Bloomberg published an analysis of Putin’s “new weapon of mass disruption” – the Kazah oil. Last week the Russian court ordered the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to halt shipments for 30 days over “documentary violations”. 90% of crude that goes through the facility comes from Kazakhstan, and two-thirds of the pipeline’s export typically goes to Europe. Therefore, the pause in CPC operation would remove 1.5 million barrels of crude per day from the global oil market. As Libya, another major exporter of crude oil to Europe, is providing nearly half of last year’s average due to unrest in the country, the oil crisis in Europe is far from over. As Kremlin clearly controls courts in Russia, there is little hope for a successful CPC’s appeal next week. And even if the ban is overturned, writes Bloomberg, Russia sent a clear message that it can disrupt crude at the snap of a finger.
Former US Senators Joe Lieberman and Gordon Humphrey wrote an op-ed on The Hill urging to open the new front against Putin inside Russia. According to Senators, the U.S shall launch a powerful truth outreach program to “separate Russians from their corrupt, despotic, and reckless overlord”. Information breakthrough to the Soviet Union, writes the op-ed, played a vital role in West’s victory in the Cold War, and it is time to revive the effort. The modern world presents multiple opportunities for advocacy and awareness-raising, and President Biden shall exercise them, as even despite Roskomnadzor censorship, many Russians have access to VPNs. Lieberman and Humphrey believe such effort should be coordinated under the National Security Council through a newly established focal point – a Director of Freedom Advocacy.
Associated Press writes about the community of Ukrainian Muslims and how the war impacted their lives. The mosque in Kostiantynivka is the last remaining operational mosque in Ukrainian-controlled territory in Donbas. Around 30 other mosques in the area are now in the hands of Russians. Before the full-scale invasion, there used to be several hundred Muslims in Kostiantynivka, many of whom fled their homes, and for many, it was the second time. AP talked to Mufti Said Ismahilov – one of the Muslim spiritual leaders in Ukraine. He decided to fight in this war. He sees his work as a military driver for paramedics evacuating the wounded as a continuation of his spiritual duty before Allah. He considers Russian Muslims invading Ukraine, including Chechen battalions, criminals. Olha Bashei, a Kyiv paramedic who converted to Islam in 2015, says she thinks this war her “jihad” and that Islam helps her perform her duty.