Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby conniption » Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:41 pm

FB - "Great empty post, you pathetic schmuck."



Reported to the mods.

Enough of that already.

~

RT
(embedded links + video)

Lavrov: Right Sector radicals call the tune in Ukraine

March 08, 2014

Ukraine’s new government is under the influence of the radical nationalists, according to Russia’s Foreign Minister, who believes his foreign counterparts are well aware of the fact, but are unwilling to acknowledge it.

“The so-called interim government is not self-sufficient, and, to great regret, depends upon radical nationalists, who carried out the military coup,” Sergey Lavrov told journalists on Saturday, when he was answering the question of whether Russia was ready to have direct talks with the coup-imposed government.

The Right Sector movement, consisting of several far-right groups, was very active in the violence leading to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich. After the February-21 agreement between Yanukovich and opposition leaders was signed, the Right Sector declared they did not recognize it and would continue the armed struggle.

At Saturday’s press conference, Lavrov gave an example of how exactly the Right Sector is influencing the current decision-making in Kiev.

“The new government’s officials asked this Right Sector to approve their choice of ministers and now the Right Sector is dissatisfied. Its leaders say the reloading of the government system in Ukraine has not been completed. They are demand each of the ministers go to the Maidan protesters and report on how well they implement the demands of the protest leaders.”

Sergey Lavrov said the group, which allegedly demanded access to the country's arsenals, had the security situation in Kiev under its control. The capital of Ukraine has not been safe since ousted President Viktor Yanukovich removed all the police from the streets in compliance with the February-21 agreement.

"Actually there’s no state control over public order and the so-called Right Sector calls the tune, the group that has resorted to terror and intimidation.”

Image
Dmytro Yarosh (C), a leader of the Right Sector movement (Reuters / David Mdzinarishvili)

Lavrov believes the West is well aware of the role the nationalist group is playing in post-coup Ukraine.

“Our western partners, it seems to me, are quite well informed of what they [the radicals] represent, because they are frequent quests there [in Kiev] and among themselves they are sharing extremely alarming impressions. But I guess for political reasons, they try to conceal the facts in public.”

John Laughland, of Paris-based Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, has warned of dangers of underestimating the nationalist forces in Ukraine.

“Western media call far-right groups a minority but it’s a decisive minority,” he told RT. “It's been clear for some time that the men of violence exercise decisive influence. In 2012, the EU parliament condemned the Svoboda party - and now it's members are in the government. Europe is looking the other way. Double standards - the whole point to bounce tUkraine into the western camp.”

The leader of the Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, confirmed on Saturday he was running for president of Ukraine and was transforming his movement into a political party.

On Wednesday, Russia put Yarosh on an international wanted list and charged him with inciting terrorism. Charges were put forward following Right Sector’s posting a call for Doku Umarov, the notorious Chechen terrorist, to attack Russia over the Ukrainian conflict.

“Ukrainians have always supported the liberation struggle of the Chechen and other Caucasian peoples,” the post on one of the Russian social networks said. “Now it’s the time for you to support Ukraine. As the Right Sector leader I urge you to step up the fight. Russia is not as strong as it seems.”

The Right Sector argues its account at the social network was hacked and denies reports it ever demanded access to Ukrainian arsenals.

To learn more about the Right Sector movement and its ideology, watch RT Peter Oliver’s report from Ukraine.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby FourthBase » Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:59 pm

Fine, I'll report him, too.
He crossed that far a line with his Putin sycophancy.
Or is this not an anti-fascist board?

Sucking the cock of Putin like justdrew has been cannot be any better than...
...praising the leadership and patriotism of some Golden Dawn pig.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby DrEvil » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:07 pm

FourthBase » Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:59 am wrote:Fine, I'll report him, too.
He crossed that far a line with his Putin sycophancy.
Or is this not an anti-fascist board?

Sucking the cock of Putin like justdrew has been cannot be any better than...
...praising the leadership and patriotism of some Golden Dawn pig.


Wait - are you accusing jd of being a commie or a fascist? Or both?

