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

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine, New York, September 22, 2022​

Source

Russia calls out Western elites at UN (WATCH FULL SPEECH)​

By refusing to negotiate, the US and NATO left Moscow no choice but to launch its military operation in Ukraine, FM Sergey Lavrov said
Russia calls out Western elites at UN (WATCH FULL SPEECH)

Sergey Lavrov addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, September 24, 2022

(video at the link)

Years of NATO encroachment on Russia and the West’s refusal to negotiate over Ukraine left Russia “no choice” but to launch its special military operation, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN on Saturday. However, Lavrov added that Russia is now shaping “the future of the world order.”
“The US and its allies want to stop the march of history,”
Lavrov declared from the podium in New York, describing how in the aftermath of the Cold War, Washington appointed itself “almost an envoy of God on earth,” launching foreign conflicts at will and expanding the NATO alliance deeper into Eastern Europe.
The shifting of NATO’s borders to the east and its official declaration of interest in the Indo-Pacific region mean that the US-led bloc “now has the goal of subjugating the Asian area,” Lavrov stated. However, it was the West’s refusal to negotiate over Ukraine that led Russia to fight back, he continued.

Here is the second and main speech of Lavrov/Putin at the UN:

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, September 24, 2022:

"Madame President,

Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are meeting at a both challenging and dramatic moment. Crisis situations are growing, and the international security situation is deteriorating rapidly.

Instead of engaging in honest dialogue and searching for compromises, we must deal with misinformation, as well as coarsely staged incidents and provocations. The policy line adopted by the West undermines trust in international institutions, which are tasked with coordinating various interests and international law as a guarantee of fairness to protect the weak from arbitrary rule. We are witnessing these negative trends in their quintessential form here in the United Nations, which rose from the rubble of German fascism and Japanese militarism and was established to promote friendly relations among its members and to prevent conflict among them.

The future world order is being decided today, as any unbiased observer can clearly see. The question is whether this world order will have a single hegemon that forces everyone else to live by its infamous rules, which only benefit this hegemon and no one else. Or whether this will be a democratic and just world free from blackmail and intimidation against the unwanted, as well as free from neo-Nazism and neo-colonialism. Russia firmly opts for the second option. Together with our allies, partners, and like-minded countries, we call for efforts to make this a reality.

The unipolar global development model, which served the golden billion who for centuries had been fuelling its excessive consumption by relying on Asian, African, and Latin American resources, is receding into the past. Today, with the emergence of sovereign states that are ready to stand up for their national interests, an equal, socially-minded and sustainable multipolar architecture is taking shape. However, Washington and the ruling elites in Western countries that have fully submitted themselves to this rule have been viewing these objective geopolitical processes as a threat to their dominance.

The United States and its allies want to stop the flywheel of history. Having declared itself victorious in the Cold War at some point in the past, Washington elevated itself almost to the rank of the messenger of the Lord God on Earth, endowed with no obligations, but only sacred rights to act with impunity wherever it wants. Any state can become the next target for such actions, especially if this state displeases the self-proclaimed masters of the world in some manner. Everyone remembers how wars of aggression were unleashed under far-fetched pretexts against Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, in which hundreds of thousands of deaths were claimed among civilians. Were the West’s legitimate interests at stake in any one of these countries? Have they banned English or languages of other NATO member states, or Western media, or culture? Have they labelled Anglo-Saxons as subhuman or used heavy weapons against them? What were the outcomes of the reckless undertaking by the United States in the Middle East? Have they helped improve the human rights situation or promote the rule of law? Have they helped stabilise the socioeconomic situation or improve the people’s livelihoods? Name a country where life has changed for the better following Washington’s forceful intervention.

In its attempts to revive the unipolar model under the label of a rules-based order, the West has been imposing dividing lines everywhere, following the logic a of bloc-based confrontation where you either with us or against us. There is no third option available or compromises. The United States persisted with its irrational policy to expand NATO to the east and bring its military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders. Now the US wants to subjugate Asia. At the June NATO Summit in Madrid this self-proclaimed defensive alliance, announced the indivisibility of security for the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific region. Closed frameworks are being created as part of the Indo-Pacific strategies, which undermine ASEAN’s open and inclusive regional architecture that has taken shape over decades. Building on all these developments, they decided to play with fire regarding Taiwan, even promising it military support.

