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

[Windmill knight]

Apparently the major of Bucha declared on the 31st of March that the Russians were gone. He forgot to mention the massacre!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1510891234616819712

Gonzalo Lira also has a video discussing the event:

To me, the scenes of the dead bodies remind me more of a zombie movie than an actual war crime scene. I think of massacres during WW2 and others, and if a group of soldiers are trying to systematically kill a whole lot of civilians, they usually round them up, then either put them in a line or murder them one by one, dumpling the bodies in a single place or area. Here, it's like everyone was casually walking by and then was suddenly killed. A dead body even appears still 'riding' his bycicle on the ground! How did that happen? Were they shot on the spot? Where's the blood? If the Russians were going crazy shooting random passers by, why were they not running or hiding in their houses? You would expect scared people to be killed either in their hiding places or where they were being kept against their will.

 

[Benjamin]

Here's five on Bucha from RT:

Russia calls Security Council meeting over Bucha​

Moscow insists the incident was staged by Kiev to accuse Russian military of atrocities

3 Apr, 2022, 21:52

Moscow will convene an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council over an incident in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the organization, Dmitry Polyansky, said on Sunday. Ukraine has accused Russia of massacring civilians in the town, while Moscow dismissed the incident as having been staged by the Kiev forces.

“In light of the blatant provocation by Ukrainian radicals in Bucha, Russia has demanded a meeting of the UN Security Council to be convened on Monday, April 4. We will bring to light the presumptuous Ukrainian provocateurs and their Western patrons,” Polyansky said in a Telegram post.

Graphic footage from Bucha, a town to the northwest of Kiev, emerged over the weekend, showing multiple bodies clad in civilian clothing scattered around. Kiev was quick to blame the Russian military for the incident, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba alleging it was a “deliberate massacre.”

“The Bucha massacre was deliberate. Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can. We must stop them and kick them out. I demand new, devastating G7 sanctions NOW,” Kuleba said on Twitter.

Top Western politicians were quick to back and amplify Kiev’s claims, with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg branding the incident “a brutality against civilians we haven’t seen in Europe for decades.”

“And it’s horrific, and it’s absolutely unacceptable that civilians are targeted and killed, and it just underlines the importance of, that this war must end. And that is President Putin’s responsibility, to stop the war,” Stoltenberg told CNN.

A similar stance has been taken by many other officials, with some explicitly pinning the blame for the ‘massacre’ on Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron said, for instance, that “Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes.”

Moscow, however, has firmly rejected any involvement, accusing Kiev of staging the whole affair to frame Russian troops. The country’s Defense Ministry said Russian troops pulled out of the town on March 30, with the local mayor confirming this in a video address a day later without mentioning “any local residents laying shot in the streets.” The purported “evidence” of the incident emerged only four days after the withdrawal, when Ukrainian intelligence and “representatives of Ukrainian television arrived in the town,” the military added, stressing that multiple inconsistencies show that the affair “has been staged by the Kiev regime for Western media.”

Moscow launched a large-scale offensive against Ukraine in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two rebel regions by force.

Kremlin responds to Bucha war crimes claims​

Ukrainian allegations against Russian troops should be properly investigated, not taken at face value, Moscow said

4 Apr, 2022, 10:05

Ukrainian allegations that Russian troops were involved in war crimes in the city of Bucha near Kiev are not true, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. The claims need to be properly investigated and not taken at face value by foreign leaders, he suggested.

Information provided by the Ukrainian side “should be subject to serious skepticism,” the official said of the allegations made by Kiev. He claimed Russian military specialists found evidence of video manipulation and other forms of fabrication coming from Bucha.

“The facts and the timeline likewise speak against the veracity of the claims,” he added.

Bucha, a small city northwest of Ukraine, had been under the control of Russian troops since late February, when Moscow launched its military campaign against its neighbor. The Russian forces withdrew last week, after progress was made in Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Days later, Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian troops were guilty of war crimes allegedly committed against civilians living in Bucha. They claimed some non-combatants were summarily executed before the withdrawal and otherwise deliberately targeted by Russian soldiers in what Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba described as “genocide.”

The Russian military denied the accusations on Sunday and said the evidence provided by Ukraine and by media outlets friendly to Kiev came days after the Russian troops withdrew. The city mayor failed to mention any atrocities as he celebrated the Russian pullout on March 31, the ministry pointed out.

Peskov said Moscow wanted to discuss the Bucha allegations at a UN Security Council meeting, but the call to hold one was stonewalled by the UK, which is currently presiding over the top international security body.

