Putin Recognizes Donbass Republics, Sends Russian Military to 'Denazify' Ukraine

Mercouris said that Scholz panicked and ran to Putin. Putin said you can just take your Euros to the bank to swap them into Rubles, no sweat. Schulz said he cannot be seen circumventing the sanctions.
Putin said 'thats your problem'.
It was a nice chat of the Alexes: Inflation skyrockets in EU, as Putin squeezes Olaf Scholz & Germany faces severe recession
Talking about being between a rock and a hard place, on one side wrath of US and CIA and on the other wrath of people, not that I feel sorry though.
 
I don’t know what to make of it all yet. Maybe they are now trying hard to hide what Putin and co. really say and do?
Going as far as simply making things up about what Putin and co. are saying out of thin air, in the hopes that nobody notices it?
Or is Putin playing people like Scholz? Or are Scholz and others just too much in the wishful thinking dreamworld that they start to hear things from Putin that he never said? Or has Putin agreed on an exceptions for germany to use euros?
I would bet that he understood what Putin said but wanted to save its (or germany) face. I wouldn't be surprised that some countries officially declare that ... ok, we will not be paying in dollars but in euros, meaning officially that "we made an arrangement" with Russia, but in fact they would put in place a discret way to convert these euros or dollars to rubles and that the final payment will be indeed in rubles. I mean, states could use a third party bank, paying in euros or dollars, then the bank convert them to rubbles and performs the payment to Russia with these rubbles. I wonder then if this would be visible ? I assume it would be visible somewhere, but i have no knowledge or experience in currencies trading/exchanges. But there's something that could be visible during the coming days & week, at least, I apply here a logical consequence : if more rubles are bought & exchanged from now, the ruble should even more raise.
So, I'm wondering if this would not be a good move to open an account in rubles and convert some money to rubles (to convert them back in a few months) !? I do not know if it's easily possible in normal time, and if this would be authorized by our (european) countries at this moment !?

Here's a +/- 10y graph of Ruble VS EUR : (i selected 20y but it does not go much more than 10y)
1648898377139.png

Here's a shorter term one, last 6 months :
1648898680477.png

Let's observe how this will evolve during the coming weeks/months.
 
Kremlin site indeed may not open sometimes, but after several times it does open. Here's, for example, an English text of the decree.






I see that you already got your answer, but here's also a Bloomberg article that explains how they can both pay in euros and eventually in rubles.


So am I right to assume that russia, yet again, has given the europeans a golden opportunity to not let things collapse? I‘m not sure but it sounded to me like the russians only allow the euro to be transferred in that way, but not the dollar? The primary „target“ being the Pedro Dollar and while giving the europeans a „safe“ way out of the mess? But it almost sounds like russians even still except the dollar as payment when it is transferred into rubles in the proposed way?

It sounds like the primary winner here is the rouble, no matter if the europeans and other western countries accept paying in this way or not…

It also sounds like the russians will give all those unfriendly countries yet another chance to wise up and not let things collapse in this way. But notice that the russians seem to say clearly that they will completely switch to direct rouble payments if the westerns are still stupid enough to not even use that golden opportunity, that the russians just presented.
 
Buy silver (or gold if you can afford it) What Russia is planning is the financial equivalent of detonating a nuclear bomb. We are returning to real assets.


Here again I have the problem that I can’t find a reliable transcript of what Putin said (the full speech). Assuming he said something like the above, I‘m yet again wondering if he indirectly warns people/countries here to invest in such real assets because he knows that not only a „great reset“ of some sorts is planned by the PTB (or something like that happening as a result of their foolish actions) but significant (earth/reality?)-changes are upon us? Notice that Putin doesn’t say (assuming the above is correct) that one should invest in things like money (be it rubles, euros or dollars etc.) but in real things like gold, food and land. Why would he say that?
 
So am I right to assume that russia, yet again, has given the europeans a golden opportunity to not let things collapse? I‘m not sure but it sounded to me like the russians only allow the euro to be transferred in that way, but not the dollar? The primary „target“ being the Pedro Dollar and while giving the europeans a „safe“ way out of the mess? But it almost sounds like russians even still except the dollar as payment when it is transferred into rubles in the proposed way?

