Senate Russia: its impact on the world, its invasion of Ukraine, and its future

You'll find these clever little broadsides against the state in Iranian cinema as well. Not in the made for TV movies that are state produced through and through. But in the independent cinema productions, you'll find these cunning criticisms embedded in the dialogue. I always wonder whether the censors let these pass through reluctantly or whether it's a deliberate policy by the state to allow people to vent their frustrations. Hard to tell, and kind of bleak if it's the latter.

 

Dude who plays Gasan? Yes, I see it too lol

Wish I could recall his name now, I've seen him in other TV shows before too, always playing bad guys from the.. South lol Russian TV and movies stereotype the hell out of Caucasians... Seriously, if you are from there and want to work as an actor, pretty much only roles you are gonna get are terrorist or gangster thug haha

Well... Its not so funny. Shameful, really IMHO There are plenty of good people from Caucasus, both Christian and Muslim. My own school girlfriend in Russia, Lilia, was Armenian (Christian from Caucasus); and a good friend, Magomed, was Ingush (Muslim Caucasian, related to Chechens and their next door neighbors). The propaganda against them really needs to stop.

This IS on state TV though. Well, not dicrectly "state", but it's owned by Gazprom. Gazprom, essentially, IS the Kremlin, basically.

Shocking to me they are letting this to air lol

But, probably, its like you say, they are letting people vent a bit.

It's why they also allow some political talk shows on TV too, where people can call in and criticize officials for corruption and such. Though, I have almost never ever heard anybody dare mention Putin himself, and even when they did, it was not directly by name lol One guest, I recall, with his lips shaking, asked, "Do you suppose the Supreme Authority is aware of this?" Supreme Authority meaning Putin. And the host immediately cut him off and went to commercials

 

This is what happens, when you wave a Ukrainian flag out of your university dorm window in Moscow:

Russian Security Services Allegedly Torture Student for Waving Ukrainian Flag

So, yeah. Waving Ukrainian flag in Moscow = not good idea Just as, to be fair, waving Russian flag in Kiev lol

 

Good article about the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, who is stuck between (not so friendly anymore) Russia and the West: Belarus president feels the squeeze from citizens and from former friend Russia

Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, will visit Russia soon, while skipping a NATO meeting: Tillerson to visit Russia, skip NATO meeting

 

Amazing article, with great photos, about a couple researchers, anthropologists, from St. Petersburg, who, for a whole year, lived with a native nomadic Nenets deer herder family on the frosty Yamal Peninsula: Spend a day in the Yamal tundra: On the move with deer herders

Here is my favorite bit:

Photo from article, couple of the kids watch cartoons on a tablet, in their chum (temporary tent dwelling made of animal skins)


You know, many urban Russians like to stereotype and even kinda mock Northern tribespeople, Nenets, Sakha, Chukchi, etc, as these underdeveloped savages, who ride around the tundra with their deer, live in chums, in the 21st century, eat raw meat.

But, in fact, these are much more modern people, in their own way, than many realize. They have access to modern technology, such as that tablet above. They just happen to enjoy their unique way of life, and prefer to hang on to it. This does not make them inferior in any way to some Moscow hipsters. Superior, probably. If some global apocalypse comes, and no more food in their local supermarket, the urban hipsters will starve, go nuts, and die. The Northerners will simply live on, with their deer and chums, as they have for thousands of years before Slavic Russian civilization ever developed...

 

Here is a great article: A thousand miles from Moscow: how Putin forged his Russian heartland

 

They were probably legitimate.

Take it from someone whose from a country where people try to do what Putin does, both sides have people who are corrupt.

 

As Bill Browder said in his book, most charges against Putin's critics are legit. The crimes might be over the most random thing, but usually are quite watertight - in the eyes of the law.

 

Shooter was a Ukrainian with an extensive criminal background. Expendable little pawn. Keep in mind, most of Ukrainian mafia works with and for Russian mafia, most Ukrainian mob bosses, like Semyon Mogilevich and others, live in Russia and control their criminal networks from there. If Russian government needed this kind of a favor from them, it would not be a problem, at all.

One should also remember that Maria's ex-husband, father of her first two children, is a guy named Vladimir Tyurin

A very, very powerful fugure in Russian organized crime, who led the mob's operations in Europe until five or so years ago, when returned to Russia to escape a crackdown by the Spanish authorities. Tyurin is, among other things, a permanent member of the Council of Thieves in Law, the ruling body of the Russian mafia.

He may well, as many now are suggesting, still hold a grudge, perhaps hope to get Maria back after Denis is out of the way. So, he would gladly have organized this for Putin, no trouble at all.

Voronenkov greately embarassed the Kremlin when he ran off to Ukraine a few weeks ago. I was talking about it, to other Russians. Another dude said, that one won't live long now. We could all but nod... You don't piss off Putin like that and live to talk about it, no sir...

 

Maria Maksakova and Ilya Ponomaryov, another ex-Russian MP, the only guy who dared vote AGAINST annexing Crimea at the time and was promptly expelled from the Duma and forced to flee Russia shortly thereafter, have just been assigned special protection details by the national securityservice of Ukraine, SBU.

 

More: Why a Russian Defector Was Gunned Down in Ukraine

 

Ukrainian authorities apparently searching for a second suspect. I guess there were two shooters, not just one. But, they won't disclose any more information.

 

Meanwhile, in Russia's Kaliningrad, FSB agents arrested several young men today



Five in total were arrested. All are members of a neo Nazi group, allegedly.

