Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
Polisci prof at McGill 🇨🇦⚜️
Democracy, rule of law, (anti)corruption in Eastern Europe 🇺🇦 🇧🇬 🇪🇺; post-Communism; Russo-Ukrainian war and its impact on European democracies; #UkraineIsEurope #DefendDemocracy
https://linktr.ee/popovaprof
Democracy, rule of law, (anti)corruption in Eastern Europe 🇺🇦 🇧🇬 🇪🇺; post-Communism; Russo-Ukrainian war and its impact on European democracies; #UkraineIsEurope #DefendDemocracy
https://linktr.ee/popovaprof
Reposted by Maria Popova
💔 Life in Kherson is a daily struggle. Anti-drone nets hang over the streets, burned cars hit by Russian drones stand by the roadside, and artillery shells stick out of the ground.
Still, the city keeps going, no matter how much Russia tries to destroy it.
📷 Vgoru, Oleksandr Andryushchenko/YouTube
Still, the city keeps going, no matter how much Russia tries to destroy it.
📷 Vgoru, Oleksandr Andryushchenko/YouTube
November 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
💔 Life in Kherson is a daily struggle. Anti-drone nets hang over the streets, burned cars hit by Russian drones stand by the roadside, and artillery shells stick out of the ground.
Still, the city keeps going, no matter how much Russia tries to destroy it.
📷 Vgoru, Oleksandr Andryushchenko/YouTube
Still, the city keeps going, no matter how much Russia tries to destroy it.
📷 Vgoru, Oleksandr Andryushchenko/YouTube
Indeed. The DimWit proposal is also proof Ru isn't winning-- they're asking for a bit less than they demanded in Istanbul in 2022. Not because they're compromising; it's an opening from where they will demand more, but still the opening is weaker than when the Ru army was right outside Kyiv.
The Russian army is exhausted too. Russia is taking far higher casualties than Ukraine, and after 3.5 years has barely moved the front line. The idea that Russia is “winning” is simply not supported by the evidence. As I told DW News.
November 28, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Indeed. The DimWit proposal is also proof Ru isn't winning-- they're asking for a bit less than they demanded in Istanbul in 2022. Not because they're compromising; it's an opening from where they will demand more, but still the opening is weaker than when the Ru army was right outside Kyiv.
Anyone who calls Europe warmongers or talks about Ukrainian supporters wanting to fight to the last Ukrainian is a russian stooge. The only warmonger who seeks to kill as many as needed to subjugate and destroy Ukraine is the russian dictator.
❗️“We are READY to fight to the LAST Ukrainian” — Putin
November 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Anyone who calls Europe warmongers or talks about Ukrainian supporters wanting to fight to the last Ukrainian is a russian stooge. The only warmonger who seeks to kill as many as needed to subjugate and destroy Ukraine is the russian dictator.
The "legally impossible" phrase is Pu's code word for "Zelensky needs to be removed first". What we see is Pu turning down the plan written by his own reps by demanding more stuff. As I warned, Pu sees the 28 plan as the start to which to add more Ru gains. The last thing on his mind is compromise.
🤡🥴"Now it's legally impossible to reach an agreement with Ukraine," – Putin.
"Although Russia wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine,"
"Although Russia wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine,"
November 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The "legally impossible" phrase is Pu's code word for "Zelensky needs to be removed first". What we see is Pu turning down the plan written by his own reps by demanding more stuff. As I warned, Pu sees the 28 plan as the start to which to add more Ru gains. The last thing on his mind is compromise.
This article is charitable to Trump as it assumes he's been acting in good faith but it does present a fairly accurate picture of the last 10mo. The main points are important--russia resists any compromise even though it's not winning on the battlefield and Trump absurdly keeps trying to cajole Pu.
November 27, 2025 at 3:16 PM
This article is charitable to Trump as it assumes he's been acting in good faith but it does present a fairly accurate picture of the last 10mo. The main points are important--russia resists any compromise even though it's not winning on the battlefield and Trump absurdly keeps trying to cajole Pu.
Yes. Looking forward to teaching a few of them next semester in my Eastern European politics class!
The anti-communist dissident intellectuals, from Václav Havel to Leszek Kołakowski to Milan Kundera to Györgi Konrad and more, provided much that should have been embraced in Western Liberal thought in shaping a 21st liberalism. It's not too late to still do so now, almost 40 years after 1989.
