Events in Russia


Putin recently addressed the Federal Security Services Board, stating:

We are up against the so-called policy of containing Russia. This is not about competition, which is a natural thing for international relations. This is about a consistent and quite aggressive policy aimed at disrupting our development, slowing it down, creating problems along the outer perimeter, triggering domestic instability, undermining the values that unite Russian society, and ultimately to weaken Russia and put it under external control, just the way we are witnessing it transpire in some countries in the post-Soviet space.

To be expected, Putin is acutely aware of the PTB putting their hand up Biden's spine to puppet him into being the face of anti-Russia aggression. But in this article, Putin also places the current struggle in the long view of the historical coming-into-being of Russia as it is today. It makes one think of the cycles of history, or the eternal recurrence, in the fates of peoples and karma of their countries, based on a vast complex of their history, destiny, and mythology.

Putin stressed the “multi-ethnic and multi-religious” character of Russia, now in “a different environment that is free of ideology”:

It is important for all ethnic groups, even the smallest ones, to know that this is their Motherland with no other for them, that they are protected here and are prepared to lay down their lives in order to protect this country. This is in the interests of us all, regardless of ethnicity, including the Russian people.

Yet Putin’s most extraordinary remark had to do with ancient Russian history:

Barbarians came from the East and destroyed the Christian Orthodox empire. But before the barbarians from the East, as you well know, the crusaders came from the West and weakened this Orthodox Christian empire, and only then were the last blows dealt, and it was conquered. This is what happened … We must remember these historical events and never forget them.

Escobar then takes us on a brief but visually-stimulating tour of Russia, the historical tensions of nomads and agriculturalists; the many invaders and Empires vying for control; the resulting multi-ethnic nature of Russia; and also delving into the myths that sanctioned politics.

Pepe says:

What about power? For Turk and Mongol nomads, who came centuries after the Scythians, power emanated from the sky. The Khan ruled by authority of the “Eternal Sky” – as we all see when we delve into the adventures of Genghis and Kublai. By implication, as there is only one sky, the Khan would have to exert universal power. Welcome to the idea of universal empire.

In Persia, things were slightly more complex. The Persian Empire was all about Sun worship: that became the conceptual basis for the divine right of the King of Kings. The implications were immense, as the King now became sacred. This model influenced Byzantium – which, after all, was always interacting with Persia.

Christianity made the Kingdom of Heaven more important than ruling over the temporal domain. Still, the idea of Universal Empire persisted, incarnated in the concept of Pantocrator: it was the Christ who ultimately ruled, and his deputy on earth was the Emperor. But Byzantium remained a very special case: the Emperor could never be an equal to God. After all, he was human.

This last sentence struck me as a way of understanding Putin's world stance, and his character. The mythic example is of Byzantine origin, and Putin is steeped in the contemporary Orthodox Christian church. But even if the the religious foundation doesn't match, the attitude does - Putin seems to be like a guy who isn't trying to be equal to God. After all, he's a human. In that sense, as a world leader with all kinds of opportunities to become a corrupt dictator - he himself remains a special case. Especially when we compare him to the dudes in the PTB who are busily wheeling out their Great Reset world domination machine.
 
A fire broke out in the cardiac surgery center in Blagoveshchensk (ignition of faulty wiring) on April 4. 120 staff and patients were immediately evacuated from the building. But on the first floor there was an operation on coronary artery bypass grafting. It was already impossible to stop her.
The medical team bravely continued the operation for another 4 hours. Firefighters, in turn, extinguished the fire so as not to flood the operating room with water and protect it from smoke pollution. The operation was successful. The doctor even filmed a couple of videos at the end. It was decided to attach doctors to the award!
 
It was decided to attach doctors to the award!
They deserve our admiration much more than the dancing lunatics that are supposed to be admired in the West. Kudos to them! I would think that it takes a lot of strength of will and calmness to do what they did. Glad they got an award for it.

I guess a big thank you to the firemen who made it possible for the doctors and nurses to continue on with their surgery needs to be said, too.
 
Yesterday there was a "Cosmonautics day" in Russia, and there was a space themed light/drones show in Veliky Novgorod.

The first video is by RT, and the second one was taken by someone who watched the show. In my opinion, this show is a very good example of why we unfortunately can't trust most of the "lights in the sky" sightings today, because they could easily be drones. We would need something much more substantial and weird for that. ;-)


 
Russia said it will eliminate the dollar from its oil fund to reduce vulnerability to Western sanctions just two weeks before President Vladimir Putin holds his first summit meeting with U.S. leader Joe Biden.

The National Wellbeing Fund will shift its dollar holdings into euros, yuan and gold, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

The dollar pared gains on the news Thursday before bouncing back as analysts said the immediate market impact is likely to be limited. The transfer will take place within the central bank’s huge reserves. It affects about $119 billion in liquid assets, of which about a third is held in dollars.

“The central bank can make these changes to the Wellbeing Fund without resorting to market operations,” said Sofya Donets, economist at Renaissance Capital in Moscow.

Coming ahead of the June 16 Biden-Putin meeting, the move marks another milestone in the Russian leader’s drive to reduce his country’s dependence on the dollar after years of steadily increasing U.S. restrictions.

“Geopolitics does play a role,” Siluanov told state television at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “We’re trying to protect our investments.”

Russia can make the change within a month, but it’s up to the central bank to determine whether to adjust the distribution of its overall reserve holdings, he said.

The central bank isn’t planning to resume gold purchases
as a result of the wealth-fund shift, a person familiar with the situation said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public.

“Coming from Russia, it’s largely symbolic,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the International Institute of Finance in Washington. “Should there be any issues with larger U.S. dollar holders, that would be different.”


This decision is logical in the context of the stubborn standoff with the U.S.,” said Oleg Vyugin, a former senior central bank official. “But in terms of risk/return, exiting dollar assets to replace them with the ones they list is most likely to be economically unattractive.”

Russia’s wealth fund currently holds 35% of its liquid assets in dollars
, worth about $41.5 billion, with the same amount in euros and the rest spread across yuan, gold, yen and pounds.

After the change, the fund’s assets will be held 40% in euros, 30% in yuan, 20% in gold and 5% each in yen and pounds, Siluanov said. The Finance Ministry said late Thursday that regulations were amended last month to reflect the new proportions, adding that it will disclose later when the actual holdings are changed.

Dollar Out

Russia cuts out dollar from its wealth fund, adding to euro, gold, yuan

Source: Russia's Finance Ministry

The central bank doesn’t comment on plans for its foreign-exchange reserves. “Of course, the currency structure of the government’s reserves is one of the factors we take into account,” Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said, according to Interfax.

The wealth fund holds savings from Russia’s oil revenues above a cutoff price and is used to help offset shortfalls when the market falls below that level. Together with illiquid assets, its total value is $185.9 billion.
With the economy recovering faster than expected, the budget deficit will be 1% of gross domestic product this year, Siluanov said, narrower than the 2.4% initially planned.

The central bank reports the currency distribution of its reserves with a six-month lag, declining to provide information on its current holdings.
— With assistance by Andrey Biryukov, Jill Ward, and Ilya Arkhipov (Updates with Siluanov, analyst quotes from sixth paragraph)




MINSK, June 3. /TASS/. The Russian Sputnik Light vaccine was certified in Belarus on Thursday, the press service of the republic’s Health Ministry reported.

"Based on the decision of the committee on pharmaceuticals of the Health Ministry, on June 3, the decision was made on state registration of the Sputnik Light vaccine," the statement posted on the agency’s Telegram channel said.

The agency noted that according to the Health Ministry’s decree, the experts of the Center for Examinations and Tests in Health Service, the republic’s leading infectious diseases specialists and staff of the republic’s scientific and research centers conducted an evaluation of the materials of the certification dossier. "The documents presented in the dossier materials include sufficient information allowing to evaluate the indicators of safety, efficacy and quality of the preparation," the Health Ministry emphasized.