And if you want to start counting dead bodies you should probably look closer to home first.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby FourthBase » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:22 pm

DrEvil » 08 Mar 2014 21:07 wrote:
FourthBase » Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:59 am wrote:Fine, I'll report him, too.
He crossed that far a line with his Putin sycophancy.
Or is this not an anti-fascist board?

Sucking the cock of Putin like justdrew has been cannot be any better than...
...praising the leadership and patriotism of some Golden Dawn pig.


Wait - are you accusing jd of being a commie or a fascist? Or both?

And if you want to start counting dead bodies you should probably look closer to home first.


Who in the fuck is counting bodies? Did somebody start that same old cliched body count pissing war without my knowledge? Are you preemptively arguing with me about shit you've argued about with other people, conflating me with some fucking anti-communist caricature, willfully blinding yourself to what I'm actually saying?

Putin is as bad a fascist thug as there is in the world.
Putin's balls are being washed by justdrew because...well, who knows.
But it sure looks like a classic case of commie propaganda-sickness.
Doesn't matter. Putin is a fascist, either way, and justdrew pimps him.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Rory » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:37 pm

I'm no angel myself when it comes to invective, and or aggressive language but the above is surely a satirical routine. That or a parody of a drunk, 1950's cold war era, ribald McCarthyite.

It's not exactly discourse at this point
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby FourthBase » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:56 pm

Rory » 08 Mar 2014 21:37 wrote:I'm no angel myself when it comes to invective, and or aggressive language but the above is surely a satirical routine. That or a parody of a drunk, 1950's cold war era, ribald McCarthyite.

It's not exactly discourse at this point


Really, why? Perhaps you could elaborate. (Naturally, you won't.)

I'm sorry, but are we all supposed to be pro-Soviet here, pro-Russia, pro-Putin?

FUCK THAT SHIT.

And: FUCK YOU.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby FourthBase » Sat Mar 08, 2014 11:22 pm

I'm leaving this general topic indefinitely, I can't take this shit. I'll lurk, but I don't need to be commenting here anymore, or any Russia thread. If you haven't noticed: I'm not the only person appalled by the uncritical stream of Russian propaganda. It ain't just me, assholes. It ain't the cartoon-y McCarthy shit you'd smugly love for it to be. This is all about you and your flaming fucking hypocrisy, and nothing else. Those of you who've outed yourselves as whores for Putin, shame on you, and may you wise the fuck up soon.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Sounder » Sat Mar 08, 2014 11:30 pm

The linked article is a fair account of accepted history of the 70's, contrasted with Jim Willies, and many others, alternate take on these oil related events.

http://www.silverdoctors.com/jim-willie ... t-default/

........The burn of Japan and Germany was a hot poker of sinister hidden motive. Both nations have historically been more energy dependent, required to import almost all their crude oil for economic purpose. Their industrial might was being thrust onto the global economy, from advanced technological design to streamlined industrial processes to efficient inventory control. The pendulum returns. Both nations are in a position to exact revenge by rejecting the USD/USTBond reserve currency, in favor of the new Gold Trade Standard promoted by Russia & China. Both Japan and Germany are in the process of joining the BRICS nations. The chess game has gone against the Americans, who find themselves increasingly isolated, their allies disgusted or betrayed. The Saudis, Iran, Japan, and Germany are gradually aligning with the East and against the King Dollar. Two generations make a great difference. Like true Nazis, the Anglos & Americans are isolated, with global war as their last option.......



This paragraph sums things up pretty good for me.

All the painting of heroes and villains is nearly entirely gratuitous.

What is going on underneath? That determines how the river will flow.
All these things will continue as long as coercion remains a central element of our mentality.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Rory » Sun Mar 09, 2014 12:14 am

FourthBase » Sun Mar 09, 2014 2:56 am wrote:
Rory » 08 Mar 2014 21:37 wrote:I'm no angel myself when it comes to invective, and or aggressive language but the above is surely a satirical routine. That or a parody of a drunk, 1950's cold war era, ribald McCarthyite.

