Fresh on Senator Imhofe’s revelation of the previously unknown Russo-Ukrainian mountain range, the Daily Mail has discovered, and photographed, the recently discovered Mordovian Sea.

In a breathless piece “Russia has rehearsed an invasion of SCANDINAVIA which, if carried out, would prevent NATO from reinforcing the Baltic states, claims US security report” quoting the recently-upgraded-to-“security expert” Edward Lucas, the paper captions the above photo “Invasion: Zubr-class hovercraft, deploying marines during Zapad-09 in Mordovia during Russia’s rehearsals for occupying part of the Baltic states”.

In the previous world, Mordovia was a land-locked republic in Russia which didn’t even have a big river.

The piece, by the way, is worth reading as a good example of anti-Russia propaganda constructed out of nothing at all. First of all, as we read down past all the stock photos of Russian soldiers doing this or that (mostly marching), we find that what “security expert” Lucas actually said was maybe, possibly, perhaps, but probably not. Other sources didn’t comment. As a good example of another non-fact we are excitedly told that one in three of Swedes want to join NATO which, unless my arithmetic teachers were lying to me, means that two in three don’t.

Anyway, give it read before it disappears down the memory hole: a fine example of super inflated fluff brought to you by the International House of Presstitution.

RIP Yevgeniy Primakov

On June 26, 2015January 15, 2016 By Patrick ArmstrongIn HISTORY

http://russia-insider.com/en/yevgeniy-primakov-rip/ri8351

The first time I ever heard of him was in 1987. I was a subscriber to Pravda in those days and my eye was caught by a short piece entitled “A New Philosophy of Foreign Policy”. Well, said I, that’s something interesting to find in the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Don’t we already have in the writings of Marx, Lenin and company all the philosophy of foreign policy that anyone would ever need? As good then as it is today and will be tomorrow? Certainly no need for anything new.

Clearly something was going on.

So I read it and it was indeed “new”. As I recall I saw that it made the following points. Soviet foreign policy had won it no real friends, but many enemies. This had led to ever-increasing arms production which was severely hurting the Soviet economy. I wrote a paper on it (And, so help me, it’s apparently in the Hoover Library, or so Mr Google informs me.) Primakov’s piece was one of the two things that convinced me that the USSR was really changing.

So, right back then, Primakov was part of the team that was changing the whole thing.

(By the way, this may outrage people, but I believe that without the Gorbachev reforms, the USSR was heading to real disaster – they say that Viktor Grishin nearly was the choice for General Secretary. Think about it).

Then we come to the Yeltsin succession. I had not realised, until I read Graham Stack’s “Enemy Within: Declassified U.S. Documents Show Russian Oligarchs Supported NATO Expansion”, how important a role Primakov had played in countering Berezovskiy’s scheming and in the selection – which I’m here to tell you was quite unexpected by us Western Russia watchers – of the obscure VV Putin as Prime Minister.

And, in today’s crises, the whole world should be grateful that such a cool and thoughtful man as Putin (and his well-chosen team) is handling things.

So, I believe that the peoples of the former USSR, Russians and the rest of us owe something to Yevgeniy Primakov. I hope in his last days he took satisfaction from what he had achieved.

RIP

RF Sitrep 20150625

On June 25, 2015January 18, 2016 By Patrick ArmstrongIn RF SITREP

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 25 June 2015

SAUDIS SWITCHING SIDES AGAIN? In 1945 US President Roosevelt met with Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, the ruler of the eponymously named Saudi Arabia. Formerly allied with, and dependent on, Britain, this account makes it clear that the meeting was at Abdul Aziz’s initiative; he chose to move away from the old world power to the new one. Note the assumption of the author that Roosevelt had the initiative. I don’t agree; far from being an illiterate tribesman from the back of beyond, Abdul Aziz was a man of great courage, charisma and intelligence ever prepared to take a risk, as he had in the raid on the Rashidis. I ask viewers who the dominant man in this photo is. Be that as it may, with the meeting in St Petersburg, have we just seen his descendants move, once again, to the ascending power? If not, they’re considering it.

