It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. -- Mark Twain USA + Russia + China + BRICS + Mexico
Austin, TX
Joined June 2012
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I’ve been reading as much as I can about Chinese history since April when I was last in China.
First of all, it is impossible to take in 5,000 years of history in such a short time. 😲
But I’m starting to get an idea of all the twists and turns in history and it really is truly fascinating as an outsider to discover a completely different world.
There is a reason China has existed 5,000 years.
China has the oldest continuous written language. This has to mean something very special about this nation and culture.
The dynasties I can’t speak to very well, but there are certainty inflections that show advanced thinking, philosophy, science, instruments that didn’t show up in Europe for THOUSANDS of years after they were in China.
Of course not enough can be said about the Century of Humiliation!
Right now what really blows my mind is the period from the 1920s on.
Imagine I thought the American Civil War was something (it was)—- but in China it was a "10-Year Civil War" (1927–1937) INTERRUPTED by the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).
And Americans don’t even know how Americans like Marine Corps Maj. Evans Carlson, Army General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, diplomats John Davies, John Carter Vincent, John Service and many other “China Hands” fought to support the the incredible 8th Route Army led by the equally incredible “Zhu Mao”.
If only Franklin Roosevelt listened to them, just a bit more, history would’ve been very different.
Japan probably would’ve been defeated sooner.
I really look to this past history and the words of President Xi when he said:
"'修昔底德陷阱'不是历史的宿命" ("The Thucydides Trap is not a historical inevitability").
And also at his 2026 state visit to the US where at the welcome ceremony at the White House, he stated: "'修昔底德陷阱'是可以跨越的" ("The Thucydides Trap can be overcome").
What a life’s mission!
In any case, I wanted to list the various accounts that I have been reading—and I know there are quite a few that I have missed —-that have been instructive to me.
I’m bringing someone with me this time.
Everyone should bring someone to China with them.
@RnaudBertrand @ShangguanJiewen @InevitableChina @AlexReporterZA @thecyrusjanssen @ehtangen @baoshaoshan @NuryVittachi @Eng_china5 @PDChina @XHNews @XHNews @MFA_China @Jerry_grey2002 @Chunyu_China @XueJia24682 @XH_Lee23 @chenweihua @wenjiebc @notXiangyu @commiepommie @CarlZha @RealJohnnyYu @apocalypseos @DD_Geopolitics @Glenn_Diesen @KimIversenShow @qin210dynasty @LoneTraveler111
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗜𝗡 𝗨𝗞𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗘
Ukraine has always used only civilian Starlink services: the basic plan ($100), the commercial in-motion plan ($400), and the priority command-post plan ($2,000–4,000). Aviation plans cost up to $1K, $20K, or $100K+, but they are unavailable in Ukraine.
Under heavy demand, the network became overloaded. SpaceX had to keep prices high for the military to build excess ground-station capacity around Ukraine and minimise signal latency. These are the very sites with antenna domes that recently began to be set on fire in attacks allegedly ordered through the dark web.
The main problem Ukrainian forces faced at the front was Russian electronic warfare (EW). GPS signal jamming caused civilian Starlink chips to freeze, while spoofed location data could trigger terminal lockouts.
The solution was a GPS hack board. Engineers soldered it inside the terminal to manually set the desired coordinates. These boards also made it possible to bypass Musk’s geographic restrictions.
For a long time, Starlink did not work in the grey zone under Russian control. But entering the coordinates of a neighbouring Ukrainian region restored the connection. Russian forces also exploited this loophole until Starlink introduced exclusive whitelists for the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) only.
By 2025, Musk began tightening restrictions and reducing speed limits for commercial plans. But Ukrainian military engineers discovered a loophole: technically, the satellite-terminal communication session was not rigidly tied to GPS. The protection existed only within the terminal module itself.
If the terminal was made to believe through the hack board that it was stationary, it would send its own radio request to the satellite and receive the necessary session data. There are now around 10,000 satellites, and the signal could be picked up even with a separation of more than 150 km. The drone could fly over Russian territory while Starlink’s servers believed it was stationary.
