The Three Things (ed. 18)--the letters edition; the vory v zakone and the Ukrainian war update...

That's right, the Three Things is back with the 18th segment of the show, courtesy of The Corners (www.thecorners.pl) and CDDI (cddi.pl), not to mention your hose, Polish-licensed detective and risk intel investigator Preston Smith. This week's edition features the long-expected "letters segment," as well as a focus on those baddest of the bad, the vory v zakone. This is followed by the war in Ukraine update--with a glance at the maps and latest developments.

The Three Things focuses on organized crime, politics, spy intrigue and more in Central and Eastern Europe. Each segment lasts from 15-20 minutes (or more), and time stamps are featured below:

3:12 The First Thing--i.e. the letters. Yes, some of you have written in (to various accounts), and Yours Truly addresses a subset of the most interesting (and least offensive) letters to... Yours Truly.
30:11 The Second Thing a.k.a. the vory v zakone primer--this is a short history of the infamous thieves-in-law organization, with a bit of backstory and a recent bust thrown in for good measure.
50:44 The War in Ukraine Update--the Ukrainians are on the defensive in Kupiansk and Avdiivka (and not only), but they are still pushing down in Krynki. The stalemate may be on... or not.

Cool links:
The Financial Times article on drug smugglers commandeering logistics chains: https://www.ft.com/content/ec3081d6-b5eb-4886-9e01-7e58b0ef1911
Statista and tanks supplied to Ukraine: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1364974/ukraine-military-aid-tanks/

Photo attributions:

Photo of Ded Hasan/Khasan by Photo of Usoyan by unknown - Original publication: unknownImmediate source: http://www.ambebi.ge/sazogadoeba/69734-tseronisis-quchaze-mdebare-aslan-usoianis-sakhlshi-dilidan-panashvidi-mimdinareobda.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48688229
Scam drawing byJoseph Morewodd Staniforth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Thief by George Fitzmaurice Productions / First National Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by SakartvelosGaumarjos, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kremlin photo by A.Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ukrainian refugees Kamil Czaiński, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gulag by Antonu, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Gulag map by Trinitrix, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gulag photo by missyleone from Everett, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Artillery photo by Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

All maps by DeepState UA.