Reprint of the post for 13.07.2025 from the Telegram channel of film producer Oleksandr Rodnyansky

Australian Darren Cahill, a professional tennis coach, ended the phrase this way [ref]

In May 2025, two scientists were not elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences for signing a letter against Russia's invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

How else can one explain the persistent “blindness” and “deafness” of the President of the United States to the actions of the President of Russia?

George Simion, winner of the first round of Romania's presidential election on May 5, 2025, explained why he is against military aid to Ukraine in its confrontation with Russian occupiers: "We said we would promote peace, and we see the only solution in de-escalating this conflict. Arms aid is disadvantageous to Germany, France, Romania, Poland. We have suffered a lot from this war and we need peace," he said.

“Did You do that?” - asked the German officer, pointing to “Guernica.” “No,” Picasso replied, “you did that!”

On April 29, 2025, Moskovsky Komsomolets and Pravda.ru announced that the “Zhukovsky Research Center conducted the world's first supersonic civilian airplane test” (similar information ran in dozens of other Russian publications, see, for example, here, here and here). This news was based on a publication in the official Telegram channel of the Russian Government and was supported by a short video clip of the tests. 

In his essay, journalist Oleh Cheslavskyi demonstrates how critical thinking can manifest itself through a vivid historical analogy.

The destruction of the world order that is taking place today is based on the substitution of concepts: “value” is giving way to “cost”. However, civilized society still has a chance.

In order to save human civilization, we need to cure cancer before dealing with minor ailments. 

On February 28, 2025, US and Ukrainian presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky held public talks. They ended in a tense altercation and the breakdown of agreements due to the parties' disagreement on the issues of Russia's and Ukraine's responsibility for the war and ways to end it [ref]. 

In Udmurtia, preschoolers were shown a play about Kolobok, who not just left his grandmother, but rushed with all his might to make it to the army.

In systems theory there is a concept of “catastrophe”, which means an abrupt qualitative change in an object with a smooth quantitative change in the parameters on which it depends.

Brazilian couple Sebastião Salgado and Lelia Deluiz Vanik have planted more than two million trees over20 years to “resurrect the subtropical paradise” that existed on their husband's family's property when he was a child.

In his quarter century in power, Vladimir Putin has ensured that Russia has become a country of lonely and disconnected people.

From Anne Applebaum's speech during her awarding of the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade on October 20, 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany.

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), annual inflation in December 2024 amounted to 9,5% [ref], and the average for 2024 is 8,4% [ref]. This allows the Russian authorities to claim that in the third year of the war, despite international sanctions, they managed to keep inflation below 10%, which is the boundary between moderate and galloping inflation, and to ensure real (inflation-adjusted) growth of macroeconomic indicators such as GDP and real incomes of the population.

Excerpts from Tatyana Menaker's essay “Or has the Russian become weary of victories?” published on kstati.net on March 25, 2022. 

Modern man lives in a world of convenient things. For example, right now I am typing this text on a laptop keyboard, next to me there is an electric lamp, a smartphone, a computer mouse on a mat, a fan, a chocolate bar in a convenient package and much more. All of these technical devices (lamp, keyboard, laptop, smartphone, fan...) and materials (mouse pad and even the convenient packaging for the chocolate bar) were invented by someone. 

These words, spoken by Churchill in 1934, absolutely characterize today! Churchill himself was an exception: in a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002, he was recognized as the most outstanding Briton in history. 

Sergey Petrovich Kapitsa (February 14, 1928 - August 14, 2012) - Soviet and Russian scientist-physicist, educator and TV presenter - continued this phrase as follows:

... and now live less because of “original sin”. Base source: Meduza

These books, published at the end of the nineteenth century, explained the mechanisms that allowed the tyrants of the past to seize power and became the “textbook” for the dictators of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They show how ordinary people can easily be used to create a mindless mob ready to kill other people for no rational reason.

On September 26, 2024, an installation was unveiled in St. Petersburg in honor of Stanislav Petrov, the man who prevented a nuclear war.

