I enjoy your boring news 🙂

My understanding is that Russia's still in SWIFT but the decision to block them will come soon. Germany's been particularly cautious in making these decisions but they appear to have turned a corner recently.

It was good to see the additional support being promised yesterday - the practicalities of how this will happen are things that could cause lethal delays but the signs and intent are there.

I wonder if many countries delayed their support with the expectation that Ukraine would instantly lose the war and didn't want to put themselves in a position where they've said something that would enrage Putin without helping Ukraine. But the resistance Ukraine has shown has made them realise that they can do the right thing and perhaps the Ukraine can remain independent and free from liberation.

It's also possible that they were also waiting to see if the Ukrainian people would welcome Russia. Once so many took a gun to fight, it was clear that Russia wasn't welcome.

There are many fears surrounding Putin. The war has not gone as easily as he had hoped. He has recruited the Chechen rebels who he can now use to inflict heinous human rights abuses that he can distance himself from. Not to mention the expectation that nuclear and chemical weapons will be deployed as he becomes increasingly desperate. He has a history of using illegal chemical weapons on his enemies and as an old man who has lost so much, it wouldn't come as a great surprise for him to literally go nuclear.