I hope it’s not accurate, too, but am really afraid that it is…
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There are likely “kill or imprison” lists. Any competent modern invading since at least the Great War rolls in with those. Any LGBTQ+ leaders remaining in the Donbas region will certainly be on those lists, so I hope they (and really any other out LGBTQ+ people) have gotten out in time. My greater worry is that there’s also a list and, worse, an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda for Ukraine as a whole.
As is always the case with sado-populists like Putin, all the claims about genocide and concentration camps are projection.
ETA: and of course there are the old standbys for such lists…
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Be prepared. That means Biff and Swanson and all the rest of them will soon start talking about the “DNR” and “LNR” as if they’re actual nation-states instead of the Donbas region of Ukraine. As soon as this evening.
Also, I hope whoever shot that video took careful steps to obscure their identity. If the authorities figure out who they are a gulag is the best outcome.
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From the BBC liveblog:
Posted at 20:4420:44
Putin’s ‘parallel universe’Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent
Much of Vladimir Putin’s speech about Ukraine sounded like a fever dream. A nightmarish vision of a country economically crippled, utterly corrupt, bent on developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and ungrateful for all the generous attention lavished on it by Russia since independence.
This wasn’t new. Mr Putin wrote a lengthy article last summer, making many of the same arguments.
But that didn’t make it any less shocking to hear. It underlined, for anyone with any lingering doubt, that Mr Putin is speaking from a very different place. This is not just a different slant on history. At times it felt like a parallel universe.
But are there lessons too for the west? Why, Mr Putin asked, did Nato make an enemy of Russia?
The western alliance certainly never set out to do any such thing. But the Russian leader’s broadside underlined, once more, that the Kremlin remains deeply resentful of the way history panned out. Nato’s gain was, in Mr Putin’s zero-sum world view, Russia’s loss.
Emmanuel Macron spoke of addressing “the mistakes of the past” after he met Mr Putin in Moscow two weeks ago. Suggesting, perhaps, that the west bears some responsibility for allowing this relationship to sour so badly.
If and when the crisis over Ukraine can be resolved, how can Nato and Russia pick up the pieces?
P.S. Thread arguing that Putin wants the Russian Empire back, nothing more, nothing less.
P.P.S. The Prime Minister of Lithuania:
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If Russia wants Lebensraum, it has lots of east to move into.
No, this is entirely different. This is “rescuing” the Russian speakers from a “Historically Russian” region from “genocide” which will involve invading the whole country to do so, which “historically was always part of Russia” anyway.
This isn’t Lebensraum.
This is the Sudetenland.
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On aspect of this whole mess that’s thus far been ignored is the Balkans… Often the western-Russian rivalry has been played out there, as late as 2008, with Kosovo declaring independence, which Serbia opposed and Russia backed the Serbian position, with NATO and the US supporting independence. The fact that the Balkan countries that are largely western aligned are being accused of sending mercenaries is telling. I wouldn’t be surprised if after the Russians invade Ukraine, you see the Bosniak Serbs assert once again that they plan to break away from the rest of Bosnia, which could easily dissolve into another conflict there…
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The Republika Srpska already has its own armed “police” for “counter-terrorism”.
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I saw part of this live on flightradar24, then just saw this tweet. US Osprey flew into Ukraine, went dark, then reappeared and is now leaving. So dropping off or picking up? My guess is evac.
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Yep. A war in Ukraine is only going to embolden Dodik…
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Oh, true - at least in theory. But this should come with being aware of, and acknowledging, the very real danger the person is. If Putin is seen by someone as just a funny Russian autocrat who does hilariously silly things, and that’s all he is to that person, he’ll stop being “real” and will turn into a joke character… that he isn’t. Basically what I’m trying to say is, there’s a level of flippancy I keep seeing from certain people who live far away from actual danger, turning really terrifying situations into jokes, and dismissing them as being just some weird stuff happening between people who speak funny and sometimes do funny things.
Also, honestly, after a point things just stop being funny. My country made it through 12 years of a slow-burn developing autocracy with a sense of humor, but we’re now at the point where the situation has become so surreal that even our version of The Onion basically said “guys, that’s it, we give up, they’re doing and saying shit even we can’t make up.” Remember how it felt like seeing Trump jokes after a while?
(FWIW this was inspired by seeing just one too many “lol shirtless Putin riding into Ukraine on a bear” thing on Twitter. I know, I know…)
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I’ve seen multiple sources reporting this:
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I hope there is a plan to confiscate Putin’s and other autocrats assets outside of Russia immediately upon an invasion. All those pieces of real estate, corporations, offshore accounts etc.
Frozen, confiscated and sold to support the needs of the victims. They’ll be a lot of refugees who need assistance. Move some into those London, NY & Florida properties.
Except that neither the US or the UK will want refugees.
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UNCONFIRMED
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He can cynically claim that the US bombed Belgrade to support the Kosovo separatists.
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Thanks for posting some Russian propaganda.
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It was deliberate. I was looking for information about Mr Karaganov. He is the hawk who advises Mr Putin and has certain ideas about the greatness of Russia and how it could be regained. Western analysts have christened these concepts the “Karaganov Doctrine.” Unfortunately I didn’t find much info on his papers and chose this site that shamelessly spreads propaganda. At least it wasn’t Russia Today or Sputnik.
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I see, that’s understandable, as only one of those two articles looked like blatant propaganda.
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