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  • Muscovite Hybrid War on the West

    I suppose some might call it 'Cold War #2' though of course for Ukraine it fought with live rounds daily and increasingly takes on a new dimension in the Sea of Azov.

    We have had alot of these threads before... I remember arguing in this forum (and elsewhere) that old Cold War, although it was a great victory, was not the end of the war - though at there were times when perhaps it could have been ended. All the Georgian War threads - the strategic control of the oil and gas pipelines (in Europe and the Middle East), the global discussion Muscovite motives, the nature of the regime, the Ukrainian war, the strategic importance of Belarus and the Suwałki corridor Moscow's moves into Syria after Obama flunked his 'red line', the Mueller Investigation into the Muscovite help for Trumpkin in the last US election - and the Brexit vote as well financing other authoritarian European Governments and parties from the Paks2 deal in Hungary to funding the Front National in France. Most recently the Skripals case of course which the GRU seriously bungled.

    Well today the UK came out and called it and blamed the GRU for a host of cyber attacks. The Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said:

    “These cyber attacks serve no legitimate national security interest, instead impacting the ability of people around the world to go about their daily lives free from interference, and even their ability to enjoy sport.

    “The GRU’s actions are reckless and indiscriminate: they try to undermine and interfere in elections in other countries; they are even prepared to damage Russian companies and Russian citizens. This pattern of behaviour demonstrates their desire to operate without regard to international law or established norms and to do so with a feeling of impunity and without consequences.

    “Our message is clear: together with our allies, we will expose and respond to the GRU’s attempts to undermine international stability.”
    I am glad that the UK and some others in Europe (the Dutch; https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...y-intelligence) finally have the balls to call a pig a pig.

    Long overdue in my view but in general there were three waves (or perhaps four) 'waves' of people who warned before the threat took on the dimensions which it threatens today. The first were the old Soviet dissidents themselves - people like Bukovsky but they were followed by a new wave of dissidents - the Berezovsky's, Litvinenko's... Khodorkovsky got the gulag for a while but was released as part of the group, then after 2008 and the Georgian War (at which time I became convinced following as it did the 2007 Estonian mass cyber attack) those countries which were liberated by the first Cold War started warning that a new Muscovite Checkist Mafia threat was arising. Still nobody really listened. Finally there are the majority who have recognised the threat since the start of the war in Ukraine and all that has happened since.

    Now at long last HMG says it openly and identifies the whole campaign that is being waged against the western democracies openly.


    Again I sent this today:



    The report he mentions you can find here in pdf: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/64419...c0b30c5873.pdf

    I have always agreed with Bukovsky's argument myself: Suppose in 1945 the allies defeated Germany but left the Gestapo in place? That is what was done when the Cold War was 'won'; the Secret Police network was left in place - nobody got prosecuted or jailed for the millions they murdered, and within 9yrs of them was President again. Now they want a new USSR maybe.


    None of this means a 'great war' is inevitable - only death and taxes are inevitable they say. They are not half so strong as the old USSR thanks to the victory of the 1990s upto 2014. Nor honestly can they hope to win any sustained conventional war which why they flout their nuclear weapons so often. Nor honestly is the regime as strong as it seems - despite all the murders and jailings of it's own citizens. Hell four years they said they were going to be in Kyiv in "two weeks" - reminiscent of Hitler speech that 'In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.' Ukraine can now take the offensive apart from in the naval sphere - and here kudo's to the UK again for sending a Naval Attache to Ukraine recently.


    Most importantly the democracies have not yet even tried launching a combined 'truth counteroffensive' into Muscovy. Sure maybe it is not all about radio stations anymore as it used to be - it is all media and much of it that which we call 'social media'. But when attacked in this way - and in cyber etc - is it not time that the West not only defend itself - maybe such in things like 'Stopfake' (https://www.stopfake.org/en/news/) but also hitting back? This UK Government statement is perhaps a start but it will take a lot more.

  • #2
    The smoke stack know as Kuznetzov appears to have had some set backs during it's latest repairs: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...amaged-carrier

    Comment


    • #3
      Click image for larger version

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      Seems "Putin's chef" has been researching military recipes with some friends in Tripoli, Libya... Gordon Ramsey has nothing on this guy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Don't forget Interpol, they infiltrated there too...Russians,Russians everywhere...run for the hills.

