Russian President Medvedev has just made an unannounced visit to the National Anti-Terrorist Committee meeting in the North Ossetian city of Vladikavkaz. He made a number of interesting, if very debatable comments.
a) President Medvedev began by saying that what is now taking place in the Arab world is a “scenario which was first attempted in Russia but which was defeated”.
b) He described the situation in the Arab world as “extremely serious” and he said that major difficulties lie ahead. According to him, there is a real risk of a “disintegration into small fragments of large, highly populated countries”.
c) He said that very serious developments are likely including, quote, the accession to power by “fanatics”. That, according to Medvedev, would results in “fires for decades and a dissemination of extremism”. He repeated that this was the “scenario” which “they” (unnamed) were “preparing for” Russia and he added that now “they” (unnamed) would re-double the efforts to realize it in Russia.
d) Medvedev adamantly restated that “this scenario will not happen here” but he also added that “everything which happens there will have a direct impact on our situation”. He added that this is a long term issue which Russia will have to tackle for “many decades”.
e) Medvedev then proceeded to declare that “it is quite obvious that nobody besides us can restore order in this situation”. The plan to respond to this situation would, according to Medvedev, include all the following components:
- A merciless destruction of any caught terrorists; according to Medvedev, “these degenerates show no mercy to women and children and we shall show them no mercy either”.
- A systematic effort to prevent and preempt terrorist attacks before they occur.
- A multi-sectoral effort to revive and expand the economies of the Caucasus.
- A expansion of social programs.
- The creation of many workplaces
- The development of educational programs
- A maximal support for indigenous Islam
He added that “he who is willing to change should get a chance to do so but the one who seeks blood will drawn in his own blood; no other approaches are possible”.
First, when I listened to him I though “there he goes again, parroting the Israeli-US line”, but then I reconsidered. I think that a lot was *not* said in this statement, but that we could try to make some educated guesses about what this statement was all about. Here is my take on it:
First, it appears Medvedev is clearly supporting the Israeli-US position on the situation in the Arab world. But then, what does he mean when he says that “they” attested to realize this “scenario” in Russia and that “they” will try again.
One interpretation is that the Arab revolutions are all directed by the CIA, MI6, Mossad, George Soros, the Bilderbergers, etc. I really do not believe that this is what he means. The other interpretation is that the aforementioned organizations will attempt to *use* the events in the Arab world to re-start wars in the Caucasus. Now that is a FAR more likely explanation (just remember the recent DoS “tweets” in Farsi to try to re-ignite Iran and you will see what I mean).
If I am correct in my interpretation, then this is the very first time that I see an admission from Medvedev that what happened in the North Caucasus was indeed a massive destabilization plan organized and executed by Western interests via such Jewish oligarchs like Berezovsky and crackpot mass murders like Dudaev, Maskhadov & Co. Yes, he does not name names, but the “they” he refers to is rather clear to any Russian.
The second element which I find interesting is Medvedev’s prediction that “fanatic” elements might come to power. I do not think that he refers to secular or Buddhist “fanatics”, so the only conclusion is that he is referring to Wahabi extremists (they are often referred to as “fanatics” in Russia). But why does he say that? Tunisia is far from being a Wahabi-influenced country, the Egyptian revolution had a very strong secular component and the Egyption MB does not at all look like a “Wahabi” movement, in Bahrain a central force against the regime is Shia, while in Yemen is predominantly Shafi’i and Shia while the regime is totally dependent on Saudi Arabia. I am frankly confused as to how Medvedev can come to the conclusion that Wahabis can come to power in these states. Does he refer to Libya?!
Then, he speaks of the disintegration of a “large and highly populated” country/countries. Since Yemen or Bahrain are neither large nor highly populated, is he hinting that Tunisia, Egypt, or Libya are going to fall apart?
Medvedev is not Reagan. He is an intelligent man and he gets the very best intelligence and analysis one can imagine. So what is this all about? Is he just trying to scare the Russian audience by hinting that the breakup of some yet undefined major and highly populated country would serve as trigger for a a similar development in the Caucasus or even Russia? Or is there much more to this. Remember the apparently equally strange declaration by Prime Minister Putin about the bombing in Domodedovo not being linked the Chechnia? Clearly, both Medvedev and Putin are referring to some non Chechen “they” who is trying to destabilize Russia. I wonder whom they are really referring to…
Lastly, I have to say that I am reassured to see that Medvedev seems to realize the need for the Federal government to carefully balance a merciless extermination of foreign-controlled Wahabi crazies with a simultaneous support for indigenous Islam in Russia. I just hope that he means more than than just to build a huge mosque in Grozny and in Saint Petersburg, and that this program will include the promotion and financing the forms of Islam traditional to the Caucasus and the rest of Russia.
