Putin Recognizes Donbass Republics, Sends Russian Military to 'Denazify' Ukraine

What the guy in the video says:
"I don't even know what to say, there were military special forces from the entire world, France, all of Europe, South Korea, Chile, USA, Canada... Man, the whole world was there... And, simply, the information that we have is that everyone is dead. They were able to wreck everything. You don't understand what is a fighter jet firing a missile on top of us. You're not getting it, it's over, it's over, the legion was exterminated [all] at once. Thank God I left before [it happened]."

There is a longer version going around:

His name is Tiago Rossi, a 28 y.o. shooting instructor. From the longer version:
"It is now almost 4pm... in short, our base is done, everyone there is dead, all our friends are dead.

The bombing of the legion base began at around 3am, when the first siren was heard, which was then canceled. At 5am there was no time for the siren to sound again, a fighter jet came and fired a missile at us. There was nothing we could do, we ran for the woods, there were lots of missiles being fired at us, there was nothing we could do.

When the first wave of missiles ended, the battalion regrouped, we checked how many casualties, they destroyed everything [something related to storage and medicines, not clear].

Then I received some contacts from outside, we were asked to leave as quickly as possible. I talked with the legion commander and I told him we were leaving. They refused to leave, and stayed at the base.

[When we were reaching] Poland's border, we received the news that the Russian bombing returned and destroyed the base. They killed everyone there. We are now in Poland.

There was nothing we could do, I haven't slept properly in many days.

[Shorter version above goes here]

We are going to a city in Poland, we have already crossed the border. Our contacts are already organizing, we're going to regroup, re-equip, get weapons and equipment and return to Lviv to rescue some refugees that can't get out. And we have some friends stuck in Kiev too, needing weapons and equipment and we're going to do this operation so we can rescue them there.

It's all very serious, I had no idea what a war was. But we are standing firm. Thank God our team is excellent and we're gonna do all we can to recover this loss. ... I'm fine, don't worry about me and [he gives names of apparently other Brazilians there], our team is fine.

Thank God we made the right decision of leaving at the right time. We're fine, just some minor injuries from running from the bombs. We are gonna rest so we can return to combat.

What I can say, I'll say, what I can post, I'll post, so that my friends and family don't worry.

Although a bit shaken, as pointed out by some commenters he looks quite well groomed and rested, not what one would expect based on his story. Also, in my ignorance of the ways of the military, it doesn't make sense that he and his team were able/allowed to leave while the commander stayed put even though some 'outside contact' had alerted that they should leave asap and he repeatedly acknowledges that there was nothing they could do about the bombing.

Maybe it's an ill-conceived 'authorized' PR piece to expound on the horrors of having your 'friends' from around the world killed by those way-too-serious-at-war Russians while you run away to tell the story. Maybe these battalions are kind of a free-for-all without a real chain of command. Maybe the guy just had no idea what he was getting into and between 5am and 4pm there was time for snacks and a bath. In any case, he is currently the butt of a cornucopia of jokes around the web.
 
I already wrote earlier that my wife's relatives live in Stakhanov. All this time, since 2015, nothing terrible has happened to them directly, as they say, God has mercy. Today, in the morning, something flew into the yard. I must say right away that, again, nothing terrible happened, no one was injured. The window was broken, the house was cut with fragments, a piece of fence was knocked down, the shed was slightly damaged. The caliber of the incoming ammunition was small, the type was fragmentation, so the explosion itself was not very strong, but there were a lot of fragments. So, it seems that the front is moving away from them, yesterday they said that they took Popasnaya (it's quite close to them), but it's still not completely safe yet.

Although a bit shaken, as pointed out by some commenters he looks quite well groomed and rested, not what one would expect based on his story. Also, in my ignorance of the ways of the military, it doesn't make sense that he and his team were able/allowed to leave while the commander stayed put even though some 'outside contact' had alerted that they should leave asap and he repeatedly acknowledges that there was nothing they could do about the bombing.

Maybe it's an ill-conceived 'authorized' PR piece to expound on the horrors of having your 'friends' from around the world killed by those way-too-serious-at-war Russians while you run away to tell the story. Maybe these battalions are kind of a free-for-all without a real chain of command. Maybe the guy just had no idea what he was getting into and between 5am and 4pm there was time for snacks and a bath. In any case, he is currently the butt of a cornucopia of jokes around the web.
I can't figure it out either. Yesterday's French-speaking person, today's- what did they expect? We were going to Disneyland to have fun, and then some "jet planes", and even with "rockets", well, it just doesn't fit into any gates.

Я вот тоже никак понять не могу. Вчерашний франкоговорящий человек, сегодняшний- они на что рассчитывали? Ехали в диснейленд развлекаться, а тут какие то "реактивные самолёты", да ещё и с "ракетами", ну просто ни в какие ворота не лезет.