“The situation is undeniably serious. We call on certain world leaders not to rush with false accusations and get their information from various sources and at least hear out our arguments,” he said.

Moscow launched a large-scale offensive against Ukraine in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two rebel regions by force.

Russia and Ukraine trade accusations over Bucha civilian deaths (TIMELINE)​

After footage of dead civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha emerged, the West immediately pointed the finger at Moscow

4 Apr, 2022, 13:35

Ukraine has accused Russian troops of committing war crimes in the city of Bucha. However, Moscow insists that the allegations are baseless and has implied that the Ukrainian government is manipulating the media to smear Russia.

Bucha is a small city of around 35,000 residents, located some 10km northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. From the early days of the ongoing Russian military attack, it Moscow's troops have been present in the area, but last week they were ordered to evacuate.

Days after the withdrawal, Kiev accused the Russian military of committing numerous atrocities in Bucha. Moscow has denied the allegations and unsuccessfully tried to call a UN Security Council meeting to discuss what it claims to be an attempt to frame it forces.

Russia’s foreign intelligence service earlier warned that Kiev was working to downplay footage of what appeared to be Ukrainian soldiers torturing Russian prisoners of war. The Russian military had warned that provocations could be staged by the Ukrainian side in order to manipulate public, and political, opinion in the West.

Here is a timeline of how the events unfolded.

March 27
Footage of alleged torture of Russian POWs appears

Footage of what appeared to be Ukrainian soldiers shooting Russian prisoners of war in the legs was published on social media. The video sparked widespread condemnation, including from some Western public figures.

The perpetrators were apparently members of Ukraine's ultra-nationalist forces. The presence of these neo-Nazi units was cited by Moscow as one of the reasons justifying the military attack it launched against the country in late February.

March 29
Talks in Istanbul

The Russian military announced a partial drawdown after Turkey-hosted Russian-Ukrainian peace talks.

Moscow stated that the progress made during the talks created the conditions for a scale-down of hostilities near Kiev, saying it was meant as a concession to the Ukrainian government, but many commenters were skeptical about the motives. Some claimed that it was a reflection of reduced military ambitions, due to tenacious Ukrainian resistance.

During the talks, Russian officials demand an investigation into the footage of alleged torture of POWs, indicating there would be no mercy for the perpetrators, should they be captured. Ukrainian officials pledged to get to the bottom of it, stating that such behavior wouldn't be tolerated from their soldiers.

However, no actions appears to have been taken.

March 29
Russia warns of staged videos

The Russian military claimed that the Ukrainian government ordered its ultra-nationalist forces to produce staged videos purportedly showing evidence of crimes committed by Russian troops against civilians.

The footage was supposed to incriminate Russian soldiers in “mass killings, robbery, damage to social infrastructure,” General Mikhail Mizintsev claimed.

March 31

Mayor of Bucha declares city liberated

In a video address, Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk declared his city liberated "from Russian orcs [sic]" and called it a major victory for Ukrainian defenders.

All Russian troops withdrew from the city on the previous day, both Moscow and media covering the conflict reported. The mayor made no mention of any purported Russian war crimes in his celebratory speech.

April 1
Kiev publicity damage control

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed it had intercepted communications between the governments of Ukraine and Britain discussing the publicity fallout from the alleged torture video.

The SVR stated that Western governments were "aware of the violations of international humanitarian law by Kiev" and were willing to help perpetrators remain unaccountable.

The report didn't mention Bucha or any attempts to fabricate evidence of war crimes.

April 1
Zelensky says Azov "are what they are"

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky downplayed the dark side of Ukrainian nationalists of the Azov Battalion in an interview with Fox News.

Broadcaster Bret Baier asked Zelensky about the Azov's widely covered neo-Nazi affiliations and allegagtions of atrocities mounted against them.

"They are what they are," Zelensky remarked in response, before explaining how the formerly volunteer battalion contributed to the defense of Ukraine against Russia and was subsequently integrated into the national military.

April 2
Ukrainian commandos deployed to Bucha

The Ukrainian national police said it had deployed its ‘Safari’ commando regiment to Bucha to “clear the territory of saboteurs and Russian troop collaborators,” as well as to “inspect the sites of war crimes committed by Russia.”

Evidence of purported Russian atrocities in Bucha began to pour out from the city on the same day. Images from the city showed streets littered with bodies in civilian clothes, some with their hands bound behind their backs.

Kiev claimed Russian soldiers summarily executed civilians before withdrawing from the city. The scale of destruction in Bucha indicated that Russia attempted to subject Ukrainian people to genocide, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba claimed. On April 3, the Prosecutor General's office reported recovering 410 bodies of civilians from the city.

