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

Biden administration launches new 'KleptoCapture' task force to go after Russian oligarchs​

Biden administration launches new 'KleptoCapture' task force to go after Russian oligarchs

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration announced a new task force Wednesday that will enforce sweeping U.S. and allied sanctions imposed on Russian officials and oligarchs that have helped finance President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine.

The new task force, comprised of interagency law enforcement officers from the FBI, Marshals Service, IRS, Postal Inspection, Homeland Security Investigations and Secret Service, will target "the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct."

The task force will use various tools at its disposable, including cryptocurrency tracing, to track down and prosecute those who violate the sanctions and seize assets.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who will oversee the new task force, said in a statement, "Oligarchs be warned: we will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds."
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Teased by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, the new Department of Justice task force, dubbed Task Force KleptoCapture, will seek to deprive Russian oligarchs of assets and other tools used to evade sanctions.

"The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs," Biden said. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains," the president added.

Superyachts owned by Russian billionaires have been on the move ever since the U.S. and their allies started previewing possible sanctions against these types of properties.

CNBC previously reported that at least four massive yachts owned by Russian business leaders have been moving toward the Maldives and Montenegro. The Maldives doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S., according to Nomad Capitalist.
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uno said:

Biden administration launches new 'KleptoCapture' task force to go after Russian oligarchs​

Biden administration launches new 'KleptoCapture' task force to go after Russian oligarchs
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Aside from the subject matter of the article, I find it funny that they keep calling it "unprovoked war" when Putin, intellectuals, and even U.S military and intelligence agencies have been warning for around 15 years that this is what was going to happen if NATO pushed into Ukraine.
 
uno said:
Aside from the subject matter of the article, I find it funny that they keep calling it "unprovoked war" when Putin, intellectuals, and even U.S military and intelligence agencies have been warning for around 15 years that this is what was going to happen if NATO pushed into Ukraine.
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I think they sense an opportunity to really cripple and break Russia from an economic and cultural standpoint. Whilst Russia is winning the military war it is indeed losing the informational war, resoundingly so. Also, I think in the short term it is losing the economic war but this will likely also backfire on Western European countries in particular. US appears to be doing well out of this conflict though!

Will China do something in Asia militarily?
 
An obersertion: Reading past posts, I noticed the confluence among of ideas among two retired officers and among two people that use humor and sarcasm.
1. Military strategy and the wisdom of the UA policy
These two are similar as far as their assessment:
Siberia said:
Retired Indian General Bakshi on deteriorating situation in Ukraine: "West is prolonging Ukraine's agony."
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Which was referring to: 'West Is Prolonging Ukraine's Agony', says Maj Gen GD Bakshi On Deteriorating Situation In Ukraine
And:
lilies said:
Trey Gowdy - my US former federal prosecutor "hero" - interviews Colonel Abbott Macgregor, who says it how it is in 3 and a half amazing minutes!!
Backup Link:
Colonel Douglas Abbott Macgregors sober summary about Ukraine.
Code: 
https://youtu.be/vY5pMXGorBM
The Amazing Colonel does it again here.
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Colonel Abbott Macgregor, played important roles in Yugoslavia and Iraq, so he is not a stranger to high level military strategy and actual combat.

2. Humorous and sarcastic
Paul Joseph Watson's m o d e r n i t y 7 mentioned by @Seamus and Awake with JP's Ukraine and Russia: What the Media Wants You To Think! mentioned by @Debra Lynn illustrate two approaches that somehow have survived, so far. Humorous sarcasm, for PJW and funny, or is it crazy, theatrics presenting glaring inconsistencies for JP. Apart from the approach, PJW has done a lot of fancy video editing to present clips and music to support his point. He has taken it to the level of art.
 
SOTTREADER said:
I think they sense an opportunity to really cripple and break Russia from an economic and cultural standpoint. Whilst Russia is winning the military war it is indeed losing the informational war, resoundingly so. Also, I think in the short term it is losing the economic war but this will likely also backfire on Western European countries in particular. US appears to be doing well out of this conflict though!

