Let’s end the week with a front update since it’s the legendary Friday drinking session over at johanno1.se with mandatory dog videos and where the first beer can hiss is heard already before lunch. DenGamle will tell stories no one believes and someone will get too drunk before one o’clock, but the atmosphere is always at its peak until someone else gets insulted and the furnishings get torn apart in this week’s big brawl.
There has been a minor exodus of paying subscribers on Substack, and it would always be nice to know why people leave so I can blame something else. I’ve known for a long time that criticism of our slow governments in Europe is not always appreciated, and lately there has been a lot about Russian subversive activities, but I think it’s becoming urgent.
I am worried that Europe cannot withstand the pressure and will force Ukraine into a ceasefire with EU membership. Trump (USA) and Russia have put it into high gear here, and they hope that when we start experiencing fuel and electricity shortages this winter, we will threaten Ukraine with a paused EU membership if they do not agree to frozen fronts so that we can keep warm cheaply this winter as well.
In the last front update, we discussed the upcoming encirclement of RU units between Torske – Yampil, and it seems UA is actively working on it.
They have taken (or at least are fighting deep inside) both Yampil and Torske. The crossings over Zherebets are vanishingly few, but there are no 5-6 brigades on the wrong side as I daydreamed about.
Possibly three remain on the wrong side of the river, and they surely have a prepared retreat route because if there is one thing those Russian bastards have excelled at throughout the war, it is managing to escape.
Anyway, this means that Ukraine now has a formidable bridgehead on the eastern bank of Zherebets, so that terrain obstacle has been crossed, and moreover in an area with a lot of cover where they can build up capability.
There have also long been persistent rumors that UA is fighting in Zalichne, Terny, and Ivanivka – I have the impression they were first inside the settlements, then RU counterattacked, and now they are fighting in one or more again in round two. This remains unconfirmed until proven otherwise.
In Kostyantynivka, which Putin announced as completely captured, Ukraine has actually sniffed out terrain well east of the city. The OSINT folks see this through Russian FAB bombings.
I have followed that battle too poorly, but what is today a contested area in the city is mostly a hunt for Russian soldiers trying to hide in basements. Not much of a defense when you lock yourself in a room deep in a basement and stay completely silent.
Unfortunately, Kostyantynivka is in lowland and Chasiv Yar, which is to the northeast, is in high terrain, so it offers no advantages for that settlement as far as I can see.
The entire area from Lyman down to south of Kostyantynivka is either 3rd AC or 1st Azov corps, which have now become two MILOS led by the two old Azov commanders. Together they are supposed to be well over 100,000 strong with an enormous amount of attached capabilities from drone weapons and GUR.
South of 1st Azov, the Air Assault corps take over and have also been conducting offensive operations for months.
The entire stretch from Kupiansk down to Huliyapole has highly competent UA units all conducting offensive operations within their areas and have direct lines to SOF and the drone weapon. Drapatyi has decentralized heavily and given great freedom of action to corps commanders, so one can guess that MILO commanders have even fewer reins.
Ukraine has more capabilities held back beyond the strategic offensive reserve that has been flying around since October 2025, was it?
The offensive operations we see now were wanted by the defense forces to start already in autumn 2025 but were held back a year.
A whole plethora of brigades have been in the rear and re-equipped with all the materiel delivered during 2025; we posted many videos about that.
We have posted many entries about this offensive reserve that could be built up when Ukraine defends the front with a drone umbrella and sparse line shooting.
We can absolutely expect much more from the retreating Russians going forward, and the fact that Putin was forced to risk Trump means he is cornered.
Now Trump failed to hard-arm Ukraine into passivity, which probably shook Putin a bit.
UA has enormous capability near Kostyantynivka, which could also be intended for Chasiv Yar?
RU has a fairly large task force at Bakhmut, or alternatively they have built a hedgehog defense, but that is in lowland and they should be digging in at Chasiv Yar. The Russians have had a habit of going for the cities throughout the war, and Bakhmut has some bright spots around it for them – that was the main event during 2023.
UA stands just north of Chasiv Yar still in dominating terrain, but the town itself is a high point.
Here are RU losses, and they are at a very high level now.
Zelensky and others have said the following: the daily loss count, which is now soon 1.6 million, is not all losses but only the permanently KWIA, meaning severely wounded. It does not include lighter injuries, sick, and otherwise unfit for combat.
In winter 2023, when we were digging into this, we concluded that 30% of those in hospitals in Luhansk had frostbite and absolutely could not be included in the loss figures.
I have had my own war over that loss count and finally had to give in, so it always feels good to have Zelensky on your side even if all those who stood on the wrong side of history have moved on and think I should get a life instead.
Then it is often the Russian elite that is depleted, so percentage-wise it becomes weaker faster, and they keep the cooks, drivers, and warehouse staff.
Furthermore, UA has confirmed that KWIA is 1:5, but if you count only the killed, it is about 1:11. Previously, UA has said that up to 80% of the wounded return to service – their medical chain is simply very good.
Below is OSINT’s best estimate of UA losses, around 200,000. This is probably the first hard figure we have had.
