The Ukraine Weekly SITREP

  • Ukrainian soldiers launching Hyacinth-C shells in Donbass (video) (Source)
  • Official: Pentagon may store heavy weapons in Baltics, Eastern Europe (Source)

Defense official says move would ‘put equipment where US troops would need it in the event of Russian aggression’

  • Students in Lugansk appeal for peace (Video) (Source)
  • Donbass Protests Demand Justice for Victims of American War in Ukraine (Source)

In Donetsk thousands protest Ukraine army shelling which claimed its latest victims – an 11 year old girl and her father – while US arms and trains this same army

  • Cold War Relics: Attempts to Make Russia and Ukraine Bitter Enemies Doomed (Source)

While the West is pouring money in Ukraine, Kiev escalates tensions with Moscow and shows no enthusiasm for implementing the Minsk II accord; however, it is foolish to assume that Ukraine and Russia will live as enemies, S. Nihal Singh noted.

  • Ukrainian Communists Announced the Creation of the “United Left Opposition” (Source)
  • DPR defence ministry says Ukrainian shell hit hospital in Donetsk (Source)
  • Major Ukrainian gas pipeline blown up (Source)
  • Direct hit on Azov battalion hideout in Shirokino (video) (Source)
  • How long until D-Day? (Source)
  • Kiev Pronounces Minsk Agreement Dead by Stephen Lendman (Source)
  • ‘Shame’: How Did New Ukrainian Armored Car Get Its Nickname? (Source)

The Ukrainian Army was due to receive ‘Dozor-B’ armored cars in March, but only one trial model has been manufactured so far… and it broke down.

Despite the promises of high-ranking officials, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are not likely to get the much-touted ‘Dozor-B’ armored cars, Ukrainian ZN.ua said.

On Friday, Ukrainian media reported that the Lviv Armor Plant CEO was dismissed over the inobservance of manufacturing plans, including the production of ‘Dozors’.

Back in June 2014, Oleksandr Turchynov, the commander-in-chief at the time, assured that the army would receive 200 ‘Dozors’ soon. In February 2015, the Ukrainian Defense Industry chief promised that the deliveries would begin in March. Recently he has shifted them to the end of summer.

So far no ‘Dozor’ has entered service in the army.

‘The trial model was allegedly completed in early 2015. The workers have dubbed it ‘shame’ [‘Shame’ is ‘Pozor’ in Russian, which sounds similar to ‘Dozor’ – the car’s name]. They told us that border guards drove the ‘Dozor-B’ on the automobile track. The car did not return under its own power,’ ZN.ua said.

The Ukrainian Defense Industry names the lack of funding and the problems with the shipment of engines from Germany as the reasons for delay.

The outlet also recalled that on October 3 President Petro Poroshenko fired a 7.62mm machine gun bullet at the car’s armor to test it. He convinced journalists that the armor passed the test; however, the shallow penetration suggested that the armor was untampered.

  • Fifth military conscription drive in Ukraine produces worst results yet (Source)
  • Saakashvili: 20 Years Needed to Reach Social Level of Yanukovych’s Ukraine (Source)

We know not what is good until we have lost it: Mikheil Saakashvili, who actively supported the Euromaidan turmoil that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych, now asserted that it will take 20 years to reach the social level of Yanukovych’s Ukraine.

  • Poroshenko Has ‘No Chances to Stay in Power for More Than 1.5 Year’ (Source)

Ukrainian political analysts predict that President Poroshenko is doomed to stay at power for only half a year more if he does not stop his ‘information manipulations’ and launches not an ‘imitation’ but, instead, real modernization in the country.

  • OSCE Hopes for Demilitarization of Shirokino in Eastern Ukraine (Source)
  • Yatsenyuk Pits EU Against US Over Arms Deliveries to Ukraine (Source)

It seems like the Ukrainian prime minister has finally found the scapegoat for preventing US’ lethal arms deliveries to Kiev. No, it is not Russia; it is Europe and the G7 group.

  • Three causes for escalation of the Ukrainian crisis this summer | Eng Subs (Source)
  • DPR – Report from the scene. Village Shakhtar Oktyabrskiy, June 9th | Eng Subs (Source)
  • Document: The Fascist Kernel of Ukrainian Genocidal Nationalism (Source)

This study briefly presents the history of the radical form of Ukrainian nationalism, paying special attention to the geopolitical circumstances which formed this movement. Then, it analyzes some aspects of this phenomenon, such as its main ideologists, racism, antisemitism, religion, rituals, leaders, concepts of revolution, and the ethnic, political and mass violence conducted before, during, and after the Second World War. This short monograph argues that the extreme and genocidal form of Ukrainian nationalism did have a fascist kernel and should be considered a form of European or East-Central European fascism. Nevertheless, because of the specific cultural, social, and political Ukrainian circumstances, the radical form of Ukrainian nationalism differed from better-known fascist movements such as German National Socialism or Italian Fascism, and thus it requires a careful and nuanced investigation.

  • Ukraine’s neo-Nazis won’t get U.S. money (Source)
  • Donetsk . The battle at the airport , the battalion ” of Somalia .” 06/12/2015 (Video)(Source)
  • Police defending abusive anti-Russian inscription near Russian consulate in Kharkov (Source)
  • Ukraine: Accomplishing Mission to Drag Russia into War (Source)

The US wants to use Russia for the purpose of consolidating US allies in Europe. Any method to reach the goal would do, even a primitive one. Ukrainian commandos could attack an OSCE mission to shift the blame of Russian special operations team. Russia should be dragged into the war to prevent neo-Nazis toppling the Ukraine’s government. Neo-Nazi organizations have a program which envisions physical extermination of Russians and Russian speakers. The United States needs it to weaken Russia and subjugate Europe. All these actors will go to any length to drag Russia into the conflict.

  • There’s a truth in those false reports of Givi’s being killed or wounded: with them Kiev admits the bombardment (Source)
  • Swiss institute publishes study on corruption in Ukraine, before and after Euromaidan (Source)
  • One of the nameless peaks of the world will be named the People’s Republic of Donetsk (Source)
  • Residents suffering from daily “ceasefire” shelling protest against ceasefire in Donetsk (Source)
  • Lugansk Republic Trade Union Federation accepted into the International Trade Union Confederation (Source)

Oleg Akimov, the Chairman of the Trade Unions Federation of Lugansk People’s Republic reported that the Federation of the Republic became a full member of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

According to Akimov, on June 6-7 of this year there was a meeting of the Presidential Council of ITUC in Switzerland, where the membership of Trade Unions Federation of LPR in the international association was approved.

In an official letter that was sent to the address of the Trade Unions Federation of LPR, in addition to congratulations it said that the membership of the LPR TUF will multiply the power of enthusiasm and strength in the global struggle for workers’ interests.

According to the head of LPR TUF , membership in such a prestigious association will provide an opportunity for representatives of trade unions of the Republic to express their position and be heard around the world.

  • Foreign Minister of Donetsk Republic pledges to help Transnistria (Source)

Kofman: In case of attack on Transnistria we will help our brothers

The corresponding statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Kofman.

He said that the Foreign Ministry of Donetsk in the event of Ukrainian aggression against Transnistria will react with diplomatic means, however, in the case of escalation Kiev should expect the reaction of the Ministry of Defense of DPR.

“There are our brothers, and in the event of an attack on them, we will have to help them. I am sure that we will be able to do it. Unfortunately, I am sure that this escalation will take place. History shows that wherever Saakashvili is  appointed  — Tskhinvali (referring to the Georgian attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia) can not be avoided,” – said Kofman.
The diplomat also stressed that the Ukrainian authorities are making the Minsk format unsuitable for settlement of the conflict in Donbass.

“In my opinion, it is a futile direction due to the fact that Ukraine continuously violates it, and it will not lead to anything positive. But this does not mean that we should not abide by it”, — he explained.
At the same time, the authorities of the Republic are preparing for further actions in case of its failure. If the Minsk format will be abandoned, DPR will activate efforts for the recognition of the republics, the relevant work is already underway, summarized Kofman.

  • Online hysteria of Kiev junta trolls is a sign of approaching collapse (Source)
  • Russian journalist arrested, beaten, deported from rebel E. Ukraine (Source)

A journalist for a Moscow opposition newspaper was detained, beaten, and accused of committing drug offenses in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The UN has recently named Ukraine the most dangerous place for reporters in the world.

  • Saakashvili for Odessa Region: criminal past, criminal future (Source)
  • Ukrainian Visionary Yatsenyuk Imagines a Beautiful United Nations Without Russia (Source)

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has already insisted that Ukrainian will become an official language of the EU. Now he has some suggestions for the UN!

  • Why Arming Ukraine Is a Really Bad Idea (Source)

Advocates of arming Ukraine against Russia have failed to provide convincing arguments for why their course of action will produce the results they want, rather than something worse…

  • Ukraine’s Security Service Head Cancels Trip to Washington (Source)

The head of Ukraine’s security service, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, cancelled his trip to Washington, DC.