It sounds like the primary winner here is the rouble, no matter if the europeans and other western countries accept paying in this way or not…

It also sounds like the russians will give all those unfriendly countries yet another chance to wise up and not let things collapse in this way. But notice that the russians seem to say clearly that they will completely switch to direct rouble payments if the westerns are still stupid enough to not even use that golden opportunity, that the russians just presented.
Putin always does so. The first offer is very good and beneficial for both parties.
The second is less beneficial.
The third is nearly bad.
And the last one is the complete defeat.
Always was so.
 
Eva Bartlett's interview with Gonzalo Lira:


Most of the points have been covered in this thread or on NewsReal, but it's still a good overview. They talk Russian military strategy and how it's deliberately limited in order to avoid civilian casualties, the Kiev regime using civilians as human shield, how Jewish oligarchs fund neo-Nazi battalions, Western media propaganda, the parallels between Russian military operations in Syria and Ukraine and much more.
 
From Ukraine there is a Memo for participants in the "Russian-Ukrainian war."
ПАМ’ЯТКА Учасникам російсько-української війни ПРАВА, ОБОВ’ЯЗКИ ТА ГАРАНТІЇ СОЦІАЛЬНОГО ЗАХИСТУ
It was mentioned in an RT video from Mariupol. Based on the video and using a magnifier etc, I located a copy that can be downloaded in its latest edition from a Ukrainian website Пам’ятка учасникам російсько-української війни The intro on the page reads when translated:
Memo to the participants of the Russian-Ukrainian war
This guide was developed by the NGO 'Legal Hundred' together with experts from the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to provide servicemen with basic information on benefits, rights and social guarantees. providing recommendations on how to act in certain situations.
To download the memo, click on the yellow 'Download PDF' button.
This is the book where they tell the people how much they get depending on their military degree and what they accomplish in terms of attack. There are also chapters about what veterans get, and what people are paid if they are wounded and lose a limb or an ability. Similarly, it is explained who is subject to service, and who can get exemption from military service, but also clear information about the consequences of misbehaving, in terms of not doing what is expected from a soldier. The book I found on the site was issued on January 31, 2022 and supported by:

Screenshot 2022-04-02 135931.jpg

The Wiki about NED, shows:
1980s to present[edit]
An analysis by political scientist Sarah Bush found that while NED activity in the 1980s focused on direct challenges to autocrats by funding dissidents, opposition parties, and unions, the majority of 21st-century NED funding goes to technical programs that are less likely to challenge the status quo, with the proportion of NED funding for "relatively tame programs" increasing from roughly 20% of NED grants in 1986 to roughly 60% in 2009.[11] Political scientist Lindsey A. O'Rourke writes that, "Today, NED programs run in more than ninety countries. Although the number of US-backed democracy promotion programs have grown, most of today's programs pursue less aggressive objectives than their Cold War counterparts."[11]

The NED played a role in supporting the Arab Spring of 2011. For example, the April 6 Youth Movement in Egypt, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and individual Yemeni activist Entsar Qadhi received training and finances from the NED.[12][13] In Egypt, between 2008 and 2012, it also supported Colonel Omar Afifi Soliman, an exiled police officer who opposed both Hosni Mubarak's and Mohamed Morsi's presidencies, as well as secularist activist Esraa Abdel-Fatah's Egyptian Democratic Academy in 2011.[14]

Since 2004 it has granted US$8,758,300 to Uyghur groups including the World Uyghur Congress, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Campaign for Uyghurs and The Uyghur Transitional Justice Database Project.[15] It has also supported Chinese dissidents. For example, between 2005 and 2012 it gave small grants to the China Free Press NGO[16] and in 2019 it gave about $643,000 to civil society programmes in Hong Kong.[17] In response, in 2020 China imposed sanctions on NED president Carl Gershman and Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House.[18]

Funding and structure[edit]
NED is a grant-making foundation, distributing funds to private non-governmental organizations for promoting democracy abroad in around 90 countries. Half of NED's funding is allocated annually to four main U.S. organizations: the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS - associated with the AFL-CIO), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE -affiliated with the United States Chamber of Commerce), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI - associated with the Democratic Party (United States)), and the International Republican Institute (IRI, formerly known as the National Republican Institute for International Affairs and affiliated with the Republican Party (United States)).[19] The other half of NED's funding is awarded annually to hundreds of non-governmental organizations based abroad which apply for support.[20] In 2011, the Democratic and Republican Institutes channelled around $100 million a year through the NED.[12]
National Endowment for Democracy Deletes Records of Funding Projects in Ukraine - CovertAction Magazine by Jeremy Kuzmarov has, though this is only a part:
Deletion needed to preserve big lie of an unprovoked Russian invasion
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED)—a CIA offshoot founded in the early 1980s to advance “democracy promotion” initiatives around the world—has deleted all records of funding projects in Ukraine from their searchable “Awarded Grants Search” database.