As I have already written in the past, I strongly believe that the real solution to the crisis in the Caucasus can only come from the Muslim world. Sadly, I do realize that 99.99999% of Muslims are still stuck into a deceptive myth combining a narrative about “Muslims always being the victims” with a blind “my umma – right or wrong” attitude. Yet, I do also know that this is not true of a majority of Muslims living in Russia. They all saw bloodbath which the Chechen “Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade” created in Dagestan during its aborted invasion in the hope of creating an “Islamic Caliphate” in the Caucasus. Russian Muslims are also quite aware of the regular terrorist attacks which continue nowadays. So while many of them will be very critical of the Kremlin and will be often disgusted and outraged by some of the gross human rights violations committed by Federal forces in Chechnia, I believe that they know that Wahabism is the main cause of all these horrors. Bottom line: the Kremlin needs to support Islam in Russia but without attempting to control or use it. This is a difficult balance which I do not believe has been achieved yet.
Anyway, I think that these statement by Medvedev are intriguing and interesting and that while I might not agree with this take on the evens in the Arab world, it is well worth taking it into consideration.
The Saker
Saker,
I believe that Medvedev/Putin are right in what they are saying…It’s the same Kissinger plan of utter fragmentation still at work…
We saw it in the 90s with Yugoslavia, we are seeing it today in MENA and all over Africa soon…and I believe that Russia narrowly escaped that fate earlier…
I see the USraeli plan of creating hundreds of Tribes with Flags in MENA and beyond…and in time I see that going all the way to China and India…starting in 2015….
They are still desperately trying to save the crumbling Empire…and that’s the Plan they have espoused….
Cheers,
Joe
Theres a chapter on Russia in one of Soros books in which he describes how he fell out with Beresovsky and how the invasion of Dagestan was suspicious. He reckons its not impossible Beresovsky was colluding with the Chechen bandits for political ends. Soros also says he can’t rule out the possiblity that the Moscow apartment bombings in 2000 were a false flag operation.
Of course I wouldn’t necessarily trust anything Soros has to say but one this is clear Berezovsky is pure evil. As an Englishman I find it shameful that we are playing host to him and his gang. He should have been sent straight back to Moscow to face the music years ago.
@Joe: I believe that Medvedev/Putin are right in what they are saying..
But what ARE they saying. I get the Chechnia part and, you are right, Chechnia was definitely an attempt to turn the Caucasus into another “former Yugoslavia” with Camp Bondsteel and Saudi paid schools. But what do you make of the strange “big country fragmentation thesis” or the hints that the Wahabis would benefit from the Arab revolutions when, IMHO, the Wahabis are going to be *hurt* by them. There is a deep community of interest between the USraelian Empire and the Wahabis. Sure, the Taliban fight the Yanks now, but that is more of a tactical dispute. But fundamentally we should never forget that a) the Wahabis were federated by the CIA and b) the Wahabis are funded by the USA and armed by the KSA. What is the WORST outcome for the USraelian Empire now? A Middle-East free of Wahabi crazies. That would leave Israel face to face with ‘normal’ Sunnis and Shia – all united in their determination to stop the abhorrent Apartheid regime in Israel from accomplishing its slow motion genocide of the Palestinian people. So how in the world does Medvedev think that the Arab revolutions would make the Wahabis stronger?!
@Robert: Beresovsky was colluding with the Chechen bandits for political ends
I don’t think that anybody seriously disputes that fact. Berezovsky was deeply enmeshed with all the worst Chechen leaders – that is not a secret. He was the REAL “hand” of the 5th column in Moscow who back-stabbed the Russian military on at least two major occasions.
he can’t rule out the possiblity that the Moscow apartment bombings in 2000 were a false flag operation.
And, frankly, neither can I. But unlike the case of 9/11, there is absolutely *zero* real proof that this was an ‘inside job”. Possible? Hell yes! Probable? Maybe. Proven? Absolutely not.
Berezovsky is pure evil
Yes, absolutely.
As an Englishman I find it shameful that we are playing host to him and his gang. He should have been sent straight back to Moscow to face the music years ago.
