aren't capable of changing a light bulb without asking the leadership if they can change it, then waiting for them to say go ahead and change the light bulb.

Then they'll sit in the dark wondering where the money is coming from to change the light bulb . . .

Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman.
Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie

Daft Davy

Friendly Atheist ★ 36 GOP lawmakers cited everything from the Bible to Socialism to oppose a bill preventing minors from getting married.

The good news is that Oklahoma recently became the 17th state (along with Washington, D.C.) to ban child marriage.

The bad news? It wasn’t unanimous. In fact, 36 Republicans in the State House voted against the legislation, reminding everyone that they’re perfectly fine with adults forcing themselves upon children who aren’t legally old enough to make decisions for themselves.

Their excuses were downright embarrassing.

Senate Bill 504 shouldn’t have been controversial. All it did was remove the underage exceptions to the law about how marriage can only occur between legal adults. From now on, it won’t matter if your parents (or other authorities) agree to it or if you’re pregnant. No marriage until you’re 18. Simple. That’s a big deal because children are sometimes pressured by their parents to marry early or they feel forced into marriage because of teenage pregnancy. Plenty of adults enter into marriages that don’t pan out, but it’s perfectly rational to say a decision that important should only be made by adults.

“How Old Was Mary?” 🪶 How Dozens Of Oklahoma Republicans Fought A Bill Banning Child Marriage

Right Wing Watch 👀 Written by Kyle Mantyla.

Last week far-right Christian nationalist pastor and Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith appeared on the "FlashPoint" program where he admitted that he is doing his best to give the residents of his state "permission to hate" the religion of Islam.

After fellow Christian nationalist pastor Brian Gibson declared that Islam is "incompatible with a constitutional republic that is built on the word of God" and must be banned, Beckwith readily agreed, saying that the right-wing effort to ban sharia law is vital to saving this nation by "giving people permission to hate again."

"I know that sounds a little harsh at first," Beckwith said:

We've seen this movement to eradicate hate in our culture; that is the worst thing we could do. The Bible talks about how God hates certain things and when we say we want to eradicate hate—think about this—we're actually saying we want to eradicate a characteristic of God. Hate is not the opposite of love; indifference is the opposite of love. So when I talk about this, I say, 'Guys, we need to, in Indiana, we need to hate.' 

Continue @ RWW.

'Permission To Hate' Islam

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Eighty Eight

 

Pastords @ 46

 

A Morning Thought @ 3162

Christopher Owens 🎵 with the 63rd in his Predominance series.

“It's a semi-automatic, get in the car/Corrosive heart and frozen heat/We're worlds apart where we could meet/Where the street fold round and the motors start/And the idiot wields the power.” - The Sisters of Mercy

Horns up 

New Horizons


Dwarves – Jenkem

17 albums in from Blag Dahlia’s madmen and they’re still as ferocious as ever. This new album sees them dial back the aggressive pop punk and go back to a more hardcore punk sound. As per usual, most songs are under 90 seconds and will make you want to start a fight on public transport but with a smile on your face. Progress, not perfection.

The album can be purchased here.

Darryl Jenifer – The Weather Channel

Now this came out of the blue: Bad Brains bassist returns to his jazz roots for his second solo album. And what a delight it is to report how great it is. Reinterpreting two Bad Brains classics in this style is a genius move to grab the interest of longtime fans, but the later fusions of dub reggae and metal make this album of the month.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

BIG|BRAVE - in grief or in hope

Like their contemporaries (and past collaborators) The Body, Big|Brave continue exploring terrain others won’t touch. This release sits somewhere between drone, dark electronic music, doom metal and post rock. It’s a haunting listen that conjures up so much potent imagery in the mind of the listener but what else would you expect from Big|Brave?

