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Michael Bociurkiw

@michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social
474 followers 117 following 1.6K posts

New York Times-published OpEd writer. Global affairs analyst. Author. Sr Fellow - Atlantic Council. Former spox at OSCE & UNICEF. Founder - World Briefing report on Substack

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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 5h
Kyiv is becoming a frontline city, the destruction is massive & more people telling me they’re leaving. All of this is happening as the financial ties between Trump’s transactional circle & the Kremlin come to light, at the very moment Ukraine needs Washington most open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Canada Fractures, Kyiv Burns, and the Kremlin Cashes In
World Briefing Plus: The week that was and the week ahead: Quebec's PQ wave, Alberta's referendum, the US rupture, and Ukraine's darkening autumn, from UNGA to the road back to Odesa
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 18h
Chișinău's Intl Airport evacuated for the second day in a row after another bomb threat. Check-in is suspended and Interior Ministry teams are searching the terminal. Yesterday's threat was a hoax, but with Russian drones repeatedly crossing into Moldovan airspace, the pattern is hard to ignore.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 23h
Kyiv residents have a new phrase for their capital: "frontline city." Nonstop air-raid alerts. A second major bridge hit, forcing thousands to cross the Dnipro on foot. An intercepted Russian plan to cut Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa's power and heat by 90%. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Winter Is Coming for Ukraine — and Then for Europe
Moscow has a plan to freeze Ukraine's cities. Europe, and Canada, should expect the consequences
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Ukrainians have started using a new phrase for their capital: frontline city. Kyiv sits far from the nearest trenches, but after countless hours of continuous air-raid alerts and explosions, that is how residents now describe it in videos posted overnight open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Winter Is Coming for Ukraine — and Then for Europe
Moscow has a plan to freeze Ukraine's cities. Europe, and Canada, should expect the consequences
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Russia Is Planning Its Most Powerful Blow Yet to Try to Freeze Ukraine www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/w...
nytimes.com
Russia Is Planning Its Most Powerful Blow Yet to Try to Freeze Ukraine
Ukraine showed European partners what it said were intercepted Russian plans to cut off major cities from power, heat and water this winter.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Israeli intelligence believes the Omani co-pilot who stabbed his captain on Wednesday’s flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv acted alone open.substack.com/pub/worldbri... #fz1073
open.substack.com
The Pilot Who Shouldn't Have Been in the Cockpit
An Omani co-pilot, a broken aviation rule and a nervous Gulf: the flydubai attack tests the Abraham Accords
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A delegation of China’s top biz leaders was left out of last Thursday’s White House state dinner honouring President Xi Jinping. Poor communication between Washington & Beijing & dispute over reciprocity kept them away, according to @scmpnews.bsky.social Read more open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The captain of Flydubai FZ1073, stabbed and bleeding on the floor, reportedly reached the cockpit door release so passengers could save the plane. Cockpit security is built to keep threats out. What happens when the threat is already inside? open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Terror at 35,000 Feet: The Threat Inside the Cockpit
A Flydubai co-pilot allegedly stabbed a colleague and tried to bring down an Israel-bound jet. The hardest question isn't how he was stopped. It's how he got there.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A Flydubai co-pilot allegedly stabbed his captain mid-flight and put the jet into a dive, with more than 170 Israelis on board. Passengers only got into the cockpit because the wounded captain reached the door release. My take on the security gap no one trains for open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Terror at 35,000 Feet: The Threat Inside the Cockpit
A Flydubai co-pilot allegedly stabbed a colleague and tried to bring down an Israel-bound jet. The hardest question isn't how he was stopped. It's how he got there.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🎂 It’s my birthday — and 40 years since I began my career in journalism. So, for the next 24 hours: 40% off World Briefing Plus. Independent reporting, global analysis, exclusive videos + WB+ every Saturday. My birthday. Your present. 🎁 michaelbociurkiw.com/mybirthday
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has accused Ukraine of breaking a confidentiality agreement by revealing that it handed two captured North Korean soldiers over to Seoul. Read my analysis of the diplomatic fallout in World Briefing: open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Canada just broke up with the US, on the world stage, in the most Canadian way possible. Foreign Minister Anita Anand's UNGA speech never named Washington. The US was thanked three times and criticized zero times. But she called this "a rupture, not a transition” open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The Break-Up Note That Never Names the Ex