  • Busted! Ukrainian officers responsible for death of five civilians in Horlivka are identified!(Source)
  • Blow to Ukraine hopes for agriculture as farmland sale moratorium seen extended (Source)
  • What to expect from Saakashvili in Odessa (Source)
  • Ukraine parliamentary opposition collecting signatures for peace in Donbas (Source)
  • The Opposition Bloc’s campaign is aimed to collect signatures for peace to make the ruling coalition see how many people in fact want reconciliation and cessation of the military conflict
  • When the pendulum swings back, de-Ukranization will begin in Ukraine (Source)
  • Kremlin administration chief calls Poroshenko “Bolshevik” for assessment of Russian loan (Source)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday that Russia’s $3-billion loan to his country was a “bribe” sealed by ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych

  • US to end training of three Ukraine’s National Guard battalions in October — US commander(Source)

The multinational Rapid Trident drills in Ukraine’s Lviv region this July will involve one National Guard battalion trained by US specialists

  • Eric Draister Interviewing Pepe Escobar (Source)
  • US military jackals tearing Ukraine apart (Source)
  • Zaharchenko talking to the people in Donetsk (Video) (Source)
  • Aleksandr Zakharchenko – On love, death, war and life (Interview) (Source)
  • Women at War | Militiawoman “Lyolya” in ranks of Cossack National Guard – LPR (Video)(Source)
  • Citizens of Donbass address to the entire World (VIDEO) (Source)
  • Yesterday, citizens of the suburbs of Donetsk whose houses and families suffered a lot gathered on the Artema Street of Donetsk to tell about their grief.
  • USA: ‘CNN promotes US war in Ukraine’ – anti-US media protest held in NYC (video) (Source)
  • The Secret Racism of Obama’s Top Enforcer in Ukraine (Source)

The Who’s Who At The Top Of The Coup

  • Ukrainian former Pres.Yanukovych to be stripped of title (Source)
  • Congressman Rohrabacher: ‘One-Third of Ukrainian Military Is on Oligarch’s Payroll’ (Source)
  • US Congressman from California tries to educate his colleagues on Ukraine paramilitaries:

“In the Ukrainian military, which was one-third made up of people who were not in the military, but were instead on the payroll of some oligarch. They had heavy artillery and were indiscriminately shelling these separatists’ villages.” – Rohrabacher

  • Kiev’s Moves Against Transnistria Are Anti-Ukrainian (Source)
  • Not content to merely blockade and shell its citizens in Donbass post-Maidan Ukraine is now also looking to squeeze ethnic Ukrainians in Transnistria
  • McCain Calls Not Arming Ukraine ‘Shameful Chapter’ in US History (Source)

Former presidential candidate John McCain revealed what he believes to be most shameful chapter of his country’s history. Is it the invasion of Iraq, might you ask? Or using chemical weapons in Vietnam? Or dropping atomic bombs on Japan? The answer is none of those. Senator McCain mostly regrets not starting yet another war – this time, in Ukraine.

  • Severe blockade of Donbass can be expected – Ukrainian MP (Source)
  • Ukrainians protest against American military help fueling the civil war in Ukraine (video, photos) (Source)
  • Founder of Ukrainian UNA-UNSO: “We must act like our teachers of democracy, the Americans during WWII, and make Donbass uninhabitable” (Video) (Source)
  • Yanukovych No. 2 will be the EU’s fault” (Source)
  • Locals of Gorlovka in desperation, daming Kiev regime and Ukr. forces | Eng Subs (Source)
  • Three reasons why there will be a hot and bloody Ukrainian summer in Donbas – Analysis (Source)
  • Euromaidan failure. 30% of Ukrainians now want corruption punishable by death (Source)
  • Ukraine Begins Naval Drills in Black Sea Region (Source)
  • SBU Chief Assures Washington of Kiev’s Control Over Independent Militia (Source)
  • Serbs to seek Russia’s veto for Srebrenica resolution (Source)
  • SBU Director is secret parton of young nazi terrorosit groups in Ukraine (Video) (Source) (Source)(Source) (Anyone of the links should work)
  • Short film about Brazilian commander of a foreign squad in DNR army (Video) (Source)
  • A Deserate,bitter take on Riga Summit & Europeans perception of Ukraine by a journalist covering Mid East Wars (Source)
  • Samantha Power in Kiev: “Ukraine – above all!” (interview, video) (Source)
  • More than 500 civilians were killed in Donbass since the start of ceasefire (Source)
  • Leader and fighters of “Tornado” battalion charged with rape, torture and kidnapping (Source)
  • Clues to Nemtsov’s murder must be looked for in US, Ukraine — Chechen leader Kadyrov(Source)

“The masterminds of the murder first used Nemtsov, then liquidated him, and are now trying to put the blame at somebody else’s door,” Kadyrov said

  • Ukrainians Have Had Enough: ‘In Kiev, One Gang Was Replaced With Another’ (Source)
  • Ukrainians are quickly losing patience with Poroshenko
  • Poroshenko officially appoints Ukraine’s new acting Security Service chief (Source)
  • Analyst: Nalivaychenko will head the Ukrainian Euro-ISIS on the basis of former Nazi battalions (Source)
  • The neo-Nazi coup may begin in Ukraine tonight (Source)
  • Ukrainian Volunteer Battalion Mines Base, Threatens to Fire on Gov’t Forces (Source)

Elements of the Tornado police battalion, a territorial defense battalion serving under the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, have barricaded themselves in their base in the Lugansk Region, threatening to open fire on government forces, Ukrainskaya Pravda reports, citing Military Prosecutor Anatoly Matios.

  • Ukrainian shelling targets Soviet radioactive waste dump at Donetsk chemical plant (Source)
  • Kiev: Chestnuts Blossom Again by Israel Shamir (Source)
  • Court Orders Arrest of Second Suspect in Murder of Kiev Critic Buzina (Source)
  • Six Ukrainian Regions are demanding federalization | Eng Subs (Video) (Source)
  • Obama is afraid of return of the USSR | Eng Subs (Video) (Source)
  • Ukr. Security Service’s repressions in Bessarabia | Eng Subs (Video) (Source)
  • Life in Donetsk (#34) – We thought OSCE will be here | Eng Subs (Video) (Source)
  • Donetsk under threat of radioactivecontamination – Ukrainian expert (Source)
  • document on allocation techniques caliber up to 100 mm can be signed in Minsk on June 23 – Pushilin (Google Translation) (Source)
  • Ukrainian security forces blocked all exits from the territory of the DNI – Ministry of Transport -Google translation (Source)
  • The “Denial” of US Military Aid to Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Battalions. The Conyers-Soho Amendment By George Eliason (Source)
  • War on Donbas resumes, Western media remains silent by Eric Draister (Source)
  • Dnepropetrovsk Region completes construction of fortifications on border with Donbass (Source)

The bulk of work is some 1,500 kilometers of trenches, over 8,000 entrenchments for hardware, more than 4,000 dugouts and the construction of a 60-kilometer passive obstacle

  • How OSCE “reports” on the civil war in Eastern Ukraine (Video) (Source)
  • Occupied Mariupol Today (Video) (Source)
  • Ukraine Military Sitrep Map (Source)
  • Funeral ceremony of 16 years old girl, victim of the shelling in Gorlovka by Ukrainian Forces (VIDEO) (Source)
  • Manufacturing DNI translated into Russian standards, with the assistance of experts from the Russian Federation (Google Translation) (Source)
  • DNR adhere to the agreement in Minsk, since it is the only let save lives – Zakharchenko (Source)
  • DNI is expected to strengthen the blockade of Donbass – Zakharchenko (Source)
  • DNR will assist international experts in the investigation of the collapse of the “Boeing” – Zakharchenko (Source)
  • fire in Marinka not stop, APU use heavy weapons, howitzers and tanks – Zakharchenko (Source)
  • IMF Humiliates Greece, Repeats It Will Keep Funding Ukraine Even If It Defaults (Source)
  • 2 new Interviews with Givi (Source) (Source)
  • Anti- terrorist operation in the Ukrainian way. *GRAPHIC* +18 (Video) (Source)
  • Foodstuffs getting scarce in Luhansk because of Donbas blockade (Source)

The reserve of commodities and the assortment of Ukrainian products have been shrinking, which has caused price hikes on the consumer market, department chief of the Luhansk administration reports

  • Ukrainians’ Desire to Join NATO, EU Shrinks – Poll (Source)

A recent sociological poll revealed that Ukrainians are gradually losing optimism about joining NATO and the European Union.

  • “Run from here! Run while you are still alive!” (Source)
  •  Zakharchenko: Ukraine wants to cut off DPR and LPR  Eng subs (Video) (Source)
  • Fighters from Dnipropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog fight for the idea in the army of DPR | Eng Subs(Video) (Source)

The World SITREP

  • How long until D-Day? (Source)
  • Kiev Pronounces Minsk Agreement Dead by Stephen Lendman (Source)
  • Chinese Media Hails Russia-China Deal on Far East Land’s Lease for 50 Year (Source)

Russia and China will have the possibility to develop their cooperation in the agricultural field to the full extent.

  • Why Is Washington Still Pushing for War With Russia? By James Carden (Source)

Despite today’s vote in the House to bar US funding to a neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia, the “war party” continues to rattle its sabers over Ukraine.

  • Russia Will Always Stay True to Its Roots – Putin (Source)

Russia has established itself as a modern, open and free country and will never be “restructured” to serve someone else’s interests, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

  • Russia threatens ‘consequences’ if US deploys missiles in Europe (Source)
  • MI6 Recalls Secret Agents From Abroad for Fear of Uncover by Russia, China (Source)

    The British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has withdrawn its agents out of live operations in foreign countries as they could allegedly be identified by Russia and China with the help of files stolen by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, The Sunday Times reports.

  • Who Brought Putin to Power? (Source)
  • Russian army will invade Europe, one store at a time (Source)
  • Confused by Own Propaganda: Americans Ready to Go to War With Russia (Source)

The US foreign policy drags the country into a vicious cycle of interventionism, Ron Paul underscored, referring to the recent Pew Research poll that indicated that more than over 50 percent of Americans would not oppose going to war with Russia

  • Last attempt’ debt negotiations fail as Greece rejects more austerity (Source)
  • Snowden, Putin, Greece: It’s All The Same Story (Source)

In short, the propaganda we should be worried about is not Russia’s, it’s our own. And it comes from just about every news article we’re fed. We’re much less than six degrees removed from Orwell.

  • Vladimir Putin Wrote Helmut Kohl Repeatedly Recently (Source)
  • Collaborating with China is in America’s national interest (Source)

The U.S. has long forgotten the practice of the Golden Rule when it comes to international policy. In the case with China, applying the golden rule would simply mean do unto China as America would have China do unto the U.S.

For America to yield to the idea that ratcheting tension with China is the right approach is to concede to the inevitability of the Thucydides Trap, namely that a rising power and a reigning power will always lead to conflict. This outcome might be good for the defense budget and the military industrial complex but tragic for everybody else.

  • China? Have Grandmaster, will travel: Escobar (Source)

As intellectual acumen and cross-cultural expertise go, it would be hopeless to expect self-described “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff” Obama administration foreign policy advisers — as well as Pentagon functionaries/hacks — to understand the complexities of China.