This was a major Ukrainian secret. Before being sent to the front, the casings of new Starlink terminals were routinely opened to install GPS hacks and sturdy, waterproof connectors. This allowed drones to fly at high speeds while using an ordinary subscription.
In early 2026, Musk reduced the commercial plan’s speed limit to 160 km/h worldwide. That is slower than many basic UAVs can fly with a tailwind. But because GPS hack boards were so widely used in Ukraine, nobody noticed. The terminals reported that they were supposedly stationary.
IN LATE 2026, SPACEX RESPONDED HARSHLY. A server-side check was introduced: if a terminal’s GPS indicated that it was stationary but it switched between satellites too quickly—revealing an actual speed above 160 km/h—the server would immediately terminate the connection.
The GPS hack stopped working. Ukrainian forces began experiencing problems with long-range UAVs. Flights now have to be planned carefully to avoid exceeding the 160 km/h limit. Funding for aviation plans is not always available, and SpaceX does not sell them for what it considers offensive uses.
Against this backdrop, Zelensky is trying to obtain unrestricted access to Starshield—the US military version of Starlink—to enable flights over Russia. But Trump, Musk and the Pentagon are refusing him. Ukraine has portrayed the restrictions as a political blockade while omitting the fact that the Starlink speed limit has reportedly been in place for almost a year.
A behind-the-scenes back-and-forth is now underway: Musk says he has not changed anything in recent days, while Rubio states that Starshield is unavailable to Ukraine. The result: Starlink is gradually being restricted to vehicle-based and stationary use. The workaround no longer works.
Whether the speed check has been disabled or access to specialised aviation plans has been granted remains unclear. The outage affected a narrow segment of drones...
We were given quite the welcome and appreciation when we came to the Great Wall at the Pass at Bandaling.
This “Bandaling” — “Ba” means 8. “da” means “to reach”; “ling” is summit.
From that location one can go 8 directions: simply to go everywhere. We are right by Inner Mongolia.
It is said you are not a real man if you have not been to the Great Wall.
Here it is preserved and has the intersection of so many branches of the walls in one location.
We find that people are very patriotic here—and there are so many people.
It was windy and cool but with a warm sun.
Tiananmen Square on an overcast day. It’s a place that triggers us in the West, causes us to be fearful, enraged and hostile to China.
But that is what lack of understanding gets you.
As you will hear in the video, it is a place that is sacred to the Chinese people. What you will hear is the broader, interesting discussion that shows you how people in China think of it today.
I didn’t film our discussion on 1989 out of respect. He said my view was 90% right, and you will find much of this story very openly online. I won’t spend lots of time on this unfortunate moment in history.
It was meant to be the regime change moment. Mostly Western media and pundits are upset that it wasn’t and that is why they rant about it every year.
Events began peacefully, even with some legitimate concerns. The military was welcomed by students. There absolutely were paid provocateurs that mixed into the crowd.
The troublemakers used the students to create a conflict, some died. The military was attacked by the provocateurs and in fact the agent provocateurs were by far more violent even than the military. And some of the soldiers died.
The entire thing was dealt with as best as possible.
That’s it. It was a regime change event that failed and the unfortunate outcome was some people died.
The camera crews got their propaganda shots.
People get to say bad things about China and their brand of Communism. And they rinse and repeat it.
But if you listen to the video closely, you get the truth. People here in China love their government, they EXPECT and DEMAND their government be like a loving father and care for and direct the Chinese family to a better future.
Believe me when I say that China is on the way. They have not arrived.
It is a system with “Chinese characteristics” because not everything they were told to do or that the theorists claimed, works for the Chinese. Because there is still the Confucian tradition.
That’s it. Come and see for yourself. This is a good country.
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐗 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝟕 𝐏𝐌 𝐄𝐓 | 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐈𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬? | 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐡
Watch at x.com/RealScottRitter or x.com/USTourofDuty. Adult beverages optional.🍷@citizenjeff @AntiEgoDriven
@1860rm @MatthewPHoh @MediaEisenhower
Tiananmen Square on an overcast day. It’s a place that triggers us in the West, causes us to be fearful, enraged and hostile to China.