Western officials condemned Russia, taking the Ukrainian allegations at face value.

April 2
Contravening evidence

One clip published and later deleted by Ukrainian military commander Sergey Korotkih showed Ukrainian troops in Bucha discussing engagement rules. Korotkih, formerly a citizen of Belarus, is an open neo-Nazi who went to Ukraine back in 2014 to fight in the ranks of the notorious Azov Battalion. In Russia, Korotkih is wanted on multiple murder charges.

One of the fighters can be heard asking if it was OK to shoot at “guys not wearing blue armbands” identifying Ukrainian soldiers. The response was an affirmative “you bet”.

Some of the civilians apparently killed in Bucha were wearing white armbands. Russian troops had reportedly asked all civilians to wear them to identify themselves as non-combatants.

April 3
Russia denies Ukrainian claims

The Russian defense ministry denied Kiev's claims, citing the three days between the troops' withdrawal and the emergence of the evidence as a suspicious sign.

Moscow said the accusations were "a provocation" and possibly evidence of crimes committed by Ukrainian troops after they entered the city. The statement pointed to the apparently fresh state of some of the bodies in the photos.

Russia then called an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss Bucha and what it claims to be an attempt to smear it.
Moscow claimed the attempt to meet on Monday was blocked by the UK, which is also a permanent member of the body. The British mission said the session will take place on Tuesday instead.

The truth about Bucha is out there, but perhaps too inconvenient to be discovered​

It should be easy to find out what really happened to the massacred civilians in the Ukrainian town

4 Apr, 2022, 18:55

Scott Ritter

In war, truth is the first casualty.” This quote has been attributed to Aeschylus, a 6th BCE Greek tragedian noted for his “copious use of imagery, mythic allusion, grand language, wordplay and riddles.” It is only fitting, therefore, that the man who first gave word to the concept of modern-day war-time propaganda would see his quote come to life in the present-day Ukraine. The Kiev government and their Western information warfare advisers may have coopted all of Aeschylus’ playwright devices to craft a modern-day tragedy in the Ukrainian town of Bucha that exemplifies the notion of the lie as not just a byproduct, but also a weapon of war.

The main source of the Bucha tragedy reports is a videotape, taken by the Ukrainian National Police, of one of their convoys driving through a street in the town. A dozen or so corpses litter the roadway, many of them appearing to have been bound. This video has gone viral, producing a pandemic of anguish and anger that has swept over much of the world, capturing the attention of heads of state and the head of the Catholic Church alike, resulting in a tidal wave of condemnation and outrage directed at Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. The cause-and-effect relationship between the video and the global backlash is clear – the former could not exist without the latter.

One of the first lessons of objectivity is to slow things down to make sure that fact is not obscured by emotion. The Bucha videotape is disturbing. The video has been released in its present form, it appears, with the express intent of producing a visceral “shock and awe” moment for the viewer. If this was indeed the case, then those who released it – the Ukrainian National Police – have succeeded beyond their wildest imagination. Or that of their advisors, as the case may be.

The linkage between the dead and the Russian military was established immediately, without any fact-based data to back it up, and subsequently echoed in all forms of media – mainstream and social alike. Anyone who dared question the established “Russia did it” narrative was shouted down and belittled as a “Russian shill,” or worse.

That these conclusions are the byproduct of mass hysteria is beside the point – why seek to be objective when the narrative fits every stereotype that had been carefully assembled beforehand by the same people parroting the Bucha story today. Social “preconditioning” of an audience unused to critical thinking is an essential step in getting this audience to accept at face value anything that is put before it, regardless of how egregiously the facts of the story strain credulity. And let’s be clear – the Ukrainian narrative of the events in Bucha seems to stretch credibility.

The chronology of the narrative produces the first red flag that the story being peddled by Ukraine, and echoed in the West, is not what it seems. It is established fact that Russian troops evacuated Bucha on March 30. Ukrainian National Police began entering Bucha on March 31, and that same day the mayor of Bucha announced that the town was fully under the control of Ukrainian officials. At no time was there any suggestion by the mayor or any other Ukrainian official of mass killings undertaken by Russia. The videotape in question was released by Ukrainian authorities on April 2; it is not certain if the video had been taken earlier, or on that day. What is certain is that the images shown in the video differed sharply from the narrative initially portrayed by the mayor.