Clearly, the notorious Monroe Doctrine is becoming global in scope. Washington is trying to turn the entire globe into its own backyard while it uses illegal unilateral sanctions as a tool for coercing those who disagree. For many years now, these unilateral sanctions have been imposed in violation of the UN Charter and used as a tool for political blackmail. The cynicism of this practice is obvious. The restrictions take a toll on ordinary people, preventing them from accessing basic goods, including medicines, vaccines, and food. The blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba for more than 60 years now is one such egregious example. For quite some time now, the UN General Assembly by an overwhelming majority has been demanding with great resolve that this blockade be immediately lifted. The Secretary-General, whose duties include facilitating the implementation of the General Assembly resolutions, must pay special attention to this problem. He also has a special role to play when it comes to mobilising efforts to overcome the food and energy crises that have resulted from uncontrolled money printing in the United States and the EU during the pandemic, as well as the European Union’s irresponsible and unprofessional actions on hydrocarbon markets. Defying the most basic common sense, Washington and Brussels compounded the situation by declaring an economic war against Russia. This resulted in higher global prices of food, fertiliser, oil, and gas. We welcome efforts by the Secretary-General, who helped broker the July 22, 2022, Istanbul Agreements. However, these agreements must be carried out. So far, most of the ships carrying Ukrainian grain have not been directed to the poorest countries, while the United States and the EU have yet to fully remove the financial and logistical obstacles that prevent Russia from exporting its grain and fertiliser. We have been saying for several weeks that 300,000 tonnes of fertiliser have been held up at European ports and have been proposing to ship them free of charge to the African countries that need them, but the European Union has not responded.

Official Russophobia has taken on unprecedented and grotesque dimensions in the West. They do not have the scruples anymore to declare their intention to not only defeat our country militarily, but also to destroy and fracture Russia. In other words, they want a geopolitical entity that is too independent to disappear from the world’s political map.

How have Russia’s actions over the past decades actually infringed upon the interests of its opponents? Could it be that they cannot forgive us because it is the position of our country that made the military and strategic detente possible in the 1980s and 1990s? Or that we voluntarily dissolved the Warsaw Treaty Organisation, depriving NATO of its raison d’etre? Or that we supported Germany’s reunification without any conditions and contrary to the positions of London and Paris? That we withdrew our armed forces from Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and recognised the independence of the former Soviet republics? That we believed the promises by the Western leaders that they would not expand NATO to the east by a single inch, and when this process started, we agreed to basically legitimise it by signing the Russia-NATO Founding Act? Could it be that we infringed on the West’s interests when we warned it that bringing its military infrastructure closer to our border would be unacceptable to us?

With the end of the Cold War, Western arrogance and American exceptionalism have taken on an especially destructive nature. Back in 1991, US Under Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz frankly acknowledged during a conversation with NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Wesley Clark that after the end of the Cold War they could use their military as they pleased… and that they have five or maybe ten years to clear out surrogate Soviet regimes like Iraq and Syria before a new superpower emerges to challenge them. I am certain that one day we will learn from someone’s memoires how the United States built its Ukraine policy. However, Washington’s plans are already obvious.

Could it be that they cannot forgive us for supporting, at the request of the United States and the European Union, the agreement reached between then President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition to resolve the February 2014 crisis? Germany, France, and Poland guaranteed these agreements, but the next morning the leaders of the government coup trampled upon them, humiliating the European mediators. The West simply shrugged and looked on in silence as the putschists started bombing eastern Ukraine where people refused to accept the government coup. They looked on when those behind the coup elevated Nazi accomplices involved in atrocious ethnic cleansings against Russians, Poles, and Jews during World War II to the rank of national heroes. Did we have to sit idly in the face of Kiev’s policy to impose a total ban on the Russian language, education, the Russian media and culture, its insistence that Russians be expelled from Crimea, and when it declared war against Donbass? The authorities in Kiev back then, as well as the current leadership, have designated these people as creatures, not people – this is what we hear from the country’s most senior official. How could we tolerate this?

Or maybe Russia interfered with Western interests when it played a key role in stopping the hostilities unleashed by Kiev neo-Nazis in eastern Ukraine, and then insisted that the Minsk Package of Measures be implemented, as approved unanimously by the UN Security Council in February 2015, but then buried by Kiev with the direct involvement of the United States and the European Union?

For many years, we have been repeatedly offering to agree on the rules for co-existence in Europe based on the principles of equal and indivisible security as set forth at the highest level in the OSCE documents. Under this principle, no one can seek to reinforce one’s security at the expense of the security of others. The last time we came forward with a proposal to work out legally binding agreements to this effect was in December 2021, but all we got in response was an arrogant refusal.

Considering the inability of the Western countries to engage in talks, and the fact that the Kiev regime was continuing the war against its own people, we were left with no choice but to recognise the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and launch a special military operation to protect Russians and other people in Donbass, while also removing threats to our own security, which NATO has been consistently creating on Ukrainian territory, and which is de facto right on our border. This operation is being carried out in execution of the treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance reached between Russia and these republics under Article 51 of the UN Charter. I am certain that in this situation any sovereign, self-respecting state that realises the responsibility it has to its own people would do the same.

