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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

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

Discussion in 'Community' started by Ghost, Sep 24, 2011.

  1. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    so - the Russian opposition leader got arrested then
     
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  2. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Navalny, yes
    [​IMG]
    For the umpteenth time... This time, they took him right outside of his home. Before he could go to the protests he called for today.

    Navalny supporter being detained at the protest
    [​IMG]

    Russia protests: Hundreds detained at opposition rallies - BBC News

    Also:
    Russian police detain Putin critic Navalny, scores of protesters held
    Putin critic Alexei Navalny detained on day of protests across Russia

    Young woman being detained at the St. Petersburg rally
    [​IMG]

    Some "feminists against corruption" proclaim that "bad day is every day in Russia"
    [​IMG]
    It's a reference to a somewhat sexist joke Putin made at a recent interview: Vladimir Putin says he never has a bad day because he is not a woman | The Independent

    A protester in Moscow is accused of attacking an OMON paramilitary cop from National Guard with pepper spray, resulting in a eye burn injury. He will probably do serious time.

    In Sochi, 50 people were detained, which is just about half of the whole attendance of the protest there, including underage teens, after a scuffle with the police. The protesters claim a "provocateur" hired by the regional authorities infiltrated the demonstration and instigated the violence. A popular tactic, over there. Send in your undercover guy and have him engage in some deliberately illegal activity among the protesters, raising the flag of some banned radical group, or vandalize something, or confront aggressively with law enforcement, to create an excuse for them to move in and forcibly quash the whole protest...

    Anyhow, I think Navalny knows these protests won't change much right now. He is probably hoping to use them to intimidate the Kremlin to let him participate in the Presidential Election next year.

    Putin, meanwhile, is not concerned at all. He's been celebrating Russia Day at the Kremlin by handing out their first passports to a bubch of kids who just turned 14 (that's when you gst yoyr first passport in Russia, at 14), dozen distinguished youths each from a different region, including republics of Adygeya, Dagestan, and Tatarstan
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    and then showed them his office, after one boy, apparently, told him he had long dreamt of seeing inside there with own eyes lol


    Also, better quality video from the office:


    That weasel Peskov, the press secretary, was there too lol In the background on the left there, behind that tall boy
    [​IMG]

    Later, Putin handed out state awards for achievements in technology, science, and literature, also at the Kremlin:


    He doesn't give a damn, he's having a good day... lol

    To be fair, he ain't the only one. It's Russia Day. Their version of your 4th of July.

    Most people want to just celebrate, NOT protest
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Might even backfire on Navalny, trying to spoil the people's fun with his political crap lol

    But, then again... Those who already chose to go to the government-organized concerts and other events (about 2 million people in Moscow alone), rather than Navalny's protests, I doubt they supported him, ever, to begin with...
     
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  3. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Putin critic Navalny sentenced to 30 days in prison

    1,150 detained, all in all: Navalny Jailed, More Than 1,100 Detained At Protests In Russia

    Also, electricity has been cut at the offices of Navalny's organization in Moscow: The Latest: Moscow court jails opposition leader for 30 days | Miami Herald

    Sean Spicer condemned it all, on behalf of the White House: White House condemns Russia's crackdown on protesters | Reuters

    But, such is life there, Putin never hid it. He once openly said to people: try to protest against me and a truncheon on the head is what you get
    [​IMG]
     
  4. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    has Putin had bottox ? he looks a bit weird in some photos recently .

    also - will those Putin- Oliver Stone interviews get shown in Russia ?

    .
     
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  5. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    A. Who knows. He's had lots of facial injections for sure. There is even a conspiracy theory on some Russian forums, that the actual, original Putin has been dead since 2013, when he was assassinated in a covert coup by a group of fellow ex-KGB agents. And those people had apparently secretly ruled the country ever since, using several doppelganger actors to stand in for Putin in public, at events and conferences and such.

    As their evidence, they use multiple photos of Putin where the shape of ears is different, supposedly, judge for yourself
    [​IMG]

    Also, that he divorced his wife that year, in 2013. In their minds, she agreed, perhaps was threatened into agreeing, with the charade, but refused, even under threat of death, to live with the imposter lol Real Russian wife...

    Who knows... It's Russia. Nothing is impossible. There were at least two fake imposter Tsars in Russian history.