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Earth Motherfucker/Pound Land – Split LP

Reclusive noise punks Earth Mother Fucker have teamed up with prolific noise punks Pound Land to produce an album that is filthier than a junkie’s arsecrack. Melding each band’s interpretation of garage, dub, noise and free jazz, the album is utterly exhilarating as well as being caked in dirt. The perfect record for modern Britain.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Golden Oldies


Excel – The Joke’s on You

Although they’ll forever be known as the band Metallica “borrowed heavily from” to create ‘Enter Sandman’, it’s unfair to relegate Excel to this footnote in music history as this LP (containing the aforementioned number) is just as potent and ferocious as anything recorded by their Venice contemporaries Suicidal Tendencies.



The Varukers – Still Bollox But Still Here

Fresh off a reunion tour supporting death metal legends Bolt Thrower, Rat and co. went back into the studio to rerecord some of their eighties oeuvre and what emerged was an astonishingly ferocious record of d-beat punk rock updated for the 1990’s. While the cover isn’t their finest moment, the rest of the LP is. They never topped this release.



Smashing Pumpkins – Gish

Although overshadowed these days by other releases in their discography as well as Billy Corgan’s propensity for cringy behaviour and statements, there is no denying that their debut LP is a gorgeous, dreamlike mix of shoegaze, psychedelia and classic rock. With a fat sounding production from Butch Vig, this album is a joy to dive into.


⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist and is the author of A Vortex of Securocrats and “dethrone god”.

Predominance 63

Geordie Morrow 🖌 with a painting from his collection of art work. 

Oil on canvas

🖌 Geordie Morrow is a Belfast artist 🖌

They Think It’s All Over 🖌 Shankill, 1980

The Fenian Way 🔖 One can hardly turn on or tune in to a news or current affairs programme and not fail to hear the mention of the term TUSLA, the State’s Child and Family Agency, and its ongoing travails as public scrutiny of its operation peels back layers of failures across a broad spectrum of its powerful remit.


A quick google on the word itself unearthed; From debate and conjecture, the name Tusla emerged as a fitting logo for the Child and Family Agency. While the word borrows from the Irish words 'tús' + 'lá', Tusla is a completely new word reflecting a shared desire for a new beginning, forging a new identity. A new word, a new way of working.

The same search also leads you to Trustpilot, the highly regarded review site, wherein the vast majority of its contributors (circa 70) are scathing in the extreme. In cold print the acrimony expressed by individuals on their dealings with TUSLA makes for sober reading, but given the nature of the subject matter, State intervention which can remove children from families, a more studied appraisal of the totality of such an issue is warranted.

There are no perfect families, no Waltons or Simpsons as yardsticks to gauge any semblance of functionality. By and large the average family is a work in progress, trudging along with a sense of solidarity within communities who exist along similar lines.

The Irish Constitution recognises families as follows:

The Family Article 41

1° The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.

2° The State, therefore, guarantees to protect the Family in its constitution and authority, as the necessary basis of social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State.

Education Article 42

1 The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.

Given this onerous recognition it should stand to reason that any state body charged with powers to intervene in the functionality of families, with powers to remove children if deemed necessary, must itself be subject to rigorous and transparent scrutiny as it goes about its remit. This book shines a light on that basic necessity, and without straining a metaphor, it reflects very dark shadows indeed.

There are families where grave abuses and violent dysfunctions permeate daily life and children exist with physical and psychological harm and whose only recourse is to outside intervention as an immediate and first step to protect them. Such action requires process, which must be evidenced based and open to transparent scrutiny. What is not required is a presumption of guilt founded on some anachronistic view of women and mothers.

The book is a series of interviews with mothers from various regional, ethnic and economic backgrounds who share their experiences with TULSA and the removal of children from them. Each chapter ends with a link and QR code to a podcast discussion on the issues raised which contribute informatively on their cumulative experiences.

The common threads throughout the interviews are defined by the word patterns. The authors carefully construct a narrative based around these unmistakable patterns that is quite damning of almost every strata of the TULSA process. The inherent bias demonstrated towards these mothers is all the more frightening because it appears inherent in other State bodies, Gardai, the Courts and legal system when it comes to dealing with these cases.

And, what is reminiscent of the Catholic Church’s reaction to their sexual abuse scandals, TUSLA’s apparent primary concern was its own self-preservation and deflection from culpability of the many grievous errors its actions permitted.

