Telegram roundup

Miner's day, a Ukrainian view on Hunter Biden and Zuckerberg, Novohrodivka, military views on the eastern retreat, the economics of mobilization, the most influential Ukrainians

The town of Novohrodivka was recently taken by the Russian army, on which more soon. But first, what about the town itself? Like much of the Donbass, it was a mining town. Here is a photo I found of Novohrodivka miners protesting in 2016. They were trying to bring attention to the fact they hadn’t been paid for half a year and were forced to survive on funds given by international organizations. The protest apparently led to a flooding of the mine and part of the town.

Bondarenko, a leftwing economist, on Miner’s Day (August 25):

Today in Ukraine, Miner's Day is meant to be observed. This year, Volodymyr Zelensky decided not to congratulate the miners on this holiday. It's understandable—when there’s a risk of losing the last mines in Donbas, celebrating is not exactly a priority. However, we have miners not only in Donbas—there are Chervonohrad and Vatutine, there is Pavlohrad (forgive me, guardians of the new toponymy and onomastics, I don’t remember the new names of these cities). And Pokrovsk has not been lost yet either.

I don't know, maybe the president considers the coal industry no longer relevant. Perhaps by the evening, he will remember the holiday and congratulate the miners in his next video address. But it should be recognized that from the perspective of postmodern politics, which Zelensky represents, today’s World Topless Day is a much more significant holiday than the Miner's Day, which was born out of "Soviet modernization."

Resident, a popular anonymous telegram channel with over a million subscribers:

⚡️⚡️⚡️#Insider
Our source in the General Staff reports that the military considers the Kursk operation a betrayal by Zelensky and Syrskyi and are unwilling to sacrifice their lives for the politicians' ventures. This is why entire cities are now being surrendered within three days, whereas previously, they held onto a single village for weeks. On the Eastern front, commanders are unable to understand why we need a piece of Russian territory, where the best brigades and equipment have been sent, while there are no shells or reserves on the Pokrovsk front. The military is simply retreating from positions without a fight, as they are being destroyed by artillery and aviation.

Cat-modernity, run by a former citizen of Kharkov:

Regarding the front: de facto, the Ukrainian government has made a decision to gradually surrender the territory of the western Donetsk region in exchange for a presence in the Kursk region. Apparently, this was a deliberate decision.

Ukrainian troops are gradually leaving their positions: the city of Novohrodivka, with a pre-war population of 15,000 people and significant operational importance (it’s a logical point to launch attacks in various directions), was abandoned in just three days, and without major destruction.