The archived webpage captured February 25, 2022 from 14:53 shows that NED granted $22,394,281 in the form of 334 awards to Ukraine between 2014 to the present. The capture at 23:10 the same day shows “No results found” for Ukraine. As of right now, there are still “No results found” for Ukraine.

Searching using “Ukraine” as a keyword (as opposed to a “Project Country” in the original captures) yields “No results found.” Searching for the titles of the funded projects listed in the last “intact” web capture yields no results.

Additionally, the current database search criteria have been restricted, previously funding from 2014 to present could be searched, currently only 2017 to present is searchable per the drop-down menus. There are multiple news reports before February 25 corroborating this $22,394,281 amount.

Validating the Big Lie
The erasure of the NED’s records is necessary to validate the Biden administration’s big lie—echoed in the media—that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “unprovoked.”

In a recent statement of solidarity with Ukraine, the NED acknowledged that it had been a “proud partner of Ukraine’s civil society groups, media outlets, and human rights defenders since 1989—before the Ukrainian people declared independence in 1991—as they have confronted enormous challenges in building an independent and free country.”

NED President Duane Wilson admitted at an NED forum on Ukraine on March 4 that Ukraine was the NED’s fourth largest grant-making program around the world. Wilson said that “the endowment is proud that we have had Ukraine as a major partner since 1989, before independence, supporting Ukrainian civil society organizations.” [...]
 
A reminder of the event from 2014, during Operation Maidan. What a crazy sign ..

Doves attacked during Pope's prayer for peace in Ukraine

In what some are interpreting as an ominous sign for world peace, two white doves released from the Vatican have been attacked by two larger birds.

The doves were set free as a symbol of peace from a balcony overlooking St Peter's Square during Pope Francis' weekly Angelus prayers, held at noon every Sunday.

But moments later, a seagull and a black crow swooped down and attacked the doves, pecking at them repeatedly, as tens of thousands of people watched on.

The crow chased down the dove and grappled with it as the white bird tried to fly away.

For these videos, I don't know if they are real, but they are fun.
Putin and the birds
 

The power of language is magical to behold. Through the mere pronouncement of words, people can be persuaded to do what they would never have thought to do, left to their own devices. The playbook with the most success in this regard is that of war. When people are “informed” that they and their families are in mortal danger, they can and often will acquiesce to any and all policies which government authorities claim to be necessary in order to protect them.

Young people can be coaxed into killing complete strangers who never did anything personally to them. Citizens can be brainwashed to believe that suitably labeled persons can and indeed must be denied any and all human rights. When the stakes are claimed to be life and death, even apparently intelligent people can be goaded to accept that the mere possession of a divergent opinion is evil, and the expression of dissent a crime. The use of military weapons to execute obviously innocent, entirely innocuous civilians, including children, suddenly becomes permissible, so long as the victims have been labeled collateral damage. All any of this takes is to identify “the enemy” as evil.
 

WAR IN UKRAINE DAY 36: RUSSIAN WITHDRAWAL FROM KIEV, REINFORCEMENT IN DONBASS​

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War In Ukraine Day 36: Russian Withdrawal From Kiev, Reinforcement In Donbass
TOS-1A “Solntsepek” captured by the AFU.
The main military developments of the last days of fighting in Ukraine were the partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev and Chernihiv regions and their advance in the East of the country, taking full control of the strategically important town of Izyum in the Kharkiv region.
In the Kiev region, in the North-Western direction from the capital, the AFU took control of several towns, where fierce fighting continued for weeks. The Kiev grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed control over the cities of Borodyanka, Bucha, Vorzen, Gostomel, Ivankov.