Will China do something in Asia militarily?
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Maybe. For me it feels like they are 'killing the host'.
Their jealousy and hate makes them want to destroy everything someone else has.
Since there is no leader/functioning president to canalize the drive everything goes.
 
Thebull said:
Well RT has now gone from My sky TV package. Channel 511 no longer available.
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We live in France and have the Sky TV package too, and my husband also discovered that RT has been deleted from it. I can't even connect to RT or Sputnik from my computer. I can however reach the Greek site of Sputnik.

It's a European-Union-wide ban apparently, which took effect yesterday.
 
Against the backdrop of all the anti-Russian hysteria in the West and various sanctions, great news came from South Korea:

South Korea will continue to supply cars and electronics to Russia - Южная Корея продолжит поставки автомобилей и электроники в Россию - Газета.Ru | Новости

This means that not only cars, but also all spare parts for them (and other consumables, batteries) will be fully supplied to Russia. The same applies to smartphones, household appliances - everything will be supplied and all South Korean factories in Russia will continue to work.

PS The exchange rate of the ruble continues to fall even despite the fact that oil costs more than $115 per barrel, and gas in Europe costs $2,200 per thousand cubic meters. Whose economy will collapse first, Russia or the West (US and EU)?
 
And it happened:
Account Withheeld.jpg


From the German Sputnik web version, which at the time of posting was still accessible, there was
Projekt als „politische Waffe“? Sacharowa bezeichnet Stopp von Nord Stream 2 als „Präzedenzfall“ and I post it below after using machine translation.
Project as a 'political weapon'? Zakharova calls Nord Stream 2 stop a 'precedent'
19:45 02/03/2022 (updated: 20:05 02/03/2022)
Moscow considers Germany's recent decision to stop the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to be 'unacceptable' from the point of view of international law. According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the German government has proved incapable of separating politics and business.

'We consider the decision of the German authorities to stop the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be unacceptable and unworthy from the point of view of international law,' Zakharova is quoted as saying on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

According to the spokeswoman, Russia is dealing with 'a classic precedent' of 'using an economic project as a political weapon against us', which the West as a whole and Berlin in particular likes to accuse Moscow of.
The aforementioned instruction to the German regulatory authority came from the responsible Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, which until recently referred to the project as a purely economic initiative by private investors, Zakharova continued.

And Chancellor Olaf Scholz himself recently rejected any political connection with the billion-euro project, said Zakharova.

'As is now becoming clear, the German authorities have been inconsistent and, under pressure, succumbed to the temptation to use the project as leverage against Russia, thereby showing their inability to separate politics and business.'

The spokeswoman also pointed out that the project partners could sue for damages. She explained that the Russian position on Europe's energy security remains unchanged.
'Russia has repeatedly emphasized that Nord Stream 2 is a purely economic, commercial project implemented in strict accordance with international law, EU regulations and the legislation of the respective coastal states.'

The pipeline serves the interests of Russia and Europe, Zakharova said.
At the end of December, Scholz spoke of a 'purely economic project' with regard to Nord Stream 2, which only had to be checked for compatibility with European energy law in a 'partial question'. 'An authority in Germany decides on this in a completely non-political manner,' said the Chancellor.
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Moscow predicts high gas prices in Europe
Zakharova believes that Berlin's decision to stop the project will irreparably damage Russian-German relations, which, through no fault of Russia, have been 'anything but smooth' in recent years.

'Responsibility for the consequences of these illegal acts, which call Germany's reputation as a reliable foreign trade partner into question, lies exclusively with the German side,' said the politician.

Europe will result in a rapid increase in gas prices after Berlin's abandonment of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, said the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry. 'In addition to mutual benefit, the new route should promote the diversification of gas supplies and become a stabilizing element for the gas market in Europe,' said Zakharova.

According to her, this 'apparently' won't happen anytime soon, as the project has become 'hostage to artificial linkages with other political issues.'

'As we have already seen, the inevitable consequence of the Nord Stream 2 shutdown will be a rapid increase in gas prices on the European market,' Zakharova said.

