Omnibus Russia Ukraine crisis

spaminator

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Steven Seagal hails himself as 'diplomat' while defending visit to Ukrainian POW camp
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Publishing date:Aug 12, 2022 • 10 hours ago • 2 minute read • 8 Comments

Steven Seagal has hailed himself a “diplomat” during an appearance on Russian state media to defend his visit to a prisoner of war camp where Ukrainian inmates were last month burned to death.


The 1990s action star – who has been a Russian citizen since 2016 and said Vladimir Putin is one of the world’s greatest leaders – claimed he went to the prison to view “evidence” of what had happened.

He then repeated Kremlin propaganda that Kyiv was to blame, saying: “I know a little bit about those things. I can tell you, one billion per cent, it wasn’t a bomb that could blow from the ground floor up.

“You could see where a missile came in from the outside and blew everything up.”

He added: “As I have said, I am a diplomat and I pride myself on being a pretty good diplomat.”

The 70-year-old added he is producing an “unbiased” documentary about the Ukraine war despite professing his hero-worship of Putin.

Olenivka Prison, in an area of the Donbas occupied by pro-Russian forces, was burned down on July 29, with around 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war though to have died – including many veterans of the battle for Mariupol.


Russia says Ukraine ordered a strike on the jail and carried it out using US-supplied HIMARS missiles that have been wreaking havoc behind Putin’s frontline.

It appears Russia sent Seagal to carry out his own inspection to bolster the claim.

Martial artist and “Buddhist” Seagal, whose ’90s hits include ‘Hard to Kill’ and ‘Under Siege’ saw his film career disintegrate when he was accused by multiple female co-stars of sexual assault and faced allegations he mistreated stuntmen on set.

After a brief spell in a soul band, he began cosying up to Russia around 2014, the last time Putin invaded Ukraine, while calling the attack “very reasonable”.

After he branded Putin “one of the greatest world leaders” he became a Russian citizen two years later.

In 2017, he was banned from entering Ukraine after he was deemed a “threat to national security” and in 2018 was made special envoy by Putin for Russia to improve ties with the US.

Despite the actor’s support, in 2015 Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s (Putin) a big fan (of Seagal), but he’s definitely seen some of his movies.”
 

spaminator

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Car blast kills daughter of Russian known as 'Putin's brain'
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jim Heintz
Publishing date:Aug 21, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation

MOSCOW — The daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologist who is often referred to as “Putin’s brain” was killed when her car exploded on the outskirts of Moscow, officials said Sunday.


The Investigative Committee branch for the Moscow region said the Saturday night blast was caused by a bomb planted in the SUV driven by Daria Dugina.

The 29-year-old was the daughter of political theorist Alexander Dugin, a prominent proponent of the “Russian world” concept and a vehement supporter of Russia’s sending of troops into Ukraine.

Dugin’s exact ties to President Vladimir Putin are unclear, but the Kremlin frequently echoes rhetoric from his writings and appearances on Russian state TV. He helped popularize the concept of “Novorossiya” (New Russia) that Russia used to justify the annexation of Crimea and its support of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

He promotes Russia as a country of piety, traditional values and authoritarian leadership, and disdains Western liberal values.


Dugina expressed similar views and had appeared as a commentator on the nationalist TV channel Tsargrad.

She was sanctioned by the United States in March for her work as chief editor of United World International, a website that the U.S. described as a disinformation site. The sanctions announcement cited a UWI article this year that contended Ukraine would “perish” if it were admitted to NATO.

“Dasha, like her father, has always been at the forefront of confrontation with the West,” Tsargrad said on Sunday, using the familiar form of her name.

The explosion took place as Dugina was returning from a cultural festival she had attended with her father. Some Russian media reports cited witnesses as saying the vehicle belonged to her father and that he had decided at the last minute to travel in another car.


The vivid and violent incident, unusual for Moscow, is likely to aggravate Russia-Ukraine animosity.

No suspects were immediately identified. But Denis Pushilin, president of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic that is a focus of Russia’s fighting in Ukraine, blamed it on “terrorists of the Ukrainian regime, trying to kill Alexander Dugin.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied Ukrainian involvement, saying on national TV that “We are not a criminal state, unlike Russia, and definitely not a terrorist state.”