November 27, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Yes. Looking forward to teaching a few of them next semester in my Eastern European politics class!
Reposted by Maria Popova
The war will end when Russia stops fighting. Therefore, pressure has to be put on Russia, so that they stop believing that they will win. Why is that so hard to understand?
November 27, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The war will end when Russia stops fighting. Therefore, pressure has to be put on Russia, so that they stop believing that they will win. Why is that so hard to understand?
Don't let anyone fool you Ru is engaging in peace talks. Ru is trying, as in Mar 2022, to force Ukr capitulation. Since Ru is weaker now than in 2022, it might consider temporarily accepting a rump defenseless Ukr. Focus is on vetoing security guarantees (NATO, for troops) to allow for 3rd invasion.
November 26, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Don't let anyone fool you Ru is engaging in peace talks. Ru is trying, as in Mar 2022, to force Ukr capitulation. Since Ru is weaker now than in 2022, it might consider temporarily accepting a rump defenseless Ukr. Focus is on vetoing security guarantees (NATO, for troops) to allow for 3rd invasion.
Ru's vehement opposition to security guarantees for Ukr (NATO membership or foreign troops) extends to asking for veto power over any future decisions by anyone to help Ukraine in the event of a future attack. That's what they asked for in Istanbul in March 2022. Since...
November 26, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Ru's vehement opposition to security guarantees for Ukr (NATO membership or foreign troops) extends to asking for veto power over any future decisions by anyone to help Ukraine in the event of a future attack. That's what they asked for in Istanbul in March 2022. Since...
Reposted by Maria Popova
Russians are literally writing US foreign policy, they have more power projection in DC than in Kyiv LMAO
November 26, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Russians are literally writing US foreign policy, they have more power projection in DC than in Kyiv LMAO
Reposted by Maria Popova
Witkoff is not buying the Russian narrative. He is selling it.
November 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Witkoff is not buying the Russian narrative. He is selling it.
Meanwhile, Mearsheimer unlocks new levels of unhinged Kremlin propaganda every day--now absurdly calling Ru's invasion of a non-NATO member "a NATO invasion of Ru". His newest gem is going on my undergraduate lecture entitled "5 reasons why Ru's invasion of Ukraine is NOT NATO's fault"
November 26, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Meanwhile, Mearsheimer unlocks new levels of unhinged Kremlin propaganda every day--now absurdly calling Ru's invasion of a non-NATO member "a NATO invasion of Ru". His newest gem is going on my undergraduate lecture entitled "5 reasons why Ru's invasion of Ukraine is NOT NATO's fault"
Reposted by Maria Popova
Oh please just fuck off
November 26, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Oh please just fuck off
This is a bold but absolutely feasible solution, which would immediately bring Pu to the negotiation table in earnest, ready to make real concessions rather than aiming to swindle and take away Ukrainian sovereignty diplomatically. Europe needs to step up before it's too late.
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called for Europe to deploy up to 20,000 troops behind Ukraine’s front lines, establish an air shield with around 150 combat aircraft and unlock frozen Russian assets.
November 26, 2025 at 2:15 AM
This is a bold but absolutely feasible solution, which would immediately bring Pu to the negotiation table in earnest, ready to make real concessions rather than aiming to swindle and take away Ukrainian sovereignty diplomatically. Europe needs to step up before it's too late.
Reposted by Maria Popova
“Incrementalism in military aid disrupted Ukraine’s battlefield momentum and provided time for Russian forces to adapt; it gave the Kremlin time to surge Russia’s defense industrial base…reduced domestic pressures on Putin…masked Russia’s weaknesses, and undermined America’s policies.”
As ISW’s Nataliya Bugayova writes, Putin counts on offsets — using operations and partnerships in one region to offset the limits of Russia’s capability in another. (1/7)
Read the full report: isw.pub/SeizingtheIn...
Read the full report: isw.pub/SeizingtheIn...
November 25, 2025 at 9:14 PM
“Incrementalism in military aid disrupted Ukraine’s battlefield momentum and provided time for Russian forces to adapt; it gave the Kremlin time to surge Russia’s defense industrial base…reduced domestic pressures on Putin…masked Russia’s weaknesses, and undermined America’s policies.”
For all the talk about how Pu is the master of backroom deals and strategic games, he hasn't achieved much at all in the last 10 mo, despite a few tries and a friendly, corrupt US admin. His current plan is going up in flames too. Let's stop the morbid fascination w this lowlife loser.