War In Ukraine Day 36: Russian Withdrawal From Kiev, Reinforcement In Donbass
Illustrative Image
The Ukrainian Armed Forces unblocked the Kiev-Zhytomyr highway as well.
The main front line in the north-West of the capital probably remains in the Gostomel-Bucha-Oziora area. On April 1, the Russian MoD reported that airborne and marine units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation took full control of the five-kilometers long territory from the Irpen river towards Kiev.
” Units of the Russian airborne troops in cooperation with marines during a special military operation in Ukraine have successfully deterred enemy forces in the Gostomel-Bucha-Oziora area for five days. As a result, the marines were able to take full control of the territory from the Irpen river towards Kiev with a total length of five kilometers.” – the report reads.

To the east of Kiev, the front line has moved about 130 km away from the Ukrainian capital and now lies near the city of Priluki in the Chernihiv region.
The decision to reduce its military operations in the Kiev region was presented by the Russian side as a concession to Kiev aimed at the facilitation of the negotiation process between the two sides. The main goal of reducing the Russian military contingent in the Kiev and Chernihiv regions is certainly the strengthening of the Russian and L/DPR groupings in the Donbas region.
The decision to partially withdraw from the Kiev region is also due to the difficulties faced by Russian forces near the Ukrainian capital.
Russian troops suffered significant difficulties with logistics in this region. Russian soldiers stayed in field conditions for weeks, and had no opportunity to gain a foothold in the heavily destroyed towns in the suburbs of the capital after the fighting.
All supplies were carried out from the territory of Belarus, through the Chernobyl region, which is located hundreds of kilometers from the front lines. Ivankov was the main supply point of the Russian grouping to the west of Kiev. The advance of the Russian troops faced stiff resistance from the AFU, significant losses were suffered.
Since most of the bridges across the Dnieper River were destroyed or were located in the deep rear in the north, there were almost no communications established between Russian groupings on different banks of the Dnieper River.
In the east of the capital, logistic supplies also affected Russian warfare. Russian troops established control over the Kiev-Sumy highway for hundreds of kilometers but nearby areas were not secured. Russian columns were regularly subjected to flank attacks.
Hours after the Russian ministry of Defence proclaimed the partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev region, the capital faced the most fierce artillery fire exchange. The AFU shelled Russian forces when they were leaving, and Russian artillery returned fire. As a result, civilians who remained in these areas suffered.
The videos from Bucha are now shared online:

Russian military columns are spotted heading towards the Eastern Ukraine. The both sides are reinforcing their positions in Eastern Ukraine. So far, the situation on the front lines remains almost unchanged, except somi minor changes in the hotspots. Positional clashes continue.

The governor of the Sumy region said that Russian troops have begun to strengthen control over the territory of the region.
In recent days, the strategic success achieved by the Russian forces was the securing of the town of Izyum, where fierce fighting continued for several weeks, especially in the southern part of the town. Russian servicemen delivered humanitarian aid to the town of Izyum for the first time since the beginning of the Russian special military operation. Accompanied by the Military Police of the Russian Armed Forces, the humanitarian aid included more than 45 tonnes of supplies.

Russian strikes with missiles from the 9K720 Iskander-M missile system on the fortification of the Ukrainian army in the vicinity of Izyum in the Kharkiv region:
In the south of the Kharkiv region, according to some local reports, the AFU are strengthening their positions near Barvenkovo, south-west of Izyum. The village is one of the potential directions of the Russian advance in the region, along with Slavyansk and Lozova to the south-east.
Earlier, clashes were reported near the village of Gusarovka located between Izyum and Barvenkovo. The village is under the AFU control.
On the Donbass front lines, fierce fighting between the units of the armed forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the AFU continue in the town of Novobakhmutovka to the north of Avdiivka. Units of the Ukrainian 25th Separate Airborne Brigade are slowly retreating. During the night, up to 40 Nationalists, a tank platoon and 2 motorised infantry platoons, as well as a mortar battery, were destroyed in this area, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence. DPR forces control most of the territory.
In the town Avdiivka, the AFU take their time to reinforce their positions, preparing for defence.
About 35% of the territory of the town of Maryinka were reportedly taken under the DPR control days after the street fighting broke out in the town. One of the most heavily fortified positions were established in the area.
Fierce clashes continue near Popasna. No advance were reported by any side.
In the city of Mariupol, some strategic advances were claimed by the DPR. Nationalist forces were divided into three smaller groupings. The main stronghold of the Azov regiment was reportedly blockaded. The two other centers of resistance are the city central region and the city port located to the west of Azovstal and which was cut off by the joint Russian, DPR forces. The major assault of Azovstal may be launched in the coming days, if not on April 2.On April 1, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, gave the Azov fighters one day to surrender.

