RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 31.03.2024
RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 31.03.2024
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
*** ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL THE ZELENSKY REGIME CRACKS ***
“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED ATROCITY IN LUGANSK, 2nd JUNE 2014
A lot has been said about atrocities in the western media claimed to have been perpetrated by the Russians, for example at Bucha and Mariupol among others. These assertions are conveyed on the say so of the Ukrainian authorities. How willing though are western news broadcasters to convey atrocities attributed to the Ukrainians? The following will I think provide the answer.
If anyone wonders if they are receiving accurate coverage of the conflict in Ukraine I would suggest watching the video below of an event which occurred on the 2nd of June 2014 and ask themselves if they recall hearing about it on any mainstream media news channel at the time.
The video is harrowing to watch. The bodies (five women and three men) are real. Yet across western media there was only one single news report that occurred a day later. This was from CNN and occurred only because a CNN team happened to be nearby at the time of the atrocity and so the network could hardly ignore it as all others so obviously did.
The video below shows the unvarnished truth that was not considered newsworthy in western mainstream news.
THE SINGLE WESTERN MSM REPORT ON THE LUGANSK ATROCITY, 3rd JUNE 2014
The video at the CNN link below is the crime scene sanitised by CNN, though played straight with honest reporting on the scene not playing things to Kiev’s tune.
(There was a time early in the war in the Donbass when CNN were not afraid to contradict the Ukrainian regime in Kiev.) Watch, because it's the first and last time you will see this.
5 women and 3 men died, all civilians.
Air attack on pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk kills 8, stuns residents.
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‘Odessa will fall’, Musk warns Ukraine
Kiev should pursue a “negotiated settlement” with Moscow before it loses all access to the Black Sea, the billionaire has argued.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has reiterated his belief that Ukraine’s position is weakening with each passing day of hostilities, warning that the “real question” is how much territory Kiev will lose and how many lives it will waste before sitting for talks with Moscow.
The entrepreneur claimed in a post on his platform X on Saturday that “any fool could have predicted” that Ukraine’s much-touted counteroffensive last year would fail, adding that even if Kiev had followed his recommendation to “entrench and apply all resources to defense,” it would be “tough to hold land that doesn’t have strong natural barriers.”
“It was a tragic waste of life for Ukraine to attack a larger army that had defense in depth, minefields and stronger artillery when Ukraine lacked armor or air superiority!,” Musk wrote.
READ MORE: Musk clarifies position on Ukraine funding
The Ukrainian army has seen over 444,000 military casualties during the course of the ongoing conflict, including more than 166,000 during last year’s counteroffensive, according to last month’s estimates from the Russian Defense Ministry. However, President Vladimir Zelensky claimed in February that only 31,000 of his country's troops had been killed since February 24, 2022.
The billionaire went on to argue that “the longer the war goes on, the more territory Russia will gain until they hit the Dnepr, which is tough to overcome.”
However, if the war lasts long enough, Odessa will fall too… Whether Ukraine loses all access to the Black Sea or not is, in my view, the real remaining question. I recommend a negotiated settlement before that happens.
Elon Musk has shifted his position on Ukraine several times since the conflict began in early 2022. He initially supplied Kiev with free Starlink internet terminals and access to the satellite-based network, but declined to activate the service near Crimea for fear that Ukraine would use it to guide drone attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. If this had happened, he explained last year, SpaceX would have been “complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”
Musk has also used his X account to speak extensively about the trajectory of the conflict. More than a year ago, he proposed that Kiev abandon its claim to Crimea, declare neutrality, and allow the four new Russian regions (Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye), to hold new referenda on joining the Russian Federation. This proposal is similar to the terms offered by Russia to Kiev and the Western powers before the conflict began, except Moscow initially called only for autonomy in Donetsk and Lugansk.
Moscow has stressed that it remains open to meaningful talks with Kiev and has blamed the lack of a diplomatic breakthrough on the Ukrainian authorities, who refuse to accept the “reality on the ground.”
Ukraine must take into account the fact that its borders have changed drastically since 2022, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, commenting on Zelensky’s suggestion that a return to 1991 borders was no longer a precondition for negotiations.