They had a cache of weapons

and were, reportedly, planning terrorist attacks, out of sympathy with fellow neo Nazis in Ukraine against Russian government.

 

Russian National Guard base in Chechnya attacked by terrorists, all six attackers killed, as well as six Guardsmen: Group of militants killed in attempted attack on National Guard

Other Russia news:

US general claims Russia supplying Taliban in Afghanistan: Russia may be helping supply Taliban insurgents: U.S. general

Election in Bulgaria could benefit Russia: The Under-the-Radar EU Vote That's Opening the Door for Russia

Russia rejects offer for their representative to perform in Eurovision in Kiev via satellite, after Ukraine banned her: Eurovision: Russia rejects offer for Julia Samoilova to perform 'via satellite'

 

Le Pen meets Putin, for first time ever

French Presidential Hopeful Le Pen Meets Putin on Russia Trip

She'd been in Moscow before, but never got to see the Man himself, in person, always guys like Dmitry Rogozin dealt with her in his place

 

Thousands of people came out to protests govetnment corruption and lawlessness in Moscow today, responding to a call by leading oppositioner Alexey Navalny, the people assembled at Pushkin Square

This is an "illegal" demonstration, unapproved by the authorities, the people were warned in advance there would be consequences.

Law enforcement in riot gear block the way towards the Duma (parliament) building


People being arrested at the rally



Videos:



Meanwhile, police and firefighters apparently stormed, essentially, by force, the offices of Navalny's Foundation for Combatting Corruption (FBK)

They claimed, bizarrely, that there may be a bomb in the building, and they have to search it. Instead, they have arrested everyone (I mean, everyone, every person who was in the building are now on the police buses, being taken to ****ing jail), and government agents are, reportedly, taking away all their computers and documents. Probably looking for information on people who leaked to them about the elite corruption, especially - about Putin and Medvedev. If they do find something, those people are ****ing dead, the sources, I am not gonna joke about that...

 

Navalny himself and hundreds of others arrested now: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39398305

http://politicalhotwire.com/current-events/168817-moscow-demonstrations-arrests.html

The demonstrations (several, in different areas of Moscow) have, some of them, got out of hand, violent. I am reading a policeman was attacked and injured in one place


Some 500 detained so far, in Moscow.

 

Over 700 arrested in Moscow, as of 3 hours ago: http://m.news24.com/news24/World/News/over-700-arrested-at-moscow-anti-corruption-rally-20170326

 

bloodyhell , they don't mess about in Russia do they ? I don't think this has even been on our news , wish we did get more Russian news I'm sick to death of hearing about every Trump fart .

.

 

There were many young people at the protests, university students, even schoolkids



Authorities accuse Navalny of paying them.

But, I disagree.

Its true that he has support among the young, because they just feel more passionately about the social issues.

Here are some kids at a school in Bryansk recently arguing with their principal, after a friend was taken away from class by police for proposing a rally in support of Navalny, online:

More: This Is How a Russian School Principal Talked to Her Students About Patriotism

Older, Soviet-raised people are used to just taking whatever the regime dishes out. Been that way for generations. But the young, growing up with internet and such, seeing the outside world... They think differently.

 

More: The Black Sea As Battleground for Information Warfare: A View from Bucharest

In basic terms, its like this.

Russia has a big naval base on the Black Sea in the city of Novorossiysk

Spoiler

Then, there is Sevastopol, in Crimea

Spoiler

Before 2014, the Ukrainians tried to prevent Russia from strengthening its Naval forces in Crimea, by stipulating in the basing agreement that they are not allowed to replace old ships and such. But after the reannexation, their hands were untied.

Now, the Black Sea Fleet is being constantly modernized and expanded:

Spoiler

New Varshavyanka-class attack submarines are coming in

and Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates

And then, of course, there is also Abkhazia, the breakaway republic, formerly part of Georgia, now, essentially, a Russian military protectorate

Spoiler

Russia has Coast Guard there

plus, Abkhazia has own "Navy", consisting of 8 Zhuk-class patrol ships


And one does often see Russian Nanuchka-class missile corvettes patrolling Abkhaz waters too

Relatively small, but fast and highly maneuverable and carry powerful missiles. Same sort of warboats that engaged the Georgian Navy off the coast of Abkhazia in 2008, and sunk their flagship, the frigate "Tbilisi"... And I keep hearing that a new Naval base in Abkhazia will be developed too by the Russians.

Anyway, the whole point of all this, is that, basically, there will be two players in the Black Sea, Russia and Turkey. That's it. Kind of like how it is in the Caspian, where only two countries matter: Russia and Iran. The rest are just too small and weak to say or do anything. Like, some months ago, Russia launched cruise missiles off warships in the Caspian at Syria. Kazakhstan, for one, did not like that Russian ships sailed into their area of the sea to shoot their missiles. Putin's response to the Kazakhstani dictator, Nazarbayev, from what I understand, was along the lines of, "Yes, I did (shoot missiles at Syria from your area of the Caspian). What the **** are you going to do about it?" lol Well, Nazarbayev could NOT do anything, again, so, he did not open his mouth again...

That is what Putin and Erdogan, I believe, want to turn the Black Sea into. Of course Romania (or Bulgaria) are not at all down with that ****...

 

I saw this earlier... 37% of Young Russians want the Monarchy back
http://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/37...-want-to-restore-the-monarchy-in-russia-79065


I feel like Russian history... and 20th/21st century history... would have been much better if Czar Nicholas II just had a "Magna Carta" moment in the 1900's/1910's and began to transition to a constitutional monarchy like the UK and other European countries. But definitely no point going back now.