It's not exactly discourse at this point


Really, why? Perhaps you could elaborate. (Naturally, you won't.)

I'm sorry, but are we all supposed to be pro-Soviet here, pro-Russia, pro-Putin?

FUCK THAT SHIT.

And: FUCK YOU.


Er, thank you! It's my pleasure - just an observation: why don't you support the Yankees? Your team sound like they have commie feet, or something.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Luther Blissett » Sun Mar 09, 2014 2:24 am

Fair warning, it's Daily Mail, so I won't be posting the contents here, but it's worth a look. American mercenaries (surely not the long-since renamed Blackwater) may be in Crimea, or mercenaries dressed to look like they are from Academi may be a Russian tactic to kick off more aggression and posturing.

Has Blackwater been deployed to Ukraine? Notorious U.S. mercenaries 'seen on the streets of flashpoint city' as Russia claims 300 hired guns have arrived in country
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Peachtree Pam » Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:36 am

This article raises questions about Putin's role in the Ukraine crisis. The article includes a video of Antony Sutton discussing Wall Street's role in establishing Communism in Russia.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-0 ... powder-keg

Submitted by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market.com,

Guest Post: Ukraine Crisis - Just Another Globalist-Engineered Powder Keg

When one studies history, all events seem to revolve around the applications and degenerations of war. Great feats of human understanding, realization and enlightenment barely register in the mental footnotes of the average person. War is what we remember, idealize and aggrandize, which is why war is the tool most often exploited by oligarchy to distract the masses while it centralizes power.

With the exception of a few revolutions, most wars are instigated and controlled by financial elites, manipulating governments on both sides of the game to produce a preconceived result. The rise of National Socialism in Germany, for instance, was largely funded by corporate entities based in the U.S., including Rockefeller giant Standard Oil, JPMorgan and even IBM, which built the collating machines specifically used to organize Nazi extermination camps, the same machines IBM representatives serviced on site at places like Auschwitz. As a public figure, Adolf Hitler was considered a joke by most people in German society, until, of course, the Nazi Party received incredible levels of corporate investment. This aid was most evident in what came to be known as the Keppler Fund created through the Keppler Circle, a group of interests with contacts largely based in the U.S.

George W. Bush’s grandfather, Prescott Bush, used his position as director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation to launder money for the Third Reich throughout the war. After being exposed and charged for trading with the enemy, the case against Bush magically disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the Bush family went on to become one of the most powerful political forces in America.

Without the aid of international conglomerates and banks, the Third Reich would have never risen to power.

The rise of communism in Russia through the Bolshevik Revolution was no different. As outlined in Professor Antony Sutton’s book Wall Street And The Bolshevik Revolution with vast detail and irrefutable supporting evidence, it was globalist financiers that created the social petri dish in which the communist takeover flourished. The same financiers that aided the Nazis...

The two sides, National Socialism and communism, were essentially identical despotic governmental structures conjured by the same group of elites. These two sides, these two fraudulent ideologies, were then pitted against each other in an engineered conflict that we now call World War II, resulting in an estimated 48 million casualties globally and the ultimate formation of the United Nations, a precursor to world government.

Every major international crisis for the past century or more has ended with an even greater consolidation of world power into the hands of the few, and this is no accident.

When I discuss the concept of the false left/right paradigm with people, especially those in the liberty movement, I often see a light turn on, a moment of awareness in their faces. Many of us understand the con game because we live it day to day. We see past the superficial rhetoric of Republican and Democratic party leadership and take note of their numerous similarities, including foreign policy, domestic defense policy and economic policy. The voting records of the major players in both parties are almost identical. One is hard-pressed to find much difference in ideology between Bush and Barack Obama, for example; or Obama and John McCain; or Obama and Mitt Romney, for that matter.

When I suggest, however, that similar false paradigms are used between two apparently opposed nations, the light fades, and people are left dumbstruck. Despite the fact that globalist financiers shoveled capital into the U.S., British, German and Soviet military complexes all at the same time during World War II, many Americans do not want to believe that such a thing could be happening today.