        Relax, this is a game. Business as usual.

        Comment


        • #5
          And cartoons too

          https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c...tics-j9wxcvslm

          The way how you writing this, reminds me on our side during the 90'es, when they were calming that the West is using hybrid war technique known as neo cortical war.
          Last edited by Versus; 19 Nov 18,, 12:37.

          Comment


          • #6
            The way how you writing this, reminds me on our side during the 90'es, when they were calming that the West is using hybrid war technique known as neo cortical war.
            false equivalence, the West bent over backward to integrate Russia into the community of nations post-Cold War. if the West really wanted to screw over Russia back in the 90s, Russia would be where North Korea is today. i have less of a personal hate-on for Russia than snapper here does, but rest assured one fine day when the US is no longer weighed down by the current incompetent CinC, Russia will get what it richly deserves, in full measure.

            speaking of Interpol:

            ====

            https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...02b_story.html

            The world can’t let Russia run Interpol. My experiences show why.

            A floor with the Interpol logo at the international police agency headquarters in Lyon, France. (Laurent Cirpiani/AP)
            By William Browder November 19 at 4:13 PM

            William Browder is the author of “Red Notice” and an activist who spearheaded the Global Magnitsky Act.

            Early last month, the wife of Meng Hongwei, a Chinese national and the president of Interpol, reported that her husband had disappeared on a trip to China. Three days passed before the Chinese government admitted detaining him and placing him under investigation. Following that, Interpol received a notice of Meng’s resignation. Whether he wrote it or not is unknown.

            Last Saturday, news began circulating that a Russian official is the front-runner to replace Meng as president of Interpol. At first, I thought this must be a joke. Russia has demonstrated some of the most criminal tendencies of any country in the world. Its agents used a military-grade chemical weapon in an attack in Salisbury in Britain. Russian missiles murdered 298 innocents on Flight MH17 over Ukraine. And the Kremlin’s operatives have interfered with elections in the United States and Europe. Russia shouldn’t even be on the list of countries that could provide a leader for Interpol.

            Later this week, Interpol’s general assembly in Dubai will decide who becomes Interpol’s next president. The vote will take place on Wednesday, and the choice is between the Russian interior ministry officer Alexander Prokopchuk and Interpol’s current interim president, a South Korean named Kim Jong Yang.

            No one should want to see a Russian elevated to this post, but I have a particular personal interest in seeing that it doesn’t happen.

            In 2012, I succeeded in advocating for the U.S. government to pass the Magnitsky Act, named after my colleague Sergei Magnitsky, who was imprisoned by Russian authorities after exposing high-level corruption, and who died in detention after being beaten and denied medical care. This law allows the United States to freeze the assets and ban visas for Russian human rights abusers. Since then, Russian President Vladimir Putin has embarked on a vendetta against me. This has taken a number of forms, including death threats and plans for illegal renditions. But one of the most pernicious has been Moscow’s repeated attempts to misuse Interpol to try to have me arrested and extradited back to Russia, where they will likely torture and kill me.

            Moscow first attempted to use Interpol to go after me in May 2013 with a request for an Interpol Red Notice. Interpol rejected this, stating that the Russian request violated Interpol’s constitution, since it was obviously politically motivated. Several months later, the Russians tried again to get a Red Notice for me — and once again, it was rejected.

            After two explicit rejections, one might think Russia would give up trying to use Interpol to have me arrested. Instead, the Russians altered their tactics.

            In October 2017, the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed its own version of the Magnitsky Act. In response, Putin’s government went after me using something called an Interpol “diffusion notice.” This was also an Interpol arrest warrant, but one that required far less oversight than a Red Notice.

            Again, Interpol intervened, declaring it politically motivated.

            Then, in May of this year, I was actually arrested in Madrid. I’d been invited there by a senior Spanish prosecutor to give evidence against Russian organized crime and money laundering taking place in Spain and connected to the Magnitsky case. I was arrested at my hotel by Spanish National Police, and released from custody only after Interpol intervened.