Sadly, the UK government is even more anti-Russian than the US. Who made up all this nonsense about the KGB killing Litvinenko and Politkovskaia?! The regime in London was fully backing the Chechen terrorists up until the moment when the poor guys from BT (I think) were beheaded. Then their pro-Chechen infatuation cooled down.
It is a sad fact that the UK regime is the most anti-Russian on the planet (along Yushchenko and Saakashvili, I suppose).
But please remember this, Robert, your nation is not the regime ruling it. You are disgusted with the policies of your rulers, and that I understand, and I do agree that to a certain degree nations are responsible for their rulers, but it is also true that a collective responsibility does not entail a personal one (individuals are only afflicted with the consequences of their collective responsibility). That is true for Americans, Israelis, Russians, Chechens and, of course, the British too.
Our foe is never a nationality – but only Evil itself, regardless of who commits it.
Kind regards,
The Saker
in the next two days putin is in bruxelles for wto talks
should make further remarks
“crackpot mass murders like Dudaev”
This is ugly imperialist pro-Russian propaganda. Dudaev served in Estonia and learned Estonian language and when Soviets ordered military crackdown on pro-independence demonstrators, he refused. He’s still respected here in Baltic States.
He was inteligent, very respected and secular leader. Married Russian woman. What Russians have done, they destroyed secular Ichkeria government ant turned resistence into mainly radical islamist profile. BTW, before first Ichkeria war Russians used Basayev and other North Caucasus voluntaries for war in Abkhazia, which resulted in massive ethnic cleansing of Georgians.
@x from Lithuania: you know, you are factually correct in most of what you wrote, at least in the facts, if not on your conclusions. But consider this: none of what you wrote in any way proves that he was not a crackpot mass murderer.
Hitler was also intelligent, children and animals loving vegetarian and a pretty good painter. He was IMMENSELY respected not only in Germany, but also in other countries. He earned a medal for his courage during WWI. And yet, he was also a mass murderer.
As for Dudaev, before he decided to turn “democratic” in the early 90s, he made is career carpet bombing his fellow Muslims in Afghanistan.
Are you starting to get it?
Yes, I agree that Putin is crackpot mass murderer, who slayed tens of thousands of Chechnya civilians to continue Rusian imperial policy. Also horrors of concentration camps. Yeltsin was no better for ordering first Chcechn war. Fuck Kremlin.
@x from Lithuania: you do realize that you have a) posted an illogical comment the first time and that you are now b) unable to intelligently defend it in your second comment. By now all you have achieved in totally ruining your credibility.
“Fuck Kremlin” is lyrical, for sure, but not quite on par with the quality of discussion I want for this blog.
Here is my suggestion: change your nick/handle so as to free yourself from the first bad impression you made, and come back if/when you felling like discussing something in an intelligent and informed manner.
Cheers!
“He was IMMENSELY respected not only in Germany, but also in other countries.”
True, and as we all know, Hitler is still respected in two or three tiny countries.
Anyway, going back to an intelligent discussion: the statement from Medvedev is interesting, but not all that surprising: the guy made a big mistake by selling of Iran, but comparing him to Gorbachev or Yeltsin is incorrect. He surely defends Russian interests, and is still commited with an independent foreign policy. And he is surely aware of all the international threats against Russia. So it doesn’t surprise me that, after lots of talks about “reset” and “partnership”, Medvedev begins talking about “them” wanting to destroy Russia.
@x from Lithuania
Dudaev regime was a fascist military style one with ISI, Turkish Saudi and other countries imported jihadists into Grozny and established a multi-billion dollar criminal basin for all organised crime in Russia.
It was the Chechen parliament after the fall of the USSR that issue a declaration of independence that Dudaev ratify which he would latter abolish the parliament and create a private army under his control.
And his secular regime before the engineered first war was engaging in mass murder, terrorism, rape, torture, kidnapping and mass ethnic cleansing.
The whole radical faction thing is nonsense anyway which are just an Islamic mercenary force under MI6/CIA/NATO control used to fight in there proxy wars mainly Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya given the fact that jihadist were trained not just in Pakistan and Afghanistan by the US/British vassals states but also in Turkey and private British security firms setting up training camps in Britain and the US recruited by the MI6 affiliated al Muhajiroun Islamic organisation.