It fits into the bigger picture and gives you a clear indication of Putin’s problem – he simply does not have 10 times more soldiers available than Ukraine no matter how he twists and turns this.
Now UA has also confirmed that 30% of the captured and maybe also the killed they encounter are not Russians but from other countries. This has come up in rounds before, and presumably, they send them to the front to save Russians, but Putin clearly has an acute personnel problem.
Already in 2022, when they panicked mobilized and then since summer 2023, we have been reasoning about this and concluded that Putin can never mass mobilize and put weapons in the hands of a million men because then they become a bigger threat to him than Ukraine. Now it is almost November, and they are still trying in every way to find recruits for Ukraine, but the larger mobilization we are waiting for has not come out in the open and broad way we thought.
Probably because they would then be a bigger threat to Putin than Ukraine.
That does not prevent Putin from building up, which he has done, a formidable offensive strategic reserve outside Ukraine in addition to all the small private armies that exist to maintain the balance of power within Russia, but these they do not want to waste inside Ukraine.
The Russian army is said to be absolutely dreadful in Ukraine today – we have written several times that those who suffer the most in this war are Russian soldiers. The top-down control is total, corruption 100%, and since it is war, commanders do exactly as they please – one more dead Russian is nobody’s loss.
We have all read about bullying, sexual abuse, and all the conscripts who die annually in the Russian armed forces, but in the units in Ukraine, it is now said to be light years worse and difficult to endure even for a Russian.
There are blocking units behind every brigade that shoot to kill during retreats and so on.
Motivation is presumably at rock bottom, and they whip this along with threats and violence – somewhat like the orcs in The Lord of the Rings.
There are probably many Russian units that would take the first chance to either leave Ukraine, march towards Moscow, or surrender if it looked like an attractive option they could survive.
Just the surrenders are interesting because Russian soldiers know how they themselves behave, and the commanders constantly hammer in how much torture and murder there will be if they surrender, so they are completely radicalized, and captives usually expect to be burned in a barrel at least.
But if UA can switch to mobile warfare and cut off units, they surrender en masse; they will not die behind pyramids of spent shells, we can be quite sure of that.
The Russian combat leadership’s control can very quickly be lost completely, but UA needs to get inside their decision circle with mobile warfare for that, and that is probably what they are doing now – pressing everywhere to see where the cracks appear.
Since RU has silo communication, top-down control, threats of dismissal for the slightest thing, corps and army commanders will not send bad news up the chain before it is absolutely necessary, but then it is too late.
No one cares about anyone else, and since they have had their own offensive for quite a while and did not expect a UA counterattack, some areas are poorly fortified and they have no rapid reaction forces behind.
Then on top of that, UA has a drone umbrella, so rapid reaction forces that are supposed to try to reach breakthroughs and plug the holes, which they do through constant attacks until it stops, are now running a gauntlet 150 km from the breakthrough area already.
A breakthrough can quickly become broad, and before you as MILO combat leadership understand what has happened, one of your army corps has surrendered, you have a 40 km wide hole in your defense, and no available units to slow down – this is where we want to get.
And this is what Putin and Trump are now trying to prevent by both stopping UA medium-range drone weapons until Starlink panicked and turned it back on, but also a ceasefire so the Russian defense can mine again, dig in, and carry out movements.
Oleshky, which Melania Trump is now being praised for, is really more of a ceasefire to be able to carry out movements than anything else – sad that UA was forced into it because the civilians who are now being taken to Russia will hardly be better off.
Zelensky daring to openly and (for Trump) provocatively go against Trump also suggests that the above is not entirely wrong, UA knows they have potential and fights tooth and nail not to lose the initiative.
This Friday we dedicate the first Mariestad long can to the shooting in eastern Ukraine, the world’s best shooting as someone usually hammers in.
Don't forget to donate, Ukraine's cause is ours! Support Ukraine!
It is five in the morning here and I am up, a little later for you…
The post was in the trash in the admin panel, I saw, don’t know why.
Now posted
Really bombed yesterday puiuuh 🤣
Actually started to get worried
Nice movie too!
A bit of Mad Max or something like that over it!
“❗️Russia’s Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Samara region is heavily ablaze after an overnight Ukrainian drone attack, with at least 6 and reportedly 11 separate fires across the complex. The Rosneft-operated facility processes roughly 8.8 million tons of crude annually.”
https://bsky.app/profile/noelreports.com/post/3mz3bulpfss2e
Here is another one a bit closer:
“🔥 Update from Novokuybyshevsk Refinery”
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3mz3enbk4722b
Thank you Johan 👊
It’s important not to lose courage and to increase pressure now before the Russia lovers possibly win the elections in the EU countries that are going to vote next year.
The Russian devils are allowed back into the Ice Hockey World Championship, writes Aftonbladet. The matter has been reviewed by the international arbitration court CAS, following demands from the Russian devils to have their exclusion lifted.
The International Ice Hockey Federation confirms in a press release that the Russian devils can participate in competitive ice hockey events as soon as this winter’s World Junior Championship tournament in Canada.
