PROTECT UKRAINE NOW. THIRTEEN MONTHS OF THE FIGHT
UPDATED on December 6, 2022
(for the update please scroll down to the bottom of the page)
To all those who are surprised to see this post about the need to help Ukraine in a blog about Michael Jackson, here is an explanation why.
Michael was certainly against the bloodshed of war, but in a metaphysical battle of Good vs. Evil he was certainly on the side of Good.
And if it were in his power to help the Good to win he would have certainly done it. And though he himself never shed blood, he would have tried to save from imminent death as many innocent lives as it is only possible.
The stance of both Ukrainian Orthodox Churches may help to understand the disposition of forces in this battle.
The first church is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church proper and the other is the representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, called “the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)”, which is also very big and has more than 12,000 parishes in Ukraine.
Until February 24th, 2022 these churches had been at variance with each other.
But on February 24th when the Russian “special operation” started the head of the UOC-MP Church called on the citizens of Ukraine “to forget mutual strife and misunderstandings and unite by love for God and our Motherland”.
In a never-heard-of-before appeal to the President of Russia he asked to immediately stop the fratricide and said:
“Defending the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, we appeal to the President of Russia and ask you to immediately stop the fratricidal war.
The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification for either God or men.”
“In this tragic time, we express our special love and support to our soldiers who stand guard and protect and defend our land and our people. May God bless and preserve them!”
On February 28, the Synod of the same church made an official statement addressed to the Russian patriarch. It said:
“If the bloodshed is not stopped, the chasm between our peoples could remain forever.”
On March 16, Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church offered a special prayer for Ukraine, which was written by the Archbishop of Naples, Domenico Battaglia.
Pope Francis also referred to the mortal sin of Cain killing his brother Abel and implored to stop his hand:
Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother, forgive us if we continue like Cain to remove the stones from our field to kill Abel. Forgive us, if we continue to justify cruelty with our effort, if with our pain we legitimize the brutality of our gestures.
Forgive us the war, Lord. Forgive us the war, Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we implore you! Stop Cain’s hand!
Enlighten our conscience,
let not our will be done,
do not abandon ourselves to our actions!
The prayer asked the Lord to take care of Cain too when his hand is finally stopped – because he is still our brother even despite his deeds:
And when you have stopped Cain’s hand, take care of him too. He is our brother.
O Lord, put a stop to violence!
Stop us, Lord!
Amen.
https://www.vaticannews.va/ru/pope/news/2022-03/papa-francisk-molitva-ob-ukraine.html
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On March 18 Pope Francis called the “special operation” in Ukraine “a perverse abuse of power waged for partisan interests which has condemned defenceless people to violence.”
“The tragedy of the war taking place in the heart of Europe has left us stunned,” he said, adding that few people would have imagined scenes similar to the two world wars in the 20th century.
“The blood and tears of children, the suffering of women and men who are defending their land or fleeing from bombardments shakes our conscience,” he said.”
The Vatican said that the pope told Kirill, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church:
“The ones who pay the price of war are the people, the Russian soldiers and the people who are bombarded and die.”
Now that the major patriarchs of the Christian world have had their say it should become clear even to outsiders who is who in this metaphysical fight between Good and Evil and that there is a need to take a side.
Some will pray for peace as Michael Jackson would have surely done.
Others will take action to try and stop Cain’s hand.
But it is impossible to stay indifferent and pretend that nothing is going on.
~
No one asks you to go and join the fight, but if you listen to the appeal of this Russian-speaking American to other US citizens, you will find one of the ways to stop the stronger brother’s hand and help the other brother defend himself.
Beginning with 00:34 he asks his Russian-speaking compatriots to contact their elected officials with a request for their support for an immediate transfer of Soviet-made fighter planes to Ukraine. These 29 planes are not even stationed in the US and can be collected from several countries in Eastern Europe. Ukrainian pilots are very well familiar with them and are waiting for the transfer. Essentially it is the same as giving Abel a shield to defend himself. Or rather giving him help to protect his defenseless civilians from bombing.
For English subtitles press “Settings”, choose “Russian” and then “Translate”. Below is the text of the appeal.
The Future of Ukraine
Depends on You
We are very encouraged and grateful for the overwhelming support following Volodymyr Zelenskyy address to U.S. Congress on March 16th.
But Ukraine has a dire and immediate need that has not yet been addressed – protecting Ukrainian civilians from the air attacks. Ukraine needs fighter planes to protect civilians from the air raids.
At the time when Zelenskyy was speaking to Congress, Russian plane dropped a powerful bomb on a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol sheltering over a thousand civilians. It happened because there was not a single Ukrainian fighter jet in the sky over Mariupol which could prevent this horrible tragedy. This is happening all over Ukraine on a daily basis. Fighter planes is the essential thing that can save Ukrainian civilians lives!
We are asking for you to please contact your elected official with the request for their support for an immediate transfer of Soviet made fighter planes to Ukraine.
There are 2 ways to get in touch with your representatives:
- Copy the text of the letter below and email your representative.
To find your representative in U.S. Senate follow this link www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member - Use an easy to follow bot to get the message to your elected official
TEXT SIGN PDRQYD TO 50409or visit resist.bot/petitions/PDRQYD - After you are done please share this site with your friends, family and on social networks.Together we can save Ukrainian lives.
Share https://www.protectukrainenow.com
Send the following letter to your representative in U.S. Congress
Dear [name of the representative],
Today I am urgently asking you to actively support immediate delivery of Eastern European fighter planes to Ukraine. The brave Ukrainian army and the country’s heroic citizens are winning the war on the ground. The problem is that Ukrainian cities are being destroyed and citizens are being murdered from the air. I am requesting your urgent help in convincing the White House that immediate delivery of MIG planes to Ukraine should be the highest priority in support of a free Ukraine. What we are witnessing is a genocide against the Ukrainian people. We have an ability in this country and allied bases in Europe to stop these murderous attacks from the air. We have a moral obligation to do so. Our words are meant to reinforce President Zelenskyy urgent demands for fighter planes. Ukrainian cities are laying in ruins and thousands of civilians are dead and will keep dying because Ukraine is denied fighter jets. These planes are defensive, NOT offensive weapons: they will protect Ukrainian sky from Russian air raids.
There are MiG 29 warplanes sitting at allied bases in Europe, ready for an immediate transfer. Ukrainian pilots are well-trained on these warplanes and can use them to stop these murderous attacks from the air tonight!
We can no longer stand back and watch schools, hospitals, homes, apartment buildings, bomb shelters, every day people of all ages being mass murdered on a daily basis. The news that mother in labor and her unborn baby died after a maternity ward was bombed in Mariupol broke my heart. It is a tragedy that could have been prevented if Ukraine had the planes to defend its sky. I give you my word, I am about to become a single issue voter. My support in any upcoming election will be based on your immediate action to address this gap in Ukraine’s defense. I know, you deal with many requests, but this is an existential need – Ukraine will not survive without your support. Nothing matters more to me at this moment.
Sincerely,
[your name]
Zelenskyy challenges Biden to do more to defeat Russia’s invasion.”The hang-up in providing these seems to have been U.S. reluctance to provoke Mr. Putin with certain high-profile weapons, as with President Biden’s refusal to assist with the transfer of 28 Polish MiG fighters to Ukraine.“
===========
Mariupol has been under seige for more than two weeks and is blocked from all sides. Besides its full blockage it is also heavily bombed to break the will of its people.
90% of them are Russian-speaking Ukrainians.
This is a city where no building has been left undamaged. Its maternity home and children’s hospital were also bombed.
The pregnant woman looks calm because she is in deep shock. Her pelvis had been crushed and her right hip detached.
By now almost everyone has seen the photo of this pregnant woman who was heavily injured during the bombing of the maternity home. The next day she died. Her baby was stillborn.
The woman’s pelvis had been crushed and her right hip detached.
Please sign the appeal and help Ukrainians to protect themselves. Don’t watch in silence.
~
Update March 24, 2022
Quite by accident today I’ve come across a highly unusual text written by professor Andrey Zubov , a well-known Russian historian, religion scholar and prominent public person, Vice-president of People’s Freedom Party and a practicing Orthodox Christian.
He wrote a post on his Facebook account about a unique event that is to take place tomorrow, March 25, 2022.
The post is so amazing that I don’t even know what to say. Only the future can tell us whether it is true.
FOR THOSE WHO CARE
By Andrey ZubovOn March 25, a great event is to take place in Christian life.
There are quite a few people in Russia, in the West, and in Ukraine who are deprived, as they like to say, of their “religious nerve.” This post is not for them.
But for those who believe in Jesus Christ it is very important.
The event will overcome all confessional differences of Christian denominations and will symbolize the Co-existence of man and God. It will put the current nightmarishly tragic events in Europe in a certain historical and, if you like, mystical context, and give it a metaphysical depth.
I am far from imposing my vision of what is happening now on anyone. I’m just reporting it. But as a historian and already an elderly person who learned about Fatima in his youth, 45 years ago, and since then has always kept these events in his heart and mind, I have no right to remain silent when these events suddenly get a continuation in our days.
On March 15, i.e. less than a week ago, Pope Francis announced that at the Annunciation, he, “with a council of bishops of all the earth,” would perform at 17:00 European time the rite of consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary. At the same time his representative, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, on his behalf, will perform the same dedication at Fatima in Portugal.
The Pope said that the Christian people, horrified by the scale of the atrocities and homicides taking place due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, demanded that they again make this consecration, which was first made by St. Pope John Paul II on the Annunciation day 38 years ago, in 1984.
In this new initiation, Pope Francis is following the will of the Christians, who for many decades kept the memory of the event that took place in Portugal 105 years ago, and, conjugating the fate of Russia with it, prayed for the deliverance from the power of the “evil enemy”, that is Satan.
The Pope informed Patriarch Kirill of his decision in a direct telephone conversation, and the revered image of the Mother of God of Fatima from Fatima was sent to Ukraine and is now in Lviv. The Pope called on all Christians of the world to pray so that the consecration of Russia and Ukraine does take place this Friday.
To understand the scale of the ongoing event, I will tell you of its background.
The events of 1917 in Russia reverberated throughout Europe. In distant Portugal, the response to it took on a mystical and a rationally inexplicable character.
Three young illiterate children from the impoverished village of Fatima in Portugal, unexpectedly for everyone and themselves, became prophets who spoke on behalf of the Virgin. It was in the autumn of 1916 when the shepherds, the eldest of whom, Lucia, was 10 years old, looked after the sheep on the slopes of Cova de Iria. Something bright flashed in the east of the cloudless sky, then again, and Lucia began to hurry the rest of the children – Francisco (Francis) and Jacinta to quickly descend the mountain and run home. Lightning could be a harbinger of a thunderstorm.
However, the bright radiance approached faster than the children could leave, and it turned out to be a celestial appearance of an inexpressibly beautiful youth with a communion cup in his hands. Calling himself the angel of Portugal, he made three prostrations before the bowl, which meanwhile hovered in the air, inviting the children to follow his example. However, some force forced them to do this against their own will and to utter the words of a penitential prayer for the sins of the world to the Holy Trinity.
On May 13 of the following year, 1917, on the slopes of the same mountain, the Mother of God appeared in a similar way before the children, and her appearances occurred monthly on the 13th until October. She showed the children the depths of hell and the beauty of paradise and told that the fate of the world is being decided now in the far way Russia, the name of which was unknown to children (They thought that this was some kind of a bad woman).
“From time immemorial there has been a battle for human hearts between My Son and the crafty enemy, and now the center of this battle is in Russia.”
She asked both children and adults, all Christians of the world to pray for the people of Russia and even gave the rules for praying with the rosary.
“If people obey My words, then Russia will return to God and a long peace will come on earth; but otherwise, it will spread its false teachings throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church” – these were the words of the Mother of God Lucia conveyed to the adults.
The adults were shocked, because they perfectly understood what kind of Russia the children were talking about and explained to them that this is a huge distant country, in which even Christianity is professed differently and the Pope is not revered, but that Russia, together with Portugal, has been fighting against the Central Powers for the third year, and that now a revolution has been going on in Russia, similar to the one that took place in Portugal seven years before, and, just as in Portugal, the hearts of the Russian people are really wavering between the Son of Man and the devil.
Both children and adults prayed for Russia, but, due to human weakness, they asked much more fervently for their everyday needs, for health, so that their relatives at the front would not die; they tried to find out the future and even the oak tree on which the Virgin Mary appeared, was torn away all the way to the bare trunk for amulets and talismans.
The Mother of God, appearing every month, said that the war would soon end, but if people did not change their attitude towards each other, then a new, even more terrible war would come after it, in which tens of millions of people would die and entire nations would disappear.
She explained that this different attitude is help to another, sacrifice for another, solidarity with another. This destroys the power of Satan, while selfish acquisition at the expense of another only strengthens the evil enemy.
The Mother of God said that the Church should give an example to the world of such a sacrificial ministry, and that is why the words about Orthodox Russia were uttered by Her at the other end of Europe in the Catholic Portugal.
The Mother of God warned that the night glow over all of Europe would be a sign before the start of a new terrible war that would break out if people did not change their attitude towards each other.
Information about the events in Fatima instantly spread throughout Portugal. The socialist authorities of the country did everything possible, up to the detention of children, in order to prevent them from coming to the site where the Virgin appeared.
However, things did not go as planned by the authorities. The mocking reports in the newspapers only added fuel to the fire. Tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to Fatima. On October 13, the Mother of God promised to give a sign to everyone who would gather in Fatima.
Here is how the editor-in-chief of the socialist newspaper O Seculo, the atheist Aveline de Almeida, describes the events of that day:
“The sun stood at its zenith like a silver disc and could be watched without any difficulty. It lasted only for a few moments. Suddenly it began to rotate like a giant fiery circle. Then it stopped. And it whirled again, turning into a blood-red color, and began to rush from one end of the sky to the other, leaving a fiery trail, descending low, so low that it seemed that the earth would catch fire from its heat. The crowd, maddened with fear, repented aloud of their sins, expecting an imminent end. Having performed this dance three times, the sun returned to its place. The shivering crowd of a hundred thousand people who were completely wet only ten minutes before that after an endless rain, suddenly felt that they were completely dry.”
On October 13, the Mother of God announced to the children and through them to all those who gathered there that people did not heed her requests, did not change their hearts and minds, and therefore evil would win in Russia and many sorrows would come to the whole world, “but the time will come, and the Russian people will again turn to My Son, and then peace will return to the earth.”
25 days later, a Bolshevik coup took place in Russia, in the city of Petrograd.