The agency explained that Sputnik Light is a single-dose vaccine which creates specific cellular and humoral immunity to the SARS CoV-2 virus, generating a sufficient immune response on Day 28 after the administration. At the same time, the most pronounced immune response, and, accordingly, the efficacy of using this vaccine, will be observed in individuals with existing immunity to COVID-19, in particular, those who have antibodies after the infection, including its asymptomatic form.

"It is particularly important that the use of this vaccine will allow an increase to the volume of inoculation and responds to the high societal demand for the immune protection against COVID-19," the statement said.

On October 1, 2020, Belarus started administering the Russian Sputnik V jab to volunteers within the framework of post-registration trials. The republic became the first country following Russia to officially certify this vaccine. A joint production of Sputnik V has been established in Belarus which is now used to immunize the population. On May 18, Belarus received the second batch of 300,000 doses of China’s Vero Cell vaccine. Earlier, Belarusian Health Minister Dmitry Pinevich stated that lines for inoculation will decrease as more batches of the vaccines arrive.


According to the President, entrepreneurs know about the state of affairs in the economy "better than anyone else, they feel it in the course of practical work on a daily basis"
ST.PETERSBURG, June 3. / TASS /. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the domestic economy is emerging from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday,

"Ongoing work continues, despite any difficulties, including those associated with the coronavirus epidemic. The best confirmation of this is the results of the Russian economy as a whole," said President Putin.

He promised that he would also talk about this in his speech at the plenary session of the forum on Friday. According to the President, entrepreneurs know about the state of affairs in the economy "better than anyone else, they feel it in the course of practical work on a daily basis." "It is largely thanks to you and your colleagues that Russia is able to overcome the difficulties that the whole world has faced over the past year, and our economy is getting out of the difficult situation in which we all find ourselves," President Putin said addressing the ceremony participants.

Putin called the signed agreements the first steps at this forum. He is confident that "there will be much more business contacts and negotiations with agreement signing." He expressed hopes that the Russian Federation will not only "come out confidently out of the difficult situation in which the whole world and the Russian economy find itself." "But without any doubt we will reach new frontiers. I have no doubt about that," Putin said. He stressed that the Russian government has done and will do everything to support the development of the economy.

 

According to the FSB, the detained followed the instructions of the international terrorist organization’s foreign emissaries, carrying out activities aimed at disseminating terrorist ideas in Russia
MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has taken down four cells of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization in the cities of Penza, Ufa, and Chelyabinsk, the FSB said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Federal Security Service, acting together with the Interior Ministry and the Russian Investigative Committee, took down four cells of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami terrorist organization (outlawed by the Russian Supreme Court) in Penza, Ufa, and Chelyabinsk in late June and early July. Four ringleaders and 11 active members, including Russian nationals and citizens of Central Asian countries, were detained," the statement reads.

According to the FSB, the detained followed the instructions of the international terrorist organization’s foreign emissaries, carrying out activities aimed at disseminating terrorist ideas in Russia. "They recruited Russia’s Muslim citizens and labor migrants to their ranks at clandestine meetings," the FSB added.

Outlawed Hizb ut-Tahrir propaganda material, communications equipment, and digital storage devices were seized from those taken into custody. Criminal cases have been opened against them.



MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Eastern Military District is monitoring the French Navy’s reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome in the Sea of Japan, the Russian National Defense Control Center said on Monday.

Dupuy-de-Lome-photo10.jpg

French Navy’s reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome © Jean-Michel Roche/CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons

"The Eastern Military District’s forces and equipment are monitoring the French Navy’s intelligence vessel Dupuy de Lome, which has been in the Sea of Japan and the Tatar Strait since July 5, 2021," the center said.

The French Navy’s large intelligence vessel Dupuy de Lome was last spotted in a joint reconnaissance operation with the US in the Black Sea in September 2020, when it was monitoring Russia’s Kavkaz-2020 strategic military exercise. According to openly available data, the Dupuy de Lome conducts reconnaissance of radio signals and electronic communications for the French Military Intelligence Directorate.

Snip:
By Paul Robinson, a professor at the University of Ottawa. He writes about Russian and Soviet history, military history, and military ethics, and is author of the Irrussianality blog.

After war in the Caucasus and unrest in Belarus, Moscow might see Tajikistan’s growing border crisis as just another conflict on its doorstep. But the presence of the Taliban may well cement Russia’s role in regional security.

Just over 22 years ago, on 15 February 1989, the last few troops of the “Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan” crossed over the Bridge of Friendship linking Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, then a part of the USSR. With that, Moscow’s military campaign in the mountainous nation came to an end.

This week, fighters were once again flowing northwards out of Afghanistan, although for somewhat different reasons. As the United States wraps up its own failed military operation in Central Asia, Taliban insurgent forces have been steadily advancing. In the past few weeks, they have captured more than 100 districts in Afghanistan. About half the country is now in Taliban hands.

Mid Snip:

While this does not directly endanger Russia, Moscow will not want to see Islamic groups gaining a foothold in any territory close to Russia, especially given the country’s own recent domestic history of Islamic terrorism. The Kremlin therefore has a strong interest in ensuring Tajikistan’s continued stability.

To this end, Russian president Vladimir Putin talked by telephone with the presidents of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and promised to help the Tajiks to secure their border, if necessary, by sending additional troops. Russia has a military base in Tajikistan, which, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko is “fully equipped to provide assistance to the country if the need arises.” “If the situation requires additional efforts, they will be undertaken,” he added.

Along with Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, Tajikistan is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a defense organization somewhat similar to NATO in that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all.




And from DS-news:

SolarWinds: How Russian spies hacked the ... - CBS News

 
Всем доброго дня! 12 июня, Владимир Путин опубликовал статью о единстве русского и украинского народов. Я прошелся по форуму и не нашел информации об этом. Возможно это из-за того, что статья опубликована на русском и украинском языках, а возможно я просто плохо искал. Так что заранее прошу прощения. Хочу привести перевод на английский, почитайте, кому интересно.

Good day to all! On June 12, Vladimir Putin published an article about the unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. I went through the forum and did not find any information about this. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the article is published in Russian and Ukrainian, or perhaps I just did not search well. So I apologize in advance. I want to give a translation into English, read it to anyone who is interested.

Recently, answering a question about Russian-Ukrainian relations during the "Direct Line", I said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, a single whole. These words are not a tribute to some conjuncture, current political circumstances. I have said this more than once, this is my conviction. Therefore, I consider it necessary to state my position in detail, to share my assessments of the current situation.

I would like to emphasize right away that I perceive the wall that has arisen in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between parts of, in fact, one historical and spiritual space, as a great common misfortune, as a tragedy. These are primarily the consequences of our own mistakes made in different periods. But it is also the result of the purposeful work of those forces that have always sought to undermine our unity. The formula that is used has been known for centuries: divide and conquer. Nothing new. Hence the attempts to play on the national issue, to sow discord between people. And as a super task – to divide, and then to pit against each other parts of a single people.

To better understand the present and look into the future, we must turn to history. Of course, it is impossible to cover all the events that have occurred for more than a thousand years within the framework of the article. But I will focus on those key turning points that it is important for us – both in Russia and in Ukraine – to remember.

Both Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are the heirs of Ancient Russia, which was the largest state in Europe. Slavic and other tribes in a huge area-from Ladoga, Novgorod, Pskov to Kiev and Chernihiv-were united by one language (now we call it Old Russian), economic ties, the power of the princes of the Rurik dynasty. And after the baptism of Russia – and one Orthodox faith. The spiritual choice of St. Vladimir, who was both a Novgorod and a great Kievan prince, and today largely determines our kinship.

The Kiev princely table occupied a dominant position in the Ancient Russian state. This has been the case since the end of the IX century. The words of the Prophetic Oleg about Kiev: "May it be the mother of Russian cities" - has preserved for posterity the "Tale of Bygone Years".

Later, like other European states of that time, Ancient Russia faced a weakening of the central government, fragmentation. At the same time, both the nobility and ordinary people perceived Russia as a common space, as their Homeland.