The International Ice Hockey Federation writes in a press release that it regrets the decision, but will nevertheless respect it. The federation adds that there may be practical difficulties in allowing the Russian devils to participate as early as December.
“IIHF will promptly evaluate the steps and the time required to implement the decision,” they write.
The Russian devils have been banned from sports events since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
https://omni.se/a/mKqbkv
Our governments can still address the problem by stopping the issuance of visas to Russians. Then the sports federations can decide what they want.
🎯👊JFDI
Damn, I say! 🤬🤬🤬
Russian money seems to be good enough.
Yes, Russia is responsible for many of our problems now 😀
The weekend will be violent in Europe 😐
Now the Speaker is being attacked by several opposition representatives.
Am I wrong when I write that it will be C, M, S?
It benefits S enormously according to everyone, so what are they complaining about?
I think it’s starting to get ridiculous now, and if there is a new government – how will they be able to govern at all?
I think this is going to be really good. The first year with a bourgeois budget (albeit made in agreement with the red-green parties according to Santesson). Then three more years with the lowest common denominator between the Centre Party and the left. That Venn diagram doesn’t have much overlap. This assuming they don’t get wildcards, then it might fall apart completely.
The worst thing is that we will get more Northvolt-like projects because everyone to the left of the Sweden Democrats is crazy about that. So a few hundred billion that could have gone to the defense of Europe will unfortunately be wasted. But I don’t think it will be more than that.
As for immigration, which many are afraid of (though not me), I don’t think it’s the lowest common denominator because the Social Democrats will actually keep it “tight,” as Magdalena calls it.
So the bottom line is that we get four more years in the direction of the tangent, or maybe rather a pause at the point where we stand today.
You are probably right about more green idiot projects, unfortunately.
They love words like investment and development. Invest in green development!
It was the Minister for Financial Markets Bolund who in 2019, through ministerial rule, ordered the AP funds to act as venture capitalists with pension money to be made available to finance the green transition; he openly threatened to dismiss the boards if this did not happen.
No party had objections, and the secrecy that was already in place at the time has since been strengthened following initiatives from Ebba Bush.
https://www.affarsvarlden.se/kronika/lofven-och-bolund-gav-ap-fonderna-ratt-att-tiga-om-northvolt
The mask is completely thrown off by the Krasnov administration.
https://youtu.be/gaEmJ2uuE6k?is=UWEJkvBA-F6YWJ9V
And Krasnov has completely failed, double joy if he gets beaten in the election now 😀
Here is the original article.
https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-pressures-lithuania-to-crack-eu-potash-sanctions-on-belarus/
What a move it was in here today 👍
People are stocking up in Mariestad – a public holiday tomorrow and the Apoteket Röda Näsan is closed…
Oh wow, a long weekend is important.
Mariestad is all well and good, but there is also Arboga 10.5. Many posts on Instagram and YouTube where the challenge is to stuff down three of these Arbogas in five minutes. It looks like a new sport for the heavy guys.
Sorry, have been busy but now I have finally started the weekend.
💪
https://open.spotify.com/track/1bXZXgR1C3mCwvUs5YfAom?si=2cyj9BgBTKylgrmTjwWZ2g&utm_source=copy-link
Exactly so! 😂👍
I hear from a reliable source that the so-called Russian house on Lidingö has been completely empty and abandoned for a week. (Otherwise there is always activity there)
That’s good, a lot is probably happening in the undergrowth these days that we don’t know about in many different matters 😀
Incomprehensible that Russia has been allowed to carry on with this for so long, they have bought dozens of properties near the navy channels in Vår and the Finnish archipelago, if you were to go and check the basements there you would probably find both anti-ship missiles, sea mines, and diving equipment.
The outhouse, you mean?
Are door frames and toilets still available?
I’m having an increasingly hard time navigating the USA because the disinformation from both sides is monumental, but it seems that both Trump and Vance canceled their campaign tours?
Could be because they realized they were dead weight, hopefully.
It probably won’t get any better in the USA after that anyway, if Trump even cares, but it’s an important statement for the GOP if nothing else.
Trump probably doesn’t care anymore, if he succeeds with his plan it doesn’t matter what others think.
I know that not everything is Russia but I am starting to be genuinely surprised at how easy it is to get countries to tie themselves up in a completely Gordian knot.
Armed forces and security services are trying to do the right thing, those are the good things we see, but the politics in many countries is completely off the wall and they get stuck in peripheral quarrels or strange reasoning.
In our government formation there are many factors that have contributed to the fiasco but somewhere there is also Russian subversive activity lurking, trying to create more chaos.
Therefore, I am genuinely surprised that there have not been school protests here yet or have I missed something?
I can easily name 20 issues off the top of my head where there is no consistency at all and it’s just posing, one of the funniest things right now is that Burnham, who is strongly pushing for a Palestinian state, said no to Scotland’s freedom.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/16/burnham-invites-snp-to-work-with-labour-on-devolution/
It is probably awaiting an election result.
Sweden is the country where the Muslim Brotherhood has gained the most influence, and they probably do not want to stir up resistance, not rock the boat, so to speak.
