A Wagner Group tank get stuck in a Circus at Rostov
It’s now Monday June 19th, 2023. Kia ora!
Today the weekly covid 19 report was published, and it reads as follows: there were 8544 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Aotearoa in the week to midnight on Sunday, and a further 39 deaths attributed to the virus. The total number of deaths attributed to the virus in New Zealand is now 3077. In addition, there were 246 cases in hospital at midnight on Sunday with six in intensive care.
The seven-day rolling average of cases was 1217.
Last week, 9883 new Covid-19 cases were reported and a further 37 deaths were attributed to the virus.
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to church, but the day was otherwise very boring. At church they want to revive Dinners (or Lunches) for 8; I think it’s a nice idea, but why 8 and not 6, I wonder? Hosting 6 people would be far more practical for someone like me. I’d struggle to find 8 dining chairs, assuming I’d persuaded JD to clear the dining table, and assuming I’d have the energy to set it. The idea is that one hosts a gathering, or is a guest and advises what one can bring, bearing dietary issues in mind. Then there’s the issue of parking, and the fact that many are reluctant to go out at night. I’m glad I’m not the coordinator!
I am reading Huia, Come Home, by J Ruka, and although I’m reading it slowly, it’s shocking to learn in more detail about some of the wrongs Māori people have suffered under colonisation.
This morning I went to see November, another French Film Festival film at the Penthouse. This film was about the police investigation of the Bataclan and other terrorist incidents in Paris in November 2015. I remember at the time being shocked by these incidents, which took place at the Bataclan stadium and at several bars. We were due to fly to Scotland and visit Paris in the middle of 2016, so it was all very scary.
It’s now Thursday June 22nd.
On Tuesday the weekly Bible Study was cancelled, but it was a beautiful fine day. JD and I went out to Days Bay for lunch, and it was absolutely delicious. I had a whitebait omelette, with salad and chips, and we shared a chocolate mousse with cherry compȏte and fig and honey ice cream. I also had an aperol spritz (very daring), and we had coffee to finish. It was lovely to look out over the harbour, which was unusually calm. We would have gone around to the Rona Gallery at Eastbourne, but they’re building a seawall out there, and there are multiple stops on the road to Eastbourne.
On Wednesday I got up early to go to hymn singing, and then attended a Te Reo Māori class at the Khandallah Community Centre afterwards. I had left the sheet I was learning at home! Never mind, I got another. The word I was learning was “paki”, meaning fine. Afterwards I talked to an old friend, and almost missed my bus at 11:30 am.
I caught the bus into the Wellington Railway Station, and then thought I should be a good person and cross the road safely. I walked to the controlled crossing at the bottom of Mulgrave Street, but sadly the footpath on the other side of the road was unfinished, and I ended up crossing in front of several buses. Accordingly I missed a #83 bus to Eastbourne, and had to wait almost 24 minutes for another.
Eventually I caught a bus which conveniently stopped at the intersection of Jackson Street with Beach Street, but alas I now didn’t have time to go to Caffiend. At the Lighthouse Petone, they were very busy. With my pre-booked ticket, I got a free coffee (an oat milk latté, my new favourite thing); I ordered a small muffin as well, and went to sit at a messy table which looked empty. This seemed to be the only place to sit, and I saw that there was food and drink for two other people, but they never turned up. The Lighthouse at Petone hasn’t really got their food offerings sorted out, in my view; Unusually, their muffin was small, which is great if you’re having morning tea, but not great for lunch.
In the theatre, which was Cinema 4, upstairs, there weren’t too many people. There were easy chairs and tables upstairs: I wonder if wait people will bring food and coffee up there? Sadly, I did not really enjoy the movie, Masquerade, although it was the lead movie of the French Film Festival. It was quite long, too, at 136 minutes. Afterwards, I walked to the bus stop, I but had to wait several minutes for a bus. Eventually I caught a bus to Wellington Railway Station, crossed the road(!) to catch a bus to the northern suburbs, and then caught the shuttle home. Although it wasn’t late, it was already quite cold. By the time I got home, I was really hungry, and used up the last of the bread having a peanut butter and cheese sandwich.
This morning I went to my other singing session at the Khandallah Town Hall. It went well this morning, and thankfully I didn’t get a husky voice.
It’s now Friday June 23rd.