After the devastating invasion of Batu, when many cities, including Kiev, were devastated, fragmentation increased. North-Eastern Russia fell into the Horde dependence, but retained limited sovereignty. Russian Russian lands in the south and west were mostly part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which, I would like to draw your attention to this, was called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia in historical documents.

Representatives of princely and boyar families moved to the service from one prince to another, were at enmity with each other, but also made friends, concluded alliances. On the Kulikovo Field, next to the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, voivode Bobrok from Volhynia, the sons of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd – Andrei Polotsky and Dmitry Bryansky fought. At the same time, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Yagailo, the son of the Tver princess, led his troops to join Mamai. All these are pages of our common history, a reflection of its complexity and multidimensionality.

It is important to note that both in the western and eastern Russian lands they spoke the same language. The faith was Orthodox. Until the middle of the XV century, a single church administration was maintained.

At the new turn of historical development, Lithuanian Rus and the strengthening of Moscow Rus could become points of attraction and consolidation of the territories of Ancient Russia. History has arranged it so that Moscow became the center of reunification, which continued the tradition of Old Russian statehood. The Moscow princes-descendants of Prince Alexander Nevsky-threw off the external yoke, began to collect historical Russian lands.

Other processes were going on in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the XIV century, the ruling elite of Lithuania adopted Catholicism. In the XVI century, the Union of Lublin with the Polish Kingdom was concluded – the "Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth of Both Peoples" (in fact, Polish and Lithuanian) was formed. The Polish Catholic nobility received significant land holdings and privileges on the territory of Russia. According to the Brest Union of 1596, part of the Western Russian Orthodox clergy submitted to the authority of the Pope. Pollination and Romanization were carried out, Orthodoxy was displaced.

As a response, in the XVI–XVII centuries, the liberation movement of the Orthodox population of the Dnieper region grew. The events of the times of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky became crucial. His supporters tried to achieve autonomy from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Russian Russian Army's petition to the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1649 referred to the observance of the rights of the Russian Orthodox population, that " the voivode of Kiev should be the Russian people and the Greek law, so that he would not step on the churches of God...". But the Cossacks were not heard.

B. Khmelnitsky's appeals to Moscow followed, which were considered by the Zemstvo councils. On October 1, 1653, this supreme representative body of the Russian state decided to support the co-religionists and take them under the patronage. In January 1654, the Pereyaslav Rada confirmed this decision. Then the ambassadors of B. Khmelnitsky and Moscow toured dozens of cities, including Kiev, whose residents took the oath to the Russian tsar. By the way, there was nothing like this at the conclusion of the Union of Lublin.

In a letter to Moscow in 1654, B. Khmelnitsky thanked Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich for the fact that he "deigned to accept the entire Zaporozhye Army and the entire Russian Orthodox world under his strong and high royal hand". Russian Russians, in their appeals to both the Polish king and the Russian tsar, called the Cossacks and defined themselves as Russian Orthodox people.

During the protracted war of the Russian state with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, some of the hetmans, the heirs of B. Khmelnitsky, then "lagged" from Moscow, then sought support from Sweden, Poland, and Turkey. But, I repeat, for the people, the war was, in fact, of a liberating nature. It ended with the Andrusovsky Truce of 1667. The final results were fixed by the "Eternal Peace" of 1686. The Russian state included the city of Kiev and the lands of the left bank of the Dnieper, including Poltava, Chernihiv, and Zaporozhye. Their inhabitants were reunited with the main part of the Russian Orthodox people. For this area itself, the name "Little Russia" (Little Russia) was established.

The name "Ukraine" was then used more often in the meaning in which the Old Russian word "outskirts" is found in written sources since the XII century, when it was about various border territories. And the word "Ukrainian", judging also by archival documents, originally meant border guards who provided protection of external borders.

On the Right Bank, which remained in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the old order was restored, social and religious oppression intensified. The left Bank, the lands taken under the protection of a single state, on the contrary, began to develop actively. Residents from the other bank of the Dnieper moved here en masse. They sought support from people of the same language and, of course, of the same faith.

During the Northern War with Sweden, the inhabitants of Little Russia did not have a choice – who to be with. Mazepa's rebellion was supported only by a small part of the Cossacks. People of different classes considered themselves Russian and Orthodox.

Representatives of the Cossack foreman, included in the noble class, reached the heights of a political, diplomatic, and military career in Russia. Graduates of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy played a leading role in church life. This was also the case during the hetmanate-in fact, an autonomous state entity with its own special internal structure, and then - in the Russian Empire. In many ways, the Little Russians created a large common country, its statehood, culture, and science. They participated in the development and development of the Urals, Siberia, the Caucasus, and the Far East. By the way, even in the Soviet period, natives of Ukraine occupied the most significant, including the highest positions in the leadership of the united state. Suffice it to say that for almost 30 years in total, the CPSU was headed by N. Khrushchev and L. Brezhnev, whose party biography was most closely connected with Ukraine.

In the second half of the XVIII century, after the wars with the Ottoman Empire, the Crimea, as well as the lands of the Black Sea region, called "Novorossiya", became part of Russia. They were inhabited by immigrants from all Russian provinces. After the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire returned the western Old Russian lands, with the exception of Galicia and Transcarpathia, which ended up in the Austrian, and later in the Austro – Hungarian Empire.
The integration of the Western Russian lands into the common state space was not only the result of political and diplomatic decisions. It was held on the basis of a common faith and cultural traditions. And again, I would like to emphasize the language proximity. So, at the beginning of the XVII century, one of the hierarchs of the Uniate Church, Joseph Rutsky, reported to Rome that the inhabitants of Muscovy called the Russians from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth their brothers, that their written language was exactly the same, and their spoken language, although different, was insignificant. According to his expression, like the inhabitants of Rome and Bergamo. This, as we know, is the center and north of modern Italy.

Of course, over many centuries of fragmentation, life in different states, regional linguistic features and dialects have emerged. The literary language was enriched at the expense of the national language. Ivan Kotlyarevsky, Grigory Skovoroda, Taras Shevchenko played a huge role here. Their works are our common literary and cultural heritage. Taras Shevchenko's poems are written in Ukrainian, and his prose is mainly in Russian. The books of Nikolai Gogol, a patriot of Russia, a native of the Poltava region, are written in Russian, full of Little Russian folk expressions and folklore motifs. How can this legacy be divided between Russia and Ukraine? And why do this?

The south-western lands of the Russian Empire, Little Russia and Novorossiya, the Crimea developed as diverse in their ethnic and religious composition. Crimean Tatars, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Karaites, Krymchaks, Bulgarians, Poles, Serbs, Germans and other peoples lived here. All of them kept their faith, traditions, customs.

I'm not going to idealize anything. Both the Valuev Circular of 1863 and the Emsky Act of 1876 are known, which restricted the publication and import from abroad of religious and socio-political literature in the Ukrainian language. But the historical context is important here. These decisions were made against the background of dramatic events in Poland, the desire of the leaders of the Polish national movement to use the "Ukrainian question" to their advantage. I will add that artistic works, collections of Ukrainian poems, folk songs continued to be published. Objective facts show that the Russian Empire was actively developing the Little Russian cultural identity within the framework of a large Russian nation that united Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians.

At the same time, among the Polish elite and some part of the Little Russian intelligentsia, ideas about the Ukrainian people separate from the Russian were emerging and strengthening. There was no historical basis here and could not be, so the conclusions were based on a variety of fictions. Up to the point that Ukrainians are allegedly not Slavs at all, or, on the contrary, that Ukrainians are real Slavs, and Russians, "Muscovites", are not. Such "hypotheses" have become increasingly used for political purposes as an instrument of rivalry between European states.

Since the end of the XIX century, the Austro – Hungarian authorities have picked up this topic-in contrast to both the Polish national movement and the Muscovite sentiments in Galicia. During the First World War, Vienna contributed to the formation of the so-called Legion of Ukrainian Sich Streltsy. Galicians suspected of sympathizing with Orthodoxy and Russia were subjected to severe repression, thrown into the Talerhof and Terezin concentration camps.

