Wagner s Russian Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin Reverses Course on Plan to Withdraw From Bakhmut – WSJ

The leader of Russian paramilitary group Wagner said he has reversed his decision to fully withdraw from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after pledges from Russian military officials to provide more ammunition and operational freedom to Wagner units that he said had sustained tens of thousands of casualties.

via www.wsj.com

So we spoke with Luke and Anna yesterday and they had a surprise for us — they’ve moved back to Ukraine. They’re currently living in Lviv, but they visited Anna’s parents in Kyiv for a couple of days, and I bet they eventually settle there. Couple of funny stories. Back in Kyiv, Luke reportedly went into full Smith mode. He checked the local air raid shelter, the routes to get there, and it sounds like he might have lectured Anna on the importance of getting there if the air raid siren, sounded, etc., etc. Then that night the air raid siren did sound, but of course Luke slept through it. Anna’s apartment is in the government sector of Kyiv and so is well protected against Russian missiles. Lots of Patriot anti-missile batteries I assume. Luke has a phone app he can use to more reliably awaken him and he’s going to use that. Mark Hamill does the voice in the app. “It’s all clear,” he says, “and my the Force be with you.”

Second story involves Swedish versus Ukrainian rail service. Sweden has what you would expect from a late stage socialist country. The trains definitely do not run on time. Indeed, you don’t really know how late your train is going to be because they fired all the train announcers. Lots of talk about how much Sweden sucks. Even their medical care. But Ukrainian trains — a train from Kherson to Kyiv was recently struck by artillery and the driver was wounded. Consequently he was forced to stop the train temporarily. He arrived in Kyiv 15 minutes late. Lots of little things that suggest Ukrainians believe in getting the job done, and not so much the “work-life balance” that is the byword in Sweden.

I don’t know what the counter-offensive will bring. I have high hopes though. The Ukrainians are an unusual people. Tough, stoic and patriotic. They remind me of the Israelis.

Luke is sending me two belts with hand made buckles. One with the Ukrainian Special Forces’ wolf and sword on it, and another with the axes and skull of a Carpathian mountain people who were, uh, active in the anti-Soviet resistance, and don’t like the Russians much either.