But that is what lack of understanding gets you.
As you will hear in the video, it is a place that is sacred to the Chinese people. What you will hear is the broader, interesting discussion that shows you how people in China think of it today.
I didn’t film our discussion on 1989 out of respect. He said my view was 90% right, and you will find much of this story very openly online. I won’t spend lots of time on this unfortunate moment in history.
It was meant to be the regime change moment. Mostly Western media and pundits are upset that it wasn’t and that is why they rant about it every year.
Events began peacefully, even with some legitimate concerns. The military was welcomed by students. There absolutely were paid provocateurs that mixed into the crowd.
The troublemakers used the students to create a conflict, some died. The military was attacked by the provocateurs and in fact the agent provocateurs were by far more violent even than the military. And some of the soldiers died.
The entire thing was dealt with as best as possible.
That’s it. It was a regime change event that failed and the unfortunate outcome was some people died.
The camera crews got their propaganda shots.
People get to say bad things about China and their brand of Communism. And they rinse and repeat it.
But if you listen to the video closely, you get the truth. People here in China love their government, they EXPECT and DEMAND their government be like a loving father and care for and direct the Chinese family to a better future.
Believe me when I say that China is on the way. They have not arrived.
It is a system with “Chinese characteristics” because not everything they were told to do or that the theorists claimed, works for the Chinese. Because there is still the Confucian tradition.
That’s it. Come and see for yourself. This is a good country.
is your next stop the Great Wall?
does anyone still want to talk about Tiananmen 1989? it was much worse than Jan 6th Capitol riots in the US. b/c the so-called Democrat Activists colluded with CIA trying to overthrow the CPC Govt
#OperationYellowbird
xitter.cf/Sabina_91521/status/14…
Such a beautiful time of year to be in Beijing. and at the Palace Museum.
The complainers always want to argue about Tiananmen Square, but today I simply met and made new young friends here. The Temple of Heaven, where President Xi took President Trump.
In the croissant of mums, in the Palace Museum, were outstanding.
This is the 90th Anniversary of the Long March, a time of strategic retreat starting in Xi’an and then more than 12,000km through the harshest conditions imaginable— shocking mountain snow peaks, the steel chain bridge crossing, the horrific marshes.
We saw the whole process, beautifully and painfully told, and with tremendous passion at the military museum.
Keep the men and lose the land, and both men and land survive; keep the land and lose the men, and both are lost.
This is the 90th Anniversary of the Long March, a time of strategic retreat starting in Xi’an and then more than 12,000km through the harshest conditions imaginable— shocking mountain snow peaks, the steel chain bridge crossing, the horrific marshes.
We saw the whole process, beautifully and painfully told, and with tremendous passion at the military museum.
Keep the men and lose the land, and both men and land survive; keep the land and lose the men, and both are lost.
Say, have YOU been to China?
You haven’t?
Well you might not be living.
This is JUST the last few hours (working backwards). First in my hotel in the bar, I met diplomats from Mozambique, Sudan, Nigeria, Capo Verde (where’s that Biff? Look on a map), and designers from Eritrea and Burundi.
One or two of them live here in China.
Then, I met the man who travels with Chinese Senators to the USA—-he runs my hotel. He thinks a US-China relationship is a must.
Finally, I had dinner with economists, journalists, ambassadors, producers that represent important ideas and institutions. People from Syria, Spain, the USA, Russia, India, Pakistan, Argentina and Sri Lanka.
All luminaries
Say, have YOU been to China?
You haven’t?
Well you might not be living.
This is JUST the last few hours (working backwards). First in my hotel in the bar, I met diplomats from Mozambique, Sudan, Nigeria, Capo Verde (where’s that Biff? Look on a map), and designers from Eritrea and Burundi.
One or two of them live here in China.
Then, I met the man who travels with Chinese Senators to the USA—-he runs my hotel. He thinks a US-China relationship is a must.