Analyst Sergei Markov, a former Putin adviser, told Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti that Alexander Dugin, not his daughter, likely was the intended target and said “it’s completely obvious that the most probable suspects are Ukrainian military intelligence and the Ukrainian Security Service.”
 

bill barilko

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Car blast kills daughter of Russian known as 'Putin's brain'
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jim Heintz
Publishing date:Aug 21, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation

MOSCOW — The daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologist who is often referred to as “Putin’s brain” was killed when her car exploded on the outskirts of Moscow, officials said Sunday.


The Investigative Committee branch for the Moscow region said the Saturday night blast was caused by a bomb planted in the SUV driven by Daria Dugina.

The 29-year-old was the daughter of political theorist Alexander Dugin, a prominent proponent of the “Russian world” concept and a vehement supporter of Russia’s sending of troops into Ukraine.

Dugin’s exact ties to President Vladimir Putin are unclear, but the Kremlin frequently echoes rhetoric from his writings and appearances on Russian state TV. He helped popularize the concept of “Novorossiya” (New Russia) that Russia used to justify the annexation of Crimea and its support of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

He promotes Russia as a country of piety, traditional values and authoritarian leadership, and disdains Western liberal values.


Dugina expressed similar views and had appeared as a commentator on the nationalist TV channel Tsargrad.

She was sanctioned by the United States in March for her work as chief editor of United World International, a website that the U.S. described as a disinformation site. The sanctions announcement cited a UWI article this year that contended Ukraine would “perish” if it were admitted to NATO.

“Dasha, like her father, has always been at the forefront of confrontation with the West,” Tsargrad said on Sunday, using the familiar form of her name.

The explosion took place as Dugina was returning from a cultural festival she had attended with her father. Some Russian media reports cited witnesses as saying the vehicle belonged to her father and that he had decided at the last minute to travel in another car.


The vivid and violent incident, unusual for Moscow, is likely to aggravate Russia-Ukraine animosity.

No suspects were immediately identified. But Denis Pushilin, president of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic that is a focus of Russia’s fighting in Ukraine, blamed it on “terrorists of the Ukrainian regime, trying to kill Alexander Dugin.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied Ukrainian involvement, saying on national TV that “We are not a criminal state, unlike Russia, and definitely not a terrorist state.”

Analyst Sergei Markov, a former Putin adviser, told Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti that Alexander Dugin, not his daughter, likely was the intended target and said “it’s completely obvious that the most probable suspects are Ukrainian military intelligence and the Ukrainian Security Service.”
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spaminator

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Russia accuses Ukraine of killing ultra-nationalist's daughter Darya Dugina
Suspected explosive device blew up vehicle she was driving, Russian investigators said

Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Aug 22, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 2 minute read • 37 Comments
Journalist and political expert Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian politologist Alexander Dugin, is pictured in the Tsargrad TV studio in Moscow, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022.
Journalist and political expert Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian politologist Alexander Dugin, is pictured in the Tsargrad TV studio in Moscow, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022. PHOTO BY TSARGRAD.TV / HANDOUT /REUTERS
Russia’s Federal Security Service on Monday accused Ukraine’s secret services of killing Darya Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultra-nationalist, in a car bomb attack near Moscow.


Dugina, whose father Alexander Dugin is a prominent ideologue, was killed on Saturday evening when a bomb blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser that she was driving, Russian investigators said.

Ukraine, which is defending itself from what it says is an imperial-style war of conquest mounted by Russia, has denied involvement in the fatal attack.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation.”

Alexander Dugin, 60, has advocated violence to achieve the unification of Russian-speaking and other territories in a new Russian empire. Darya, who appeared regularly on state TV, was a strong supporter of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

In his first public statement on his daughter’s death, he said Darya had been savagely killed before his own eyes by Ukraine.


“Our hearts are not simply thirsting for revenge or retribution,” Dugin wrote. “We only need our victory (against Ukraine) My daughter has sacrificed her young life on the altar of victory. So please win!”

The FSB security service was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the attack on Dugina was carried out by a Ukrainian woman born in 1979, whom it named and whose picture and personal information appeared on Russian news websites.

