Brian Whitmore
@powervertical.bsky.social
A blog and podcast about Russian and post-Soviet politics.
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, I had a wide-ranging discussion with the always insightful Serhiy Kudelia about democracy during wartime in Ukraine. www.powervertical.org/2026/07/31/d...
DEMOCRACY DURING WARTIME
powervertical · DEMOCRACY DURING WARTIME Two weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparked a political crisis by sacking his young, popular, and highly effective defense minister Mykha…
powervertical.org
Eurasian geopolitics makes for strange bedfellows. Astana, Baku and Yerevan are hedging against Moscow at the same moment — for entirely different reasons. My latest column for Independence Avenue Media. www.indavemedia.com/commentary-c...
Commentary: Coalition of the Unlikely — A Fledgling Anti-Kremlin Front Emerging in Eurasia
Brian Whitmore is a contributor writing for Independence Avenue Media. The views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily
indavemedia.com
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia are hedging against Moscow at the same moment — for entirely different reasons. In my latest column for Independence Avenue Media, I take a closer look at the "coalition of the unlikely" that is reshaping Eurasian geopolitics. www.indavemedia.com/commentary-c...
Commentary: Coalition of the Unlikely — A Fledgling Anti-Kremlin Front Emerging in Eurasia
Brian Whitmore is a contributor writing for Independence Avenue Media. The views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily
indavemedia.com
You have lived fifteen kilometers from war for longer than anyone should have to. Today we delivered food kit to this grandmother No superpowers. No special training. Just ordinary people choosing courage. Defiant Hope: www.amazon.com/s?k=defiant+...
Food kits distributed to residents of a frontline community 🥘🇺🇦 Support our Hope Begins With A Meal Crowdfunding Campaign donate.hfu.org/campaign/hop...
It is genuinely bizarre that we’ve become acclimatized to right wingers throwing a tantrum every time a black person (particularly a black woman) is cast in something, but are also supposed to pretend that this is not racism but related to some other substantive concern.
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, I discuss the role of Ukrainian civil society in the current political crisis in the military leadership with Yuriy Boyechko. www.powervertical.org/2026/07/24/w...
WAR, POLITICS, AND THE POWER OF THE UKRAINIAN STREET
powervertical · WAR, POLITICS, AND THE POWER OF THE UKRAINIAN STREET So yet again, Ukrainian civil society did what it always does best – protect the country’s political leaders from th…
powervertical.org
This is the heart of the matter… substack.com/@romansherem...
Roman Sheremeta (@romansheremeta)
Zelenskyy offered Mykhailo Fedorov the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Military Innovations. Fedorov declined. He said he would accept no position other than Minister of Defense. He is right, and t...
substack.com
This week, something that has always been implicit suddenly became explicit. Ukrainian civil society made it clear that Ukraine’s heroic defense of its homeland, independence, and sovereignty is The People’s War. My latest column for Independence Avenue Media. www.indavemedia.com/commentary-t...
Commentary: The People’s War — Ukrainian Civil Society Takes Charge
Brian Whitmore is a contributor writing for Independence Avenue Media. The views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily
indavemedia.com
Ukrainians are protesting for a third day against President Zelenskyy’s firing of defence minister Fedorov and retention of General Syrskyi. Fedorov gave people hope. Syrskyi has become known as “the Butcher.” Zelenskyy made a grave mistake but he still can make it right.
Russians fired about 40 ballistic missiles at Kyiv in just 53 minutes – a record. The aggressors attacked civilian targets that don't make any military sense. Russia is a terrorist state and nothing else. Russia is not a country or a society – it's merely a poison to the world.
Horrific scenes in Kyiv Video courtesy of @radiosvoboda Endorsed by war correspondents and journalists who were there. Defiant Hope: www.amazon.com/s?k=defiant+hope+yuriy+boyechko&crid=1H5LVSWF885RL&sprefix=%2Caps%2C153&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_2_0_recent
Crimes against humanity committed in Kyiv tonight Video courtesy of Radio Svoboda - Радио Свобода Courage is contagious. Read the proof in Defiant Hope: www.amazon.com/s?k=defiant+hope+yuriy+boyechko&crid=1H5LVSWF885RL&sprefix=%2Caps%2C153&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_2_0_recent
More russian war crimes
Euromaidan Press@euromaidanpress.bsky.social · 3w agoThe UN called it "desperate." Human Rights Watch documented starvation. ISW called it a blockade. The Pope was informed. 4 months after we reported the Oleshky siege, the world agrees it's happening—and thousands still can't get food in or get out. euromaidanpress.com/2026/07/17/i...?
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, I spoke to Mike Carpenter and Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social about the firing of Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. www.powervertical.org/2026/07/17/w...
‘WHY BREAK WHAT’S WORKING?’ – THE STRANGE SACKING OF UKRAINE’S DEFENSE MINISTER
powervertical · 'WHY BREAK WHAT'S WORKING?' – THE STRANGE SACKING OF UKRAINE'S DEFENSE MINISTER Mass protests broke out in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and other Ukrainian …
powervertical.org
The plot thickens. This is troubling
Dr. Michael MacKay@michaelmackay.bsky.social · 3w agoAndriy Yermak – the former head of Zelenskyy's presidential office who is facing corruption charges – met with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi at a frontline command post. It's a very bad sign when the anti-reform faction comes together like this. www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
NATO's summit skipped Ukrainian membership again. Kyiv's answer: build the coalitions — and the missiles — itself. My latest column for Independence Avenue Media. www.indavemedia.com/commentary-u...
Commentary: Ukraine’s Coalitions of the Willing — And Able
Brian Whitmore is a contributor writing for Independence Avenue Media. The views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily
indavemedia.com
It's getting interesting in Ukraine in the wake of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov's firing. Mass demonstrations in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, & Odesa. Col. Pavlo Yelizarov, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, resigned in protest. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/w...
Ukraine’s Ousted Defense Minister Attacks the Military’s Old Guard
Mykhailo Fedorov defended his efforts to modernize the Ukrainian armed forces as thousands of people protested his dismissal.
nytimes.com
Mykhailo Fedorov’s seven-month tenure as Defense Minister directly correlates with the war turning in Ukraine’s favor this year. This is an epic own goal. I sincerely hope Ukrainian civil society and the Rada push back hard - or Zelensky reconsiders. Slava Ukraini!
Mykhailo Fedorov’s seven-month tenure as Defense Minister directly correlates with the war turning in Ukraine’s favor this year. Sacking him is an epic own goal.
This is a good sign. I hope Ukrainian civil society pushes back hard on Fedorov’s firing. He’s probably the best defense minister Ukraine has ever had
Dr. Michael MacKay@michaelmackay.bsky.social · 3w agoDmytro Koziatynskyi, an Armed Forces of Ukraine veteran, has called for a peaceful protest tomorrow at 9:01 in Ivan Franko Square in Kyiv. It is against the removal of the reformist Mykhailo Fedorov and his replacement by Ihor Klymenko, "under whom any reforms can be forgotten."