The strange phenomenon was visible at a distance of 20 miles, but not a single astronomical observatory recorded it. Whether it was a mass psychosis, a collective hallucination, or something else, there is still no scientific answer, despite careful research by major scientific authorities.
However, the consequences were not long in coming. Portugal forgot about an atheistic government for decades, returned to the traditional faith and was saved from the horrors of the Second World War.
Learning from the newspapers about this phenomenon (and the entire European press wrote about Fatima first in horror, then with laughter and mockery), the captive sovereign Nicholas II told Sidney Gibbs who was a teacher of his son:
“Not a single Portuguese newspaperman would have thought of putting into the mouth of this girl prophecies about Russia. Why do they need Russia? In Portugal, not only this illiterate girl, but most newspaper owners know as much about Russia as we do about them, even less. Who could put into the mouth of a girl, probably a future saint, words about Russia? Well, imagine, Mr. Gibbs, that in our country, say, Seraphim of Sarov would prophesy about Portugal, France or your country. Who would listen to him?”
Catholic Church of the 20th century was very cautious about all sorts of phenomena, miracles, prophecies. Most of them were simply ignored as a product of sick imagination. The same was their initial reaction to Fatima. But healings began to multiply at the place of Virgin Mary’s appearance, and Lucia, who was the only one of the three children who survived after the Spanish flu of 1919-1920 and later became a nun, continued to talk about her new visions.
On July 13, 1929, she asked Pope Pius XI to “consecrate Russia to the heart of the Mother of God in unity with all bishops, for the Queen of Heaven so commanded to convey Her will to the Holy Father.” The pope, naturally enough, ignored the call of the exalted young Portuguese nun. But those were the last days before the start of full collectivization in the USSR. The collectivization was followed by a famine (Holodomor) and the Great Terror that broke the back of the peoples of Russia and cost more than 12 million victims.
In 1938, Lucia warned Pope Pius XI that a new terrible war was coming, and in order to prevent it, the consecration of Russia to the heart of the Virgin must be done immediately. By that time the authority of Lucia was already quite high. Many in the Catholic world knew her and many believed in the authenticity of the Fatima apparition. And everyone was horrified by the specter of a new war that seemed more and more inevitable.
On the night of January 2, 1938, the whole of Europe was illuminated by the unusually bright Northern lights. Shortly thereafter, Germany carried out the Anschluss of Austria and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Plans for a new world war were being made in Berlin and Moscow…
But neither Pius XI nor Pius XII, who succeeded him on March 2, 1939, carried out the consiliar consecration of Russia to the heart of the Mother of God. This mystical act was too discordant with the rational spirit of the 1930s.
To the ear of an Orthodox “the heart of the Virgin” sounds somewhat strange. However mystics generally consider the heart to be the center of human will, the point at which a person makes a free choice between good and evil, truth and falsehood.
Let’s remember the Gospel – “from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies – this defiles a person” [Matthew 15:19-20]. Immersion of the mind in the heart is the favorite method of prayer for Orthodox ascetics.
For the Catholic mind the consecration of Russia to the heart of the Mother of God meant the union of the will of the Russian people with the pure and good will of the Mother of God, and not with the devilish will of the theomachists. But at that time this union took place neither formally nor in fact.
The vision at Fatima was officially recognized by the Vatican in 1967 when, on the fiftieth anniversary of the apparition, the Pope, then Paul VI, officially visited Fatima.
And the consecration to the “heart of the Virgin” was made by Pope John Paul II and the Council of Bishops in Rome on March 25, 1984, three years after the Soviet agent Ali Agadzha, a Turk trained in Bulgaria, shot at the Pope and wounded him badly four times exactly on the anniversary of the apparition, on May 13, 1981, during a service in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.
Having recovered a little from his wounds, the Pope made the initiation. Exactly one year later, in March-April 1985, Perestroika began in Russia.
However, at the consecration, John Paul II did not pronounce the name of Russia. He spoke of “all peoples who especially need the intercession of the Mother of God.” The advisers told the pope not to spoil relations with the all-too-powerful USSR.
And the Pope waivered. The German Bishop Paul Josef Kordes recalled that at a dinner with bishops close to him, Pope John Paul II once spoke about the consecration of Russia, which took place on March 25, 1984. He said that during the prayer he was going to make a special mention of Russia, but was forced to back down at the insistence of his entourage in order not to challenge the Soviet leadership. He told the bishops who dined with him that ever since he regretted the missed opportunity.
However, many believe that this change in consecration was providential. Indeed, by the 1980s, not only Russia, but many Christian countries from East Germany to Bulgaria that were languishing under the yoke of satanic communism, freed themselves from it in 1988-91.
All – but not the former “republics” of the USSR (except the Baltic ones). Here again, Satan took possession of the souls of people, and with particular force in Russia again, which, like the neighboring Belarus, remained essentially a Bolshevik country. The former KGB here celebrates its anniversaries on a grand scale, statues of Lenin and other disgusting atheists, robbers and murderers are still everywhere, Lukashenko even returned the Soviet flag and coat of arms, Putin returned the Soviet anthem, and would gladly return the red flag. The tricksters did not return the property to the people robbed by the Bolsheviks, but stuffed it into their bottomless pockets, building palaces and yachts for themselves.
In Russia, they banned even the “Memorial” that was set up to preserve the memory of the mournful past. And everywhere you keep hearing the timpani drums of false history, the exaltation over murder weapons, the glorification of strength over the truth. All this could not but end in a tragedy and a sea of blood.
Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, the incredible inhumanity of this ‘special operation’ same as in the war in Syria, the complete violation of all norms of law and humanity – this is what made the Christian people ask the Pope for a new consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the heart of the Mother of God.
And the Pope heard the request of the Christians of the world. This time the names of Russia and Ukraine will be pronounced loud and clear for the City and the Universe.
On March 25, at the Annunciation 2022, a great event in the Christian life is to take place. And it is important to realize its enormous significance for our countries and for all mankind. As in 1917 and the years of Perestroika, our future depends on our choice. Jesus and His Mother are just offering us an opportunity. It is in our power to take or reject this opportunity.
https://www.facebook.com/andrei.b.zubov/posts/3244196295865699
Isn’t all of it utterly amazing?
~
UPDATE March 25, 2022
In the apparition of 13 July 1917 in Fatima, the Blessed Virgin Mary asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. She stated that if this request was not granted, Russia would “spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.” Nations will be annihilated she warned, and there would be much suffering.
Pope Francis invited all bishops of the world and their priests to join him in the act of consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Annunciation day, March 25, 2022.
A consecration does not mean praying for one side only. It means to entrust “one’s body, soul, possessions, works, and entire life to the protection and guidance of Our Lady” and is actually a plea to the Mother of God for her intercession in this time of great need.
Here are some screenshots from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and several excerpts from the prayer to Virgin Mary said by Pope Francis.
As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.
We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns.
We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons.
We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters.
We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves.
Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!
We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”
You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew.
Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace.
May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs.
May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land.
May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.
Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world.
The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more.
To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.
Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.
You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.
Amen.
Full Pope Francis’ Consecration Prayer of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
March 25, 2022
~
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.
We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home.
We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!
Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.
We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.
That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded.
We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.
Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27).
Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ.
The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.
Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.
Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.
Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.
UPDATE April 1, 2022
Please take this interview seriously.
Ex Putin adviser: Sanctions on Russia, oligarchs won’t work | NewsNation
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsNation) — In the second month of the Russia-Ukraine war, a former economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States needs to do more to help Ukraine and the sanctions in place against ultra-rich Russian oligarchs are toothless.
Andrei Illarionov acted as Putin’s Chief Economic Adviser for five years before leaving the post in 2005 when he felt the Kremlin was becoming too authoritarian. He had a working relationship with Putin — one that allowed him access to Putin’s manner and psychology in a way few officials have anywhere in the world outside Russia.
With a unique understanding of the workings of the Russian economy, Illarionov told NewsNation’s Joe Khalil that he believed sanctions imposed on Russia and on oligarchs made no difference in Putin’s decision-making during the war.
Read the extended Q&A with llarionov below (Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for length and clarity):
Question: How did you end up becoming the Chief Economic Adviser to Vladimir Putin?
Illarionov: I’m an economist by training. I graduated from the St. Petersburg University Department of Economics. I happened to establish an economic think tank and I was producing… not bad reports for a number of years. I was the only person in Russia who predicted correctly the 1998 economic crisis with default and devaluation of the Russian ruble.
It attracted a lot of attention in the country and in society. So that is why there were some people who recommended to the then-incoming President Vladimir Putin, when he was looking for an economic adviser, to talk to me.
Question: How close was your relationship with Putin? Would you call him a friend at one point?
Illarionov: Never. It’s impossible to have a friend among presidents. They are very particular types of animals so that is why I seriously doubt they could have any friends at all. But certainly, it was not my plan (to befriend Putin) and I never thought of such ideas. My idea was just to view this position to help this country have high and sustainable growth rates, and to some extent, I succeeded.
Question: There may not be anyone in America who understands the workings of the Russian economy, like you do. When you see sanctions now that are put on Russia, do you think that they’re significant enough to have an impact that might sway oligarchs that might move powerful people against Vladimir Putin? Or do you think that maybe these are toothless?
Illarionov: One of the greatest misconceptions in the West and the United States, is the role of the so-called oligarchs in the Russian economy and Russian political system. These roles are next to zero.
I’ve heard so much through all these years about the oligarchs, about how it is important to put sanctions or how to put them in a very difficult position. If you’d like to make life miserable for those people, it’s OK. But if you think that those sanctions would make changes in the decision-making process of Mr. Putin or of Kremlin, it’s wrong. It’s a mistake.
You have no chance because they have no impact on the decision-making process with Mr. Putin.
Question: So, we’re really talking about the will of one man here?
Illarionov: Exactly. Because the political system and political regime in Russia is not like the United States or in any Western countries. It is not a democracy. It’s not even semi-democracy. It is even not even an authoritarian regime anymore. Right now, it’s a totalitarian regime with just a one-man show.
The main decisions, like this attack on Ukraine, have been taken by one person. No oligarchs whatsoever could have any impact on this decision. So that is why you can punish anyone. You can punish 145 million Russian citizens and it will not change the decision-making process of Putin.
Question: Is it because he doesn’t care that millions of Russians have wiped out their savings, that the ruble is now fractions of a penny. He just doesn’t care?
Illarionov: He doesn’t care. He has his goal. It is his dream. It is his dream for at least a couple of decades and he’s ready to sacrifice everything — especially that which does not belong to him — to reach this goal.
Question: As you watch what’s happening in Ukraine, what do you think is driving Vladimir Putin? What is motivating him right now?
Illarionov: His goal is to destroy the statehood of Ukraine. He had this idea, this goal for the last two decades. Even when I was his adviser, I saw for myself his intentions against Ukraine. I saw then that he had many opportunities to express his desire, his wish to destroy Ukraine, to take Ukraine under his control, to capture Kyiv. So that is why this is a realization of his long-term goal.
Question: You’ve been talking about this for a number of years. What gave you that indication that that was ultimately his goal?
Illarionov: Those who are following the events in Russian-Ukraine would probably recall the year 2003 —19 years ago — the attempt to capture the Tuzla strip in the Strait of Kerch. Probably not very many people remember right now but that was the first, not only expression of desire to get something, but it was real action — the capture of that strait.
In the year 2008, during the Bucharest NATO Summit, Putin talked to U.S. President George Bush, Jr., (and said) that Ukraine is not a real state. (He said) it is a failed state and half of the territory of Ukraine should belong to Russia. This is the official action of his desire to capture power of the country.
In the year 2014, as we know, he occupied Crimea and launched a war in Donbas. Since then, he kept telling everyone publicly, not only privately but publicly, that he would like to destroy the statehood of Ukraine.
So that is why it was not a surprise at all.
Question: Is there anything about the conflict that you think is important for people to know?
Illarionov: The United States needs to fulfill its general, basic obligation to the rest of the world as it is the best guarantor of world peace, security and freedom around the world. There is no other country that can do what the United States can do.
This is a particular challenge to the United States — not only to the administration but to society. The United States needs to support Ukraine, needs to help Ukraine. The most important thing that can be done by the United States is to provide weapons to Ukraine, a lot of weapons.
Ukraine can defend itself if they would have weapons — different types of weapons, heavy weapons, offensive weapons, anti-air, weapons, anti-missile weapons, anti-Navy weapons. Ukraine needs weapons and the only country that can provide all these weapons in necessary amounts, and give permission to other NATO countries to provide these weapons, is the United States.
The United States administration does not do it. And this is a dotted collaboration with Putin in the attack against Ukraine. So these positions (by the U.S. government) should be changed must be changed.
Question: With $16 billion from Congress and $2 billion authorized by the White House, you’re saying the US should do significantly more?
Illarionov: Out of this amount, military support is only $800 million. All the rest is humanitarian support.
Let me compare these $800 million for one year with the $83 billion that the United States gave to the Afghan army over 20 years. It’s in addition to more than $2 trillion that the United States spent in Afghanistan.
This is a real war. This is a big war. This is the biggest war since the Second World War in Europe.
Do you know how much military support has been given by great superpower Luxembourg to Ukraine? $250 million. It’s comparable — what has been given by Luxembourg and what has been given by the US administration of Mr. Biden.
Czech Republic — also not the greatest superpower in the world — has provided military support for $1 billion.
So just it gives anyone the understanding of how the United States administration is just de facto not supporting Ukraine with something that is really the biggest need for Ukrainians right now — weapons, weapons, and once again, weapons.
Question: What do you make of Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy and his leadership so far?
Illarionov: I was rather critical about him before this attack. From my point of view, he made many mistakes and he did not prepare the country for an attack, which was absolutely obvious. He preferred to spend five times more money for the construction of roads, not on the military. Now all those roads have been used by Russian track tanks. So that’s a blunder.
But since the beginning of the attack, he demonstrated a remarkable stance against the aggression. And he did not leave Kyiv, as President Biden suggested to him. Regardless of the pressure on him from the Western countries that removed their embassies from the Ukrainian capital, he stayed there. So he definitely has personal courage.
Question: So what made you leave the Kremlin in the 2000-2005 timeframe?
Illarionov: Changes in the political system and the changing in political regime. When I became the economic adviser to Mr. Putin, Russia had a semi-free political regime. And after that… due to Mr. Putin’s efforts, the political regime became non-free. It became an authoritarian regime, with a very high level of repressions against the opposition, with attacks on different people.