In Russia, the inventors of the electric lamp are considered to be Alexander Lodygin [1] and Pavel Yablochkov [4], in the USA - Thomas Edison [2], in Great Britain - Joseph Swan [5], in Germany - Heinrich Goebel [3]. Who actually created it? 

Russian mass media (see more) and news agencies deny the tragedy of the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine. In particular, they claim that as a result of the 1932-33 famine, the largest number of people in the USSR died not in Ukraine, but in Kazakhstan and Russia. 

There is a famous optical illusion: you have to determine which way a ballerina rotates if you look only at her shadow. Some people will say that the ballerina rotates clockwise, others that it rotates counterclockwise. But a real ballerina rotates in a certain direction! Which way? How do we find out who's right?

The current installation is based on artifacts of war collected from the de-occupied territories of Ukraine: shot street signs, solar panels, satellite dishes, destroyed city names and broken fences. The installation should demonstrate to the world the consequences of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

It is hard to find another technical invention, around whose authorship there would be so many disputes as around radio. Each country defends the priority of its inventors: in Russia - A. Popov [1], in India - D.-C. Bose [2], in England - O. Lodge [3] and G. Marconi [4]. Bose [2], in England - O. Lodge [3] and G. Marconi [4], in Italy - G. Marconi [5], in Germany - H. Hertz [6], in the USA - D. Hughes [7] and N. Tesla [8], in the Balkan countries - N. Tesla [9], in France - E. Branly [10], in Brazil - Landell de Moro [11].

However, from this list, still stand out 4 people whose services are recognized worldwide: Heinrich Hertz, Nikola Tesla, Alexander Popov and Guglielmo Marconi. 

Dogs have a sense of humor. Little Dustin (a Jack Russell Terrier/Pug mix) proved it by spoofing his friend Taito's corgi gait. Original source — @dustinpup

Statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin: in an interview with Tucker Carlson on February 6, 2024: “When the Soviet Union was formed, it was already 1922, the Bolsheviks created Soviet Ukraine, which until now did not exist at all” and during a meeting with Valery Zorkin, chairman of the Constitutional Court, on May 23, 2023: “Before the formation of the Ukrainian SSR in 1922, there was no Ukraine in the history of mankind”.

The essay by Yuriy Khristensen (analyst of the media center of the Odessa Political Platform) is not only a sample of brilliant publicism, but also a living example of critical thinking. Its author is from Ukraine, so the words “our”, “we” refer to Ukrainians. The source of the text is Echo, the original is the Facebook page of Yuriy Khristensen.

More than 100 years ago, the British Lord Arthur Ponsonby, while researching the First World War, wrote the book “Falsehood in War-Time” [1]. Already in our time, Belgian Anna Morelli actualized this work and identified 10 main principles of military propaganda [2].

Alexander Kuprin made this sketch of a “true Russian face” during his trip to Finland in the early 20th century. When he stopped for a bite to eat at a railway station, he found himself at a buffet, which was a novelty in those days.

At all times, to justify war crimes, those in power appeal to the defense of the homeland. Leonid Filatov described this theme with his inherent subtle irony in his play “Lysistrata”.

After watching this video, you will have no doubt about the answer to the question posed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated at a press conference in Antalya on March 10, 2022: “Do we plan to attack other countries? No, we are not planning to. We have not attacked Ukraine either...” and in a June 16, 2022 interview with the BBC he said: “We have not invaded Ukraine. We have declared a special military operation.” 

Andrei Voznesensky wrote the poem "The Call of the Lake" in 1965, having been shocked by the story of a local resident from Ivano-Frankivsk region (Ukraine) during their fishing trip together: "There used to be no lake here, but a deep ravine. In 1942, the Nazis and their local collaborators drove Jews from the ghetto here and shot them. To hide the traces of the crime, the ravine was flooded with water from the nearby rivulet. And the fish catch here is excellent!" - the narrator rubbed his hands together in satisfaction.

Moscow writer and journalist Alexey Polikovsky wrote this article 10 years ago. But the topic raised in it is a key one today, as it allows us to understand the causes of global events taking place in the world and to predict their possible consequences. Therefore, we plan to develop the theme of this article in our subsequent publications and invite readers in advance to discuss them widely. For now, we offer you the full text of Alexey Polikovsky's article (source - Svoboda Slova).