    B. The Stone interview I have no idea if they will show it there. Their media has been allowed to cover it. There's certainly much talk about those grandkids nobody knew existed... I am sure many people there can't wait to hear it all... ;)
     
  6. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
    They all look like the same ear to me. :p
     
  7. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    well I've been watching the Putin - Oliver Stone interviews , Putin comes across quite well , there's a funny bit where Stone gets him to watch Dr. Strangelove which he's never seen . I'm not sure he found it that funny , hard to read his reaction really
     
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  8. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    He never shows real feelings and emotions, about anything... KGB school :D
     
  9. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    you can say that again :p

    he doesn't like Gorbachev does he . Stone tried asking him about it but he didn't even want to give him any regard .
     
  10. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    God damn it... Still having problems with the site...
     
  11. dp4m

    dp4m Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2001
  12. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
    Well, Stalin would likely have been willing to deplete the entire Soviet population to make that happen, so perhaps that is possible.
     
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  13. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
  14. dp4m

    dp4m Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2001
    Russians winning WW2 without help from the West is hilarious.
     
  15. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Russians fought on their own land, against a powerful enemy, to the death. And won. Grandsons fought alongside grandfathers
    [​IMG]
    You can't even understand how they fought that War.

    Don't mock what you don;t know.
     
  16. Sarchet

    Sarchet Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2016
    Russia probably wouldn't have lost without Lend-Lease and the bomber campaign. On the other hand, without the trucks provided by Lend-Lease, the single largest contribution we provided to Russia, the USSR probably would have had to settle for a peace treaty in 46 or 47. The supply lines wouldn't have moved fast enough to keep up without those trucks, and Russian agriculture was already experiencing shortfalls by war's end. If more horses had to be pulled from the home front to move supplies there would've been famine by the winter of 44-45. Also of appreciable help were the entire divisions worth of Sherman tanks we provided, the food and raw materials, and a number of naval ships (most prewar Soviet Navy ships in the west were sunk or penned in harbor almost from the start of the war.
    Basically, the USSR wouldn't have ever collapsed, but they couldn't have gotten to Berlin without Western aid. It's also doubtful they could have afforded to divert enough troops to beat Finland again.
     
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  17. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Well, the Navy is irrelevant, since most of that war was fought on land, on the Eastern Front. But, anyway, I agree the Lend Lease was very important and helpful. I just got mad, because dp4m was so flippant about it all... Many millions of people died over there, you know. That needs to be respected.

    Anyway, here is an interesting development in Crimea:

    ...to join the Russian military:

    Jehovah's Witness in Crimea 'ordered to renounce faith to be drafted into Russian army' | The Independent

    Well, whatever the Ukrainian foreign ministry may have to say, Putin doesn't give a ****. All the Crimeans are passport-holding Russian citizens now, and that means their young men are subject to the universal conscription, same as all other young men in the nation.

    Over 2,000 Crimean boys were drafted this year
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    and about same number every year before, in 2015 and 16.

    Back in '15, Governor Sergey Aksyonov personally saw off the first batch of Crimean conscripts
    [​IMG]

    Crimea is very, very proud to be a part of what many there see as the rightful heir to the Soviet military... I read one father, who sent off his boy this year, said it was the happiest day of his life, "My son is joining the Red Army", in which he and most of his relatives had served. Russian Army is Red Army to them, same old lol

    Most never wanted any party in the Ukrainian military. But this, is a whole other story hehe

    Sure, it may violate some UN rule. But, lots of countries violate UN rules. And UN can't really do **** about that, can they? lol

    Now, as to JWs.

    Before, they, and others who, due to their pacifist religion or something (for example, members of Adventist churches also) could get out of regular military service.

    If you claim a conscientious objection, in Russia, you can go into Alternative Service instead.

    You can be a hospital nurse ("medical brother", they call it there, or sanitar [orderly], females are "medical sisters" lol)
    [​IMG]
    clean the streets
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    or deliver mail for the Post of Russia
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    among other exciting options :D

    But now that Putin and the Supreme Court have banned the JW Church, their religion is illegal, and therefore, they can no longer claim this, as Jehovah's Witnesses. They have to publicly renounce their bad faith first... Which makes me wonder exactly how would they then claim Alternative, on what basis...

    This is gonna get weird. Can't wait to see what happens in future. There will be cases like this all around Russia.
     
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  18. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
    It's a catch-22. They can claim alternative service with a religious justification, but their religion is forbidden, which means they have no justification.
     