  • Chasing the Islamic State: Is the West set to miss the iceberg? (Source)
  • World rejoice…Ukraine will be the death of the IMF (Source)

The IMF is ready to continue providing financial aid to Kiev even if Ukraine’s government does not reach an agreement with private creditors in the near future. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has just destroyed what little remaining credibility the IMF had, in order to please Washington neocons.

  • Interview: Joseph Nye (Source)
  • Author and political scientist Joseph Nye on China and the U.S. rebalance to Asia.
  • Russia conducts an ABM test at Sary-Shagan (Source)
  • Every crisis shows Marx and Jesus were right about the rich and poor (Source)

Anatoly Vasserman
Izborsky Club blog/Odnako.org
Translated by Kristina Rus
The Law of Matthew. The gap between the rich and poor.

Statisticians and sociologists declare again and again: the current Second Great depression significantly increased stratification of society — the welfare gap between the rich and poor is growing before our eyes. The words of Yeshua Josefovich Davidov [Jesus] are confirmed on a global scale: “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” (Matthew 13:12).

One reason is obvious and has been repeatedly named by many (including me). Those who are richer, have more opportunities to find new sources of income, living on their savings during the search. And those who are poorer, often live, as they say, “on wheels”, are forced to spend almost all they receive, almost immediately after receiving. In a crisis they are forced to agree to any terms — just to somehow survive.

But decades of propaganda against Marxism almost removed from mass consciousness a fundamental fact: the social roles of the employer and the employee qualitatively differ. The terms offered to the poor, come from the rich. In periods of decline of the economy, the demand for almost all products drops — thus producers need fewer workers (which in turn again reduces the demand and the economy shrinks to the limit defined by the minimum needs of survival, and sometimes slips even lower). Citing that reduction, the rich employers demand additional concessions from the hired poor. They say: “Yes, now everything is bad, we can’t pay you today as much as we paid yesterday: you have to agree to these terms; if you do not want to, it’s your problem.” Obviously, those who are forced to compete for the few remaining jobs, do not have the ability to bargain and demand better terms.

Thus, a crisis creates additional opportunities for the rich to pressure the poor primarily because of the qualitative difference between the employer and employed. This was observed in all the crises which the world has endured. The experience on this part, unfortunately, is very extensive. When the economy is in decline, the poor invariably suffer much more than the rich because employers, on average, are richer than the hired. Marxism can be declared a false doctrine — but life invariably proves the validity of its key provisions.

  • Hillary Clinton Labels Russia, Iran, N Korea ‘Traditional Threats’ to US (Source)

According to a recent CNN/ORC poll, almost 60 percent of US citizens think Hillary Clinton lacks honesty and trustworthiness. The same poll indicated that Clinton leads the Democratic field by a wide margin, with 60 percent of likely voters saying they would support Clinton

  • West’ is Not the Charity Business: There’ll Be Hell to Pay for Ukraine-Michael Hudson (Source)
  • Russian fighter jet encounters US spy plane very closely over Black Sea (Source)
  • U.S. House Admits Nazi Role in Ukraine (Source)

Exclusive: The U.S. House of Representatives has admitted an ugly truth that the U.S. mainstream media has tried to hide from the American people – that the post-coup regime in Ukraine has relied heavily on Nazi storm troopers to carry out its bloody war against ethnic Russians, reports Robert Parry.

  • A Rare Defeat for the Israel Lobby (Source)

In a rare rebuke to the powerful Israel Lobby, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a congressional encroachment on presidential powers regarding the official status of Jerusalem. Even some right-wing justices turned on each other, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.

  • China Paves Way to Global Dominance Resting on US Marshall Plan (Source)
  • Is Israel Trying to Disrupt Iran Deal by Waging War Against Hezbollah? (Source)
  • Poland, Lithuania discussing plans with Washington to harbor US army equipment (Source)

The head of the Main Operation Directorate of General Staff, Lieutenant General Andrey Kartapolov, said in April that the intensity of NATO’s operational and combat training activities grew by as much as 80 percent in 2014, with bombers from the US Air Force performing strategic tasks during their military exercises. Russia has also increased the number of flights of its long-range ‘Bear’ Tupolev-95 bombers near NATO members’ air space, as well as carrying out large-scale drills on its own territory.

  • The Putin-Vatican alliance? (Source)

Why did Pope Francis “blessed” Putin in the fight against “anti-Christian European nobility”

  • Code Name Sickle (Video) (Source)

The small Russian town of Teykovo plays a big role in Russia’s military defence: it’s the home to the Teykovo Missile Formation – the country’s nuclear shield. Here mobile missile complexes get made and the guided weapon regiment receives training

  • The Risks of War :US-EU Prepositioning in Eastern Europe (Source)

While public attention is directed to ISIS the steady build-up to a dangerous, insane-driven confrontation with Russia, part of America’s geostrategic world posture, with a similar if more gradual development directed to China, continues. Imperialism is no longer an adequate designation; not since Hitlerism, a politics of megalomania, having intentional but secondary consequences for economic hegemony, have we seen such uncontrolled passion, largely for its own sake, of global supremacy—and all in the name of democracy, freedom, market fundamentalism, co-equivalent terms for US Exceptionalism. Not alone, we drag a somewhat willing Europe to boot into this phobic design.

  • Yemen: The SIlent Slaughter (Source)
  • Peter Hitchens ‘Why I Like Vladimir Putin’ (Video) (Source)
  • The Lithuanian authorities confirmed information about placing heavy weapons the United States in the region (Video) (Source)
  • In Russia, we created the ” microwave gun ” , incapacitating the enemy planes and drones (Source)
  • Volunteers found the unidentified graves Rzhev (Source)

Hundreds of officers and soldiers were killed near Rzhev in 1942 , the year the village Pogorelka .

  • US plans to deploy tanks on the western border of Russia (Source)
  • Deliveries of the C- 300 to Iran will be the trump card of the Russian Federation in dialogue with the West (Source)
  • From Bilderberg to GULAG: Global Elite to Create Global Electronic Concentration Camp (Source)
  • Why the Bear is Back: Russian Military Presence in Vietnam (Source)

Russia-Vietnam ties that seemed to be cooling after the end of the Cold War are warming up all over again. More than 20 years after Moscow abandoned its largest foreign base, Russian military aircraft are once again welcome visitors at Cam Ranh Bay.

  • United Stasi of America through the Echelon Prism (Source)

Signals collection has a long secretive and enigmatic history. The very definition of espionage implies spying, most closely associated with foreign sources. Since the Echelon network, the unified function of data retrieval became a given during the cold war. With the revelation of Prism, advances in sophisticated electronic devices and software algorithms provide a major leap. The article, Is PRISM the US version of Echelon?, sums up the evolution. “With this kind of setup and ambition to capture and evaluate private conversations (well, not so private now), makes Echelon that much more believable, and that PRISM is a reflection of the infamous project, but focused solely on the US.”

  • Obama’s Anti-Russia Policy Escalates: DoD Tells Congress Nukes Are Still On The Table (Source)
  • India, Israel, Modi, and bending the history of non-alignment (Source)
  • U.S. May Position for a War Against Russia (Source)
  • Kremlin wants Kiev to say whether it considers itself legal successor to former government (Source)

Kremlin spokesman commented on Ukrainian president’s pronouncements that the Russian $3 billion loan to Ukraine was a “bribe” to former head of state Viktor Yanukovich

  • China: Some Spratly reclamation projects near end (Source)
  • Five Million Reasons Why China Could Go to War (Source)
  • Hong Kong on high alert as new democracy showdown looms (Source)
  • American empire imploding both at home & abroad (Source)

As with the Roman Empire centuries before it, Washington is learning that the only thing permanent in this world is impermanence, especially imperial power resting on foundations of hypocrisy and injustice.

  • The US’s “Asia Pivot” is in doldrums (Source)
  • Pakistan – Afghanistan: an Intelligence War in the Making? (Source)
  • The Sanctions Myth (Source)

The widespread belief that sophisticated sanctions provide policy makers with a silver bullet for addressing intractable national-security issues is wrong.

  • Russia Approves SCO Draft Legislation to Facilitate Trade With China (Source)

According to government press service, Russian Cabinet commission on legislative activities on Tuesday approved a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) draft bill to create favorable conditions for trade with China.

  • Family of late Chechen separatist leader may be extradited to Russia — lawyer (Source)

The Dudayev family members, whose request for asylum was earlier turned down in Stockholm, fear that upon their arrival the Swedish authorities will probably try to relocate them to Russia

  • Russia to lay down seventh Borey-class nuclear sub in late December 2015 (Source)

The Borey-class ballistic-missile submarines are to become the backbone of the Russian Navy’s strategic nuclear deterrent for the next few decades

  • Russia developing fifth-generation nuclear subs — design bureau (Source)

According to him, the new boats will be built within the timeframe approved by the military shipbuilding programme for the period until 2050

  • Most aggressive since Cold War’: Russia may beef up border if US arms stationed in E. Europe(Source)

If America’s heavy arms, be it tanks, artillery systems or other heavy military hardware are deployed to Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, it will be the Pentagon’s and NATO’s most aggressive step since the end of the Cold War a quarter of a century ago,” General Yury Yakubov, a senior Defense Ministry official, was quoted as saying by Interfax.

  • Sanctions Rebellion: Putin to Meet With Western Oil Executives (Source)
  • The chief executives of BP, Shell and Total are scheduled to meet with Putin later this week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
  • Should Russia Be Afraid of a Polish-Lithuanian Invasion? (Source)
  • It’s time to turn the tables on the traditional anti-Russian narrative
  • US may send F-22 fighter jets to Europe to counter Russian ‘threat’ (Source)
  • Bosnian Serb Republic considering request to Russia to veto UN resolution on Srebrenica (Source)
  • For Ever With Russia (Source)
  • A Billion-Dollar Bank Fraud in Moldova, and 20,000 Opaque British Corporations (Source)
  • Russian Central Bank keeps forecast of sanctions regime to last until 2018 (Source)

The United Stated and the European Union started imposing sanctions against Russia over its stance on developments in neighboring Ukraine from March 2014

  • The boring G7 consensus about the sacrifice of Europe by Mikhail Khazin (Source)
  • Pipelines and geopolitics – the real reason behind Putin’s visit to Italy by Nikolay Starikov (Source)
  • Russia 2015: Who are we, and what do we want? By Eduard Birov (Source)

According to FOM survey, the Russia Day of 12 June is not considered to be a day off but rather a national holiday by 45% of Russians, which is 16% more than last year, and 30% more than in 2013. Over the last decade, and especially in 2014, there occurred a realization that on June 12, 1991, we did not merely lose a large country (which is no cause for a holiday), but started the process of building a new Russia which is the continuation of the age-old Rus.