Canada used the UN podium to announce it's leaving. It just didn't say who it's leaving.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Canada's foreign minister stood at the UN lectern Trump used 4 days earlier and delivered a break-up note to DC. She never named the ex. "A rupture, not a transition." North-south is out, east-west is in. Hamilton's steelworkers are already paying. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The Break-Up Note That Never Names the Ex
Canada used the UN podium to announce it's leaving. It just didn't say who it's leaving.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Why care about a sanctions scheme run by a Moldovan fugitive? Because it probably touched your bank. Leaked files show Russia's war payments moving through JPMorgan, HSBC, Citi & others to 80+ countries. It's a template. Tehran and Pyongyang are watching. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
First They Robbed Moldova. Now They Launder Money for Putin's War
Leaked files show Ilan Shor's A7 network moving billions for Russia's war — staffed by the same crew behind the 2014 bank heist
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
First they robbed Moldova. Now they launder money for Putin's war. Leaked files show Ilan Shor's A7 network moving billions for Russia — staffed by the same people tied to the 2014 $1bn bank heist. New at World Briefing: open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
First They Robbed Moldova. Now They Launder Money for Putin's War
Leaked files show Ilan Shor's A7 network moving billions for Russia's war — staffed by the same crew behind the 2014 bank heist
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I walked the UN grounds this week and felt something I haven't felt in years: real unease. Leaders gathered, little got done. The White House is choosing which reporters get access. And Putin's hybrid war is edging closer to Europe. My exclusive video dispatch: open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The World Came to New York. It Left Less Safe
From the UN floor: a week of summits with little to show, a White House picking which reporters get through the door, and a stark warning about Putin's next move in Europe
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
UN member states failed to agree on a more coordinated and equitable response to global health at this #UNGA. Yet another example of isn’t making full use of the one power it does have open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The Power the UN Won't Use
From New York: why the UN’s biggest weakness isn't a lack of muscle but a lack of nerve. Plus: Putin gets a Miami invite, Xi brings pandas, and Kyiv buries another child.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Moscow believes there is no deterrence, full stop. In the Kremlin’s reading, Vladimir Putin can go as far as he wants into Europe with little or no consequence, and a country that believes that is at its most dangerous open.substack.com/pub/worldbri... #unga #Ukraine
open.substack.com
No Deterrence: Putin Believes He Can Push Into Europe, and Nobody Will Stop Him
A sobering closed-door briefing on the UNGA sidelines, plus Pezeshkian's defiance, Putin's G20 invite, Xi in Washington, and why Ukraine's free press needs a lifeline
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fox News, NYT, AP & other media outlets jointly condemn Trump’s media ban. The more than 50 media organizations runs the ideological gamut, from Fox News to Vox Media & includes every major television broadcast network, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among others. politi.co/3VLZE5v
politi.co
Fox News, NYT, AP and other media outlets jointly condemn Trump’s media ban
The show of solidarity from dozens of major newsrooms across the country comes in the lawsuit from POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW challenging the ban.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
BREAKING Just as I predicted after G20 finance ministers' meeting in NC: seating Russia's finance minister at the table was a test run for seating Putin at the leaders' summit. Marco Rubio, speaking on the #UNGA sidelines after meeting Lavrov, confirms US has invited Putin to the G20 in Miami in Dec
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Trump's world stage, minus half the world. Africa's delegates couldn't get visas. Colombia's "El Tigre" wouldn't come. And Trump spoke to the midterms, not the room. Plus: my exclusive video from UN HQ & why Trump's Belarus potash deal may be dead on arrival. #UNGA open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The Great UN Guest-List Purge
Why the world's biggest diplomatic gathering looked so different this year, and whether it's time to move it to Geneva
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Trump says US working on "a massive deal" to purchase potash from Belarus. "The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada,” he said. Problem is it would require transit through Ukraine or Poland, Lithuania or Latvia. And they've said 'no' previously #UNGA
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Trump taking shots at the UN in its own house: expected. Taking aim at UNESCO, of all agencies, over its "ceaseless promotion of mass migration" that he says destroys culture? That's a new one. #UNGA
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Having watched several Trump #UNGA speeches up close, this one stood out. Tight to the teleprompter, low energy, almost dutiful. Less showman, more man getting through a chore.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace." Minutes later, Trump muses about whether to "annihilate the Islamic Republic" and "drive them into hell." #UNGA
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Trump says war in #Ukraine must stop. Says a peace deal will happen “quickly.” Hard to see how with Russian side showing no sign of backing away from maximalist demands #unga
