While the Ukraine people fight heroically against Warmonger Putin the citizens of his own country put themselves at risk.
Russians have taken to the streets to shout out against the warmongering and threat to World peace brought about by Warmonger Putin.
Excerpted from Washington Post 3.6.2022
More than 4,400 protesters were arrested Sunday at antiwar demonstrations across Russia, according to OVD-Info, an independent human rights organization that Russian authorities have declared a foreign agent.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, antiwar protests have occurred daily, OVD-Info reported. Russia has detained at least 10,318 protesters in 121 cities.
Russian citizens protest Thug Putin’s War and face Police State brutality
Crowds chanted “No to war!” while streaming through Moscow and St. Petersburg in a pair of videos posted to Twitter. In another, a demonstrator sang Ukraine’s anthem while being hauled away by police.
Authorities arrested at least 4,468 people across 56 cities in Russia, the organization said, as people risked arrest to denounce the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The group reported multiple instances of excessive force against protesters, including beatings and the use of stun guns. Among those detained were 13 journalists and 113 juveniles.
Footage shared on social media showed police taking demonstrators into custody, at times using force. Several officers wearing body armor surrounded a person who was flailing on the ground. One officer struck the person with a baton and kicked the person before another shooed away the camera filming the encounter.
Spontaneous mass demonstrations are illegal in Russia, with protesters facing the possibility of fines and jail time.
Thug Putin will sink to any depth to achieve his brutal and violent goals. The detention of American basketball All-Star Brittney Griner is just one example of how this Thug operates.
Putin welcomes Americans when it suits his purposes. When a visitor can be used to achieve his goals the former KGB operative will take any action necessary.
Now that he is waging a war of aggression in Ukraine, Thug Putin will do anything he can to gain an advantage.
Excerpted from The New York Times 3.6.2022
As tensions rose between Russia and the United States, Russian authorities detained Brittney Griner, a W.N.B.A. star, on drug charges. The Russian Federal Customs Service announced Ms. Griner’s detention on Saturday but said she was stopped at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow last month.
Brittney Griner going through Russian Customs
The detention of Ms. Griner, 31, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury and a key figure in two champion Olympic teams, comes during an inflamed standoff between Russia and the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pulls the player in the middle of the most acute crisis between the two countries since the Cold War.
Here is what we know so far about Ms. Griner’s detention.
Russia is talking about potentially serious charges.
The Russian Federal Customs Service said that a sniffer dog had prompted it to search the carry-on luggage of an American basketball player at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, and that it had found vape cartridges containing hashish oil. A state-owned Russian news agency then identified the player as Ms. Griner.
Hashish oil is a marijuana concentrate that has a high concentration of the psychoactive chemical THC, and it is commonly sold in cartridges that are used in vape pens. The Russian Federal Customs Service said that customs officers had noticed vapes after scanning the traveler’s bag.
The customs service said that a criminal case had been opened into the large-scale transportation of drugs, a charge that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
It released a video of a traveler who appeared to be Ms. Griner going through airport security with a trolley suitcase and a small backpack, followed by footage of someone examining a package that appeared to be from the traveler’s suitcase.
“Brittney has always handled herself with the utmost professionalism during her long tenure with USA Basketball,” U.S.A. Basketball said on Twitter.
The timing of the detention remains murky. Its political implications do, too.
The screening at the airport occurred in February, according to the Customs Service, raising the possibility that Ms. Griner had been in custody for at least several days. She last posted on Instagram on Feb. 5. The timing provided leaves open the possibility that the case could have been underway in secret for weeks before Russian authorities chose to draw attention to it.
It is still unclear whether Russia might have targeted Ms. Griner as leverage against the United States, which has led a widespread effort to impose harsh sanctions on Russia and its elite.
Citing privacy constraints, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken did not comment on the detention on Sunday at a news conference in Chisinau, Moldova, and did not respond to a question about whether Russia had announced her arrest as retaliation for the economic, military and diplomatic pressure the United States has leveled against Russia in recent days.
But American officials have repeatedly accused Russia of detaining U.S. citizens on doubtful pretexts.
“This follows a pattern of Russia wrongly detaining & imprisoning US citizens,” Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, wrote on Twitter on Saturday, citing the case of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine whom a Russian court sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 on charges of violence against police officers that his family and supporters described as fraudulent.
On Saturday, the State Department released an updated advisory urging American citizens to leave Russia immediately given the “potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials.”
Thug Putin’s warmongering aggression, intimidation and harassment has no limits.
Putin’s State police have now detained American professional basketball player Brittney Griner, alleging she was carrying vape cartridges of hash oil. It’s easy for the authorities to plant illegal substances and then arrest an innocent citizen.
Putin apparently forgot that Ms. Griner has spent much of her professional career playing for the Russian professional club UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014. Now it’s politically expedient to arrest and terrorize this American woman.
With the World in turmoil over Thug Putin’s blatant warmongering against Ukraine we can expect to read about this reprehensible retaliatory behavior in the coming days and weeks.
Basketball star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia after vape cartridges were found in her luggage at the airport, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Griner, 31, has played for Russian basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014. It’s not uncommon for WNBA players to work in Russia during the U.S. offseason; Russian teams often pay better than those in America.
Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is demanding the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner who was detained by authorities in Russia for allegedly possessing a vape with cannabis oil.
“We know that there were some issues dealing with vape cartridges and other items but let me be very clear,” Lee, who represents Griner’s hometown of Houston, Texas, in Congress, said on Saturday. “Brittney Griner is a United States citizen, she was a guest in Russia…and I will be demanding her release.”
Griner, who rose to fame at Baylor and currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was taken into custody at Sheremetyevo airport outside of Moscow. The Russian Federal Customs Service claims it found vape cartridges of hashish oil during a search of her bags and has opened a criminal case on the American. The Times reports transportation of drugs can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in a Russian prison.
It’s not clear if Griner is still in Russian custody.
“We are aware of and are closely monitoring the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia,” Griner’s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas said in a statement. “We remain in constant contact with her family, her representation, the WNBA and NBA. We love and support Brittney and at this time our main concern is her safety, physical and mental health, and her safe return home.”
On Saturday, the State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory for Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and urged all U.S. citizens to depart immediately, citing factors including “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials” and “the Embassy’s limited ability to assist” Americans in Russia.
It was a sunny day at Alamo Square Park in San Francisco as an enthusiatic crowd kicked off the campaign to fight the Right Wing mercencary campaign to Recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
A posse of Recall supporters, in the best Trump January 6, 2021 insurrectionary style, showed up and attempted to disrupt the rally. Shouting into bullhorns, yelling and screaming these people showed their true colors. Anti-democratic reactionaries funded by the most Right wing financiers in America these people have no respect for democracy.
The People who cherish democracy can expect more of these Orwellian tactics to rear their ugly head in San Francisco leading up to the June 7 election.
Following are several photos displaying the tactics those reactionaries who suppress free speech are utilizing in their attempt to bring down the democratically elected chief law enforcement officer in San Francisco.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a lethal and murderous Chess match.
The Ukrainians have just taken one of Vladimir Putin’s major pieces off Board.
The Independent U.K. – 3.3.2022
A high-ranking Russian general has been killed during fighting in Ukraine, in what experts say will be a bitter blow for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Andrei Sukhovetsky was the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division and a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, and by far the most senior Russian figure to have died in the conflict so far.
A military source said Maj Gen Sukhovetsky had been killed by a sniper.
Christo Grozev, executive director of investigative journalism website Bellingcat, tweeted that confirmation of his death would be a “major demotivator” for the Russian army.
Vladimir Putin confirmed that a general had been killed in a speech updating the Russian people on the progress of the conflict, eight days into the deadly invasion.
Activists and medical workers unloaded the bodies of pro-Russian fighters in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Russia denies that its regular soldiers are part of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.Credit…Fabio Bucciarelli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
He was a respected paratrooper, practised in missions in “hostile territory”, and reportedly had been decorated for his role in the annexation of Crimea.
Sergey Chipilev, a deputy of the Combat Brotherhood Russian veterans group, wrote on social media: “With great pain, we learned the tragic news of the death of our friend, Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, on the territory of Ukraine during the special operation. We express our deepest condolences to his family.”
Russian newspaper Pravda, which also reported his death, said Mr Sukhovetsky graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1995, having started as a platoon commander before rising to chief of staff of the Guards airborne assault unit.
Maj Gen Sukhovetsky, 47, had steadily risen through the military ranks to take a series of leadership positions, and he took part in Russia’s military campaign in Syria.
Thug Putin continues to wage his War against Ukraine while Russian authorities are arresting protesters of all ages. Children and grandmothers are not immune from the brutality of the Russian authorities under the direction of Putin.
The Guardian 3.2.2022
Police in Moscow detained two women and five children who wanted to lay flowers at the Ukrainian embassy.
The children, aged 7 to 11, were held with their mothers in a police van before being taken to a police station. They were released hours later, according to anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova.
Arkhipova said that the two women detained were Ekaterina Zavizion and Olga Alter along with Liza, 11, Gosha, 11, Matvey, 9, David, 7, and Sofya, 7.
The anthropologist, who works at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, wrote on Facebook: “None of what’s happened is holding up in my head.”
Russian woman being hauled away by police
Video footage on social media apparently showed one of the women explaining to a crying girl from inside a cell that the “task is for fewer people to gather and say they’re against the war”.