Germany stops approval process for Nord Stream 2
Nord Stream 2 is a subsidiary of the Russian gas company Gazprom and is headquartered in Zug, a good 30 kilometers south of Zurich. The pipeline that was laid and completed through the Baltic Sea was supposed to bring Russian gas to Germany. The federal government put the approval process for Nord Stream 2 on hold in view of the Russian special operation in Donbass at the end of February.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation to protect the People's Republics of Lugansk and Donetsk. Russia does not intend to occupy Ukraine, it is only about its 'demilitarization and denazification'. At the request of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, the Russian army will provide assistance in repelling the aggression of the Ukrainian armed forces, Putin said.

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And as if to underscore the German position or how much they are under control, or divided, Germany has sent 500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine, according to source. Will they arrive, we don't know, but the intention!!
 
SOTTREADER said:
I think they sense an opportunity to really cripple and break Russia from an economic and cultural standpoint. Whilst Russia is winning the military war it is indeed losing the informational war, resoundingly so. Also, I think in the short term it is losing the economic war but this will likely also backfire on Western European countries in particular. US appears to be doing well out of this conflict though!

Will China do something in Asia militarily?
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I don't think they can put Mother Russia down on her knees. Russia was and still is a major trading outpost to the world economy. Nobody wants to write Russia off the map for good, however, they aim at Putin, and Putin only in the hope his people would rise against his government affected by the imposition of weak sanctions that in fact make more loud noises than actual deliverance. However Putin is in charge of, let's just say, an underdeveloped country by western standards counting on his backbone not being as rigid as the US's one , like you know how Americans are extremely sensitive and proud of their freedoms, second amendment, etc, or what not, the American advantage is that they can issue US dollar denominated debt securities serviced by very low interest rates sold in the international money markets whilst Russia can do the same with very high interest rates short and long term domestically only in order to keep her economy somewhat afloat.

The biggest mistake the Russian central bank had made was not to withdraw all of its assets back to Russia prior to the commencement of the Ukraine invasion.
 
Yesterday I listened to the first 20 minutes of an interview with Dmitry Orlov by Geopolitics and Empire that i think may be of interest to others here. One point of note is that he says that Russia's special operation should be called an incursion not an invasion, because an invasion implies eventual occupation.

I think that's actually a better term than special op, because that can sound a little too vague; even if it is technically a special op.

Definition of incursion: "a sudden attack on or act of going into a place, especially across a border:"

I haven't listened to the whole podcast but here it is for anybody interested. Hearing Orlov's perspective is usually worthwhile:

Some of Orlov's points from the beginning:

- this is 'multipolar rubicon moment'
- Putin is a lawyer, never does anything illegal, always has legal basis defensible in court
- This isn't only economic collapse this is a cultural collapse, the West is Soddom and many people realise it and are looking to Russia culturally
- Ukraine intended reconquest of Crimea by force
- to use spent nuclear fuel stockpile to make dirty bombs to lob at Russia
- Zelensky is 'on drugs most of the time' (which is notable considering this video or another parliamentarian in Uk who appears to be under the influence)
- 1000 installations destroyed thus far, once all military (ex-soviet) installations are destroyed they'll leave
- Uks don't want to fight, they want to surrender but the Nazi contingent threatens to kill deserters
- Russia will let Chechens deal with the terrorists in Ukraine, that's their expertise, people are scared of them
- Uk will split up into regions, allow them decide what they want to do; Odessa will likely want to join Russia
- Western Ukraine which was never part of original Ukraine, 'Stalin's mistake', can be handed over to the West
- the Western part is mentally deficient because of low iodine in the water
- Once US got rid of Venezuelan heavy crude, needed another source because fractionated gas is too light. If Russia stops selling oil to the US, the US can no longer make diesel and the US grinds to a halt.





I also came across this Twitter thread with reams of footage and photographs of the neo-Nazi activities in Ukraine. It actually surprised me just how much incriminating footage there is:


https://twitter.com/x/status/1498129248200138760

Translation: 'Military camps of the Azov Battalion for children from Kiev, where they learn to handle rifles with black Nazi suns on their chests while shouting Sieg Heil and Heil Ukraine.'
 
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