BTW, before first Ichkeria war Russians used Basayev and other North Caucasus voluntaries for war in Abkhazia, which resulted in massive ethnic cleansing of Georgians
True but that was after the nationalist president of Georgia abolished the autonomous status of Abkhazia and Georgia sent in its troops to suppress the local population in an attempted ethnic cleansing campaign which also involved Ukrainian Neo Nazi mercenaries who also supported the Dudaev regime that would have created a anti-Russian, pro-Turkish/US/British confederation of states in the Caucasus.
Georgian have/are using Basayeav and Chechen jihadists against Russians.
Chechens were also used by the Azeris and the Americans against the Armenians, in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban and KLA in Kosovo as well as links to other jihadist groups in Western China and Central Asia not to mention Chechen organised crime.
The current regime in Azerbaijan was installed in an MI6 coup.
@Robert
The main culprit suspect in the bombings is the same person who is promoting the FSB false flag attack thesis who has a history of connections to Chechen terrorists were he gave $1 million dollars to Basayeav in 97 and oil and gas interests in the Caucasus is Berezovsky whose frontman who was fired from the FSB in 98 when he was bought of by Berezovsky to give legitimacy to the thesis in the book “Blowing up Russia” which he would not know about anyway since was not in the employment of the FSB at the time.
Berezovsky finances anti-Putin websites in France and also (I think) the French documentary on the “FSB did it” apartment bombings.
As cited in Murphys book Wolves of Islam a western NGO operating in one of the Central Asian Stans viewed documents of Chechen linked fighters there that had financial links to Berezovsky.
I will have to look at it again just to be sure.
As for Soros like the KLA his Human Rights Watch finances and supports Chechen human rights organisations and individuals and started a letter campaign urging foreign governments to intervene Kosovo style in Chechnya when the war started.
This is the same Soros linked to Rothschild/Khoderkovsky and help engineer and implement post Soviet Russia economic “shock therapy”.
@VINEYARDSAKER:
I don’t think you understand the full scope and magnitude of this which is British directed geo-political manoeuvres that go long before even WW1.
It is not just a coincidence that all the major Russian Oligarchs and terrorists groups are located in London. Some press have even nicknamed it “Londanistan” and “Londongrad”.
@Carlo:True, and as we all know, Hitler is still respected in two or three tiny countries
Hahahahaha!!! You are absolutely correct Carlo!!
@Jack:It is not just a coincidence that all the major Russian Oligarchs and terrorists groups are located in London. Some press have even nicknamed it “Londanistan” and “Londongrad”.
Jack – have you read what I posted above? Just in case, here it is again:
It is a sad fact that the UK regime is the most anti-Russian on the planet (along Yushchenko and Saakashvili, I suppose).
I would just add here that Yushchenko and Saakashvili were also immensely “respected” in two or three tiny countries :-)
But then, considering what disaster Yushchenko and Saakashvili brought to their own respective countries, and the economic ruin and political neo-fascism we see in some of these tiny countries we can just have a good laugh at it all…
@X from Lithuania said…
Yes, I agree that Putin is crackpot mass murderer, who slayed tens of thousands of Chechnya civilians to continue Rusian imperial policy
It was the Chechens that started the war invading the neighbouring Republic Dagestan twice and refusing to condemn, extradited and close terrorist training camps and limited Special service intervention on Chechen territory to fight Basayev and Khattab’s forces.
As for the tens of thousands myth lifted straight from now debunked death toll propaganda during the Bosnian war does not match census data.
Also horrors of concentration camps.
What concentration camps?
Yeltsin was no better for ordering first Chcechn war. Fuck Kremlin.
He did not order a war he ordered return of federal troops to restore order who had been removed after the fall of the USSR, when the situation there got so out of hand.
It became a full blown war because organised crime groups in Russia were supply weapons and finance to Chechen militants and foreign countries mainly Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Jordan supplied training, finance, weapons and travel to Chechen and foreign fighters.
If Yeltsin properly supported the opposition then maybe Russia would have been in a better situation.
@Carlo:the statement from Medvedev is interesting, but not all that surprising: the guy made a big mistake by selling of Iran, but comparing him to Gorbachev or Yeltsin is incorrect. He surely defends Russian interests, and is still commited with an independent foreign policy. And he is surely aware of all the international threats against Russia. So it doesn’t surprise me that, after lots of talks about “reset” and “partnership”, Medvedev begins talking about “them” wanting to destroy Russia.