For example, during the Beslan (school) siege, more than 300 kids, parents and teachers were killed by Russian troops and special services. And it was absolutely impossible for me to stay in such circumstances. And that’s why I announced ‘Yes, I cannot work with an authoritarian political regime,’ and I resigned.
Question: You’ve been openly critical of Vladimir Putin. Do you fear that he sees you, that he understands what you’re saying and that maybe you’re a target of Vladimir Putin?
Illarionov: Could you explain to me why I should be silent? Who would say so to the world, to the people of Russia, to the people of the United States, the people of the world? Somebody must say what is going on.
Because that situation should not stay like this, it should be changed. And for that, it’s necessary to change the minds of people around the world. If the mindset of people around the world — especially in the United States and Western countries — will not be changed, it would continue. And this would be a catastrophe for Russia, Ukraine and for the rest of the world.
If Putin is not stopped, he would continue on. It will mean thousands or tens of thousands more deaths. He’s already responsible for some people’s deaths — calculated may be up to 500,000 or 600,000 deaths in Russia and outside of Russia. So how long should we tolerate this endless spiral of deaths produced by one person?
Question: Has the thought ever crossed your mind that your name may be on one of Putin’s kill lists?
Illarionov: Once again, we can compare one person and 600,000 people — we don’t know how many others could be victims of that person. So that is why the world needs to understand that this should be stopped. The sooner, the better. Because if he cannot be stopped in Ukraine, he would go further. And it cannot be saved.
Question: A lot has been said about his mindset, his psychology, Some say that he has been isolated. Do you see anything different in his behavior now than what you saw when you were working under him?
Illarionov: Yes. And no, in some sense, yes. Because it’s clear that the circle of people who he consults with is definitely narrow, and are more military people or security people, or people like that. But on the other hand, he is still the same person who would like to realize his imperial dreams.
Question: The news of what’s happening in Ukraine is not filtering in to the Russian people through state media. Do you think there is a significant portion of the population that breaks through the disinformation wall?
Illarionov: Not much, I would say because up to 70% of the Russian population have been brainwashed completely…. that would be conservative estimate, maybe more. They’re complete victims of state-run propaganda. The situation is very similar to what we could see in Nazi Germany in 1945, when the Allies reached Germany, and they found that the majority — almost 100% of the German population — just were completely fed up with Nazi propaganda. It is something similar that we can see right now in Russia, it’s very, very similar.
In some sense, it is even worse, in Nazi Germany. Because, for example, in Berlin in 1943, there were public demonstrations with more than 3,000 ladies who were demonstrating against the arrests of their husbands who were Jews arrested by the SS. We don’t see anything like that in Moscow right now. So that is why it’s shocking but to some extent, maybe the situation in Russia today, is not only comparable to Nazi Germany, but in some cases, maybe even worse.
Question: You talked about how for a long time, Vladimir Putin has been wanting to invade and recapture Ukraine to sort of rebuild the Soviet Union. Do you think that there is some sort of grand plan some strategy to bring this conflict to an end?
Illarionov: Let’s read what Mr. Putin has written and what he’s saying or what his people are saying. His goal was very clear. He announced it publicly last December. And after that, he repeated this in January, February and March.
His goal is not only to stop in Ukraine; his goal is to move into Europe. His goal is to return NATO to the 1997 division line, which means the so-called ‘de-NATO-ization’ of all countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Baltic countries, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria.
What is necessary to stress is that Putin and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs repeated this goal even after the beginning of this attack on Ukraine. So they did not change this goal. So that is why we should not be surprised if he were to continue his attack, not only on Ukraine but on the whole of Europe.
Question: Certainly he has to be seeing what’s going on, and realizing that the Russian military is not performing to maybe what he expected. Do you think that when he sees the reality of what’s happening, he changes his calculus, maybe realizing that it’s not sustainable to try to occupy Ukraine permanently?
Illarionov: It’s probably too early to judge. We have seen over the last two decades that he repeats these attacks and he’s trying to grip more, piece by piece. This is not only against Ukraine but against Georgia, against Moldova and he continues to have his appetite for Baltic countries. So that is why I would not easily buy the stuff that they think right now or that he would be ready to accept this relatively poor performance of the Russian army in Ukraine.
Actually, it depends on what we should consider poor performance. Unfortunately, Russia is still making steps forward. They are still getting some pieces of land in Ukraine… maybe not with the speed that they expected before, but there is still initiative on their side.
Question: Let’s imagine neutrality with respect to NATO is on the table for peace negotiations. And let’s assume even control over parts of the Donbas region, also on the table. Given what you know, about Vladimir Putin, do you think that these peace talks are real?
Illarionov: So far, I have not seen anything that Putin would say, by himself, and just to make any promises, but even when he makes some promises, it does not mean that he is going to execute them.
Question: So you could see a scenario where there is a peace deal, and then he violates it?
Illarionov: Yes, there was a Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994. There was a bilateral treaty between Russia and Ukraine, signed by Putin. And he violated Budapest Memorandum, he violated the bilateral treaty, he violated the UN Charter, he violated the Helsinki Act. He violated all international documents related to the security and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Why should we trust him once again? No basis.
Question: The expectation was that in a matter of one or two days, Russian forces could enter the capital of Ukraine and the Russian military hasn’t done that. Do you think there are advisors around him that are maybe afraid, for their lives or for other reasons, to tell him what really is happening and maybe even the state of their military before this invasion?
Illarionov: No, the reason (for Russia’s slow advance in Ukraine) is the quality of the Ukrainian military. And the quality of the Ukrainian military was not known, not only to Mr. Putin but to Mr. Biden.
American officials didn’t understand the quality of the Ukrainian military. We’ve read all these reports that Ukraine will be smashed within two-three days. Mr. Putin was not saying that. It was all American press saying that. And it was the so-called American intelligence saying, ‘OK, it will be 72 hours for Putin to capture Kyiv.’ So that is why it was a mistake, not only with Mr. Putin, but I would say the majority of the world’s experts, including the US administration.
Question: President Biden was asked at a press conference about whether Putin will use his rhetoric to escalate the military situation. Biden said he doesn’t care what Putin thinks and Putin will do what he’s going to do. What do you make of that comment?
Illarionov: President Biden is very well known for producing empty statements. And Mr. Putin does not take it seriously.
Question: So it sounds like you agree with President Biden?
Illarionov: No, I agree with the approach of Mr. Putin — it’s a rare case in which I would agree with Mr. Putin because Mr. Putin understands the reality. And that is why he’s interested in the situation on land… what’s really going on in Ukraine and what is the real balance of forces. What is been said by the current US president, (Putin) doesn’t care much.
Question: We’ve seen incredible resistance in Ukraine, to Russia. Do you think Vladimir Putin realizes how hated he is by most people in Ukraine? We’ve heard him say things like, Russians will be welcomed as liberators? Does he really believe that? Or is that just another propaganda tool?
Illarionov: He doesn’t care. This is propaganda, definitely. And he was using different propaganda tools to so-called justify his attack on Ukraine. But he doesn’t care whether it’s true or not. He probably knows that all this stuff is that he was writing and what he was saying is absolutely irrelevant. But he doesn’t care because he wants to accomplish his goal, no matter what.
https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/russia-at-war/vladimir-putin-economic-adviser-andrei-illarionov-sanctions-biden/
~
UPDATE April 3, 2022
Here are 19 photos of the villages and towns near Kyiv that have been liberated by the Ukrainian forces.
Warning: the photos are not for the faint-hearted.
But for my compatriots they are a must – in fact, all those who support this “special operation” should be forced to see them. https://theins.ru/news/249937
“The bodies of those killed by a shot in the back of the head, mines in playgrounds, streets littered with corpses.”
Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian troops April 3, 2022 11:01 am
Anatoly Fedoruk, the mayor of Ukraine’s Bucha in the Kiev region, told AFP that the city was littered with corpses. After the departure of the Russian military, 280 dead civilians were found there and buried in common graves. According to the mayor, dozens of corpses lie along the streets of the city, some of the dead have their hands tied.
This is confirmed by adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak. According to him, the Russian military shot unarmed civilians.
“These people were not military. They didn’t have weapons. They didn’t pose a threat. How many more cases like this are happening right now in the occupied territories?” Podolyak wrote.
According to journalists, some civilians were shot in the back of the head. Next to one of the bodies lay an open passport of a citizen of Ukraine, the man’s hands were tied behind his back with a piece of white cloth.
Two more dead had white bandages on their hands. According to local residents, during the occupation, the Russian military forced them to wear such bandages.
Many bodies of dead civilians, including burnt ones, were also found in the area of the Zhytomyr highway.
In the village of Motyzhin, Makarovsky district, Kiev region, the village head Olga Sukhenko, her husband and son were shot in the back of the head. They were abducted by the Russian military on March 23, Ukrainian journalist Katerina Malafeeva wrote.
Some of the dead had their hands tied behind their backs.
In Irpen, from which the Russian military left, the corpses of killed civilians also lie on the streets.
In the liberated territories of the Kiev region, the military administration imposed a curfew until 06:00 on April 5. Ukrainian and world media write about the humanitarian catastrophe in Bucha, but this topic is bypassed in the Russian segment of the Internet. On the main page of “Yandex” there is not a single message about Bucha. They pop up only when a specific request is sent.”
The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said:
“All photos and video materials published by the Kiev regime allegedly testifying to some ‘crimes’ committed by Russian soldiers in the town of Bucha, Kiev region, is another provocation. Not a single local resident has suffered from any violent actions while the Russian armed forces controlled the settlement.”
Ruslan Leviev and his Conflict Intelligence Team consisting of 6 young volunteer investigators are set to determine what particular regiments are responsible for these war crimes. They usually do it by means of geolocation, photos, witness testimonies, and other open sources. Up till now they have been extremely successful. https://twitter.com/CITeam_ru, https://twitter.com/CITeam_en
This video shows the Russian military putting their vehicles in every civilian yard in Bucha, Kyiv region as if ensuring that the Ukrainian artillery would hit the Ukrainian homes.
~
UPDATE April 4, 2022
The text below was published on April 3, 2022 by the main Russia’s news agency which means that it could be written only with the approval of the Russian authorities.
It sounds like a kind of an official manifesto detailing the future of Ukraine (and probably the world) if the Russian regime wins its “special operation” against this sovereign state.
The text may help you to understand what is going on in Russia now, who is who in this existential conflict of civilizations and decide which side you are on.
(the bold type is mine)
08:00 04/03/2022 (updated: 08:09 04/03/2022)
What Russia should do with Ukraine
By Timofey Sergeytsev
[slightly abridged]
Back in April last year, we wrote about the inevitability of the denazification of Ukraine. We do not need the Nazi, Bandera Ukraine, the enemy of Russia and the Western tool of Russia’s destruction. Today, the issue of denazification has moved into a practical plane.
Denazification becomes necessary when a significant part of the people – most likely, its majority is drawn by the Nazi regime into its policies. That is, when the hypothesis “the people are good – the government is bad” no longer works. Recognition of this fact is the basis of the policy of denazification and all its measures.
Ukraine has found itself in such a situation. The fact that the Ukrainian voters voted for the “peace of Poroshenko” and “peace of Zelensky” should not be misleading – Ukrainians were quite satisfied with the shortest path to peace through a blitzkrieg, which the last two Ukrainian presidents transparently hinted at when they were elected.
This method of “pacifying” the internal anti-fascists – through total terror – was used in Odessa, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Mariupol, and other Russian* cities . And this quite suited the average Ukrainians.
[*Note: All these cities are on the Ukrainian territory and are fully Ukrainian].
Denazification is a set of measures in relation to the nazified mass of the population, who technically cannot be directly punished as war criminals.
The Nazis who took up arms should be destroyed to the maximum on the battlefield. There should be no significant differences between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the so-called national battalions, as well as the territorial defense that joined these two types of military formations.
All of them are equally involved in extreme cruelty against the civilian population, are equally guilty of the genocide of the Russian** people, do not comply with the laws and customs of war. War criminals and active Nazis should be exemplarily and exponentially punished. There must be a total lustration. Any organization, associated with the practice of Nazism should be liquidated and banned.
[Note**: The author does not specify what Russian people and where are subjected to “genocide”.]
However, in addition to their leaders, a significant part of the masses, which are passive Nazis and the accomplices of Nazism, are also guilty. They supported and indulged the Nazi power.
The just punishment of this part of the population is possible only through making them bear the inevitable hardships of a just war against the Nazi system, carried out with the utmost care and discretion towards civilians.
Further denazification of this mass of the population consists in re-education, to be achieved by ideological repression (suppression) of Nazi attitudes and strict censorship: not only in the political sphere, but also necessarily in the sphere of culture and education.
Denazification can only be carried out by the winner, which implies (1) his absolute control over the denazification process and (2) the power to ensure such control.
In this respect, a denazified country cannot be sovereign.
Russia, as a denazifying state cannot proceed from a liberal approach regarding denazification.
The ideology of the denazifier cannot be disputed by the guilty party subjected to denazification.
The terms of denazification can in no way cover less than one generation that will be born, grow up and reach maturity under the denazification conditions. The nazification of Ukraine continued for more than 30 years – starting at least from 1989, when Ukrainian nationalism received legal and legitimate forms of political expression and led the movement for “independence”, rushing it towards Nazism.
The peculiarity of modern nazified Ukraine is in amorphousness and ambivalence, which makes it possible to disguise Nazism as a desire for “independence” and a “European” (Western, pro-American) path of “development” (in reality, degradation), to assert that in Ukraine “there is no Nazism, only some isolated excesses.”
There is no main Nazi party, no Fuhrer, nor full-fledged racial laws (only their truncated version in the form of repressions against the Russian language). As a result, there is no opposition and resistance to the regime.
However, all of the above does not make Ukrainian Nazism a “light version” of German Nazism during the first half of the 20th century.
On the contrary, since Ukrainian Nazism is free from such “genre” frameworks and restrictions, it freely unfolds as the fundamental basis of any Nazism – as European and, in its most developed form, American racism. Therefore, denazification cannot be carried out by way of a compromise, based on a formula of “no to NATO, yes to EU “. The collective West itself is the designer, source and sponsor of Ukrainian Nazism, while the Western Bandera cadres and their “historical memory” are only one of the tools for Ukraine’s Nazification. UkroNazism carries not less, but a greater threat to the world and Russia, than German Nazism of the Hitlerite version.
The name of “Ukraine” apparently cannot be retained as the title of any fully denazified state entity in a territory liberated from the Nazi regime.