In response, I present the crisis in Ukraine versus the crisis in Syria...

Ukraine Versus Syria

It seems as though much of the public has already forgotten that at the end of 2013, the U.S. came within a razor’s edge of economic disaster — not to mention the possibility of World War III. The war drums in Washington were thundering for “intervention” in Syria and the overthrow of Bashar Assad. The only thing that saved us, I believe, were the tireless efforts of the independent media in exposing the darker motives behind the Syrian insurgency and the bloodlust of the Obama Administration. The problem is that when the elites lose one avenue toward war and distraction, they have a tendency to simply create another. Eventually, the public is so overwhelmed by multiple trigger points and political powder kegs that they lose track of reality. I often call this the “scattergun effect.”

The crisis in the Ukraine is almost a carbon copy of the civil war in Syria, culminating in what I believe to be the exact same intent.

The Money

Money from globalist centers has been flowing into the Ukrainian opposition since at least 2004, when the Carnegie Foundation was caught filtering funds to anti-Russian political candidate Viktor Yushchenko, as well as to the groups who supported him.

The Ukrainian Supreme Court called for a runoff due to massive voter fraud and the rise of the pro-Western Orange Revolution, determining the winner to be Yushchenko over none other than Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych went on to win the 2010 elections, and the revolution returned to oust him this year.

It has been discovered that the current revolution has also been receiving funds from NATO and U.S. interests, not just from the State Department, but also from billionaires like Pierre Omidyar, the chairman of eBay and the new boss of journalist Glen Greenwald, the same journalist who is now famous for being the first to expose National Security Agency documents obtained by Edward Snowden.

Much of the monetary support from such financiers was being funneled to men like Oleh Rybachuk, the right-hand man to Yanukovych during the Orange Revolution and a favorite of neoconservatives and the State Department in the U.S.

The International Monetary Fund has also jumped at the chance to throw money at the new Ukrainian regime, which would prevent default of the country and allow the opposition movement to focus their attentions on Russia.

The revolution in Syria was also primarily driven by Western funds and arms transferred through training grounds like Benghazi, Libya. There is much evidence to suggest that the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was designed to possibly cover up the arming of Syrian rebels by the CIA, who had agents on the ground who still have not been allowed to testify in front of Congress.

After this conspiracy was exposed in the mainstream, globalist-controlled governments decided to openly supply money and weapons to the Syrian insurgency, instead of ending the subterfuge.

The ‘Rebels’

Some revolutions are quite real in their intent and motivations. But many either become co-opted by elites through financing, or they are created from thin air from the very beginning. Usually, the rebellions that are completely fabricated tend to lean toward extreme zealotry.

The Syrian insurgency is rife with, if not entirely dominated by, men associated with al-Qaida. Governments in the U.S. and Israel continue to support the insurgency despite their open affiliation with a group that is supposedly our greatest enemy. Syrian insurgents have been recorded committing numerous atrocities, including mass execution, the torture of civilians and even the cannibalism of human organs.

The revolution in Ukraine is run primarily by the Svoboda Party, a National Socialist (fascist) organization headed by Oleh Tyahnybok. Here is a photo of Tyahnybok giving a familiar salute:

So far, the opposition in Ukraine has been mostly careful in avoiding the same insane displays of random violence that plagued the Syrians’ public image. It is important to remember though that mainstream outlets like Reuters went far out of their way in attempts to humanize Syrian al-Qaida. Their methods were exposed only through the vigilance of the independent media. With the fascist Svoboda in power in the Ukraine, I believe it is only a matter of time before we see video reports of similar atrocities, giving Russia a perfect rationalization to use military force.

John McCain?

I am now thoroughly convinced that John McCain is a pasty ghoul of the highest order. He claims to be conservative yet supports almost every action of the Obama Administration. He is constantly defending anti-Constitutional actions by the Federal government, including the Enemy Belligerents Act, which was eventually melded into the National Defense Authorization Act; NSA surveillance of U.S. citizens; and even gun control.

