Early on in My Undesirable Friends, filmmaker Julia Loktev’s monumental and marathon-length chronicle of Russian journalists attempting to practice their trade in Putin‘s Russia, an interview subject is asked about totalitarian regimes. If you look at how such governments are portrayed in movies, the person notes, the idea is that …
Read More »
Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday to discuss terms for a potential end to Russia’s war against Ukraine — without the involvement of Ukraine.During a joint news conference with Putin following the summit talk, Trump told reporters that despite “an extremely productive meeting,” …
Read More »
Filmmaker Julia Loktev’s voice is the first we hear in her epic new documentary. Over a nighttime shot of Moscow, she warns, “The world you’re about to see no longer exists. None of us knew what was about to happen.” For the next five-and-a-half hours, My Undesirable Friends: Part I …
Read More »
It was like a scene from one of the futuristic techno-thrillers that fill the shelves of airport bookstores. On Sunday, swarms of nimble quadcopter drones carrying explosives took flight from concealed launchpads built into the roofs of cargo containers being transported by commercial trucks deep inside Russia. Their target was …
Read More »
For all of the Trump administration’s insistence that diplomacy is the key to ending Russia’s war of conquest in Ukraine, the future of that country and the shape of an eventual settlement is being decided on the ground militarily. While independent analysts say the overall strategic picture remains favorable to …
Read More »
“Vladimir, STOP!” These were the feeble words of a cowardly blowhard, whose failure to bring the Russo-Ukrainian War into line with his imagined reality has begun to leave an impression on the one thing that matters most to President Donald Trump: his own ego. Trump has never understood the war …
Read More »
Donald Trump doubled down on his pro-Russia strategy on Monday, deflecting blame away from Moscow for deadly ballistic missile attacks in Ukraine, while taking no action to ratchet up pressure on the Kremlin to implement the cease-fire the president repeatedly promised on the 2024 campaign trail. Trump has made normalizing …
Read More »
Donald Trump’s obsession with tariffs has taken a dark turn, one that might be comedic gold if it weren’t about to cost Americans so much hard-earned cash. To wit: Trump is placing tariffs on countries around the globe — including even remote Antarctic islands inhabited only by penguins — while …
Read More »
It has been one week since a calamitous Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine ignited one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S.-Ukrainian relations since the 2022 Russian invasion. Overnight, Russia conducted one of its largest ever missile and drone strikes against Ukraine …
Read More »
There is a new staffer from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency seeking access to sensitive data at the IRS — and his family has ties to a sanctioned Russian oligarch. The Washington Post recently reported that two DOGE representatives, Gavin Kliger and Sam Corcos, have been at the IRS …
Read More »