Today's news: Just a few items tonight

 

Photo from this tweet.

I wasn't feeling very well today -- I did my first rapid test, luckily negative (though then I read this, so we'll see) -- but for safety's sake I decided not to go out and so I just got some extra rest, so I didn't get much reading done. 

But here's a few interesting items:

From Ukraine:

No major changes in the overall military situation in Ukraine since April 8.

- Russian and Ukrainian forces are in the process of repositioning/regrouping for the next phase of the war in Donbas.

- Situation in Mariupol is reaching a critical stage.

map: @Nrg8000 pic.twitter.com/puWcNUh954

— Franz-Stefan Gady (@HoansSolo) April 11, 2022

Ukraine has undermined Russian air superiority and this is still crucial for the fight:

By minimising Russian air power to a significant degree as a tactical weapon, the Ukrainians have made the rest of their strategy possible. Can’t over-emphasise this.

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) April 11, 2022

No they are not, both Stinger and Starstreak are short range weapons, you want to mix those with longer range systems that can trouble Russian aircraft from much further out. Also add in a fixed wing threat and it has made the Russians quite tentative. https://t.co/WTi8GhZKWB

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) April 11, 2022

There were some awful reports today of a chemical weapons attack in Maruipol, which hasn't yet been confirmed. But here's what Twitter expects:

Russian media in the next 12 hours:
- There were no chemical weapons
- The footage is fake
- Azov did it
- It’s a Western provocation
- The world hates us
- This is why we must destroy Ukraine

— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) April 11, 2022

Here is an incredible story - read the whole thread:

As #Chernihiv was under siege & ferocious bombing, Tanya snuck out via a rowing boat to get to Kyiv & back to legalise her charity that was feeding the city. Under heavy shelling her team repaired generators,found an industrial drill & actually dug a well https://t.co/OqgJj7qjvr

— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) April 11, 2022

The New York Times has a chilling story about Bucha:

This looks like an aftermath of a medieval raid by barbarians.

Which, in many ways, it was.#Bucha #Ukraine #Russia #WarCrimes #rt pic.twitter.com/zEaBXNNrEW

— Canadian Ukrainian Volunteer 🇺🇦🇨🇦✊🏻 (@CanadianUkrain1) April 11, 2022

These war crimes have changed the attitudes of Ukraine allies too:

 ... the United States and NATO allies have been pointedly dropping the distinctions between "defensive" and "offensive" weaponry that sharply limited what sorts of equipment NATO countries were willing to send to Ukrainian forces....

... Russia's exposed war crimes are the reason the U.S. is now dropping its previous objections to offensive weapons delivery. 

Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan used Meet the Press to link the two directly: “Given the nature of the battle, how things have shifted and adjusted and what the Russians have done, frankly, killing civilians, atrocities, war crimes, we have gotten to a place in the United States and across many members of the NATO alliance where the key question is: What does Ukraine need and how can we provide it to them?”

   

Ukrainian friend told me in late 2014 that #Putin had succeeded where centuries of Ukrainian nationalists had failed: he created a sense of national identity in #Ukraine.

Putin's war is now imbuing that identity with a hatred of #Russia that will take decades to overcome. pic.twitter.com/Qr5hgGCkoX

— Steven Pifer (@steven_pifer) April 12, 2022

From Russia:

"The service’s former chief, Sergei Beseda, 68, has been sent to Lefortovo prison in Moscow after he was placed under house arrest last month." “From 2014 to the present day, between 140 and 150 FSB officers had an unlimited budget to spend on recruiting Ukrainians of any level,”

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) April 12, 2022

This can mean either of two things.
1. Putin is going full Stalin and starting an old-style purge.
2. Putin's regime is being destabilized by internal discontent.
The conventional wisdom favors the first version. I have no view as yet.

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) April 12, 2022

In other news: I haven't blogged lately about COVID because there's nothing really to say anymore -- except how dumb our whole society is acting because we think if we close our eyes and clap our heels together then we can just wish it away. But I did like this one:

We're entering a new phase of the pandemic, it’s called “I told you so”. https://t.co/5yqnsIvV3b

— Uros (@UrosZiv) April 11, 2022

I had no idea that the Washington Post had a Squirrel Week and a squirrel photo contest, but I'm here for it:

Perspective: For the first time ever, there is a tie in The Washington Post Squirrel Week Squirrel Photography Contest. https://t.co/Mxggz1gD3p

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 11, 2022

Here is a link to all the best squirrel photos. 

And did you know that Jill Biden has a White House cat?

Not to be dramatic but I’d die for Willow pic.twitter.com/pReZ6UPkEG

— Santiago Mayer 🌻 (@santiagomayer_) April 11, 2022