Grigory Gorin (March 12, 1940 - June 15, 2000) - Soviet and Russian writer-satirist, playwright - continued this phrase as follows:

It is difficult, but it is there, and there is no doubt about it. It was hidden by lies and disinformation... Hidden by those who “did it” in reality.

As an epigraph: "Russian troops grouping "Center" blocked Ukrainian Lisichansk" (reports in Russian media on June 24, 2022) 

Ukrainian cultural figures Taras Zhitinsky, Anton Mukharsky and Taras Silenko have spread a version that "Poruchik Golitsyn" - one of the most famous "White Guard songs" in the USSR and modern Russia - is a reprise of the Ukrainian rebels' song "My Friend Koval".

It is vital... Even in science, where you need complete freedom of imagination, doubt is necessary. And in everyday life, there's no need to talk about it.

This article is the final part of a detailed report (the full report in PDF format is available here) prepared by Trust but Verify as part of a fact-checking investigation into the missile attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv on July 8, 2024. The first part assessed the parameters of the missile that attacked Ohmatdyt and found that all these estimates fully correspond to the characteristics of the X-101 missile. The second part shows that all the arguments against the fact that it was an X-101 missile are based on false premises. The third part analyzes alternative versions expressed by officials and discussed in social media.

This article is the second part of a detailed report (the full report in PDF format is available here) prepared by Trust but Verify as part of a fact-checking investigation into the missile attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv on July 8, 2024. The first part of the report assessed the parameters of the missile that attacked Ohmatdyt and found that all these estimates fully correspond to the characteristics of the X-101 missile. The second part analyzes the arguments against the fact that it was an X-101 missile.

"The Very Same Munchhausen" is perhaps Grigory Gorin's most quoted work. Cover image source - Zen. 

A quote by Russian President Vladimir Putin from his address on February 24, 2022, in connection with the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army: “... practically everywhere where the West comes to establish its order, there is disregard for international law. Our country's promises not to expand NATO not one inch eastward. I repeat - deceived, or in popular parlance, simply thrown away... You and I were simply left with no other opportunity to defend Russia. In this connection... I have taken the decision to conduct a special military operation.

The portable reel-to-reel tape recorder Melodiya MG-56 became a symbol of Soviet precision engineering in its time. Created at the Novosibirsk factory "Tochmash" in 1956, it went on mass sale in 1958. It was soon noticed that it looked a lot like the German Grundig TK-820/3D tape recorder.

These poems were not written by Rozhdestvensky to be published and reveal his true civil position.

This article is the first part of a detailed report (the full report in PDF format is available here) on our fact-checking investigation of the missile attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv on July 8, 2024. This part provides the rationale for estimates of the parameters of the missile that hit Ohmatdyt and compares them with the characteristics of the X-101 missile.

Pablo and Gabriel, the Indian ring-necked parrots, are having a real "human" conversation.

Russian President V. Putin said at the World Youth Festival in Sochi 03/06/2024: “Belgium has largely appeared on the world map as an independent state, including mainly thanks to Russia and Russia’s position”.

Russian bloggers are spreading the claim that the annexation of Crimea in 2014 does not violate the 2003 Russian-Ukrainian Border Treaty, as there is no description of the water border in this treaty and the land border was not violated by anyone as a result of the annexation of Crimea (see, for example, posts [1] and [2]).

The film “Kin-dza-dza” was released in 1986 and divided the audience into two parts: some did not understand anything, others were delighted. In light of today's world events, the number of those who "don't get it" should probably decrease.

When you read these poems, written a few years before the horrific events in her native land, you begin to believe in a higher power.

In 2018, Ukrainian kobzar Taras Silenko suggested that the Soviet patriotic march “Arise, vast country” during the Great Patriotic War was created based on the song of the early 1920s “Arise, my people,” which was born in the troops of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) [1; 2]. This version was supported by the writer Yuriy Andrukhovich [3] and disseminated by many Ukrainian media.

Everything has to be done on your own...