Я раньше уже писал, что у моей жены родственники живут в Стаханове. Все это время, начиная с 2015 года у них непосредственно ничего страшного не происходило, как говорится бог миловал. Сегодня, с утра, что то прилетело во двор. Сразу скажу, что опять же страшного ничего не случилось, никто не пострадал. Разбило окно, посекло осколками дом, повалило кусок забора, слегка повредило сарай. Калибр прилетевшего боеприпаса был небольшой, тип осколочный, поэтому сам взрыв был не очень сильный, но осколков много. Вот так, вроде бы фронт отодвигается от них, вчера говорили про то, что взяли Попасную (это довольно близко от них), а все еще не совсем безопасно.
 
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From ASB Military News


We’re hearing that the destruction in Kharkov is “Syria level” — Ukrainian nationalists hide in apartment buildings, houses, schools, government buildings and basically any civilian structure you can imagine. They strike from these positions using NATO supplied weapons & ATGMs mainly, along with snipers. They purposely keep the civilians in the buildings to use them as a cover. We’ve observed this in various other cities.. mostly.. in all of them. They want to inflict as many civilian casualties as possible, in hopes of stopping Russian forces from using artillery and aviation strikes / precision weapons. The Molotov tactic isn’t observed in these cities but we can expect that to go into effect in Kiev and Odessa. Mariupol clashes are bloody, intense and lossy for the neo-nazis, Russia is utilizing a lot of drones and precision hits on fortified buildings which kill dozens of Ukrainian personnel at once. But they got smarter and now disperse into smaller groups around different apartment buildings. Azov’s strike capability in terms of artillery is nearly non-existent at this point as most of the MRLS batteries were destroyed by Russian drone strikes.
 
Be careful which people you clap for.

Gabbard was "criticizing" Romney about what he said of her ,"traitor", because she mentioned biolabs/US in the same sentence. It's meaningless noise in the political space of Washington DC.
In 2015 she was welcomed into the club;


She was also relatively new as a congresswoman in 2015 - then being more on the world stage with a voice. It might also be natural and somewhat alluring, to then be asked to join the big Davos club among all its other high profile members. But what of those last seven years? What did she see and learn? Don't know (not well acquainted with Gabbard's political work by any means), however there were her words and actions on Syria and others matters, and she made some new alignments, some with little choice, along with a number of enemies. Controlled opposition? Possible, yet not necessarily probable, and so it may be a question of watching further as 'ye shall know them by their fruits' in the end.

Will have to wait and see, osit.
 
A little interesting and reminiscent.