Apparently, there is also incitement here https://bulletin.nu/konton-vill-fora-frankrikes-kravaller-till-jarva
You have seen that the school protests around Europe always have one or both of the points – no more wars and that less should be spent on weapons and more on schools.
Then the trade unions have also booked the Halloween weekend as a good time to demonstrate – they could have chosen Wednesday instead.
Halloween is a bit tricky because it is now going around on social media that people should gather in all city centers on Halloween and the day alone will draw a lot of people.
Above suggests that Russia is definitely right in the middle of this.
No more wars is still a good standpoint, right? The ones we already have are enough.
Then of course I think that the war against Russia can escalate if the EU goes “all in,” but it is still the same war.. 😄
Hate chance…
The Nordbalt power connection between Sweden and Lithuania was disconnected on Friday, reports Lithuanian LRT.
According to preliminary reports, it appears to be a fault on the Swedish side. The power supply has not been affected thanks to reserve capacity, according to the channel.
The connection was put into operation ten years ago and according to Svenska kraftnät has “great security-political significance” in the Baltic Sea region.
https://omni.se/a/d7VXLJ
Someone who has been well paid in rubles for accidentally connecting incorrectly?
Terrible of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association 🤮
Obviously lacks backbone.
Djurgården’s general manager, Wikegård, is strongly critical of the decision to allow the Russian devils to play in the World Championship.
– I think that if the Russians are allowed to participate in the hockey World Championship, then Sweden should not take part, he says to TV4.
https://www.expressen.se/sport/hockey/tre-kronor/niklas-wikegard-rasar-efter-beskedet-om-ryssland-javlats-med-hela-europa/
Yes, that was a bit weak. Of course, I understand the argument that it is not Sweden and other countries that should withdraw from the World Cup, but Russia, but if no one refuses to protest by clearly indicating that they do not intend to participate, then Russia will remain.
The best thing would be to withdraw the decision, the next best would be if it ended with a World Cup with only Russia and the USA.
Hope the sponsors take notice.
The Slovak chief prosecutor has launched a new investigation into the military support that the previous government sent to Ukraine in 2023, Reuters writes. The support in question consisted of about ten fighter jets of the Mig-29 model, and the matter has previously been investigated without any faults being found. At that time, it was concluded that the planes were outdated and performed poorly.
The current government, led by the pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico, has stopped the support to Ukraine and questioned the decision.
Fico claims that the action has made Slovakia dependent on other countries’ air defense, and one of his party colleagues has described it as “sabotage”.
https://omni.se/a/L3Vryq
Fico is a rotten fig.
Ukrainian General Staff Morning Report
There are now slightly more battles and a good ratio of 1.54, so I thought it deserved to be posted even though it is late.
“Operational information as of 08:00 on October 30, 2026, about the Russian invasion
Glory to Ukraine!
The 1710th day of the Russian Federation’s full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine has begun.
The total losses of the Russian attackers over the past day amounted to 1,590 personnel. In addition, one tank, three armored combat vehicles, 21 artillery systems, one rocket artillery system, one air defense system, two aircraft, three ground-based missile systems, 1,589 unmanned aerial vehicles, and 246 vehicles were neutralized.
A total of 211 combat contacts were recorded over the past day.
Yesterday, the enemy carried out one missile strike and 82 air strikes, during which 263 guided aerial bombs were dropped. In addition, the attackers used 9,576 kamikaze drones and conducted 2,478 shellings against communities and our troops’ positions, of which 42 were with rocket artillery.
Hostile shelling affected, among others, the communities of Bezsalivka, Korenok, Tovstodubove, Ulanove, Rohizne, Neskuchne, Bachivsk, Vovkivka, Yastrubshchyna, Luzhky, Sopych, Kucherivka, Iskryskivshchyna, Studenok, Mala Slobidka, Fotovyzh, Smolyne, Kozache, Seredyna-Buda, Volfyne, Velyka Berizka, and Shpyl in the Sumy region, as well as Huta-Studenetska, Kamin, Bleshnia, and Lohy in the Chernihiv region. Pustohorod was subjected to an air strike.
Over the past day, the defense forces’ missile units and artillery struck four areas of concentration of enemy personnel and equipment, two artillery pieces, and a command post for unmanned aerial vehicles.
In the northern Slobozhansky and Kursk sectors, the attacker carried out three air strikes with six guided aerial bombs and 37 shellings against our troops’ positions and communities.
In the southern Slobozhansky sector, Ukrainian units repelled seven enemy attacks in the areas around Starytsia, Izbytske, Chaikivka, Okhrimivka, Mala Vovcha, and Sheviakivka.
In the Kupiansk sector, the enemy made no attempts to improve their positions.
Attempts to break into our defense were repelled in the Lyman sector, where the occupiers carried out eight attacks in the direction of the communities of Stepove, Kolodiazi, Lyman, Zarichne, Donetske, and Dibrova.
In the Sloviansk sector, the enemy carried out four attacks in the areas around Orikhuvatka, Yampil, Kryva Luka, and Mykolaivka.
In the Kramatorsk sector, the occupiers attempted an assault in the direction of Vasiutynske.