The further development of events is connected with the collapse of the European empires, with a fierce Civil War that unfolded in the vast expanse of the former Russian Empire, with foreign intervention.

After the February Revolution, in March 1917, the Central Rada was created in Kiev, claiming to be the highest authority. In November 1917, in her third universal, she announced the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) as part of Russia.

In December 1917, representatives of the UPR arrived in Brest-Litovsk, where Soviet Russia was negotiating with Germany and its allies. At the meeting on January 10, 1918, the head of the Ukrainian delegation read out a note on the independence of Ukraine. Then the Central Rada, in its fourth universal, declared Ukraine independent.

The declared sovereignty was short-lived. Just a few weeks later, the Rada delegation signed a separate agreement with the countries of the German bloc. Germany and Austria-Hungary, which were in a difficult situation, needed Ukrainian bread and raw materials. In order to ensure large-scale deliveries, they have obtained an agreement to send their troops and technical personnel to the UPR. In fact, they used it as a pretext for the occupation.

Those who today gave Ukraine under full external control, it is worth remembering that then, in 1918, such a decision turned out to be fatal for the regime ruling in Kiev. With the direct participation of the occupation troops, the Central Rada was overthrown, and Hetman P. Skoropadsky was brought to power, who proclaimed a Ukrainian power instead of the UPR, which was, in fact, under a German protectorate.

In November 1918, after the revolutionary events in Germany and Austria-Hungary, P. Skoropadsky, who had lost the support of the German bayonets, took a different course and declared that " Ukraine will be the first to act in the formation of the All-Russian Federation." However, soon the regime changed again. The time has come for the so-called Directory.

In the autumn of 1918, Ukrainian nationalists proclaimed the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR), and in January 1919 announced its unification with the Ukrainian People's Republic. In July 1919, the Ukrainian units were defeated by Polish troops, the territory of the former ZUNR was under the rule of Poland.

In April 1920, S. Petlyura (one of the "heroes" who are being imposed on modern Ukraine) concluded secret conventions on behalf of the UNR Directory, according to which, in exchange for military support, he gave Poland the lands of Galicia and Western Volhynia. In May 1920, the Petliurists entered Kiev in a train of Polish units. But not for long. Already in November 1920, after the armistice between Poland and Soviet Russia, the remnants of Petliura's troops surrendered to the same Poles.

The example of the UPR shows how unstable were all sorts of quasi-state formations that arose in the space of the former Russian Empire during the Civil War and the troubles. The nationalists sought to create their own separate states, the leaders of the White Movement advocated an indivisible Russia. Many republics established by supporters of the Bolsheviks could not imagine themselves outside of Russia either. At the same time, for various reasons, the leaders of the Bolshevik Party sometimes literally pushed them out of Soviet Russia.

So, at the beginning of 1918, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was proclaimed, which appealed to Moscow with the question of joining Soviet Russia. V. Lenin met with the leaders of this republic and urged them to act as part of Soviet Ukraine. On March 15, 1918, the Central Committee of the RCP(b) directly decided to send delegates to the Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, including from the Donetsk basin, and to create "one government for the whole of Ukraine"at the congress. The territories of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic in the future mainly comprised the regions of the South-East of Ukraine.

According to the Riga Treaty of 1921 between the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and Poland, the western lands of the former Russian Empire were ceded to Poland. During the interwar period, the Polish government launched an active resettlement policy, seeking to change the ethnic composition in the "eastern kres" – this is how the territories of present-day Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and part of Lithuania were called in Poland. Strict polonization was carried out, local culture and traditions were suppressed. Later, during the Second World War, radical groups of Ukrainian nationalists used this as a pretext for terror not only against the Polish, but also the Jewish, Russian population.

In 1922, when the USSR was created, one of the founders of which was the Ukrainian SSR, after a rather sharp discussion among the leaders of the Bolsheviks, Lenin's plan for the formation of the union state as a federation of equal republics was implemented. In the text of the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR, and then in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924, the right of free withdrawal of the republics from the Union was introduced. Thus, the most dangerous "time bomb"was laid in the foundation of our statehood. It exploded as soon as the safety, safety mechanism in the form of the leadership role of the CPSU disappeared, which eventually fell apart from the inside. The "parade of sovereignties" has begun. On December 8, 1991, the so-called Belovezhskaya Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States was signed, which declared that "the USSR as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality ceases to exist." By the way, the CIS Charter, adopted back in 1993, has not been signed and ratified by Ukraine.

In the 20-30s of the last century, the Bolsheviks actively promoted the policy of" Korenization", which in the Ukrainian SSR was carried out as Ukrainization. It is symbolic that within the framework of this policy, with the consent of the Soviet authorities, M. Hrushevsky, a former chairman of the Central Rada, one of the ideologists of Ukrainian nationalism, who once enjoyed the support of Austria – Hungary, returned to the USSR and was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences.
"Korenization", of course, played a great role in the development and strengthening of Ukrainian culture, language, and identity. At the same time, under the guise of fighting the so-called Russian great-power chauvinism, Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not consider themselves Ukrainian. Russian Russian national policy – instead of a large Russian nation, a triune people consisting of Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians-consolidated at the state level the position of three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.

In 1939, the lands previously occupied by Poland were returned to the USSR. A significant part of them is attached to Soviet Ukraine. In 1940, the Ukrainian SSR included part of Bessarabia, occupied by Romania in 1918, and Northern Bukovina. In 1948 – the Black Sea island of Zmeiny. In 1954, the Crimean region of the RSFSR was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR-with a gross violation of the legal norms in force at that time.

I will say separately about the fate of Subcarpathian Rus, which after the collapse of Austria-Hungary ended up in Czechoslovakia. A significant part of the local residents were Rusyns. Little is remembered about this now, but after the liberation of Transcarpathia by Soviet troops, the congress of the Orthodox population of the region spoke in favor of including Subcarpathian Rus in the RSFSR or directly in the USSR – as a separate Carpatho-Russian republic. But this opinion of people was ignored. And in the summer of 1945, it was announced – as the newspaper Pravda wrote – about the historical act of reunification of Transcarpathian Ukraine "with its long-standing homeland-Ukraine".

Thus, modern Ukraine is entirely the brainchild of the Soviet era. We know and remember that to a large extent it was created at the expense of historical Russia. It is enough to compare which lands were reunited with the Russian state in the XVII century and with which territories of the Ukrainian SSR seceded from the Soviet Union.

The Bolsheviks treated the Russian people as an inexhaustible material for social experiments. They dreamed of a world revolution, which, in their opinion, would abolish nation-states altogether. Therefore, the borders were arbitrarily cut, generous territorial "gifts"were distributed. In the end, what exactly guided the leaders of the Bolsheviks, shredding the country, does not matter anymore. You can argue about the details, the background and the logic of certain decisions. One thing is obvious: Russia was actually robbed.

Working on this article, I was based not on some secret archives, but on open documents that contain well-known facts. The leaders of modern Ukraine and their external patrons prefer not to remember these facts. But for a variety of reasons, out of place and out of place, including abroad, today it is customary to condemn the "crimes of the Soviet regime", including even those events to which neither the CPSU, nor the USSR, nor even modern Russia have anything to do with them. At the same time, the actions of the Bolsheviks to alienate its historical territories from Russia are not considered a criminal act. It is clear why. If this has led to the weakening of Russia, then our detractors are satisfied with it.

In the USSR, the borders between the republics, of course, were not perceived as state borders, they were conditional in the framework of a single country, which, with all the attributes of the federation, was essentially highly centralized – due, I repeat, to the leading role of the CPSU. But in 1991, all these territories, and most importantly, the people who lived there, suddenly found themselves abroad. And they were already really torn away from their historical Homeland.

What can I say? Everything changes. Including countries and societies. And of course, a part of one nation in the course of its development – for a number of reasons, historical circumstances – can at some point feel and realize itself as a separate nation. How to treat this? There can be only one answer: sincerely!