TYPHON MARIA ZAHAROVA'S STRIKE IN BRITAIN !!
You are world record holders in genocide THESE ARE YOUR RESULTS…
Great Britain is a world record holder in genocide, said the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marija Zaharova.
"It simply came to our notice then. About 13 million people were taken away from that continent by the English as slaves. The number of dead is 3-4 times higher, ie the total number of victims reached 50-53 million ", she continued.
Zakharova also reminded of the Opium Wars in China, the Boer Wars and the extermination of the Indians.
"Here is another interesting fact: according to documents discovered by the National Archives of Great Britain, the British authorities actively resorted to the use of chemical weapons in order to quell the Arab uprising in Mesopotamia (today's Iraqi territory) in the spring of 1920," she said. is Zaharova.
In the 1870s, Britain committed genocide against the Zulu people, and in 1954-1961, in Kenya, in retaliation for the murder of 32 white colonists, the British government exterminated 300,000 Kikuyu members and took another 1.5 million to concentration camps.
In all, Zaharova published 17 pages of archival material on Britain's genocidal actions on the world stage.
WHAT HISTORY SAYS: Nazism is not the work of Hitler and the Germans at all, but a "gentleman of the English"
When it comes to Britain and its people, most of humanity cites English parliamentarism, as well as the great Shakespeare. But the nation of "enlightened sailors" is not what one thinks.
First, Britain, not Germany, is the homeland of Nazism, the ideas of the power of race, more precisely the chosen "Nordic race" that should rule the whole world.
The creators of Nazism are the English: Thomas Carlisle (great-grandfather), Houston Chamberlain (Anglo-American writer and philosopher), James Hunt (wrote a work in 1862 in which he "assigned" blacks the role of a transitional form between ape and man), Francis Galton (cousin of Charles Darin and the founder of eugenics (the "science" of human selection to raise an ideal race), Carl Pearson (biologist and founder of biometrics - the racist trend of social Darwinism), whose famous statement "The right to life does not mean the right of everyone to prolong their family."
"I admire the English people. In colonization, they did the impossible, "Adolf Hitler praised them in a speech. It is clear why the Führer praised them, he took all the ideas from the British.
Let us remind ourselves that it was in Great Britain that the Fascist Alliance was created in 1932, led by Baron Oswald Mosley. The leader of the British fascists was arrested only in 1940 and spent only three years in prison. He died in 1980, never persecuted for his past.
Secondly, the concentration camps are a British invention, not a Nazi or a Bolshevik (Trotsky), as it is presented today. True, there are small dilemmas as to whether they were Americans during the Civil War (1861-1865) or British during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), but most historians believe that the British were in the lead. The Americans sent prisoners of war to concentration camps, and the British sent military personnel - even entire families.
The goal of creating concentration camps, according to official statements of the British government, was "to ensure the security of the civilian population of the Boer republics."
The English were sent to camps in India, Ceylon and other British colonies. A total of 200,000 people were housed in all British concentration camps, which was half the population of the Boer republics. 26,000 people died of hunger and disease in them, and in just one year, 1901, 17,000 people died of hunger and disease in English concentration camps, of which 14,300 were children.
Third, the English are world champions in genocide, because they practically exterminated the Indians on the territory of today's United States of America. Let us remind you that during the settlement of today's USA, the English killed about 15 million Indians.
They also committed genocide during the three colonizations of Australia. The colonization of that continent began in 1788, and the autochthonous population was one million people in about 500 tribes. During the settlement of Australia, the English killed between 90 and 95 percent of Aborigines, while in Tasmania, the natives were exterminated. The murders of the natives were considered a condition for the prosperity of the English.
Fourth, the English are also known as "children's hangmen", in a way that freezes blood in the veins. During the 16th century, London was nicknamed the City of the Hanged. During the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547), 72,000 people were punished for wandering alone. Homeless children were hanged en masse even in the following centuries. It was not until 1908 that Britain passed a law according to which those under the age of 16 could not be sentenced to death.
Fifth, the British were the first to create a drug mafia. In this context, another page of British history is important, which is known to the professional public as the Opium War. However, it would be more correct to call it the mafia system, whose main source was drug trafficking, which is why they turned almost an entire nation into drug addicts. It was the 300 million Chinese people at the time (19th century).
As much as 13 percent of India's income during British rule came down
asylum from the sale of opium in China. At the same time, opium was killing the Chinese. In the period from 1791 to 1794 alone, the number of licensed opium smokers increased from 87 to 663. At the same time, Britain extracted huge amounts of money from China through opium, which was all a classic drug-mafia scheme.
This situation led to two devastating "opium" wars, as well as to the complete occupation of China by Britain. When that happened, Britain started growing poppies in China, on millions of hectares, while the number of users increased to tens of millions.
The end of the power of the drug mafia in China is the work of communists, who simply shot all drug dealers and burned poppy plantations.
When did she say this? Is there a link to a news article, or to video footage, or a social media post about her saying this?
 
I already wrote earlier that my wife's relatives live in Stakhanov. All this time, since 2015, nothing terrible has happened to them directly, as they say, God has mercy. Today, in the morning, something flew into the yard. I must say right away that, again, nothing terrible happened, no one was injured. The window was broken, the house was cut with fragments, a piece of fence was knocked down, the shed was slightly damaged. The caliber of the incoming ammunition was small, the type was fragmentation, so the explosion itself was not very strong, but there were a lot of fragments. So, it seems that the front is moving away from them, yesterday they said that they took Popasnaya (it's quite close to them), but it's still not completely safe yet.

Sorry to hear this Youlik. I'd say that fragmentation missile was fired by retreating Ukrainian forces, an attempt to kill civilians. They did the same yesterday in Donetsk, but with a much larger missile. Glad your family is ok.
 
Be careful which people you clap for.

Gabbard was "criticizing" Romney about what he said of her ,"traitor", because she mentioned biolabs/US in the same sentence. It's meaningless noise in the political space of Washington DC.

I think you have it backwards: Tulsi bringing important issues to the public, while being slaughtered by the establishment, is very meaningful. She appearing on some website, not so much. By their fruits you shall know them.

I've written something about it here. Tulsi appearing on the Young Global Leaders list is an interesting data point, but nothing more. Be wary of the fallacy of guilt by association. Not everyone who has ever participated in the WEF or had dealings with them is a WEF puppet, that's not how it works. And just because Klaus and gang brazingly talk about their psychopathic dreams (and therefore disclose their evil agenda) doesn't mean they control everything. Nuance!
 
The rest of the story:

UPDATE: American Reporter Brent Renaud was Killed at UKRAINIAN Checkpoint Behind Russian Front — Likely Friendly Fire Incident

This morning news broke that a New York Times journalist was killed in Ukraine. Brent Renaud was wearing a NY Times badge and lanyard at the time of his death. He had not worked for the Times since 2015.

Since this morning the NYT has denied that Brent Renaud was working for the NYT at the time of his death. It now appears that Renaud was some sort of Intel collector for the US.

Brent-Renaud-scaled.jpg


** Read more here on Brent Renaud.

It appears he was killed behind the Russian front in Ukrainian-held territory.
Renaud was being shot at, turned around and continued to be shot at from the direction of the checkpoint.
 