Finally, I had dinner with economists, journalists, ambassadors, producers that represent important ideas and institutions. People from Syria, Spain, the USA, Russia, India, Pakistan, Argentina and Sri Lanka.
All luminaries
Every day in China 🇨🇳 brings me closer to understanding my Nation and the people of China.
Today at the National Military Museum I met @ShangguanJiewen !
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
China held a grand commemorative gala for the 90th anniversary of the Red Army’s Long March victory. This shot is epic.
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
The Long March: Keeping the flame alive through song #LongMarch90
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
The Long March: From victory to victory #LongMarch90
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
While I was learning Chinese, we used to love the Confucius Institute because they'd give us free text books so we didn't have to buy them from the university.
I remember in my city, the Confucius Institute had native Chinese speaking volunteers who could help with our study, and practice chatting and so on.
When it was time for Chinese exams, which are super difficult for native English speakers, they'd do their best to help us go over our class material etc.
Absolutely invaluable.
Sometimes we could also take classes making dumplings and traditional fans and other arts. It was fun because you could learn new Chinese words and phrases at the same time.
And I can tell you this: never once was politics brought up, let alone anything else apart from our study.
Seeing that the US has classified Confucius Institutes as a national security risk literally made me laugh out loud.
Honestly, what is up with the US and why are they adament on accelerating their own descent so freaking quickly?
We've always known that the West, especially the US-led West, was declining, but I could never have guessed it would happen this fast, and it would be completely and utterly at their own hand.
The US is scared of shadows, and it's freaking hilarious. 🤣
Every day in China 🇨🇳 brings me closer to understanding my Nation and the people of China.
Today at the National Military Museum I met @ShangguanJiewen !
I love the intellectual vigor, happiness and excitement of Chinese youth.
We are just American people who embrace the Chinese people.
Americans have no idea what is going on in China. You can’t know until you come and meet people!
Today was a really special day in Beijing.
First we went to E town in Beijing. There we were able to get a firsthand study of autonomous driving.
What’s amazing is that the city of Beijing has provided about 250 square kilometers of city space that is dedicated to business and industry and technological projects.
The idea is to create a foundational basis for private companies from all over to come and test new technologies.
See, this is where I see a parallel to what the United States USED to represent before it wanted to be a unipolar hegemon.
The idea is an ounce of encouragement by the government leads to a pound of fruitful activities from private companies.
We visited Highland Park on the sixth ring— an area that was rundown with abandoned industrial facilities and a river that was putrid.
The whole area is transformed, people can fish and there are no foul smells and the water is clear; the city created this fantastic outdoor exercise facility and moved to the highway underground.
In the evening, we met with an American businessman who has relocated to Beijing. He gave us the ability to sample some of the newer and better wines of China.
China is developing European style red and white wines and really I have finally had some that are decent!
China is in such an upward swing.
The video of our ride in the autonomous bus is starting by us talking about technology and we ended up talking about politics and the relationship between the United States and China.
Imagine a situation where geopolitics and great power politics doesn’t really exist.
Imagine a situation where nations engage and simply look to discover the best way to have a mutually beneficial relationship in economy.
Hopefully soon I can post pictures of our visit to the Communications University of China.
We had a roundtable discussion between PhD students, professors, and the foreign ministry about how we can increase people to people dialog between nations more broadly but specifically the United States and China.
🇵🇱🇺🇦 When is Poland going to cut their losses with Ukraine?
(Translated from Polish)
 The Ukrainian newspaper "Europejska Pravda" reported that Poland had suspended military aid to Kyiv after Lviv local government officials decided to honor the UPA and its criminals. The Polish Ministry of National Defense denies this, but there are indications that the government in Warsaw has prepared sanctions for this reason and will implement them.
The source of the information, according to "Europejska Pravda," about the suspension of Polish aid is said to be a figure in the Ukrainian government. Warsaw's decision allegedly concerned the military support package. The reason for these radical actions is the decision of the Lviv Regional Council on October 20th to declare 2027 "the year of Roman Shukhevych, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and Oleh Olzhich."