For its part, Russia has vehemently denied the allegations, and has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss what the Russian Foreign Ministry has called the “criminal provocations by Ukrainian soldiers and radicals” in Bucha. The presidency of the Security Council is held by Great Britain, and the British mission to the UN has denied the Russian request, stating that a discussion on Ukraine currently scheduled for Tuesday, April 4 would serve as a forum for any discussion about Bucha.

One would think that the Security Council, which has shown a readiness in the past to meet on short notice to discuss the events coming out of Ukraine, would seek to accommodate Russia’s request on a matter of such importance. The goal of the British, however, does not appear to be the rapid search for truth and justice, but rather to buy time to allow the political fallout from the alleged massacre in Bucha to develop further.

One example of this tactic manifesting itself is the reaction of US President Joe Biden. “You saw what happened in Bucha,” he explained in comments to reporters, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is a war criminal.” Biden took advantage of the Bucha crisis to advocate for the delivery of more weaponry to Ukraine. “We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight,” he said. “And we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual – have a war crimes trial.”

All this from the president of a country which has refused to recognise the International Criminal Court. For reasons which should be obvious to anyone willing to apply some critical thought.

Fortunately for President Biden and the Ukrainian government, the British chief prosecutor of the court, Karim Khan, announced in early March 2022 that he had launched an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. Given the high profile of the Bucha allegations, one would imagine that Khan has dispatched a forensics team to take control of the crime scene and oversee autopsies on the victims to establish the time of death, mechanism of death, and whether the victims had died where they were allegedly found, or if their bodies had been moved there from another location.

Khan would also be empowered to conduct interviews with the Ukrainian National Police, who have a history of close relations with members of the Ukrainian far right, including the infamous Azov Battalion. Of particular interest would be any investigation into orders given to the police regarding the treatment of those Ukrainian civilians deemed to have collaborated with the Russian military during its occupation of Bucha.

The results of such an investigation would more than likely conflict with the narrative being pursued by the Ukrainian government and echoed in the West by compliant media outlets and politicians alike. This is the prime reason why Khan is not currently on the ground in Bucha. One can assume that if and when Khan is eventually given access to evidence about the Bucha killings, it will have been manipulated by the Ukrainian National Police to such an extent that disproving the allegations will be virtually impossible.

The truth about what happened in Bucha is out there, waiting to be discovered. Unfortunately, that truth appears to be inconvenient for those in a position to pursue it aggressively through a forensics-based, on-site investigation. If it so happens that it eventually emerges that the Ukrainian National Police murdered Ukrainian civilians for the crime of allegedly collaborating with the Russians during their brief occupation of Bucha, and the forces of international law are brought to bear against the true perpetrators of that crime, any true pursuit of justice would have to include both the US and UK governments as witting co-conspirators in any crime charged.

EU to send investigators to probe alleged war crimes in Ukraine​

People behind these “heinous crimes” must not go unpunished, EU Commission head has said

4 Apr, 2022 20:44

The EU will send a team of investigators to Ukraine to probe alleged war crimes on the ground, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday, after holding phone talks with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. The move comes after multiple dead civilians were found in Bucha, a suburb of the capital, over the weekend, with Kiev promptly attributing the killings to Russian troops.

“This afternoon I spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the dreadful murders that have been uncovered in Bucha and other areas from which Russian troops have recently left,” von der Leyen said in a statement.

The investigative team dispatched by the EU will not act as an independent entity but will assist Ukrainian authorities in collecting evidence on site, the official signaled.

“The EU has set up a Joint Investigation Team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity,” von der Leyen explained. “The EU is ready to reinforce this effort by sending investigation teams on the ground to support the Ukrainian Prosecution Services. Eurojust and Europol are ready to assist.”

The Bucha affair unfolded after multiple dead civilians were found in the suburban town northwest of the capital. Kiev without delay blamed Russian troops for the purported mass killing, with top Western officials backing its assessment and also accusing Moscow of war crimes. The latter, however, has vehemently denied any involvement in the killings, branding the whole Bucha affair a deliberately staged “provocation” to frame Russian troops.

Zelensky visited the site of the purported mass killing earlier in the day, vowing to punish those responsible, and reiterating Kiev’s allegations against Moscow.

“We want you to show the world what happened here. What the Russian military did. What the Russian Federation did in peaceful Ukraine. It was important for you to see that these were civilians,” Zelensky told a large group foreign reporters who accompanied him to the site.

Moscow launched a large-scale offensive against Ukraine in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia’s demand is that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military alliance. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it had been planning to retake the two rebel regions by force.