'Russia to foreign mercenaries: Ukraine will be your grave!'

Russia sends message to foreign mercenaries in Ukraine

14 Mar, 2022
The military says it knows the location of all foreign fighters in Ukraine and vows to continue targeting them

Western governments encouraging their citizens to enlist in Ukraine will be responsible for their death, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday, vowing to continue the strikes such as the one that destroyed the Yavorov base and show no mercy to mercenaries.

“All locations of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine are known to us,” Russian military spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement on Monday. “I want to warn you again – there will be no mercy for the mercenaries, no matter where they are on the territory of Ukraine.”

Konashenkov said a number of Western governments have encouraged their citizens to fight against Russian troops as mercenaries, adding that “all further responsibility for the death of this category of foreign citizens in Ukraine rests solely with the leadership of these countries.”

“Targeted strikes will continue,”
Konashenkov said, specifically referring to Sunday’s cruise missile attack on the military bases in Yavorov and nearby Starichi in western Ukraine.

According to Moscow, the missile salvo destroyed the facilities used by the “International Legion of Ukraine” and killed “up to 180 foreign fighters.”

Kiev officials said that 35 people were killed and 130 injured in the attack on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, the official name of the military base near Yavorov. It had been used for years by NATO personnel to train Ukrainian troops.

While Ukrainian authorities insist that no foreign fighters were killed in the strike, several British outlets have reported that three former UK special forces operatives died at Yavorov, and “many more killed within the site than has been claimed.” This has not been officially confirmed by London. Meanwhile, Washington insisted no “US troops, contractors or civilian government workers” were present at Yavorov.

Moscow sent troops into Ukraine last month, citing seven years of failure by Kiev to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and make peace with the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Russia had recognized the two Donbass republics as independent states just days earlier. Kiev has accused Moscow of an unprovoked attack.

The Comedian.jpg
 
I don’t know that this has been previously shared or not, and if it has, I apologize.

But this is an eloquently written article by Putin from last summer. The richness of historical data within is both captivating and thought-provoking. It connects many dots; brilliantly illuminating for us not only the importance of Ukraine’s historical relationship to Russia, but also highlighting how the aggressiveness of the U.S./NATO war machine manifested the military intervention we’re seeing today.

Article by Russian President Vladimir Putin ”On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians“ | Russian Mission

Here are a few snippets of the article which highlight just a small amount of the plentiful major points discussed.. But I highly recommend reading the article in it’s entirety. In my honest opinion, it’s a complex historical phenomena made simpler to understand. Plus, for me at least, it’s words turned to art:

The throne of Kiev held a dominant position in Ancient Rus. This had been the custom since the late 9th century. The Tale of Bygone Years captured for posterity the words of Oleg the Prophet about Kiev, ”Let it be the mother of all Russian cities.“
For those who have today given up the full control of Ukraine to external forces, it would be instructive to remember that, back in 1918, such a decision proved fatal for the ruling regime in Kiev. With the direct involvement of the occupying forces, the Central Rada was overthrown and Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi was brought to power, proclaiming instead of the UPR the Ukrainian State, which was essentially under German protectorate.
Therefore, modern Ukraine is entirely the product of the Soviet era. We know and remember well that it was shaped – for a significant part – on the lands of historical Russia. To make sure of that, it is enough to look at the boundaries of the lands reunited with the Russian state in the 17th century and the territory of the Ukrainian SSR when it left the Soviet Union.

The Bolsheviks treated the Russian people as inexhaustible material for their social experiments. They dreamt of a world revolution that would wipe out national states. That is why they were so generous in drawing borders and bestowing territorial gifts. It is no longer important what exactly the idea of the Bolshevik leaders who were chopping the country into pieces was. We can disagree about minor details, background and logics behind certain decisions. One fact is crystal clear: Russia was robbed, indeed.
When working on this article, I relied on open-source documents that contain well-known facts rather than on some secret records. The leaders of modern Ukraine and their external ”patrons“ prefer to overlook these facts. They do not miss a chance, however, both inside the country and abroad, to condemn ”the crimes of the Soviet regime,“ listing among them events with which neither the CPSU, nor the USSR, let alone modern Russia, have anything to do. At the same time, the Bolsheviks' efforts to detach from Russia its historical territories are not considered a crime. And we know why: if they brought about the weakening of Russia, our ill-wishes are happy with that.
In essence, Ukraine's ruling circles decided to justify their country's independence through the denial of its past, however, except for border issues. They began to mythologize and rewrite history, edit out everything that united us, and refer to the period when Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union as an occupation. The common tragedy of collectivization and famine of the early 1930s was portrayed as the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Radicals and neo-Nazis were open and more and more insolent about their ambitions. They were indulged by both the official authorities and local oligarchs, who robbed the people of Ukraine and kept their stolen money in Western banks, ready to sell their motherland for the sake of preserving their capital. To this should be added the persistent weakness of state institutions and the position of a willing hostage to someone else's geopolitical will.
I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human and civilizational ties formed for centuries and have their origins in the same sources, they have been hardened by common trials, achievements and victories. Our kinship has been transmitted from generation to generation. It is in the hearts and the memory of people living in modern Russia and Ukraine, in the blood ties that unite millions of our families. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. For we are one people.