            In reaction to the Madrid incident, Russia’s most senior law enforcement officer, Yuri Chaika, gave a news conference in Moscow, saying: “We will redouble our efforts to get Bill Browder. . . . He should not sleep peacefully at night.”

            On Monday morning, the Russian government went one step further. Officials in Moscow held a news conference at which they absurdly accused me of murdering Sergei Magnitsky himself and described me as the leader of a “transnational criminal group” who needed to be apprehended.

            In total, Russia has tried to use Interpol seven times to have me arrested. If there ever was a case for why Russia should not have any authority at Interpol, I am that case.

            I am, however, by no means alone. Russia has sought the imprisonment of scores of people connected to Mikhail Khodor*kovsky, the former head of oil giant Yukos and an outspoken Putin critic. It is pursuing the supporters of Alexei Navalny, the Russian anti-corruption activist. Every week I get a call from a new victim of Russia’s abuse of the Interpol system.

            I’m working with lawyers and other victims on an initiative to apply Interpol’s own rules to suspend Russia from using the Interpol system. Its serial abuse is well documented and undeniable. It would be an absurd and Kafkaesque scenario if — rather than Russia being suspended — one of Putin’s henchmen were to become the leader of one of the world’s most important law enforcement institutions.

            Interpol plays a crucial role in tracking and apprehending fugitives around the world. To allow Interpol to be commandeered by one of the most criminal dictators on the planet serves the interests of no one but the Kremlin.

            On Wednesday, all democratic and transparent nations should band together and use their influence to ensure that Interpol does not debase itself by effectively becoming an arm of the Russian mafia.
            There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

            Comment


            • #7
              I think the election of this Muscovite candidate would be a grave mistake for Interplod. They never had alot of credibility or confidence in the first place as an international law enforcement organisation - tell me how many war criminals they have issued Red Notices for? The recent loss of their former Executive Officer does not help. The election of a Muscovite nominated by a regime widely known to have murdered it's opponents and been complicit in war crimes would make a mockery of the organisation as a law enforcement agency. On Muscovite TV they speculating that they could arrest the whole Ukrainian Government so Ukraine for starters would leave and not comply. The UK would almost certainly do the same as it is clearly primarily aimed at Browder who is a subject of Her Majesty. Poland has said they will go as have the Baltic nations, the Finland and Romania. For the credibility of the organisation it would shooting itself in the foot.

              Comment


              • #8
                The Muscovite candidate to lead Interplod, General Alexander Prokopchuk, lost.

                UK and Ukraine strengthen military relationship: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement

                I may be suffering from 'wishful thinking' but it seemed to me two or three weeks ago that the wind had shifted; Brexit is proved to be nigh on impossible, Trumpkin is clearly seen for the lying cretin he is, the Italian government is fracturing and in general the results of the populist 'wave' supported to faithfully by Moscow have proved to be non starters, lies and impossible promises. That is not to say that truth, decency and integrity has yet won; it has not it is almost certain that there will be setbacks to come before we can assert a 'victory' with certainty but it may be that the wind has turned.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by astralis View Post
                  false equivalence, the West bent over backward to integrate Russia into the community of nations post-Cold War.
                  Don't tell this to Russians in person, you might lose some teeths. There are two reasons why Russia was treated unlike North Korea - oil and nuclear weapons. Serbia had none.
                  Winter is coming.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    GRU Chief Gen Igor Koborov "died after a long illness". Other rumours suggest he took a brief flying lesson - the landing being the cause of death.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Sorry for not doing so before but it has been quite 'full on' here since Sunday. Anyway I now have a little time to relay a vague timeline and the information we know of Sundays 'Kerch Straight Incident' in which three Ukrainian ships and their crews were attacked and captured by the Muscovite 'Federation'.

                      First it all goes back to the illegal putsch in Crimea in 2014, the assault on the Crimean Parliament (captured on CCTV here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9tHscviwE) by 'little green Spetnaz' as Putin later admitted and the illegal 'referendum' held under gunpoint. The problem was of course that it was great a tactical idea but strategically idiotic. While Putin could boast 'Krimnaz' ('Our Crimea') and claim it was for Muscovites like Jerusalem for the Jews it was dependent on water, electricity and subsidies (as well as tourists from which most of it income came from) on Ukraine.