Russia is gradually and painfully inventing itself and is beginning to define the founding principles of its civilization. That process was especially visible in 2014, through the prism of the Maidan, Crimean, Donbass, and Western pressure. If we are to ignore the extreme points of view from the radical opposition which views the current Russia as a misunderstanding and even an enemy, the people of Russia in its overwhelming majority agrees on a number of issues. Even though there still remains a painful cacophony on a number of painful questions, the Russians nevertheless understood what in the country is most important and sacred, for the sake of what we are ready to unite in order to defend it.

Let us name the most important points.

Love of Motherland. The process of healing the Russian nation began from the return of patriotism into the mass consciousness. The purification of patriotism from liberal cliches and spit, the recognition of the simple and heart-felt love for one’s own land as something normal and natural cannot be overestimated, because even in the early 2000’s it was difficult to imagine the Russian youth taking mass pride in their country.

At the same time the state is not overdoing it with pathos and excessive propaganda. Memory of the Victory. This holiday, which is holy for most Russians, during the 2000s played the key role in restoring a sense of historical continuity and pride in one’s country, its feats and sons. To put it bluntly, the Victory Day scored a victory 60 years after the fact, this time on the symbolic and informational battlefield. The creative picture of the Victory overshadowed the destructive picture of the Gulag which is so relentlessly promoted by the West. Just as Vysotskiy prophetically sang, “our fallen are our sentries.” The memory of the fallen of the Great Patriotic War saved us from shame and disappearance.

State and authority. Contrary to the efforts of the Western special services and the “white ribbon” minority who are both trying to portray the “Kremlin regime” as criminal and not deserving of support, the Russian people is gradually overcoming the cruel trauma of the 1991 power vacuum, when the trust toward the state and respect of the government fell practically to zero. Putin’s trustworthiness rating of 88% is not an indication of some cult of personality, it’s a confirmation of the intrinsically Russian perception of the sovereign as a father figure who should be helped in every way. It doesn’t mean that the authorities as such are beyond criticism. We can argue among ourselves about the government until we grow hoarse. But it is absolutely unacceptable for the Russian authorities to be criticized by foreign politicians and those who are in their employ. We do it because we love our country, they because they want to subordinate it and destroy it. And this is a very widespread position within the Russian society.

The Russian World. Year 2014 reminded Russians that they are Russians, not merely a collection of different people within one set of borders but rather a nation and even a civilization. That’s hard to overestimate. For the first time in long years millions of Russians have felt their historical and spiritual kinship with one another. They have realized for the first time in the post-Soviet era that Crimea, Donbass, and other splinters are not abroad, but rather part of one whole. It’s earth sanctified by the sweat and blood of our ancestors which became abroad as a result of a defeat in a confrontation with the West.

The Russian World only took one breath and it became apparent that it’s a tremendous force capable of dramatically changing the situation in Eurasia and the world. It’s not a destructive force, contrary to what the russophobes are saying, but a protective and creative one which offers the world an alternative to Western expansion and US colonial system. An alternative based on mutual respect and the unity of diversity. There are ongoing arguments on what the Russian World represents, with many underwater reefs. We are yet to clearly define that concept, remembering and creatively the thousand-year wisdom of our ancestors.

But it is already apparent to and understood by the majority that Russians are not a narrowly defined “pure-blooded” people or a community of identity-bereft cosmopolitans, but rather a separate world with a unique set of values and traditions which attract many nations for whom the Russians serve as a glue. Being Russian, membership in the Russian World has become fashionable, and the popularity of the St. George’s Ribbon demonstrates it conclusively.

The Rejection of Westernness and Liberalism. By 2015, the anti-Western (and especially anti-US) sentiments and the rejection of the liberalism that was being imposed by the West reached their maximums. This has nothing to do with state propaganda, which in actuality at first was openly anti-US, but with the fact that the Russians have already experienced bitter disappointment (though many were never in a position to be disappointed in the first place) in the Western myth a long time ago. The Wild West capitalism, the violations of traditional values and moral foundations, the scuttling of Russian ideals and spitting on Russian history, the rivers of lies and double standards–these and other factors brought Russians to consider the Western way unacceptable.

Even those admirers of the West who have fallen in love with its civic freedoms and daily comforts while trying not to notice US crimes around the world, stood on Russia’s side after Crimea, when the West exceeded all bounds of decency in its attempt to force Russia to return to the state of degradation of the 1990s. Only the traitors remained on the West’s side.

Both liberalism and Western democracy have become indecent expressions many years ago. The criticism of the liberal approaches of a segment of Russia’s elite is strongly pronounced within the society. This happens one of the main complaints against the current government which is still operating using the dominant liberal model. Even though the consumer lifestyle took hold in Russia, it did not become dominant in the Russian souls.

On the contrary, the events of 2014-2015 show that despite the financial problems and the loss of consumer demand, the support of the national leadership has only grown. It means that the Russian people are ready to face objective difficulties and a certain degree of societal mobilization. Even though people value personal well-being (those who have it), they also understand that it is a mirage in the absence of state power, and they themselves are calling on the state to establish an independent economic model. At the same time, they would hardly be supportive of the excessive mobilization on the 1930s model.

The Pursuit of Justice. The foundation of the Russian world view is justice, and it remains exceptionally important even today. We are talking about social, general justice as a natural component of the world order. Even though the perception of social injustice is not as sharp as it was 15 years ago due to the increased salaries, pensions, the growth of incomes of millions of people, it remains sharp enough. The debate revolves only around the question how the state of social justice is to be achieved, through revolution or evolution. In spite of the revolutionaries’ activity in the information sphere, the prevailing opinion is that the question of resource distribution would be more justly decided without sharp turns such as the reconsideration of the privatization of 1990s.

Nevertheless, the excessive income gap between the rich and the poor, the ostentatious behavior of some of the elites, its aggressive hedonism and violation of norms of decency, actually strengthens the revolutionaries’ hand. Positive changes are not as visible as the exploits of Vasilyeva or Polonskiy. The people are highly irritated not so much by wealth as such, but that many have gained wealth undeservedly and moreover behave like sociopaths. The authorities are obligated to fix the stae of affairs. At a minimum, they should restrain the big capitalists, and at a maximum nationalize the elites and redistribute capital to the benefit of the majority.

Morality and Spirituality. In response to the aggressive Western imposition of the “new Free World norms,” where sodomy is considered natural and the traditional family a form of atavism, Russia experienced a growth of traditionalism. Contrary to the multi-year Russian media propaganda of permissiveness, people unexpectedly took a turn in the direction of morality. The more the West promotes the examples of new morality such as Pussy Riot or Conchita, the faster the Russians remember of their roots, of Orthodoxy, faith in God, and traditional moral values. We are trying to once formulate anew our values as defensive mechanisms through the rejection of public sin which is being imposed upon us.

It’s too soon to say that Russia has become a country of believers. The Church is still perceived by many with indifference or even with fear. But more and more people in Russia are returning to faith thanks to their understanding of wide spread immorality of the modern world and the perceived need for morality. The majority of Russians are part of the Orthodox culture, and their behavior in critical moments is determined by that culture. In spite of the active media presence of militant atheists, the Russian people is realizing that without the Church, without the traditional religion and high ideals it will be impossible to survive intact and undamaged the coming cataclysm.

  • Snowden destroyed files before going to Russia – Greenwald debunks Sunday Times report (Source)
  • I turn on my TV – and there’s RT’: Romney slams Russian intl strategy (Source)
  • The last months in the DNI were very full of events related to the appointment and payment of pensions sotsposoby, the introduction of multi-currency, money transfer services. In the future, will resuscitation banking services, in particular, restoration of ATMs and POS terminals, as well as the transition to plastic cards. All this under the watchful supervision of the staff of the Central National Bank, headed by Irina Nikitina. On the prospects of the banking sector, corr. Donetsk news agency spoke with the head of the CRB. (Interview) (Source)
  • Why Sanctions on Russia Will Backfire (Source)
  • Survey Links Eurosceptics Rise to Migration Influx, Broken Govt Promises (Source)

Growing migration, government failure to fulfill promises and general disillusionment with the European Union are main factors behind the rise of Eurosceptic parties over the past years, an ICM Research opinion poll commissioned by Sputnik has revealed.

  • NATO Exercises Ongoing Near Russia Since 2014 (Infographic) (Source)
  • Russian Defense Minister says military threat from Afghanistan grows (Source)

Cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan is an important factor of preserving stability in Central Asia in connection with the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, Sergey Shoigu says

  • Russian lawyer appeals presidential order to classify peacetime military fatalities(Source)
  • Russia Is Not The Soviet Union (Source)
  • Greek PM tears into lenders as euro zone prepares for ‘Grexit’ (Source)
  • Saudi jets attack Yemeni provinces with cluster bombs (Source)
  • Putin reveals rearmament plan amid possible NATO deployment near Russian borders (Source)

MOSCOW, June 16 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the country’s armed forces will be equipped with at least 70 percent of modern armament by 2020, an ambitious plan to reinforce Russia’s defense capability amid NATO’s increasing military build-up near Russian borders.

“The share of modern weaponry should increase to 70 percent by 2020, and in some cases to 100 percent,” Putin said at the International Military-Technical Forum “ARMY 2015” in Kubinka air base in the Moscow region.

Over 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) will enter service in the Russian army this year, Putin said, adding that these ICBMs can penetrate any advanced anti-missile defense shield.