Incha’Allah! You might well be right here. But I still do here a lot of parroting of the US-Israeli propaganda in what he says about the Arab revolutions, don’t you? The way he seems to conflate all forms of Islam (except the one indigenous to Russia) into one “fanatics” category is exactly the kind of crap you can hear from JINSA, the Likud or the various neo-con “clash of civilization” propagandists. If, at least, he finally figured that AT LEAST Russian Muslims are not an enemy but an ally, I will hope that he will begin to intelligently discriminate amongst the various branches of Islam and the numerous political movements inspired by them.
@Carlo
but comparing him to Gorbachev or Yeltsin is incorrect
If the shoe fits and no it is not because of Iran but this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud8gz-z4_HI#t=02m05s
@VINEYARDSAKER:
Jack – have you read what I posted above? Just in case, here it is again:
It is a sad fact that the UK regime is the most anti-Russian on the planet (along Yushchenko and Saakashvili, I suppose).
What I am saying Britain is the NWO with even the major institutions in the US having a British origin or connection and the major companies wither they be arms like Carlyle Group or major oil companies are partially British owned or have major investments.
Jews of course are dominant is Britain and other countries which they use Jewish ethnicity and groups as frontmen in other countries like the Oligarchs of Russia and Ukraine but especially in the US which seems to be directly more Zionist orientated than Europe.
@VINEYARDSAKER:
What Medvedev means what I have been saying for years and what is an open secret is that they want to use the Balkans tactic of inciting civil strife and overthrow of governments backing Islamists groups to break apart powerful nation states into smaller vassal ones like Yugoslavia and Iraq along pro US/British/Israeli lines.
In the latest upheaval in the Mid East there is one county which is more of a pro US vassal than Saudi Arabia that is becoming the premier player in the Gulf in all this one of the top sponsors of Islamic terrorism and strongly supports the Bin Ladin myth, has the largest US Naval fleet in the Gulf, major financial investment in London and US army operational base for war in Iraq and operations against Iran are located and is at the forefront of covering the recent events in the Mide East.
Can you guess which country I am talking about?
I think Muslims know that those supporting jihadists in the North Caucasus are supported by western interest but they don’t care as long as they believe there propaganda and expands Muslim hegemony.
Matthew Raphael Johnson summed it up best:
“It has been put forth by otherwise informed pundits that Islamic movements are largely to be supported because it is precisely those movements that have been fighting for a separate Palestinian state in the Levant. In other words, anti-Zionist writers tend to see Islamic fundamentalism in a positive light, due to their war against the Zionist state. Therefore, wherever Islam rears its head, they are to be supported. The left is no different in this regard, as they quickly placed Islam high atop their “victims list” after the 9-11 disaster. This blind support of Islamicism is destructive, ahistorical and misinformed.
Islam is a political ideology and a legal theory far ahead of its claim to be a religion. It is a military and legal set of doctrines primarily, and a theology secondarily. The facts speak for themselves: wherever Islam has reached a critical mass in a population, they have risen up in armed revolt, starting bloody civil and international wars around the globe. There are no exceptions to this rule: India, Morocco, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan, all throughout the Middle East, southern Russia, Indonesia, the Phillippines, western China, the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, Ossetia, all throughout Central Asia and much of the Caucuses. In short, wherever Islam is to be found in sufficient numbers to start a revolt that has any chance of success, a critical mass will rise in bloody warfare. The “theology” of Islam is of no consequence, it is not a particularly dogmatic community, but rather its military, political and legal doctrines that are of the highest importance. “
The tiny countries have been wrecked by neoliberalism and Western banks, esepecially Swedish ones. The Ukraine is also a mess. Belarus by contrast, which never went in for the Russia hating free market Kool Aid is in much better shape. I don’t condone Lukashenko’s authoritarianism but in many ways he’s done a good job.
http://easterneuropewatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/belarus-compared-with-latvia.html
Dear Saker,
Thanks for your response.
Clearly I would chose to focus more on the Medvedev/Putin part of the commentary concerning the “coming Fragmentation…” and I would be inclined to “lump” his other comment about a supposed benefit to “extremists” or Wahhabis if you like…from the current turmoil in MENA…as a general fear expressed by ALL leaders from extremist Muslim ideology…, given the general climate which will be around after all these revolutions, which will give much more freedom to express those ideologies in the public sphere at large.