                      The obvious solution was to connect via a land bridge - the so called 'Novyrossiya' project/idea of 2014. The thinking was because Ukrainian troops in Crimea had not seriously resisted in early February 2014 (indeed the Crimean action we now know was ordered before Yanukovych fled Kyiv to his supposed Party rally in Kharkiv on the morning of the 22nd Feb) it would be a walkover - all Muscovite speakers must be fans of such an idea. They even offered Poland and Hungary various bits of Ukraine. The idea was take Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donestk, Dnipro, Kherson and Odessa Oblasts/Regions, and so connect with Crimea and Transdniestria, one of their of other illegal 'client states' that exists mainly because the 13th Guards Division was based there when the USSR fell apart. Thus Crimea would be connected - water and electric could be supply, Ukraine become a rump of it's territory with 'someone suitable' managing it. Unhappily this plan foundered as soon as an interim Government took charge in Kyiv and with the help of several loyal (but not necessarily uncorrupt) Governors in Kharkiv and Dnipro. The 'Sotnyas' ('Hundreds') who had organised themselves on Maidan and elsewhere - for there were many 'Maidans' in truth rather than one - became the basis of 'volunteer battalions', as well as Chechens and Cossacks and Poles and many other 'volunteers' arriving to fight. The interim Government also sent what military units it had at it's disposal both south and east. The furthest they got west was Slovyansk and their dream of a "counter revolution" very nearly ended when Ukraine launched an offencive trying to secure the border and divide Luhansk and Donetsk. Only direct invasion in August 2014 saved the semblance of remains the 'counter revolutionary' 'Republiks'. By then Ukraine had elected a President (in May) and in October elected a new Rada (Parliament) and the new Government was widely regarded as legitimate - which in was in many ways.

                      This must have caused them some consternation; could it be true that alot of Muscovite speakers in Ukraine did not want to be joined to Motherland? Inexplicable almost doubtless but of course having just got rid of one dictator very few were willing to be subjected to a worse tyrant. Those who could move from the occupied areas - some 3million - did. It did not matter which language they spoke, total bedlam was occuring.

                      This still left the strategic misfortune of the 'victory' in Crimea; while it had played out beautifully on Muscovite TV and boosted Putin's ego and approval ratings it had come with the cost of sanctions and was hard to supply so the old German project of WW2 (I think Albert Speer's idea) of a Kerch Bridge was revived. The construction of this bridge was given to a company (Stroygazmontazh) that had never built a bridge before but was owned by Arkady Rotenberg who just happens to have been a judo pal of Putin's in his childhood. Bits have been falling off since the 'construction' was completed.


                      This was in September.


                      The sea bed in the straits apparently would require drilling to over 100m due to the rock being malleable, earth tremors and frequency of storms (several ships were lost in 2007 in a storm). In addition of course bridges need some flexibility - or perhaps a little. Anyway the judo pal Arkady one way or another managed to get this up such that Putin could be photographed driving a truck across it. At what cost is not known but it was Rotenburg who did most of the Sochi Winter Olympics stuff which an estimated USD 51bn in comparison to the previous Winter Olympics hosted in Vancouver, Canada which cost an estimated US$6,400,000,000. How much the bridge cost God only knows but it is already falling apart. Some are suggesting it is also tilting. I do not know and am not an engineer but evidently it is not entirely an expert job.

                      Thus older background. Regarding the newer the Muscovites started transferring more vessels from the Black Sea fleet to the Sea of Azoz once the bridge was opened in May this year. They then started stopping commercial vessels "for inspection" using the straights for access to Ukrainian ports on the Northern shore of the Sea of Azov - Mariupol and Berdyiansk. Most of the Ukrainian Navy was seized during the Crimean putsch when they even sank a freighter at the mouth of the harbour to stop a Ukrainian naval vessel leaving (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...mbezzling.html).