The West is now in a temper tantrum over the referendums in Ukraine’s Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions. However, people there are simply reacting to the advice from the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky. In one of his interviews in August 2021, he advised all those who consider themselves Russians to leave for Russia for the benefit of their children and grandchildren. This is what people living in the regions I have mentioned are doing, taking the land where their ancestors had lived for centuries with them.

It is obvious to any unbiased observer that for the Anglo-Saxons who have completely subjugated Europe, Ukraine is merely an expendable material in their fight against Russia. NATO declared that our country poses an immediate threat to the United States in its quest for total dominance, while designating the People’s Republic of China as a long-term strategic challenge. At the same time, the collective West, led by Washington, is sending intimidating signals to all other countries without exception: anyone who disobeys can be the next in line.

One of the consequences of the crusade declared by the West against unwanted regimes is that multilateral institutions are declining at an ever-increasing pace. The United States and its allies use these institutions as tools for achieving their selfish interests. This is the approach they have been sticking to in the United Nations, its Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and other multilateral associations. The OPCW has been de facto privatised. There are fierce attempts to undermine efforts to set up a mechanism as part of the Biological Weapons Convention to ensure the transparency of hundreds of military biological programmes the Pentagon has around the world, including along Russian borders and across Eurasia. Irrefutable evidence discovered on Ukrainian territory demonstrates that these programmes are far from innocuous.

We are witnessing an assertive push to privatise the UN Secretariat and imbue its work with a neo-liberal discourse, which ignores the cultural and civilisational diversity in today’s world. In this connection, we call for paying attention to ensure equitable geographical representation, as required by the UN Charter, of member states within the Secretariat so that no one single group of countries dominates it.

There is an intolerable situation with the failure by Washington to perform its obligations under the agreement between the UN Secretariat and the US Government regarding the headquarters of the United Nations in terms of ensuring normal conditions that enable all member states to take part in UN’s work. The Secretary-General has his own obligations under this agreement. Inactivity is unacceptable here.

Efforts by certain countries to undermine the Security Council prerogatives are of course a matter of concern. Clearly, the Council, and the UN in general, must adapt to today’s reality. We see opportunities for injecting more democracy into the work of the Security Council but only – I would like to make special emphasis on this – through broader representation of African, Asian, and Latin American countries. This applies in particular to India and Brazil as key international actors and worthy candidates for becoming permanent Council members, subject to enhancing Africa’s standing at the same time.

Today, it is essential like never before that all member states reaffirm their clearly stated commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter without any reservations. This would be the first and necessary step to restoring their collective responsibility for the human destinies.

This was precisely the purpose of establishing the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the United Nations. Co-founded by Russia, it already includes about two dozen countries. The group strives to ensure strict compliance with the universal norms of international law as a counterweight to pernicious unilateral approaches. We call on everyone who shares this position to join in. In this context, we believe that the Non-Aligned Movement, BRICS, the SCO, and ASEAN have considerable positive potential.

By aggressively imposing their vision of democracy on all countries as a social model, our Western colleagues categorically refuse to follow the norms of democracy in international affairs. The situation with Ukraine is the most recent example. Russia has gone to great lengths to justify its position and has been doing this for several years now. But the West announced that it disagreed. One would think that it would be up to the other members of the international community to decide on their position: to support one side, or the other, or remain neutral. Is this not the way this is done in democracies when politicians competing against one another make their case and try to win popular support? However, the United States and its allies are denying others the freedom of choice. They are threatening and twisting the arms of anyone who dares to think independently. They use threats to force others to join in sanctioning Russia. They have not been very good at it, but it is obvious that actions of this kind by the United States and its satellites are a far cry from democracy. In fact, it amounts to dictatorship, pure and simple, or at least an attempt to impose it.

One gets the firm impression that Washington, as well as Europe, which is subjugated to Washington’s rule, use only prohibited methods to retain their vanishing hegemony. Time and again, they have used illegal sanctions instead of diplomatic methods against strong competitors, be it in economics, sports, information space, cultural exchanges, or overall in people-to-people contacts. Take, for example, the visa issue for delegates to international events in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Paris. These are also attempts to remove competitors and insulate multilateral discussions from any alternative points of view.

I strongly believe in the need to defend the United Nations and to rid it of anything confrontational or superficial so that it re-emerges as a platform for honest discussions to balance the interests of all member states. It is this approach that guides us in our efforts to promote our national initiatives within the United Nations.

It is a matter of principle that we achieve a universal ban on the deployment of weapons in outer space, which is the purpose of the draft international treaty prepared by Russia and China. The UN Conference on Disarmament is reviewing it.

Defending cyberspace deserves special attention, including efforts to agree on ways to ensure international informational security within the General Assembly Open-Ended Working Group, as well as drafting a universal convention on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purpose within the Special Committee.

We will continue supporting the Office of Counter-Terrorism and other counter-terrorist entities within the United Nations.