The people’s republics newly created in the space free from Nazism should grow from economic self-government and social security, restoration and modernization of the life support systems of the population.
In fact, their political aspirations cannot be neutral – the expiation of guilt before Russia for treating it as an enemy can be realized only by relying on Russia in the processes of restoration, revival and development.
No “Marshall Plans” should be allowed for these territories.
There can be no “neutrality” in the ideological and practical sense, compatible with denazification. The cadres and organizations that are the instrument of denazification in the newly denazified republics can rely only on Russia’s direct military and organizational support.
Denazification will be inevitably also a de-Ukrainization.
Unlike, say, Georgia and the Baltic countries, the existence of Ukraine, as history has shown, is impossible as a nation state, and any attempt to “build” it naturally leads to Nazism.
Ukrainism is an artificial anti-Russian construct that does not have its own civilizational content, and is a subordinate element of a different and alien civilization. “DeBanderization” by itself will not be enough for denazification – the Bandera element is only a smokescreen, a disguise for the European project of a Nazi Ukraine, therefore the denazification of Ukraine also means its inevitable de-Europeanization.
The Bandera elite must be eliminated, its re-education is impossible. The social “bog”, which actively and passively supported it by action and inaction, must go through the hardships of war and absorb the experience as a historical lesson and atonement for its guilt.
Those who did not support the Nazi regime, suffered from it and the war unleashed in Donbass, must be consolidated and organized, must become the backbone of the new government, both vertically and horizontally. Historical experience shows that the tragedies and dramas of wartime only benefit the peoples who have been tempted and carried away by the role of an enemy of Russia.
Denazification as the goal of a special military operation is understood as a military victory over the Kiev regime, the liberation of territories from the armed supporters of the Nazis, the elimination of the implacable Nazis, the capture of war criminals, and the creation of systemic conditions for the subsequent denazification in peacetime.
The latter, in turn, should begin with the organization of local self-government, police and defense bodies, cleansed of Nazi elements, the launch of a new republican statehood, Russian control over the legislation for denazification, defining the boundaries and framework for the direct application of Russian law in the liberated territory in the field of denazification, the creation of a tribunal for crimes against humanity in the former Ukraine. In this regard, Russia should act as the guardian of the Nuremberg Trials.
Of course, some time must pass before people recover from the shock of the military hostilities and make sure of the long-term intentions of Russia “not to abandon” them. It is impossible to foresee in advance exactly in which territories this mass of the population will constitute a critically needed majority.
The “Catholic province” of Western Ukraine (consisting of five regions) is unlikely to become part of the pro-Russian territories. The line of alienation, however, will be found empirically. It will remain hostile to Russia, but it will be forcibly made neutral and demilitarized, with an official ban of Nazism. The haters of Russia will go there.
The guarantee of the preservation of this residual Ukraine in a neutral condition should be a threat of an immediate continuation of the military operation in case of non-compliance with the listed requirements.
This may require a permanent Russian military presence on its territory.
The operation to denazify Ukraine, which began with a military phase, in peacetime will follow the same logic as the military operation. At each of its stages it will be necessary to achieve irreversible changes.
Russia will have no allies in the denazification of Ukraine. This is purely Russian business.
And not only because the Bandera version of Nazi Ukraine will be eradicated, but also, above all, the Western totalitarianism will – with its imposed programs of civilizational degradation and disintegration, the mechanisms of subjugation to the superpower of the West and the United States.
In order to put the plan of denazification of Ukraine into practice, Russia itself will have to finally part with pro-European and pro-Western illusions, realize itself as the last domain for protecting and preserving the values of historical Europe (the Old World) which the West ultimately abandoned. This struggle continued throughout the 20th century and was expressed in the world war and the Russian revolution, which are inextricably linked with each other.
Russia did everything possible to save the West in the 20th century. It implemented the main Western project, an alternative to capitalism – the socialist Red project. It crushed German Nazism, a monstrous product of the crisis of Western civilization. The last act of Russian altruism was its outstretched hand of friendship to which Russia received a monstrous blow in the 1990s.
Everything that Russia did for the West, was done at her own expense and at the greatest sacrifice. The West ultimately rejected all these sacrifices, devalued Russia’s contribution to resolving the Western crisis, and decided to take revenge on Russia for the help that it so selflessly provided. From now on Russia will go its own way, not worrying about the fate of the West, leaning on its leadership in the global process of decolonization.
As part of this process, Russia has a high potential for partnerships with countries that were oppressed by the West for centuries and which are not going to put on its yoke again. Without Russian sacrifice and struggle, these countries would not have been liberated.
The denazification of Ukraine is also its decolonization, which the population of Ukraine will have to understand as it begins to free itself from the intoxication and temptation of the so-called European choice.
Supplement:
The head of the DNR (one of the two separatist Donbass republics) is awarding a medal to Lieutenant Colonel Timur Kurilkin for “destroying 250 Nazis” – which is ironic, considering Kurilkin has two neo-Nazi patches clearly visible on his uniform. Top patch is a modified ‘Totenkopf’, used by the SS. Bottom patch is a ‘Valknot’, a Norse symbol commonly used by white supremacists.
UPDATE April 24, 2022
Here are some excerpts from an article published by Novaya gazeta, Europe on April 23, 2022.
The article is about the tragedy of Mariupol.
AZOV Steel
It seems that the world is already ripe to mourn the last defenders of Mariupol.
It is impossible to achieve a higher degree of empathy. [But] if the Ukrainian soldiers continue to remain under the super-heavy bombs that destroyed the over-the-ground part of one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe, the emotional exhaustion of onlookers will eventually give way to anger. Why do these steely people, who are slowly and painfully dying with arms in their hands, make us, ordinary people suffer? Why do they make others feel guilty?
These feelings are not unfounded. A familiar journalist from the Czech Republic is warning with professional cynicism: “Horror, yes. But readers are getting used to it, their interest is declining… European governments, when they help, are guided by the reaction of their fellow citizens. A new twist is needed”.
The tragedy in Mariupol which is many times greater in scope than Bucha, Borodyanka, Irpen – if it ever ends – will sharply increase the general sympathy for the struggle of Ukrainians. But at the moment it is more like a sore tooth: you can neither remove nor cure it.
The authorities explain that the military deblockade of the city and, most importantly, of ‘Azovstal’ [meaning Azovsteel] is still possible. “But we need a lot of heavy weapons and aircraft from international partners,” President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated for the last week. “Immediately.”
…. there is no clarity whether the weapons requested to break the blockade will arrive.
The second solution is diplomatic, through intermediaries, in the format of the exchange of prisoners. In the capital shelters under the steel works that date back to Soviet times, there are marines, paratroopers, and border guards alongside the fighters of the Azov battalion. The exact number of the defenders is unknown. Mariupol has been encircled by Russian troops since the first days of March and is periodically reported as fallen. Except for Azovstal … There are four hundred wounded among the Ukrainian defenders, including the heavily wounded (as of April 22). There are also dead who are not yet buried.
And nearby, in separate bunkers on the territory of the plant, there are about a thousand civilians, mostly women with children, from a three-month-old baby to 14-16-year-old teenagers. The military, when they have a chance to bring them medicines and food under fire, share with them their last crumbs.
From time to time, the smartphone of Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment, catches a signal, and he is put on the air of the national telethon:
“The fighting continues. They attack, storm us with artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, fire rockets …. From the first days of the encirclement, I have asked the whole world to give the civilians guarantees for a safe exit from the city. So far, there are no guarantees. And people have reasons to be afraid. They know what the Russians are doing. In Mariupol, Russian vehicles with a V sign were spotted. We think they are the same bastards that were near Kyiv, in Bucha.”
There is a high degree of certainty that the civilians who ended up at the plant shelters on the first day of the invasion are not “the human shield of inhabitants, taken hostage by the Nazis”, as Russian propaganda says.
They are, most likely, the relatives of the defenders of Azovstal and this greatly increases their risks.
According to Palamar’s emotional assessments, the balance of power between those under siege and the Russians is monstrous – one to a thousand.
“The decision is up to diplomats. But we are not going to surrender as Russia proposes us to. We must hand over the bodies of our dead to their relatives to be buried with military honors. We are on the defensive. But our forces are exhausted…”
“What are you ready to say to the Ukrainians now?”, asks Vadim Karpyak, the journalist hosting the TV news marathon. You can see the effort it takes him to stay unemotional during the dialog. “What do you want them to hear?”
“We did not betray our homeland,” Svyatoslav replies. “And we expect that our brothers and our civilians, whose rescue we have been asking for since day one of the war, will be given help.”
A little later, Vadim, who always keeps his emotions under control, wrote on Facebook: “The feeling of one’s powerlessness is depressing… deep inside me I cannot help feeling that this may be my last communication with him. Sorry, but I had to share it with someone.”
It is already known that President Erdogan’s attempts to reach a diplomatic solution with Putin have so far been unsuccessful.
After meeting with Prime Ministers of Spain Pedro Sánchez and Denmark Matte Frederiksen, Zelensky dropped a phrase, which surely upset his advisers, and his political opponents will remember him one day: “It’s hard to say what can be done with people who don’t care…”
The core of the Azovstal defenders are “nationalists” hated by Putin and the Kremlin regime, for whose extermination the “special operation” was allegedly conceived.
“Azov” do not see themselves with their hands up and a white flag, which is quite understandable.
Zelensky also behaves, by European standards, in a radical manner. He warns or puts forward an ultimatum: the destruction of the defenders of Azovstal is a red line. Ukraine in this case will withdraw from any negotiations with Russia, and things will become even tougher.
The EU, through Josep Borrell, thanks Ukraine for its efforts to find a diplomatic solution for the evacuation of civilians and regrets that Russia does not reciprocate.
Putin announces cancellation of the assault with a demonstrative phrase about a fly that should not escape from “this industrial zone”.
The bombardments turn into a continuous, finishing off process. There are still living people in the catacombs: Ukrainian soldiers, women, children.
It takes the nerves of steel to read this kind of news, right?
The Russian side refused the Ukrainian offer of an Easter truce.”
Here are some videos recorded by the Azovstal defenders about the civilians who are still in the plant’s catacombs.
The children of “Azovstal”: we want to go home very much, we want to see the Sun
On the eve of the Orthodox Easter, celebrated by both Ukrainians and Russians, the Ukrainian city of Odessa was shelled with cruise missiles killing 8 people and injuring 18. This woman with her 3-month-old daughter and mother were among those killed.
UPDATE May 6, 2022
Here is an interview that will provide “the invisible thread that was missing” (as one of the commenters said) and help those seeking the truth to see what’s what and find some foothold in the world of today’s chaos.
Those who have watched it are correct in saying that this is an interview “with a man of impressive integrity: his wide experience and knowledge was frankly shared and so well expressed. At this time it is hard for us ordinary mortals to find out “what is really going on” and as someone passionate about truth [ ] I appreciate insights gained through this show”.
The interview was originally published here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/former-putin-adviser-andrei-illarionov-inside-the-mind-of-vladimir-putin_4448118.html
Now the full episode is also on Youtube:
UPDATE AUGUST 28, 2022
Half a year after the “special war operation” started here is the take of Sergei Lyubarsky, an American-Ukrainian data analyst on the real reasons which made the whole thing happen.
The text is recommended for those who feel that the official narratives do not explain anything and who want to know the truth.
English subtitles are available via translation from Russian, but since they are far from perfect below is also the English transcript of the full text.
00:01
“Good afternoon everyone! You are on the YouTube channel of Sergei Lyubarsky, and today is August 24, six months since Russia treacherously attacked Ukraine, killing tens of thousands of innocent people in its path. Recently, the Washington Post has published a huge document, called “The Path to War”, where the Washington Post told of its vision of what led to this war. But I will not comment on the Washington Post. I will speak of my view on it and my understanding of the path, which led to this terrible, inhuman war…
In American English there is a phrase “gas lighting”. This is when you are persuaded not to believe in what you see, but to believe in what you are told. Today we will try to debunk and remove the veil from the eyes of millions of people who got into this gas lighting situation.
It didn’t happen by accident. In today’s rather long broadcast, I will give you the facts. I will refrain as far as possible for me from commenting.
01:20
Let’s go through the chronology of events that led to this war, go through the path of the war. I will start with August 2008. These are the last six months of the Bush presidency. And in August 2008, Russia attacks Georgia. There is practically no answer from the White House. Russia annexes parts of Georgia with virtual impunity.
The Obama administration is elected. Hillary Clinton is the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Head of the State department). And in September 2009 – a year after the annexation of part of Georgia – the Obama-Biden administration, represented by Hillary Clinton, announces a reset.
Hillary Clinton and Sergey Lavrov laugh like two children, two happy children. They have a beautiful toy in their hands, called “reset”, and they squeeze and squeeze the toy, posing for a thousand photographers, thus symbolizing that Russia was not punished for the aggression, and got away with it. The world has forgotten about the Georgian war. The world swept this horror under the rug of history. Relations were reset, and Putin took this as a call to action.
02:43
October 2011. Muammar Gaddafi is killed. Putin is deeply shocked. Muammar Gaddafi was a bloody dictator, a terrorist responsible for the death of thousands of his own citizens and hundreds of lives as a result of terrorist attacks that he sponsored and ordered. But when in 2003 he saw how Saddam Hussein fell, he, Muammar Gaddafi, jumped out like a jack-in-the-box, handed over all his weapons to Europe, admitted that he would never harm or do mischief again and would be a peaceful, good, fluffy dictator. However this did not help him. As Hillary Clinton later said, “he came, he was seen, and he died.”
And in October 2011, he died a terrible death. He died from a shovel handle that caused a hemorrhage in his colon. This is truly a shameful and terrible death. And then they abused him even after his death, post mortem. All this was filmed, and Putin saw it. And Putin, if he had any respect for and trust in the West, completely lost it. And when Victoria Nuland showed up in Kyiv in 2014, Putin saw signs of a spade on the wall.
04:08
March 2012. Obama and Medvedev meet. They don’t know that the microphone is still on, and after the conference, Obama leans forward to Medvedev and says something like this: “This is my last election. Once elected, I will have more flexibility. Tell this to Vladimir” And Medvedev, like an obedient lackey, nods his head and says: “I’ll pass it on to Vladimir. I understand.”
04:29
September 2012. There is a debate between Obama and Mitt Romney, the GOP candidate. And Obama is practically mocking Romney, who called Russia the main geopolitical threat of our time. To quote Obama: “A few months ago, when you were asked what the biggest geopolitical threat America faces, you said Russia, not al-Qaeda. You said Russia. You seem to be trying to bring back the 1980s foreign policy and the Cold War. You don’t know what’s going on in the world. You’re incompetent.”
