“The ruble is now an official currency in the southern Kherson region, alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia,” the AP reports.

“Residents there and in Russia-controlled parts of the Zaporizhzhia region are being offered expedited Russian passports. The Kremlin-installed administrations in both regions have talked about plans to become part of Russia.”

Washington Post: “Russian President Vladimir Putin is digging in for a long war of attrition over Ukraine and will be relentless in trying to use economic weapons, such as a blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, to whittle away Western support for Kyiv.”

“Politicians who spend all day shouting in Congress so they can spend all night shouting on cable, they’re peddling crack. Most of it to people who are already addicted, but also with some glittery hopes of finding a new, angry octogenarian out there.”

— Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), quoted by the National Review, slamming the demographics of cable television news.