Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 516 of the invasion
Russian missile attack on Odesa leaves at least one dead and 22 wounded and damages historic cathedral; Putin says Ukrainian counteroffensive has ‘failed’
"‘This is barbarism’: shock at Russian strike on Odesa cathedral" by Shaun Walker.
"This was the second time that the vast, sand-yellow Transfiguration Cathedral, which sits in the heart of Odesa’s Unesco-listed historic centre, had been attacked: in the 1930s, it was torn down during Joseph Stalin’s atheism drive. On Sunday morning, the rebuilt version was hit during a Russian airstrike on the city. A missile blew a large hole in the roof, collapsed the altar and left several walls charred by fire."
"Even by the standards of Russia’s ruthless war strategy, a missile strike on a historic cathedral – one that was consecrated by the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, no less – was a shocking development. The priests at the scene were dumbfounded."
One of my favorite historical people is Matteo Ricci. He joined the Jesuits at a young age and spent several years in Goa in India before traveling to his intended destination of Macau.
Upon his arrival, the Catholic mission in China had limited success. There were few converts and the emperor did not allow the missionaries inland.
Unlike his colleagues, Ricci spent time studying the language and culture of China. He became an expert in the Chinese classics. 1/x
@badbede@histodons
East, West, North, South, all #history is just inherently fascinating. But I just love the East/West connections, which in the dominant culture have been so neglected (not to say whitewashed, Orientalized, and falsified).
Context is everything.
Set aside the breathless tendentious (ahem, racist) sensationalisms, the petty not-so-great-power posturing of the moment. Surely #India, #China, #Russia, #Iran, #CentralAsia will continue to assert themselves, in the best sense, as the century continues. It will be fascinating to see the cultures and histories of a resurgent #Eurasia come out from behind the eclipse of the West and move back into the global mainstream.
The unacknowledged, indeed incompletely explored, linkages between (for example) early Buddhism and 'ancient Greek philosophy' will be just one juxtaposition that may grow into a very illuminating field over the next century. Who knows?
#OnThisDay in #history - in 1918, Anna Demidova was killed by the Bolsheviks with the Romanov family. Anna was the daughter of a merchant & had gone to a school intended to educate her to be a maid-in-waiting for the royals. She earned a teaching certificate from there as well.
Anna went into exile with the Romanovs, & was executed alongside them, surviving the first round of bullets thanks gems sewn into a pillow. When found alive, she was stabbed to death. #OTD#histodons#Russia@histodons
A 🧵 about how I got blocked by @kevinrothrock, managing editor of @meduza_en on not 1 but 2 social media platforms. This will be a familiar tale for other #fellas in the #Fediverse, but isn't just a story of a #NAFO#ShibaInu piling on someone for an unfortunate post.
Rather I'm sharing this as a lesson for other folks who are here to follow #news about #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine. This isn't an attack on Kevin, even if I say some mean things about him, but about bias expertise & trust 1/n
As a new user, I’m enjoying Mastodon’s vibe so far but the one thing that is a letdown is the trending hashtags. I’ve been checking them regularly over the past couple of weeks and it seems like they’re pretty much always like this....
When that weird ass Wagner rebellion went down a few weeks ago, I followed the #wagner, #Prigozhin, and #russia hashtags and the news was just as up to the minute as anything on Twitter was. After the rebellion fizzled out, I just unfollowed the hashtags. I also happened to find some reliable accounts to follow that were knowledgeable about that part of the world.
I’m not even sure that any of those hashtags showed up in the ‘trending tags’ part of my app, though.
"Ukrainian Special-Ops Troops Cross Dnipro River, Draw Powerful Russian Counterattack
Ukrainian cross-river raids with small boats over the Dnipro have drawn responses from Russian tanks and artillery. Pro-Moscow sources claim success, while Kyiv says it’s planned attrition."
"What Happens to Kyiv if the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Blows? Officials Downplay Concerns
If the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is blown up, the official advice to Kyiv residents is not to panic and wait for instructions. Kyiv embassies and NGOs don’t seem worried."
"Ukrainian Forces Seize Ground Including an Area Occupied by Russia Since 2014
Ukrainian troops take control new parts of Russian-controlled territory as Kyiv’s infantry attacks progress field-by-field deeper into Kremlin’s defenses."
Interesting #news values on the #BBC site just now- a performance at #pop#festival is apparently more important to us than how the #UK government responds to the #crisis in nuclear armed #Russia. And a bit further down, another performance at the same festival is more newsworthy than policy developments in the #SNP, a party seeking the breakup of the UK. I don't know who pockets the profits at #Glastonbury, but they must pay their #PR bods plenty to get this stuff reported as "news"
I always used to follow the war on Reddit but I am trying to stay away as much as possible. So how can I follow it without Reddit or Twitter? Does anybody have a good alternative? Thanks in advance....
I have subscribed to the news and worldnews magazines in kbin.social, lemmy.world, Lemmy.ml and Beehaw, along with the Ukraine one in sopuli.xyz. I am getting all the latest updates right here in my feed. I also follow the #Russia hashtag on Mastodon, and has also added it to my favourite hashtags tab on Tusky (Mastodon app). I am getting faster updates than what I used to get on Twitter and Reddit.
Why are Mastodon's trending hashtags so ... dull? (lemm.ee)
As a new user, I’m enjoying Mastodon’s vibe so far but the one thing that is a letdown is the trending hashtags. I’ve been checking them regularly over the past couple of weeks and it seems like they’re pretty much always like this....
Best way the follow the Ukraine - Russia War without Reddit ?
I always used to follow the war on Reddit but I am trying to stay away as much as possible. So how can I follow it without Reddit or Twitter? Does anybody have a good alternative? Thanks in advance....