🌍👀 Global Eyes

By the Cosmopolitan Globalists

No more quiet on the Eastern Front, by Vladislav Davidzon. After a weekslong tactical pause, the terrible battle for eastern Ukraine is upon us.

… I spent last week on Ukrainian bases on the eastern frontline, and despite the intensity of the Russian rocket and artillery bombardment taking place around the clock, the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine remains stalled. Russian forces are reportedly taking heavy casualties there as Vladimir Putin harries his generals to achieve evermore improbable objectives in the run up to Russia’s annual Victory Day parade, commemorating the end of World War II. Over the years, the May 9th parade outside the Kremlin has been transformed into a tribute to Russian imperialism and chauvinism. Moscow has only a few days left to spin any sort of tactical gain in Ukraine into a smashing symbolic victory. The British foreign secretary has predicted that Putin will use the parade to announce a mass mobilization of his reserves. On the frontlines, meanwhile, Ukrainian servicemen make wisecracks about reducing the number of Russian vehicles available for the pomp.

The war is shifting in register from methodic attrition to a rising crescendo. A weekslong pause in fighting gave both sides an opportunity to rearm, resupply, and reorganize. Both sides are dug in and preparing for a massive confrontation in the East. …

Inside the battle on the Eastern Front. David Patrikarakos was given access to a secret Ukrainian base:

… That night I bunk down with the soldiers. There must be 20 of us in the room, which is filled with cots and mats; sleeping bags and blankets are strewn across the floor. Everyone is constantly on alert, leaving to go on missions to the front throughout the night. Alongside rucksacks and helmets and uniforms, the room is filled with weapons. Everything from pistols to AK-47s and even a light machine gun is here. But that’s not the most striking thing about the room: that’s the smell. That mix of feet and sweat and fear and testosterone that I know so well. Next to me, Vlad leans over and whispers: “You know what that is,” he says with a chuckle. “That’s toxic masculinity.”

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