The Polish government may suspend financial support for Ukraine.
"Due to their irresponsible actions, the delivery of this package has been suspended. Intensive work is underway to resolve this problem, which arose out of nowhere, through closed channels," a source in the European Parliament told "Europejska Pravda."
The Polish Ministry of National Defense denied this information, but this doesn't mean that Ukrainians will not face any consequences resulting from the actions of Lviv's local government. Military aid may indeed be maintained, but it's possible that the Polish government will resort to a different form of "response." According to Onet, this may involve withholding financial support for Kyiv, as talks have recently been underway about granting Ukraine some form of loan.
"The controversy surrounding Lviv councilors' plans to commemorate a UPA criminal has, according to our information, caused Warsaw to suspend talks on the matter. It is unknown for how long," Onet reported.
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
Vance: "I've never met Putin in person. I've spoken to him on the phone. He was calmer than you might expect. The American media has a stereotype of him. He's very deliberate and measured in his words.
I think, at his core, he's someone who cares about Russia's interests as he sees them. One reason he respects the President is that he recognizes the President cares about the interests of the American people."
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
🇺🇦 "He traded Ukrainian lives for applause": the man who set up the 2022 talks speaks out
Vadim Novinsky, a billionaire, former co-owner of Ukraine's largest steel group Metinvest, ex-MP and protodeacon of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has given a long interview to Ukrainian outlet Strana about how Zelensky agreed to Russia's terms in 2022, then walked away.
🔸️How it started:
On February 24, 2022, David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky's party in parliament, called Novinsky on speakerphone and asked what to do. Novinsky told him to contact Moscow immediately, "while there weren't yet so many dead."
The next day, the head of a Ukrainian security service asked him to arrange talks, saying "the president is asking." Five minutes later he was on the phone with Zelensky.
Novinsky reached Dmitry Kozak, then deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration. Zelensky refused Minsk as a venue, Novinsky proposed Gomel, Zelensky agreed, and Kozak confirmed within five minutes.
🔸️What Zelensky agreed to:
Novinsky says he cleared every point with Zelensky by phone, and adds that Ukraine's security services "must have the recordings." Zelensky never argued. He only asked "What do you think?" and then said "Fine, I agree."
1. Remove NATO membership from the constitution and declare neutrality. Novinsky asked Zelensky whether Ukraine would join NATO in the next 30 years. Zelensky said no.
2. A special status for Crimea for 30 years, without recognizing it as Russian
3. A special status for Donbass, which could have remained part of Ukraine in a confederation-type arrangement
"He was very confused and accepted any option," Novinsky says. The process lasted about a month, until the Istanbul round in late March.
🔸️Why it collapsed:
Novinsky blames Ukraine's leadership. Maybe Boris Johnson or someone else got to Zelensky, he says, "or Zelensky simply liked being a hero."
"He liked the ovations, the whole world's attention. Wherever he went, he was greeted like the Pope. In the end, he traded Ukrainian lives for applause in foreign parliaments."
🔸️What came after:
In May 2025, Zelensky accused Novinsky of threatening him in those calls. Novinsky calls this "outright slander": he was in Kiev at the time, where a hit squad or the Security Service of Ukraine could have come for him at any moment. He only left after being warned that Zelensky was demanding his arrest "every day."
He has since been sanctioned three times and charged with treason, which he says was for demanding Kiev implement the Minsk agreements, and with "inciting religious hatred" for defending his church. He says Zelensky's office also tried to use his frozen shares to seize control of Metinvest. He now lives in Croatia and was recently granted Serbian citizenship, after Kiev refused to issue him a new passport.
On October 10, Novinsky called on Zelensky to resign and on parliament to take power and negotiate directly with Russia. Hours later, Trump said Ukraine "needs a new leader." Novinsky says it was a coincidence.
"Every new deal is worse than the last. Compared to Istanbul, Minsk was a diet salad. The next proposals will be even worse. As long as Zelensky is in power, there will be no peace."