The front lines in the southern regions in Ukraine are not calm.
On April 1, units of the Russian Armed Forces have completed the mopping-up of Urozhainoe from nationalists and are fighting with the Ukrainian 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade for the capture of Oktyabr state farm.
Onyx high-precision cruise missiles of Bastion coastal missile system have destroyed the headquarters of a group of Ukrainian troops near Shakhterskoe. Up to 40 personnel, 5 armoured vehicles and vehicles of various purposes were destroyed.
The main resistance of the AFU to Russian forces is provided on the borders of the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. So far, with no significant successes.
The Russian units are reinforcing their positions near the town of Mykolaiv. It was reported that the AFU were amassing in the are of Dneprovskiy Liman to the south of Mykolaiv, near the city of Kherson.
Russian forces took control over the village of Alexandrovka in the area. So far, no fierce clashes were reported in the region, the AFU offensive is likely yet to come.
In the Kherson region, the security operations of Russian forces continue. The Russian military demilitarized the headquarters of the territorial defense of Ukraine in one of the schools in the Kherson region.

Meanwhile, Russian missiles continue destruction of military facilities in Ukraine.
Early on April 2, high-precision long-range air-based and sea-based weapons destroyed gasoline and diesel fuel storages at the Kremenchuk oil refinery, from which Ukrainian troops in central and eastern parts of the country had been supplied.
The Kremenchuk oil refinery was claimed to be last large refinery in Ukraine, which processed about 18 million tons of oil per year.
Another large Shebelinsky oil refinery is located near Kharkiv. It was stopped on February 26 because of the fighting. However, it was not destroyed, so the work there may resume soon. The capacity of the Shebelensky refinery is only 1 million tons of fuel per year.
High-precision air-based missiles have disabled military airfields in Poltava and Dnepropetrovsk. It is reported that at least 4 missiles hit at the airfield and part of the air defense in Poltava.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, Russian air defence means have shot down two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters near Sumy and Urozhainoe.
On April 1, it was claimed that Russian air defence means have shot down 1 Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter near Gulyai Pole and 4 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Novomikhailovka, Izyum and Kharkov.
The Russian Mi-28N, was destroyed on April 1. The helicopter pilots survived.

On 1 April, at around 5am Moscow time, two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters entered Russian airspace at an extremely low altitude. Manoeuvring to advantage of terrain folds, Ukrainian helicopters launched a missile attack on a civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of Belgorod. As a result of the hits, some of the tanks were damaged and ignited.
Only civilian vehicles were supplied with fuel from this facility. The oil depot has no relation to the Russian Armed Forces.
Strikes of the AFU on the civilian areas in the Belgorod region were silenced by the Russian Ministry of Defence and the media. No casualties or damage were reported.

On April 1, an exchange of prisoners took place in the Zaporozhye region. 86 servicemen, including 15 female servicemen, were returned to the Ukrainian side. The number of prisoners returned to the Russian side is unknown.
 
So am I right to assume that russia, yet again, is giving the europeans a golden opportunity to not let things collapse?

Looks this way. It's because for Russia Europe is a sort of "extended area of influence". And also because right now US is setting up Europe for a fall. Basically Europe will be the first to be hit hard by the economic crisis, while US will hold on for longer. And in Putin's eyes, he would prefer Europe as a stable ally (on equal terms).

Therefore Putin does give Europe every opportunity not to collapse.

If you know Russian, you can watch these 3 videos. Here, here, and here. It's an interview with an analyst called Michail Muraviev. Apparently he is a well known analyst who "disappeared" from the net for a decade more or less, and now returned. His analysis got high praise from Sergey Glazyev, an economist. who hopefully at some point will replace Nabiulinna (the head of the Central Bank).

If you don't know Russian, you can use the autotranslate. The first video is pretty much introductory, the main points are in the next videos. He also says similar things to what another economist, Khazin, has been saying for awhile now.
 
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