‘Odessa will fall’, Musk warns Ukraine.
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We need a ceasefire in Ukraine – Orban
The Hungarian PM has said he is making efforts towards reaching a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Kiev and Moscow.
Ukraine’s path to peace and security could lie in establishing a buffer zone next to the Russian border, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. With the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in its third year, the Western flow of military and financial aid to Ukraine is dwindling, while its army is losing ground.
Orban suggested that now is the time for a ceasefire, Hungarian magazine Mandiner wrote on Friday, quoting the prime minister’s interview with former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel in Budapest.
There is no remaining “reasonable dispute between Russia and the West,” Orban added.
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“People in Europe are not happy that their governments want to provide more financial assistance to Ukraine,” he said, explaining that Europe cannot provide the kind of support that would result in a military victory for Ukraine. EU states have allocated €77 billion ($83 billion) in aid to Kiev, while pledging €144 billion since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute.
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Ukraine has lost several strategically important cities in Donbass in the last month. Officials in Kiev have repeatedly cited the lack of Western-supplied munitions as the reason for their battlefield setbacks.
Orban doubled down on his idea of a buffer zone next to the Russian border as Ukraine’s ideal peace solution, provided there are “additional security guarantees.” Without this, he said, “they could lose their country.”
He stressed that Russia will never accept Ukraine joining NATO. Moscow has stated that one of the main causes of the conflict was the expansion of the US-led military bloc towards Russia’s borders.
President Vladimir Putin has said one of the key goals of the Russian military operation is to force Kiev away from its goal of joining NATO – an ambition enshrined in the country’s constitution in 2019. While the Hungarian prime minister condemned the Russian military operation, he has repeatedly spoken out against the EU’s handling of it. Unlike the other EU states, Hungary has not sent any armaments to Kiev, limiting their contributions to humanitarian aid.
We need a ceasefire in Ukraine – Orban.
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“We’ll wipe them out in the outhouse”: Russia’s long and bloody fight against terrorism.
The attack at the Crocus City Hall is just the latest episode in the country’s more than 30-year struggle against violent extremism.
Last week, terrorists opened fire on concert goers before a show by the band Picnic at Moscow's Crocus City Hall. As a result of the attack, a fire started which spread to an area of 13,000 square meters and wasn't extinguished until the next evening. 143 people were killed and 182 injured. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported the arrest of 11 suspects, most of whom have already been brought to court.
It was the deadliest act of terrorism in Russia for the past 20 years. In recent decades, the country has suffered from both small-scale (but no less tragic) terrorist acts – which are not well known internationally – and major tragedies which have resulted in many deaths. They have taken place both in Moscow and other regions of the country.
How terror gripped Russia
Most of the terrorist attacks in Russia’s modern history have been organised by extremists associated with radical Islamic movements.
After the collapse of the USSR, in 1991, Chechen radicals carried out several major outrages. The following year, bus passengers were taken hostage in the southern town of Mineralnye Vody. In 1993-94, other attacks followed. A train going from Kislovodsk to Baku was blown up near the Gudermes train station in Chechnya (11 people were killed and 18 injured). There were other incidents of train bombings and bus passengers being taken hostage. On May 26, 1994, 33 passengers (schoolchildren, their parents, and teachers) on a bus travelling from Vladikavkaz to Stavropol were taken captive, and on July 28, a bus with 41 passengers was hijacked in Mineralnye Vody. In the same years, terrorists set off explosive devices near residential buildings in Moscow (two people died), Novgorod (one person injured), Ekaterinburg (two people were injured), and in other places. On September 7, 1994, seven people died and 44 were injured as a result of an explosion in Moscow.
The First Chechen War started in December 1994. During the years of the conflict, attacks became common and the terrorists often used them for manipulation purposes during negotiations. To achieve their goals, they usually took hostages.
From January 9-15, 1996, an armed group led by Salman Raduyev took around 2,000 people captive in a hospital and maternity ward in the city of Kizlyar, Dagestan. Following negotiations, most of the hostages were released. However, the terrorists took some with them and fled in the direction of Chechnya. They were blocked by Russian troops near the village of Pervomayskoye, but managed to escape at night. In the course of the attack, 37 people were killed and over 50 others were injured. Raduyev and other terrorists managed to escape. The terrorist act in Kizlyar killed a total of 78 people, including Dagestani servicemen, policemen, and civilians. A few years later, Raduyev was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, where he eventually died.