Today, these words may be perceived by some people with hostility. They can be interpreted in many possible ways. Yet, many people will hear me. And I will say one thing – Russia has never been and will never be ”anti-Ukraine“. And what Ukraine will be – it is up to its citizens to decide.
 
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This makes sense.

Putin doesnt seem content with shooting himself and Russia's economy in the foot, unlike our 'leaders' in the west. It's clear that the western sanctions havent really done that much long term damage to Russia, but they are causing damage to citizens of the west - still cant wrap my mind around this logic.
Yes, so far Russia has announced a temporary ban on the export of fertilisers as well as banning grains to Europe until 31st August, including wheat, rye, barley and corn. This way, Russia is securing a steady stream of foreign money by allowing gas to continue flowing to the west while maintaining adequate levels of the agricultural products needed for its citizens in a moment where prices are rising and many will be stocking up.

Meanwhile, Europe is facing higher energy prices across the board and supermarkets are starting to ration food amid fears of panic buying and in anticipation of more serious shortages later during the year. And what is the response from the European governments? Build floating wind farms off the Mediterranean coast and prop up defense by buying three dozen F-35, known for being plagued by issues, as well as creating a special arms fund of 100bn EUR which will mostly benefit the US military-industrial complex and Israel, a leader in military drone technology.
 
March 13: The Russian Foreign Ministry regarding Western companies leaving Russia
It was published on the FB page of the ministry, but was originally a response and a letter to a Danish paper, from the Russian ambassador to Denmark. Perhaps it can be seen as an answer to the situation in other counties.

Link to the original and translation of the heading to English
This is the post from FB:
March 13 at 6:59 PM
📌
The Russian Ambassador to Denmark Mr. V.Barbin’s comment regarding the West sanctions against Russia, published in the «Politiken» newspaper on March 13, 2022.
▪️
In connection with the events in Ukraine, the United States, the EU countries and the West have declared economic war against Russia. The goal is to destroy the Russian economy.
▪️
Russia was deprived of the most favored nation treatment in trade, disconnected from the SWIFT interbank settlement system, and not allowed to enter the credit market. The reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, placed in foreign currency, foreign shares and foreign government debt obligations in Western countries, amounting to about 415 billion US dollars*, have been «frozen». The possibility of their confiscation is being discussed. In fact, the West has defaulted on its debt obligations to Russia. Under these conditions, Russia and Russian companies will pay their debt obligations to Western creditors primarily in Russian rubles.
▪️
The West is also putting unprecedented pressure on its own business, forcing it to leave the Russian market. Denmark is ahead of all European countries in this.
▪️
Russia is forced to respond. Specific measures will be announced in the coming days. The answer will be sensitive for the Western economy.
▪️
On March 12, the Danish Minister of Economy Mr. S.Kollerup complained in the «Politiken» newspaper about the current difficult situation of Danish companies in Russia. However, not a word is said about the persecution in Denmark of all those Danish companies that wanted to continue doing business in Russia. His reasoning about what is acceptable and what is not, against the backdrop of unprecedented economic and financial sanctions against Russia, seems irrelevant. Russia will protect the national economy with the means at its disposal.
▪️
Parliamentary parties are demanding decisive action from the Russian government, up to and including the confiscation of assets of Western companies. There is no consensus. Russian business makes counter-arguments. Discussed, in particular, the possibility of redemption for Russian rubles on market terms of the assets of companies that intend to leave the Russian market forever.
▪️
A consensus is emerging regarding the advisability of establishing external management in companies that suspend their activities in Russia. This is a temporary measure dictated by the necessity to prevent a break in production and logistics chains, to exclude the formation of a shortage of goods on the Russian market, as well as the fulfillment of social and labor obligations to the employees of these enterprises. External management will prevent the bankruptcy of enterprises and will help preserve its value in case foreign owners prefer to sell it. There are no plans to close the possibility of foreign investors returning to the Russian market and resuming their management of enterprises.
▪️
It is assumed that response measures will be "composed" taking into account the position of both specific Western countries and individual enterprises. Companies that remain on the Russian market and continue their production activities will be provided with the necessary support.
▪️
There should be no doubt that Russia will withstand, its economy cannot be destroyed. Russia has the necessary scientific and human potential, production and raw material resources for this.
*According to the information from the Russian Ministry of Finance, on March 13, the amount of the «frozen» reserves is approximately 300 billion US dollars.
📌
Link to the publication: https://is.gd/4UtyRf
* * *
🇷🇺
На русском: https://cutt.ly/LA0Hsnu

The exclusion of Russian media around the world
Russian Foreign Ministry - МИД России
March 13 at 6:06 PM
The first part until the date is translated with Yandex, the chronology with DeepL
💬 #Opinion of M.V.Zakharova:
In the countries of the "collective West", the destruction of the last signs of Russia's information presence continues. In some states, it's time to talk about media genocide (Медиагеноцид ) the Russian media, for the implementation of which the authorities, who have entered into some kind of frenzy, no longer bother even trying to justify censorship from a legal and especially from an international legal point of view.

