Today one person, Nora, posted a question which I think is so important that it deserves its separate post. Here is what she wrote:Nora said: Saker, I get where you’re coming from. I’m truly scared to ask this but you know I’ve got to: what recourse do we have here in the US? What can we do to stop what’s going on in our name and with our tax dollars,
Earlier today I posted the letter Putin sent to the heads of state of the 18 countries which purchase gas from Russia, but I did not have the time to write a commentary about it, so I am doing in now.In my opinion, Russia is responding the the imminent attack by the neo-Nazis in the eastern Ukraine and to the PACE decision to basically slap Russia in the face. What
ITAR-TASS reports: President Vladimir Putin’s letter to leaders of European countries. Full text Ukraine’s economy in the past several months has been plummeting. Its industrial and construction sectors have also been declining sharply. Its budget deficit is mounting. The condition of its currency system is becoming more and more deplorable. The negative trade balance is accompanied by the flight of capital from the country. Ukraine’s economy is steadfastly heading towards a
Ok, I have to admit that I don’t know anything about this guy or about his “Goblin news”, and his choice of metaphors is not always the most delicate but, man, he really “pins” this situation perfectly. His analysis, simple yet spot on, is much better than 99.99999% of what is written in the western press so I urge you all to listen to what this guys says. For those
All the signs are that the freaks in Kiev have decided to put down the demonstrations in Kharkov, Donetsk and Lugansk by force. YouTube is full of amateur footage showing all sorts of militarized units, APCs and even artillery pieces being moved towards these cities. Local people have tried to stop them, but without success. It appears that the attacking force will include loyal cops from other cities, regular military
Check out this great article by AP: AP Interview: US troops may be sent to E Europe. Looks nice and official – here is a US 4 star general who has been tasked by EU ministers to come up with a plan to “protect” NATO member countries from the “Russian threat” which he estimates at 40’000 men. To look more credible, the good general makes some “military sounding” statements:“What we
Friends, thanks a lot for the very long list of information sources about Russia, the Ukraine and the current crisis. I have not checked each link, nor do I personally vouch for the quality or contents of each link, and I share them with you as they are and in no particular order. Those interested will have to refine and tune this list by themselves. I hope that this is
This is the full text of the only email I got from a Bosnian-Muslim in reaction to my recent interview with Nebojsa Malic: (full text, not excerpt) I just wish upon you and female members of your family same “gentle” treatment we Bosnians got from your genocidal Serbian thugs, no more and no less. And yes, we are Bosnians regardless of what you or your genocidal buddies say! And you
First, McDonald’s left Crimea. Now Burger King took its place. I would personally prefer Crimea free of crap-food joints, but I have to admit that this is one occasion when capitalism makes me smile.The Saker
Last March Ukrainian Jewish leaders wrote an open letter criticizing Putin and denying that “anti-Semitism” was a problem in the Ukraine. Ukrainian nationalists love Jews The ADL agreed.As did the World Jewish Congress.And the New York Times. “Death to the Jews” graffiti In fact, Israeli volunteers fought to overthrow Yanukovich.However,The European Jewish Association disagrees. And there are special courses organized to train local Jews to survive possible lynchings.Israeli organizations have
From a lot of comments I am getting I feel that this is the time to repeat a few things and clarify others.First, I completely agree with A.B.’s comment who said that Russia does not want the Ukraine to rise up. The three reasons he gives are, I believe, spot on. However, I do believe that there are scenarios in which Russia will have to intervene, such as a bloody
Okay, the picture of what is going on is getting clearer. First, besides Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansk there were also heavy clashes in Nikolaev. Second, the tactic of the authorities is now becoming clearer:1) First, cordon off the rebellious city (done in all four cities mentioned above).2) Second, cordon off as best can be the city center (also done in all four).3) Third, send in loyal cops from other cities.4)
This morning a number of links to Russian news channels are not working. Some URLs simply do not resolve. Though this might be a local problem or a technical glitch, I think that as events heat up in the eastern Ukraine such technical glitches might happen more often. Thus I would ask you all – especially those of you who live in Russia or who understand Russian – to share
From a live stream I am following on the Internet, the Kharkov local police has convinced the cops from Poltava (loyal to Kiev) to leave. The government buildings are under the control of the Russian speakers. Earlier the Poltava cops attacked the demonstrators with flashbang and teargas grenades but failed to push them back.There are several wounded people reported though no deaths. Government buildings have suffered, some stories have burned.
According to RT, police forces loyal to the revolutionary regime in Kiev have attacked the Russian speakers in Kharkov: According to the Regnum news agency the insurgents have moved “special units” to deal with the situation in Lugansk, Kharkov and Donetsk.It appears that a full-scale crackdown will happen in the eastern Ukraine overnight. A lot will depend on the outcome of these clashes.Stay tuned.The Saker
RT reports: Activists in second-largest Ukrainian city of Kharkov have proclaimed the creation of a People’s Republic independent from the coup-imposed Kiev authorities, Itar-Tass reports. A group of local “deputies” have proclaimed they have taken all the responsibility for government activity in the eastern Ukrainian city, the agency said. The move was proclaimed near the building of Kharkov regional administration, where massive pro-Russian rallies have been held. All the further
by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for The GuardianThe west has been needlessly whipping up tension – if we don’t co-operate soon, chaos may take hold The profound and pervasive crisis in Ukraine is a matter of grave concern for Russia. We understand perfectly well the position of a country which became independent just over 20 years ago and still faces complex tasks in constructing a sovereign state. Among them
It is hard to get a good picture of what is happening in the eastern Ukraine, but looking at various sources it appears to me that large protests have occurred in the cities of Lugansk, Kharkov and Donetsk. From the video footage some rather large crowds, including a lot of women, have assembled in the city centers. In Donetsk and Lugansk the demonstrators have seized the governmental buildings including the
Today I want to do something which I have not done in a long while: interview somebody by email and give that person the space to fully answer. For those interested, in the past I did that with Mizgin (Kurdistan), Roger Tucker (One Democratic State), Taimur (Indian Kashmir), Gilad Atzmon (Palestine), Joel Bainerman (Israel), Uri Avnery (Israel), Jonathan Cook (Palestine), Joel S. Hirschhorn (USA), Anticapitalista (Greece) and Scott Horton (USA).
Dear friends,Today I am posting a video of what I think is an extremely important interview of Andrei Kostin, the resident and Chairman of the Management Board of powerful Russian VTB Bank (who basically speaks for Russian banking). At a recent meeting of Russian banker Kostin made the official proposal for Russia to switch from the US Dollar to the Russian Ruble as payment currency for Russian exports. This proposal