The tragedy in Budyonnovsk and the end of the First Chechen War
The biggest terrorist attack of the 1990s, during which over 1,500 hostages were taken, happened in the city of Budyonnovsk, near the border with Chechnya.
On June 14, 1995, a group of 195 armed extremists led by terrorist Shamil Basayev, who organised several large-scale operations of this kind, attacked the city of Budyonnovsk. They used three military trucks and a police car to cross the border between Chechnya and Stavropol Region. At checkpoints, they disguised themselves as police officers and, saying they were transporting the bodies of servicemen, requested to pass without being searched. When they were eventually directed to the local police department, the extremists attacked the premises. They also seized several administrative and residential buildings, and took 1,586 hostages in the local hospital. They held the people for six days, demanding that the government withdraw federal troops from Chechnya and stop the disarmament of illegal terrorist groups.
On June 17, negotiations with the terrorists started. They were conducted by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on behalf of the Russian authorities. As a result of the negotiations, the terrorists were allowed to leave Budyonnovsk along with some hostages. On reaching Chechnya, the militants released the people and fled.
The terrorist leader responsible for this tragedy, Basayev, was eliminated during a special operation in 2006. Before that, he managed to carry out several more bloody attacks on Russian territory. By 2005, during the counterterrorism operation in Chechnya, 30 militants involved in the Budyonnovsk attack were killed, and by 2019, around 30 others were sentenced to long-term imprisonment. However, some of the militants are still at large.
The attack in Budyonnovsk killed 129 people (including 18 police officers and 17 servicemen) and injured 415 others. At least 30 people died and 70 were injured during the assault operation. In the course of the negotiations that followed, the authorities declared a moratorium on hostilities for an indefinite period.
However, this did not prevent future attacks. On July 11, 1996, Moscow was shaken by a metro explosion, which killed four people and injured 12 more. At the end of that year, another subway bombing took place in St. Petersburg.
In addition to these major tragedies, minor terrorist attacks continued and various cities were targeted. On July 11-12, two trolleybuses were bombed in Moscow, injuring over 30 people. Explosions also occurred in passenger trains in Voronezh, Volgograd Region, and other parts of the country.
The series of terrorist attacks, along with failures at the front (in August 1996, separatists captured the cities of Grozny, Gudermes, and Argun), accelerated Russia’s decision to cease the hostilities. On August 31, 1996, the Khasavyurt Accord was signed, which formally marked the end of the First Chechen War.
The ‘peaceful’ period
A couple of months after the signing of the peace agreement, terrorists struck again. This time, passenger trains were targeted, and on November 10, 1996, an attack was carried out at the Kotlyakovsky Cemetery in Moscow, which killed ten people and injured around 30.
On November 16, 1996, terrorists blew up a nine-story apartment building in Kaspiysk – a suburb of Makhachkala. Families of officers of the Russian Armed Forces’ 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade lived in the building. There were 64 victims, including 23 children, and around 150 people were injured and maimed.
The terrorist attacks continued in 1997-1998. Explosions occurred at train stations (April 23, 1997 in Armavir; April 28, 1997 in Pyatigorsk), and on locomotives (a July 27 explosion on the Moscow-St. Petersburg train killed five people and injured 13). On January 1, 1998, another explosion occurred in the Moscow subway, and on September 4, 18 people were killed and 91 injured in an explosion on a street in Makhachkala.
1999 was a particularly tough year for Russia. There were explosions on the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities. On March 19, 1999, the Central Market in the city of Vladikavkaz was bombed, killing 52 people and injuring 168 others. The perpetrator, Magomed Tsakiev, acted on the orders of Saudi terrorist Ibn al-Khattab. Tsakiev hid a bomb in a bag with potatoes and placed it under a metal counter in the busiest part of the market.
On August 7, 1999, Islamist militants invaded the Russian Republic of Dagestan, which led to the start of the Second Chechen War.
Explosions in residential buildings
On September 4, 1999, they blew up a truck containing a 2,700kg mixture of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder. This happened near a five-story apartment building on Levanevsky Street in Buynaksk, Dagestan. 64 people were killed in the attack, including 23 children, and around 150 people were injured.
Terrorists then started carrying out deadly attacks in Moscow. At midnight on September 9, 1999, a terrible explosion occurred in a nine-story apartment building on Guryanov Street. Two entrances were left in ruins and the shock wave damaged a neighbouring building. The power of the explosion was equivalent to about 350kg of TNT. The attack killed 106 people and left 200 wounded. In total, 690 were affected by the blast. The attack evoked a strong public response – people were shocked by the fact that an apartment block was blown up right in the middle of Russia’s capital.
Just a few days later, on September 13, 1999, another explosion occurred in Moscow, in the basement of an eight-story apartment building on Kashirskoye Highway. The explosives were equivalent to 300kg of TNT. As a result of the attack, 124 civilians were killed and nine were injured.
This was followed by another tragedy. Early in the morning of September 16, 1999, a car bomb detonated in Volgodonsk in Rostov Region. Two buildings were seriously damaged and partially collapsed. The explosion knocked out windows and doors on nearby blocks, and cracks appeared in several neighbouring buildings. The attack killed 19 people and injured 90.
That month, describing his counter terrorism strategy, then new Prime Minister Vladimir Putin delivered what has since become a famous statement:
We will chase terrorists everywhere. If in an airport, then in the airport. So if we find them in the toilet, excuse me, we’ll wipe them out in the outhouse. And that’s it, case closed”
The series of terrorist attacks on September 4-16 was organised and financed by al-Khattab and preacher Israil Akhmednabiyev (known as Abu Umar Sasitlinsky). They were responsible for many large-scale outrages. Al-Khattab was eliminated in 2002, but Sasitlinsky resides outside of Russia, and in 2023, Interpol removed him from the international wanted list.
These horrible terrorist attacks on residential buildings, which did not involve suicide bombers or militants but nevertheless took the lives of hundreds of civilians, made a strong impression on Russian society.
Nord-Ost
The biggest tragedy of the beginning of the new millennium was the ‘Nord-Ost’ terrorist attack and hostage seizure in Moscow. On the evening of October 23, the eponymous musical was being performed at Moscow’s Dubrovka Theatre. At around 9:05pm, three microbuses with 40 armed terrorists led by Movsar Barayev drove up to the location. They arrived on the orders of the infamous terrorist leader Shamil Basayev. They broke in, blocked the exits, and took 916 people hostage (performers, theatre staff, and audience members), including 100 children.
From October 23-25, the hostages were locked up in the building in unbearable conditions. However, thanks to the efforts of negotiators, around 60 prisoners were released. Finally, on October 26, FSB special forces conducted an emergency operation to free the hostages. The operation was extremely difficult and in the course of it, all the terrorists were killed.
As a result of the Dubrovka Theatre attack, 130 hostages were killed – five were shot by the terrorists before the building was stormed by special forces, and the rest died during the operation or as a result of injuries.
Just like in the case of the Nord-Ost and Crocus City Hall tragedies, terrorists targeted another musical event on July 5, 2003. Two explosions occurred during a popular rock festival in Moscow; 16 people were killed, including two women – the suicide bombers, Zulikhan Elihadzhieva and Maryam Sharipova. 57 people were also injured.
More bloodshed
In 2002, extremists organised several more deadly attacks. On May 9, an explosion occurred in Kaspiysk during WWII Victory Day celebrations. A bomb killed 43 people and injured about 120. Terrorist Rappani Khalilov was held responsible for the explosion. He was eliminated in Dagestan in 2007.
On December 27, 2002, two cars were blown up by suicide bombers in the yard of the Government House in Grozny, Chechnya. 71 people were killed and 640 were wounded in the attack.
On May 12, 2003, a female suicide bomber blew up a truck loaded with explosives near buildings of the local administration and the FSB in the village of Znamenskoye, Chechnya. 60 people died and 197 others were injured. The victims included policemen, FSB officers, and civilians (including eight children). Some residential buildings also suffered damage. In June 2003, the organiser of these attacks, Chechen terrorist field commander Khozh-Akhmed Dushaev, was killed.
On September 3, 2003, two explosive devices detonated under the car of a train travelling from Kislovodsk to Mineralnye Vody, killing seven people and injuring 92. The tragedy was repeated on a train which was travelling along the same route on December 5, 2003. A suicide bomber set off an explosive device equivalent to 7kg of TNT. As a result of the explosion, 47 people were killed and 186 were injured. Chechen terrorists claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The terrorists also targeted commuters. At 8:30am on February 6, 2004, an bomb went off on the Moscow subway, between the Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya stations. Anzor Izhaev set off a bomb in his backpack. The explosion was so powerful that many of the dead were identified only through DNA testing, and the neighbouring metro car was completely destroyed. 41 people were killed (not counting the terrorist) and 250 injured.
The organisers and perpetrators of the attack were members of the Wahhabi group Jamaat of the Mujahideen of Karachai.
Air terrorism was also a problem. On August 24, 2004, two passenger airplanes exploded almost simultaneously over Tula and Rostov Regions. The Volga-Aviaexpress and Siberia Airlines flights were on the way from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to Volgograd and Sochi, respectively. 89 people were victims of this double attack. Both bombs were set off by female suicide bombers aboard the planes. The sister of one of the terrorists was involved in the Beslan school siege which happened just a few days later. Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for both the explosions and the school attack.
August 2004 was a particularly deadly month. Several days after the airplane tragedies, another terrorist attack occurred in Moscow. On August 31, 2004, a suicide bomber killed ten and injured over 50 people at the entrance to Rizhskaya subway station. And the tragedy in Beslan occurred the very next day.
Beslan
On September 1, 2004, during celebrations of the first day of the school year, a group of terrorists headed by Ruslan Khuchbarov (known as the ‘Colonel’) occupied Beslan’s School No. 1 and captured over 1,100 hostages including students, their relatives, and teachers. The school building was mined. For almost three days, the militants held the hostages in the gym, denying them access to food, water, and use of the restrooms. Among the hostages, there were mothers with newborn children.
Thanks to negotiations with Ruslan Aushev – the former president of Ingushetia and the only person who the terrorists allowed to enter the building – 26 women and children were freed on September 2. The next day, it was agreed that the bodies of the hostages who had been shot by the terrorists would be taken out of the building.
Around noon on September 3, the Ministry of Emergency Situations arrived at the school to collect the bodies. At that exact time, several explosions occurred in the building. Special forces had launched an emergency operation. Some of the hostages managed to escape through the windows and a gap in the wall that formed as a result of the explosion. The remainder were taken by the terrorists to another part of the school. Fighting continued late into the night.
The attack in Beslan claimed the lives of 334 people, including 186 children, 17 teachers and school staff, ten FSB employees, and two rescue workers.
All of the extremists except for Nurpasha Kulaev were killed. Kulaev was sentenced to death, but due to a moratorium, the verdict was changed to life imprisonment. Basayev claimed responsibility for the attack.
The end of the Second Chechen War
In addition to these major tragedies, many lesser-known terrorist attacks took place from 2000 to 2006. They ranged from explosions in the subway (Moscow, 2001) to attacks that resulted in mass casualties (Mineralnye Vody, 2001: 21 people died, about 100 were injured; Vladikavkaz, 2002: nine died, 46 were injured). There were also incidents with bus passengers being taken hostage (Nevinnomyssk, 2001), explosions in buses (Grozny, 2003) and on trains (an bomb on the Kislovodsk–Mineralnye Vody train, in which seven people died and about 80 were injured; a train explosion in Stavropol Region, near Essentuki, in 2004: 44 people died, 156 were injured), and suicide bombings in crowded places (in Krasnodar, an explosion at a bus stop on August 25, 2003; Chechnya, a bomb at a celebration on May 14, 2003: 30 people died, more than 150 were injured).
Attacks on politicians (on May 9, 2004, terrorists killed the leader of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, and the chairman of the Chechen State Council, Hussein Isaev), police officers, and the military, as well as smaller explosions that claimed the lives of civilians, also occurred regularly.
