Charles McPhedran
@charliekreuz
Australian journalist and filmmaker between Berlin and Kyiv. Focused on spies, special forces, and why justice is so rarely served. Check out my BBC Radio 4 documentary, “Putin’s Blood Feud” (UK VPN)
news.un.org/en/story/202... Your statements are directly contradicted by the UN’s investigators. Who’s right?
A Giuliani has been running the White House’s task force on the World Cup? Stunned that it has turned into a corrupt mess.
Australia’s ambassador to Ukraine at one site devastated in yesterday’s massive attack. (Wouldn’t it be great if there were Australian corries there too? But no outlet will stump up for one.)
Georgia’s president, Dima Medvedev, and one of the vice chairs of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress, He Wei, were also there.
Yet he’s also representing Putin at Khamenei’s funeral today. How to reconcile the two?
Both the London Telegraph and The Guardian are now reporting warnings about a Russian escalation on NATO’s eastern flank:
Enjoyed this moment, where he plays the role of a put-upon average Canadian taxpayer. (AFAIK, he lives in Australia.)
Kyle is one of the reasons that Australians still have any idea at all about Russia, despite years of university and media neglect. Very sad to learn of his passing. I was lucky to learn just a bit of his vast knowledge from him late in his life.
It’s never been as hot as it is right now in Berlin. There has simply been no need in this city:
Amusing Tasmanian political sketch from the ABC—as the government and opposition tussle over whether “mate” is parliamentary language. (And if it is, what about “old mate?”) www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...
Rights defenders highlight some really heartbreaking stories in their press release: ccl.org.ua/en/news/at-l...
Robinson and Dmitriev were stoking the race riots in Belfast last week too.
The Petrivka book market has also suffered massive damage in the attack on Kyiv. The historic market housed books that were generations old. A tragic night for the city’s cultural heritage.
Counterpoint to the conventional wisdom about her supposed amazing skills from economist Konstantin Sonin on X. (I am not enough of an expert to judge, but suspect he’s overcorrecting.)
General Flynn never met a Russian disinfo op he didn’t want to marry
Report: Russia’s central bank chief ‘delivers ultimatum to Putin’, calls in sick: meduza.io/en/feature/2...
The AfD remains firmly on the Moscow line, less an independent party than a branch of United Russia.
Selections from a new “East German”-themed café’s menu. Its palette: Brown and browner. No veggie options, either. The AfD’s rise seems to have coincided with a resurgence in “Ostalgie”. There’s now a new East German newspaper too. An uncanny resurrection for a country that died decades ago. 🥴
Fascinated by whether Sofia Zakharova at the Presidential Administration signs off on these masterpieces—or is she also out to lunch on Friday? Anyone seen a good investigation on this account?