In the Kostyantynivka sector, 24 attacks were recorded. According to updated information, the attackers conducted offensive operations in the area around Kostyantynivka and in the direction of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, Novoselivka, Dovha Balka, Druzhkivka, Rusyn Yar, Petrivka, Toretske, Pryiut, Vilne, and Zolotyi Kolodiaz.
In the Pokrovsk sector, the enemy carried out 19 attacks. The occupiers tried to advance towards the communities of Dobropillia, Novyi Donbas, Hannivka, Rodynske, Svitlé, Novohrishyne, Myrne, Serhiivka, Kotlyne, Molodetske, Novopidhorodnie, and Novopavlivka.
In the Oleksandrivka sector, the enemy conducted no assault operations.
In the Huljajpole sector, the occupiers attacked our defenders’ positions 18 times. The enemy tried to advance towards the communities of Uspishne, Ternuvate, Yehorivka, Hirke, and Charivne.
In the Orikhiv sector, the occupiers carried out two attacks in the direction of Yehorivka.
In the Prydniprovsk sector, the occupiers conducted no assault operations.
In the Volyn and Polissya sectors, no signs have been detected that the enemy is forming offensive force groupings.
We continue to stop the Russian armed aggression.
Join the defense forces! Glory to Ukraine!”
Comment:
83 localized attacks out of a total of 211 leaves 128 unlocalized, thus the ratio is 128 / 83 ≈ 1.54.
Nice, by the way, with a front report! 👍👍👍
We spend so much money and energy developing things that kill other people. Damn, humans are such stupid creatures!
Well, life is actually quite simple if you just understand it. It has been best said by a Russian: “Life is a paradise and we are all in paradise, but we do not want to know about it, but if we wanted to know it, it would already be a paradise on the whole earth tomorrow.”
Yes, it is quite sad.
Makes me think of Fermi’s paradox.
Yes, definitely. And the lesson that war does not pay must be hammered in with force. Germany and Japan learned after the Second World War, Sweden after 1809, but the Russians and the countries in the Middle East and Africa, and partly the USA, seem to be totally unteachable.
You all remember the posts where RU was supposed to provide a black swan so that capital in Europe would flee to the USA and support-buy their government bonds and USD.
It is happening now.
The school protests were apparently enough.
Well. I would say it’s quite self-inflicted.
I don’t doubt for a second that the Russians are exploiting and fueling the protests. But what about the capital flight?
During the autumn, concerns about European public finances have increased sharply. Especially France’s budget deficit and soaring debts have created nervousness in the market, where interest costs have been pushed up. This has raised fears of a new contagion effect in the eurozone, causing investors to withdraw from the euro.
Thousands of demonstrators, mainly students and workers, have taken to the streets in Italy today to protest against high living costs, deficiencies in the public sector, and increased defense spending. This is reported by Reuters. The trade union Unione Sindacale di Base called for a 24-hour general strike, and protests were organized in over 40 cities. Overall, the situation has been calm, unlike the protests earlier in October when demonstrators clashed with police, looted stores, and committed vandalism. However, clashes have been reported in some areas.
According to the prosecutor, it is the left-wing Pallevänstern who is behind and organizing the riots/protests.
More can be read in Omni:
The violent riots in Milan have been given a face. In the Italian media, a 30-year-old man is pointed out as the mastermind behind the movement “Movimento 17 Ottobre.”
He is now free, seemingly against the wishes of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The decision has escalated into an open dispute between the government and the judges.
This is what has happened.
The movement “Movimento 17 Ottobre” appeared on social media in the midst of the violent riots in Milan on October 17th and 18th, when what began as student protests escalated and several people set fire to Piazza del Duomo and looted multiple stores.
The account was started on Instagram and Telegram and branded itself as anti-Meloni, gathering thousands of followers in just a few days. The people behind the account remained secret but called for another protest the following week in eight Italian cities, similar to the one that took place over the weekend of October 17th and 18th.
Exact meeting places were to be kept secret until the last moment to confuse the police.
But the planned posts with the planned protest locations were never published.
Throughout Saturday, both the Telegram channel and Instagram profile remained silent, as the police had arrested the man they see as the administrator behind the account that same day.
The police found Youssef Siher, 30, in an apartment in Milan after first searching at his mother’s home outside Brescia. On his computer, two scheduled Telegram messages were found, for 14:31 and 15:31, which were to be sent in the “Movimento 17 Ottobre” channels about where people should gather, writes Il Avvenire.
Within a few hours, he was identified in the Italian media as the “brain behind” the riots in Milan.
Youssef Siher is 30 years old and a second-generation Italian with Moroccan parents.
The family lives in the province of Brescia. He has studied geopolitics, holds a research degree, and has worked at the Italian think tank ISPI. He has also been a freelance journalist, with articles in various left-wing newspapers.
Previously, he has worked as a library assistant and briefly as a bicycle courier. Prosecutors describe him as a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian movement. However, the police knew very little about him before the arrest.
He is currently not charged but under investigation for two crimes.
The first is incitement to crime with terrorist intent, the second organized violence at public demonstrations. The latter is a new criminal classification introduced through a fast-track process days after the riots in Milan to more easily arrest rioters.