The Second Chechen War ended on April 16, 2009. Nevertheless, the terrorist attacks continued.
The last attacks by Caucasian terrorists
On November 27, 2009, three cars of the Nevsky Express high-speed train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg derailed due to an explosion, killing 28 people and injuring over 130. The next day, a second bomb went off at the scene of the tragedy. It happened near the investigation scene and it was activated via mobile phone. Seven individuals that were part of illegal armed groups were found guilty of the terrorist act and were killed in Ingushetia in the course of fighting on March 2, 2010. Ten others were imprisoned.
On the morning of March 29, 2010, a new double tragedy took place in Moscow. Terrorist attacks were launched at the Lubyanka and Park Kultury subway stations. Both explosions were carried out by female suicide bombers and happened within an hour of each other. The total number of victims was 44, and 88 were injured.
Chechen terrorist leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for the attacks. In 2006, he claimed to be president of the unrecognized republic of Ichkeria, and in 2007, Umarov created the Caucasus Emirate jihadist organization and became its supreme leader.
On January 24, 2011, another tragic terrorist act was carried out by Umarov’s Chechen terrorists. A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, the second largest in Russia. As a result, 37 people were killed and more than 170 were injured. Several perpetrators were arrested and imprisoned.
Throughout these years, extremists carried out other attacks that claimed many lives.
On August 27, 2010, over 40 people were injured as a result of an explosion in Pyatigorsk, and on September 9, 2010, a terrorist attack in Vladikavkaz killed 17 people and injured 158 more.
In 2013, Umarov was eliminated.
This marked the end of terrorist acts organized by radical Caucasian and Islamist militant organizations in the aftermath of the Chechen wars.
New attacks by Islamist extremists
The deaths or arrests of many Islamic radicals and their leaders, as well as changes in the international situation have influenced terrorist activity in Russia. Following the death of Umarov and a number of other commanders, the Caucasus Emirate terrorist organization broke up and was dissolved. As a result, many Islamists swore allegiance to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
Extremists linked to IS have conducted a number of terrorist attacks in Russia over the past decades. One of the worst episodes was a series of attacks in Volgograd in 2013. On October 21, a female suicide bomber blew up a bus, killing seven people and injuring 37 others. On December 29, an explosion at a railway station claimed the lives of 18 people and the very next day, on December 30, a terrorist attack in a trolleybus killed 16 people and wounded 25.
On October 31, 2015, an Airbus 321 (A321) belonging to the Russian airline Metrojet crashed in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, 100 kilometers from the Egyptian city of El Arish. Flight No. 9268 was on the way from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. The crash killed all 224 people on board, including 25 children.
The tragedy was caused by an explosive device aboard the plane, which was hidden by an Egyptian airport service employee. The Sinai branch of IS claimed responsibility for the attack in the days following the disaster.
Russia’s second largest city, St. Petersburg, has also suffered from terrorist attacks. On April 3, 2017, an explosion occurred in the subway, between the Sennaya Ploshchad and Technological Institute stations. As a result, 16 people were killed (including the terrorist) and 67 injured. The attack was carried out by suicide bomber Akbarjon Jalilov. 11 people were charged with preparing the attack and all of them were sentenced to long-term imprisonment.
In the course of Russia’s modern history, terrorists have carried out a considerable number of attacks on innocent civilians. Among the targets have been passenger planes and trains, schools, residential buildings, and places where large crowds gather, such as airports, concert halls, and music festivals.
We have mentioned only some of the attacks organized by terrorists over the past 30 years. In each case, the authorities had to promptly respond and seek out the perpetrators. And although Russia has gained considerable experience in counterterrorism measures, unfortunately, the threat of terrorism has not become a thing of the past.
By Artemiy Pigarev, Russian historian specializing in the political life of the Russian Empire and the USSR
“We’ll wipe them out in the outhouse”: Russia’s long and bloody fight against terrorism.