Besides, Putin said, the Russian army has been receiving the newest armored combat vehicles Armata, Kurganets and Bumerang, which were shown during the May 9 military parade at the Red Square.

Russia also plans to put four missile regiments on combat duty and a strategic nuclear submarine into service this year, Putin said.

Meanwhile, the Russian top leader expressed his confidence in Russia’s role in the global arms market.

“Our weapons are very popular on the global arms market. The demand has been stable in recent years, and an orders portfolio has been formed for years to come,” he said.

Moscow has been gravely concerned about NATO’s intention to deploy heavy weapons in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries. The Kremlin has warned it would respond appropriately to any possible military build-up near Russian borders.

  • All nuclear weapon-possessing states develop new systems — report (Source)
    At the start of 2015 nine states possessed approximately 15 850 nuclear weapons, of which 4300 were deployed with operational forces
  • Belarus Tests Secretive Rocket Launcher System in China (Source)

Belarus tested its new Polonez rocket launcher system in China, which has a considerably greater range than Soviet-made Smerch systems and could indicate a secretive development between the two countries which lasted over a decade

  • Russia to complete building 7 Yasen class nuclear subs after 2023 — design bureau (Source)

According to previous reports, the state armaments program for the period until 2020 envisaged construction of 8 Yasen class submarines

  • Russia vows to increase mil. presence in Belarus, Kaliningrad if U.S. does same in E. Europe (Source)
  • Internet bill gets initial approval in Russia govt (Source)
  • Analyst warns Russia will respond to F-22 deployment in Europe (Source)
  • Russia, China shun US dollar in Gazprom deal (Source)
  • Moscow cuts dependence on US dollar, builds a more self-sufficient financial system (Source)
  • Putin: Russia cares little how Ukraine used its loan, it is interested in repayment (Source)

The Ukrainian government will consider the possibility of declaring a freeze on foreign debt payments if its talks with creditors on rescheduling debts end in failure

  • Putin calls Western money given to Ukraine a “bribe (Source)

Putin’s remark came in response to President Poroshenko’s assumption that the Russian loan to Ukraine was a “bribe” for Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the association agreement with the EU

  • Goodbye EU, Hello BRICS? What was once a negotiation tactic now looks like a real possibility as Tsipras meets Putin on Friday (Source)
  • Central Asia Is a Sitting Duck for Islamic State (Op-Ed (Source)

The appearance of Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov in an Islamic State propaganda video on May 27 sent a chill across Central Asia. The head of Tajikistan’s Special Assignment Police Unit (OMON), a key element in President Emomali Rahmon’s security apparatus, had disappeared shortly before. In the video he promised to return to wage violent jihad.

A veteran of brutal Tajik government operations, Khalimov has the qualifications. And Tajikistan, a desperately poor country ruled by a venal elite, is a vulnerable target.

  • West Changes Policy Towards Russia(Source)

The West has taken practical steps to punish Russia for its independent foreign policy with corresponding changes to be inserted into its strategy. The research works of London-based Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, normally reflect the general trends in evolution of thinking in Anglo-Saxon world and beyond. Two former ambassadors to Russia – Sir Roderic Lyne and Sir Andrew Wood – cooperate with the Institute as associate fellows.

The think tank has recently made public its Russian Challenge report which states that Ukraine is one of many reasons to reappraise the policy towards Russia as the gap between it and the rest of the world continues to get wider. The authors believe that until 2003, it was widely believed that a modernizing Russia might be accommodated into the international system as a constructive and benign actor.

Variations on this view have given way to the realization that Russia, on its present course, cannot be a partner or ally, and that differences outweigh any common interests. What exactly happened in 2003 to make British strategists view Russia in a different light? Back then Moscow did not support the invasion of Iraq by US-UK forces. It is widely believed nowadays, including the public opinion in America and Britain, that the operation was undertaken as a result of false evidence and led to negative results. But to be recognized by the West as «benign and constructive», one should be ready to support its actions, no matter how reckless, or even criminal, they could be.

The steps undertaken by Moscow to reach armistice in Ukraine are considered as the beginning of «improvement» process. But it’s not enough. The report emphasizes the need for power change in Russia according to the scenario tried in Ukraine. Those in Russia who advocate mending fences with the West should not expect that life in the country would become a bed of roses in case the relationship improves.

Nobody in the West wants the country to achieve progress. To the contrary, Western states strive to weaken Russia as much as possible. The authors note that to pursue its goals and achieve its objectives the West should be better prepared for any further deterioration in relations with Russia. Vladimir Putin must not be accommodated for fear that any successor would be even worse. This accommodation has already failed. Whether the present leadership endures or is prematurely replaced, the way ahead will be complex and potentially turbulent.

According to Chatham House experts, The West should deter and constrain «coercion» by Russia against its European neighbours, for as long as is needed, but not to draw fixed dividing lines. The door should be kept open for re-engagement when circumstances change. This cannot be expected with any confidence under Putin, and it cannot be predicted what the next regime will look like. But there is a reasonable possibility that the decline of the Russian economy, the costs of confrontation and the rise of China will incline a future Russian leadership to want to re-engage with the West.

The report contains the recommendation to explain Western policies consistently and regularly in discussions with China, and to all former Soviet states, most of which have reason to be concerned about Russian policies, whether or not they admit it. The effectiveness of sanctions against Russia depends on their duration as well as severity. The paper states that the issue that triggered sanctions was the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and until that issue is fully addressed sanctions should remain in place. In particular, it is self-defeating to link the lifting of sanctions solely to implementation of the poorly crafted and inherently fragile Minsk accords, the paper says.

It’s clear that such approaches to the Minsk agreements is exactly what heightens tensions in Ukraine giving Kiev a carte-blanche for breaching its obligations. For instance, the British Independent emphasizes that the report calls for strengthening NATO. The authors of report believe that the West has an even bigger interest in preserving the post-Cold War environment. «If that is dismantled, it is conceivable that Nato and the EU could collapse too», the influential think-tank has warned.

The Chatham House researchers call for resolute actions. According to their recommendations, Nato must retain its credibility as a deterrent to Russian aggression. In particular, it needs to demonstrate that limited war is impossible and that the response to ‘ambiguous’ or ‘hybrid’ war will be robust. The fears are evidently exaggerated and the conclusion is irresponsible. It’s nobody else but the regime in Kiev who sets the goal to involve as many countries as possible into the hot phase of the conflict. The government of Ukraine refuses to find a common language with the regions that oppose the government’s policies.

A question arose during the presentation of the report about the prospects of Russia-China rapprochement as a reaction to the growing pressure on the part of the West. For instance, Russia and China have recently held joint exercises in the Mediterranean. The authors admitted that this possibility was not taken seriously to be dismissed as something hardly feasible. The authors of paper believethat China would pursue its own interests, not the interests of Russia. This is a hasty conclusion. China and many other emerging world powers firmly believe that Western states claim to possess absolute truth and aspire to exercise global financial control. It hinders global progress and contradicts the reality and the fundamental interests of other countries to unite them as natural allies.

The US policy towards Russia (Russian doctrine) evolves, by and large, the same way. On June 5, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited the US Africa Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, to hold a high-level meeting with regional defense leaders. One of the issues to hit the agenda was the scenario of deploying more tactical nuclear and other weapons systems in Europe as means of intimidation. The US National Security Council is working on the plan. Some officials believe that the new strategy to build relations with Russia is an improved version of America’s containment policy. Others refuse to admit that the United States has already launched a new war against Russia. A US official said the United States should prevent Russia from expanding its influence.

Some also believe that there should be more studies conducted to develop the policy on Russia. There may be different approaches than the ones adopted in English speaking countries. French experts called on the government to establish an institution devoted to Russia’s studies. They emphasize that Russia and Europe share the same continent. They cannot have different historic trajectories. The experts believe that the time is ripe to modernize the academic institutions studying Russia to come up with proper strategic vision.

French experts say it would be right to stop painting Russia as a cold blooded monster chomping at the bit for territorial expansion or as the only country to save Europe from liberals and transatlantic demons. It’s time for adequate perception and impartial assessment of Russia and creation of new platforms to study this country taking into consideration its rich historic traditions, the scale of economy, local specifics and pluralism of opinions that exists there. Those who take decisions should base their estimates on impartial and independent analysis free from the influence of lobbyists whose structures have expanded in the recent years along with growing influence. French researchers point out that in January 2015 Germany spent 2,5 million euros on creating a new research institute for Russian and Eurasian studies. They think France should follow their example.

Before the recent G7 summit in Bavaria the chairman of the German – Russian Forum, Matthias Platzeck (SPD),warned about dire consequences of breaking up with Russia. He said it was impossible to conceive positive development of events or stable security in case the relations with Russia were broken.

According to Platzeck, neither Europe, nor Russia will gain if the bilateral relations will further deteriorate further. He said that in the end Europe will lose influence while Russia will get weakened. The United States will strengthen its position and China will achieve economic gains.

  • Russia to test new over-horizon target detection radar soon – Putin (Source)
  • China Mocks G7 As “Gathering Of Debtors”, Warns “Confrontation Will Be A Disaster For Europe” (Source)
  • Surkov’s Propaganda” by Rostislav Ischenko (Source)
  • Solving the crisis in U.S.-Russia relations by Edward Lozansky (Source)

There is an urgent need for bilateral talks to replace mutual disrespect

  • Slovakia does not rule out connecting its power network to Turkish Stream — FM (Source)

Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Laichak said using gas transit via Ukraine is best and cheapest both for Russia and the EU

  • Trade rebuff fuels doubts on Obama bid to counter rising China (Source)
  • Russia’s Rosneft harnesses Indian oil tiger (Source)
  • Islamic pluralism and alcohol (Source)
  • The Salafist Frame of Mind Syria: a Serious Situation for Us All (Source)
  • The View From the North :The Holy Grail of Korean Unification (Source)

Reunification, for Koreans, has a mythic quality, like the Promised Land or the Holy Grail. Most Koreans dream of reunification, of a time in the future when the North and the South will join together to recreate the Korean whole that existed before division and Japanese colonialism. It’s a lovely idea, but no one has a very good idea of how to achieve it.