November 26, 2025 at 12:07 AM
For all the talk about how Pu is the master of backroom deals and strategic games, he hasn't achieved much at all in the last 10 mo, despite a few tries and a friendly, corrupt US admin. His current plan is going up in flames too. Let's stop the morbid fascination w this lowlife loser.
The Trump admin is sinking fast into backstabbing chaos. After the absurd argument about whether the 28 point plan was authored or given to the admin by Ru, now someone leaked Witkoff's soft treason word for word-- coaching Pu's aide how to sweet talk Trump.
November 25, 2025 at 11:50 PM
The Trump admin is sinking fast into backstabbing chaos. After the absurd argument about whether the 28 point plan was authored or given to the admin by Ru, now someone leaked Witkoff's soft treason word for word-- coaching Pu's aide how to sweet talk Trump.
Ru proposed 28 points aiming to build on them and get even more. Instead, push back by Ukraine, Europe, and US public opinion + Senators has likely watered down some of the points, making it likely that Ru will reject the plan it initiated itself. The Trump admin will look like the chumps they are.
November 25, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Ru proposed 28 points aiming to build on them and get even more. Instead, push back by Ukraine, Europe, and US public opinion + Senators has likely watered down some of the points, making it likely that Ru will reject the plan it initiated itself. The Trump admin will look like the chumps they are.
It's a tough week for Ukraine as it came under relentless pressure again by a US admin that acts as Moscow's messenger and proxy. Nevertheless, I'm cautiously optimistic that Ukrainian diplomacy will manage again to expose Ru intransigence for all to see.
November 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM
It's a tough week for Ukraine as it came under relentless pressure again by a US admin that acts as Moscow's messenger and proxy. Nevertheless, I'm cautiously optimistic that Ukrainian diplomacy will manage again to expose Ru intransigence for all to see.
In fact, Ru is not at the table. It hasn't agreed to anything concrete. The US has shamefully taken on the role of channeling and presenting a set of Ru demands. The WH is bragging about progress prematurely.
November 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM
In fact, Ru is not at the table. It hasn't agreed to anything concrete. The US has shamefully taken on the role of channeling and presenting a set of Ru demands. The WH is bragging about progress prematurely.
Reposted by Maria Popova
OPINION: Almost lost among Donald Trump's latest assault on America, has been his utter disdain for our democracy, and love for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This foul betrayal is Trump's worst treachery yet
Almost lost among Donald Trump’s latest assault on America, has been his utter disdain for our democracy, and love for Russian President Vladimir Putin.Amid Trump’s attack on our government, White House, health-care, food benefits, vote, the arts, environment, our economy, and peace and quiet, the R...
bit.ly
November 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
OPINION: Almost lost among Donald Trump's latest assault on America, has been his utter disdain for our democracy, and love for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ru's primary/immediate goal in these negotiations is not territory but leaving Ukraine without credible security guarantees. This would allow Ru to keep alive its hope of conquering Ukraine later and turning it into the "little Ru" colony/vassal that Ru imagines is still possible and desires deeply.
November 24, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Ru's primary/immediate goal in these negotiations is not territory but leaving Ukraine without credible security guarantees. This would allow Ru to keep alive its hope of conquering Ukraine later and turning it into the "little Ru" colony/vassal that Ru imagines is still possible and desires deeply.
Anyone who claims Ru seeks compromise when it pursues diplomacy is either uninformed/naive about Ru or simply pro-Russian. It's that stark.
November 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Anyone who claims Ru seeks compromise when it pursues diplomacy is either uninformed/naive about Ru or simply pro-Russian. It's that stark.
They're not even fully keen on the 28 plan they wrote themselves. It needs to be worked out in more detail he says, i.e. "make Ukrainian capitulation complete, as we demanded in Alaska". This is how Ru ...erm... negotiates. No compromise; trying to achieve its elusive military victory diplomatically
Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov says the European "counter-proposal" peace plan is "not constructive and not acceptable to Russia."
November 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
They're not even fully keen on the 28 plan they wrote themselves. It needs to be worked out in more detail he says, i.e. "make Ukrainian capitulation complete, as we demanded in Alaska". This is how Ru ...erm... negotiates. No compromise; trying to achieve its elusive military victory diplomatically
Reposted by Maria Popova
And here we are, right on time!
Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov says the European "counter-proposal" peace plan is "not constructive and not acceptable to Russia."
November 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
And here we are, right on time!