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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Damn, if only there were some sort of well-known historical comparison to make for this.

Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 17h

Now would be a very good time for Trump to implement those "bone crushing" sanctions against Russia. He signed the act, so no doubt they'll be announced any time now.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This is a poor take that suggests Owen Jones doesn't know much about Russia in the 1990s, including Russia-US or wider Russia-West relations in the 1990s. By giving only one part of the story, he is repeating the Russian political elite's self-serving line that it was all the West's fault. Long 🧵

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Latest on the Graham Russia act's "bone crushing" sanctions: "President Trump, are you planning to implement the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill?" Trump: "Well, it’s something we’re certainly studying."

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

In the Senate confirmation hearings for Trump's 1st Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson (the man Putin had given an Order of Friendship to a few years earlier), Rubio asked Tillerson "Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?" A journalist needs to ask Rubio the same question now.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

So apparently the Trump admin is now concerned to facilitate Putin's engagement with other world leaders. Putin values status recognition of this kind enormously, particularly from the US, and it will be taken as a further sign of Western weakness.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

1. Anyone who says that the Trump circle want business deals with Russia now for any reason except the desire for business deals with Russia, is either kidding themselves or trying to mislead us. 2. This would appear to conflict with the sanctions bill, but... www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/u...

nytimes.com

Trump Wants Putin to End the War. He May Offer Russia Business Deals First.

A new sanctions bill is meant to pressure President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to end the war in Ukraine. But President Trump is doubling down on a different approach: offering enticements to Russia.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The Russia sanctions bill that Congress finally passed last night has got a lot of attention. But although it's good to see Congress willing to put some pressure on the White House, I doubt it will actually result in sanctions on Russia (obviously, I hope I'm wrong). 🧵

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It's not an election, it's a Special Political Operation. I'm baffled by the Western commentators who act as though Putin is on tenterhooks, waiting to see whether his war of aggression against Ukraine has cost him votes in Nakhuygrad South-West. @andrewchak.bsky.social offers an antidote...

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"Vote for me, I think you deserve to be nuked by Russia" is a bold campaign pitch.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Lots of attention rightly being paid to the Kremlin-adjacent, child-stealing oligarch funding Trump Jr's wedding, but the Trump family/administration treating relations with Russia primarily as an opportunity for enrichment is not new. Look, for example, at the late 2025 "peace" plan:

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

No need for concern about Don Jr's wedding being funded by an oligarch close to Putin, according to Don Jr's wife - we've got it all wrong, it was just "our dear friend Umar" paying for a mere "two incredible nights of celebrations" after the wedding. That's all fine, then.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

According to the blurb, this excellent crime novel, set in late 2022, takes place in "post-communist Croatia". Would @bitterlemonpress.bsky.social describe a novel set in late 1970s Milan as taking place in post-Fascist Italy, or one in late-00s Barcelona as taking place in post-Franco Spain?

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

For the Trump administration, win-win means that both Russia and the US win. Or, more accurately, both Russia and the Trump inner circle.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Neither the sombre photos nor the text of this tweet suggest the Ukrainian government expects anything positive from the meeting. That's not surprising, but it's interesting that they're signalling it so clearly.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

It'll be an incredible memory for us all, to be fair: the time the US president sent two of his closest, if least competent, aides to flatter the autocrat responsible for an unprovoked war against a neighbour and the murder of many thousands of its citizens. In front of the world's cameras.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Any agreements coming out of the Witkoff-Kushner Moscow visit will stick to the same formula as all the other US-Russia agreements on Ukraine during Trump's 2nd term: Russia gets Ukraine's land, Trump and his circle get richer; Ukraine gets to do what they're told.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The painting is of the Kremlin on fire. Zelensky was photographed with it for a Time article last year, which upset the Russian government. It's been taken it off the wall of another room, where it was hanging - presumably for the specific purpose of sending Russia a message today.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Interesting choice of background artwork in Zelensky's tweets this afternoon. First spotted by a Ukrainian account in a tweet about his meeting with the SBU Head; also visible here as he declares Ukraine will leave Russian airspace alone during the Kushner-Witkoff visit.

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Salome @salome-gongadze.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

sure it’s just a coincidence

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This is getting a huge response on twitter, including from people I follow who are taking it at face value. As far as I can tell, it's fake. Trump said nothing like this in his public appearances yesterday. People *really* need to be more cautious of unsourced quotes that play to their assumptions.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

To mark the 53rd anniversary of Tolkien's death, here's one of his poems. I'm not a fan of most of his poetry, but I think this is beautiful. My mother-in-law was a big Tolkien fan; I read this at her funeral last year.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Here's another example. Putin understands the world - other states; Russia's relation to them; Russia's identity and interests - through the lens of the Soviet period. It's a failure to imagine, and so create, anything new. It's necrophiliac geopolitics.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The striking thing about Russia is that its geopolitical identity, ideas, and goals are lifted straight from the Soviet past. After a quarter century of relative prosperity and (pre-2022) a benign international environment, it has failed to build or imagine anything new.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Good to see the German government is being clear about Russian responsibility for this attack. Presumably, though, AfD will still claim Russia is not an enemy of Germany. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Germany says Russia behind Leipzig airport drone attack

A drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at the airport close to Ukrainian cargo planes on 4 August.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

One thing we know for sure: unless there's been a dramatic shift in the Trump administration's foreign policy and Trump's personal preferences, any "Trump peace plan" will be, like all the others, a plan for peace between the US and Russia not Russia and Ukraine.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

"The talks are focused on President Trump’s "peace plan" to end the war in Ukraine"

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 28/08/2026

Whose drones? Attackign whose NPP? Be clear.