  • The Al-Nusra Factor Moderate al-Qaeda? (Source)
  • Why the collapse of the INF Treaty is not in Russia’s interests (Source)

The White House has accused Russia of breaking its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), and has announced plans to station ballistic missiles in Europe unless Moscow adheres to the conditions of the treaty. Would Russia really risk jeopardizing the INF, and what are the dangers of restoring its intermediate missile capabilities?

  • Moscow Patriarchate approves of bill checking foreign-funded religious organizations (Source)
  • Thaw in EU-Russia relations inevitable, but don’t hold your breath (Source)

Only compromise offers a way out of the current impasse.

  • G7 stands firm on Russia; Italy welcomes dialogue with Putin; Pentagon chief rallies India behind U.S. policy (Source)

RBTH presents its weekly analytical program TROIKA REPORT, featuring a look at three of the most high-profile recent developments in international affairs.

  • Mocking the Nuremberg Code Human Experimentation: a CIA Habit (Source)
  • Sino-Russian nuclear physics research center to be set up in Siberia (Source)

The research center will be set up in the university town of Akademgorodok, near Novosibirsk. Russia is keen to expand scientific cooperation with its BRICS peers.

  • Vatican to call for population reduction of six billion people? “Planetary Court” to rule over nations… (Source)
  • Russia, China take a leap of faith (Source)

For Moscow, the geopolitical dimension and the ability to use cooperation with China as a counterweight to the West, especially the United States, is of crucial importance. For Beijing, on the other hand, the “economization” of relations, especially access to Russia’s raw materials and market are priority goals. The lease of the land in the Zabaykalsky Krai signifies the success of the Chinese approach.

  • US may force Russian military’s hand: Moscow (Source)
  • US ‘not trustworthy’ to have veto power: Analyst (Source)

An American political commentator says the veto power in the hands of the United States as an untrustworthy country is dangerous after Washington said it will reimpose sanctions against Iran without Russian or Chinese support.

  • Mikhail Khazin: Putin will not betray Serdukov and Vasilyeva who destroyed by his order “military mafia” existing since XIX century (Source)
  • Mikhail Khazin: disintegration of Russia is theoretically possible but I don’t believe in it (Source)
  • Russia Hopes Ukraine Takes UNSC Non-Permanent Membership Responsibly (Source)

Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow hopes Kiev will use its election to UN Security Council non-permanent member for 2016-2017 in a responsible manner.

  • Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow hopes Kiev will use its election to UN Security Council non-permanent member for 2016-2017 in a responsible manner.(Source)
  • Russian Defense Ministry to Modify MC-21 Passenger Aircraft Into AWACS (Source)

According to head of sales for the plane’s producer, Russian Defense Ministry plans to order a revamp of MC-21 passenger jets to create reconnaissance aircraft similar to the US AWACS aircraft.

  • Russian defense minister praises combat skills of Russian Air Force units (Source)

The combat readiness snap check involved units of Russia’s Central, Southern and Western Military Districts

  • Genscher receives Kissinger Prize, calls Nazis ‘NATO’ by mistake (video) (Source)
  • Where were the rocks, Tefft? Where were the rocks?” Ambassador to Russia gets an earful from Kerry (Source)

Gloomy morning, Ambassador John Tefft!

It was a burdensome wake-up for US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft: headache, aching temples, and a mouth so dry, as if, just before the process of waking up, a herd of wild mustangs, frightened with the eruption of the wastes his life, had been galloping over it.

The previous evening started out very well for the ambassador: getting home from the Bolshoi, he gladly drank four glasses of whiskey, took a long look out his window at the Moscow night, and then went to bed with a sense of having well fulfilled his duty and done his job.

However, what roused him was a 2 a.m. phone call on the secret government line. It was US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had broken his leg a few days before.

Right away, Kerry’s voice revealed repressed anger, masking the most genuine irritation, episodes that were happening with increasing frequency to the Secretary of State …

“Say Tefft, how are you feeling there?” – the Secretary of State began. Tefft immediately felt signs of the storm in the boss’s tone.  “I think” – Kerry began answering his own question – “you don’t just feel bad, even very bad, but real bad … you’ve started suffering from obesity. They tell me, the last three months you have put on about two kilos …”

Tefft had a decision to make: either answer the rhetorical questions, or to keep on listening to the Secretary of State so as not to encourage the Secretary’s storm of negative feelings. The Ambassador chose the latter.

Kerry continued: “I’m getting the strong impression that you are a complete slacker. Look at Geoffrey R. Pyatt in Ukraine; now there is a real diplomat. Last year, he got a a coup going, eh? And then he helped organize the hot fighting in eastern Ukraine, eh?  Of course, I understand that you were laying the groundwork for him, but anyway, he’s the one got the job done, right?”

Tefft kept humbly silent, and Kerry flamed him more and more:-

“You were in charge of organizing mass unrest in Russia, uniting the opposition, bringing it to power. Where are the results, I ask you, where are they? Why is the US budget laying out money if there are no results, eh? When nothing was working in Moscow, it was on you to to organize the triumphant processions of the opposition in those other Russian cities. And what came of that? What have you been doing? Screwing around?”

Tefft made an attempt to insert a word in the Secretary of State’s rant:

“Listen, John, the work is going according to plan, all the assigned money is getting to our recipients and our supporters …”

Right off, Kerry interrupted him “Ah” and again “ah…” –  “They got the money and so what? The demonstration was completely overwhelmed. So far they haven’t been able to organize a popular revolution in support of the opera “Tannhauser!” You promised that Siberians in Novosibirsk would go to the barricades in support of “Tannhauser!”  So, did they?”

Some strange sounds were heard coming out of the handset, and the ambassador understood that the Secretary was angry enough to spit.

“Did you see how our Kasyanov’s visit to Novosibirsk came out?” Kerry was getting less and less pleased. – “The plan was ten thousand opponents of the regime would greet him and follow him around the town! Where were they? Where did you hide them? And Kasyanov himself — good, oh good! … It was plain even on sight of him that he’s got everything already. He’s as far from the people, as the intelligence of a paramecium is from the intelligence of Einstein. And what was that nonsense he brought? Why are his only words about Novosibirsk “As for the streets here, all the same: bad. As for the people, they’re sullen… “?

“And that’s what a guy says who wants them to vote for him? He got there, spat in their face and left. Good leader! With nothing to say! … Couldn’t he talk about the brilliant prospects of the “Parnassus” party winning the election? In Ukraine don’t they still believe in a brighter future? Together with the EU and NATO? What? Are Ukrainians sometimes dumber than Siberians? And your Kasyanov even began to talk about those rakes that were put under his car back in 2008, and even suggested that it amounted to an attempt on his life! This is  the top of idiocy … How can you kill a man in an armored car with a rake, can you tell me?”

“What no? Me neither … So tell me about this Kasyanov and get going on his preparation, for real. You know my principle: Results – money. No results – no money. So fill him in.

“And about the further developments, well it would be better if I didn’t say anything at all, Tefft, but I have to say … Tell me, why did Alexei Navalny go to Novosibirsk? We agreed. You and I had it settled, only at first to pelt him with eggs, and then be sure go at him with rocks.

And what happened? For Navalny there were nothing but eggs! Where were the rocks, Tefft? I ask you, where were the rocks? Where are Navalny’s bruises and injuries to make him the victim of the brutal regime and to mobilize the outrage of the world community, followed by the tightening of sanctions against Russia …

“John,” – timidly Tefft ventured a reply.”John – everything was organized as well as possible, but due to the habitual traffic jams in Novosibirsk they just couldn’t deliver the rocks in time.”

“Yes, the the rocks didn’t get there in time, but the money for throwing them did, didn’t it?” – Kerry’s voice dripped with sarcasm. – “You better just shut up and listen…

“If you have already decided to promote the Russian democratic opposition in Siberia with the help of “primaries”, at least do it with some competence. Why have you set up “primaries” in drinking joints? You’re just interested in the votes of alcoholics?

“The primaries weren’t even over yet, and we here at the State Department broke out laughing. Want to know why? You could not even provide normal participant numbers or even submit photos with thousands of Novosibirskis in lines waiting to vote for the opposition! Do I have to tell you how it’s done?

“Tell me what can be said about any prospects of democratic coalition if your Navalny said 1104 voters, and the democratic coalition site reported 2580? Not only are those numbers ridiculous, so they also are not the same!

“But that’s not all: Tell me, why was there any need to ask to ask stupid questions in voting areas like “What do you know about the last Russian tsar?” Or “How do you feel about the history of Russia?” … You figure that, there in Moscow, that’s a brilliant PR move? It’s the acme of idiocy to ask questions like that in the election, even a primary. Asking such questions, right off you made it clear you consider the voters illiterates and idiots! Finally, to complete the picture Novosibirsk leaders on the “Parnassus” ballot bickered among themselves and started accusing each other of big-time fraud.

“You know, Tefft, when I found out about this, I got an upset stomach from laughing added on top of my broken leg. What’s your problem with fixing a few hundred votes? If agents like that can’t count right to a thousand or two thousand, how are voters supposed to believe they can lead?

“In a word, Tefft” – concluded the Secretary with a mocking threat – “if you don’t get the right outcomes, you will either be dismissed or you will be sent as ambassador to some African country. And I really hope that it’s a place where cannibals are hiding in the woods… Have a nice day.”

Remembering all the details of the night’s conversation, John Tefft drank some whiskey and decided to summon all the activists of the Democratic Coalition to the Embassy. Overhead, the clouds began to thicken, rolling in from the banks of the Potomac.

  • Nikolay Starikov: Estonia should pay back the money, for which Peter the Great bought it from Sweden 300 years ago (Source)
  • US blocks training of neo-Nazis in Ukraine (Source)
  • The House of Saud as the ‘House of Trouble’ (Source)
  • It’s official: America has a China-containment policy(Source)
  • Dependence Day – National Liberation Movement for sovereignty of Russia (Video) (Source)
  • Financial Times Spins a Bankrupt Russian Oligarch Into Anti-Putin Martyr (Source)
  • Financial Times is no stranger to acting as a stooge for various Russian oligarchs over the years, but this is a new low.