American IT giants, irrevocably biased multilateral structures, groups of politically engaged NGOs have actively joined the process. We will talk about the specific milestones of this, without exaggeration, attack on the very foundations of the concept of freedom of speech a little later.

In the meantime, it is necessary to refresh the memory of the chain of events preceding this aggression in order to formulate a confident conclusion: it was painstakingly and systematically prepared in advance, long before this massacre, in order to be carried out by coordinated efforts at the right moment.

When all the masks of the so-called liberal democracies were finally thrown off, when they, without blinking an eye, transferred all their international obligations to protect and strictly follow the principle of pluralism of opinions to the status of waste paper, there was no other qualification for the long-term harassment of our media abroad, except for planning the destruction scenario.

The essence of what we call the West is made up of #NATO member countries. Meanwhile, at the doctrinal level, the alliance ranked Russia among its opponents. Among other things, this clearly implies the need and obligation to take appropriate measures to control the presence of the enemy in its information space in peacetime and to block the channels of dissemination of an alternative picture of the world at the stage of various forms of escalation of tension. Exactly what we are seeing now.

ℹ️ A small historical digression. The pressure on the Russian and in some countries on the Russian-language media from the "advanced" democracies increased markedly after Georgia's aggression against Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008, and after the unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014, it intensified even more. It was then that the thesis was updated in the West, not the first freshness, that the media, whose coverage of the Maidan and subsequent events differed from that approved by the official, spread disinformation and propaganda and, therefore, they should be treated differently from other media.

Incidents with the unmotivated non-admission of our correspondents to various events, refusals to obtain accreditation and visas, detentions, interrogations and pressure from law enforcement agencies when crossing the borders of foreign states, letters and calls from local special services to Russian media reporters permanently located abroad have become more frequent. Journalists began to be invited with enviable regularity to "talk" to various bodies, they began to notice surveillance of themselves and pressure on family members more often.

Gradually, various kinds of bans began to be used – in 2017, #RT in the USA was forced to register as a foreign agent. The TV channel was forced to report on every dollar spent, every phone call and every meeting held. This, by the way, refers to the conversation that the legislation on foreign agents in Russia is allegedly tougher than the American one. In October 2017, Twitter began blocking commercial information on RT accounts. On February 2, 2018, the TV channel in the USA was completely disconnected from the air.

At the end of 2018, the allies of the Americans were already actively involved in this process. The "most independent in the world" UK media regulator Ofcom issued RT an unprecedented fine in the history of its existence in the amount of 200 thousand pounds. And not for spreading terrorist and extremist content. For this, fines are imposed there significantly less. For "insufficient impartiality".

In France, harassment against RT was actually sanctioned by E. Macron at the stage of his election campaign. And after he called RT and Sputnik "organs of influence and false propaganda" in May 2017, fan refusals from communicating with these media from officials and politicians of the country followed.

It was announced to journalists without equivocation that they would not receive accreditation at the French Foreign Ministry and the Elysee Palace.

In 2019, TASS's own correspondent in the UK was subjected to cynical bureaucratic bullying. After a year and a half of delaying the routine extension of the work visa, the journalist and his family were simply deported. They were taken to the airport under escort, and the British law enforcement officers returned their passports to them only after passing the border control. By the way, later, without any explanation, the British authorities refused to issue visas to two other employees of the agency, whom they tried to send to replace the expelled colleague. London arrogantly ignored all our attempts to find solutions to this situation by diplomatic means, until, as a retaliatory measure, a journalist from the British media corporation BBC was asked from Russia. The British reacted to this with a stream of hysterical accusations of "violation of freedom of speech".

Класси Classic: they can do everything in principle, we have nothing of the required.

In January of the same year, in Germany, the local Union of Journalists called on the country's supervisory authorities not to issue a license for television broadcasting to the German-language RT channel. The appeal was heard: the media representatives were given to understand that they would not see a license. And at the same time they staged a real harassment of the staff of the Berlin editorial office in the media. Legal proceedings were started against them on charges of libel (and eventually lost). Bank accounts were blocked. The German leadership put pressure on partners in Luxembourg, forcing – for the first time in local practice - to refuse to organize satellite broadcasting from their facilities. YouTube video hosting in September 2021, having listened to the requests of the German authorities, deleted the Russian media accounts that were super popular with the Germans. Attempts to go on the air through Serbia, which has issued a license in accordance with the European Convention on Cross–Border Television (Germany is a party to it), ended with Berlin forcing a private French operator to remove the channel from the broadcast grid. A little later, a final ban was issued on any linear broadcasting in Germany.