Cover - Good and Evil in everyone (image source - JoyReactor).
Today our world is engulfed in armed conflicts that threaten the future of human civilization.

On the morning of July 8, 2024, the city of Kiev was subjected to a massive rocket attack. One of the missiles hit the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, causing widespread destruction and numerous human casualties. Ukrainian officials claim it was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. Trust but Verify specialists have verified this version.

Russian President V. Putin in an interview with T. Carlson 02/06/2024: “When the Soviet Union was formed, this is already 1922, the founder of the Soviet state, Lenin, for unknown reasons, endowed the emerging Soviet Ukraine with lands, people living in these territories, even if they had never before were not called Ukraine, for some reason during formation all this was “merged” into the Ukrainian SSR... Soviet Ukraine received a huge number of territories that never had anything to do with it, especially the Black Sea region."

In The Escape from Freedom (1941), Fromm explores the reasons that make man "give up his freedom to dictators, turning himself into a small cog in the machine: not a free man, but a well-fed and well-dressed automaton."

The Russian media is actively disseminating information that stealth technology was developed in the USSR by Soviet physicist Pyotr Ufimtsev, after which it was borrowed by US engineers [1-3].

In Novy Urengoy, Russia, a multi-storey building that had fallen off its foundation was supported with wooden planks. Symbolically, the house is located in the neighborhood called "Optimist" (source - ura.news)

Used: photo of Grigory Gorin by Vitaly Plotnikov (left) and Yevgeny Shvarts from 24smi.org (right).

This article by Denis Dragunsky was published on February 25, 2022, i.e. the day after his state launched a full-scale armed invasion of a neighboring sovereign country.

In the photo from the Forensic Legal Newspaper, the owners turned bullet holes in the fence into flowers.

"1984" ("Nineteen Eighty-Four") is a famous anti-utopian novel by George Orwell, published in 1949. This novel is both a warning and a prophecy. It describes a certain totalitarian state "Oceania" with all the attributes of dictatorial regimes: mass surveillance, brainwashing, denial of freedom and individual autonomy. 

We present to your attention the abstracts of an article by Nikita Nepryakhin on Forbes, dedicated to critical thinking - a key skill for distinguishing truth from lies.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and other Russian officials have repeatedly stated that on May 20, 2024, along with the presidential term of the head of Ukraine, his legitimacy expired. 

Hungarian Prime Minister V. Orban said at a press conference on 21.12.2023 that Russia's military actions on the territory of Ukraine are "a military operation, as there has been no declaration of war between the two countries. When Russia declares war, then there will be war".

The melodies and lyrics of the two songs are so similar that the borrowing version seems unquestionable. 

Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, V. Nebenzya, said in an interview with the BBC on 06.02.2024 that "the UN International Court of Justice ... refused to call Russia a terrorist state ... and rejected claims that Russia sponsored terrorism".

Reprint of a post by Arkady Mayofis, posted on the ECHO website  on March 8, 2024. Original.

A golden retriever named Harper has adopted almost everything from her mom Willow. Now the girl is two years old, but there are still a couple of tricks she can't do. Fortunately, mom is always there for her daughter and is ready to help if the baby can’t cope with something.

On the cover on the left: Warsaw in 1939, on the right Mariupol in 2022. Two cities completely destroyed by war. This is the price for the unlearned lessons of history - people's lives and the fate of humanity. Fragments from Erich Fromm's book "Anatomy of Human Destructiveness" describe the events of the Second World War, but if you replace in them the names of political figures and the names of countries, they reflect the events of our days surprisingly accurately.

Residents of Bratsk (Russia) were outraged due to advertising of gas production.

This book is about breaking free from programmed behavior, "how to unleash our full stature — our total brain power".

Russian President V.Putin said: "According to the results of 2022, Russia has become one of the five largest economies in the world and has overtaken the Federal Republic of Germany in purchasing power parity, in terms of economic volume" (at the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects on August 22, 2023);
"The largest number of sanctions that are applied in the world are applied against Russia. And we have become the first economy in Europe during this time" (in an interview with T. Carlson on February 6, 2024).