And for some reason, the guy makes appearances like clockwork right before or during major overthrows of existing governments. McCain was in Libya during the coup against Moammar Gadhafi.

McCain showed up to essentially buy off the rebels in Tunisia.

McCain hung out with al-Qaida in Syria.

And, what a surprise, McCain met with the Ukrainian opposition movement just before the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych. Here is a photo of McCain giving a speech to the opposition with none other than Neo-Nazi Oleh Tyahnybok standing over his left shoulder.

Why McCain? I have no idea. All I know is, if this guy shows up in your country, take cover.

Russia In The Middle

The great danger in Syria was not necessarily the chance of war with Assad. Rather, it was the chance that a war with Assad would expand into a larger conflagration with Iran and Russia. Russia’s only naval facility in the Mideast is on the coast of Tartus in Syria, and Russia has long-standing economic and political ties to Syria and Iran. Any physical action by the West in the region would have elicited a response from Vladimir Putin. The mainstream argument claims that the threat of Russian intervention scared off Obama, but I believe the only reason war actions were not executed by the White House and the globalists was because they didn’t have even minimal support from the general public. For any war, you need at least a moderate percentage of the population to back your play.

In Ukraine, we find the globalists creating tensions between the West and the East yet again. Russia’s most vital naval base sits in Crimea, an autonomous state tethered to the Ukrainian mainland. Currently, Russia has flooded Crimea with troops in response to the regime change in Ukraine. The new Ukrainian government (backed by NATO) has called this an “invasion” and an act of war, while Western warmongers like McCain and Lindsay Graham spread the propaganda meme that Russia made such a move only because Putin believes the Obama Administration to be “weak.”

Clearly, the idea here is to engineer either high tensions or eventual war between Russia and the United States. Syria failed to produce the desired outcome, so the Ukraine was tapped instead.

Energy Markets And The Dollar At Risk

In Syria, any U.S. led military action would have resulted in the immediate closing of the Straight of Hormuz by Iran, threatening to obstruct up to 30% of global petroleum shipments. Foreign resentment could have easily led to the abandonment of the U.S. dollar as the petro-currency. Both China and Russia implied the possibility of an economic response to American intervention, though they did not officially go into specifics. In all likelihood, the dollar's world reserve status would have been damaged irrevocably.

In the Ukraine, the chance of intervention has been countered with VERY specific threats from Russia, including a freeze on natural gas imports to the European Union through Gazprom, which supplies approximately 30% of the EU's fuel. In 2009, a temporary Ukranian pipeline closure led to widespread shortages across Europe. While some in the mainstream claim that Russia's influence over EU energy has "diminished" the fact is a loss of 30% of natural gas reserves for an extended period would inflate energy prices wildly and cripple the EU's economy.

Another specific reaction given by Russia is the dumping of U.S. treasury bonds. Russia's bond holdings may not seem like much leverage, except for the fact that China has now publicly backed Russian efforts in the Ukraine, just as they backed Russian opposition to U.S. activities in Syria. A dump of bonds by Russia would invariably be followed by a Chinese dump as well. In fact, China and Russia have been setting the stage for a global dollar decoupling since at least 2008. I have been warning for years that globalists and central bankers needed a "cover event", a distraction or scapegoat imposing enough to provide a veil of chaos in which they could then destroy the greenback as the world reserve and usher in a global currency system. The Ukraine crisis offers yet another opportunity for this plan to unfold.

The False Paradigm And The Globalist Chessboard

So far, I have outlined what appears to be a correspondence of conspiracy between Syria and the Ukraine and how each event has the continued potential to trigger regional conflict, dollar collapse, or world war. But is this conspiracy one-sided? Are only the West and NATO being manipulated by globalists to box in Russia and provoke a conflict? And what do globalists have to gain by sparking such disaster?

As with every other catastrophic fabricated war, the goal is the erasure of sovereign identity while consolidating economic, political and social power. It is not enough that global financiers dominate the banking industry and own most politicians; they want to transform the public psyche. They want US to ask THEM for global governance. This manufacture of consent is often achieved by pitting two controlled governments against each other and then, in the wake of the tragedy, calling for global unification. The argument is always presented that if we simply abandoned the concept of nation states and reform under a single world body, all war would “disappear.”