Claims Zyuzin’s bad luck began when he missed an appointment in Putin in 2008

In fact Zyuzin enjoyed excellent relations with Putin until at least 2010 and earned as much as $3 billion that year

FT argues the brilliant Igor Zyuzin must remain in possession of his 67% share of the steel and coal giant Mechel…

conveniently forgetting the Zuzul’s Mechel is now $7 billion in debt to Russian state banks that must somehow be repaid

  • Business as Usual: Russian, Foreign Companies Find Ways to Bypass Sanctions (Source)
  • BRICS’ analogue of SWIFT should be capable of integrating – Russian Chamber of Commerce(Source)
  • Scientists Plan to Genetically Engineer Animals to be Used by US Military (Source)
  • Genetically Modified Insects for Florida(Source)
  • The Top Secret (Fake) Memo to Putin on How to Counter NATO’s Latest Move(Source)

Is the Kremlin worried about U.S. tanks in Europe?

  • Pentagon Hires Anti-Russia Group to Develop More Aggressive Policy (Source)
  • Putin: Russia Will Target Its Military at Anyone Threatening It (Source)
  • The president reminded reporters that it is NATO that is inching closer to Russian territory, while Russia hasn’t moved anywhere
  • How the Pentagon plans to defeat Eurasia and roll out Robotic Warfare (II) & (I) by Andrew Korbyko (Source)
  • Carter Takes Over Seven Days in May?by MIKE WHITNEY (Source)

Would a puffed-up neocon like Carter be willing to initiate a plan that would weaken China militarily while forcing it to “desist from ever attempting to upend the U.S.-led order in the region” again?

You bet he would.

  • Putin’s Modulated Response :Obama’s War Machine Inches Forward by NORMAN POLLACK(Source)

I suggest Putin is right on target, especially here: “For example, the Americans do not want Russia’s rapprochement with Europe. I am not asserting this, it is just a hypothesis. Let’s suppose that the United States would like to maintain its leadership in the Atlantic community. [He underestimates the scope of America’s hegemonic desires]. It needs an external threat, an external enemy to ensure this leadership.” Clearly, not just anyone. For he states, “Iran is clearly not enough—this threat is not very scary or big enough. Who can be frightening? And then suddenly this crisis unfolds in Ukraine. Russia is forced to respond. Perhaps, it was engineered on purpose, I don’t know. But it was not our doing.” Alas, a statement totally foreign to the practiced repertoire of sustained anticommunism, in circulation since Wilson’s time and still with us: “Let me tell you something—there is no need to fear Russia. The world has changed so drastically that people with some common sense cannot even imagine such a large-scale military conflict today. We have other things to think about, I assure you.”

  • More US-NATO Wars on the Horizon? NATO Launches “Trident Juncture 2015″, Largest Military Exercise since the End of the Cold War (Source)
  • The story of BlackRock, a modest participant at the Bilderberg conference By Valentine Katasonov (Source)
  • European Union (EU): After Greece Exit, Israel Entry?(Source)
  • Iran denies storing oil at sea (Source)
  • America’s Worst Nightmare: Assad Is Too Big to Fail(Source)
  • Are Pershing missiles returning to Europe? (Source)
  • Saudis to Offer Putin a Deal He Can’t Refuse (Source)

It is reported that Saudi Arabia has sent a delegation to Moscow for the purpose of once again attempting to lure Russia away from its current interests in the Middle East, and into line behind Riyadh and its underwriters in Washington

  • Russia Threatens Sweden With Military ‘Consequences’ If It Joins NATO Alliance, Report Says(Source)
  • NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg Unveils Biggest Build-Up Since Cold War (Source)
  • NATO Trident Joust Military Exercises Begin in Romania (Source)
  • China gives more details on South China Sea facilities (Source)
  • Moscow wants ruble settlements with Beijing on Russian high-speed railway – RZD official (Source)
  • Moscow summons Belgian envoy over seizure of state assets, threatens retaliation (Source)
  • Who;s Behind Asia-Pacific’s growing tensions ? (Source)

It’s very clear then that tensions in Asia Pacific, amid which the US attempts to pose as an indispensable mediator of, are in fact the intentional, premeditated consequences of long-standing, well-documented US foreign policy. It is clear that a rising China was not the cause of the last World War, nor will it be the cause of the next. The cause is rather the same tiresome special interests which have driven all of the World Wars – those centered in the West unable to accept regional influence and a multi-polar world, and those interests who will only settle for global hegemony.With the true perpetrators of rising tensions in the Pacific identified, and the consequences well-studied of when last these perpetrators stoked such tensions, those nations faced with the choice of playing proxies for Wall Street and Washington or readjusting and even profiting from the rise of China, have one last chance amid a closing window of opportunity to ensure history does not tragically repeat itself, yet again.

  • A Hind-E for Pakistan: Islamabad to Purchase Russian Mi-35 Copters (Source)
  • US Prepared to ‘Increase Costs’ on Russia With Further Sanctions (Source)
  • Ex-Russian finance minister Kudrin suggests early presidential elections to speed up reforms(Source)
  • Nato shows its teeth to Russia with elaborate Baltic training exercise (Source)
  • Mock landing in Poland, just over 100 miles from Russian naval hub Kaliningrad, is an exhibition of allied strength but some say it could send a dangerous signal
  • Russian manufacturers beg Putin to support the dollar (Source)

Every day executives have to solve hundreds of questions, without which it is impossible to move forward. But they cannot cope with all the difficulties on their own. Although sometimes the circumstances are in their favor, such as the weakening of the ruble. Domestic goods become cheaper than imported ones, they are more in demand, and manufacturers prefer to keep these favorable exchange rates.

“Vladimir Vladimirovich, please prop up the dollar, do not let it fall, at least for three years, during this time we will finally settle in domestic and foreign markets”, – asked the General Director of “Kovrov mechanical plant,” Vladimir Lebedev.

“This is all the market sphere. But at the same time you have noticed that as soon as the ruble strengthens, becomes less than 50, it nevertheless gradually rises. We understand everything, but we can not overdo it, because excessive weakening of national currency has its negative components, we all know that. But the real production, especially for that which tries to enter foreign markets, we certainly support. But, no matter how much we support it, still exchange difference is more powerful and works more effectively than the measures of budget support, and we understand this well. Now we have an approximate picture of how the hydrocarbon market will develop. If nothing unusual is going to happen, it will continue to exist roughly in the same price range in the next, I think, a year or two. And in general we are satisfied with that,” – said Vladimir Putin.

  • EU Agrees to Extend Economic Sanctions on Russia Until January (Source)
  • Tajik Workers in Russia Send 40% Less Money Home (Source)
  • Russia – USA consulate in St. Petersburg picketed by National Liberation Movement (Video) (Source)
  • Yemen – what’s at stake. Nikolai Starikov (Video) (Eng Subs) (Source)
  • Last year of wars cost $14 trillion for the world (Source)
  • Neo-con politicians take major hits in Eastern Europe (Source)

The Soros-controlled media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Liberty and others, are doing their very best to spin the fraudulent nature of the pro-Western governments of eastern and central Europe. However, the truth is shining through their attempts to distort and confabulate the truth

  • Two Can Play This Game: Russia Warns Belgium Asset Freeze Works Both Ways (Source)
  • Russia to construct new gas pipeline to Germany via Baltic Sea – Gazprom (Source)
  • Russian Monitors Prevent Two Attacks at Donetsk Airport (Source)

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) report on the ceasefire in Donbass noted that Russian monitors prevented two attacks at the Donetsk airport, which the Ukrainian side confirmed

  • Focus on the Matter, Stop Tug of War – Russian Envoy to Iran Nuclear Talks (Source)
  • Russia and Saudi Arabia ink nuclear energy deal, exchange invites (Source)
  • US Is the Primary Instigator of Tension With Russia – Think Tank (Source)

The head of the Barcelona-based Delas Center for Peace Studies the United States is the primary instigator of the current tension with Russia, Pere Ortega.

  • BP acquires 20% stake in Russia’s key deposit in Eastern Siberia (Source)
  • NATO and Russia Are Playing a Risky Game (Op-Ed) (Source)

In other words, the very language and actions intended to warn off Moscow and reassure NATO members may actually be undermining the unity that is so essential to the alliance. At the same time, Russia’s aggressive postures look as if they are pushing traditionally neutral Finland and Sweden closer to NATO than ever before. Both, incidentally, are taking part in BALTOPS.

So, is the paradox that while the leaderships of both NATO and Russia enjoy the macho posturing involved in the current “phony war,” the posturing is actually far more counterproductive than they might think?

  • When History is Erased :Correcting the Zionist Narrative of Israel (Source)

The Zionist narrative exists to justify the existence of the state of Israel. It is the narrative that dominates the perspectives of the US and Canadian governments as well as the mainstream media in North America. This narrative accepts as its starting point the right of a Jewish state to exist based on the fact that Jews lived in the biblical lands 2,000 years ago and that these lands belong to God’s chosen people: the Jews. But does this narrative reflect the truth? Or is it self-serving propaganda? After all, given this starting point, the inevitable outcome of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine was the ‘cleansing’ of the existing Arab population in that region because a Jewish majority was required to make a Jewish state viable.

  • Washington’s Accelerating Global Totalitarianism :After Three Years, the Injustice Inflicted on Julian Assange Must End by John Pilger (Source)

Julian Assange, founder and editor of WikiLeaks, has now been a refugee in the Ecuadoream embassy in London for three years. The key issue in his extraordinary incarceration is justice. He has been charged with no crime. The first Swedish prosecutor dismissed the misconduct allegations regarding two women in Stockholm in 2010. The second Swedish prosecutor’s actions were and are demonstrably political. Until recently, she refused to come to London to interview Assange. Finally, when the British government almost pleaded with her to come, she agreed. She has now cancelled her trip. It is a farce, but one with grim consequences for Assange should he dare step outside the Ecuadorean embassy.