                      Ukraine has thus tried to strengthen it's naval presence in the Sea in Azov and earlier this year sent two coast guard cutters and tug around occupied Crimea to Mariupol. On Sunday a further two coast guard cutters and another tug were making the same passage. The Muscovite effort to block their entry to the Sea of Azov you can see clearly courtesy of RT:



                      The Ukrainian ships were told they could not pass although International Maritime Control said they could. The Ukrainian Navy then ordered to them to return to Odessa. A brief timeline was given by the Ambassador at the UNSC:



                      It was as the Ukrainian ships were heading away from the straits that the Muscovite ships attacked them in international waters.



                      They opened fire on the Ukrainian ships as well as can be seen here:



                      The recordings of the Muscovite attack were however monitored and can be heard:




                      Enough reality for most perhaps. The Muscovites say Ukraine "provoked", trespassed in their territorial waters. Well as to the right of entrance - apart from the UN Law of the Sea which arguably supersedes the 2003 Bilateral Treaty states as follows:
                      "The Parties, proceeding from the necessity of conservation of the Azov-Kerch defined area of water as integral economic and natural complex, to be used in the interests of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine, have agreed as follows: 1) The sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch are historically internal waters of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. 2) The sea of Azov must be delimited by the state border in accordance with the Agreement signed by the Parties. 3) Dispute settlement regarding the issues pertaining to the defined area of water of Kerch must be regulated by agreement between the Parties. 4) Mercantile vessels and other state non-commercial vessels flying the flags of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine have free navigation in the sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch. 5) Russian-Ukrainian cooperation in the spheres of navigation, fisheries, protection of marine environment, ecological safety and life-saving in the sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch must be implemented on the basis of existing international agreements and by conclusion, in respective cases, of the new ones."
                      In other words the Kerch straits are fundamentally not defined as "Muscovite waters" no matter than in any case the Ukrainian vessels were clearly sailing away from the Straits when they somehow "provoked" the Muscovite ships to ram and open fire on them. The three Ukrainian vessels are currently illegally held in Kerch, two of the crew members have been sentenced to two months imprisonment... though on what charges I have yet to discover. Some others having been clearly beaten have been made to 'confess' to being ordered to 'provoke' the Muscovite ships.

                      As a response the Ukrainian National Defence and Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday night at which imposition of martial law was suggested for 60 days country wide. However wiser counsel prevailed and limited martial law proposal was put to the Rada on Monday evening which they passed. As of today until December 28th Martial Law is imposed on 10 regions of Ukraine marked in red below:

                      Click image for larger version

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                      Moscow says this is also a gambit for delaying next years Presidential election but it will not as clearly set out by the Rada authorisation; any extension of the order will need a new Rada vote. Nor of course does it cover all of Ukraine.

                      The Martial Law established today appoints Military (or SBU) Deputies to the Governors in all the districts effected. Strikes and protests can be prohibited, trains and transport requisitioned if needed, road checks, airport checks, harbour checks at all entry points. The reserves have not been called up as yet. Poroshenko says if we get this 30days of martial law then it will have worked, his main idea being that it may have some deterrent effect on the Muscovite criminal gang.

                      I cannot say I 100% support any martial law myself but it has some reason to it in the current circumstances. So here we are... and those are the basic facts of what is going on. Make of it what you will.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Sorry for not doing so before but it has been quite 'full on' here since Sunday. Anyway I now have a little time to relay a vague timeline and the information we know of Sundays 'Kerch Straight Incident' in which three Ukrainian ships and their crews were attacked and captured by the Muscovite 'Federation'.

                        First it all goes back to the illegal putsch in Crimea in 2014, the assault on the Crimean Parliament (captured on CCTV here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9tHscviwE) by 'little green Spetnaz' as Putin later admitted and the illegal 'referendum' held under gunpoint. The problem was of course that it was great a tactical idea but strategically idiotic. While Putin could boast 'Krimnaz' ('Our Crimea') and claim it was for Muscovites like Jerusalem for the Jews it was dependent on water, electricity and subsidies (as well as tourists from which most of it income came from) on Ukraine.