The prosecutor claims that Siher exploited the riots to build a channel to incite more violent protests. His 32-year-old wife is under investigation for the same crime but is free. According to investigators, she is the group’s second administrator.
The prosecutor has requested Siher’s detention, but five days after the arrest, the judge decided to release him.
The judge argues that Siher never claimed in his channels that violence is a way forward and that he did not refer to the riots on October 17th and 18th when trying to organize his own demonstrations. Instead, he has called for civil disobedience and other forms of protest against the government’s policies, which is not enough for suspicion of a crime with terrorist intent.
The timeline also contradicts the prosecutor’s theory. The Telegram group “Movimento 17 Ottobre” was created by Siher at 19:58 on Sunday, October 18th, that is, after the march and violence. This would mean that the account could not have been the cause of the riots.
Siher was released on Wednesday after having been held in custody in Milan for five days.
Shortly after the announcement of Siher’s release, a conflict erupted between the government and the court.
Meloni called the decision “shameful.”
– This is a humiliation of the judiciary, of the investigators’ and the Ministry of the Interior’s work. I really do not understand how the state can protect honest citizens when such decisions are made by certain judges, said the prime minister in a clip on social media.
She also received support from government colleague Matteo Salvini and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who both said that the decision to release Siher was difficult to justify.
Statements from the highest political level prompted the Milan court to issue its own statement, rejecting the criticism.
– The statements made by several prominent politicians after the judge’s decision show a lack of understanding of how a rule of law functions, the statement said.
https://omni.se/a/QgLJKA
FridayDrunk(TM)!
Let’s start with an argument…:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9znNi4Ex2ZI
It’s important to be careful with the details…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8teQK6rkO8w
“Metaphors”….
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xhp2vwKWQ_g
Missed the Friday booze-up yesterday.
What steals 👊😂
One has problems like death….
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ehr8YJsw_ts
*Cough*… but really fun!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OEQoOGSTrVY
Cats safe and normal…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KwycOldJ4Qc
Yeah…. where is the door…?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VbgoColg9Ns
Thank you for keeping the great Friday buzz alive!
Something is happening in Poland 😶
Something is happening in Pajala.
😂
What is 10 meters long and smells like moonshine?
The May Day parade in Pajala!
//Steve me Lloyden
https://www.democrata.es/en/international/coup-d-etat-in-poland-keys-to-the-crisis-of-the-constitutional-tribunal/
No coup at all but they are in a political quagmire.
Tumult in Poland – Court President Suspended
Polish police have secured the building belonging to the country’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw after people gathered to protest the suspension of the court’s president.
Three people have been arrested for forcing the court building’s fence.
The demonstrators began to gather after the court published information on its website that its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, had been suspended.
Shortly thereafter, the country’s president Karol Nawrocki announced that he was canceling his planned trip to Senegal due to the incident.
Poland’s highest judicial body, including the Constitutional Tribunal, has served as a conflict zone between the current pro-European government and the largest opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS).
Critics in Poland and the EU accuse PiS, which led the country between 2015 and 2023, of taking control over judicial institutions. The PiS reforms led to the EU sanctioning Poland.
When the current Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power in 2023, he promised to restore the independence of the judiciary. However, such initiatives from the government have been blocked by two successive presidents close to PiS, including Nawrocki.
“Restoring the rule of law is our duty. After years of lawlessness under PiS rule, this is a difficult and sometimes painful process that requires decisiveness. There is no other way,” Tusk writes on X on Friday evening.
(TT)
Samuel Hulander
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/expressen-direkt/?post=cefc3344-3ced-4e75-9945-6cd1f8e70f4a
Thank you!
The chaos at Poland’s Constitutional Court has continued throughout the night.
Riot police have been deployed, and President Karol Nawrocki has physically entered the building.
On Saturday morning, Nawrocki calls for an emergency meeting – and demands that the government’s forces leave the court’s premises.
The chaos outside the Constitutional Court in Warsaw broke out on Friday evening in protest against the suspension of the court’s chairman Bogdan Swieczkowski and vice chairman Bartlomiej Sochanski.
The basis is a conflict between the government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who claims that the now suspended judges have prevented newly appointed judges from taking office. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek therefore wants to lift their immunity to be able to press charges, reports the BBC.
But the court fought back. On X they wrote that Swieczkowski and Sochanski are legally appointed and describe the government’s intervention as a “coup d’état.”
“The Constitutional Court’s website has been illegally taken over. Bogdan Swieczkowski is still the chairman of the Constitutional Court and Bartlomiej Sochanski is still the vice chairman. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge at the Constitutional Court. All persons participating in these actions are guilty of the crime of coup d’état,” the court writes on X.
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/varlden/kaos-i-polen-presidenten-vander-hem/
Wedding photos…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zknq55g_gUw
Gotta do everything at once…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BNDFx3vTb1w
Wake-up call a la dog… x5…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Dmeq3guxy3s
Rotor Draw
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qNWbrY1CZpE
The grill never fails!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9Fr6J31VPjU
Okay… unexpectedly fun!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W6F3hVSfu2U
The dog did it…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5-Kyu5QjTls
😂 The grill…
+1 😂
Edward Blom’s Chronicle in SVD was quite witty.