 

[Benjamin]

On Bucha from Sputniknews:

Bucha: Lavrov Says False-Flag Op Was Conducted in Town Outside Kiev After Russian Troop Withdrawal​

Apr. 4, 2022

The Russian Defence Ministry has blasted the footage of a "massacre" in the Ukrainian city of Bucha as a "production" staged by Kiev for the Western media, categorically denying accusations of Russia being behind the civilian killings in the city.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the situation around the Ukrainian city of Bucha a "yet another fake attack" that Ukraine attempts to use against Russia.

"We requested an urgent meeting of the Security Council on this specific issue because we see such provocations as a direct threat to international peace and security", Lavrov said during a meeting with Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths.

According to the top Russian diplomat, the horrifying scenes in Bucha were staged after Russian troops left the city, with the Ukrainian authorities, induced by their "Western patrons", promoting "fake videos" from Bucha via social media.

"Russian servicemen left this city on 30 March, on 31 March the mayor of the city solemnly said that everything was in order, and two days later we saw how that very performance was organised on the streets, which they are now trying to use for anti-Russian purposes", Lavrov explained.

Lavrov's remarks come after the Ukrainian and Western media fuelled accusations that Russia was behind the mass killing of civilians in the city of Bucha, spreading footage that showed dead bodies strewn across the streets of the town in the Kiev region. Moscow has categorically denied that Russia was behind the killings, calling the footage from Bucha "another provocation" produced by Kiev specially for the Western media.

Over the weekend, another clip resurfaced on the web, released by Sergei Korotkih, the leader of the "BOATSMAN BOYS" - one of Kiev's territorial defence divisions. In the video, fighters are heard asking whether they are allowed to shoot people not wearing blue armbands (an identifier of Ukrainian forces), and being given a green light in response.

After the chilling videos from Bucha emerged online, many social media users suggested they were fake as it seemed like some of the "corpses" were moving or even standing up as soon as a car drove past them.

Aside from this, it turned out that the Ukrainian National Police on Saturday posted a video on its social media, claiming that it had conducted a "clearing operation" in Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian troops.

"Today, on 2 April, in the liberated city of Bucha, Kiev region, special units of the Ukrainian National Police began clearing the area of saboteurs and accomplices of Russian troops", read the Facebook* statement by the Ukrainian National Police.

The video of the "clearing op" was posted before the Ukrainian and Western media fuelled the narrative of Russia allegedly committing the mass killing of civilians and spread the footage allegedly picturing bodies strewn across the streets.

Ripping into the Bucha incident as a "criminal provocation", Russia demanded a UN Security Council meeting on the matter, but received a no from the United Kingdom. Still, Moscow has indicated that it will once again request to hold a meeting regarding the issue. The Russian Investigative Committee, in its turn, has launched a legal investigation into the issue.

*Facebook is banned in Russia over extremist activities

 

[Puma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1511118241745469442

 

[ApotheosisMMC.]

I do not know what to think About of this
(Seriously, if I laughed a little, forgive me!).

An MMA promoter in Poland has announced a fight between lookalikes of President Putin and President Zelensky.

The bout is set to take place on April 30, with proceeds going to Ukrainian refugees. Ahead of the announcement, both 'presidents' arrived in a Mercedes accompanied by bodyguards, and exchanged a few verbal blows before 'Zelensky' threw an MMA glove at 'Putin.'

Not everyone was keen to see the two political heavyweights duke it out; many fans condemned the upcoming event for being in poor taste, with calls for the fight to be called off.

 

[iamthatis]

"Nature will intervene..." Another hit for the C's?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1510694761316986889

 

[Benjamin]

Commentary on the Fox/Zelensky interview from Sputniknews:

WATCH: Zelensky Defends Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in Fox Interview - ‘They Were Defending Our Country’​

Apr. 4, 2022

Western media has attempted to defend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from accusations that his government is closely linked to neo-Nazi forces by highlighting that he is a Russian-speaking Jewish man, as well as by refusing to disclose that groups like the Azov Battalion are fascist and complicit in crimes against humanity.

In an April 1 interview with Fox News, Zelensky was asked about the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and its presence in the country’s armed forces - a question almost no other Western media outlet has dared to ask him.

"Zelenskyy on Azov Battalion: "They are what they are. They were defending our country … They are component of the Ukrainian military.” pic.twitter.com/1WDIauatX6
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 4, 2022"

“I wanted to have you clear something up for us. This is: these reports about the Azov Battalion, that is said to be a Nazi-affiliated organization operating as a militia in your country, said to be committing their own atrocities,” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Zelensky via video link on Friday.

“What should Americans know about that unit, about those reports?”