05:13
Look at all this through Putin’s eyes. In 2012, he is given an almost air kiss by Obama, who says it directly that after being elected, he will change (his policy) for the better, with more flexibility, that is, he will allow Putin more aggression in Europe. And in the same 2012 debate, which Putin undoubtedly followed, Putin’s Russia, Putin’s regime is called not a threat to Europe, from Obama’s point of view, while Al-Qaeda is considered to be one. But who remembers al-Qaeda now? Where was it? And when?
05:35
Probably the most important moment in Putin’s decision to go to war was September 2013. It was the so-called failure of Obama’s position over the red line. It is worth saying a little more about this.
Once upon a time there lived a wonderful ophthalmologist. He lived in the city of London. He was a wonderful family man. He treated people’s eyes. And it so happened that his older brother had an accident, and in Monte Carlo he flew off a cliff in his red Ferrari. There was a beautiful girl there. Evil tongues claim that the girl’s head was found under the steering wheel of the car when they were sorting through the rubble.
So be that as it may, the older brother of the ophthalmologist died. He was the elder brother of the ophthalmologist and was supposed to become a dictator in Syria. But he didn’t, he died. So a spare wheel had to be taken from a storage compartment, called Bashar al-Assad.
And thus the ophthalmologist, without expecting it, becomes a dictator. During the first years of his presidency, he tries to introduce his understanding of democracy into the Syrian socio-political field, organizes referendums, tries to expand rights, gives women the right to vote. Local assistants explain to him that he shouldn’t: “This is not London. This, you understand, is the East, and the East is a delicate matter.”
But he continues his tune and brings the country to a civil war. Realizing that now he, his family, his government and the Alawite minority will be physically destroyed, he changes his policy 180 ° and uses chemical weapons to prevent civil clashes. Barack Obama warns of the consequences of such actions.
What does our ophthalmologist do? Bashar al-Assad flies to Moscow, spends two days in Moscow, returns and defiantly uses chemical weapons again to destroy his own population. And here the words of Barack Obama to the effect that the transition of the red line means a no-return to the past reality and will involve harsh actions towards some, have completely evaporated. Instead of doing some act of retaliation, Barack Obama goes to Congress and the Senate. And all of it is washed away in an endless debate.
08:37
Vladimir Putin understands that the path is open. The path is open for what? For the annexation of Crimea. Six months pass, and “polite green men” annex Crimea. There is no retaliation, no military retaliation, no military counteraction from the White House. Very weak sanctions follow, which Skabeeva (a Russian TV host) described well. She said, “They’ve laid sanctions on us. We’ve laid on them.” “On them” is unclear – is it about sanctions or about those who introduced them?
08:53
Further aggression comes in April 2014 when the war in Donbass begins. Russia continues its annexation of Ukraine in Donbass by supplying weapons, military personnel, and all necessary military assistance to Donbass. Ukraine is asking for military assistance from America to level the playing field, and the White House, which houses Barack Obama, completely refuses to provide this kind of lethal weapons. Looking ahead, until the end of the Obama administration, Ukraine received neither a cartridge, nor a bullet, nor a mine, nor a projectile. Basically, Barack Obama did not want to provide Ukraine with any lethal weapons.
09:41
July 2014. Boeing MH17 is downed. Putin fools the whole world. “It was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter jet”, “it was shot down by aliens”, “it’s not us”, “the corpses are not fresh”… All of it is said to a complete irresponsible foolishness of the whole world. And at the very same time, satellite images lie in the White House, which clearly and without any doubt show the launch site, launch time, the rocket flight. Why do we know this? Because since the beginning of the military conflict, a satellite has been hanging over the conflict zone, which is filming it in real time. And Vladimir Putin knows this.
But because the White House does not provide the world with any information and is silent about the aggression that has taken place, Putin understands how much the White House is afraid of him.
10:47
June 2015. The Senate and the House of Representatives pass a law on the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Obama blocks this law. That is, the law on the provision of weapons already signed by the Senate and Congress in June 2015, is purposefully blocked by Obama. Putin knows this.
11:07
July 2016. Aleppo is the oldest city in the world. It is the pearl of the world history. A city where civilization is 6 thousand years old. The city of Aleppo was completely destroyed to the ground: there was no stone left unturned. There was no forceful influence, no punishment, no censure, or at least sanctions from the White House. The whole world has forgotten about Aleppo. Please remember Aleppo, remember the Georgian war, remember that the whole world, led by the White House, has been following this road for a very long time. This did not happen 6 months before the start of the war. This happened over many years. The whole world has raised this crocodile, this alligator, this monster. Nurtured and raised it.
12:06
Spring 2017. Trump is in power, and through his agent Danchenko, a certain Steele receives a dossier containing disinformation fabricated by the FSB of the Russian Federation. Disinformation through the Danchenko-Steele-Hillary Clinton channels (such was the chain of document transmission) is a sufficient basis for first spying and eavesdropping on Trump and his election committee, (during the election campaign), and then, (after Trump was elected) this fake piece of paper, in which there is not a word of truth, was the basis for starting the Trump investigation, which went on for three years, the so-called Mueller investigation.
The Democratic Party of America is fooling the whole world that Trump is corrupt and connected to Russia. There is not a single second of truth in this. But who knows about this better than Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who falsified this operation. He understands: there is a political discord in America, because he threw this muck on them, and they fell for this muck. He understands how weak the political façade or political climate in America is.
13:37
Any actions by Trump to change the security system in Europe are perceived as his friendly manifestations towards Putin. Trump requires European states to pay 2% for their defense, which is in line with their NATO commitments – however it’s called “Trump wants to destroy NATO to please Putin.”
Trump demands that they (they are European countries, mainly Germany) stop buying energy from Russia and stop their dependence on Putin. He demands it personally (this is in the notes, in numerous notes) from Merkel. But the American press says about it: “Trump is destroying our relations with our European allies. It works for the benefit of Russia.”
The only thing that could not be pinned on Trump that he was acting in Russia’s favor was the fact that he lowered the price of oil from an average of $100 per barrel under Obama to an average of $50 per barrel under Trump. That is, since oil fell from 100 to 50, this completely clipped the wings of our Kremlin eagle, so that it had to sit quietly and not tweet all these four years, because you can’t fight much for $50 per barrel.
Yes Yes Yes. The only canvas on which the canvas of this war is painted is the price of oil. When the price of oil falls, his war machine, the war cock, shrinks. When the price of oil rises Putin attacks Ukraine. Just like he attacked Georgia. Just like he annexed Crimea. All these actions and acts were made during the peak of oil prices. The price of oil goes up – Putin attacks. The price goes down – Putin sits and waits.
15:55
But this is not all that Trump managed to do during his presidency in relation to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In April 2017, the Russian troops defended the Syrian sky. A dozen S-300 and S-400 batteries were installed there. This was a typical gangster Putin’s litmus test. In April 2017, Trump was in office for three months, and Bashar al-Assad was doing what Bashar al-Assad, the family ophthalmologist, does well: spraying nerve gas from airplanes over his own people. And Putin sits and watches what will be the reaction from Trump. They, the Americans, call Shoigu and say that they will inflict a missile attack on the Shayrat base, the airfield will be destroyed, and they ask the Russians to take away their people from there so that they don’t accidentally hit them, otherwise it will be unpleasant. And here Putin has an interesting dilemma: to shoot down or not to shoot down? He knows the time, he knows the destination, he knows the place. S-300, S-400 can perfectly shoot down the Tomahawk missile, which was launched from an aircraft carrier. Question: shoot down (and run into escalation) or not shoot down? And in this game of blinkers, Putin blinked first.
He removed his staff. He also informed the Syrians about this. They removed their staff. But did not even have time to remove the planes. A missile strike was launched: 60 missiles were dropped on the Shayrat base. 20 aircraft were destroyed. This was one of the most successful raids by the American government. Putin was scared. And from that moment on, the sabotage and provocative activities of the so-called Donbass People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic on the border with Ukraine have been reduced.
18:00
December 2017. The first batch of lethal weapons sent by Trump comes to Ukraine. There is no act of retaliation on Putin’s part.
February 2018. Here comes the so-called episode under Deir ez-Zor. This was the first armed confrontation between US and Russian military forces since the 1953 Korean War. This episode went down into history as “We’re Not There”. What happened?
In February 2018, an agreement was reached under which America controlled the northeastern part of Syria, and Russia controlled the southwestern. The demarcation line went along the river so that they did not even have the possibility of a direct military confrontation. Despite this agreement, Russia violates it, builds a pontoon bridge across this very river, crosses over to the other side and tries to appropriate the oil refinery. So a very nice Russian move. The Pentagon calls Shoigu (Russian minister of defense) personally, says that this is a violation of the agreements. Shoigu says that he knows nothing and “we are not there.” And here Trump demonstrated the power and anger and fury of modern American weapons. A lead rain of guided precision missiles rained down on the column of armored personnel carriers and tanks. Within two minutes, every military vehicle was hit. Burnt people crawled out of the hot iron, from this terrible plasma, and above them hung two Apache helicopters controlled by a joystick. Somewhere in Oklahoma, two girls were sitting and with a heavy machine gun of 12.5 millimeters they were shooting at everyone trying to escape. The official data is hidden by both sides. According to unverified but fairly reliable data, out of 460 people who were in this military convoy (now called BTG, combat tactical group) 60 survived while badly wounded and badly morally traumatized. These 60 went through hell.
22:40
February 2021 is the first month of Biden’s rule. It signals the end of Trump’s oil policy. It introduces new restrictions on oil production. His very position, his cabinet, his administration says that the classic old black energy has come to an end, and now green energy will flourish. Oil prices are rising. This is before any war. That is, oil prices went from $50 to $100 even before the war. They are rising because the White House is signaling the end of the oil and gas era. Investments in oil and gas production are falling from $2.5 trillion a year to $1.5, that is, by 40%. Accordingly, prices are rising as the market expects a shortage of oil, which indeed takes place.
June 2021. The White House freezes aid to Ukraine. That is, the military aid that was committed under Trump, which was signed under Trump and was ready to be sent in June, the White House freezes as a gesture of goodwill to Putin. Ukraine remains unarmed again.
May 2021. Biden calls Putin a killer (this is in relation to the assassination attempt on Navalny), but at the same time agrees to meet with him in June. And just in time for this June, he freezes the supply of oil, after which he praises Putin for a long time for making a huge contribution to the fight against global warming.
The third event after the redline crisis, the decisive event that leads to war, is the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which shows complete incompetence, shows the whole world, including Putin, how weak our new president is.
November 2021. Bill Burns flies to Moscow and meets with Putin’s administration, negotiates with Putin by phone. They give him a direct message that there will be a war with Ukraine in January-February, but as an answer to that there is no retaliation, no sanctions, no arms supplies, that is, no answer followed since November 2021, when Putin told CIA director Bill Burns personally that there would be a war. If this is not unleashing the hands of a criminal, then what is it?
On December 24, 2021 (note the date: the day before Christmas, American Christmas) the Biden administration comes out publicly and calls on Ukraine to join and implement the Minsk agreements. Since December 24, before going on vacation, this has been so important to Biden that he calls on Zelensky to comply with the Minsk agreements and, in fact, fulfills Putin’s will in this sense. This is how the White House responded to the unambiguous, as we know from the Washington Post, threat of war.
January 13, 2022. War is inevitable. The White House is well aware of this, and yet Biden demands that the ban on Nord Stream 2 be lifted. Nord Stream 2 is reopened and is expected to start operating in February.
January 19, 2022. There are 36 days left before the war. Biden makes a strange remark at a press conference. Then I thought that he, as always, said something wrong, but now I understand that it was a message addressed to Putin. He said the following: “A minor invasion of Ukraine by Russia will not provoke a reaction from the West.”
That is, realizing that there will be a huge war, he tried to convince Putin to reduce the volume of aggression in exchange for the fact that he would be immediately forgiven. This happened on January 19, 2022. Realizing how weak the West is, how weak Biden is, exactly six months ago, Putin rushes to Ukraine, and a bloody massacre begins.
Trump was by no means a political genius, but compared to Barack Obama and Biden, he looks like some kind of political titan. Against the background of these two pygmies, even such a far from perfect politician as Trump looks like a political giant.
Obama and Biden are completely politically ignorant, ignorant of many political nuances. Their simple cowardice before the aggressor led to this war. Their desire for peacekeeping, for appeasing the aggressor, together with an inconsistent foreign policy and an increase in the price of oil, led to this war.”
~
Commenters also added a few more touches to what has been said:
- February 2014. The Obama-Biden administration demanded from the Ukrainian administration (Turchynov – IOP) that they did not provide any military resistance to the seizure of Crimea by the Russian Federation.
- August 2016. The US Vice President Joseph Biden interfered in the internal affairs of Ukraine by threatening to withdraw a $1 billion loan to Ukraine unless the country’s Attorney General Viktor Shokin was fired.
- 2020-2022 The absence of the American ambassador (or any plenipotentiary) to Ukraine.
- January 2022. the US withdrew its Navy ships from the Black Sea amid the situation in Ukraine.
- February 14, 2022, evacuation of the American embassy from Kyiv to Lvov.
- On February 24, 2022, during his White House address, Biden stated that the US would not be involved in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine.
UPDATE September 15, 2022
Here is one more touch to the general picture.
There are not enough people in the Russian army and they are looking for soldiers even among prisoners. Human rights activist Olga Romanova explains in detail how recruitment takes place, what they are offered and why they go to the front at all. According to Olga, thousands of prisoners have already been transported to Ukraine – murderers, rapists and even a cannibal.
Olga Romanova is a Russian journalist and director of the civil rights organization Russia Behind Bars. Currently she lives in Germany.
The interview is in Russian but below you will find the shortened transcript of it.
10 thousand Russian prisoners are now fighting Ukraine
September 14, 2022
Hello Olga. You surely follow the story of the recruitment of prisoners for a fight in Ukraine. How do you think it happens? Does someone from the Ministry of Defense come and say, “Guys, here we sign a contract”. How does it happen, do they release prisoners under amnesty or on parole based on some fake documents? What does the process look like? How do they send a man sentenced to 10 years for murder to another country to kill people there?
0:57 Too many good questions. Usually it is done the following way: the military are not present. A helicopter lands on the territory with a “Private Military Company” sign on it. The head of “Wagner” private company (real name is Utkin) is always present. Very often Prigozhin is also there – he is among his kind and enjoys it immensely.