Leaders columnists
Edward Blom:
The formation of the government may well be delayed
Every week the formation of the government is prolonged is a week of security, with an increasingly experienced group of ministers.
Edward Blom
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Published 2026-10-29 09.30
This is a text from SvD Leaders. The editorial board is politically independent with the designation independent moderate.
Both in the press and on social media, one hears one bourgeois debater after another lamenting the political situation. The red-green prospective government formers are criticized as reckless, irresponsible, and time-wasting; there are fears of an erosion of democracy and increased contempt for politicians, even seen as a danger that the state will come to a standstill. To a large extent, this is of course poorly concealed schadenfreude, but I still feel that many on the right actually seriously find the current situation problematic. But it is not at all!
The truth is that we could not have a nicer kind of government than the one we have right now – and the longer the government formation process drags on, the better it is for Sweden.
If you have the slightest bit of classical liberal within you, then a caretaker government is the optimal rule. A government that legally may intervene – but traditionally refrains from doing so, unless there is war or serious crises. Picturesque laissez-faire! Isn’t that how one wishes it would always be? Now we can live as we want, and the business sector can rush forward without constant new changes to the rules of the game.
Every week of delayed government formation is another week of security.
But even the little conservative within one can be satisfied, dreaming back to the beautiful motto that hung on the student association Heimdal’s wall during the student years: “Change is humiliation.” When else do you get a politician to stay laid-back and only make small adjustments? A caretaker government does not carry out any divisive reforms, neither in the direction you want – nor in the direction you do not want. You know what you have, but not what you get, so standing still is still best… A calm time when you can sip port wine in the rocking chair.
Moreover, if we suffer a severe economic crisis, an even worse security situation or even war, we actually have a stable, reliable government in place that in such matters has as much room to act as if it had won the election. Every week of delayed government formation is another week of security, with an increasingly experienced and more popular group of ministers.
A few years ago I complained to a good friend, who had been active in politics, that the bourgeois government had barely managed to get through any of its election promises in the first years. “Only now are good things starting to happen, and in a year they will probably lose power – and then the left-wing government will change everything back. Everything will be like KD’s custody allowance in 1994!” My good friend took a sip of Pommac, smiled a little and then explained to me as to a child about investigations, referral rounds, bills… In short, it takes almost three years to carry out a major reform in Sweden.
With that in mind, a prolonged government formation is not only a pleasant vacation during which one can ease one’s sorrow over the election loss, but every week the new government is delayed means one less reform. Should a red-green government break up barely a year before the election, since coalition governments are always at their weakest because the parties must show steadfastness on core issues before the voters, the length of the government formation time is crucial. If a government only gets 2.5 years, they barely have time to accomplish anything.
Last time, in 2018, it took them 134 days to form a government. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will take even longer this time.
https://www.svd.se/a/X9XrVn/regeringsbildningen-far-garna-droja
Off-Topic
I see some similarities between Apple and Russia. Apple sells insanely expensive products and recently a foldable phone that breaks, the stock rises.
Russia kills civilians in Ukraine but is allowed into the elite sports arena and gets to sell diesel to the USA.
Have people stopped using their brains?
“Apple is once again the world’s most valuable company, writes Bloomberg. The stock fell 1.2 percent in Friday’s trading, giving a market value of just over 5 trillion dollars. The former number one Nvidia’s stock fell even more – 4.2 percent – landing at a market value just over 4.93 trillion dollars. This is the first time since last summer that Apple tops the list.”
https://omni.se/a/mKJRPL
Did the stock fall well?
Yes, they follow the Apple flock as they always have.
“America got a Russian president before they got a female president.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DeyNTIvt_j-/?exln=MTRhOGsxbTVqbGRtcg==
Yes, and Russia is the only country with two presidents.
Article in Dagens Nyheter about how Ukraine has used up all ammunition for the Swedish air defense system Robot 70 and is now desperately pleading for more deliveries.
There is an acute shortage of Robot 70, and Hennadij Redko, an officer at the air defense staff in eastern Ukraine, explains that they have “used up everything” and that every new system that arrives is sent directly to the front to be used.
Since the Russian bastards have started using new jet-powered Shahed drones on a large scale, which has radically changed the situation in the air and made the need for the portable Swedish missile system greater than ever.
Ukraine is currently forced to use expensive F-16 fighter jets and air-to-air missiles to shoot down the Russian drones. This is economically unsustainable in the long run, as a single air defense missile from a fighter jet costs many times more than the drone it combats. Automatic cannons are cheaper, but the ammunition for them is also in short supply.
Sweden has sent Robot 70 in several batches (spring 2023 and September 2024), and in February 2025 it was announced that the very latest variant is being sent directly from the manufacturer Saab. Lithuania has also donated the system.
https://www.dn.se/varlden/luftvarnschef-vadjar-om-svenska-vapnet-skjutit-slut-pa-allt/
MXT announces that his basement flooded after yesterday’s ditch digging.