We also remain committed to promoting closer ties between the UN and the CSTO, the CIS, and the EAEU in order to coordinate and unite our efforts across Greater Eurasia.

Russia calls for the stepping up of efforts to settle regional conflicts. We believe that priority objectives include overcoming an impasse in establishing an independent Palestinian state, restoring statehood in Iraq and Libya after they were ruined by NATO’s aggression, neutralising threats to Syria’s sovereignty, putting national reconciliation on a stable footing in Yemen, and overcoming NATO’s devastating legacy in Afghanistan. We are working to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme in its original form, and to bring about a fair and comprehensive resolution of the problems the Korean Peninsula faces. The multiple conflicts in Africa require that we resist the temptation to play a zero-sum game there and instead consolidate external actors to support the African Union’s initiatives. The situation in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina causes concern, where the United States and the EU are stubbornly seeking to break apart the international legal framework as set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Madame President,

In times of change, people tend to rely on and find solace in the wisdom of their predecessors who went through hardships that were just as challenging. Former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, who remembered the horrors of World War II, aptly noted: “The United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell.” These words have never been more relevant. This means that we must all recognise our individual and collective responsibility for creating conditions that would facilitate development for future generations in safety and harmony. For this, everyone will have to demonstrate political will.

We are ready to work in good faith and strongly believe that the only way to ensure the world order’s stability is to go back to the roots of UN diplomacy, which are based on the respect for sovereign equality of states as the key statutory principle for a genuine democracy."
 
I want to share something personal again.
As Cass said: all there is is lessons. Here I am getting lessons that are very difficult and do not have unambiguous answers for me at the moment. Now it seems to me that it would be easier for me to sit in an embrace with a machine gun in a trench under some artillery shelling. Of course, I haven't tried it, but it seems so to me.
The fact is that my son ran away from a possible mobilization. He has been in Tbilisi, Georgia, for a day now. We talked to him many times, I tried to help him look at everything that was happening as broadly as possible, but the media environment in which he was was clearer and more convincing. With all this, I am not some kind of "hawk" and I would not want him, me or anyone else to be at war, but the situation is such that it becomes possible and in a certain sense necessary. But run?!!!
I try my best not to condemn him, the motives of his actions are clear to me. Here is such a "parsley".
I would like to write a lot, but I think I'll wrap up otherwise I'll write all day and still not finish something. I'm not a "so-so" writer.
How will you learn your lessons in the future, if in the present you are sent to a war in which you may die.
Free will, free choice.
At the same time, there are many who go voluntarily - these are their lessons, their choice.
 
After the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986, the Polish authorities also administered iodide to millions of citizens, in particular children.

Yeah, when it was already too late. That was more or less a pure "we care" PR act.

In any case, this map of radiation sensors might be handy in case of some serious event related to the power plant (if the website will handle the load during such situation):

That map doesn't show radioactivity levels east of Polish borders, so it's virtually useless in the sense of warning/prevention. I like this one better:

BTW, notice that there is a constant gamma radioactivity oscillating around 500 nSv/hour in Gomel area north of Chernobyl.

Closer to the topic, Zelensky may be already regretting his permission for the IAEA mission presence at the ZNPP:

From ANNA-NEWS (ru):

The Ukrainian authorities have already regretted their permission for the presence of the IAEA monitoring mission at the Zaporizhzhya NPP. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said this on Monday, 26 September.

"Both Russia and Ukraine spoke almost simultaneously in favour of a permanent presence of IAEA representatives at Zaporizhzhia NPP. However, the impression is that the Ukrainians have already regretted it," TASS quoted Ulyanov as saying.

The Russian diplomat emphasizes that the presence of a permanent delegation of the world nuclear regulator at ZNPP does not allow the Ukrainian regime and its Western curators to harm the plant and pass it off as "Russian crimes". The IAEA monitoring mission gives a clear picture of the situation at the plant, including regular shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Although the IAEA does not emphasise that the shelling is coming from Ukrainian territory, and no accusations of militants of the Zelensky regime are heard from the agency's experts, there are no accusations of "shelling" by the Russian Armed Forces either.

That's as good as one can get from a Western organisation.
 
Updates:

Russia stiffens penalty for desertion; replaces top general
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree toughening penalties for voluntary surrender to enemy forces, desertion and refusal to fight by up to 10 years in prison, just days after ordering a partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine.

The move came on a day Moscow replaced its top logistics general after a series of setbacks to its seven-month war in Ukraine. “Army General Dmitry Bulgakov has been relieved of the post of deputy minister of defence” and will be replaced by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, aged 60, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

Early turnout numbers for referendums on joining Russia revealed
Preliminary results on the third of five voting days shows the threshold having been reached in Donbass and Zaporozhye and almost met in Kherson Ballot boxes pictured at a mobile polling station in Mariupol, Donetsk People’s Republic on September 25, 2022. © Sputnik

The referendums on joining Russia are continuing in the Donbass republics and Russian-controlled regions of southern Ukraine. On Sunday, the turnout already reached the required 50% threshold in the Donetsk and Lugansk republics and Zaporozhye Region, with only Kherson lagging behind.