The book competently outlines the legacy effects which TULSA’s actions have had on families even when error is eventually conceded and children are returned. Both the nature and the longevity of the separation inflicts indelible damage on family relationships. In a lot of cases male partners can become very vindictive, exploiting to the fullest the unwarranted bias against the mothers wherein children themselves are used as pawns resulting in inevitable psychological harm.

Another damning obstacle is the legal system, a bleak house indeed for affected mothers. TULSA and other relevant agencies have solicitors and barristers appointed to them by the state; for mothers seeking urgent redress this invariably proves cost prohibitive. The book cites the opinion of Justice Frank Clarke who recognised ‘the very real problems with access to justice in Ireland’. But like most public institutions in Ireland, reform comes dropping slowly even when it concerns the reality that whether a mother retains custody of their child comes with an actual price tag.

As an addendum to the failings of the legal system is a truly bizarre and frightening insight into the use of ‘psychologists’ in such cases; findings of ‘unfit mothers’ made by individuals unfit to reach such damning conclusions in the first place. Citing a Prime Time undercover investigation one of their reporters obtained an online doctorate from America for the ‘price of a take away’. Armed with a dubious certificate and a brass plaque such individuals are free to offer ‘professional’ opinions on sometimes complex family situations. An unhealthy weight is afforded to these psychological reports in family cases which is astounding when one considers the book's expose of the absence of any regulation for psychologists in Ireland.

The in-camera rule is one of the most powerful forces shaping the lives of mothers who find themselves trapped in the family law system. It determines what can be said, who can speak, what can be challenged, what can be exposed and what must remain hidden from the public.

This opening paragraph of one of the concluding chapters, for me, cuts to the chase; this is Catholic Ireland and its legacy. The complete absence of accountability and transparency being a natural recipe for corruption and abuse.

But worse than the abuses committed are the denials and deflections that any such abuses and dangerous shortcomings actually occurred. It is a vicious self-preserving circle that bequeaths a mindset institutionalised and furtive thinking. It has infested various institutions including the courts, the gardai, state institutions like TULSA and aspects of the medical profession charged with responsibilities in this area of family law. 

For this reviewer the core value of the book is demonstrating the immense chasm between the laudable constitutional recognitions and protections alluded to earlier and those institutions and bodies charged with their implementation and defence. The book’s strength are the testimonies of individual mothers who were so egregiously victimised by a State obliged to protect them. A highly recommended read!

Dr Finbar Markey & Anna Kavanagh MA, 2026. Justice For Birth Mothers: The Fight Against Forced Separation In Modern Ireland. Butterfly Books Publishers Ireland. ISBN-13: ‎978-9699896217

⏩ The Fenian Way was a full time activist during the IRA's war against the British.

Justice For Birth Mothers 📚 The Fight Against Forced Separation In Modern Ireland

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Eighty Seven

 

A Morning Thought @ 3161

Carrie Twomey ✍ Why Sinn Fein, and the government parties, need to ignore the siren song of the far right if they want to win elections.

Historically - even since inception - the Provisional version of Sinn Fein has always had tensions between its rosary brigade and Marxist leaning revolutionary wing. This was not a major problem while the conflict was hot. As the peace process continued, SF was able to manage those political tensions with casting the process as another form of struggle, utilising the differences between northern and southern political experiences as a sort of fudge for how it pitched itself in the south in the first decades of the new century.

Now that the peace process is as old as the conflict, and the IRA retired north and south, the rise of the far right has brought these tensions to the surface for the party. While Sinn Fein plays a deft hand in the sectarian fishbowl of northern politics - where bread and butter issues are rarely, if ever, campaigned on - it has not found firm footing in the southern milieu, despite its popularity in opinion polls.

This inability to translate poll popularity into consistent electoral gains has allowed the party leadership to become spooked by far right noise, deciding that pandering to its rosary brigade was a winning strategy. This has proven to be anything but, and government parties would do well to learn this lesson if they too do not want fractured by MAGA minions.