The question is whether Russia’s Putin is aware of the plan. Is he a part of it? Are we seeing repeat theater of a puppet Russia versus a puppet NATO like that witnessed during the Cold War?

What I do know is that Putin has, a number of times in the past, called for global control of the economy through the IMF and the institution of a new global currency using the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

Loans from the IMF are what saved Russia from debt default in the late 1990s. And Putin has recently called for consultations with the IMF concerning Crimea. Remember, this is the same IMF that is working to fund his opponents in Western Ukraine.

Bottom line, if you believe in national sovereignty and decentralization of power, Putin is NOT your buddy.
Once again, we have the globalists injecting money into both sides of a conflict which could morph into something nightmarish. Putin wants global economic governance and consolidation under the IMF just as much as the supposedly "American-run" IMF wants consolidation. Global governance of finance and money creation ultimately means global governance of everything else.

Is a war being created through the false paradigm of East versus West in order to pave the road for global government? Are East/West tensions being exploited as a smokescreen for the final destruction of the dollar's world reserve status? It is hard to say if the Ukraine will be the final trigger; however, the evidence suggests that if a conflict occurs, regardless of who “wins” such a scenario, the IMF comes out on top.

Imagine you are playing a game of chess by yourself. Which side wins at the end of that game: black or white? The answer is it doesn’t matter. You always win when you control both sides.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby justdrew » Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:34 am

justdrew » 05 Mar 2014 13:15 wrote:I expect counter protests before much longer.



Ukraine: Are oligarch appointments at odds with new sense of fairness?
Appointment of super wealthy to positions of political power upsets protesters who hoped for new era

...
And while the oligarchs may have benefited from the political chaos in Ukraine over the last two decades, they now have a vested interest in ensuring stability. Swain says: "It's not the same situation as the 90s. They want a more ordered system. Smoothly operating structures governed by a fixed set of rules help them to protect their wealth."

Tkachenko agrees: "It's a smart move to bring in the oligarchs – their business interests are here and they will fight to protect the region because of this."
...
By 1964 there were 1.5 million mobile phone users in the US
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Sounder » Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:28 am

The zerohedge writer makes interesting points, so that I am wondering how similar or different our respective central banks are.

I found this on a quick search, and need to know more to make a reasonable assessment but on first look, they seem more similar than different.

This paragraph was posted because it may show some difference, ( in writing; ‘Its authorised capital and other property are federal property’.


http://www.cbr.ru/Eng/today/?PrtId=bankstatus

Legal Status
Federal Law on the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)
The Bank of Russia is a legal entity. Its authorised capital and other property are federal property. Nevertheless, the Bank of Russia has both proprietary and financial independence. It exercises its powers to own, use and manage its property, including international reserves, in compliance with the purposes and according to the procedure established by the Bank of Russia Law. Bank of Russia property may not be seized or encumbered without its consent, unless the federal law stipulates otherwise. The financial independence of the Bank of Russia implies that it covers its expenses from its own incomes. The Bank of Russia may defend its interests in court, including international courts, the courts of foreign states and courts of arbitration.


The last two points under; -Bank of Russia Functions

— it is the depository of the International Monetary Fund in the Russian currency and it conducts operations and transactions provided by the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund and the agreements with the International Monetary Fund;

— it performs other functions in compliance with federal laws.
All these things will continue as long as coercion remains a central element of our mentality.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Julian the Apostate » Sun Mar 09, 2014 12:49 pm

FourthBase » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:22 pm wrote:I'm leaving this general topic indefinitely, I can't take this shit. I'll lurk, but I don't need to be commenting here anymore, or any Russia thread. If you haven't noticed: I'm not the only person appalled by the uncritical stream of Russian propaganda. It ain't just me, assholes. It ain't the cartoon-y McCarthy shit you'd smugly love for it to be. This is all about you and your flaming fucking hypocrisy, and nothing else. Those of you who've outed yourselves as whores for Putin, shame on you, and may you wise the fuck up soon.