In the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), more than 76% of eligible voters have already cast their votes, according to official figures. The referendum in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is proceeding at a similar pace, with some 77% of voters having shown up at the polling stations.

Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, which were largely seized by Russian forces amid the ongoing conflict, have demonstrated a lower turnout. Still, the latter region has already met the required legal threshold, with some 51.55% of registered voters already casting their ballots, according to the head of the Zaporozhye electoral committee, Galina Katyshenko. Kherson has so far demonstrated lower turnout, with nearly 49% of voters showing up for the referendum. Polls across the two regions and in the Donbass republics are set to stay open for the next two days.

Russian Lawmaker Says Ukrainian Territories Could Be Absorbed by Russia on September 30
The areas of Russian-controlled Ukraine that are holding referendums on joining Russia may be absorbed by the Russian Federation on September 30, a Russian lawmaker told TASS on Saturday.

Referendums are currently being held in the self-declared republics of Donestk and Luhansk and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The voting is set to be concluded on Tuesday.

“Taking into account the preliminary results of the referendums and Russia’s readiness to acknowledge them, the accession of the territories is likely to take place as early as on September 30,” an unnamed member of Russia’s State Duma told Tass.
 
What's with these protests in Dagestan? If the mobilization is only about reservists, why is everyone apparently afraid of getting drafted?
Western spy op, color revolution attempt, or just human stupidity? Or, Putin lied and they're about to draft millions of people with zero military experience.

Freedom and democracy arrives in Russia. :-(

Fueled at least partly from abroad (via Ukraine), according to the head of Dagestan


The actions in Makhachkala against the partial mobilisation were prearranged. This was stated by the head of Dagestan Sergey Melikov, his reaction to the situation is given in his Telegram-channel. ...

According to Melikov, these actions were managed in part from abroad. "We have already faced this in the 1990s. Unfortunately, many have forgotten what it can lead to, not everyone remembers the bombings of residential buildings in Kaspiysk, Buynaksk, railway stations and subways," said the head of Dagestan.


"TROUBLES" IN RUSSIA: AN ATTEPPT TO BRING CHAOS TO THE RUSSIANS (ru)

Behind the attacks and protests in Russia, which have unfolded over the last few days, are provocations from Ukraine. We are talking about an information-psychological influence on our people.

The school shooting in Izhevsk, the attack on the military recruitment office in the Irkutsk region, and yesterday's protests in Dagestan are all the result of incitement and calls for terror and extremism. As the director of the Safe Internet League, Ekaterina Mizulina, points out, all this was the result of incitement by the Kiev regime on social media. ...

Mizulina noted that the authors of these information and psychological operations coordinated their actions in thematic telegram channels. Specific examples of how the provocations in Dagestan were coordinated were shown at a briefing at the Public Chamber.

Daniil Bezsonov, Deputy Minister of Information of the DNR, also spoke about the same. He explained that the enemy had long been carrying out a complex work in the information field as well.

My subjective opinion is that the tragedies that happened today - both at the school and at the military enlistment office - are not random unfortunate events nor they happened by accident, Bezsonov pointed out.

According to him, such information and psychological operations have been carried out in Russia in recent years: Smuta, Volodya, Fakel, Fakel-2 and others.

The main focus has been on provoking social unrest, increasing social tension among Russians and information terrorism. Special attention should be given to the youth movement Rave, which the Ukrainian special services tried to create on our territory to draw our young people into illegal activities and intelligence gathering, the expert pointed out. He added that now the confrontation is actively moving into the virtual sphere and one cannot ignore the information and psychological influence.

Rave at ENG and RU Wkipedia.
 
What's with these protests in Dagestan?
FWIW - more on this from the previously posted Al Jazeera article, Russia stiffens penalty for desertion; replaces top general -

Russia’s mandatory military draft has sparked protests and forced military-age men to flee Russia, with outbound flights full and neighbouring countries receiving large influxes, including Georgia where 2,300 private vehicles were waiting to enter at one crossing, regional Russian authorities said.

Street protests continued on Saturday, with authorities detaining more than 700 demonstrators in 32 cities across Russia, according to the independent monitoring group OVD-Info.
A separate law, also signed on Saturday, facilitates Russian citizenship for foreigners who enlist in the Russian army for at least a year, bypassing the normal requirement for five years of residency in the country.

This measure seems primarily aimed at Central Asian migrants from former Soviet republics, who are typically hired for strenuous, low-paying jobs.

Prior to the law coming into effect, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan had warned their citizens not to take part in any armed conflicts.
Protests in Dagestan @ 0:16 -

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilisation of reservists to bolster his forces in Ukraine, an unpopular move that sparked rare protests across the country and led to some 1,300 arrests. The risky order follows setbacks for Putin’s troops nearly seven months after they invaded Ukraine. The first such call-up in Russia since World War II heightened tensions with Ukraine’s Western backers, who derided it as an act of weakness and desperation. And the EU Commission says many people are now trying to leave Russia. Almost all flights out of Moscow appear to be fully booked - and traffic has surged at land borders. But the Kremlin says reports of a mass exodus are exaggerated.
 
I found this rather short summary video on the history of the rise of Nazi fascists within Ukraine both informative and terrifying. If anyone you know is still scratching their head about what “denazification” means and what’s at stake show them this. If that doesn’t get them thinking then maybe they’re a Nazi? 🤔

Here’s the YT link (while it lasts):


Posted by this TG channel:
:thdown:Content police already removed the video. It’s on Rumble now:

 
If you have, like me, someone you know (well) who is rather intelligent/intellectual but who continues to have hard to discern truth from lies and who inform mainly from the MSM, so, in regard to Russia/Ukraine (mainly), I found a good article to show to such kind of person. A basic foundation of current propaganda is to say that Russia is getting worse and worse financially, something which is normally known by such people following the MSM, they use this false assumption to justify many other (sub) "story telling" in regard to Russia, or to Putin ... .
Just show them the following article, coming from the WEF website, dated of 30/8/22, difficult to find a more official article.


I wonder what some "hard-convinced ones" would answer ?
 
Here I am getting lessons that are very difficult and do not have unambiguous answers for me at the moment. Now it seems to me that it would be easier for me to sit in an embrace with a machine gun in a trench under some artillery shelling. Of course, I haven't tried it….
! Then easy to recommend?
With all this, I am not some kind of "hawk" and I would not want him, me or anyone else to be at war, but the situation is such that it becomes possible and in a certain sense necessary. But run?!!!
I try my best not to condemn him, the motives of his actions are clear to me. Here is such a "parsley".
Perhaps “running” can take even more courage than embracing a machine gun. Perhaps things are not so clear and simple.

In 1970 I was 20 and I was drafted (conscripted) to go fight in Viet Nam. I had my mental reasons not to go: a stupid pointless war of imperialism. But I also could feel in my guts that I would die if I went: either physically or spiritually. I had a strong sense that war is just plain wrong. Yes, the viet nam war was different from this. I get that. But in the end it is still war and also, in a sense, nobody ever really wins. Everyone has their soul journey to follow. Who are we to judge?

I did not actually “run”. I refused to go. I took a stand. I somehow confronted the situation head on. But perhaps Even running can be taking a stand. Everyone here in USA “honors” our veterans who went and fought. (In a stupid pointless immoral war that only benefited the psychopaths who urged it on. And a war that ruined countless lives). There are never any parades for the people who said “hell no” to the insanity. (Kind of like refusing the injections?)

Anyway, it can be hard for a young man to really articulate his point of view and feelings into a listening of restrained condemnation. Try to be open to really listen and don’t be so sure you really 100% understand the inner and outer cosmic workings. Stay open.

That’s my opinion…worth exactly what all opinions are worth!
 

Putin Gives Edward Snowden Russian Citizenship: State Media​

Per the official Russian presidential decree...

"In accordance with paragraph 'a' of Article 89 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, I decide: to accept the following persons in the citizenship of the Russian Federation: Edward Joseph Snowden, born June 21, 1983, in the United States of America."

This is an absolutely huge development and big and consequential Kremlin thumb in the eye to Washington at a moment the two sides are inching closer to direct confrontation and war in Ukraine. The decree is sure to spiral tensions further already at a moment Washington is mulling yet more expanded sanctions.

1664240476441.png

According to Russia's Sputnik, "Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also confirmed that Russian citizenship was granted to Snowden at the latter's request."
 
Yes, I don't think anyone should look down on people who refuse / don't want to be drafted into a military to fight or get involved somehow. There will always be enough people to go to war and kill/slaughter each other, each thinking they are right and the other is wrong. The pattern has been consistent throughout human history and I doubt it'll change now. As an individual on this specific journey I find that the aim should be to navigate and live life so that one isn't overtaken by such events. The ultimate war is through us - it is not fought in ditches or with bullets and bombs.
 
The USA appears to have followed through on President Biden's threats and attacked Europe's energy lifelines in an attempt to keep the Europeans from preserving themselves by surrendering to Russia.