He rented one of those small excavators and was going to remove a large stone that had been bothering him, but instead he dug up the main water pipe from Stockholm.
Maybe the new route of the Ostkustbanan Gävle – Kringlan has been drawn too close to MXT’s garage.
As a West Coast resident, I have always wondered why it is called the “East Coast”?
Are there perhaps many dairies on the east coast?🫤
Some risk of Tsunami in Gävle but by late afternoon he will probably be back.
The citizens have voted for a centrist government, actually right of center.
SD went down and they are having a serious public discussion internally right now.
The problem is probably C, which campaigned on something that cannot be implemented and now has a choice to make.
Another Tidö Agreement which has demonstrably worked well.
A weak S with fence-sitters to the left probably won’t be so good.
All other constellations work for me down to two RD in C switching to L 😀
Even an S government supported by the right of center.
There is a lot simmering beneath the surface in Europe and Ukraine has apparently chosen to test if we fully support them.
If we do not, we hold back money and material.
The USA has completely switched sides.
We’ll see what Europe does between now and the summer, many governments are facing a lot of problems right now.
The turmoil surrounding the Polish court could lead to a constitutional crisis – and has already begun to be exploited by Russia. This is what professor and Poland expert Barbara Törnquist-Plewa says. “I actually don’t see how this can be resolved.”
Image by William Hernvall
William Hernvall
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Published 13:51
Updated 14:15
– I can say this: I am not surprised that this is happening.
Poland expert Barbara Törnquist-Plewa describes last night’s turmoil in Warsaw as the result of a conflict that has been simmering in the country since 2015.
The background is that the Law and Justice party (PiS), when they took power eleven years ago, to a large extent also began to control the constitutional court. The PiS government questioned previous judicial appointments, appointed their own people to positions, and changed the rules for how the court should operate.
Politicized by both camps
When the current liberal government took office in 2023, it unsuccessfully tried to restore the court, says Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, who is a professor of East and Central European studies at Lund University.
– The constitutional court has been politicized by both camps, which have been in a very sharp conflict with each other for over a decade.
Turmoil outside the court last night.
Turmoil outside the court last night. Photo: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP
Earlier this year, the parliament chose six new judges for the court. But four of them were not accepted by the country’s president Karol Nawrocki, whose formal approval is required. Since then, two more judges have been chosen, one of whom has not been approved by the president. Nawrocki is close to PiS and is in open conflict with the government and Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
– The sitting liberal government has had several laws passed by parliament invalidated by this constitutional court, because it is politicized to the right. It became an untenable situation and now it seems that the liberals took a rather drastic measure.
The far right has grown
On Friday, the announcement came that the PiS-appointed court chairman Bogdan Swieczkowski, who used his power to prevent other judges from serving, was suspended from his work.
– As a result of this, the right in Poland, including the far right, has begun to gather in front of the building and protest, says Barbara Törnquist-Plewa.
She assesses that last night’s turmoil is also a result of the Polish far right, which is hostile to Tusk’s liberal government, having grown larger.
Barbara Törnquist-Plewa.
Barbara Törnquist-Plewa. Photo: Lund University
– It has grown not least because there is a lot of disinformation on social media in Poland that incites against immigrants, especially against Ukrainians, and now incites a lot against the sitting center-liberal government.
Exploited by Russia
The escalating quarrel between the prime minister and the president, who both accuse each other of breaking the law, could lead to a constitutional crisis, says Barbara Törnquist-Plewa.
– It is a very difficult knot to untie right now, I actually don’t see how this can be resolved.
Another concern is that a foreign power is exploiting the riots. Russia has already begun spreading propaganda linked to the event, she says.
– Russia has so far only begun spreading on social media that what is happening in Poland is a violation of democracy and a coup. They use harsh words. My concern is that they will activate the far-right circles, which seem to have been listening to the Russians for quite some time, even more.
https://www.svd.se/a/n9zmLa/efter-tumultet-risk-for-konstitutionell-kris
Fun that ryz worries about democracy. Do they have mirrors in kräklm?
The Baltics and Poland are EXTREMELY hard hit. Light years ahead of the rest of Europe.
That in Poland is an example of that.
Now MXT announces that when he was going to “repair” the main water pipe, he has permanently managed to cut the fiber cable to the whole of Norrland and is now running towards the train station.
There are suspicions that he has been working with Musk who is trying to sell Starlink in Gävle.
Now we support MXT with a helping hand in this difficult time
Yes Pehr, saw it directly on X, the whole apparatus is now running against Tusk.
I think the weekend will be very lively in Europe.
Many Spanish cities have prepared for violent protests and riots on Saturday. The group Blocus, which has previously used and exploited peaceful protests to incite violence and carry out looting, has once again urged people to take to the streets.
In both Catalonia and the Basque Country, shop owners have put up protections around their stores, writes El Periódico. In Valencia, people are advised to stay away from the central parts of the city, and authorities have called in extra police resources, according to Las Provincias.
Spanish ABC writes that hundreds of riot police will hold positions in the capital Madrid.
https://omni.se/a/VgEaAd