“So, Azov was one of those many battalions. They are what they are, they were defending our country. And later, I want to explain to you, everything from all the components of those volunteer battalions later, were incorporated into the military of Ukraine. Those Azov fighters are no longer a self-established group, they are a component of the Ukrainian military. Back in 2014, there were situations when our volunteers were encircled, and some of them did violate laws, laws of Ukraine, and they actually were taken to court and got prison sentences. So, law is above all,” Zelensky replied.

However, despite getting such a telling answer to Baier’s question, Fox News cut the exchange from the video of the interview that was posted to their official YouTube account, nor is it mentioned in the write-up posted on Fox News’ website. The full version of the interview only appears on Baier’s own YouTube account.

The Azov Battalion was formed in May 2014 by neo-Nazi groups in Berdyansk, Zaporizhia Oblast, after Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov authorized the creation of paramilitary units to fight Russian-speaking separatists in eastern and southern Ukraine, including in the Donbas, where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had recently declared independence.

However, anger with the Ukrainian government was strong across the Russophone parts of Ukraine, including Kharkhov, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Nikolaev and Odessa regions, all of which saw substantial protests in the Spring of 2014, following attempts by the government to reduce the status of Russian as a national language of Ukraine. The Azov Battalion became a haven for neo-Nazis affiliated with Right Sektor and other formations that had aided in the February 2014 coup d’etat that was supported by the United States.

The crimes of the neo-Nazi voluntary battalions are widely documented, including a report on the Azov Battalion by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and one about the Aidar Battalion by Amnesty International.

Recently, the Azov Battalion has appeared in the Western media several times due to its dogged defense of Mariupol, a port city in Donetsk Oblast that the militia captured from the Donetsk People’s Republic in a June 2014 offensive. However, Western media aren’t talking about Azov because of its neo-Nazi ties and central role as provocateur of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine - in fact, they aren’t talking about its Nazism at all.

In the New York Times, for example, the language has been changed to all but erase Azov’s ideology. On February 25, the paper referred to the militia as having “drawn far-right fighters from around the world,” but a month later on April 3, the Azov was referred to by name with no further qualification, except as the primary source of information about the deaths of civilians in Bucha, which the Ukrainian government has claimed were killed by withdrawing Russian troops.

CNN has referred to Azov as “far-right,” but has also repeatedly used as a source a Ukrainian officer named Denis Prokopenko, who holds the rank of major in the Azov Battalion. Several news reports over the last month with Prokopenko interviews have failed to disclose Azov’s ideology.

In the weeks before the special operation began, NBC’s Richard Engel also gave voice to the Azov Battalion when he uncritically reported on a media stunt involving grandmothers receiving rifle training.

"And here's @NBCNews Chief Foreign Correspondent @RichardEngel promoting a media stunt by Ukraine's far-right, neo-Nazi Azov Battalion on air.
Looking forward to see how many resident MSNBC extremism and disinformation experts speak out against this. (Ukraine far-right group offers training to civilians) pic.twitter.com/jZK1fHFj2M
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) February 14, 2022"

However, when it comes to CBS, outright denial of Azov’s Nazism is what passes for journalism.

 

[Vulcan59]

Great article translated from French by Boyd D. Cathey.

Just recently I came across perhaps the clearest and most reasonable account of what has been going on in Ukraine. Its importance comes due to the fact that its author, Jacques Baud, a retired colonel in the Swiss intelligence service, was variously a highly placed, major participant in NATO training operations in Ukraine. Over the years, he also had extensive dealings with his Russian counterparts. His long essay first appeared (in French) at the respected Centre Français de Recherche sur le Renseignement. A literal translation appeared at The Postil (April 1, 2022). I have gone back to the original French and edited the article down some and rendered it, I hope, in more idiomatic English. I do not think in editing it I have damaged Baud’s fascinating account. For in a real sense, what he has done is “to let the cat out of the bag.”

Is It Possible to Actually Know What Has Been and Is Going On in Ukraine?

Over the past three months I’ve authored six articles about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine: that’s six out of eleven installments that have showed up at MY CORNER and then published in such venues as LEWROCKWELL.com and THE UNZ REVIEW. That may seem excessive—and I acknowledge that. But...

www.unz.com

 

[seek10]

Some items from telegram channels, I am following.

