Ukraine

Today is the anniversary of the war in Ukraine. The Stop Putin page is still up and the Yale School of Management estimates over 1,000 companies have withdrawn from Russia since the conflict started.

If you’re looking for someplace to donate, check out the 1K Project.

Looking through my archives, here’s a rundown of things from the past year.

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March 6th

Hackers changed the call sign of Putin’s yacht to FCKPTN and updated its destination to HELL.

A Ukrainian sailor pulled the open the valves on his Russian tycoon boss’s luxury yacht and partially sank it in protest.

A Russian company that outsourced components of its EV chargers to a Ukrainian company found their entire network remotely shut down with endlessly scrolling anti-Putin/pro-Ukranian messages on the charger status screens.

High end restaurants in Moscow were flooded with one-star reviews on Google and other sites from people using the reviews to share news from the front lines and pleas to stop the war. Google Maps is also being used as a messaging platform as Ukrainians posted photos of captured Russian soldiers and destroyed homes.

Even the Taliban have asked Russia and Ukraine to resolve their conflict peacefully.

It’s tax season around the world and the Ukrainian government wants its citizens to know that you do not need to declare captured Russian tanks or military equipment as income on your taxes.

The business world continued to cut off ties with Putin’s Russia. Luxury brands such as Prada, Gucci, LVMH and even Canada Goose halted operations in Russia which should give the oligarch’s pause. Other actions include the International Judo Federation yanking Putin’s membership and World Taekwondo taking away his black belt. The wax museum in Paris is also talking about replacing Putin for Zelenskyy. All these and more are updated daily on the Punish Putin page.

March 13

Americans are using AirBnB to donate directly to Ukrainians in need by booking stays at homes in the war-torn country which they never intend to visit.

A communique disclosing the death of a Russian General was intercepted by Ukrainian forces after the Russian army blew up local cell towers, taking out the Russian encrypted communications system along with it forcing them to use unencrypted radio.

Hackers took over TV channels in Russia to insert independent coverage of the war In Ukraine during Russian coverage.

A restaurant that has laid claim to the cheesy dish of french fries and gravy called “Poutine” removed the name from its online branding. “In French, Vladimir Putin’s last name is written and pronounced “Poutine,”

A Slovak woman in Pennsylvania is stuck with 30,000 bottles of Russian vodka after the state banned the sale of Russian-sourced vodka.

March 20

Hard to find any good news from the front this week except the boycott which seems to be having the desired effect. One Russian man chained himself to his local McDonald’s to prevent it from closing. “Closing down is an act of hostility against me and my fellow citizens!” shouted the man as police dragged him away. U.S. drugmaker AbbVie, makers of the cosmetic anti-wrinkle cream Botox, will no longer do business in Russia cutting off their most famous customer, Putin.

Also, a website set up for UK residents to register their interest in hosting Ukrainian refugees, crashed as over 100,000 families signed up.

April 3

Russia announced it will suspend International Space Station cooperation until international sanctions are lifted.

The sanctions are starting to bite. By some calculations, Russia is running out of digital storage space.

The Russian military is unable to find spare parts for some of their more sophisticated weapons systems because those parts are made in factories that they’ve bombed, by people they’ve turned into refugees.

April 9

Ukrainians that have had their Apple devices stolen by looting Russian troops are using the “Find my iPhone” feature to track Russian troop movements.

April 24

According to Russian media, Monotype Imaging, the license holder of popular typefaces such as Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica has blocked access to its catalogue for users in Russia. Twitter users joked that all diplomatic communiques from Russia will now be sent in Comic Sans.

May 29

Things are about to get real for fish & chip fans in the United Kingdom. The National Federation of Fish Friers warned that supplies of sunflower oil (Ukraine) cod, and haddock (Russia) are in short supply and may cause up to a third of “chippies” to close up shop. Starbucks finally threw in the towel and is pulling out of Russia but more remain.

June 26

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov auctioned off his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and raised a record $103.5 million for Ukrainian child refugees. Dmitry was editor-in-chief of an independent Russian newspaper that was shut down by the Kremlin in March.

September 10

Russia, running out of munitions for their war in Ukraine, has placed an order with North Korea.

September 18

Reports came in that Russian troops, falling for the oldest trick in the book, unwittingly revealed their location to Ukrainian artillery via hackers posing as women hoping to hook up with them.