Do you want to create your own state? You are welcome! But on what terms? Let me remind you here of the assessment given by one of the most prominent political figures of the new Russia, the first mayor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Sobchak. As a highly professional lawyer, he believed that any decision should be legitimate, and therefore in 1992 he expressed the following opinion: the founding republics of the Union, after they themselves canceled the 1922 Treaty, should return to the borders in which they joined the Union. All the other territorial acquisitions are a subject for discussion, negotiations, because the basis has been canceled.

In other words, leave with what you came with. It is difficult to argue with this logic. I will only add that the Bolsheviks, as I have already noted, began the arbitrary redrawing of borders even before the creation of the Union, and all manipulations with the territories were carried out arbitrarily, ignoring the opinion of people.

The Russian Federation has recognized the new geopolitical realities. And not just recognized, but did a lot to make Ukraine take place as an independent country. In the difficult 90s and in the new millennium, we provided significant support to Ukraine. Kiev uses its own "political arithmetic", but in 1991-2013, only due to low gas prices, Ukraine saved more than $ 82 billion for its budget, and today it literally "clings" to $ 1.5 billion of Russian payments for the transit of our gas to Europe. While maintaining economic ties between our countries, the positive effect for Ukraine would amount to tens of billions of dollars.

Ukraine and Russia have been developing as a single economic system for decades and centuries. The depth of cooperation that we had 30 years ago could be envied by the EU countries today. We are natural, mutually complementary economic partners. Such a close relationship can strengthen competitive advantages and increase the potential of both countries.

And it was significant for Ukraine, including a powerful infrastructure, a gas transportation system, advanced shipbuilding, aircraft, rocket, instrument engineering, scientific, design, and engineering schools of the world level. Having received such a legacy, the leaders of Ukraine, declaring independence, promised that the Ukrainian economy would become one of the leading ones, and the standard of living of people would be one of the highest in Europe.

Today, industrial high-tech giants, which Ukraine and the whole country were once proud of, are lying on their sides. Over the past 10 years, the output of mechanical engineering products has fallen by 42 percent. The scale of deindustrialization and overall degradation of the economy is visible by such an indicator as electricity generation, which has almost halved in Ukraine over 30 years. And finally, according to the IMF, in 2019, even before the coronavirus epidemic, the level of per capita GDP of Ukraine was less than 4 thousand dollars. This is below the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Moldova and the unrecognized Kosovo. Ukraine is now the poorest country in Europe.

Who is to blame for this? Is it the people of Ukraine? Of course not. It was the Ukrainian authorities who squandered and wasted the achievements of many generations. We know how hardworking and talented the people of Ukraine are. He knows how to persistently and persistently achieve success, outstanding results. And these qualities, as well as openness, natural optimism, hospitality, have not gone away. The feelings of millions of people who treat Russia not just well, but with great love, just as we do to Ukraine, remain the same.

Until 2014, hundreds of agreements and joint projects worked for the development of our economies, business and cultural ties, for strengthening security, for solving common social and environmental problems. They brought tangible benefits to people – both in Russia and in Ukraine. This is what we considered the main thing. And that is why we have fruitfully interacted with all, I emphasize, with all the leaders of Ukraine.

Even after the well-known events in Kiev in 2014, I gave instructions to the Russian Government to think over options for contacts between relevant ministries and departments in terms of preserving and supporting our economic ties. However, there was no counter-desire, so there is still no. Nevertheless, Russia is still one of the three main trading partners of Ukraine, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians come to us for work and meet here with cordiality and support. This is how the "aggressor country" turns out.

When the USSR collapsed, many people in Russia and Ukraine still sincerely believed, proceeding from the fact that our close cultural, spiritual, and economic ties will certainly remain, as well as the community of the people, who have always felt united at their core. However, events – at first gradually, and then faster and faster-began to develop in a different direction.

In fact, the Ukrainian elites decided to justify the independence of their country through the denial of its past, however, with the exception of the issue of borders. They began to mythologize and rewrite history, to erase everything that unites us from it, to talk about the period when Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire and the USSR as an occupation. The common tragedy of collectivization, the famine of the early 30s, is being passed off as the genocide of the Ukrainian people.
Radicals and neo-Nazis openly and more brazenly declared their ambitions. They were indulged by both the official authorities and local oligarchs, who, having robbed the people of Ukraine, keep the stolen goods in Western banks and are ready to sell their mother to save their capital. To this should be added the chronic weakness of state institutions, the position of a voluntary hostage of someone else's geopolitical will.

Let me remind you that quite a long time ago, long before 2014, the United States and the EU countries systematically and persistently pushed Ukraine to curtail and limit economic cooperation with Russia. As the largest trade and economic partner of Ukraine, we offered to discuss the emerging problems in the Ukraine – Russia – EU format. But every time we were told that Russia had nothing to do with it, they say, the issue concerns only the EU and Ukraine. De facto, Western countries have rejected repeated Russian proposals for dialogue.

Step by step, Ukraine was drawn into a dangerous geopolitical game, the purpose of which is to turn Ukraine into a barrier between Europe and Russia, into a springboard against Russia. Inevitably, the time came when the concept of "Ukraine is not Russia" was no longer satisfied. It took an "anti-Russia", which we will never accept.

The customers of this project took as a basis the old developments of the Polish-Austrian ideologists of the creation of "anti-Moscow Russia". And we should not deceive anyone that this is being done in the interests of the people of Ukraine. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth never needed Ukrainian culture, much less Cossack autonomy. In Austria-Hungary, the historical Russian lands were mercilessly exploited and remained the poorest. The Nazis, who were served by collaborators, natives of the OUN-UPA, needed not Ukraine, but living space and slaves for Aryan masters.

The interests of the Ukrainian people were not thought about in February 2014. People's just discontent caused by the most acute socio-economic problems, mistakes, inconsistent actions of the then authorities was simply cynically used. Western countries directly interfered in the internal affairs of Ukraine, supported the coup. Radical nationalist groups acted as his battering ram. Their slogans, ideology, and outright aggressive Russophobia largely began to determine state policy in Ukraine.

Everything that has united us and brings us together so far has come under attack. First of all, the Russian language. Let me remind you that the new "Maidan" authorities first of all tried to repeal the law on the state language policy. Then there was the law on "cleansing the authorities", the law on education, which practically eliminated the Russian language from the educational process.

And finally, in May of this year, the current president introduced a bill on "indigenous peoples"to the Rada. They are recognized only by those who are an ethnic minority and do not have their own state education outside of Ukraine. The law has been adopted. New seeds of discord have been sown. And this is in a country – as I have already noted-very complex in terms of territorial, national, linguistic composition, in the history of its formation.

An argument may be made: since you are talking about a single big nation, a triune people, what difference does it make who people consider themselves to be – Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusians. I fully agree with this. Moreover, the definition of nationality, especially in mixed families, is the right of every person, free in his choice.

But the fact is that the situation in Ukraine today is completely different, since we are talking about a forced change of identity. And the most disgusting thing is that Russians in Ukraine are forced not only to renounce their roots, from generations of ancestors, but also to believe that Russia is their enemy. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the course of forced assimilation, the formation of an ethnically pure Ukrainian state, aggressively disposed towards Russia, is comparable in its consequences to the use of weapons of mass destruction against us. Russian Russians may be reduced by hundreds of thousands, or even millions, as a result of such a crude, artificial gap between Russians and Ukrainians.

Our spiritual unity was also hit. As in the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a new church division was started. Without hiding that they are pursuing political goals, the secular authorities rudely interfered in church life and brought the matter to a split, to the seizure of churches, the beating of priests and monks. Even the broad autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church while maintaining spiritual unity with the Moscow Patriarchate categorically does not suit them. They must destroy this visible, centuries-old symbol of our kinship at all costs.

I think it is also natural that representatives of Ukraine repeatedly vote against the UN General Assembly resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism. Under the protection of the official authorities, marches and torchlight processions are held in honor of the unfinished war criminals from the SS formations. Mazepa, who betrayed everyone in a circle, Petlyura, who paid for Polish patronage with Ukrainian lands, Bandera, who collaborated with the Nazis, are put on the rank of national heroes. They are doing everything to erase from the memory of young generations the names of real patriots and winners, who have always been proud of in Ukraine.