“On March 31 the government of Mali announced that it had received two helicopter gunships from Russia, which would be used to support ongoing counterinsurgency efforts against Islamist militant groups in its desert regions. Defence Minister Sadio Camara received the helicopters on March 30 in the country’s capital Bamako as well as other Russian equipment. What was particularly notable about the acquisition was that it came after the West African country had evicted Western military forces (Military Watch Magazine) that had long been based on its soil, after a change in government in 2020. Widespread anti-European and particularly anti-French protests have continued to sweep the capital, often with Russian flags, as Moscow and reportedly neighbouring Algeria have supported the erosion of the longstanding French sphere of influence in the region.” - MWM

ASB Military News

You can view and join @asbmil right away.

t.me

The Taliban has announced a ban on poppy production in Afghanistan —
warning farmers that any crops of the flower (which produces the opium used to make heroin) would be burned; and vows jail time for anyone who proceeds with the upcoming harvest season.

ASB Military News

You can view and join @asbmil right away.

t.me

Russian Government backs bill that criminalizes carrying out & abiding by Western sanctions on Russian soil

ASB Military News

You can view and join @asbmil right away.

t.me

German food retailers announced they will raise prices by minimum 20 to maximum of 50 percent on Monday — German Retail Association

ASB Military News

You can view and join @asbmil right away.

t.me

"Ukraine: ordinary Nazism" documentary. This is a 50+ min. documentary. I couldn't find it with English titles in quick search except in telegram channel.

Russian MFA 🇷🇺

▪️ The virus of Nazism is rampant in today's #Ukraine. ❓Who is behind that? ❓ Who is responsible for the thousands of young people roaming Ukrainian cities, doing the Nazi salute and shouting "heil"? Watch the documentary (2021) by Arkady #Mamontov to find out 👇

t.me

journalist evacuating few people at a time from mariapol in between shelling - old people who lost everything living in basements, graves of dead in school and so on - very sad stories

Illia Kiva Member of Ukrainian national Parliament Verhovna Rada - Zelensky makes 100 million US $ /month for dragging this war . He mentioned in a separate interview that this Bucha attacks are staged.

Vanessa Beeley

💢Zelensky pays himself $100 Million a month in kick-backs, and has no interest in ending the war for as long as possible. Ukrainian MP Illia Kiva breaks down the dollars and ... sense of it. @NewResistance - SUBSCRIBE !

t.me

The level of sadistic violence ( tying naked people to tree's as a punishment, Captured Russian soldiers made to die bleeding , shelling fleeing citizens, killing their own people just for the sake of showing power, destroying their own infrastructure and so on) can't happen without narcotics. What I find it bizarre is where the hell these Nazi's got so much packing plastic wrap got in advance when there is no food or any items on the store shelves. It is as if some body wants to suck up all the emotional energy from these suffering people.

There are lots of witnesses saying that Ukrainians consume a lot of narcotics. And lots of videos showing way too many needles in abandonned Ukrainian bases. And some captured Ukrainian soldiers talking under narcotics. Here is the most interesting so far:
This artillerist, still under narcotics, explains that he knew that he was firing at civilians of Mariupol "but I was under narcotics", and "I had to follow the orders of the SOB" (SOB: Chief Officer of the Batallion).

Vanessa Beeley

There are lots of witnesses saying that Ukrainians consume a lot of narcotics. And lots of videos showing way too many needles in abandonned Ukrainian bases. And some captured Ukrainian soldiers talking under narcotics. Here is the most interesting so far: This artillerist, still under...

t.me

 

[Ina]

My husband last night commented that Zelensky, with all his appearances reminds him of Greta, but the 2.0, male version.

 

[Ocean]

You know that in some old Art Bell interviews with Father Malachi Martin, the priest says that Russia will be the savior of the world. The prophecies that he talked about were very similar. He was an exorcist, which made for some real interesting shows. They only stopped having the interviews because Father Martin died, as in "fell down some stairs". Art Bell speculated that Father Martin knew too much.
I listened to the interviews a very long time ago, here are some links:

28 of Malachi Martin Podcasts Interviews | Updated Daily - OwlTail

Listen Now. Latest Interviews. Listen to all 28 interviews on OwlTail. Search & Listen to all the podcasts interviews of anyone on OwlTail.com

www.owltail.com

Second Interview of Malachi Martin on the Third Secret

Second transcribed interview with Fr. Malachi Martin on the Third Secret - excerpts and commentary reveal that the officially released secret is a fake

www.traditioninaction.org

Art Bell : The Malachi Martin Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzEoxg3LAl5_MsxGVk-OHW-5HgElGlt9i

THIRD SECRET OF FATIMA ACCORDING TO FATHER MALACHI MARTIN

THIRD SECRET OF FATIMA ACCORDING TO FATHER MALACHI MARTIN https://www.bitchute.com/video/BcMGWehumpJf/ Father Malachi Martin was one of the few humans on the planet who had read the Third Secret of Fa

rumble.com

 

[sToRmR1dR]

'A fake report the same as OPCW (Syria).'