In the past I had a someone coming from Access on a Friday; today I think that ACC have approved reinstatement of my help. They don’t give full names, of course; only christian names and an 0800 number. Builders came to our house to start doing some work; we were due in Seatoun at my cousin’s house for morning coffee. We arrived late, of course, but we had a lovely time, and we picked up the china she’d bought for me at a hospice shop. After we got back, we had lunch at the local café, sharing a yummy pizza, and enjoying oat milk lattés. They are delicious, even without sugar: the café was very busy, and there was only Equal sweetener on our table, or the ones next to us.
Last night I got cramp, and I took two Sinemet tablets. Unfortunately, like on the flight back from Taipei, I felt very sick afterwards. This lasted several hours and I felt quite unpleasant. I looked up and nausea is sadly one of the side effects of this medication,
We watched a new movie on Neon called Joyride, starring the wonderful Olivia Coleman. It was set in Ireland, and I found it charming. Apparently it’s coming to cinemas here.
It’s now Sunday June 25th.
There’s big news out of Russia. As off about midday yesterday our time, Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group of mercenary soldiers, who have been fighting in Ukraine, criticised (again) the Russian Defence Minister and Putin’s war aims in Ukraine. He then withdrew his troops from Ukraine to a nearby city in Russia, Rostov-on-Don, and threatened a march on Moscow. Putin, clearly rattled, called him a traitor. The world held its breath and wondered, firstly, how much of this news is true, and secondly, what are the next steps, and what are the implications of this: will there be a civil war in Russia? Is Putin weak as a leader, and, if so, how weak? Prigozhin is known to be an excitable character. So it’s all quite exciting, and has thrown news of Ukraine’s much vaunted Spring Offensive on the back burner. Commander Starsky was on Times Radio yesterday, stopping mid-interview to take a call from his commanding officer; while they are upbeat, Ukrainian soldiers would be happy, I think, to take a short break and get some sleep. Everything goes on hold as we wait to see who will jump and how they will jump. What will the Chechnyan commander Kadyrov, do? Why has Lukashenko of Belarus brokered a peace deal between Putin and Prigozhin? (Putin has dropped charges). It’s been announced that Wagner troops will not march of Moscow after all. Will Chairman Xi of China take back Vladivostok? And last, but certainly not least, why is MSNBC’s foreign correspondent Richard Engel reporting from Taipei, and not Ukraine or Russia, seeing that I’ve never heard him report from anywhere but Ukraine/ Russia? Whatever is he doing in Taipei? You heard me asking first. This afternoon I listened to an emergency podcast from The Rest is Politics. That was really interesting. Other than that, it seems to be a sleepy Sunday/weekend in the News media,
It’s now Monday June 26th.
It’s fine and not too cold here, although rain was predicted; I am being very lazy this morning and not going to my Monday exercise class. To tell the truth, it’s become so popular that entry is restricted to a “first come, first served basis”. It’s not the easiest place to get to, either. I plan to catch up with friends and go for a walk. In the meantime, I’ve been listening to and watching lots of Youtube videos discussing the situation in Russia, after the Wagner group uprising. It seems that Prigozhin has gone to Belarus, Lukashenko having brokered some deal with Putin; he really should get some good security! BBC4 waxed eloquent quoting Shakespeare and history; Putin seems to have been really rattled by this semi-coup attempt. The world waits and wonders to see what will happen next.
The weekly Covid 19 report was published, and it reads as follows: there were 7702 new cases Covid-19 reported in Aotearoa in the week to midnight on Sunday, and a further 40 deaths attributed to the virus. The total number of deaths attributed to the virus in New Zealand is now 3117.
In addition, there were 181 cases in hospital at midnight on Sunday with five in intensive care. The seven-day rolling average of cases was 1096.
Last week, 8544 new Covid-19 cases were reported and a further 39 deaths were attributed to the virus.
So it’s still with us, although the number of new cases officially reported is going down at last; there are still too many deaths each week, and still a large number in hospital. We don’t seem to turn a hair now at this news; and people I know who’ve hung out for years now are getting the virus. We’re not told how many new infections are reinfections.
It’s now Tuesday June 27th.
It’s been reported that Wagner Group mercenaries shot down seven Russian aircraft and killed 13 airmen during the failed coup attempt, according to Russian military bloggers.