IAEA - International Atomic En... & • 53m
X
The IAEA has been informed of three drone incidents at the site of the Zaporizhzhya NPP earlier this week, underlining constant dangers to nuclear safety during the military conflict.
One drone attack on 25 August reportedly occurred near the cooling pond, injuring two plant employees. The following day, another drone detonated on the site of the dry spent nuclear fuel storage while a third drone - also on 26 August - reportedly hit the sprinkling device of the ZNPP's power units system. Radiation levels at the site remain normal.
DG @rafaelmgrossi says any attack on NPP sites is unacceptable and calls again for maximum military restraint to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

It's extremely easy to laugh at this, but it's an interesting example of Trump's preoccupations as well as his ignorance. There's no other post-WW2 Republican president on here - can't have competition - but he's remembered to add the men he's fixated on to the 'failures' group.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Yet again: while Trump is being indulged in his petty obsessions by the people around him, who is actually making US foreign policy?

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Amid all the political turmoil here over the last few years, the idea that what happens in Ukraine matters for the UK has remained consistently very high. It's great to see.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Zelensky has given a new “Gratitude of the Ukrainian People” award to the people of the UK. The award is given "to honor our friends, our true partners who have helped us from the very beginning".

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The US Secretary of State refers to the "Russia-Ukraine war" in a typically weasel-worded statement on Ukraine's independence day. The first rule of Trump administration foreign policy: nothing is ever Russia's fault.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I've just seen yet another claim that plagiarism is common in academia (this time from Nathan Cofnas). In my experience, this claim is absolutely untrue, and it's both misleading and damaging to suggest otherwise. Short 🧵

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Fans of the horseshoe theory will be entertained to see that over on twitter, my post about a former Reform candidate's Kremlin-adjacent views has upset the Workers Party of Britain. What is it that he could possibly have in common with a party headed by former RT host George Galloway?

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I'm shocked that the 2024 Reform party candidate for Salisbury (!), who's tweeted about talking to Putin and refers to 'the Ukraine' and the 'SMO' - the official Russian designation for their unprovoked war against Ukraine - is amplifying the Kremlin's current attempt to scare the UK public.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I thought my post was reasonably interesting but I'm surprised to see a *checks notes* award winning history podcast thought it was worth plagiarising.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

35 years ago today, on 19 August 1991, the "State Committee on the State of Emergency" staged a coup in Moscow and placed Gorbachev under house arrest. Famously, it triggered the very thing it was intended to prevent: the break-up of the USSR.

Image from this RFE/RL page: https://www.rferl.org/a/24300856.html

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The very important thing to understand about these threats from the Kremlin is that their purpose is to generate headlines like this. Unable to coerce the UK govt directly, they aim to do it through scare headlines that shift public opinion.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Another one to add to the slides for my UK-Russia lecture.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

If the people responsible for foreign policy in the Trump administration were actively trying to destroy the US's global influence, and thus its power, it's hard to imagine what they'd have done differently in the last few days - let alone the last 18 months.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Those who think the fire alert was overkill seriously underestimate the BBQ-related stupidity of some people. A few years ago, part of a Cambridge college almost burned down because some students decided to light a disposable BBQ on the lead roof on one of the buildings. 🙄

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Not for the first time, the Trump administration appears to mistake a collective security alliance for an empire. This, and the Greenland drilling shenanigans, should encourage NATO members to speed up further disengagement from the US. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

US Presses Allies on Ideological Loyalty Ahead of Troop Cuts

The US wants to know how loyal each NATO ally is to Donald Trump’s policies before cutting military assets defending the alliance.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Back from my summer holiday to a mountain of admin emails and people still apparently debating whether Trump might actually act to help Ukraine and hurt Russia.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Evidence of the great benefits of AI: it used to take a huge amount of time and effort to make yourself look this stupid; now AI allows you to humiliate yourself almost instantly.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

If anyone's looking for a summer read, then I can't recommend this classic Estonian historical novel highly enough. Incredible that it got past the Soviet censors when it was published in 1970.

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Day 598 of #GeorgiaProtests Pouring rain, huge 🇬🇪🇺🇦 flags, and a long "Slava Ukraini" chant ✊🏻 📷 MOSE

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Jocelyn Mawdsley @jocelynmawdsley.eurosky.social · 17/07/2026

We @nclpolitics.bsky.social are advertising for a permanent teaching & research lectureship in Public Policy (deadline 7 Aug) preferably with a focus on international public policy. More details & contacts in the link: jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl...

jobs.ncl.ac.uk

Lecturer in Public Policy

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

UNITED24 Media @united24media.com · 18/07/2026

👀 Overnight drone strikes triggered major fires across Russia. In Tambov, a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk was hit. In the Moscow region, blazes engulfed a Wildberries site in Elektrostal and an oil depot in Noginsk following heavy explosions.

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Reposted by Ruth Deyermond

Ian McClellan @ianmac.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Thanks to everybody who shared that police appeal for the missing girl in Barrow. She’s been found and reunited with her family.

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