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  19. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Russian special forces man tasting some local culture in Syria lol
    [​IMG]
    Yeah... Get smoked up on some crap, with a loaded AK in your hands. Awesome decision making, right there haha Also, this is what happens, when you allow your "special" operators to basically wear whatever they are comfortable in, in the field, rather than standard issue boots (which, admittedly, some don't like). Now, guys walking around in damn Nikes out there :D
     
  20. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
    Hookahs are just tobacco, usually.
     
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  21. ThisHurricane

    ThisHurricane Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2015
    But it has no reason to be forbidden?
     
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  22. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
  23. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Other than stupid nationalist vitriol among the authorities over there... Teaching their people to hate all things American and Western...

    Here is another good example of this:

    Interesting article about one of those awful TV shows:

    I thought nothing in Russia could shock me. Then I went to a television broadcast

    Those shows get NASTY... People yelling and swearing, especially at allegedly Ukrainian or Polish or Western guests cast as villains.

    Here, a Ukrainian nationalist journalist gets repeatedly punched in the face by a pro-Russian Ukrainian


    Millions of people watch this sort of stuff, cheering... It's a bit disturbing, honestly...

    In other news, Russia has stopped paying their dues at the Council of Europe:

    Russia suspends payments to Council of Europe over Crimea row | Reuters

    Also: TASS: Russian Politics & Diplomacy - Lavrov informs Council of Europe chief that Moscow will discontinue 'paying its dues'

    That's pretty much just one step from leaving the Council altogether.

    This is Putin continuing to slowly, gradually, yet determinedly undoing any moves towards the West that Yeltsin had made, back in the 90s, burning and demolishing whatever bridges were built back then...
     
  24. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Exclusive: Siemens turbines delivered to Crimea despite sanctions - sources

    haha Of course, they sent the turbines to Taman. Which is just across the Kerch Straight from Crimea :D Just a short ferry ride away lol

    FYI, there is also the port city of Novorossiysk, in Southern Russia, also not far from Crimea, and which has reportedly now become a huge hub for bringing all kinds of sanctioned and banned stuff in and out of Crimea, that city is reaping big profits off this: Crimea: Circumventing Trade Sanctions via Novorossiysk | EurasiaNet.org

    Sanctions are not a bad thing for everyone there, ya know ;)
     
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  25. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    well I finished watching the Oliver Stone - Putin interviews , fascinating stuff .

    I have to say - he does come across very well , intelligent , reasonable , knows his history , knows world politics very well , well educated etc.
    Of course I'm not naive and I'm sure he's done terrible things , and Stone didn't really challenge him enough , but he talked a lot of sense .

    And the whole business of Russia hacking the U.S. election is really put into perspective when they talk about all the interference the USA has been doing in Russian elections , but he doesn't try and make capitol out of it , he doesn't try and demonise the USA for it .

    .
     
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  26. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    It was a fascinating interview. Although, I do agree with those (including Russian opposition people) who say he didn't challenge Putin enough, and praised him far too much. Some even say that was his actual purpose, it was external propaganda for the Kremlin... Who knows...

    Anyway, some more fresh news from Russia.

    The Kremlin 'Notes' Fresh Allegations of Chechnya Killings

    Well... Kadyrov is simply doing the job Putin installed him there for: keeping a lid on his republic. Keeping Chechnya from causing any more trouble. Ever...

    And, re: Crimea and turbines:

    More: Germany’s Siemens Says Russian Partner Violated Crimea Sanctions

    Also: Siemens to press charges after turbines moved from Russia to Crimea

    They'll pursue legal action in Russia??? Against a Kremlin-backed company??? hahahahahahaha

    Howbloody naive can these Germans be... Jesus... Oh, they tricked and cheated you? Duh! Welcome to doing business with Russians lol Good luck trying to sue a Russian company likely owned by some buddy of Putin in a Russian court lmao

    Also, the work on the Bridge seems to be moving way ahead of schedule, they were supposed to finish the highway section by 2018, but they are already laying down the asphalt now, today
     
  27. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    Crimea power project to go ahead: Russia

    Yep, they don't give a damn what Siemens thinks or says, just as I figured. Just learn a lesson form it, this is a normal risk of doing business with/in Russia...