I find it strange as well, to say the least, although not entirely surprising on this board.
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Re: Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine

Postby Dradin Kastell » Sun Mar 09, 2014 1:53 pm

Europe alarmed as pro-Russia leaders squeeze Crimea media


(Reuters) - When journalists in Crimea complained of a creeping climate of fear under the region's new pro-Russia rulers, a top European official on media freedoms went to investigate.

She was greeted on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula by a hostile crowd holding anti-Western placards outside a building where she met local media chiefs.

"This poster says 'Press Freedom'," the envoy, Dunja Mijatovic, said with irony as she pored over a laptop showing a digital photo of the protesters in Simferopol, Crimea's main city. "It was very clear they don't want me."

Mijatovic, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Representative on Freedom of the Media, will deliver a report to the pan-Europe human rights watchdog next week.

What she found on her one-day visit on Wednesday, she said, were signs that Crimea's self-appointed rulers are clamping down on media freedom and trying to silence their critics.

"It's very worrying, the atmosphere, the conditions journalists work in, the attitude of the authorities, no rule of law," said Mijatovic, a Bosnian who has been warning of the problems facing independent media in Ukraine for months.

She said she had gathered about 30 editors and reporters with various political views in one room in Simferopol. She declined to identify them but said it was tense in the room.

"It seems there is a direction the whole area is going in, and this means restricting critical, opposing voices," she said in an interview in a Kiev hotel. "You have journalists being attacked and harassed. It's happening to journalists who are not considered loyal because of the developments in Crimea."

Since early December, after protests began in Kiev against now-deposed President Viktor Yanukovich, 170 journalists have been injured and one has been killed, said Mijatovic.

The dead journalist, Vyacheslav Veremiy, worked for the Ukrainian newspaper Vesti and was shot by masked attackers who pulled him out of a taxi on February 18.

Ukrainian state channels took a tough line against the protesters in the capital, describing them as nationalists, extremists and fascists. Russian state media did the same, whipping up opposition in Moscow before Russian forces took matters into their own hands in Crimea.

FAMILIAR PATTERN

Mijatovic, an expert on media law, is worried media freedoms are now being trampled in Crimea in a way she has seen before in conflicts across the world, including in her own country.

Two days before Russian forces began seizing control of Crimea, two Molotov cocktails, or petrol bombs, were thrown through the window of independent Black Sea TV. On Tuesday, the authorities cut the power off.

Alexandra Kvitko, the editor-in-chief, suggested the channel was paying the price for broadcasting a reality different from the only one accepted by the pro-Russia authorities.

By Friday, two other Ukrainian channels had gone off the air and had been replaced by Russian state channels, foreign reporters in Crimea said.

Armed men also burst into the U.S.-funded independent Centre of Investigative Journalism in Crimea and a Reuters witness saw pro-Russia activists assault two journalists, denouncing them as "fascists" and "provocateurs".

Mijatovic said the situation was still relatively calm in Crimea but warned that police were doing nothing to protect journalists and sometimes standing back to let attacks happen.

She said she was also worried about the situation in eastern Ukraine, where most people are Russian speakers and watch Russian state television, but Crimea was her immediate focus.

"There is a clear signal from the people in charge in Crimea now that they do not want foreigners there," she said.

"The good thing is there is a lot of international media in Crimea but I don't know for how long ... Just a single spark can escalate it and nobody would be able to control it any more."


This is what the illegal pro-Russian government is doing on the Crimea - I have yet to see reports that the illegal pro-Western government in Kiev would be closing down media outlets or targeting foreign and local journalists with violent attacks or Molotov cocktails. In other news, it is now the fourth day armed men are stopping OSCE observers from entering the de facto Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula - the Kiev government on the other hand has been quite open in allowing foreign observers in to see what is happening in the country.

It is quite true there are violent fascists involved in the crisis in Ukraine, and many of them are working on the pro-Russian side as well as supporting the interim government in Kiev.
Dradin Kastell
 
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