                        The obvious solution was to connect via a land bridge - the so called 'Novyrossiya' project/idea of 2014. The thinking was because Ukrainian troops in Crimea had not seriously resisted in early February 2014 (indeed the Crimean action we now know was ordered before Yanukovych fled Kyiv to his supposed Party rally in Kharkiv on the morning of the 22nd Feb) it would be a walkover - all Muscovite speakers must be fans of such an idea. They even offered Poland and Hungary various bits of Ukraine. The idea was take Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donestk, Dnipro, Kherson and Odessa Oblasts/Regions, and so connect with Crimea and Transdniestria, one of their of other illegal 'client states' that exists mainly because the 13th Guards Division was based there when the USSR fell apart. Thus Crimea would be connected - water and electric could be supply, Ukraine become a rump of it's territory with 'someone suitable' managing it. Unhappily this plan foundered as soon as an interim Government took charge in Kyiv and with the help of several loyal (but not necessarily uncorrupt) Governors in Kharkiv and Dnipro. The 'Sotnyas' ('Hundreds') who had organised themselves on Maidan and elsewhere - for there were many 'Maidans' in truth rather than one - became the basis of 'volunteer battalions', as well as Chechens and Cossacks and Poles and many other 'volunteers' arriving to fight. The interim Government also sent what military units it had at it's disposal both south and east. The furthest they got west was Slovyansk and their dream of a "counter revolution" very nearly ended when Ukraine launched an offencive trying to secure the border and divide Luhansk and Donetsk. Only direct invasion in August 2014 saved the semblance of remains the 'counter revolutionary' 'Republiks'. By then Ukraine had elected a President (in May) and in October elected a new Rada (Parliament) and the new Government was widely regarded as legitimate - which in was in many ways.

                        This must have caused them some consternation; could it be true that alot of Muscovite speakers in Ukraine did not want to be joined to Motherland? Inexplicable almost doubtless but of course having just got rid of one dictator very few were willing to be subjected to a worse tyrant. Those who could move from the occupied areas - some 3million - did. It did not matter which language they spoke, total bedlam was occuring.

                        This still left the strategic misfortune of the 'victory' in Crimea; while it had played out beautifully on Muscovite TV and boosted Putin's ego and approval ratings it had come with the cost of sanctions and was hard to supply so the old German project of WW2 (I think Albert Speer's idea) of a Kerch Bridge was revived. The construction of this bridge was given to a company (Stroygazmontazh) that had never built a bridge before but was owned by Arkady Rotenberg who just happens to have been a judo pal of Putin's in his childhood. Bits have been falling off since the 'construction' was completed.


                        This was in September.


                        The sea bed in the straits apparently would require drilling to over 100m due to the rock being malleable, earth tremors and frequency of storms (several ships were lost in 2007 in a storm). In addition of course bridges need some flexibility - or perhaps a little. Anyway the judo pal Arkady one way or another managed to get this up such that Putin could be photographed driving a truck across it. At what cost is not known but it was Rotenburg who did most of the Sochi Winter Olympics stuff which an estimated USD 51bn in comparison to the previous Winter Olympics hosted in Vancouver, Canada which cost an estimated US$6,400,000,000. How much the bridge cost God only knows but it is already falling apart. Some are suggesting it is also tilting. I do not know and am not an engineer but evidently it is not entirely an expert job.

                        Thus older background. Regarding the newer the Muscovites started transferring more vessels from the Black Sea fleet to the Sea of Azoz once the bridge was opened in May this year. They then started stopping commercial vessels "for inspection" using the straights for access to Ukrainian ports on the Northern shore of the Sea of Azov - Mariupol and Berdyiansk. Most of the Ukrainian Navy was seized during the Crimean putsch when they even sank a freighter at the mouth of the harbour to stop a Ukrainian naval vessel leaving (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...mbezzling.html).

                        Ukraine has thus tried to strengthen it's naval presence in the Sea in Azov and earlier this year sent two coast guard cutters and tug around occupied Crimea to Mariupol. On Sunday a further two coast guard cutters and another tug were making the same passage. The Muscovite effort to block their entry to the Sea of Azov you can see clearly courtesy of RT:



                        The Ukrainian ships were told they could not pass although International Maritime Control said they could. The Ukrainian Navy then ordered to them to return to Odessa. A brief timeline was given by the Ambassador at the UNSC:



                        It was as the Ukrainian ships were heading away from the straits that the Muscovite ships attacked them in international waters.