For Ukrainians who fought in the ranks of the Red Army, in partisan detachments, the Great Patriotic War was precisely the Patriotic War, because they defended their home, their great common Homeland. More than two thousand became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Among them are the legendary pilot Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, a fearless sniper, defender of Odessa and Sevastopol Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, a brave partisan commander Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak. This indomitable generation fought, gave their lives for our future, for us. To forget about their feat means to betray their grandfathers, mothers and fathers.

The project" anti-Russia " was rejected by millions of residents of Ukraine. Crimeans and residents of Sevastopol have made their historical choice. And people in the South-East peacefully tried to defend their position. But all of them, including children, were registered as separatists and terrorists. They began to threaten ethnic cleansing and the use of military force. And the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk took up arms to protect their home, language, and their lives. Were they left with a different choice-after the pogroms that swept through the cities of Ukraine, after the horror and tragedy of May 2, 2014 in Odessa, where Ukrainian neo-Nazis burned people alive, staged a new Khatyn? The followers of Bandera were ready to commit the same massacre in the Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Lugansk. They still do not abandon such plans. They are waiting in the wings. But they won't wait.

The coup d'etat and the subsequent actions of the Kiev authorities inevitably provoked a confrontation and a civil war. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the total number of victims associated with the conflict in the Donbas has exceeded 13 thousand people. Among them are the elderly, children. Terrible, irreparable losses.

Russia has done everything to stop fratricide. The Minsk agreements were concluded, which are aimed at a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donbas. I am convinced that they still have no alternative. In any case, no one has withdrawn their signatures either under the Minsk " Package of Measures "or under the relevant statements of the leaders of the"Normandy format" countries. No one initiated the revision of the UN Security Council Resolution of February 17, 2015.

In the course of official negotiations, especially after being "pulled back" by Western partners, representatives of Ukraine periodically declare their "full commitment" to the Minsk agreements, but in fact they are guided by the position that they are "unacceptable". We do not intend to seriously discuss either the special status of Donbass, or guarantees for people living here. They prefer to exploit the image of a "victim of external aggression" and trade in Russophobia. They are staging bloody provocations in the Donbass. In short, they attract the attention of external patrons and owners by any means.

Apparently, and I am becoming more and more convinced of this: Kiev simply does not need the Donbass. Why? Because, firstly, the residents of these regions will never accept the orders that they have tried and are trying to impose on them by force, blockade, threats. And secondly, the results of both Minsk-1 and Minsk-2, which give a real chance to peacefully restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine by directly agreeing with the DPR and LPR through the mediation of Russia, Germany and France, contradict the entire logic of the anti-Russia project. And he can only hold on to the constant cultivation of the image of an internal and external enemy. And I will add-under the protectorate, under the control of the Western powers.

This is what happens in practice. First of all, it is the creation of an atmosphere of fear in Ukrainian society, aggressive rhetoric, pandering to neo-Nazis, militarization of the country. Along with this, it is not just complete dependence, but direct external management, including the supervision of foreign advisers over the Ukrainian authorities, special services and armed forces, the military "development" of the territory of Ukraine, the deployment of NATO infrastructure. It is no coincidence that the aforementioned scandalous law on "indigenous peoples" was adopted under the guise of large-scale NATO exercises in Ukraine.

Under the same cover, the absorption of the remnants of the Ukrainian economy, the exploitation of its natural resources is also taking place. The sale of agricultural land is not far off, and it is obvious who will buy them. Yes, from time to time Ukraine is allocated financial resources, loans, but under its own conditions and interests, under preferences and benefits for Western companies. By the way, who will pay these debts? Apparently, it is assumed that this will have to be done not only by today's generation of Ukrainians, but also by their children, grandchildren, and, probably, great-grandchildren.

The Western authors of the "anti-Russia" project set up the Ukrainian political system in such a way that presidents, deputies, ministers change, but the attitude towards separation from Russia, enmity with it remains unchanged. The main campaign slogan of the current president was the achievement of peace. This is how he came to power. The promises turned out to be lies. Nothing has changed. And in some ways, the situation in Ukraine and around the Donbass has also degraded.

The "anti-Russia" project has no place for a sovereign Ukraine, as well as for political forces that are trying to defend its real independence. Those who talk about reconciliation in Ukrainian society, about dialogue, about finding a way out of the impasse that has arisen, are labeled as "pro-Russian" agents.

I repeat, for many in Ukraine, the "anti-Russia" project is simply unacceptable. And there are millions of such people. But they are not allowed to raise their heads. They were practically deprived of the legal opportunity to defend their point of view. They are intimidated, driven underground. For their beliefs, for the spoken word, for openly expressing their position, they are not only persecuted, but also killed. Murderers, as a rule, go unpunished.

Only those who hate Russia are now declared the "right" patriot of Ukraine. Moreover, as we understand it, it is proposed to build the entire Ukrainian statehood exclusively on this idea in the future. Hatred and bitterness – and world history has repeatedly proved this - is a very shaky basis for sovereignty, fraught with many serious risks and grave consequences.

We understand all the tricks associated with the anti-Russia project. And we will never allow our historical territories and the people living there who are close to us to be used against Russia. And to those who make such an attempt, I want to say that in this way they will destroy their country.

The current authorities in Ukraine like to refer to the Western experience, consider it as a role model. So look at how Austria and Germany, the USA and Canada live next to each other. Similar in ethnic composition, culture, in fact with the same language, they remain sovereign states, with their own interests, with their own foreign policy. But this does not prevent their closest integration or allied relations. They have very conditional, transparent borders. And citizens, crossing them, feel at home. They create families, study, work, and do business. By the way, so are the millions of natives of Ukraine who now live in Russia. For us, they are our own, relatives.

Russia is open to dialogue with Ukraine and is ready to discuss the most difficult issues. But it is important for us to understand that the partner defends its national interests, and does not serve others, is not a tool in someone's hands to fight us.

We respect the Ukrainian language and traditions. To the desire of Ukrainians to see their state free, safe, prosperous.

I am convinced that the true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible precisely in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human, and civilizational ties have been formed for centuries, go back to the same origins, and have been tempered by common trials, achievements, and victories. Our kinship is passed down from generation to generation. It is in the hearts, in the memory of people living in modern Russia and Ukraine, in the blood ties that unite millions of our families. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. After all, we are one people.

Now these words are perceived by some with hostility. They can be interpreted in any way. But many people will hear me. And I will say one thing: Russia has never been and will never be "anti-Ukraine". And what Ukraine should be like is up to its citizens to decide.

Vladimir Putin

Статья Владимира Путина «Об историческом единстве русских и украинцев»
 


23 Aug, 14:08
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia does not accept such assertions relative to Crimea
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Учасники Першого саміту Кримської платформи.jpeg Created: 23 August 2021 WIKI

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Moscow views the so-called Crimea Platform summit that opened in Ukraine as an unfriendly act towards Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

The press secretary responded to a request to comment on the forum that opened in Kiev on August 23 that is aimed at refusing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

"We regard this event as extremely unfriendly towards our country. We absolutely do not accept such assertions relative to the Russian region, to Crimea. In this regard, the attitude is absolutely clear: we view it as an anti-Russian event," the Kremlin spokesman affirmed.

After the Western-backed state coup that occurred in Ukraine in February 2014, the authorities in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol held a referendum, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and reunite with Russia.

On March 18, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the treaty on the reunification of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with Russia, which was ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly (parliament). Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Kiev refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky who spoke at the UN General Assembly in September 2020 revealed his plan to establish this so-called Crimea Platform. According to Kiev’s intent, the forum must become a platform "for coordinating international efforts aimed at returning Crimea to Ukraine." As its organizers announced, delegates from about 40 countries and international organizations had agreed to come to the forum.