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Trump's opening minutes at #UNGA play like a midterm stump speech aimed at US voters, not world leaders. "We have the hottest country anywhere in the world," he says, and claims tourism is booming, despite data showing international arrivals down.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
BREAKING: President Trump will tout his record on the world stage in his imminent #UNGA address. "I acted while others just talked," he's expected to say, per excerpts reported by Fox News Full #UNGA coverage 👉 MichaelBociurkiw.com
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This year’s #UNGA comes at a time of huge change, and not just here at UN HQ, where a change of leadership is set to take place at the end of the year. Key UN agencies are also being forced into deep cost-cutting, among them @unicef open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
UNGA 2026: A UN in "Perma-Crisis" Looks for a Reset
World Briefing is accredited for the first time, as UNICEF cuts deep, Qatar hits back at Washington over Hormuz, and a surprising stat UNGA stat about Britain and Mississippi
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Take London out of the UK and the rest of the country is poorer per head than Mississippi. One of many surprises from day one at UNGA, along with UNICEF's cuts, Qatar vs. Bessent on Hormuz, and White House correspondents on being banned from the building. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
UNGA 2026: A UN in "Perma-Crisis" Looks for a Reset
World Briefing is accredited for the first time, as UNICEF cuts deep, Qatar hits back at Washington over Hormuz, and a surprising stat UNGA stat about Britain and Mississippi
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Canada 🇨🇦 PM Mark Carney missed his schedule at #UNGA today because of technical problems at a key regional air traffic control centre that halted operations at every major airport in NYC area and nearby. I suspect many leaders and delegations will be delayed or cancelled…
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
UN Security Council held 3rd straw poll to test viability of eight candidates for Secretary-General. Two front-runners: Rebeca Grynspan, a Costa Rican economist, former VP of Costa Rica and UNCTAD chief & Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana’s Ambassador to UN open.substack.com/pub/worldbri... #unga
open.substack.com
Russia Votes, Russia Builds
A stage-managed election, a carbon-fibre plant in Tatarstan, and a Patriot shortage. Three stories, one problem
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
CNN appears to have been struck down by the Trump White House as the TV pool network that would accompany Trump to New York for the annual #UNGA this week. Its removal creates uncertainty about pool coverage for the trip www.cnn.com/2026/09/20/m...
cnn.com
White House strips CNN of TV pool assignment as Trump’s press ban escalates | CNN Business
The Trump White House has removed CNN from its Monday assignment as the television pool representative for the entire White House press corps.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Russia's first wartime Duma vote wasn't about the result. New constituencies in occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia write annexation into the structure of parliament. That will outlast any ceasefire text. Today's World Briefing: open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Russia Votes, Russia Builds
A stage-managed election, a carbon-fibre plant in Tatarstan, and a Patriot shortage. Three stories, one problem
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
At Toronto's Ukrainian Festival, I asked Pierre Poilievre why Canada remains the only G7 country not to expel a single Russian diplomat. Also in World Briefing Plus: Canada's east–west trade pivot, Trump's press ban, and the Kremlin's managed Duma vote. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
North–South to East–West: Canada's Reckoning, the Kremlin's Elections and Trump's Press Crackdown
World Briefing Plus: Canada on LNG and Russia's diplomats, Trump's press crackdown, Kremlin-managed Duma elections, Western asset seizures, and the race for UN Secretary-General
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Ukraine fires massive swarm of over 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds launched at Moscow apnews.com/article/ukra...
apnews.com
Ukraine fires over 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds launched at Moscow
Russian officials say Ukrainian forces launched over 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds targeting Moscow.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A regime confident in its war doesn't need to bar the only anti-war party from the ballot, seize a coffee maker's factories, or rattle drones at NATO's borders…. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Russia Votes, Seizes, Threatens
A stage-managed Duma election, a Kremlin grab of Nestlé and Auchan, and European leaders bracing for Russian drones: three fronts, one strategy
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
BREAKING: Trump bans CNN, POLITICO and MS NOW from the White House, promising "other fake news media outlets to follow." Now the real test: will the rest of the press corps do a Pentagon and walk out in solidarity, or wait their turn? www.cbc.ca/news/world/t...
cbc.ca
Trump announces White House ban on CNN, other media outlets | CBC News
U.S. President Donald Trump announced an immediate White House ban on a number of news outlets, including CNN.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The first woman to get the top job at the UN may get it partly because the job isn’t worth what it was. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Will the UN Finally Get a Woman at the Top?
Women lead the race to succeed António Guterres. But behind the secret ballots and great-power vetoes lies a bigger question: what kind of UN will the winner inherit?