EU sending war crimes investigators to Ukraine​

4 Apr, 2022

People behind these “heinous crimes” must not go unpunished, EU Commission head has said

The EU will send a team of investigators to Ukraine to probe alleged war crimes on the ground, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday, after holding phone talks with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. The move comes after multiple dead civilians were found in Bucha, a suburb of the capital, over the weekend, with Kiev promptly attributing the killings to Russian troops.

“This afternoon I spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the dreadful murders that have been uncovered in Bucha and other areas from which Russian troops have recently left,” von der Leyen said in a statement.

The investigative team dispatched by the EU will not act as an independent entity but will assist Ukrainian authorities in collecting evidence on site, the official signaled.

“The EU has set up a Joint Investigation Team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity,” von der Leyen explained. “The EU is ready to reinforce this effort by sending investigation teams on the ground to support the Ukrainian Prosecution Services. Eurojust and Europol are ready to assist.”

The Bucha situation unfolded after multiple dead civilians were found in the suburban town northwest of the capital. Kiev without delay blamed Russian troops for the purported mass killing, with top Western officials backing its assessment and also accusing Moscow of war crimes. The latter, however, has vehemently denied any involvement in the killings, branding the whole Bucha affair a deliberately staged “provocation” to frame Russian troops. Russian forces left the city on March 30. Images purportedly showing civilians killed by withdrawing Russian troops started pouring out of the city on April 2.

Zelensky visited the site of the purported mass killing earlier in the day, vowing to punish those responsible, and reiterating Kiev’s allegations against Moscow.

“We want you to show the world what happened here. What the Russian military did. What the Russian Federation did in peaceful Ukraine. It was important for you to see that these were civilians,” Zelensky told a large group foreign reporters who accompanied him to the site.

Moscow launched a large-scale offensive against Ukraine in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia’s demand is that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military alliance. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it had been planning to retake the two rebel regions by force.

 

[Snow]

No, none of it is true.

Besides, this is not trench warfare.

The Russians have chosen to confront 600,000 with 200,000 troops, and that is all they will need. What is needed is great maneuverability and tactics where they attack the opponent where he is at his weakest. So don't expect Russian ground forces to stay in the same positions outside Donbas and Lugansk; they will be constantly on the move. What the West will falsely describe as ''retreat''. This method of warfare is of the highest order and something the Russians have trained on for years in case they ever have to confront superior NATO numbers.

This is also to keep casualties low and avoid civilians. It is not so much a conquest of cities as an elimination of military targets.

The Russians control the battlefield so there is no need to hurry either, caution is paramount here.

I know. The Russians are masters at tactics and warfare. Something we in the West have forgotten or have become complacent about. No, What I meant was I "receive" / hear information through people that follow the MSM and they tell me "The Russians did this or that". Normally I can verify and deconstruct the propaganda easily, but this particular one not. So I was actually looking for information where the news that Russian troops got radiated and are hospitalized gets debunked. Actually, it would be dumb to be digging anywhere around Chernobyl. Lastly, I know that at the beginning of the military operation the Russian troops and Ukrainian guards made a deal there to do a joint guarding of the installation to avoid sabotage / accidents.

 

[Pierre]

Germany's largest gas storage no longer receives Russian fuel

Germany's largest gas storage no longer receives Russian fuel
05.04.2022 11:04



The Russian company "Gazprom" has stopped the injection of gas into the largest German storage "Rehden". This was said by the operator of the Astora underground storage company, Gazprom Germania.

It turned out that all operations in Reden came to a halt on the morning of April 1, when Russian leader Vladimir Putin's decree entered into force on the transfer of gas contracts with hostile countries into rubles. Berlin has so far refused to agree to the new terms.

To date, the “Reden” storage represents 21 million cubic meters per day. Before the shutdown, the UGSF was withdrawing and supplying fuel to the German gas transmission system. The decision to convert gas sales into rubles was a response to harsh anti-Russian sanctions. Such a step made it possible to strengthen the national currency and stabilize the situation in the country.

Thus, the ruble and dollar exchange rates have already fallen significantly and may return in the next few days to the values that were before the start of the special operation in Ukraine.

 

[ziutek]

There is such a massive information war going on, so many lies, so much hate unsupported by any facts.
In order not to fall apart, in order not to lose the connection with the soul there are only two possibilities:
- be a psychopath
- to strive for objectivity, for truth.