Gorbachev died Tuesday Aug 30, 2022 and while many have hailed him for working with the West, he used force to prevent Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from seceding after they declared independence in 1990 from Moscow's rule.
Putin's response to Gorby's death was obligatory.
Sept 8, 2022
How I feel today about Russia/Ukraine war: The Ukrainian word shkematolog means someone whose idea of business is just constant scheming.
Sept 24, 2022
Russia recruits soldiers from Uzbekistan, an ex-Soviet nation with many young kids fluent in Russian. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan's state prosecutors warned citizens they can face prosecution for joining foreign armies, and Uzbek diplomats are working on a security deal with Iran. Are you confused yet? I am.
Oct 16, 2022
So why bother guessing about Putin's reasons for starting a war with Ukraine but he!! why not. Of course,, a lot has changed since 1654. Some elements of this old theory derived from, The Ukrainians, Unexpected Nation by Andrew Wilson, still resonate.
Before 1654 Muscovy, which was centered in Moscow could only expand to the north and the east. Ukraine opened the way for Russia’s drive to the south, and to the west because domination over Ukraine gave the Russian direct contact with Central Europe. Without such control, Russia is only a distant threat and Central Europe will be freer to determine its own affairs.
Nov 10, 2022
Interesting twists and tangled webs: On April 12, the Royal Court of Jersey imposed a formal freezing order on $7 billion worth of assets linked to Abramovich, and had the police carry out searches of premises suspected of being connected to him.
The companies searched won a consent order dated Nov. 9 that the search warrants were obtained unlawfully. Abramovich has been involved in attempts to find a negotiated settlement to the war.
Dec 4, 2022
Edward Snowden received a Russian passport December 2 and can no longer be extradited, and his wife is applying for a Russian passport.
Feb 4, 2023
Tossing a what if into the Ukraine mess. If Kiev had not been sacked by the Mongols in 1240, it might have developed into a powerful rival to the fledgling state of Moscow.
Feb 8, 2023
Russia asked Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters to speak to the U.N. Security Council today at a meeting requested by Moscow to discuss the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Just another brick in the wall?
Feb 28, 2023
A morning chuckle: Putin bestows friendship award on actor Steven Seagal. In 2018 Seagal was a Russian Foreign Ministry humanitarian envoy to the United States and Japan.
April 2, 2023
Morning chuckle: Kremlin says all accredited foreign journalists could continue to work in Russia. Never mind Gershkovich's arrest.
June 27, 2023
Reading about Wagner group insurrection against Putin got me thinking about Cossacks which led me to reading about Wild Fields, the Pontic steppe in the territory of present-day Eastern and Southern Ukraine and Western Russia, north of the Black Sea and Azov Sea, which was wild because the Tatars raided the area constantly between 1450 and 1650.
Aug 20, 2023
Russia's first moon mission since 1976 failed after its Luna-25 space craft collided with the surface of the moon. Next up: India tries this week.
Sept 28, 2023
Ukraine saved European civilization from eastern nomads, Russian expansion, etc. Is this the case today?
Oct 13, 2023
Finland plans to use electronic notification of unpaid bills to speed the confiscation of Russian-owned real estate. Official Russian channels for debt notification have been dysfunctional.
Oct 19, 2023
Putin orders armed MiG-31 aircraft to fly above the Black Sea in a neutral zone and claims, "this is not a threat." And that "we will carry out visual control, control with the help of weapons." đ
Nov 3, 2023
Ukrainian Piedmont dream- Third Reich used it as a tool in the late 1930s.
It became an instrument for using Ukrainian national political forces in its strategic plans, which included taking over the area.
Nov 4, 2023
Sofia Church of St. Nicholas, AKA the Russian Church update: Bulgaria prosecutor's office conducted an investigation that uncovered that the Bulgarian state is the rightful owner of the church, despite a notarial deed issued in favor of Russia in 1997. Here's where it gets interesting. The deed was created at the request of the Russian ambassador, dating back to a serf deed from November 7, 1898. The prosecutor's office found no evidence supporting the transfer of rights between different state entities within the Russian Empire.
The property investigation stemmed from the expulsion of Russian priests from Bulgaria in September, based on allegations of activities against the interests of the country.
Nov 29, 2023
Poland approved a Finnish request for troops to be deployed close to its border with Russia.
Finland has moved to close its border with Russia since 900 asylum seekers from nations including Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen have entered Finland via Russia this month.
Dec 30, 2023
Vladimir Egorov, another Russian politician, falls from a window, and COD is heart problems.
Russia goes through Poland air spaces to drone drop in the Ukraine. Same old sh^t.
Jan 11, 2024
Views of Ukraine area in 1914: St Petersburg-‘Trans-carpathia’, beyond the Carpathians.
Budapest or the local Rusyn movement: Pidkarpatska Rus ‘Sub-Carpathia’, below and to the west of the of the mountain ridges that marked the border with Galicia.
To Hungarian nationalists: Felvidek (the uplands).
Feb 18, 2024
Putin prefers engaging with Biden over Trump, claiming Biden is predictable and old-school. More smoke screen from the bare chest.
March 13, 2024
Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian TV host, questioned the Pope's intervention in the affairs of two Orthodox countries. History lesson?
March 23, 2024
USA admits its ability to develop intelligence against extremist groups in Afghanistan such as ISIS-K, who bombed the theater in Moscow yesterday, has been reduced since the withdrawal of American troops from the country in 2021.
ISIS-K were responsible for an attack on Kabul's international airport in 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and many civilians during the chaotic American evacuation from the country.
Earlier this year, USA intercepted communications confirming the group carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people.
In September 2022, ISIS-K militants claimed its member completed a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul.
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) is named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan,
It emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and ISIS-K sees Russia as being complicit in various activities that oppress Muslims.
April 14, 2024
Estonia's Interior Minister, Lauri Läänemets, plans to propose placing the terrorist label on the Moscow Patriarchate due to its strong ties with Putin. If approved by parliament, it will ban the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Estonia.
Läänemets claims a ban would not impact Orthodox practitioners in Estonia, since churches would be allowed to continue their operations. Quite a tightrope!
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