Måned: juli 2017

By Paul Goble, Window on Eurasia “By his planned cleansing of the political field of Russia” of anyone who might challenge him, Vladimir Putin has “liquidated any direct threat to the preservation of his power,” Igor Yakovenko says. But at the same time, he “has created a new albeit long-term threat” to him and Russia. The essence of this threat, the Moscow commentator says, is that “in Russia today, there exists a critical mass of fools in power and fools with initiative,” a reality that Putin himself occasionally acknowledges as he did with regard to official attacks on artists and directors (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59719A83C5005). “But the winner of the competition for the title ‘chief fool of the month’ undoubtedly is DNR head Aleksandr Zakharchenko who declared that he is replacing Ukraine and putting in its place Malorossiya with a capital in Donetsk.” Unlike most fools in Putin’s entourage, this wasn’t a personal evaluation or a prediction: this was a declaration. Holding

Kilde: To keep himself in power, Putin has created an off-putting ‘State of Fools,’ Yakovenko says

By Paul Goble, Window on Eurasia Vladimir Putin “defends Ivan the Terrible and Stalin ‘from excessive demonization’ because unconsciously he feels himself” to share with them a common approach, Igor Eidman says, and views criticism of them like criticism of himself as “the slander of hatred foreigners.” Stalin defended Ivan for the same reason, the Russian commentator says; but unlike Putin, Stalin viewed the tsar as “an insufficiently decisive murderer,” who should have killed more people. Putin for part isn’t disturbed by the actions of Stalin and their continuing impact on Russia (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=596CCC1269450). “Ivan the Terrible was rehabilitated under Stalin, but under Putin a creeping rehabilitation of not only Ivan but of Stalin himself is going on,” Eidman continues, a reflection of the fact that other paranoids don’t appear to have a problem to those who are paranoid themselves. He then quotes Stalin on Ivan and Putin on both Ivan and Stalin to make his point.

Kilde: Putin feels a kinship with Stalin and Ivan the Terrible, Eidman says

By Paul Goble, Window on Eurasia Sixty-two percent of Russians say that statues and other memorials should be put up in Russian cities to remind about “the successes of Joseph Stalin,” a new VTsIOM poll says; but at the same time, 65 percent of them are opposed to any monuments that recall his crimes. Young people under the age of 24 are somewhat more favorably inclined to the erection of Stalin memorials (77 percent) than the average for all Russians, with pensioners who may have lived under the Russian dictator also just above the average (63 percent). It is the middle-aged who oppose such moves (rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/597057059a79472210e669c9?from=main). Both those who favor Stalin statues and those opposed say they are defending historical truth. Fifty seven percent of those favoring erecting statues in his honor say that “people must know the entire truth,” while 39 percent of those who want memorials to his victim make the same argument, VTsIOM reports. By Paul Goble, Window on

Kilde: Nearly two-thirds of Russians now favor statues honoring Stalin and oppose memorials to his crimes

By East Stratcom Have you tried the fidget spinner? The toy that enjoys a wave of global popularity has now also reached Russia – only to be blamed on national TV for being instrumental in a conspiracy to topple the Kremlin leaders. Yes, you read that right. In a news broadcast aired by Russian state TV Rossiya-24, the audience was told that the spinner “has at several occasions been seen in the hands of members of the opposition”. The spinner is in fact closely tied to political activism both in Russia and abroad, if we are to believe Russia’s national broadcaster. But that is not the end of the story. Russia’s consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, followed up on Rossiya-24’s conspiracy theory by ordering a probe into the spinner’s possible negative effect on children’s health, as reported by CurrentTime TV. Not the first game that was created by evil Western spies The accusations against the fidget spinner do not stand alone: Supporters of opposition leader Alexey Navalny were recently

Kilde: Children’s toy part of conspiracy against the Kremlin

Russian site Ukraina.ru published a story claiming that the leaders of France and Germany consider that Ukraine has failed to comply with the Minsk agreements, the hasty peace deal between Ukraine, Russia and Russian backed separatists signed in 2015. The story is based on a quote from Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The story has no quotes or direct references from the leaders of France or Germany. After a working breakfast that leaders of Germany, France and Russia held during the recent G20 summit, Peskov said that the three had talked about the situation in eastern Ukraine and noted that “the Minsk agreements are not being carried out, in many respects they are not being carried out by Kyiv, particularly the political part of the agreements”. Peskov then added his own opinion, which he presented as the view of the French and German leaders: “The fact of the matter is that it’s difficult not to admit this: the Minsk agreement contains a list of political steps that

Kilde: Fake: G20 Admits Kyiv’s Violation of Minsk Agreements

Russian media are busy disseminating a fake story claiming that Poland’s ambassador to Kyiv Jan Piekło wants a Yugoslavian scenario for Ukraine and calls on the United States to help towards that end. Website focus.ua In an article menacingly entitled “Warsaw is ready to divide the Ukrainian pie,” Russian site Ukraina.ru, a prolific disseminator of disinformation and fakes, claims that Ambassador Jan Piekło has proposed to the US that a Yugoslavian scenario be implemented in Ukraine. The European Union is unable to deal with this crisis, so the US must step up, Piekło allegedly said. Website screenshot ukraina.ru The truth is a far cry from Ukraina.ru’s claim and as usual has to do with Russian media manipulation and phrases taken out of context. Ambassador Piekło in an interview with the Ukrainian weekly Fokus expressed the view that the Minsk and Normandy formats dealing with the conflict in Donbas are not working and other solutions should be considered.  Piekło points out that

Kilde: Fake: Polish Ambassador Wants Yugoslav Scenario for Ukraine

Russia’s propaganda organ RT is disseminating a report claiming that Ukrainians are traveling to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic from Ukraine controlled Donbas territories for free medical treatment. The report claims that it is difficult to obtain medical care in Ukraine, particularly free care, which is readily available in separatist controlled territories. Website screenshot rt.com The myth of free medical care in the self-proclaimed republics has been debunked more than once; social media is rife with local residents complaining about the high costs of care and medicines and having to actually pay for care. RT’s three minute story opens with an unnamed doctor from Donetsk talking about the launch of a humanitarian medical aid program aimed at “reuniting the people of Donbas”. 24 patients are on the waiting list for the program. Two patients with blotted out faces attest that they came to the occupied territories for treatment because in Ukraine “you will not be

Kilde: Fake: Ukrainians Travel to Separatist Occupied Territory for Medical Treatment

By Jim Kovpak “Telling the untold” is one of Sputnik News’ slogans. The obvious implication is that the Russian news service covers stories that “they” don’t want you to know about. “They” are the Western “mainstream media,” any media outlet which reports information that contradicts the claims of the Russian Foreign Ministry or the Kremlin. Of course it’s not unheard of for legitimate media outlets to ignore or play down certain stories because of political or financial motivation, but this doesn’t mean that an untold story is necessarily a bombshell revelation destined to shake the foundations of power. Sometimes the media ignores a story because it’s just plain unimportant, irrelevant or downright stupid. Not Sputnik News, however! In the interest of keeping the public informed, Sputnik has blown the lid on what may be the most important story of our time. It is the story of an existential threat to humanity itself, one that the mainstream media won’t touch. Sputnik has discovered

Kilde: Some Things Are Better Left Untold

Kilde: 82 artillerymen of the 291st Brigade carrying out Kremlin’s criminal orders in Ukraine (Infographics) – InformNapalm.org (English)

Kilde: New Russian campaign medal For Peacekeeping Mission in Syria stigmatizes Russian military – InformNapalm.org (English)