The US criminal investigation against him and WikiLeaks — for the “crime” of exercising a right enshrined in the US constitution, to tell unpalatable truths  — is “unprecedented in scale and nature”, according to US documents. For this, he faces much of a lifetime in the hellhole of a US supermax should he leave the protection of Ecuador in London.

The Swedish allegations are no more than a sideshow to this — the SMS messages between the women involved, read by lawyers, alone would exonerate him. They refer to the accusations as “made up” by the police. In the police report one of the women says she was “railroaded” by the Swedish police. What a disgrace this is for Sweden’s justice system.

Julian Assange is a refugee under international law and he should be given right of passage by the British government out of the UK, to Ecuador. The nonsense about him “jumping bail” is just that — nonsense. If his extradition case went through the British courts today, the European Arrest Warrant would be thrown out and he would be a free man.

So what is the British government trying to prove by its absurd police cordon around an embassy whose refuge Assange has no intention of giving up? Why don’t they let him go? Why is a man charged with no crime having to spend three years in one room, without light, in the heart of London? The Assange case amplifies many truths, and one is the accelerating, global totalitarianism of Washington, regardless of who is elected president.

I am often asked if I think Assange has been “forgotten”. It is my experience that countless ordinary people all over the world, especially in Australia, his homeland, understand perfectly well the injustice being meted out to Julian Assange.  They credit him and WikiLeaks with having performed an epic public service by informing millions about what the powerful plan for them behind their backs, the lies governments and their vested interests tell, the violence they initiate. Power that is corrupt loathes this, because it is true democracy in action

  • A Travelogue :In the USA – “I Cannot Write!” by Andrew Vltchek (Source)
  • Economic Statecraft: American Economic Power and the New Face of Financial Warfare (Source)

Energy, Economics, and Security Program Director Elizabeth Rosenberg and Zachary K. Goldman, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at CNAS, describe challenges associated with the increasing use of coercive economic measures to tackle security challenges. These challenges include both changes to the structure of international financial system that might make it harder to use these tools in the future and a degradation of these measures’ integrity and availability derived from court contests, among other factors. The authors recommend principles by which the United States and its allies can keep these measures sharp, nimble, and effective in countering adversaries and threats in the future.

  • As Hezbollah weakens,  Iraqi Shiites step up (Source)
  • Abu Jaafar al-Asadi is Iran’s rising Shiite star in Iraq and the region, and he is not alone: Iran now runs a dozen Shiite militias in Iraq and has many budding leaders like him
  • South Korea MERS EMERGED Out Of the Pentagon’s Biowarfare Labs (Source)
  • Netanyahu and BDS :The Latest and Maybe the Last, “Existential Threat” by Andrew Levine (Source)
  • Google Chrome Listening In To Your Room Shows The Importance Of Privacy Defense In Depth (Source)
  • Spain: Podemos party in the crosshairs of US intelligence agencies (Source)

On the 7th floor of the US Embassy’s enormous building in Madrid is the CIA station. For more than half a century, active intelligence work has been carried out from this site, but its objective is not only to gather secret information on the domestic and foreign policies of Spain. A wide range of delicate issues aimed at guaranteeing the US’ strategic interests in the country are looked at on a daily basis. Thus the station focuses on preventive operations to ‘neutralise’ organisations and politicians that are potentially hostile to the US.

  • Jens Stoltenberg: NATO’s Mr Zig-Zag (Source)

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, has a knack for intellectual zig-zagging. Indeed, the 56-year-old former Norwegian prime minister, can be said to have made a very successful career in public life owing precisely to his adept ability at expedient zig-zagging.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s Mr Zig-Zag, can thus be seen as a chameleonic species of politician who survives and thrives by adapting his rhetorical skin to suit the prevailing geopolitical environment. Therefore, anything he says can be taken as skin-deep and is best ignored.

Russia is eminently correct to take necessary defensive measures against what any objective observer can clearly see as flagrant NATO aggression. Mr Zig-Zag’s opinion on the issue should be kicked into the long grass where it will no doubt revert to something else in the next instant.

  • The Most Powerful Person at the Federal Reserve You’ve Never Heard Of (Source)
  • Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield Across US, Citing ‘Russian Threat’ (Source)

As Baltic and Nordic countries continue to express unfounded fears about Russian aggression, paranoia fever appears to have its hold on the United States. The Pentagon is quietly installing a cruise missile defense shield in major US cities, despite the financial fiasco of previous attempts to install similar technology.

  • New Russian Underwater Spy Robot to Trick Submarines, Evading Detection (Source)
  • Putin reaffirms support for Assad, urges West on Kiev (Source)
  • Putin: US Exit From ABM Treaty Pushes Russia Into New Arms Race (Source)
  • If only more world leaders had the guts to speak like Putin…”they say ‘we are better’ as if the US knows better what is good for us” (Source)
  • The French and Belgian Russia Asset Freezes Are Illegal and Are Politically Motivated Harassment (Source)

The asset freezes enforce a judgment in Khodorkovsky’s favor that is procedurally flawed, grotesquely biased and still under appeal.

It also contradicts a far more balanced and proper judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.

  • Official says structural problem in Russian economy surfaced before Ukrainian crisis (Source)

“The sanctions are a supplementary component”, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said

  • World oil prices, Greece debt crisis and anti-Russia embargo figure at opening day of St. Petersburg economic forum (Source)
  • Russian military to order major research to counter ‘color revolutions’ (Source)
  • Putin addresses SPIEF 2015: ‘Russia is open for the world’ (Full Speech) (Video) (Source)
  • Charlie Hebdo: Gateway to totalitarian government (Source)
  • How Iran Dominates the Middle East (Source)

Sanctions have done little to prevent Iran from spreading its influence throughout the Middle East.

  • The Line That America Shouldn’t Cross in the South China Sea (Source)

“[I]f the United States insists on publicly denying and routinely penetrating the 12-nm lines, China simply cannot bear the costs of inaction.”

  • Anti-Russian Sanctions Can Cost EU Up to $114 Billion – Austrian Study (Source)
  • Taiwan’s Plan to Solve the South China Sea Dispute (Source)
  • SPIEF — St. Petersburg in the heart of the action: Escobar (Source)
  • An Arabian warrior prince in Putin’s court (Source)
  • Stephen Cohen: Kerry’s Negotiations With Putin Are Being Sabotaged in Washington (Source)
  • Field engineers of the DPR Emergency Ministry unearthed eight cassettes of MRLS “Uragan” in Ilovaysk in the course of 24 hours (Source)
  • Russia’s leverage to influence Ukraine’s self-proclaimed republics not 100% — Lavrov (Source)
  • Website shows photos from disputed reef in S. China Sea (Source)
  • Al-Qaeda roars back into business in Arabia; Targeted assassination? (Source)
  • Qiao Shi’s death and China’s rule of law (Source)
  • We support Assad because we don’t want same chaos that is Libya or Iraq’ – Putin (Audio) (Source)

Russia Media

  • Согласны ли вы с тем, что объекты ЕвроПРО должны быть под прицелом российских ракет (Sources)
  • Белоусов не исключил ужесточения контрсанкций со стороны России (Source)
  • Концерт в честь дивизии СС устроили в Ивано-Франковске (Video) (Source)
  • Сообщение от военкоров. / / “Стали поступать сообщения из Мариуполя о том, что в районе воинской.. (Source)
  • Батальон «Торнадо» поднял мятеж и ждет помощи от «Правого сектора (Source)
  • (+ 18) Разгром карательного батальона «Айдар» бой, пленные и раненые , захваченная техника (+18) (Source)
  • Священник в России освятил базу ядерных бомбардировщиков иконой Сталина (фото) (Source)
  • МЭР: экономика РФ позволяет вернуться к инвестиционному рейтингу (Source)
  • Армия России открыла свой парк культуры с авиашоу и пушками (Source)
  • Аваков расформировал «Торнадо» из-за обвинений бойцов в преступлениях в Донбассе(Source)
  • Аваков рассказал о задержании подозреваемых в убийстве Бузины (Source)
  • Интервью Дмитрия Рогозина телеканалу “Россия-24” на полях форума (Source)
  • Пушилин: Донбасс восстанавливает предприятия в условиях блокады (Source)
  • В ДНР увековечат память защитников Саур-Могилы (Video) (Source)
  • Порошенко: На Донбассе Россия воюет против нас оружием 21 века (Source)
  • ВИДЕО. Путин об аресте российского имущества (Source)
  • О деталях жутких пыток, которые применяли бойцы «Торнадо» рассказали на Украине (Source)
  • В Киеве ждут массовых протестов (Source)
  • Путин о сближении между Кубой и США (Source)
  • Конституционный суд РФ признал верховенство российских законов над европейскими (Source)
  • Украине нечем кормить половину армии (Source)
  • Отсутствие вторжения России очень разочаровывает европейские столицы (Source)
  • В Харькове студентов пытались забрать в солдаты из общежития и техникума, сорвав госэкзамен (Video) (Source)
  • Аналитик: ядерный потенциал России разрушает проект “нового века США” (Source)
  • с Днепра много ребят перешло на сторону ополчения и перейдет, а вот Маккейн специально там, чтоб была война (Video) (Source)
  • Душевное, если так можно сказать, видео про то, как в Донецком аэропорту воюет группа “Сомали (Video) (Source)
  • Вермахт в Песках. 18.06 #war in Ukraine (Video) (Source)
  • Татьяна Монтян:”Одесса поехала крышей круче всех”. (Video) (Source)
  • В. Рогов: США запустили процесс смены Порошенко на УкроИГИЛ во главе с Наливайченко (Source)
  • Глав.воен прокурор Украины Матиос зачитал выдержки из протоколов опросов пострадавших от действий укр карателей (Video) (Source)
  • Порошенко, уйди добровольно, иначе мы тебя скинем! Акция протеста в Киеве. (Video) (Source)
  • Госдеп раскритиковал посольство США в Эстонии за плохое знание русского языка (Source)
  • Мэр Николаева наградил соучастницу тройного убийства, побывавшую в “АТО (Source)
  • СМИ: Неизвестный требует £30 млн в качестве награды за информацию о сбитом над Украиной Boeing 777 (Source)
  • Белый дом признал: на Украине идет война против этнических русских (Source)