It was more restrained prior to the Tsunami hitting the area…Hence, Russians are saying out loud…”we are cautious” by voicing that commentary…
That’s where I would place the Wahhabis side of Medvedev’s comments.
I fully agree though with the comment, that Medvedev/Putin have very badly mis-handled the IRAN situation by siding with the Empire…and especially by canceling the S-300 missiles deal.
I hope that they will chose to redress that situation soon, given the geopolitical environment of today….
Cheers,
Joe
@Joe: thanks for your reply – I think that you and I have the same analysis and the same hopes.
Take care :-)
Interesting Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA): Our Flawed Russia Policy (1995) possibly what Medvedev was alluding to.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071009100621/www.jinsa.org/articles/articles.html/function/view/categoryid/116/documentid/204/history/3,2359,947,653,116,204
“@Carlo:True, and as we all know, Hitler is still respected in two or three tiny countries
Hahahahaha!!! You are absolutely correct Carlo!!
“
was it lame joke, fueled by lying Kremlin propaganda, which often speaks such bullshit as “revival of Nazism in Baltic states”?
Let me remind you, that there are thousands of Hitler-worshiping neo-nazi skinheads in Russia.
All the Mein Kampf inspired racist murders and pogroms are happening in Russia, not in Baltic states.
Lets talk also about some Russia’s friends, where Hitler is much more respected than in Baltic states. Ok, Putin’s pal Berlusconi is much more into Mussolini than Hitler. But lets talk about Russian supported Syria and Hezbollah and Arab world as whole, where Hitler is widely admired. There’s about 100 000 members in Syria’s Social Nationalist Party.
“@x from Lithuania: you do realize that you have a) posted an illogical comment the first time and that you are now b) unable to intelligently defend it in your second comment. By now all you have achieved in totally ruining your credibility.”
Ok, lets start from begining. Please give me facts of mass murder by Dudayev.
“What concentration camps?”
I mean so called detention/filtration camps where people where tortured, raped and murdered.
“The tiny countries have been wrecked by neoliberalism and Western banks, esepecially Swedish ones.”
Gazprom doesnt help much either, selling gas for biggest price in Europe, using it’s monopoly. Now we have rather good government, which is trying to diversify the energy resources, which pisses off Kremlin thugs.
@x from Lithuania
I mean so called detention/filtration camps where people where tortured, raped and murdered.
Where? What are you talking about?
If you are talking about the USSR
a) That was a majority non Russian regime of international Marxist terrorist from the Pale of Settlement fully backed and supported by the US and Europe.
b) The Gulags and there administrators were created and ran by non-Russian.
Ok, lets start from begining. Please give me facts of mass murder by Dudayev.
http://conrad2001.narod.ru/english/genocide/genocide_1.htm
Wall Street Journal, Europe reported in 2001 that:
“For the past 10 years, the most senior leaders of al Qaeda have visited the Balkans, including bin Laden himself on three occasions between 1994 and 1996. The Egyptian surgeon turned terrorist leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri has operated terrorist training camps, weapons of mass destruction factories and money-laundering and drug-trading networks throughout Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Bosnia. This has gone on for a decade. Many recruits to the Balkan wars came originally from Chechnya, a jihad in which Al Qaeda has also played a part.“
Wait a second they originally came from Chechnya yet were are told jihadists started coming into Chechnya during the first Chechen war between 94/95 but the Balkans wars started in 92?
There is also the major Chechen and non-Chechen organised crime gangs that financed his regime.
OBSHINA: The largest Chechen mafia has made most of its money from bank
robberies, kidnapping and white-collar crime and is one of the most important
organized crime groups in the former Soviet Union. Its sphere of influence
extends from Vladivostok to Vienna. Chechen gangsters are involved in all
areas of crime from automobile theft, money-laundering to the trafficking of
Chinese immigrants to Japan.
“Gazprom doesnt help much either, selling gas for biggest price in Europe, using it’s monopoly. Now we have rather good government, which is trying to diversify the energy resources, which pisses off Kremlin thugs.”
Actually Russia was selling it at below market prices to Belarus and Ukraine and the Orange revolutionaries who own the companies that transport Russian gas to European markets were then selling it at European market prices.
Now we have rather good government, which is trying to diversify the energy resources, which pisses off Kremlin thugs.
I don’t think Russia cares to much about the Baltics, they are more concerned about bypassing transit countries altogether and direct markets into Europe to Germany and Italy.
“Where? What are you talking about? “
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernokozovo