Russia and Navalny — the usual darkness

Does anyone reading this story understand the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war?

I don’t.

The coverage in Western media seems scarce these days. Most headlines are about Zelensky’s aid requests, but I’m not getting a good feel for what’s happening in the actual conflict. If I were to interpret the signals I’m getting and make a guess, I’d say that things are not going well for Ukraine. The offensive was unsuccessful, the aid is running out and the other day, my close friend in Moscow said that Ukraine was losing. “Whatever that means, but certainly not winning,” he clarified in brackets. It was a casual opinion, but I trust him — he’s in opposition to the regime and the war and not a victim of propaganda. This whole note is a casual opinion. I’m not a journalist. I am saying it’s impossible to understand the actual situation. And Russia is a black box. I used to follow some news channels on Telegram but unsubscribed because of their tabloid nature. They are full of sensations that are easy to fall for. Just a couple of months ago, they spread the news of Putin’s death. My Mom isn’t into conspiracy theories, but she got all excited. For once, the news seemed legit. Whoever crafted it did a good job. The details were colorful. For example, there were talks of a heart attack that Putin didn’t survive; apparently, his dead body was placed in a fridge, and the room with the corpse was heavily guarded. There are now memes and anecdotes about Putin’s dead body in some fridge.