Commenting on the gathering initiated by Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lambasted it as "a coven where the West will continue to groom neo-Nazi and racist attitudes of the current Ukrainian authorities." Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on August 21 that Russia will "take note" of the position of the countries that would take part in the forum and "will make corresponding conclusions.".


 

US sets itself goal to destroy the unity of world Orthodox Christianity, Lavrov says

"It is currently under tremendous pressure from a number of Western countries, primarily the United States, which set itself the goal of destroying the unity of world Orthodox Christianity. An extremely destructive role in that is played by the patriarch of Constantinople who tried to split the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Such attempts are now being observed against Belarus and Mediterranean countries, in particular, Syria, Lebanon and in the Balkans where the Serbian Orthodox Church is being subjected to very powerful attacks," Lavrov said.

And only a few days after that we have violence and riots against the Serbian Orthodox Church by NATO supporters in Montenegro.
 
Regarding Montenegro, here is the link with more pictures and clips:

Those who protested consisted of mainly ex leading party's supporters, which ruled this country for 30 years. Some of them are connected to narcotics or other criminal activities, others have financial benefits and need to keep them. The rest are just hotheads who got brainwashed that they should hate Serbia. Something similar like in USA democrats are brainwashed to hate Trump.

What is also interesting is that the chaos began when Mr.Veljovic (ex leading party's Police chief) began pushing policemen with his group at the constructed gate.
 
By Reuters September 08, 2021 07:36 AM
MOSCOW - Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died during a training exercise in the Arctic on Wednesday, RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying.

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FILE - Russia's Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev sits in a helicopter as he accompanies President Vladimir Putin in a flight over wildfires sites in Chelyabinsk region, Aug. 6, 2021. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters)

The 55-year-old Zinichev, who had headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018, died while saving someone’s life, RIA said, without providing further details.

“...Zinichev died tragically while performing his official duties during inter-departmental drills to prevent crisis situations in the Arctic, saving someone’s life,” RIA quoted the ministry as saying.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russia’s RT television channel, said Zinichev had been standing on a ledge with a cameraman who slipped and fell into some water.

“There were a fair number of witnesses - no one even had time to think about what had happened when Zinichev threw himself into the water for the fallen person and crashed into a protruding rock,” she wrote on Twitter.

The cameraman also died, Simonyan added.

Zinichev was in the Arctic to oversee large-scale drills and visited the construction site of a new fire station in Norilsk, as well as a search and rescue team in the area, the ministry had said in a statement earlier on Wednesday.

Before becoming a minister, Zinichev held a number of jobs including as deputy director of the Federal Security Service and briefly as acting regional governor of Kaliningrad.

He was formerly a bodyguard and personal aide to President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian media. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that Putin had offered his condolences.

The equipment in the house near Yelets, where the gas explosion occurred, worked without disturbances: http://go.tass.ru/jTaQy

On Wednesday, September 8, the Ministry announced that Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died on duty during the exercise in Norilsk


11 Sep, 2021 06:55
Russia’s agricultural sector has seen impressive growth in foreign sales this year, according to the latest data published by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture’s AgroExport center.

In 2021, exports of agricultural products from the country reportedly amounted to more than $20.5 billion as of September 5, marking growth of 17.2% compared to the same period a year ago.

Grain exports within the specified period grew by 13.4% as Russian farmers sold more than $6.185 billion worth abroad, while sales in the fat-and-oil sector surged 43.9% to $4.531 billion. Exports of meat and dairy products rose 26.5% to $927 million.

At the same time, exports of fish and seafood saw a modest increase of 7% and totaled $3.492 billion, while foreign sales of food and pharmaceutical industry products amounted to $927 million, marking substantial growth of 26.5%.

Turkey and the EU were the biggest importers of Russian agricultural goods during this time, accounting for 12.8% and 11.8% of its total exports, respectively. Turkey increased its purchases of Russian food products by 32.8% to $2.619 billon, while exports to Europe surged 30.8% to $2.427 billion.

Meanwhile, exports to China, the third-biggest buyer, dropped 7.1% to $2.343 billion, accounting for 11.4% of Russia’s total foreign sales.

South Korea, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia also entered the top 10 of the largest buyers of Russian agricultural goods.


Russian Foreign Ministry: the Pentagon is behind the creation of the Smart Voting project. https://smotrim.ru/article/261209
 
Putin and Erdogan are going to hold a face-to-face meeting today in Sochi, to discuss trade, economic cooperation and developments in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan as well as in the Caucasus.

29 SEP, 2021
 
Putin’s Disappearing Act

by Israel Shamir | Sep 27, 2021

The Unz Review Sept 26, 2021

President Putin has gone into hiding. Well, sort of. On September 14, he said that many people (“dozens”) in his inner circle have tested positive for the virus, and as a result he has to self-isolate. His sudden seclusion has sent waves of anguish across this huge country. His explanation was met with disbelief. Everybody around Putin is vaccinated and so is Putin, or so he claimed. Why would he need to self-isolate; how could all these vaccinated people become sick? Is the vaccine – fake? Or should we look for another explanation. Did he fall, or was he pushed? Will he come back? Is this the end of Putin’s era? Is Putin ill, or was he forced into isolation? Is it a conspiracy? The Russian government is, and always was manual, not automatic; the absence of the ruler at the helm of the mighty ship of the Russian state could spell trouble. The Russians do not believe the official version, but what is the truth?

A week before his announcement, on September 8th, a close friend of Putin and his former bodyguard, the man considered as a probable successor, the Minister for Emergencies, Mr Yevgeny Zinichev, died in unusual circumstances during an Arctic drill. The head of RT Margarita Simonyan said he died while trying to save a cameraman who fell off a cliff. Perhaps he was targeted as Putin’s successor, said rumours. Just before that, on September 7th, Putin went to a Siberian retreat with his Defence Minister, Mr Shoygu. What did they discuss far away from eavesdroppers? There were rumours that Putin suspected or uncovered a plot against him and preferred to minimise his contacts with the outside world and even with his own bodyguards. A very cautious man, President Putin knows that there are many powerful people and organisations that would like to see him dead and he doesn’t want to give them this satisfaction. For this reason, his enemies call him ‘The Old Man in the Bunker”. Still, Putin appeared on TV from his hideaway.

Alternately, there are precedents of rulers claiming force majeure when they wanted to miss an event or to avoid a meeting.

President Gorbachev learned of a plot hatched by Soviet hardliners and decided to stay away hoping to enjoy the benefits should the plot succeed and have his alibi if the plot fails. He went to his Crimean Phoros Palace during a tumultuous August 1991 and claimed he was detained by plotters; the plot failed, he returned to the capital, but he never got his powers back.

Likewise, the last Russian Emperor, Tsar Nicolas II learned of the planned demo of peasants and workers who intended to come to the Winter Palace to plead with the Tsar. He decided to stay away from possible trouble and went to his country residence Tsarskoe Selo. His officials machine-gunned the pleaders on the Bloody Sunday. This massacre caused the first Russian revolution of 1905-07, and the Tsar’s absence didn’t help him at all. On a different scale, President Trump went to play golf while his supporters gathered at the White House. It didn’t help him: he had lost the White House and he was accused of illegal actions. In short, staying away is not a good option for the ruler, but it is done, sometimes.

Let us consider this possibility. What could move Putin to do a Phoros-2? Now is a very eventful time and a healthy Putin would have to visit Dushanbe and deal with Russian parliamentary elections, among other things.

Dushanbe Summit

On September 16 and 17, there was the double summit of the SCO and the CSTO in Dushanbe. The SCO and the CSTO are two different international organisations, though their membership partly coincides. Putin was expected to come in person and deal with post-Afghanistan arrangements; though it could be dealt with remotely. But he was also supposed to meet with the leaders of China, India and Iran. Especially important was the planned summit with Chairman Xi, as the two leaders haven’t met face to face for a long time. There were rumours in Moscow that Putin is avoiding meeting the Chinese leader, though it was pre-planned for immediately after Geneva summit with Joe Biden. The Putin – Xi summit had been planned even earlier, to coincide with 20th anniversary of Russo-Chinese Friendship Treaty; then it was postponed because of the Geneva summit, and then just cancelled. Xi was supposed to come to Dushanbe to the SCO summit. When he learned that Putin wouldn’t come, he stayed at home, too. Thus this very important summit of two leaders didn’t materialise. Could it be that Putin does not want to be seen siding with China, in the context of the fateful triangle Washington-Moscow-Beijing? Perhaps. The Russian elites are divided; some prefer close relations with China, and others want to throw Russia’s lot in with the West. Putin is balancing these groups. Who will be first to make a deal with Biden, Putin or Xi? Perhaps Putin prefers to sit it out and allow Xi to try his hand first, at the next summit of the G2.

The physical place of Putin at Dushanbe had been taken by Alexander Lukashenko, the stalwart President of Belarus, and he visibly enjoyed the task. Years ago, after Belarus and Russia entered the Union State agreement, people mused that Lukashenko would lead both states, or at least deal with Russian domestic affairs, too. There was a feeling that Lukashenko would be better for economics, for agriculture, industry and social structure than Putin, who was more involved with foreign affairs. If Russia and Belarus would vote for the president, Belarusians would vote for Putin, while Russians would vote for Lukashenko, it was said jokingly. However, it didn’t happen. Lukashenko managed the Dushanbe session just fine and Putin spoke to them via video link.

It seems they failed to bring some sense into the stubborn head of Mr Rahmon, though they tried. Russia is ready to defend Tajikistan in case of a Taliban offensive or infiltration. But the Tajik President has much more daring plans. He speaks against Taliban interference in Tajikistan, but has hopes to resurrect the Northern Alliance, the group of Northern warlords, the enemies of Taliban. They are predominantly members of ethnic minority groups; many of them Tajiks, the second biggest (after Pashtun) ethnic group of Afghanistan. It seems Rahmon would like to break Afghanistan up and create there the second Tajik state and it would mean a new bout of civil war, something nobody else wants.

There was a report that Rahmon received and entertained Ahmad Massoud, the ‘Panjshir rebel’, and the former vice-president of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh (who declared himself “acting president of Afghanistan”, after the flight of Ghani). It is not clear whether such a meeting actually took place. It may be just one of many examples of fake news from Afghanistan produced by Indian fake news factories. If it were true it would cross the red line in relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Russia would not like it, either: Russia has established working relations with the Taliban; the talibs asked Russia to help them to regain their lawful seat in the UN; they suggested a state visit to Moscow. The “Panjshir resistance” has been defeated without a battle. Some of the ‘resisters’ roam the mountains and appeal to warlike US politicians for support, but otherwise they lost their war. Apparently, Massoud and Saleh found a refuge in Tajikistan; it would be fine for a humanitarian gesture, unless the ambitious Rahmon turns his country into a base in the Afghan civil war.

However, this development wouldn’t justify Putin’s sheltering, unless there are some security issues.

The Russian Parliamentary Elections

Russia will “catch up with, and overtake America”, said Nikita Khrushchev in 1957. The recent (17-19 September, 2021) Parliamentary elections could be seen as a new attempt to catch up with America’s election fraud. The Russians couldn’t overtake the Shining City on the Hill: the last US Presidential elections were so profoundly dishonest that nobody could beat them. But the Russians had a good try.

Russia has a mixed system of electing Parliamentary members: some are elected by a Party list and some by majoritarian system. In the places where people were allowed to vote freely and their voices were decently counted, – mainly in Siberia – the Communists won. Elsewhere, the ruling party United Russia got the seats. They utilised all the methods successfully applied by the US Dems. People were allowed to vote at home and the collecting teams harvested a lot of votes. More people voted than there were registered. The opposition was kept away from the count. The seals of the voting boxes were often broken. But the best method was digital voting, allowed in a few cities including Moscow.

MoscowIS.jpeg

Like the postal vote in Detroit, the digital vote in Moscow was totally at variance with the real paper vote. Here is the picture of the Moscow vote, on the left – the real vote only, on the right – the real and digital vote; green for opposition (predominantly Communist), blue for the government candidates. The digital vote in Moscow had an unusual feature: voters were allowed to change their mind and re-vote. So the government could see the results and “re-vote” as much as they wanted.

Russia’s ‘democracy’ is as limited as anywhere. The political process is controlled by a governing body called AP (Administration of the President); it is not even mentioned in the constitution, but they decide who can take part in the elections and who will make it to the parliament. They do dirty tricks, too, by creating splinter parties to steal votes from the opposition. The AP decided that the Communists should not get more than 20 per cent of the vote, while the ruling United Russia should have about 50 per cent. These were the instructions given to local bosses and they just followed orders. In a few districts where the local bosses decided to ignore the AP orders, the Communists got up to 30 per cent, and United Russia below 30%. Together with the Socialists, the Russian Reds could form the new government. They would gladly serve under Putin.

The Russian Reds are not similar to the US (and European) Left. They are against identity politics, against gender and race discourse, they love Christ and Stalin. The Russian Reds differ from the US (and European) Right, for they support massive nationalization, a comprehensive health service and free education; they are against oligarchs and do not like immigration. In short, they are much more Putin than Putin. And they are not West-friendly. Their rise would change things on the world scale. Now, for the first time since 1996, they became popular among young people as well as among the older citizens. Though they are very different from the pro-Western liberal opposition, they learned to do things together against the AP diktat. CPRF is basically a social-democratic party, perfectly fit to rule; but the AP considers them too independent.

The Communists rejected the results of the digital vote; the government responded in force. Many Communist candidates and their staff were arrested. The government forbade the protest demos and rallies, using the Coronavirus as their preferred pretext. What would they do without the Corona, I wonder! The West correctly accused the Russian authorities of manipulating the electoral results; wrongly they attributed the opposition success to Navalny and his pro-Western liberals. But the Reds are quite timid, for two reasons: they are rather supportive of Putin and his foreign policy, and they are afraid of being outlawed and banned, as happened under Yeltsin. The liberals overthrew the communists and shelled the parliament in the 1990s, and they aren’t going to allow the Red Return, I was told by a member of the Russian parliament, the Duma.

Moreover, the people took the outcome in their stride. There were no big rallies or demos; true, they were forbidden, but people accepted the prohibition rather meekly. There is no revolution coming, not even big protests. Apparently, the Russians have reconciled themselves to this ‘limited democracy’. So did we all: from Australia to the US, from France to Germany, real democracy has died. Instead, we have sanitary tyranny with some face-saving ‘elections’ corrected by massive election fraud.

Russians think they are doing fine. People have their salaries, their cars, their country houses; the cities are in good shape, there is not much of unemployment. Before the elections, the obedient Covid almost vanished; now it is likely to reappear, but that is the case everywhere in the world. So there are no strong motives for protest, like it was in 1991 or even in 2011. More and more people come to conclusion that the elections are just a farce. But it is not enough to move people for revolution.

I spoke to some people close to the Kremlin; they told me that they think Putin went into hiding because of the elections, as his security people weren’t certain how the masses would respond to the election fraud. It could be a replay of 1991, when huge masses of people overthrew Soviet rule. Now we see that it did not happen. People took it laying down. But security likes to overplay their hand. In Washington, London and Moscow, there are more police than protesters at practically any rally.

One week after the elections, and they were totally forgotten. On the day the results were published, there was a mass shooting; an 18-year-old man took a hunting gun and shot six students in his school. Such terrorist attacks conveniently occur when there is a need for drastic change of the agenda, and there are enough mentally troubled men to do a massacre unless stopped.

Conclusion

We do not know for sure why Putin decided to claim that he has to self-isolate. It is not totally impossible (though unlikely) that there is indeed an outbreak of Covid. Otherwise, it could be connected with the election uncertainty or with the pending Putin-Xi summit, or, indeed, a plot was discovered. Most probably Putin will emerge out of his shelter by September 29th, for his summit with President Erdogan, as they have much to discuss. But his seclusion won’t gain him brownie points in the eyes of Russians.
 
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