The US Shuts Off Europe's Lights - Vox Popoli

The US Shuts Off Europe’s Lights​

Less than 24 hours after Nord Stream 2 abruptly went down, Nord Stream 1 has been sabotaged as well.
Yesterday evening, pressure in the undersea Nord Stream 2 pipeline suddenly collapsed, and gas could be seen bubbling to the surface of the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm. Shortly afterwards, reports came of a total collapse in the pressure of our other major undersea pipeline connection to Russia, Nord Stream 1, indicating a further rupture.
Government officials assume that the damage is intentional, and the result of an attack by foreign forces:
Due to the timing, the fact that three separate pipelines were affected, and the severe pressure losses in Nord Stream 1, officials expect the worst. “We can no longer imagine any scenario other than a targeted attack,” said a person privy to the assessment by the federal government and federal authorities. They added: “Everything speaks against a coincidence.”
Such an attack on the seabed would be anything but trivial; it would have to be carried out with special forces – for example, by navy divers or a submarine, people informed of initial assessments said.
With regard to responsibility for the alleged attacks, two possibilities are being discussed. First, according to initial speculation, Ukrainian or Ukrainian-affiliated forces could be responsible. With the temporary shutdown of the Nord Stream pipelines, gas deliveries from Russia to Germany and Central Europe would only be possible via the Yamal pipelinje running through Poland or the Ukrainian pipeline network.

The piece that I’ve bolded is of course a lightly disguised reference to the United States or NATO. This should surprise nobody: President Biden said in early February that in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, “there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, we will bring an end to it.”
These are clear and obvious acts of war, not only against Russia, but against Western Europe as well. And not only is the Unidentified State Actor the primary suspect, with the means and the motivation to destroy the pipelines, but the Commander-in-Chief of the US military publicly threatened to do what has apparently been done.

Gonzalo Lira is absolutely right. This is the modern equivalent of Cortez burning his ships upon arrival in the New World. Occam’s Razor strongly suggests that the global imperialists headquartered in the USA are attempting to prevent the Europeans from surrendering to Russia and thereby freeing themselves from the satanic New World Order.

“Now I realize that the Americans will stop at nothing to destroy all of their allies. Because what’s really happening is that the global American empire is collapsing and they are lashing out in all directions.”

At this point, every nation on Earth would have to be crazy to cooperate with the US government in any way, much less comply with its demands. This destruction of Europe’s energy lifelines underlines the truth of Henry Kissinger’s famous aphorism: “To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”

DISCUSS ON SG
 
Leaks in three location of Nord Stream 1 and 2 "Everything speaks against a coincidence"
The NS 2 was build, first the Germans delayed it, and now they can't use it, even if they wanted. That the leaks came in that order NS 2, one leak and then NS 1 two leaks is perhaps significant, but it is too early to say. Below are more details:

From a Danish State Media source:
Total of three leaks
Climate-, Energy - and Forsyningsministeriet confirms that there is total found three leaks in gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. There are two leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and one leak on the Nord Stream 2.

The leaks occurred, respectively northeast and southeast of the island of Bornholm.
Nord Stream 2 is not in operation, but contains natural gas, which is now leaking out of Bornholm. Nord Stream 1 is not in operation, but containing a gas, informs climate, energy and supply minster, Dan Jørgensen (S).
The Danish maritime authority has issued a navigationsvarsel and created a prohibited zone for ships. The zone has a radius of 5 nautical miles (equivalent to slightly more than 9 kilometers) to the ships and a prohibited zones for planes of 1 kilometer.

According to the DEA, ships can lose buoyancy if they are travelling into the area, and there may be a risk of fire over the water and in the air.
Is the Danish explanation a smoke screen
Since gas goes to the top in a straight line from a leak, that should be easy to locate. Moreover, if there is no longer any significant pressure, there is no longer any gas worth mentioning. Are they throwing a smokescreen?
From a Danish paper:
On Monday, there was found a gas leak southeast of Bornholm in the baltic gas pipeline, which authorities consider to get from Nord Stream 2.

Tuesday has the perception of the problem changed. Now, there are thus also discovered two leaks on the original Nord Stream gas pipeline. Both of these on the original connection has occurred to the northeast of Bornholm. One of these leak is in Swedish waters, while the second is in the Danish waters. This was stated by a spokesman for the Swedish søfartsstyrelse, Sjöfartsverket, to Reuters.
So two leaks in Danish waters and one in Sweden.
Here are the two gas lines:
1664268096026.png
The area of the leak, though this was only for NS2, so another circle needs to be drawn to the north-east:
1664268979750.png
The leaks happened on shallow water, 25-50 fathoms, a unit of 1.8288 meters, so around 46-92 meters
Screenshot 2022-09-27 115643.jpg
Here is the explanation of the colours:
Screenshot 2022-09-27 115700.jpg

The Wiki has:
On 26 September 2022, unexplained large pressure drops have been reported in both NS1 and NS2 pipelines, as well as a located gas leak in Danish waters from NS2 late on 26 September. Berliner Zeitung newspaper has asked if it is sabotage.[1]
The German Berliner Zeitung wrote:
Pressure drop now also in Nord Stream 1: Was it sabotage?
A few hours after the gas leak on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Nord Stream 1 is also reporting massive problems. According to a report, there are indications of targeted attacks.
updated BLZ, dpa, 26.9.2022updated 27.09.2022 - 00:27 a.m

The operator of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline has noticed a pressure drop in the German-Russian energy route. Both tubes are affected, a spokesman for the company told the German Press Agency. According to market information that is mandatory for network operators, the capacity of the pipeline has unexpectedly dropped to zero.