    Also: Moscow May Expel About 30 US Diplomats, Freeze Some US Assets in Russia

    Wonder what that's all about? Thought Trump and Putin were friends now? lol
     
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  28. SergeyX2017

    SergeyX2017 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2017
    ...Putin grabbed territory from Georgia:

    More: Russia quietly moves border hundreds of yards into occupied Georgia | The Independent

    This has gone on for awhile, the barbed wire barricades and the signs moving gradually yet continuously into Georgia proper
    [​IMG]
    In Russia’s ‘Frozen Zone,’ a Creeping Border With Georgia

    As that article mentions, while this border is not exactly internationally recognized, the Russians and Ossetians very much enforce it, and Georgian villagers get arrested by Russian border guards while trying to cross it to graze their livestock or something, as it cuts right through communities, cutting off water streams and grazing fields and such; and the Georgian government then has to negotiate for their release.

    The ultimate goal of South Ossetia is to join the Russian Federation and unite with brotherly North Ossetia in there
    [​IMG]

    And it's happening, slowly, but surely.

    Back in March, for example, Putin signed an order for the Russian military to gradually absorb South Ossetia's own armed forces: Vladimir Putin expands Russian army by absorbing Georgian rebels | The Independent

    Though, the SO army already openly wore Russian uniforms even before that
    [​IMG]

    South Ossetians also pretty much all carry Russian passports, along with their own (which are, again, not recognized in most places)
    [​IMG]

    But, point is, Putin chose to push the border into highly pro-American Georgia shortly before meeting with Trump. Why? A tough message to Trump and Washington?

    And what if they keep on pushing, until the Georgians finally refuse to take it anymore and try to fight back and there is a new war, and Russian tanks are, once more, like in 2008, parked on the outskirts of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi? What will Trump do? Will he behave like Bush back then: sit back, do nothing, other than some hard words, and let the Europeans, namely French President Sarkozy back then, fly to Moscow and negotiate a peace with Putin?

    And, in other news.

    More: Gay 'Propaganda' Furor Brews Over Canceled Bolshoi Ballet About Nureyev

    Nureyev was a famous Russian dancer
    [​IMG]

    Perhaps the only more famous Russian ballet man would be Mikhail Baryshnikov himself, and the two of them were, in fact, good friends, especially in exile in the West
    [​IMG]

    Books were written in Russia about Nureyev, and in 2013, a movie was made, "Rudolf Nureyev, rebellious demon"
    [​IMG]

    And this year - a documentary came out: "Rudolf Nureyev, untamed genius"
    [​IMG]

    Nowhere, ever, would you find any mention of Nureyev's homosexuality, and his long and passionate relationship with the Danish dancer Erik Bruhn
    [​IMG]

    Nureyev tested positive for HIV in 1984, and died of AIDS in 1993, in France: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Nureyev

    This play sought to explore that, forbidden, taboo side of his life.

    But, of course that cannot be allowed in modern Russia...

    And also:

    Tatar Lawmakers Urge Renewal Of Kazan-Moscow Power-Sharing Agreement

    Kazan Kremlin
    [​IMG]

    President of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov
    [​IMG]

    There are many powerful Tatars in Russia today.

    Elvira Nabiullina is the head of the Central Bank
    [​IMG]

    General Rashid Nurgaliev is the former Interior Minister (and national head of police) and currently Deputy Chairman (Putin himself is Chairman) of the National Security Council
    [​IMG]

    And Aman Tuleev has for many, many years (he is the last survivor from the Yeltsin era, the 90s!) been Goveror of Kemerovo region in West Siberia, home of most of Russia's coal industry
    [​IMG]
    Though, his reign is now coming to an end: age and chronic weight issues have caught up with his poor heart, it seems; he is now lying all but unconscious in an elite hospital in Moscow; nobody has openly said yet that he is dying, but I understand big men in Kemerovo are already fighting for his lucrative chair...

    Point is, the Tatars wield much wealth and political sway. And many Slavic Russians resent that, for historical reasons, if nothing else. Tatars did rule Russia for 300 years, under the Khans of the Golden Horde. And it was not nearly as nice and benign a rule as often described today, as many abuses and atrocities are indeed played down or not mentioned at all, to avoid inflaming interethnic hostilities even more.

    Today, I have read online many Russians grumble that Tatars have too much influence again ("as if we're going back to the bloody Horde...")

    It's a very delicate issue requiring an equally delicate, subtle resolution. Putin, of course, is not exactly a delicate or subtle sort of guy. He just moves to placate public opinion, now, by attacking Tatarstan's own status...

    Not wise. Almost 6 million Tatars in Russia too, ya know. Plus, what, 2 million or so Bashkirs, who are close relatives of the Tatars and are usually in solidarity with them on most issues...

    That is one big electorate to just go and alienate this way...
     
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