1:20 Prigozhin usually shows off the star of the Hero of Russia [this is the highest title awarded for services to the state associated with the accomplishment of a heroic deed]. Today we’ve been told that a person with TWO stars of the Hero of Russia spoke in one of the prison colonies, but we cannot verify this information yet.
1:51 So the prison guards salute these people in civilian clothes, fawn over them, but they are simply kicked out. The visitors examine the convicts’ personal papers and line them up on the parade ground. First they reject those who are over 50-55 years old, then they single out the lowest caste of convicts [used for sexual purposes] into separate units.
2:36 Then “Wagner” tells them a mantra that in prison they will rot, while now they will be given a chance to become the soldiers of fortune. They are offered 200 thousand rubles [gigantic sum as compared with the average salaries], their relatives are promised five million in case of the convict’s death (though we have not heard of it ever paid), some compensation in case of a severe injury is also promised. These are the carrots.
3:15 As to the sticks – they have somewhat changed since the recruitment started. Back in June they were told that they would be shot on the spot in case they fled, tried to surrender, took drugs or alcohol, and in case they marauded – however this last point seems to be no longer on the list. Instead they added a new point – an attempt of a sexual contact, not clear between whom, will also be punished by shooting on the spot.
Though Prigozhin denies any connections with “Wagner” it does not stop him from addressing the prison inmates openly on its behalf: “In my private military company I have several types of aircraft, I have Multiple Launch Rockets Systems, I have tanks – everything you need for the offensive” (at 3:22):
4:11 Then they sign up those who agree. Prisoners actually agree willingly but for different reasons than their families. The relatives want money, while very few prisoners sign up for money – they just want to get away from the matrix they are in. For them any other place is better than a Russian prison. Very few understand where they are going, most often they are not trained, did not serve in the army, their health is bad, some of them have AIDS.
4:47 Whom do they sign up? The preferred category is murderers. Robbery is also good, bodily injuries are excellent and now they have also begun to accept rapists. In the Saratov region there is a case of signing up a cannibal maniac, so a cannibal was recruited too. Altogether about 10 thousand convicts have veen recruited. When I started to cover it, the number was just a few hundred. Now it is already 10 thousand because they are on their fourth round of surfing. The territory covered is mostly central Russia, they don’t go further to the Urals and Siberia. For some reason they don’t go to the east, although the Sverdlovsk region alone has 46 colonies.
7:19 Last question – are there cases when a prisoner was forced to go to, but refused and there were no repercussions?
7:47 Yes, and the way to avoid it is rather simple and effective, since there are no legal grounds for this activity. So in principle, it is easy. The jailers themselves feel very humiliated by this practice, as this is done directly in front of their eyes. But they understand perfectly well that if the wind changes they will be the first to answer. Where was the court decision to release these convicts from prison and give them weapons? There was none. So discontent is spreading even among the prison guards.
9:21 Wives and mothers of prisoners also have serious pacifist sentiments. To be able to pull the convicts out they should equip themselves with the order of the Ministry of Justice (found on the Internet) on registration of crimes that are plotted but not yet committed. Make a call to the duty officer and report to him this crime. Ask the officer to register the call according to the order of the Ministry of Justice. They will ask what kind of crime is being prepared. The answer is – the crime of Ivan Ivanov to be released from the colony with weapons in his hands and then sent to another country. Ask them to register it in their papers and give you the registration number. If the call is accepted usually it helps. The matter is then forwarded to the head of the colony who usually takes out such a prisoner from the batch, because, in principle, what can he answer to that?
10:27 All of it is really sad. You remember that when the whole thing began Russian propaganda bashed people around the clock with stories of Ukraine mobilizing its prisoners. And now thousands of people in Russia who committed most serious crimes are taken from the colonies and sent off to do what our propaganda claimed about Ukraine.
11:11 Well, Ukrainians defend their country and ours is another story – prisoners are released on no legal grounds and are sent to another country. This is not their motherland that is in danger. Ukraine is fighting for life tooth and nail, any way it can. And in Russia the strategy is to utilize these people, to dispose of them. These are marginalized groups of the population who are a headache and who may reoffend, so why not utilize them in Ukraine?
UPDATE December 6, 2022
LEND-LEASE FOR UKRAINE. EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY
NOTE:
The bill on Lend-Lease to Ukraine was proposed by Senator John Corbyn (Republican) on January, 19th 2022.
Its terms are different from the Lend-Lease of 1941.
The new law has two exceptions from the current legislation which allow the President to lend and lease the armaments currently in stock in the USA 1) with no requirement of further compensation for them 2) no limitations in respect of their volume or budget.
The only limitation is the period of validity of the new lend-lease law – its expiration date is September 30, 2023.
In other words the aid is to be free, does not require production of new armaments as the military aid is to be taken from the old armaments stored in the US (sometimes since the times of the Vietnam war), but the law is to be in effect for a relatively short period of time.
The new Lend-Lease Bill was signed by President Biden on May 9, 2022.
It allows the President to provide any armaments to Ukraine of his own free will, without reporting it to Congress and no restrictions from it, but within the limited period of May 9, 2022 – September 30, 2023.
As of today not a single piece of armament or ammunition has been sent to Ukraine under the Lend-Lease law.
Vindicating Michael 
MUSIC BOX
This singer/songwriter may be called the Russian Michael Jackson. His name was Igor Talkov and he was murdered in a concert in 1991. Probably because he wrote songs like this one (‘Globe’) which sound today even more relevant than more than 30 years ago.
English translation:
Show me a country
Where the tyrant is glorified
Where their own defeat
Is celebrated as a victory by its people
Show me a country
Where everyone is cheated
Where back means forward, and vice versa
Don’t spin the globe
You won’t find it
There are no such states on the planet Earth
Except the fatal one
Where all of you aren’t living
You aren’t living, because you can’t call it life
Show me a country
Where the temples are boarded up
Where the priest hides his KGB epaulets under the cassock
Show me a country
Where boors are blessed
Where the rulers are robbing the treasury, flouting the law
Don’t spin the globe
You won’t find it
There are no such states on the planet Earth
Except the fatal one
Where all of you aren’t living
You aren’t living, because you can’t call it life
Show me a country
Where children are getting infected
Where soldiers are forced to shoot at women and elderlies
Show me a country
Where saints are being humiliated
Where heroes – the war veterans, are living worse than slaves
Don’t spin the globe
You won’t find it
There are no such states on the planet Earth
Except the fatal one
Where all of you aren’t living
You aren’t living, because you can’t call it life
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Happy New Year!
Here is the Ukrainian Defense Minister addressing Russians on December 31, 2022 (English subtitles)
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Lend-Lease for Ukraine. Expectations and Reality
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“Side by side with me are the best”
He stressed that side by side with him are the best, fighting for freedom for the Ukrainian people. The congratulatory video was published on Facebook on the morning of December 6.
“I know that they stand better side by side with me. Stronger than steel, fiercer than fire, stronger than any element. The hearts of Ukrainian soldiers beat in unison with the hearts of millions of fellow citizens and all freedom-loving people of the world,” the general said.
He stressed that Ukraine’s path to freedom is filled with blood, full of suffering and pain. But “it is this path that leads us forward to avenge and conquer, leaving no room for fear or discouragement.”
“On the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, I think first of all about the fallen brothers and their families. These thoughts tear my heart as a commander in chief, father, husband and son. They make me constantly look back at the path we have traveled, almost nine years long. This is the path of warriors, people who have the courage and dignity to choose freedom.
Every day, realizing the price we pay for freedom, I gather my will into a fist. To have the strength to overcome the aggressor and discourage him from ever encroaching on our freedom in the future, “said Zaluzhny. He wished a speedy recovery to the wounded soldiers. To all who are in the ranks – strength and stamina, inspiration and joy, victorious peace.
“Dear soldiers, sergeants and officers, workers and veterans of the Armed Forces. I am proud to serve my state side by side with you. Proud to be your commander in chief in this difficult time. I believe in each of you and in our victory,” summed up Zaluzny.
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As to what will happen tomorrow… well, the mobilization in Russia will draft 300 thousand conscripts, though they say that in reality it may reach 1 mln conscripts, possibly 1,2 mln.
In the meantime Biden’s administration has stopped giving any weapons to Ukraine at all. See the data as of September 25, 2022 which proves that for the past 2 weeks the USA has provided zero weapons: https://protectukrainenow.org/en/report
The above info is updated online and is provided for those who are under the impression that the US is in the forefront of supporting Ukraine.
Absolutely not.
Depending on their share of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the country that has given most financial, military and humanitarian aid is the small Estonia, then comes Latvia, then comes Poland, then comes Norway, then comes Lithuania, then comes Great Britain and only then comes the USA. The country that has given less of all per their GDP is Germany.
The source of information is Kiel Institute for World Economy. Their figures cover the period from January 24 to August 3, 2022:
And now Biden’s administration has stopped providing any weapons at all.
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What a beautiful song the music the words it’s righten for all of you there where do you go from here with everything that it’s happening nobody knows what tomorrow will bring what direction do you run to stay safe with love.
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Sorry for keeping silent again despite so many posts that need to be written about Michael Jackson (and things taking place around him).
It’s mobilization here, so here is a little explanation – the song by Vassily Oblomov, a Russian singer/songwriter/musician which was recorded a couple of years ago but which somehow resonates with me at the moment.
Below are the lyrics.
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There are not enough people in the Russian army and they are looking for soldiers even among prisoners. Human rights activist Olga Romanova explains in detail how recruitment takes place, what they are offered and why they go to the front at all. According to Olga, ten thousand prisoners have already been transported to Ukraine – murderers, rapists and even a cannibal.
Olga Romanova is a Russian journalist and director of the civil rights organization Russia Behind Bars. Currently she lives in Germany.
The blog post has been updated with a shortened transcript of her interview. See the post to read it and look at some pictures.
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Heart-breaking.
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A very young boy in the city of Kharkiv (which’s been shelled every day for half a year now) goes on his first walk outside the basement where he is hiding. It is early spring and is very cold. “If I don’t survive, I’ll leave this video for the next person to see (and know) – war is a terrible thing. It is very scary”
Translation:
Heart-breaking.
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Oh, what a shock – Queen Elizabeth II dies. What an incredible life spanning a whole era!
There is something symbolic about the first Prime-minister during her reign being Winston Churchill and the last one being Liz Truss. It is as if history made a full circle and returned to one of its breaking points.
In June this year Queen Elizabeth II marked 70 years on the throne.
Paddington Bear joins the Queen for afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace and says “Thank you for all”
Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa
Ukraine government official
It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On behalf of the 🇺🇦 people, we extend sincere condolences to the @RoyalFamily, the entire United Kingdom and the Commonwealth over this irreparable loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
8:57 PM · 8 сент. 2022 г.
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Here is a video for those who thought that it was possible to be friends with a crocodile.
But the story behind it is no less smashing than the video as it later turned out. Here it is from the Krasnoyarsk online source.
Krasnoyarsk is the 8th biggest city in Russia with a population of 1 103 023.
The average low in Krasnoyarsk in January is -19,2°C (-2,2°F). The record low was -52,8 °C (-63 °F) in 1931. As of the 2000s the record low was -41°C.
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My congratulations to Great Britain on the election of Liz Truss their leader and the future PM of the country.
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Today it’s been thirteen years since we lost one of the most inspiring human that ever lived and the world it was a better place thirteen years ago,we miss you Michael Jackson.
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Jolie, thank you, thank you, thank you!
That bloody ‘special operation’ of ours in Ukraine has sent me into such a knockdown that I didn’t know if I would ever get on my feet again.
This interview with Brett Barnes is the first good news for the past months and will hopefully help. His pronunciation is a little bit difficult for me, but I’ve downloaded it and will try to understand by listening to him over and over again.
By the way, here is a YouTube version of the same (with no subtitles, alas):
Thank you again for bringing it to our attention!
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Greetings Helena,
I thought you & MJ fans would like to know about the following interview with Brett Barnes for Vindication Day 2022:
http://www.themjcast.com/145-vindication-day-special-with-brett-barnes/
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Here is an interview that will provide “the invisible thread that was missing” (as one of the commenters said) and help those who seek the truth to see what’s what and find some foothold in the world of today’s chaos.
The interview was originally available only here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/former-putin-adviser-andrei-illarionov-inside-the-mind-of-vladimir-putin_4448118.html
But now it is also found on Youtube:
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I don’t know whether we can (or cannot) believe the source I’ve found, but some commenters think it to be credible. The person who speaks in this video presents himself as a Russian intelligence general who is ready to provide insider’s information about the intentions of our regime.
Generally speaking, I am distrustful of any secret service sources who present themselves as “opposition”, but if there are indeed people like that there, all is not lost for my country. And the subject itself is so important that it would be a crime to ignore it.
In this video (with English subtitles) he warns of what might happen in the near future, so if anything of the kind does happen we will at least know whether this person has misinformed us or told the truth. He does not guarantee that what he is describing will happen (he says it is only a plan), but the warning itself is grim.
The most important news comes at about 8:40 mark of the video.
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Yes I have seen that picture of him in the church,how can he go to church how the religious leaders let him be there where is God give him a sing paralyse his legs something. It’s all about money and power even religious people selling themselves to the devil.
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Here are some excerpts from an article published in Novaya gazeta, Europe on April 23, 2022.
The article is about the tragedy of Mariupol.
Here are some videos recorded by the Azovstal defenders about the civilians who are still in the plant’s catacombs.
The children of “Azovstal”: we want to go home very much, we want to see the Sun
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Des, yes, my God, the children.. and their mothers… and all those peaceful people who just wanted to live… There are no words to describe this hell.
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Dear Helena my heart goes out to you and all of you there and I want to wish you a happy Easter but the same time I feel guilty how do you wish people a happy Easter when they are in a middle of a war even if the war stops today how the people going to find happiness that’s how hate starts how many generations will take to get over this if ever but I am thinking of you all the time am thinking about the children and am thinking about Michael too you’ll see everyone there is a victim but the children my God the children and that’s why Michael was exposing himself to the suffering of the children it’s like he wasn’t allowing himself to forget even for a minute that they are people who are hurting ,those children their been damaged forever
For the rest of us we watch the news we know what going on we said but our life’s haven’t changed we moving on and that’s the truth we will only understand if it happens to us. I don’t know what to say why life is so unfair .Thinking of you stay strong my dear.