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VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
PUTIN’S POPULARITY: THE WORST KEPT SECRET ON THE PLANET
If you read or listen to mainstream news media pundits Vladimir Putin is the most evil man on the planet. If you believe what you read and hear from these sources then your opinion of the man probably goes along these lines; he’s a murderer, his political opponents always meet with a sticky end by being poisoned or otherwise disposed of. You will strongly suspect that he has squirrelled away millions, even billions as he is also a thief. For you Putin is a ruthless dictator and highly likely an insane psychopath who would stab his own grandmother in the back to retain his power. Someone who, in the spur of the moment invaded a helpless Ukraine without the slightest provocation. In short, a man with no redeeming qualities whatsoever who the world would be far better off without.
All of the above also goes for the preponderance, almost 100% of anything said by western politicians. This has been true since 2007. Not between 2000 when he became the president of the Russian Federation and 2007 however. Putin became all these horrific things only seven years into his presidency. Between 2000 and 2007 he was wined and dined, glad-handed by the rich and famous, praised by George W. Bush and greeted with decorous respect by the British royal family. So what changed? To discover what transformed Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin from something of a hero to a horrific comic book villain you need only listen to his address to the high and mighty of the western political elite on February 10th 2007 at the 43rd Munich Security Conference.
Putin's famous historic Munich speech in 2007
Having watched the video you may be somewhat confused. Doesn’t he say that Russia would cooperate with the western powers on areas of mutual interest such as nuclear proliferation and international terrorism? Why should the western elites take umbrage at that? But this offer of cooperation fell on deaf ears. Why? Because they were sitting there expecting to hear a different message entirely. What they wanted to hear was that Russia would subordinate itself to western dominance and submit to whatever advice (instructions/commands) it received from those who had won the Cold War. What Putin had pointed out was that the western powers, through their regime change wars had destabilised the world and created an atmosphere of extreme mistrust and anxiety concerning the idea that the West now had virtual carte blanche to do what it liked anywhere it liked and at any time it liked. Putin explained with utmost clarity that Russia would not be lending itself to the western project to dominate all others while acting responsibly to assist cooperatively where mutual interests were involved.
In short Russia would not toe the line, would not say “How high?” when the USA and its allies shouted “Jump!” Russia was going to stay an independent, sovereign nation and make her own decisions depending on the merits of each case as it emerged onto the world stage once again as a great power. All this went down like a lead balloon among the designer-suited assembly in Munich that day. Instead of being a sober Yeltsin and willing pawn to the West Putin had refused to consign Russia to that fate. This was anathema to those who, after 9/11, assumed the whole world would back them to the hilt, no questions asked. Thus, the tables were very much turned against Vladimir Putin and have remained so from that day to this.
So, this is why the political elites of the West loathe Putin and essentially this is why their mouthpieces within western mainstream/legacy media, the politicians’ Rottweilers got busy from 2007 on slandering the hell out of Putin to so constantly demonise him that the minds of just about everyone across the western sphere of influence was conditioned to believe in those highly negative characteristics listed at the head of this commentary.
But lo and behold. What’s this? What do we find in the comments section below just about every video and article concerning this man? What we find are readers and viewers singing his praises and in the most laudatory fashion imaginable. How can this be? Surely this is just wrong? Isn’t this a butcher, a mass murderer, a thief and vile dictator who has his opponents poisoned or otherwise got rid of? But no, the vast majority of those commenting believe none of this. Their opinion has been formed quite separately from the videos, magazines, books, documentaries and films that portray Vladimir Putin in the worst possible light. The opinions we find are quite clearly based on other sources of information, more personal sources such as his speeches, his Q&A sessions, his calm demeanour and apparent deep insight, his love of country and people and most importantly observation of the man over extended periods. He is seen as strong but kind, noble, a man with integrity and vision, a patriot and defender of traditional values. In short, well… they simply love him to bits and wish they had politicians like him in their countries.
The disconnect between the small coterie within the western political and legacy media classes along with those who bow to the needs of the liberal class within certain political parties and the average man and woman in the street is simply enormous when it comes to Vladimir Putin. It is quite something to behold and this gap between those who believe they have an inherent right to rule and those they rule over is extremely pronounced. Of course these few will never bring up this subject and will ignore this discrepancy completely. Only at election times in the nations where the few hold an entirely different view of this kind to the majority of the electorate will we see how this all pans out. Until then Putin’s popularity will almost certainly remain the worst kept secret on the planet.