Footage shared widely on social media after the armed rebellion against Moscow appeared to show the wreckage of a Russian Air Force Ilyushin-22 in a rural area of southern Russia.
The aircraft, most likely to have been used as an airborne command and communications centre, was allegedly shot down by an air defence system deployed by Wagner forces.
All 10 of its crew were killed in the crash, according to Moscow Calling, a Russian Telegram channel with almost 90,000 followers.
Monday wasn’t a great day, but I went to Bible Study on Tuesday morning, and then into town, to take advantage of Farmer’s Lingerie sale, where if you bought one item, the second was half-price. So I had fun trying things on. Thankfully the fitting rooms weren’t busy and I wasn’t hurried.
On Wednesday I went to hymn singing, and then saw two French Film Festival films at the Lighthouse cinema in Wigan St. This was adventurous, but it was the last day of the film festival, and both films were in the same place, and hey, I got there safely! They gave me a free caffé latté with oat milk, although I had to wait for it till after the film started! I managed to carry it into the cinema without spilling it, too! The film was Maria into Life, and I really enjoyed it – probably more than any other French movie of this festival. The woman playing Maria became more and more beautiful, and the dialogue was great too. I’ll see it again if it comes on general release.
Afterwards I booked to see Simone, Woman of the Century, which was in the same theatre, about 15 minutes later. I had a small savoury muffin in between, and bought a cold drink. I didn’t enjoy this film nearly as much. While I admire Simone Veil, the sound was very loud and the movie was quite intense. I feel deeply for her, losing most of her family, but I found her to be a very angry woman. I would have left the film, but no one else went out, and I would have had to walk past all the other people in the row, so I stayed. Afterwards I went to Kaffee Eis, where I had another latté with oat milk, and something to eat, before catching a No. 1 bus to the northern suburbs.
The bus was very slow coming up the Ngauranga Gorge: it seemed there had been an accident further north on SH1, as we saw several emergency vehicles going past. Eventually we got to the Johnsonville Library, and thankfully the No. 19 bus was right behind, so they coordinated, again. I had been texting JD but he had had no news of there being an accident.
Yesterday (Thursday) was the final session for my Thursday singing. In the morning we had a plumber and an electrician due to come, so there was some disruption. There was a leak in the shower to be fixed; thankfully I managed to use it before it was fixed. I had made a list for the sparky, thankfully, as there were several small jobs required. There weren’t as many of us at singing as usual, but it was lovely, of course, and then we had a shared catered lunch afterwards.
It’s now Friday June 30th.
I’ve listened to many discussions about events in Russia, with Prigozhin’s failed mutiny, and what it may mean, and what may happen next. One of the best was a Lawfare podcast, but there was a good discussion on the Bulwark’s Next Level podcast with Alexander Vindman and Tim Miller and JVL. There’ve also been many useful discussions on Times Radio. But this talk of Prigozhin “Crossing the Rubicon” strikes me as ridiculous. While Julius Caesar was a genocidal thug, comparing him to Prigozhin is not appropriate. It’s good to know some history, I think, but comparisons are not always useful. don’t think that Prigozhin was after more power; did his somewhat simplistic plan get out of hand? Prigozhin was protesting with reason about the way the war was being conducted, and the reasons for the war. Why was there no opposition to his marching on Rostov, where the Wagner Group were welcomed with open arms? What is the price of disloyalty to Putin? What’s Lukashenko’s role in all this? Where are the Wagner Group soldiers now? It seems that Prigozhin was heading for Moscow via Voronezh, and then stopped.
One thing for certain: Putin looks weak as a result of his inaction. It seems that Russian defence/security forces are as useless and disorganised as the armed forces, as shown in their inability to take Ukraine more than a year after Putin’s invasion (sorry, Special Military Action). Most us thought they were very efficient and Ukraine didn’t stand much of a chance. They’ve surprised us all with how innovative and how brave and unified they’ve been.
Another outcome: a severe dent in Russian forces’ ability to win their war in Ukraine. Who will fight? Apparently before Prigozhin’s failed mutiny soldiers of the Wagner group were asked to join the regular army. That can’t have been a popular option. Today General Surovikin (General “Armageddon” in popular parlance), has disappeared, perhaps for questioning? He likes military uniforms, it seems.
I’ll leave it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
Classic Barbarian 