                        They opened fire on the Ukrainian ships as well as can be seen here:



                        The recordings of the Muscovite attack were however monitored and can be heard:




                        Enough reality for most perhaps. The Muscovites say Ukraine "provoked", trespassed in their territorial waters. Well as to the right of entrance - apart from the UN Law of the Sea which arguably supersedes the 2003 Bilateral Treaty states as follows:
                        "The Parties, proceeding from the necessity of conservation of the Azov-Kerch defined area of water as integral economic and natural complex, to be used in the interests of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine, have agreed as follows: 1) The sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch are historically internal waters of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. 2) The sea of Azov must be delimited by the state border in accordance with the Agreement signed by the Parties. 3) Dispute settlement regarding the issues pertaining to the defined area of water of Kerch must be regulated by agreement between the Parties. 4) Mercantile vessels and other state non-commercial vessels flying the flags of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine have free navigation in the sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch. 5) Russian-Ukrainian cooperation in the spheres of navigation, fisheries, protection of marine environment, ecological safety and life-saving in the sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch must be implemented on the basis of existing international agreements and by conclusion, in respective cases, of the new ones."
                        In other words the Kerch straits are fundamentally not defined as "Muscovite waters" no matter than in any case the Ukrainian vessels were clearly sailing away from the Straits when they somehow "provoked" the Muscovite ships to ram and open fire on them. The three Ukrainian vessels are currently illegally held in Kerch, two of the crew members have been sentenced to two months imprisonment... though on what charges I have yet to discover. Some others having been clearly beaten have been made to 'confess' to being ordered to 'provoke' the Muscovite ships.

                        As a response the Ukrainian National Defence and Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday night at which imposition of martial law was suggested for 60 days country wide. However wiser counsel prevailed and limited martial law proposal was put to the Rada on Monday evening which they passed. As of today until December 28th Martial Law is imposed on 10 regions of Ukraine marked in red below:

                        Click image for larger version

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Views:	2
Size:	91.0 KB
ID:	1477687

                        Moscow says this is also a gambit for delaying next years Presidential election but it will not as clearly set out by the Rada authorisation; any extension of the order will need a new Rada vote. Nor of course does it cover all of Ukraine.

                        The Martial Law established today appoints Military (or SBU) Deputies to the Governors in all the districts effected. Strikes and protests can be prohibited, trains and transport requisitioned if needed, road checks, airport checks, harbour checks at all entry points. The reserves have not been called up as yet. Poroshenko says if we get this 30days of martial law then it will have worked, his main idea being that it may have some deterrent effect on the Muscovite criminal gang.

                        I cannot say I 100% support any martial law myself but it has some reason to it in the current circumstances. So here we are... and those are the basic facts of what is going on. Make of it what you will.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Remember the nuclear missiles that can go forever and dodge anything? Muscovite tech at it's finest here;

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The strange case of 'Nastya Rybka' (real name Anastasia Vashukevich) continues to get ever weirder. Let me refresh the history so far: So in September 2017 'Rybka' announced a "get Navalny" campaign (Navalny being the Muscovite Opposition leader) after which she and several 'sex mentors' or "models" (as some in the press refer to her) went to Navalny's Moscow Office and tried unsuccessfully to entice Navalny and/or some of his colleagues into what might be described as intimate relations. The attempt was unsuccessful but Navalny and his people then started looking into who this Lady was who had fairly blatantly attempted a 'honey trap' on him and his team.

                            Turned out this Lady had written a book about how to seduce wealthy people etc and claimed to have a "sex mentor" called Alexander Kirillov (who goes by the name 'Alex Lesley'). She had also posted her 'professional' exploits all over the internet. Oh dear. So part of the footage posted (or obtained from other sources) by Navalny included a trip on private yacht in the Baltic that 'Rybka' had taken in 2016 with Oleg Deripaska (Putin's oligarch friend), with who Manafort worked and who has recently been exempted from US sanctions on suspiciously favourable terms (see; https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.de3c003c5edf). Also on this yacht with Miss 'Rybka' and Deripaska was Muscovite Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko and he and Deripaska are clearly heard speaking of the US election campaign. Recall that Manafort had offered Deripaska briefings on the Trumpkin campaign via Manafort;s associate in Kyiv.

