Ian Kummer

As I reported after she was arrested in Russia a little over a year ago, Karelina was accused of donating money to Ukrainian causes. But not just any cause, she donated to a website that was explicitly raising funds to donate military equipment, including FPV drones and military IFAK (first aid) kits.

I see a lot of people, usually coastal liberals and Europeans, claiming that Trump is some sort of menace that’s destroyed the good thing that is American interventionism. “Reputation destroyed!” They wail. Well, let’s do a quick recap of the USA’s “reputation” over the last 80 years: 1950s: Killed 1/5 of the North Korean population, and … Read more

There is this idea that Russians are more repressed than Americans and western people, but nothing could be further fom the truth. Russians (both Soviet and modern day) are much more barbaric than their western counterparts. After three years in Russia, I would say it is true that Russians are more emotional than Americans. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being completely relaxed and 10 being extremely excited or agitated, the average American is normally at a 1 or 2, and the average Russian is at a 4. Even in the absence of external stimuli, the Russian is just more excited or upset and that’s his normal condition.

Molchanov resided in Russia, where he frequently criticized the Zelensky regime. He had left to attend what he believed was an award ceremony held by an NGO in Germany. But upon landing for his transfer flight in Poland he was immediately arrested and transferred to the Ukrainian SBU.

“How similar are Russian and Ukrainian?” is a frequently asked question. As someone who previously knew neither language and am now studying Russian at a B2 level, I can give a good first-person answer to this question. I will just explain how I felt at each step of the process, and feel now.