Update Mar-Apr 2023

I want to start with an update of what has been going on in the city:

Mar 11th: An American, nuclear capable plane simulated a nuclear attack on the city. 

Plane type:  B-52H Stratofortress

Call sign:  NOBLE61

I understand that the US is a provocative jerk which does this type of thing all the time, but it bothers me that it doesn't attract more news coverage or more significance, because it is a big deal and very dangerous. We are lucky that Russia (and China) are used to this by now and know not to respond.

Why this is important: 

• To remember who is threatening whom with nuclear weapons -- Russia and China have a no-first-use policy, with Russia emphasising that a nuclear war can't be won and must never be fought, while the US has a policy of "strategic ambiguity" and a policy of threatening and sanctioning (also an act of war) nuclear powers which it can't control (and by control, I mean force into submission). 
• To prevent from normalising all of America's provocative nonsense.

Based on my reading, the plane was broadcasting its location (which is required for civilian airplanes, but the signal is often turned off if a military plane or drone is attacking a target or spying on a target). This means that it was an open threat, not a planned attack. 

[Scott Ritter -- start at 37:45]

The plane flew over the Baltic states, so they agreed to this. From what I read, Finland also agreed. The Baltic states have for a long time been more interested in hurting Russia and Russians than protecting their people, but Finland only started being so stupid recently. Note that from St. Petersburg to Tallin or Helsinki is a 6-7 hour drive, not accounting for customs, with the border on the half-way point, so the countries agreeing to this are putting themselves at risk, not only for a counter-attack, but also from the nuclear fallout. 

Apr 2nd: Terrorist attack  

[Scott Ritter]

I was in my apartment when this happened, and rarely go to that island anyways.

My understanding is the individual who did the attack was a Russian liberal taking orders from Ukrainians. She may not understand very much about what she was doing. The target was a blogger from Donbass. My teacher told me that the target was actually a con artist and not a real military journalist. She used to read his work and became disillusioned by it, and she did actually look into his background. Whatever the complete story, this was still a Ukrainian terrorist attack on Russian soil. 

Apr 4th: Finland joining NATO

[Scott Ritter -- start at 27 min]

I don't really have much to add. I am not happy about this, but I can't do anything but to hope that the Finns realise that this is bad and reverse the decision. One thing to keep in mind is that the Finns sided with the Nazis in the blockade of Leningrad, probably because Stalin tried to retake Finland after it broke free from the Russian Empire during the revolution. After the war, Finland and the Soviet Union agreed that Finland would be neutral and independent.

From what I know, before the pandemic people would regularly cross the border to go shopping. When I was in PSI the Finn I talked to had a positive attitude towards neutrality. It is possible that the people are not so interested in joining NATO as the government.

Personal update

I bought an apartment in St. Petersburg. This has been consuming all of my time and energy. I will post photos in the next couple of days.