Pepel Klaasa

@pepel_klaasa

Nov 5

Olena Tregub

@OTregub

Nov 4

Today, Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, released investigative materials that have shocked the country.

But beyond the horrifying details, they reveal four important truths about Ukraine’s fight against corruption.

When Ukrainians created NABU and SAPO, we imagined they would investigate high-level white-collar corruption involving ministers, oligarchs, and senior officials. Few of us imagined they would uncover allegations of such brutal organized crime.

The recordings released as part of Operation Carthage-2 include discussions of attacking investigative journalists and activists with acid, assaulting a Mariupol defender and former prisoner of war with hammers, and accounts of people being brutally beaten, including a woman attacked with a metal pipe on the street at night.

These materials expose something much larger than a criminal investigation.

First, independent institutions inevitably begin exposing corruption within the old institutions.

NABU and SAPO were created to investigate top-level corruption. Yet some of that corruption involve law enforcement officials protecting organized criminal networks rather than dismantling them.

Second, organized crime systematically seeks protection across the entire unreformed law enforcement system. Earlier investigative materials pointed to alleged prosecutorial protection of fraudulent call centers. The latest materials raise questions about connections involving the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is expected.

The alleged criminal activities protected by corrupt law enforcement officials extend beyond fraud to drug trafficking, counterfeit currency, and violent attacks.

Third, fighting corruption is part of Ukraine’s struggle to break with its Soviet and Russian past.

The Soviet legacy left behind criminal networks operating across borders, often intertwined with security and law enforcement structures.

The alleged involvement of a Russian criminal figure alongside Ukrainian officials illustrates why dismantling these networks is also a matter of national security. There is also a mention of how Russian FSB was used by criminals to attack a NABU detective.

I repeatedly explain this during international meetings: Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms are not merely about good governance. They are part of our strategic separation from Russia and the Soviet system.

Fourth, the political dimension demands further investigation.

The recordings contain references to political contacts, including a former interior minister, as well as a former health minister and possible meetings with MP David Arakhamia.

Such references do not establish wrongdoing by those politicians. But they raise legitimate questions about the political connections that criminal networks believed they could rely upon.

Those connections must be investigated further.

Ultimately, the question is how deeply has organized crime penetrated Ukraine’s law enforcement and political institutions?

This is precisely why the independence of NABU and SAPO matters. Ukraine must have institutions capable of investigating powerful networks, regardless of their connections.

As a member of NABU’s Public Oversight Council, I am proud of the work these institutions are doing and grateful for their courage.

And I am happy that Ukrainians successfully defended independence of NABU and SAPO by peaceful protests in the streets during a full-scale war.

The work of NABU and SAPO is about our democratic resilience and defending our sovereignty.

Flemming Rasmussen@fgrazz

Nov 4

Martina Navratilova

@Martina

Nov 4

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Flemming Rasmussen@fgrazz

Nov 3

Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁@FairVoteCanada

Nov 3

Accusations of boundary rigging highlight the core flaw of first-past-the-post: when lines dictate power, parties play map tricks.

Proportional representation fixes this, when seats match total votes, gerrymandering becomes obsolete.

Oliver Larkin@OliverALarkin

Nov 3

Angie Nixon

@AngieNixon

Nov 3

Florida, Election Day is TOMORROW, and we’re launching 500 Shifts. A statewide push to recruit 500 Election Day door-knocking shifts.

My team has studied the numbers, and knocking doors on Election Day is the single most important thing you can to increase turnout.

500 more f volunteers reaching thousands of voters, and that could be the difference between winning and losing.

Sign up for a shift, then bring your friends. We cannot do this without you.

Let’s win Florida!

SIGN UP FOR A SHIFT AT ANGIENIXON.COM/LEADERBOARD.

#AngieForFlorida

Flemming Rasmussen@fgrazz

Nov 3

Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський

@ZelenskyyUa

Nov 3

The Russians carried out a complex, massive attack overnight, aimed primarily at our critical infrastructure. And the main target was energy – power generation facilities and substations – in the Odesa, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, and cities and communities, emergency and unscheduled power outages are ongoing. In Kharkiv, the Russians directly struck a city clinical hospital. Seventy-three people were injured, and the cardiology department, where people were receiving treatment, was damaged.

A rescue operation has also been underway since yesterday in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region. Tragically, the death toll has risen. Russia has killed 29 people. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Five people were injured. There are still people under the rubble. Rescue operations continue as far as the security situation allows – there is a threat of Russian double-tap strikes, as they always so wickedly do.

Overnight alone, the Russians launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles. And even now, the air raid alert continues, and there is a threat of new Russian missile and drone attacks.

It is very telling that all of this is happening on the day of the U.S. congressional elections. The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them. But such terror must be noticed and stopped. Ukraine must be helped to defend its skies, otherwise Russia will never stop its missile strikes. It is essential to help build peace honestly and reliably, and America can do that. Thank you to everyone who will not remain silent about this Russian attack. Thank you to everyone who supports the defense of Ukraine.

Mark Spector🇨🇦🇺🇦@SportsnetSpec

Nov 2

SportExpressen@SportExpressen

Nov 2

JUST NU: Svenska storsponsorn bryter med hockey-VM i protest – efter beskedet om Ryssland expressen.se/sport/hockey/t…