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eastsplaining.bsky.social
Eastsplaining
@eastsplaining.bsky.social
POV: You live in Eastern Europe, next door to Russia

https://eastsplaining.substack.com
If someone's career can be destroyed by releasing the Epstein Files it means it should be. If it was a politician a voted for, a journalist I like to read or my favorite movie star, I would say the same. I can't understand people who see it differently, like "he's in the files but he's our guy".
November 15, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Of course it's bad that some officials in Ukraine are corrupt, but it's still good that it is being persecuted. Some countries have it worse. In some countries the president can literally build a gilded ballroom from oligarch's bribes and get away with it.
November 13, 2025 at 7:01 PM
First time we heard Pokrovsk is about to fall was 15 months ago. Since then, we keep hearing the same. "The battle has entered the final phase, the fall is imminent". If it happens tomorrow (unlikely), it stopped Russian advance for more than a year. That is already "strategically significant".
November 13, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Russian milbloger Kharchenko wrote interesting description of Pokrovsk. Both sides have considerable groupings outside of the city, but they can't approach due to drones. Inside, there is a handful of soldiers from both sides, who barely ever engage each other. He called it "battle of shadows".
November 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Never forget that the people who lie to you currently that "Russia was forced to invade by the scheming West" lied to you that "Russia will never invade" - until the very day it did. And then they changed narrative overnight, considering their audience too stupid to notice.
Needless to say @boweschay.bsky.social is an expert on this war he said would not happen.
November 7, 2025 at 9:11 AM
It was Russian Z-blogger Romanov who wrote recently that once you sign this contract, you have no more than 12 days of life left and the countdown begins immediately
"My friend signed a contract, and ten days later, that was f*cking it."

A student from India signed a contract with the Russian defense ministry because he wanted to earn money, and died just 10 days later, his friend said.
November 5, 2025 at 8:46 PM
In World War 1, Brussels was captured by German army on 21 August 1914. When Belgium managed to fight it back? There was no need. When Germans surrendered, they still held a lot of what they captured in 1914-1915. But in late 1918, soldiers of the fallen German empire cared only about returning home
October 30, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Sachs conspiracy theory defies basic common sense. There were dozens of thousands protesters. If they all got paid, how come it remain secret? Nobody ever bragged "look what I bought with this money"? How can anyone believe it?
Italian Senator CarloCalenda left Jeffrey Sachs literally speechless and shocked by calling him a liar and someone who repeats russian propaganda narratives.
October 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM
My favorite kind of story is about a clueless person in the West, talking naive things about the greatness of communism and/or Russia without experiencing them in real life and going to a communist country and/or Russia to get this experience.
October 24, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Looks like the only peace brokered by Trump is the one between Cambobia and Abu Bejran. The real wars between countries that actually exist are just beyond his threshold of competence.
October 21, 2025 at 5:41 PM
In search of the silver lining: "ceasefire along current lines of contact" was always Ukrainian proposal, rejected by Putin and Trump (who was advocating "land swap" meaning Ukrainian giving up Donbas). Now Trump adopted Ukrainian negotiation stand thinking that it is his own. This is good.
October 18, 2025 at 9:07 AM
If you think a tunnel connecting Russia and Alaska is a good idea, please remember that the road from Moscow ends in Yakutsk, where is no bridge. If you make it somehow across the river, you can drive (in good weather, in good vehicle) to Magadan, but NOT EVEN CLOSE to Bering strait.
October 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Things that you really really need to know if you want to understand Russians - my new Substack

open.substack.com/pub/eastspla...
The Russian Soul
Their minds are really wired a bit differently
open.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Best "crying Russian" video since that lady on Crimea. Must watch!
A Moscow resident complains that she can’t get where she needs to go because her navigation isn’t working. Electronic warfare systems are operating in central Moscow, jamming the signal. Poor thing — she spent an entire hour driving around the Kremlin, not knowing where to turn.
October 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Periodical reminder. While Ukraine has lousy friends (I'm ashamed our help is always "too little, too late"), Russia has no friends at all. India, China, North Korea, Iran demand hard cash for their "help". When Russia runs out of cash, it's all gone.
October 13, 2025 at 9:07 AM
500% tariffs on Norway!
October 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Some media report Putin's claim of seizing 5000 sq km in '25 as Russian success, but Ukraine has over 600 000 sq km. It's less than 1%, so it will take about a century for the rest. Probably more, as all that 1% are barren fields and abandoned villages. Russia failed to capture a single city in '25
October 8, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Some people now defend Merkel by "she never said it". Indirectly, she did. She said she was pushing for new negotiation format. This "format" was in fact appeasement (like Trump's "let's do business, Vladimir"). That's what Poland & Baltics blocked (source in Polish): www.onet.pl/informacje/o...
Witold Jurasz: Burza po słowach Angeli Merkel. Trzy wnioski dla Polski
Była kanclerz Niemiec Angela Merkel w wywiadzie dla węgierskiego portalu Partizan nie powiedziała, tak jak relacjonowały to polskie, niemieckie i międzynarodowe media, że to Polska i państwa bałtyckie...
www.onet.pl
October 7, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Poland and Baltic states were right... maybe not about everything, but certainly about Russia. We understand Russia, we know their language and their culture. Merkel, Scholz, Trump, Macron (etc) - do not. Merkel should take this great opportunity to shut up in shame for getting Putin so wrong.
🤔 Poland and Baltic countries canceled negotiations with Russia in 2021, — Merkel.

She said that these countries started negotiations with Russia, which were planned to be held on behalf of the EU. Inability to directly conduct a dialogue with Putin led to the war in Ukraine.
October 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Russian commanders on Russian TV: we are at war with the satanic West
People in the West: why would they attack us? They only want to sell us cheap gas. We don't know the origin of these drones. Let's be peaceful and friendly and roll out red carpet for Putin again.
October 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM
In late 1918, Germany still occupied many territories they captured in 1914-1915. They surrendered not because they were pushed out of Belgium or Russia, but due to economical collapse. This war might end in similar way, not with a bang but insolvency.
October 4, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Good news - yes! The staple of logistics for Russian army is UAZ-452 "Bukhanka" (in AI translate frequently called "Loaf"). Gasoline. Lada Niva - gasoline. BTR-60 and 70, gasoline. Most diesel powered stuff ended up destroyed in 2022-23.
hm I wonder if armies are heavily reliant on gasoline
A whopping 38% of Russia’s refining capacity is now offline, according to The Economist.

Gasoline output fell by 1 million tons in September which has created a 20% domestic shortfall.

Repairs may take months because of sanctions limiting access to parts and tech.
October 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Another Russian refinery is burning, this time in Yaroslavl. What's unusual is that the authorities reported the fire had nothing to do with Ukrainian drones, it was of "tekhnogenic origins". I'm not sure this version is better - but anyway, let them all burn (for any reasons, even cigarettogenic).
October 1, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Remember all these idiots who said "Russia will not invade Ukraine, this is all NATO warmongering"? Neither apologized, they just got a new set of lies to push from their Russian handlers.
George Galloway being detained is an opportunity to post his all time taken on Ukraine
September 28, 2025 at 1:07 PM
So this is Russia treating Russians (the victim screams "I am sorry, I will now obey you"). Do you think when they come to you, they will treat you better? Will you scream "I was always against NATO, big fan of Jeffrey Sachs here!"?
This is how Russians teach their own, worse than animals 🔞
September 27, 2025 at 7:06 PM