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
There is unease in some European capitals about how far Ursula von der Leyen has gone without asking them first. It wouldn’t be the first time… open.substack.com/pub/worldbri... #cdnpoli
open.substack.com
Welcome to the EU - Sort Of
Canada has been offered a path to an unprecedented "associate membership" as Ottawa pivots away from Washington. Brussels isn't sure what it means. Trump has already called it a hostile act
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I confess to mixed feelings about today’s big Canada-Europe embrace. The headlines sound extraordinary. Some even call it “a stunt.” The substance is much harder to pin down. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri... #cdnpoli
open.substack.com
Welcome to the EU - Sort Of
Canada has been offered a path to an unprecedented "associate membership" as Ottawa pivots away from Washington. Brussels isn't sure what it means. Trump has already called it a hostile act
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In 2019, questions were raised about the US tax affairs of the wife of Putin’s spox - former Olympian Tatiana Navka. Now Navka is suing the EU to get her Schengen access back and €2 million for the insult. Winning may get her neither Our full investigation: www.michaelbociurkiw.com/p/the-russia...
michaelbociurkiw.com
The Russian Olympian Suing Europe Might Win — And Still Never Get In
Tatiana Navka, wife of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, wants her Schengen access back and €2 million for the insult. Winning may get her neither
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s wife is suing the EU to regain her Schengen access. She wants €2 million in damages. We went through the family’s social feeds. What we found tells quite a story about sanctions, travel and Russia’s elite. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The Russian Olympian Suing Europe Might Win — And Still Never Get In
Tatiana Navka, wife of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, wants her Schengen access back and €2 million for the insult. Winning may get her neither
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
BREAKING Denmark has accused Russian warship of firing 2 emergency flares at one of its helicopters while it was tracking the vessel in Baltic Sea. As I’ve said on air & in World Briefing, Russia’s conduct is becoming much more dangerous and he war a global one open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The War Is Getting Bigger and Far More Dangerous
Russia has spent six weeks working along Ukraine's perimeter, hitting the doors to Europe. On Sunday it reached the Polish border - minutes behind a train full of dignitaries.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Boris Johnson's train had already crossed into Poland when the drone hit. The one actually struck was the scheduled passenger service. Sixth Ukrainian border crossing hit since August. I use two of them regularly open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
The War Is Getting Bigger and Far More Dangerous
Russia has spent six weeks working along Ukraine's perimeter, hitting the doors to Europe. On Sunday it reached the Polish border - minutes behind a train full of dignitaries.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“This war is becoming very, very dangerous… and it’s morphing quickly into a global war - not only geographically with Russian drones over German airports - but also in terms of the number of co-belligerents coming on to back Russia: Iran, N. Korea & China” - speaking to BBC World TV #Ukraine
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Currency blocs are not announced into existence at summits. They are assembled invoice by invoice, barrel by barrel, and then they do not get dismantled when the emergency passes. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
What Hormuz Did to the Dollar
A closed strait moved more Indian trade off the dollar than a decade of summits
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Reposted by Michael Bociurkiw
Meduza in English @meduza.io · 14/09/2026
Russia will temporarily halt natural gas supplies to Armenia for scheduled maintenance and repair work in Russia, Gazprom Armenia announced. meduza.io/en/news/2026...
meduza.io
Russia to halt gas supplies to Armenia for ‘scheduled maintenance’ — Meduza
Russia will temporarily halt natural gas supplies to Armenia for scheduled maintenance and repair work in Russia, Gazprom Armenia announced.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Worth remembering: confronted with terror, this continent has rallied before & prevailed. It needs to find that solidarity again as Russia widens its war via hybrid operations in Europe while drawing on co-belligerents & partners including Iran, North Korea & China open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Canada Under Pressure, Ukraine Under Scrutiny
World Briefing Plus from Ottawa as the trade war escalates, Zelensky leaves town, and a corruption probe clouds the donor ask. Plus: James Heappey and me on 9/11, geopolitics, and standing together.
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Michael Bociurkiw @michaelbociurkiw.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Developing: Saudi Arabia closes a critical oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones. Full report and analysis in World Briefing as the conflict in the Middle East widens. open.substack.com/pub/worldbri...
open.substack.com
Saudi Arabia Has Run Out of Routes
The Houthis take Mokha, the Saudi East-West pipeline goes dark and oil surges. What markets are pricing isn't one more disruption — it's the loss of every workaround at once
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