Had SF decided instead to lead with a genuine commitment to left wing principles (genuine and principles being two words not often associated with the party, though many of its members and supporters may be), along with keeping a focus on its pursuit of a united Ireland, the majority of its rosary brigade, being committed nationalists, would have done what they have always done: held their noses and continued to support the party as the only vehicle they see heading towards the promised land. Most of those voters are pragmatic in the sense that a United Ireland must always come first, the details can be fought over later.

Instead, as Sinn Fein has moved away from its committed pursuit of a United Ireland - even talk of politics as part of the struggle has been jettisoned as the active phase of the peace process recedes further into the past - it has split its personality between burnishing its left wing halo and playing footsie with farmy council hard men.

This has left the rosary brigade, who stuck with them through hard times because they were the ticket to a United Ireland, to not trust them on social issues and seeing the abandonment of the national question as a betrayal. That view has been easily exploited by the far right who are seeking to claim the mantle of Irish nationalism, and no longer have an IRA stopping them from doing so successfully.

The left wing of the party feels betrayed too, when it sees Sinn Fein consistently fail to follow through on basic tenets such as abortion rights, as was illustrated recently. Combine this with the dog whistling being done by senior figures on immigration and a general lack of leadership when it is needed to stand firmly against the worst kind of craven politicking, and dissatisfaction grows. Holly Cairns did not miss the mark in her quip about Sinn Fein needing to iron out its policies. People can feel, and see, the disingenuous nature of their inconsistency.

SF has fundamentally misunderstood its own base. Like many people the world over, it has let social media propagandists pull the wool over its eyes.

Thinking from what has been visible online in Ireland for the last few years that the far right was going to become the dominant destination for voters is a fatal, and dangerous, mistake. Many centrist and centre-left parties across Europe have discovered this to their detriment - as Labour in the UK is finding out.

The embrace of "Blue Labour" politics by the Labour Party is a good example of how moving right in response to populism is utter madness in this age of chimera. Setting aside the insanity of thinking millionaire advisers have their finger on the pulse of any average voter, in times of instability and crisis, the longer the crisis goes on, the more voters want competence and stability. The far right, by its nature, does not represent nor present as stable or confident. It rides on waves of discontent and thrives on whipping the waves higher. They are expert problem spotters, never problem solvers.

Tacking left in time of crisis - because the left is primarily concerned with equitable economic issues - while it may seem counterintuitive is the smarter move. The Greens in the UK understand this and are now mopping up support from the larger bulk of Labour's traditional working class base, the people who found themselves politically homeless when Labour steered right.

This is now Sinn Féin's problem, and potentially the problem of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael if they too follow the siren song of the far right fringe.

The lesson is in the fact that left voters voted Fine Gael to keep the far right out in Galway, and this led to victory for Fine Gael. Had Fine Gael attempted to compete with Independent Ireland as a peer, Independent Ireland would likely have taken the seat, with Fine Gael, like Sinn Fein did, losing its own voters to Independent Ireland as well as crucially failing to gain the necessary support of left transfers.

The majority of people in Ireland do not, and will not, support the far right. They do not, and will not, vote for the far right. They do, and will, vote for political parties that are not far right, and who will keep the far right from gaining power.

This is the consistent trend line in elections. Even with the small gains of the far right, the majority of voters are voting against them, not for them. Their gains are strongest when there is not a viable, competent left leaning alternative. When that is the case, their loss is greater. To win elections, parties must concentrate on being that alternative.

As much as Irish people love to give off about how terrible this, that, and the other are, the majority of the country wants stability and competence in charge of their government. They want fairness, and lean more to the left than they do right on social and financial issues.

Fringe parties are a safe outlet voters use to give off with, but not to install as the nation's stewards. The parties that recognise this and resist the urge to pander to inflated populist outrage - and who tack away from that outrage back into sanity - will always come home the winner. The ones who don't will end up wrecks on the shoals.

Sinn Fein, once seen as a bright promise because of its seemingly winning combination of left wing politics and a United Ireland vision, in abandoning both, is now turning into the biggest loser and a busted flush politically.

⏩Carrie Twomey hates Illinois Nazis (just like the Blues Brothers)

The Electoral Siren Song

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