Dr Jade McGlynn  

Author and academic (KCL) working on Russia, Ukraine, memory and propaganda 

May 24, 2025

Good morning.

Kyiv last night. Imagine being bombed like this while simultaneously being trolled by Moscow and D.C. that Russia is interested in negotiations to have a ‘memorandum’ (deliberate language to evoke Budapest) for a ceasefire that the Kremlin says will only be temporary and only after Ukraine capitulates territories Russia cannot take militarily.

This is what happens when you give in to tyrannical, genocidal bullies. Can someone please find the off-button for the Pavlovian chip that makes some Western officials hear ‘escalation’ whenever a serious conversation about deterrence is held?

Most governments in Europe are moving in the right direction, it is an issue of speed. We can help Ukraine stand, we just need to refind our self-belief faster, act faster, so fewer Ukrainians die.

Please don’t stop donating to units, or sharing about Russian crimes or Ukrainian heroism, or believing that the good guys can prevail – even if it takes a really long time sometimes. Keep your analysis clear and your hope strong. Don’t be like Russians, don’t give in and start believing that you can’t change anything. If the people of Kharkiv had given into that fatalism on 24th Feb, the world’s (indisputably) best city would not be standing today, free, independent and proud.

Russia bombing civilian housing because they still can’t take territory they declared as their own three years ago. Cruelty born of their own pathetic failures. Cruelty that is only halted by the exhausted heroism of Ukrainian defenders.

Слава Україні

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Again! Russians’ commitment to silencing Ukrainians is truly full-spectrum. From destroying their homes and mass murdering them down to flooding social networks with fake complaints. Are there any ways to stop this from happening?

I guess not, given Russians even got General Zaluzhnyi suspended for a while but this is such an awful abuse of LinkedIn policy, surely there must be a solution?

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Comment from :

Joel Flynn

We slept through this in Kyiv last night. I was as shocked to realise we had as I was to see the scale of destruction. We’d been at the POW exchange just hours earlier, and the juxtaposition of the emotional swings in this were sharpened further. This sort of attention is vital. It needs calling out, and the focus you bring to it Dr McGlynn 🙏

Lassi Kärkkäinen

If North Vietnam chose not to give in but instead to withstand and prevail against the United States (the world’s greatest military and economic power) regardless the cost and the time it would take, then today Ukraine can similarly prevail against Russia (a country that’s only a mere shadow of the economic and military power that the Soviet Union was and nothing what the United States was in the 1960’s – 1970’s). Ukraine’s population is approx. 1,5x – 2x larger than the population of North Vietnam in the late 1960’s. Ukraine has also a constantly growing high-tech military industry and multiple partners in the West that support it militarily and economically. Ukraine knows what’s at stake — Ukraine’s & Ukrainians’ national and cultural existence. That’s why they will resist against Russia’s invasion. We the Western nations have the obligation to support Ukraine — it costs us only money, not the lives of our soldiers.

Christopher J. O’Shea

POSTSCRIPT

At a time when the very future of Europe and the post-war liberal democratic order hangs in the balance, European political leaders can no longer afford to indulge in prevarications. Western Europe writ large is already in the Russian Federation’s cross hairs. Sadly, it’s still far from clear the Trump Administration can be relied upon to honor America’s longstanding security commitments to the continent.

Europe is at a crossroads. This is the moment for member countries of the EU and NATO to step up their respective games. It’s time to end the hand-wringing over the necessity for increased defense spending. After three years of unrestricted warfare, it is Ukraine and her people which have disproportionately borne the burdens of war and demonstrated their mettle. Despite every obstacle, she is holding fast all along the frontlines and against all odds while actively degrading the invader’s offensive capabilities.

It’s time for Europe to double down on its commitment to enabling the decisive defeat of the Russian Federation’s forces in Ukraine. Only the speedy and conclusive defeat of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine will lead to a just and equitable peace and a brighter future for Europe and the world.

DATELINE KYIV OBLAST – DAY 1186 : 4112

Wake up Europe! Continuing support from Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the USA is, of course, necessary and desirable. In all likelihood, however, only the proactive and direct engagement of Ukraine’s European partners (EU members + Norway) will be enough to guarantee the decisive defeat of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

Ukraine is holding fast all along the frontlines, while actively degrading the invader’s offensive capabilities. Western Europe writ large is already in the Russian Federation’s cross hairs. So, let’s quit complaining about the necessity for increased defense spending. Just get it done with all deliberate speed!

Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. Stalemate is not an option. Only the speedy and conclusive defeat of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine will lead to a just and equitable peace in Ukraine and a brighter future for Europe and the world.

Time to stop enabling the Kremlin’s imperial ambitions. Time to unshackle your inner raging bull. Time to decapitate the snake.

Time is not on our side.

V/r – IB
An American in Ukraine
(2019 – Present)

Michael Sylvester

Many, many Europeans prefer to procrastinate, grasping at every straw (3-day truce, Instanbul, the Vatican) instead of taking action to stop aggression, perhaps until it is too late. Ukraine is not afraid to fight because it knows what the alternative is. Europe is afraid. Not even going to talk about the U.S.

Matej Markic

This is what is going to happen to all the other cities across the entire Europe, unless we go to action, boost our defense expenditures to at least 10-percent of national GDP, reintroduce mandatory military service, and send as much supplies (and even troops) as possible to Ukraine to decisively defeat russian terrorists.