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Irpen is a town in the suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine. This is what it looks like after the “special operation” by our regime:
And this is what it was like in 2020, before it was “liberated” by Russian forces. The author of the video called it the town of parks (for English subtitles go to Settings > Russian > translate > English):
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On April 6th (five days ago) Colonel Markus Reisner of the Austrian armed forces made a review of the course of the “special operation” in Ukraine and outlined some possible scenarios of how it could develop (English subtitles).
The Colonel uses the official Russian information.
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HUG ME
Світ – “Обійми” (кавер-версія на пісню гурту “Океан Ельзи”) | Svit – “Obiymy” (Okean Elzy cover)
Okean Elzy is a well-known Ukrainian band.
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Yesterday the Russian main state news agency published a sort of a manifesto called “What Russia should do with Ukraine” which details the future prepared by the Russian regime for this sovereign state.
The wise may also project these plans for other countries – in a more distant future though.
Well, even I was shocked by every aspect of this manifesto though I perfectly understand the nature of the regime I live in.
Here is a short review of it by Tadeusz Giczan https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1510908227202002947
The full text will be added to this blog post.
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19 photos. Warning: they are not for the faint-hearted.
But for my compatriots they are a must – in fact all those who support this “special operation” should be forced to see these photos. https://theins.ru/news/249937
Ruslan Leviev and his Conflict Intelligence Team consisting of 6 young volunteer investigators are set to determine what particular regiments are responsible for these war crimes. They usually do it by means of geolocation, photos, witness testimonies and other open sources. Up till now they have been extremely successful. https://twitter.com/CITeam_ru
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For those who need a reality check. Please take this interview seriously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE5iEkrPKJQ (full interview))
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Here is a video about a panel concerning Ukraine which aired on BBC on March 2nd, 2022.
The reason why I am posting it is my surprise that the commentators considered it a sort of a revelation to them. In my opinion, what Konstantin Kisin said there should be obvious to any reasonable person. Not that I agree with everything he says, regarding Crimea and Donbass, for example, but since all commentators say that it makes a difference here is the video so that it helps others to also see the truth:
Konstantin Kisin on BBC Question Time
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The 2021 Nobel laureate ‘Novaya gazeta’ has been suspended in Russia today. Here is their statement:
That was the last more or less independent newspaper in Russia.
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Here is Volodimir Olexandrovich Zelensky’s, President of Ukraine’s interview to four Russian journalists on March 27, 2022 (with English subtitles).
Three of them worked for the media which are now closed, and only one journalist (the one in the upper right hand corner on the screen) works for a media outlet which is still functioning. His official position may explain why his looks and his questions are somewhat ‘skeptical’.
00:00 Greetings
00:37 Muratov’s question about eliminating Zelensky as the goal of the‘special operation’ [Muratov is the 2021 Nobel Prize winner, editor-in-chief of Novaya gazeta]
03:01 Zelensky about Russia’s attempts to destabilize the political system of Ukraine
09:58 Zelensky about the humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol and corpses on the streets
12:14 Zelensky: “Our troops are inside Mariupol”
15:16 About the number of dead Russian soldiers
16:53 About the “all for all” exchange
19:41 Russia does not want to take away the corpses of soldiers
23:05 About Russian soldiers: “They are not warriors. They were forced. They were sent for slaughter”
24:01 “They go and burn everything. I don’t know who else the Russian army has ever treated like this”
26:55 About the attitudes towards Russians
30:54 “Deep disappointment that much of Russia’s population is supporting it”
34:30 “It’s wrong to boycott Loznitsa”
36: 20 “Putin did the worst thing to the Russian language”
38:27 About the boycott of athletes
40:53 About negotiations and its 6 points
43:41 ““Denazification” and “demilitarization” – we don’t discuss this at all”
44:53 Point about the protection of the Russian language
48 :35 “Nuclear-free status. We are ready to go for it”
49:59 About the referendum
53:17 About a meeting with Putin
54:13 What will happen if Ukrainians vote against the neutral status?
56:15 Participation of Russian businessmen in the negotiation process
59:01 Participation of Abramovich
59:40 “Some Russian businessmen are even ready to help rebuild Ukraine after the war”
1:02:56 Will there be NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine?
1:05:52 “Fake document”: Zelensky about allegedly preparing an attack on Donbass
1:09:00 Another fake document shown on Russian TV signed as “V.A.Zelensky” instead of V.O.Zelensky
1:10:03 “Russian warship” and the fate of Ukrainian border guards
1:11:08 About biological laboratories: “This is a joke”
1:13:47 What will be a victory for Ukraine
1:15:34 “They are unlikely to enter Kyiv”
1:16:13 About the referendum in the “LPR” on joining Russia
1:18:23 About attempts on his life
1:18:58 Zelensky’s address to the Russians
1:26:55 Why does Putin need this [‘special operation’]?
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ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.
We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!
Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.
We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.
That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.
Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.
Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.
Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.
Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/prayers/documents/20220325-atto-consacrazione-cuoredimaria.html
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Quite by accident today I’ve come across a highly unusual text written by professor Andrey Zubov (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Zubov), a well-known Russian historian, religion scholar and prominent public person, Vice-president of People’s Freedom Party and a practicing Orthodox Christian.
He wrote a post on his Facebook account about a unique event that is to take place tomorrow, March 25, 2022.
The post is so amazing that I don’t even know what to say. Only the future can tell us whether it is true.
FOR THOSE WHO CARE
By Andrey Zubov
On March 25, a great event is to take place in Christian life.
There are quite a few people in Russia, in the West, and in Ukraine who are deprived, as they like to say, of their “religious nerve.” This post is not for them. But for those who believe in Jesus Christ it is very important.
The event will overcome all confessional differences of Christian denominations and will symbolize the co-existence of man and God. It will put the current nightmarishly tragic events in Europe in a certain historical and, if you like, mystical context, and give it a metaphysical depth.
I am far from imposing my vision of what is happening now on anyone. I’m just reporting it. But as a historian and already an elderly person who learned about Fatima in his youth, 45 years ago, and since then has always kept these events in his heart and mind, I have no right to remain silent when these events suddenly get a continuation in our days.
On March 15, i.e. less than a week ago, Pope Francis announced that at the Annunciation, he, “with a council of bishops of all the earth,” would perform at 17:00 European time the rite of consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Most Pure Heart of the Virgin Mary. At the same time his representative, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, on his behalf, will perform the same dedication at Fatima in Portugal.
The Pope said that the Christian people, horrified by the scale of the atrocities and homicides taking place due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, demanded that they again make this consecration, which was first made by St. Pope John Paul II on the Annunciation day 38 years ago, in 1984.
In this new initiation, Pope Francis is following the will of the Christians, who for many decades kept the memory of the event that took place in Portugal 105 years ago, and, conjugating the fate of Russia with it, prayed for the deliverance from the power of the “evil enemy”, that is Satan.
The Pope informed Patriarch Kirill of his decision in a direct telephone conversation, and the revered image of the Mother of God of Fatima from Fatima was sent to Ukraine and is now in Lviv. The Pope called on all Christians of the world to pray that the consecration of Russia and Ukraine does take place this Friday.
To understand the scale of the coming event, I will tell of its background.
The events of 1917 in Russia reverberated throughout Europe. In distant Portugal, the response to it took on a mystical and a rationally inexplicable character.
Three young illiterate children from the impoverished village of Fatima in Portugal, unexpectedly for everyone and themselves, became prophets who spoke on behalf of the Virgin. It was in the autumn of 1916 when the shepherds, the eldest of whom, Lucia, was 10 years old, looked after the sheep on the slopes of Cova de Iria. Something bright flashed in the east of the cloudless sky, then again, and Lucia began to hurry the rest of the children – Francisco (Francis) and Jacinta to quickly descend the mountain and run home. Lightning could be a harbinger of a thunderstorm.
However, the bright radiance approached faster than the children could leave, and it turned out to be a celestial appearance of an inexpressibly beautiful youth with a communion cup in his hands. Calling himself the angel of Portugal, he made three prostrations before the bowl, which meanwhile hovered in the air, inviting the children to follow his example. However, some force forced them to do this against their own will and to utter the words of a penitential prayer for the sins of the world to the Holy Trinity.
On May 13 of the following year, 1917, on the slopes of the same mountain, the Mother of God appeared in a similar way before the children, and her appearances occurred monthly on the 13th until October. She showed the children the depths of hell and the beauty of paradise and told that the fate of the world is being decided now in the far-away Russia, the name of which was unknown to children (They thought that this was some kind of a bad woman).
“From time immemorial there has been a battle for human hearts between My Son and the crafty enemy, and now the center of this battle is in Russia.”
She asked both children and adults, all Christians of the world to pray for the people of Russia and even gave the rules for praying with the rosary.
“If people obey My words, then Russia will return to God and a long peace will come on earth; but otherwise, it will spread its false teachings throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church,” Lucia conveyed to the adults the words of the Mother of God.
The adults were shocked, because they perfectly understood what kind of Russia the children were talking about and explained to them that this is a huge distant country, in which even Christianity is professed differently and the Pope is not revered, but that Russia, together with Portugal, has been fighting against the Central Powers for the third year, and that now a revolution has been going on in Russia, similar to the one that took place in Portugal seven years before, and, just as in Portugal, the hearts of the Russian people are really wavering between the Son of Man and the devil.
Both children and adults prayed for Russia, but, due to human weakness, they asked much more fervently for their everyday needs, for health, so that their relatives at the front would not die; they tried to find out the future and even the oak tree on which the Virgin Mary appeared, was torn away all the way to the bare trunk for amulets and talismans.
The Mother of God, appearing every month, said that the war would soon end, but if people did not change their attitude towards each other, then a new, even more terrible war would come after it, in which tens of millions of people would die and entire nations would disappear.
She explained that this different attitude is help to another, sacrifice for another, solidarity with another. This destroys the power of Satan, while selfish acquisition at the expense of another only strengthens the evil enemy.
The Mother of God said that the Church should give an example to the world of such a sacrificial ministry, and that is why the words about Orthodox Russia were uttered by Her at the other end of Europe in the Catholic Portugal.
The Mother of God warned that the night glow over all of Europe would be a sign before the start of a new terrible war that would break out if people did not change their attitude towards each other.
Information about the events in Fatima instantly spread throughout Portugal. The socialist authorities of the country did everything possible, up to the detention of children, to prevent them from coming to the place where the Virgin appeared.
However, things did not go as planned by the authorities. The mocking reports in the newspapers only added fuel to the fire. Tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to Fatima. On October 13, the Mother of God promised to give a sign to everyone who would gather in Fatima.
Here is how the editor-in-chief of the socialist newspaper O Seculo, the atheist Aveline de Almeida, describes the events of that day:
“The sun stood at its zenith like a silver disc and could be watched without any difficulty. It lasted only for a few moments. Suddenly it began to rotate like a giant fiery circle. Then it stopped. And it whirled again, turning into a blood-red color, and began to rush from one end of the sky to the other, leaving a fiery trail, descending low, so low that it seemed that the earth would catch fire from its heat. The crowd, maddened with fear, repented aloud of their sins, expecting an imminent end. Having performed this dance three times, the sun returned to its place. The shivering crowd of a hundred thousand people who were completely wet only ten minutes before that after an endless rain, suddenly felt that they were completely dry.”
On October 13, the Mother of God announced to the children and through them to all those who gathered there that people did not heed her requests, did not change their hearts and minds, and therefore evil would win in Russia and many sorrows would come to the whole world, “but the time will come, and the Russian people will again turn to My Son, and then peace will return to the earth.”
25 days later, a Bolshevik coup took place in Russia, in the city of Petrograd.
The strange phenomenon was visible at a distance of 20 miles, but not a single astronomical observatory recorded it. Whether it was a mass psychosis, a collective hallucination, or something else, there is still no scientific answer, despite careful research by major scientific authorities.
However, the consequences were not long in coming. Portugal forgot about an atheistic government for decades, returned to the traditional faith and was saved from the horrors of the Second World War.
Learning from the newspapers about this phenomenon (and the entire European press wrote about Fatima first in horror, then with laughter and mockery), the captive sovereign Nicholas II told Sidney Gibbs who was a teacher of his son:
“Not a single Portuguese newspaperman would have thought of putting into the mouth of this girl prophecies about Russia. Why do they need Russia? In Portugal, not only this illiterate girl, but most newspaper owners know as much about Russia as we do about them, even less. Who could put into the mouth of a girl, probably a future saint, words about Russia? Well, imagine, Mr. Gibbs, that in our country, say, Seraphim of Sarov would prophesy about Portugal, France or your country. Who would listen to him?”
Catholic Church of the 20th century was very cautious about all sorts of phenomena, miracles, prophecies. Most of them were simply ignored as a product of sick imagination. The same was their initial reaction to Fatima. But healings began to multiply at the place of Virgin Mary’s appearance, and Lucia, who was the only one of the three children who survived after the Spanish flu of 1919-1920 and later became a nun, continued to talk about her new visions.
On July 13, 1929, she asked Pope Pius XI to “consecrate Russia to the heart of the Mother of God in unity with all bishops, for the Queen of Heaven so commanded to convey Her will to the Holy Father.” The pope, naturally enough, ignored the call of the exalted young Portuguese nun. But those were the last days before the start of full collectivization in the USSR. The collectivization was followed by a famine (Holodomor) and the Great Terror that broke the back of the peoples of Russia and cost more than 12 million victims.
In 1938, Lucia warned Pope Pius XI that a new terrible war was coming, and in order to prevent it, the consecration of Russia to the heart of the Virgin must be done immediately. By that time the authority of Lucia was already quite high. Many in the Catholic world knew her and many believed in the authenticity of the Fatima apparition. And everyone was horrified by the specter of a new war that seemed more and more inevitable.
On the night of January 2, 1938, the whole of Europe was illuminated by the unusually bright Northern lights. Shortly thereafter, Germany carried out the Anschluss of Austria and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Plans for a new world war were being made in Berlin and Moscow…
But neither Pius XI nor Pius XII, who succeeded him on March 2, 1939, carried out the consiliar consecration of Russia to the heart of the Mother of God. This mystical act was too discordant with the rational spirit of the 1930s.
To the ear of an Orthodox “the heart of the Virgin” sounds somewhat strange. However mystics generally consider the heart to be the center of human will, the point at which a person makes a free choice between good and evil, truth and falsehood.
Let’s remember the Gospel – “from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies – this defiles a person” [Matthew 15:19-20]. Immersion of the mind in the heart is the favorite method of prayer for Orthodox ascetics.
