Even though there was a buffer zone under enemy surveillance and drone fire, there could have been more done to prepare defenses against Russian tactics, i.e. human wave meat assaults, and they could have been more forceful with those who didn't want minefields and other defensive placements on their farmland.
Most Some of hid lackeys are blaming oposition and media for this since the news broke. No idea if he had a change of heart, but I doubt it. I can only see hin doubling down.
If he switched sides, his political career is over - there would be nobody left to vote for him. Pro-Russian naratives got him back to being PM
When you talk to Slovakians they say that his death would be one of the best things to happen to the pro putin movement, as this would make him a martyr.
I personally wonder how it will be as it looks like he survived and these news paint an interesting picture.
Dumbest take. Japan isn’t even part of NATO, and Abe was killed only 5 months after the start of the war. Abe was also mired in controversy within his own borders for a multitude of reasons.
The Moonies are not a new movement. They have a long and troubling history in Korea, Japan, and the US. I highly recommend Falling Out for anyone interested in learning more about the cult.
I know they're not new; that's just what they're classified as on Wikipedia. It is "new" compared to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. The distinction is that the Unification Church came about within the last 75 years, and so is not one of the "old" religious movements.
One of my favorite scary facts about the moonies that I don't see talked about much is that a couple of the founders sons had a falling out with the church, and went and started their own, even crazier church. They made the news a few years back doing some rifle blessings and some kind of mass wedding ceremony (also with rifles)
So this is all based on an X post that references two social media posts from 8 years ago... I think I'll wait for more information, the guy is still alive and can tell investigators why he did this. It also just doesn't make much sense.
So the man who shot him gave the reason he did so "because he stopped sending arms to Ukrane". The same man is linked to a pro-Russian extremist group? Either he is mentally ill, or someone is lying.
Yeah, I think at this point it's all speculation central. Where did you hear the guy who shot him cited "because he stopped sending arms to Ukraine" as a motive, though? I only heard talk of him citing general discontent with the government, and a quote claiming he brought up the upcoming public broadcast reforms in Slovakia so far. Genuinely interested.
One way or the other, at this point, everything still seems possible: from a useful idiot for Putin, a false flag coordinated - maybe with blackmail or something - by Russia, a mental illness, the gunman genuinely wanting to support Ukraine in a misguided way (even though it's rare, yes, 180° turns in a few years are possible, especially in unstable people), or no direct relation to the war at all in his motives - it's still impossible to tell.
I also haven't heard of the journalist that brought the connection up or VS Square before myself, so, hard to say how trustworthy they are. But it sounds to be well-cited and founded at least.
Active disinformation. They take action along one geopolitical vector while using other assets like Marjorie Taylor Gringo to spin it against their enemies.
To be fair I heard on npr yesterday he was a poet from the leftist opposition. New details emerge with time. Can't be 100% correct on a story developing across the ocean
One local news site wrote that it might be a mistranslation, and a poet from Leva got to be leftist poet. Can't confirm personally, my Slovak vocabulary is 20 words at maximum
Why would russia attack Slovak's PM? Isn't that guy kinda russian leaning already? According to Wikipedia, During the 2023 parliamentary election, Fico vowed to end military support for Slovakia's neighbor Ukraine, which was being invaded by Russia.
best I can come up with:
"Look, you obviously don't know anything about intelligence work, lady. It's an X-K-Red-27 technique"
One possible explanation: He was not pro Russian enough, so the Kremlin martyred him giving the fire of his party extra fuel to grow and install an even more hardline putinist in his place.
kyivpost.com
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