                            So Navalny made a video with the tape and information last February and it turned out that at the time 'Rybka' and Kirillov and some others were in Thailand giving "sex seminars" (whatever that may entail). Deripaska automatically started court cases to get the story and the details removed and 'Rybka', Kirillov and eight others were arrested in Thailand and initially charged with illegal business activity; charges they were acquitted of in April. Further charges were then brought for conducting illegal sex work. This apparently does not carry a prison sentence in Thailand so they plead guilty, were given probation and deported. 'Rybka', who upon her arrest had claimed she knew more concerning the Muscovite involvement interference in the US elections, fought the deportation for fairly obvious reasons. However last week she was deported supposedly to her native Belarus. The journey however involved a change of planes in Moscow. Apparently she was advised to fly using Ukrainian airlines and change at Kyiv but ignored this advice. The inevitable followed;




                            'Rybka's' and Kirillov's flats in Moscow were raided as well. Apparently two (unnamed) 'sex graduates' claimed they had been forced into prostitution after taking the 'sex training courses'; punishable by upto six yrs in prison in Muscovy under Section 242 Paragraph 2 of the Penal Code of Muscovite 'Federation' ("involving others in prostitution"). Two of the accused were released but 'Rybka' and Kirillov detained for trial on January 19th. 'Rybka' made a personal apology to Deripaska while in court and Kirillov blamed Navalny.

                            Then two days 'Rybka' and Kirillov were released from detention, rumour has it, after the intervention of Belarusian President Lukashenka. A video was posted on twitter of her thanking the President of her "favourite country" by an Alex Naryshkin. The Belarusian Foreign Minister has said she is welcome to return to Belarus as long as she returns to Moscow for her next court hearing - the charges have not been dropped.

                            Last Monday Navalny also posted three telephone conversations related to the case which you can see in Muscovite here; https://navalny.com/p/6057/ on Navalny's website.

                            The video is here;


                            The relevant bit is in English.

                            According to Navalny these tapes were given to him by a 'silovik' (normally used to refer to a member of the 'security services'). Navalny identifies "Tatiana" as Tatiana Monegen (or 'Monaghan') who is general secretary of the Muscovite branch of the International Chamber of Commerce since Muscovy joined the ICC in 2000. The President of the Moscow branch is of course Deripaska. 'Georgii' Navalny says is Georgii Oganov, who on the Board of Deripaska's company Basic Element.

                            The second recording is Deripaska speaking allegedly to Evgenii Agarkov, the director of the Offshore company under which 'owns' the yacht on which Deripaska, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko and 'Rybka' took a brief vacation. Agarkov is accused of giving 'Rybka' Deripaska's telephone number and Deripaska asks "Why didn’t you tell me you had this Belorussian mouse?" The third telephone recording is an unrelated matter about a water business.

                            So what to make of all this (so far)? Perhaps most importantly that Deripaska was deeply connected to the US election interference and 'Rybka's' tapes, revealed by Navalny, seemed to Deripaska to represent a danger to him. He quite evidently got 'his people' onto the case in Thailand in order to silence her and Kirillov, who may 'know too much' as well or be being used as pawn against 'Rybka'. Secondly as Navalny says it is hardly the fault of Ladies such as 'Rybka' that they become the playthings of such people as Deripaska and his pals; "You yourselves, not Rybka, are to blame. You called for prostitutes on the yacht. Well, you should have understood that they will not provide you with confidentiality. Order next time through the FSO [the Federal Protection Service]. Let Rybka collect her things and get home to Belarus. Cancel your order. Maybe you will decide to teach her a severe lesson in the SIZO [detention cell] or even have her die. But for you this will not end well. That's for sure" says Navalny. There are still unanswered questions too; why were they released? 'Rybka' did not show up for a press conference yesterday so are they under 'house arrest'? Does she really have more information? One must assume not or why release her?

                            A strange story which says alot about the seedy life of the criminal Muscovite elite.

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                            • #15
                              Next in Muscovy it is to be a criminal offence to criticise the Government. Must be because everyone loves them clearly.

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