Arkhipova said that police allegedly threatened to strip the women of custody over the five children. They face a trial and a fine on unspecified charges, Arkhipova added. She wrote: “The parents are in fear.”
A 77-year-old artist and activist, Yelena Osipova, was also marched away by a group of police while she protested against the war in St Petersburg.
77-year-old artist and activist, Yelena Osipova, was also marched away by a group of police
Thousands of people in cities across Russia have been defying police threats and staging protests against the invasion of Ukraine. Authorities have a low tolerance for demonstrations and marches, and attending them can have serious consequences including fines, arrests and even imprisonment.
OVD-Info said that authorities have arrested more than 320 anti-war protesters across 33 Russian cities. A total of 6,840 people have been detained since Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, ordered the invasion of Ukraine last Thursday.
Another sign held by one of the children featured a Russian flag followed by a plus sign and a Ukrainian flag, equalling a heart.
The OVD-Info website, which monitors protests and arrests across Russia, said that children up to the age of 14 cannot be legally held for more than three hours.
Body of Russian soldier in Ukraine
The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who shared images of the children, said it was another sign of the toll that Putin’s war against Ukraine is taking on children.
He wrote on Twitter: “Putin is at war with children. In Ukraine, where his missiles hit kindergartens and orphanages, and also in Russia. 7 y.o. David and Sofia, 9 y.o. Matvey, 11 y.o. Gosha and Liza spent this night behind bars in Moscow for their ‘NO TO WAR’ posters.
Thug Putin’s War on Ukraine is being undermined by his own army of conscript soldiers.
These young men, forced to participate in the War of Aggression are taking a heroic stand and telling Thug Putin, “We don’t want your War.”
These soldiers want to live their lives in PEACE and not be a part of Putin’s unhinged crusade.
New York Times 3.1.2022
WASHINGTON — Plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages, some Russian troops in Ukraine have surrendered en masse or sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday.
Taken together, these factors may help explain why Russian forces, including an ominous 40-mile convoy of tanks and armored vehicles near Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, have come to a near crawl in the past day or two, U.S. officials said.
Some entire Russian units have laid down their arms without a fight after confronting surprisingly stiff Ukrainian defense, the official said. A significant number of the Russian troops are young conscripts who are poorly trained and ill-prepared for the all-out assault. And in some cases, Russian troops have deliberately punched holes in their vehicles’ gas tanks, presumably to avoid combat, the official said.
The carnage of Putin’s War on Ukraine
The Pentagon official declined to say how the military made these assessments — presumably a mosaic of intelligence including statements from captured Russian soldiers and communications intercepts — or how widespread these setbacks may be across the sprawling battlefield.
Besides dealing with shortages of fuel, food and spare parts, the Pentagon official said, Russian commanders leading that armored column toward Kyiv may also be “regrouping and rethinking” their battle plans, making adjustments on the fly to gain momentum for what U.S. intelligence and military officials say is an inevitable push in the next several days to encircle and ultimately capture the capital.
“They have a lot of power available to them,” said the Pentagon official, adding that 80 percent of the more than 150,000 Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s borders have now joined the fight.
Ukranian soldier stands amongst the ruins
But U.S. analysts have been struck by the “risk-averse behavior” of such a large force, the Pentagon official said. Russia launched an amphibious landing to seize Mariupol, a pivotal port city on the Sea of Azov, but landed forces around 40 miles from the city. That allowed the Russians extra time and space to mount an invasion, but also gave the city’s defenders time to prepare.
Russia’s vaunted air force has yet to gain air superiority over Ukraine, with Russian warplanes thwarted by Ukrainian fighter jets and a surprisingly resilient and potent array of air defenses, from shoulder-fired Stinger antiaircraft missiles to much larger surface-to-air weapons, the Pentagon official said.
The World may be decrying and imposing sanctions against Thug Putin and his warmongering in Ukraine. The reality is that the world’s insatiable appetite for oil and gas does not stop even as the Russian people are feeling the pain caused by Thug Putin’s War of Aggression.
The people impacted by Putin’s War of Aggression against Ukraine
Excerpted from Daily Mail U.K 3.1.2022
Vladimir Putin’s grip on the world’s oil and gas taps means that Europe and the US are still buying almost $1billion-a-day from Russia. The UK also imports smaller amounts from Russia.
It was revealed the West is still paying Russia more than $1billion-a-day for oil and gas that Putin can use to subsidise his $15billion-a-day invasion of Ukraine as his troops remain bogged down after hitting fierce resistance from Volodymyr Zelensky’s heroes.
Putin today moved to block foreign companies pulling out of Russia and trap their cash to prop up their imploding war economy after BP and Shell pledged to sell up £15billion ($20bn) of joint ventures following the invasion of Ukraine.