Such a pressure drop had already been detected in the Nord Stream 2 sister pipeline on Monday night. During the course of Monday, the responsible naval authorities identified a leak south-east of the Danish island of Bornholm as the probable cause.
And further down:
According to the Tagesspiegel, the Nord Stream pipelines could have been damaged by targeted attacks. The newspaper quotes an 'insider' who is involved in the assessment by the federal government and federal authorities. 'Everything speaks against a coincidence,' the insider said, according to the report. 'Our imagination no longer produces a scenario that is not a targeted attack.' It is said that such an attack or act of sabotage is not a trivial process, but must be carried out, for example, by special forces or with the help of a submarine.
Any suspects?
Russia has nothing to gain, they just don't let the gas flow, if they are not interested in business. Besides, Russia also most to loose, as they own most of the line, next is Germany.

Here is a list of Nord Stream 1 and 2 project companies from the Wiki
Nord Stream 1 is operated by the special-purpose company Nord Stream AG, incorporated in Zug, Switzerland on 30 November 2005. Shareholders of the company are the Russian gas company Gazprom (51% of shares), the German companies Wintershall Dea and PEG Infrastruktur AG (E.ON) (both 15.5%), the Dutch gas company Gasunie (9%), and the French gas company Engie (9%).[27][39] The chairman of the shareholders' committee is German ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
Nord Stream 2 is developed and planned to be operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom.[68]
From Topwar.ru
Apparently, the "beneficiaries" of such sabotage may be Kyiv, Warsaw and Washington.
In the list they forgot the UK, independent and contracted actors. There is also the odd anomaly that the German MoD expressed greater commitment to Ukraine than to her own citizens. Now protesters can go home, as the gas will not be turned on anytime soon, and their Government can do little for now, no matter how much AfD Alice Weidel and Die Linke, Sahra Wagenknecht suggest to turn on the line. At least Topwar.ru believes the sabotage precludes any gas will flow through the pipes this winter. I don't know how much damage the pipes can suffer from salty water and no pressure, or how difficult such lines are to repair, or if anyone would even bother, considering the vagueness of the situation.

Regarding Denmark and Russia
Denmark delayed the NS 2 project, they were delaying it as much as they could reasonably do, and a bit more:

From June 29, 2019:
The Nord Stream 2 project had filed an application with Danish authorities, but the Danish authorities did not give a response even after the company waited two years:
Finally, on Oct 30, 2019::
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Danish counterpart, Jeppe Kofod, discussed the situation around Denmark's permit for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline’s construction in the country's territorial waters when they met in New York in September.

Sputniknews

The US suffers a political loss here, along with Poland and Ukraine, who have been trying to kill the Nordstream 2 project despite its huge investment and having a consortium of EU company partners building and distributing the gas.
Let's see how it develops. The US would like to put soldiers on Bornholm, and the leaks happened to the south-east and north-east, so is militarizing the island what they have in mind?
 
Cautious response from Russia so far. They will 'not rule out that disruption is due to sabotage'. Do they know more than they are letting on? Watching this one closely.


Good reminder that despite the close attention we pay to reality, it always has surprises just around the corner!
 
More maps
BOTH Nord Stream Gas Pipelines Deliberately Ruptured - German Govt Suspects "Sabotage" Caused by "Special Forces Linked to Ukraine"

Nord Stream 2's operator said pressure in the undersea pipeline dropped from 105 to 7 bar overnight.
7 bars would indicate the leak was at around 70 meters. This is confirmed by this map from Aftershock.news. the depth of the NS 2 leak is 72 meters:
NS2-1.jpg
From neftegaz.ru all three leaks are marked.
Screenshot 2022-09-27 140442.jpg
And here is an image of what the tubes look like from petrodigest.ru
Screenshot 2022-09-27 143717.jpg
Outside 60-110 mm reinforced concrete
Then anti-corrosive layer, 4.2 mm
Then steel tube of 27-41 mm
Inside anti-corrosive layer.
Will this damaged line be fixed anytime soon?
Does one need a pipe-laying ship?
Will the German Government need a few years to test the repaired line?
Will a third party be resentful or have interests? Like now.
 
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