PROJECTION. The latest utterance of NATO’s GenSek uses the idiotic phrase “hybrid war”. What? When we go to war we’re supposed to look like this? How childish. And how meretricious: “We’re not interested in a fair fight with anyone,” Gen Hodges said. “We want to have overmatch in all systems.” The GenSek did not, however, speak of Putin’s “troll army” or “information weaponisation” as he has done in the past. That may be because, thanks to Edward Snowden, internet trolling, false names and all the rest are actually practised by the UK and others in the West, The amount of psychological projection in all this is immense. The only way to decode these utterances is to understand that when NATO accuses Russia of doing something it’s an admission that NATO’s actually doing it. For example, when he said NATO would “endorse a defence capacity building package to help Moldova”, he meant that Moldova and Transdnestr are to be a new front.

CORRUPTION. At long last a sentence on the defence embezzlement case. Nothing on Serdyokov though.

IT’S WORKING. The three Baltic nations, after the overload of panic about the “Russian invasion” are spending the money. And NATO countries are receiving it. Poland ditto. And Germany. Sweden too. But, it’s not catastrophic yet, NATO still accounts for well over half of the world’s spending on weapons and better than ten times Russia’s spending.

SANCTIONS. Have been extended for the preposterous reason of making Moscow live up to its side of the Minsk II agreement. Read it; there is no obligation on Moscow at all. Kiev has broken it by refusing to talk to the people in Donetsk and Lugansk. Medvedev thanks Europe for the sanctions. But they’re hurting Europe. Losing Russian tourists too. And maybe that’s the point.

Economy in tatters? The World Bank has revised its predictions and sees small growth next year.

A JOKE. BUT NOT A FUNNY ONE. I know they’re not real polls; I know they’re satire; I know they’re carefully edited, but a frightening number of Americans seem to think nuking Russia would be a good idea. Not so many in Russia want to nuke the USA.

DISCUSS. A Russian Army recruiting video; an American. Interesting difference of emphasis, isn’t it?

DEFECTIONS. Two brothers, one claiming to be from the Ukrainian security service and the other to have worked in Ukrainian Embassy in France, defected to Lugansk: “Traitors, fascists, various intelligence agents have taken up the reins of the country, and are leading it to ruin“. A week later a major general and advisor to Kiev’s defence minister defected too: he said morale in the Ukrainian Armed Forces is very low and many more were ready to defect: “All generals and officers who are aware the authorities’ actions are criminal have no wish to fight the war“. Google doesn’t show any report in the WMSM, so this must be more Putin trollery.

THE ALL-HEARING EAR. WikiLeaks tells us the NSA has been listening to the last three French Presidents.

EASY DEDUCTION. Russia challenges USA to publish its information on MH17, USA refuses.

COLOUR REVOLUTIONS. A colour revolution attempt is underway in Armenia. Why do I say that? An American company bought a power generator. Victoria Nuland visited. Familiar faces. A slogan: “Electric Yerevan“. Background. Intentions. Meanwhile, in the Kyrgyz Republic, an opposition member has met the US Charg é. Why? Let Hillary Clinton explain. One hopes that enough has been learned about these things to stop them. But if we can’t afford to lose Greece to Russia, then what will we have to do?

WESTERN VALUES™. A Spaniard at Kaunas University says he was told to stop with the “Russian propaganda” or lose his job. Follow him on Facebook here.

RF Sitrep 20150611

On June 11, 2015January 14, 2016 By Patrick ArmstrongIn RF SITREP

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 11 June 2015

Because I have been somewhat out of touch for six weeks, this will be a little choppy.