For the Catholic mind the consecration of Russia to the heart of the Mother of God meant the union of the will of the Russian people with the pure and good will of the Mother of God, and not with the devilish will of the theomachists. But at that time this union took place neither formally nor in fact.
The vision at Fatima was officially recognized by the Vatican in 1967 when, on the fiftieth anniversary of the apparition, the Pope, then Paul VI, officially visited Fatima.
And the consecration to the “heart of the Virgin” was made by Pope John Paul II and the Council of Bishops in Rome on March 25, 1984, three years after the Soviet agent Ali Agadzha, a Turk trained in Bulgaria, shot at the Pope and wounded him badly four times exactly on the anniversary of the apparition, on May 13, 1981, during a service in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.
Having recovered a little from his wounds, the Pope made the initiation. Exactly one year later, in March-April 1985, Perestroika began in Russia.
However, at the consecration, John Paul II did not pronounce the name of Russia. He spoke of “all peoples who especially need the intercession of the Mother of God.” The advisers told the pope not to spoil relations with the all-too-powerful USSR.
And the Pope waivered. The German Bishop Paul Josef Kordes recalled that at a dinner with bishops close to him, Pope John Paul II once spoke about the consecration of Russia, which took place on March 25, 1984. He said that during the prayer he was going to make a special mention of Russia, but was forced to back down at the insistence of his entourage in order not to challenge the Soviet leadership. He told the bishops who dined with him that ever since he regretted the missed opportunity.
However, many believe that this change in consecration was providential. Indeed, by the 1980s, not only Russia, but many Christian countries from East Germany to Bulgaria that were languishing under the yoke of satanic communism, freed themselves from it in 1988-91.
All – but not the former “republics” of the USSR (except the Baltic ones). Here again, Satan took possession of the souls of people, and with particular force in Russia again, which, like the neighboring Belarus, remained essentially a Bolshevik country. The former KGB here celebrates its anniversaries on a grand scale, statues of Lenin and other disgusting atheists, robbers and murderers are still everywhere, Lukashenko even returned the Soviet flag and coat of arms, Putin returned the Soviet anthem, and would gladly return the red flag. The tricksters did not return the property to the people robbed by the Bolsheviks, but stuffed it into their bottomless pockets, building palaces and yachts for themselves.
In Russia, they banned even the “Memorial” that was set up to preserve the memory of the mournful past. And everywhere you keep hearing the timpani drums of false history, the exaltation over murder weapons, the glorification of strength over the truth. All this could not but end in a tragedy and a sea of blood.
Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, the incredible inhumanity of this ‘special operation’ same as in the war in Syria, the complete violation of all norms of law and humanity – this is what made the Christian people ask the Pope for a new consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the heart of the Mother of God.
And the Pope heard the request of the Christians of the world. This time the names of Russia and Ukraine will be pronounced loud and clear for the City and the Universe.
On March 25, at the Annunciation 2022, a great event in the Christian life is to take place. And it is important to realize its enormous significance for our countries and for all mankind. As in 1917 and the years of Perestroika, our future depends on our choice. Jesus and His Mother are just offering us an opportunity. It is in our power to take this opportunity or reject it.
Isn’t all of it utterly amazing?
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Thank you Helena for this important matter,
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Here is a great video about the way people survive in the destroyed Mariupol. The city has long been in blockade and part of the city is already occupied by the opposite side. Ukrainian humanitarian convoys carrying food and medicine are not allowed in, so food and water are brought in by small vans, driven by volunteers. Actually, these volunteers say that they have purchased the bread themselves.
On their way into the city you see a line of private cars out of it, so those with cars and pedestrians able to walk some 6 kms have a chance to leave the city. Then those who walked on foot are picked up by buses and taken to safer Ukrainian regions.
The volunteers say that some areas of the city are not available to them as there are snipers there working from both sides.
The people speaking on tape address their relatives and tell them that they are alive, some even smile and say that they are fine.
All of them speak Russian. English subtitles are available (settings > Russian >; translation > English or other languages), but the text is very fragmented and will probably give the general idea only.
The number of people in Mariupol is approx. 40,000. Some 65,000 have been able to leave, others stay in basements and shelters.
The volunteers help to find two wheels to repair a car so that a family of six is able to leave. On their way out the volunteers take away the wounded and the woman from a ruined flat who complained of extreme cold and says that she has no one else but a cat.
You can donate them money if you want:
https://www.donationalerts.com/r/bolshiepushki
The way I understand it this narrow corridor to the north-west of Mariupol still allows its citizens to leave the city (when it is not bombed):
P.S. By now around 100,000 people left Mariupol for other Ukrainian areas, about 40,000 people were taken to the Russian territory, the number of deaths in the city cannot be determined, so the number of those who are left there may be around 200,000.
For about four weeks Mariupol’s residents were completely devoid of any information and many think that the Ukrainian authorities did not even try to rescue them – though the Ukrainian convoys of trucks with humanitarian aid and buses for evaculation as well as the aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross had to regularly turn back due to the resumed hostilities despite the agreed green corridors. The routes to the Russian territory are open.
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Des, I agree – with one correction only.
If Russia stops fighting there will be no more ‘special operation’ but only until the next one. Under the current regime of course.
As to Ukraine its cities are bombed so heavily that they are practically erased to the ground. In Mariupol there isn’t a single undamaged building left. It is in the east of Ukraine and 90% of its citizens speak Russian. All those who are still alive are homeless now. So much for the ‘liberation’ of these people.
Here are the satellite images of Mariupol as of March 19-22, 2022:
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I saw this somewhere,If Russia stops fighting there will be no more war
If Ukraine stops fighting there will be no more Ukraine.
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Yes, but the songs he wrote were anti-war and anti-aggression. Pro-life and pro-peace. And who broke peace in this case? Who is the aggressor in this “special operation” of theirs? If it had not started Ukraine would have lived in peace. And now it is being bombed, same as Syria was. To total destruction.
Of course those “lovers of peace” are against giving Ukraine the weapons that would enable them to protect their civilians from the barbaric bombings. But these peace-lovers should also realize that it is the same as watching a gang kill their victims and not coming to their rescue.
Looking at all the injustice done to Michael Jackson and his memory I have long lost all illusions about the “objectivity” of the West and its media. So I am not the one to be told that they have no right to judge anything.
But I don’t care what they are like.
I care what we are like.
If someone is bad we shouldn’t follow their way.
But now we are even worse – much worse.
And no amount of explanations can help that.
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Maria, you’ve illustrated very well what some 70% of Russians think following many years of the official propaganda. But I won’t argue with you and won’t try to convince you of anything – you will learn the truth yourself.
I didn’t get information for these two media outlets even when they were still functioning. Both annoyed me very much, each in its own way, so I looked for other credible sources of information. And I found them.
That’s true. All Russian media copypasted lies about Michael, even those which were supposed to be “independent”. It was and is a truly pathetic picture.
I firmly believe in facts and facts only, and this is why I did my research in respect of Ukraine too. A lot of it and practically non-stop beginning with at least 2013.
My point is that irrespective of NATO, US and the various games played around Ukraine by various actors, IT IS A MORTAL SIN for Russians to kill their brother Ukrainians and no amount of official propaganda can change my views.
Because even if my brother is “mistaken” or wants to go his own way, I would let him go rather than kill him and his family.
If he comes back one day, he will be very much welcome, but if he doesn’t, it is okay too.
It is his life, his right to choose his path and I have no right to deprive him of it. Especially since I myself may not be that perfect after all.
When you look into the core of the problem all those speculations about the role of NATO, US and whatnot become highly irrelevant.
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To all those who believe various propaganda lies I suggest an article which looks into the mechanics of brainwashing people and the need to seriously explore it.
By the way the same goes for millions of people round the world who were brainwashed by western media to believe lies about Michael Jackson!
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https://ria.ru/20220319/mariupol-1779001848.html?in=t
To THESE people (Azov) you want to send more weapon?
Or you think this woman is an actress?
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Anatomy of the Mariupol hospital attack
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/03/europe/mariupol-maternity-hospital-attack/index.html
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You are being dangerously naive and irresponsible, Elena.
People, who protested at Euromaidan, too, thought they were fighting for their “sovereignty and integrity” — but it directly led to what’s happening in their country now. Because they didn’t take into the consideration the political reality: the EU deal for them is a package deal: it comes with NATO, and Putin just would not have it.
And your battle-cry, Elena, if listened to, could lead to even more grave consequences for the whole world – to the nuclear war. The fact that you do not see HOW it could lead to that, doesn’t mean that possibility doesn’t exist.
Putin is not crazy and is not a “hooligan”. He is strategic and very consistent. He was talking and talking for years and years about how he wouldn’t tolerate NATO at Russian border. No one listened. And no one is listening now – which is only leading to more escalation.
His main demand is: an assurance from Ukraine that it will remain neutral and not seek to join NATO. No amount of weapon for Ukraine and no amount of economic sanctions would change that.
The West could have at least tried to stop the bloodshed by agreeing to that demand. But they don’t. They are ready to f*ck over their own economics and start the WW3, but not agree to THAT demand. You have to ask yourself – why?
This is not about Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity (which it never truly had, being first under RF and then under the USA influence). This is about Nato’s expansion, energy sources and the USA’s petrodollar.
You are a researcher and thinker, Elena. So, research deeper and think!
Of course, the peace must be restored. But more weapon is not the answer.
Talking about Michael. During his adult life, the USA lead many wars: 1983 Grenada invasion, 1986 Libya bombing, 1980’s Salvador, 1987 Iran, 1989 Panama invasion, 1991 Gulf War (Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel), 1993 Somali intervention, 1992-99 Yugoslav Wars (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia), 1994 Haiti intervention, 2001-21 Afghanistan, 2002-present (!) Yemen, 2003-11 Iraq, 2004-18 Pakistan, 2007-present (!) Somali and Kenya…
Michael was never directly involved in protesting these wars. I guess, he was smart and responsible enough to not talk about the things he has no full understanding of. Throughout all of it, he continued to do what he could do best: write songs, shoot videos, entertain. As all of us should – do what we are skilled and knowledgeable to do best.
Yes, MJ was raising his voice against wars in general. But he would never demand more weapon to any of the countries.
And look at the wars the USA and their NATO friends lead, and still leading, in foreign countries! THESE are the people to talk about Putin’s “bad behavior”?! THESE are the people who have any right to judge and punish?!
Don’t be mistaken: I’m not saying their behavior “justifies” RF’s. I’m saying that it should be obvious for anyone: their newly-born “outrage” does not originate from respecting other counties sovereignty or from their “intolerance” of someone’s aggression. You have to ask yourself, what is the REAL reason of why they are setting the whole world against Russia and ALL Russians now.
And this hysteria that I hear from all around — “give them more weapon” – makes me suspicious: it very well could be the USA’s government’s manipulation, so that they are able to start the nuclear war with full support of their citizens, who genuinely think they are fighting for peace but would find themselves being supporters of WW3 in the end.
No one looks into the real reasons of the conflict, no one thinks how to RESOLVE it. All are busy demanding more deaths.
If you are for peace, how can you be for using more weapon?!
Some interesting films and videos to start researching:
Russian vid: the professor of nuclear physics, about the energy sources: https://youtu.be/6zIemBc1iTs
Russian vid from THREE years ago: Zelensky’s “advisor” (an actor too, like Zelensky) talks. They KNEW what’s going to happen (because it was planned), they WANTED it, and he casually said they were ready to sacrifice anything (read: the lives of their people) for joining the NATO, just because “let’s see if it’s better than the alliance with RF was”. https://youtu.be/H50ho9Dlrms
Sahra Wagenknecht: Ru https://youtu.be/_dnI8TLwXBw, Gr https://youtu.be/SYLsSPSjTX8
Note 1: I’m a researcher like you, Elena. And of course I’m not saying: listen and believe anything that was said in these vids. It’s just a starting points for research, to understand better of what’s happening.
Note 2: I understand your dislike of Putin’s domestic policy. But what is happening with Ukraine now is different thing, don’t lump it together. Connected, yes, but different.
None 3: Most of your information comes from the Russian “opposition”, like Dozdh and Echo. They are nothing but “journos”, Elena. On MJ’s example you should know how “well” journos research – like an illustration, look up what Dozhd said about Michael, same copypasting “journalism” like everywhere else, and, more importantly, full TRUST to western media.
There are not only two sides: the RF propaganda vs the opposition — those are only opinion pieces. There is the third side: THE FACTS, which, as always, no one researches.
Btw, coincidentally (?), everything our “opposition” say, coincide with Western propaganda, with what BBC, NBC, CNN say — and who better than us, MJ defenders, know how they work?
And regarding “RF bombed the theater” — I’m surprised I have to remind YOU: don’t believe everything you see on the Internet. Gather all the facts, look at them in chronological order and analyze. Why did they write “children” so carefully around the theater? Did they do it anywhere else? Why would RF accounts talk about the possible provocation in the theater before it happened, if they planned to bomb it (and they did talk about the provocation before it happened)? Why, right after the explosion, in a minutes, all Ukrainian sources and Ukrainian Twitter accounts magically had that sputnik photo? Why there were street photos of the theater right after the explosion, but there are no photos proving they helped the survivors, of the survivors themselves and bodies? Etc.
Research the global situation between countries, and PROTECT THE WORLD PEACE NOW! It starts with your KNOWLEDGE.
(I usually wrote here under my “Мария” Twitter account, but bcs of technical problem can’t enter Twitter from my laptop right now)
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Ukraine is not dragging anyone into a war. They are just asking to give them a stick to defend themselves from a hooligan that is attacking them. It does not oblige anyone in any way, but may help the defense. And if the hooligan wins, the whole area will have to live in terror that they will be the next.
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Dear Helena, I firmly believe that the tension needed to be eased from the start. Who is right or wrong does not count, but the consequences of all this do. Other weapons carry an escalation, as is happening, which predicts only more deaths. All the powerful reacted in a totally emotional way, without responsibility, putting people in the middle, rather than protecting them from the beginning.
The task of the European Union and the US was and is to bring the belligerents to discussion, conflict, and conflict IS NOT WAR! The conflict involves confrontation, even strong, but obliges us to listen to “The Other”. Weapons and warfare bring only irreversible damage! Ukraine’s need to drag everyone into a war is no different than Russia’s to go against everyone!It was and is the duty of those who govern to use every effort for peace, rather than push to a point of no return as has just happened.
My thoughts and my actions go out to the people, from both countries. To those who suffer and live in terror, to those who are controlled, arrested and discriminated. People did not ask for this.There is something that escapes us, that we do not know …
My deep respect for all and all good to all!
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