Meanwhile, in the Baltic countries, a real terror was carried out against Russian and Russian-language media, since efforts to squeeze our media out of their information field there are an integral part of the general policy of de-russification of everything and everything.
Bans on the retransmission of Russian television broadcasts, the creation of unbearable conditions for the work of Russian media offices, administrative and even criminal prosecution of "objectionable" journalists and publicists, reduction of quotas for broadcasts in Russian on the air under various pretexts - it's impossible to list everything. There were cases when we recorded two or three really major incidents related to infringement of the rights of Russian and Russian-language media per week. The chronology of the establishment of total censorship there will make this text dimensionless.

Separately, it should be mentioned from year to year the brazen Western digital platforms, such as Google (Alphabet), Facebook (now Meta), Twitter and a number of others. Their political bias has become more and more clearly manifested in biased content moderation, unmotivated blocking, various kinds of information manipulation in relation to the audience.

All this took place under the cheerful silence of all relevant international authorities, who, obviously, were made clear what they could and should react to, and where they should close their eyes.

The "collective West", the core of which, as we remember, are NATO member countries, began a massive offensive against Russian media abroad immediately after Russia recognized the independence of the DPR and LPR and signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the republics.

A powerful coordinated attack, primarily on the Internet, was also carried out on other channels for the dissemination of information that could form an alternative to the approved "Washington regional committee", which has never left the international political scene.
👇 👇 👇 Below is an incomplete chronology of this aggression against the media and "new media", which has no analogues in modern history, based on their country and language affiliation. This can most accurately be described by the term "media genocide".

🔻 February 23
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that the British Government will reconsider the decision to issue a license to broadcast RT. On the same day, the relevant discussion begins in Parliament.
Telia TV informs that it will not renew contracts for broadcasting 25 Russian channels in Latvia.

🔻 February 24
Latvia prohibits the distribution of three Russian TV channels in the country. "Russia RTR" is banned for 5 years, "Russia 24" - for 4 years, "TV Center" - for 3 years.
The Facebook social network everywhere restricts access to the official accounts of the Zvezda TV channel, the RIA Novosti news agency, and the Lenta Internet sites.<url>" and "Newspaper.ru" in this country.

🔻 February 25
Latvia revokes permission to retransmit the TV channels "PBK Estonia" and "PBK Lithuania". Blocks users' access to the sites "Feed.<url>", "RIA Novosti", "VIEW.RU".
Estonia stops broadcasting the TV channels "RTR Planet", "NTV Mir" and "Russia 24" for a year.
Poland bans the broadcasting of RT, RT Documentary, RTR-Planeta, Soyuz TV and Rossiya 24 TV channels.
In Finland, the Elisa cameraman stops relaying RT.

🔻 February 26.
Latvian cable operator Tet stops rebroadcasting RBC Estonia, Mir TV, THT, Friday International, THT4 International, CTC Baltics, RTVi, THT Music, KHL, Auto Plus, Nauka, Peretz!
Lithuania's TV service providers Go3 and Home3 are refusing to rebroadcast Russian channels TVCI, NTV-Mir, First Baltic Channel, Ren TV, RTVI, CTC, Hunting and Fishing, and Mir TV.
Moldova stops the work of the Sputnik Moldova editorial site.
Australia stops broadcasting RT.
The Czech news agency CHTK, citing the republic's prosecutor general, reports that expressing support for Russia's actions in Ukraine on social networks may be treated as a criminal offense.

🔻 February 27.
The European Union agrees to completely ban the broadcasting of RT and Sputnik, as well as the activities of their subsidiaries on its territory, that is, on the territory of all member states of this association.
Lithuania stops broadcasting all Russian TV channels.
Meta (the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) introduces a ban on advertising by Russian media outlets with a share of state funding on their resources around the world.
According to media reports, Russian Internet resources, including those of government agencies and media outlets, are blocked from the Czech Republic.

🔻 February 28.
British Prime Minister B.Johnson says that RT's materials "damage the truth" and asks Ofcom to check the media for violations. On the same day, the media regulator initiates 15 investigations into RT news programs.
Providers in Canada remove RT from local network packages.
Latvia bans rebroadcasting of TV channel Mir-24 for 5 years and RTVI for 1 year.
Lithuania decides to prohibit rebroadcasting of RBC and Mir-24 channels for 5 years.
Romania blocks a number of sites of Sputnik agency and broadcasting of RT by all TV operators.
Google imposes a ban on monetization of Russian media outlets with a share of state funding, as well as the download of the RT mobile app on the territory of Ukraine.
The video hosting company YouTube blocks the Russian-language channel Sputnik on the territory of Ukraine.
Twitter restricts access to Russian media with state funding.
Spotify closes its representation in Russia and starts pessimizing and hiding the content of Russian media with a share of state funding.