MH17. Remember that? The maker of Buk missiles has produced a report that says the plane was brought down by a Buk 9M38M1 missile of which the Ukrainian Armed Forces have several hundred. Analysis of the warhead fragment dispersal pattern and the destruction shows that the missile could only have been fired from Kiev-held territory. Here it is, judge for yourself. By the way, Der Spiegel has blown “Bellingcat” to pieces, so you can stop bothering with that favourite source. Any year now the report from the Netherlands (over which Ukraine appears to have a veto) will be out.

CANOSSA. So, US Secretary of State Kerry goes to visit the isolated, condemned pariah and they agree that there should be no more fighting. Then Kerry has an accident and disappears from the news cycle. Nuland pops up contradicting him. What’s going on? Washington is throwing in the towel and Nuland is fighting a last ditch battle to save what she began? Kerry has been effectively replaced by Nuland? Nobody is in charge and it’s all just a random walk? How would we know?

VICTORY DAY. Immortal regiment. (Website) Not all Westerners boycotted. Shoygu removes hat and crosses himself going under Saviour’s Tower. Indian and Chinese soldiers. Full parade.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS. At what point do Moscow and Beijing decide that the cost of dumping their US securities is less than the cost of war?

G7. When it began, the G7 countries were about 60% of the world’s GDP; now they’re under 45% and falling. However, they do account for more than 60% of the world’s debt. The BRICS, on the other hand… Who’s the loser here? Russia as the butt of the former or honoured member of the latter?

FIFA. A sudden desire by the USA for transparency and anti-corruption? Only if you’re simple-minded.

SANCTIONS. They don’t work. But, never mind, let’s have some more. Even the White House admits Europe is hurting. On second thought, maybe they are working: Stratfor again, “The United States considers the most dangerous potential alliance to be between Russia and Germany“. A German banker discusses the long term damage to Europe.

MACKINDER AND THE WORLD ISLAND. A long but rewarding essay on what’s really going on and why the West’s attack on Russia will give it the result it least wants. To my mind the one thing that perfectly encapsulates the utter failure of US foreign policy is Chinese warships in the Black Sea.

A NEW FRONT? The colour revolution in Macedonia seems to have failed; time to start trouble in Transdnestr? Every other Obama foreign policy initiative has failed (something for neo-cons and liberals to agree about at last), what makes them think this will succeed?

GOTTA LOVE STRATFOR. First “the most blatant coup in history” and now these “democratic revolutions” need outside efforts (the reader is invited to wonder how much Stratfor’s other three elements also depend on outside investment). A coup brought about by outside interests: you’d think Putin’s army of internet trolls had infiltrated Stratfor.

I AGREE WITH VERA GRAZIADEI. I am re-examining everything I formerly believed and, on my recent travels I met others who were doing the same. The Ukraine coup destroyed the last illusion.

KARLIN SITREP. Anatoly Karlin – always worth reading – is beginning a sitrep on the Ukrainian civil war.

ANOTHER MAIDAN? Not as long as the victors of the last one don’t want it, there won’t be.

AMERICANS, BRITISH AND CANADIANS MIGHT WANT TO WATCH THIS. See what your governments support.

POROSHENKO JUMPS THE SHARK. Saakashvili appointed governor of Odessa moments after being given Ukraine citizenship. Anatoly Karlin destroys the Saakashvili myth. He hasn’t been home since just before losing the election although Tbilisi is trying to extradite him.

WESTERN VALUES™. The gay rights parade in Kiev violently dispersed by, says The Guardian, “unknown assailants“. Not unknown : they said they’d do it, they did it, they boasted they’d done it. The very people The Guardian’s typists pretend aren’t there. To their credit, the police prevented it getting worse.

YATS’ TAKE. For what it’s worth: “Less visible, but just as important, is Ukraine’s war against the Soviet past and the legacy of corruption and misrule that has held us back for so many years. These battles must be fought and won together…“. Not winning the corruption battle either.

Russia Observer

Month: June 2015

Flash!!! Daily Mail Makes Stunning Geographical Discovery: The mighty Mordovian Sea

RIP Yevgeniy Primakov

RF Sitrep 20150625

RF Sitrep 20150611