Mishutin has told a governmental meeting in Moscow that Russia will impose temporary curbs on foreign investors seeking to exit Russian assets to ensure they take a ‘considered decision not one driven by political pressure’. But Mishustin did not provide details about how it would be imposed, as Shell told MailOnline their plans to sever ties with Russia will continue as planned. BP is yet to comment.
Russian energy companies still pumping out the product while Putin wages War
The Russian PM said: ‘In the current sanction situation foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided, not by economic factors, but to make decisions under political pressure. In order to give business a chance to make a considered decision, a presidential order was prepared to impose temporary curbs on exit from Russian assets’.
Last night Shell said it will ditch its work with Gazprom and pull out of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline as Western powers reel from President Putin’s warmongering in Eastern Europe. Shell is said to have offered £600m of finance for the project.
Bicycle. Only effective mode of transportation in Ukraine?
Shell warned that it could take a £2.2billion hit as it laid out a plan to exit a series of projects. These include its 27.5pc stake in Sakhalin 2 – a flagship facility in the Russian Far East that is majority-owned by Gazprom and produces around 4pc of the world’s liquefied natural gas.
Shell did not announce who they would sell their stakes to. Shell isn’t quitting Russia altogether, however. It has a network of around 400 petrol stations and a lubricants business in the country which it said it intends to keep.
Shell’s announcement came a day after BP said that it was cutting ties with Kremlin-backed oil company Rosneft, valued at around £13billion last year. BP is now looking to offload its 19.75pc stake in Rosneft and current boss Bernard Looney has stepped down from the board.
ALL IS NOT GOOD FOR THUG PUTIN AT HOME
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced a presidential order had been signed as Western countries stepped up sanctions, the rouble crashed to an all-time low and Russians queued night and day to pull cash from ATMs amid a run on the banks.
However, despite the huge daily cash injection from the West, the Kremlin is facing unprecedented liquidity problems. Its central bank, which raised interest rates to 20% yesterday, is expected to turn to its ally China to try to sell off Chinese assets worth up to $77billion back to Beijing. Britain, the EU and the US will be watching to see just how far President Xi is willing to support Putin and his war.
In a sign the Russian people are paying the price for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s currency dropped 30 per cent against the US dollar. It has stabilised this morning after hitting rock bottom yesterday.
And after days of turmoil on financial markets, regulators in Russia refused to open the Moscow stock exchange, while long queues formed outside banks as panicked families tried to withdraw cash.
A Moscovite called Anton said: ‘There are no dollars, no roubles – nothing. Well, there are roubles but I am not interested in them. I don’t know what to do next. I am afraid we are turning into North Korea or Iran right now’.
One designer called Andrey told the BBC that rising interests rates mean he can’t pay his mortgage. He said: ‘If I could leave Russia right now, I would. But I can’t quit my job’.
Thug Putin may not care what World political powers think as he presses on with his War of Aggression against Ukraine which has resulted in the deaths of thousands; Soldiers on both sides and countless civilians.
Thug Putin, who hosted the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, certainly cares about Sports and the World Cup in particular. Now the governing body of Fifa has suspended Thug Putin’s Russia from all Fifa and European football tournaments until further notice.
The European football federation has also taken an important economic step hitting Thug Putin where it hurts. His bank account.
The Federation (Uefa) ended it relationship with the Russian energy company Gazprom and moved the final of the 2022 tournament form St. Petersburg to Paris.
These are important steps that convey a message to Thug Putin that his unilateral War of Aggression against Ukraine will cause Russia a lot of grief and pain both culturally and economically.
Russia had been due to face Poland in World Cup play-off
Women’s side set to miss out on place at Euro 2022
Uefa ends sponsorship deal with Gazprom
Excerpted from The Guardian 2.28.2022
Fifa and Uefa have acted in unison to suspend Russian teams from international football competition on Monday as global sport closed the door on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Thug Putin at 2018 Fefa World Cup hosted by Russia
The most powerful bodies in football joined the International Olympic Committee in acting after days of growing protest. The suspension means Russia will not be able to face Poland in a World Cup play-off semi-final next month, while its women’s team will also be barred from this summer’s European Championship in England and its remaining club side in European competition, Spartak Moscow, will no longer compete in the Europa League.
Uefa also announced a second highly significant move, confirming that it had cancelled a long-standing and highly lucrative sponsorship deal with Gazprom. The Russian gas company had been a sponsor of the Champions League for a decade and the final of this year’s competition was to have been played in the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg.
Last week Uefa moved the match to Paris, however, and has now severed the relationship entirely. “Uefa has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions,” a statement said. “The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the Uefa Champions League, Uefa national team competitions and Uefa Euro 2024.”
In a joint statement the two organisations said: “Fifa and Uefa have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both Fifa and Uefa competitions until further notice.
“These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the Fifa Council and the Executive Committee of Uefa, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters. Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.”
Lee's Perspective 