🔻 March 1.
The European Union imposes a legislative ban on the broadcasting of RT and Sputnik throughout the territory of the union by decision of the EU Council.
France stops the work of Sputnik and RT France in social networks throughout the country.
TikTok blocks RT and Sputnik accounts in the EU.
YouTube begins blocking channels associated with RT and Sputnik in the EU.
Twitter applies labeling to Sputnik employees' accounts as "media affiliated with the Russian state."

🔻 March 2.
France stops linear broadcasting of RT France in line with EU Council decision.
Uruguay stops rebroadcasting RT channel through the streaming service Vera TV.

🔻 March 3.
RT TV channel is officially shut down in the UK. Formally - because of the removal of the satellite signal by providers in France and Luxembourg. Media regulator Ofcom initiates 12 more investigations into the Russian media and begins to consider the revocation of the license. Access to the channel was terminated on Sky, Freeview and Freesat platforms. The UK minister for digital, culture, media, and sports, N. Dorries, is asking Meta and TikTok to "do everything possible to prevent access to RT in the UK, as they have done in Europe. Meanwhile, YouTube itself is blocking RT's accounts without any unnecessary reminders from the authorities. All Russian media outlets present in the United Kingdom are experiencing problems with access to their resources, including due to hacker attacks on them.
The satellite television company Multichoice in South Africa stops rebroadcasting RT.
In Costa Rica, a number of public and private telecommunications companies, as well as digital streaming service platforms, stop broadcasting RT.
Latvia is blocking the broadcasting of Sputnik and Baltnews channels.

🔻 March 4.
The U.S. discontinues RT America television station in the country.

🔻 March 5.
Media regulator in Germany fines RT's German-language project €25,000 for its broadcasts.

🔻 March 6.
Latvia imposes an administrative penalty of up to 700 euros for "illegal" (i.e. any) viewing of Russian channels.
Slovakia urgently adopts the law "On Certain Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine," which, under the pretext of combating disinformation, provides for the possibility of blocking any Internet resources by decision of the National Security Administration.
Hungary starts practical implementation of the EU Council's decision and stops rebroadcasting RT and Sputnik.

🔻 7 March.
Moldova stops broadcasting Sputnik Moldova.
Latvia bans rebroadcasting of 18 TV channels of Gazprom-Media media holding in the country.
The management of the English Premier League announces the termination of the contract with Russian broadcasters to show the championship and the FA Cup.

🔻 March 8.
Due to the systematic obstruction of the news portal by the local authorities, Sputnik Meedia announces the termination of its work in Estonia.
Internet service providers in the Netherlands begin blocking Russian media sites.
Instagram begins downgrading in search results and labeling publications that contain links to Russian media associated with the state.
Latvia blocks the interactive portal IMHOclub.lv.

🔻 March 11.
Facebook and Instagram temporarily allow users in several countries to call for violence against the Russian military. Nick Clegg, vice president of Meta Corporation, confirmed the change in policy (for the first time in history calls for violence online have been officially legitimized), making a number of reservations that do not change the general nature of discriminatory actions. Unwittingly, one cannot help but draw parallels to the worst practices of Goebbelsian propaganda.

And so on...
News about the new blockades and bans comes literally in real time, like news from the fronts. The West has not yet completed the process of blocking any inconvenient information, but is moving steadily in this direction, completely forgetting about any principles of freedom of the media and pluralism of opinion.
It is as if the policies that were implemented after the EuroMaidan in 2014 with regard to Russia have spread. If in Ukraine there were Ukrainian nationalists, what is one to call the people acting as if they believe in the same values. I looked up the Wiki for "Glory to Ukraine"

The phrase resurfaced in Ukraine during the country's struggle for independence in connection with the fall of the Soviet Union, and was used by Bill Clinton in 1995.[2] It saw renewed use during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the Russo-Ukrainian War from 2014, when it became a popular symbol of democracy and Ukrainian independence. According to the Ukrainian Association of Football "Glory to Ukraine" is a commonly used greeting in Ukraine.[3] In 2018 "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!" became the official salute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, by a decree of President Petro Poroshenko.[4]

It has gained worldwide prominence as a symbol of resistance during the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was set to music by the Norwegian Armed Forces' official composer Marcus Paus, who was loosely inspired by Ukraine's national anthem.[5] It has also been used in protests in support of Ukraine around the world.[6] It has been used in speeches by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as many foreign leaders such as Ursula von der Leyen,[7] Boris Johnson,[8] Mark Rutte,[9] Andrej Plenković[10] and Jacinda Ardern.[11]
 
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