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
𝗣𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗨𝗕𝗜𝗡: 𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦!!!
- Donbass and Novorossiya are historical Russian lands. The residents of Novorossiya voted to reunite with the Russian Federation, so it is inappropriate for Kiev to speak of territorial losses.
- Russia is not preparing for war with Europe and does not want to fight it. Putin described European politicians’ statements about the threat of war as “political schizophrenia.”
- It is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield, and inflicting a strategic defeat on it is unrealistic. Those who pursued this goal will eventually realize that it is better to live in friendship with Russia.
- Kiev chose war itself. Moscow proposed that Ukraine reach an agreement with Donbass, but the Ukrainian authorities chose the military path instead.
- Kiev and the West treat Ukrainians as expendable material: people are forcibly sent to the front, seized on the streets “like stray dogs.”
- The number of deserters in the Ukrainian Armed Forces stands at half a million or more.
- RUSSIANS AND UKRAINIANS ARE ONE PEOPLE. Putin cited recent genetic research.
- Russia is ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine. The goal is a final peaceful settlement and ensuring Russia’s security, not a short-term ceasefire.
- Russia’s security cannot be discussed separately from the security of all Europe. Steve Witkoff also noted the need for such a discussion.
- All the objectives of the Special Military Operation will be achieved!!!
t.me/yurasumy/29781
Ryan Milton 弥瑞恩 retweeted
🇺🇦 Zelensky invents a 1,000-year-old country
Zelensky mocked the idea of starting the story in 1917 and claimed Ukraine existed before Russia. The facts say otherwise.
🔸️There was no state or people called "Ukraine" in Rus'. The state called itself Rus', and its people called themselves Rus'. "Ukraina" appears in the chronicles only as a word for a borderland, and "Kievan Rus" is a label coined by 19th-century historians. Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians all trace their origins to the same Rus', with one dynasty, one Church and one written language.
🔸️According to the Primary Chronicle, Rus' statehood didn't begin in Kiev. Rurik began ruling in Ladoga and Novgorod in 862, both in today's Russia. Kiev only became the capital in 882, when Prince Oleg took it and called it the "mother of Rus' cities." Novgorod is a little older than Kiev, so Russia's history doesn't start with Moscow.
🔸️According to the chronicle, Prince Vladimir was baptized in Chersonesus in Crimea, in today's Sevastopol, before baptizing Kiev in 988.
🔸️The "thousand-year-old churches painted by Ukrainians"? The mosaics of Kiev's St. Sophia Cathedral were made by Byzantine Greek masters. Russia has its own 11th-century St. Sophia in Novgorod, built in 1045 to 1050.
🔸️Moscow is first mentioned in 1147, and its traditional founder Yuri Dolgoruky was a son of the Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir Monomakh. Dolgoruky later became Grand Prince of Kiev himself. Moscow's rulers came from the same Rurikid dynasty that ruled Kiev, held power until 1598, and took the title "Sovereign of all Rus'."
🔸️After the Mongols destroyed Kiev in 1240, the head of the Church left Kiev for Vladimir in 1299 and later settled in Moscow. Kiev fell to Lithuania and then Poland, while Moscow gradually gathered the lands of Rus' around itself.
🔸️In 1654 the Cossack Hetmanate of Bogdan Khmelnitsky swore allegiance to the Russian Tsar at the Pereyaslavl Council. Poland formally recognized Kiev as Russian in 1686, after Moscow paid it 146,000 rubles.
🔸️The first state with "Ukraine" in its name was the Ukrainian People's Republic, proclaimed in November 1917. A month later, the Bolsheviks proclaimed Soviet Ukraine in Kharkov.
🔸️Today's borders were drawn by the Soviet Union. In 1919 the Bolsheviks merged the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic, including Kharkov and Donbass, into Soviet Ukraine. Western Ukraine was added in 1939, northern Bukovina and southern Bessarabia in 1940, Transcarpathia in 1945, and Crimea in 1954.
Strip out the shared history of Rus' and the Soviet gifts, and Zelensky's ancient Ukraine is 35 years old.