The websites linked her to Ukraine’s security services and accused her of being a member of the Azov battalion, a unit of Ukraine’s army that Russia has designated a terrorist group.

The woman and her teenage daughter had arrived in Russia in July and spent a month preparing the attack by renting an apartment in the same housing block as Dugina, the FSB was quoted as saying.


It said she had driven a Mini Cooper around Moscow which she used to spy on Dugina and for which she had three different sets of licence plates to avoid detection.

She had attended an event outside Moscow on Saturday evening which Dugina and her father were also at, before carrying out a “controlled explosion” of Dugina’s car. She fled Russia to Estonia in the same Mini Cooper, the FSB was quoted as saying.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine to the FSB statement.

‘RUSSIAN PATRIOT’
Russian law enforcement agencies had placed the Ukrainian woman on the country’s wanted list, the TASS news agency reported, with Moscow seeking her extradition from Estonia.

Estonia’s foreign ministry declined to comment and there was no immediate comment from Estonia’s interior ministry or police and border guard service.


President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to Dugina as a Russian patriot, while Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-backed RT media organization, suggested Russian agents could track the woman down in Estonia.

“Estonia, of course will not give them away,” Simonyan wrote on Telegram.

“I think we have professionals who want to admire the spires in the vicinity of Tallinn,” she added, an apparent reference to a 2018 attack in England on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal which Britain said Moscow was behind.

A memorial service for Dugina would be held on Tuesday at Moscow’s TV centre, her father said.
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spaminator

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Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian nationalist, hailed as martyr
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Aug 23, 2022 • 14 hours ago • 3 minute read • 10 Comments

MOSCOW — Russian politicians bade farewell at a service on Tuesday to Darya Dugina, the daughter of one of Russia’s most prominent nationalist ideologues, hailing her as a martyr whose death must inspire Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.


Dugina, the daughter of ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin, was killed on Saturday in a car bomb attack outside Moscow. Russia’s FSB security service has accused Ukrainian intelligence agencies of masterminding her murder, something Kyiv denies.


As the six-month anniversary of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine looms on Wednesday, Dugina’s death has prompted calls among Moscow’s political elite for revenge. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has warned of an increased possibility of Russian military strikes.

“I consider it a barbarous crime for which there can be no forgiveness,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“I hope the investigation will be quickly completed and according to the results of this investigation of course there can be no mercy for the organizers, those who commissioned this, and the perpetrators,” he told reporters.


Moscow’s TV centre was the setting for a major show of national mourning as senior politicians, fellow nationalists and friends filed past Dugina’s dark wooden casket to say goodbye, lay flowers and convey their condolences to her parents, seated nearby.

A large black and white photograph of the dead woman, 30, who worked as a journalist and nationalist media commentator, hung on a black wall behind her casket as somber music played.

Her father, Dugin, 60, who has for years advocated the creation of a new Russian empire that would absorb the territory of countries such as Ukraine, told mourners his daughter had died for Russia.

“If her tragic death has touched someone, she would have asked them to defend sacred (Russian) Orthodoxy, the people and the Fatherland,” said Dugin, dressed in black and visibly distressed.


“She died for Russia, in the motherland and on the frontline which is not in Ukraine but here.”

CALL FOR UNITY
Konstantin Malofeyev, a close family friend and a wealthy ultra-nationalist business tycoon, set the tone for many of the tributes that followed from Russian politicians, hailing the murdered woman as a martyr whose death made it all the more important for Russia to prevail against Ukraine.

“The people fighting against us do not understand that the Russian people is not just made up of those who are alive now. But is made up of those who lived before us and will live afterwards. And we will become stronger with the blood of our martyrs.

“And thanks to the untimely end of our dear beloved Dasha (Darya) we will definitely be victorious in this war,” he said.


Russia accuses the United States and its allies of using Ukraine to wage a proxy war against it, including by supplying Kyiv with weapons and intelligence. The West says it is helping Ukraine to defend itself against an imperial-style land grab by Moscow.

The parliamentary leaders of the three main pro-Kremlin parties spoke at the service, hailing Dugina as a patriot and promising that those who had ordered and carried out her murder would get their just deserts.

Leonid Slutsky, leader of the nationalist LDPR party, predicted that streets and squares would be named after Dugina before issuing a call for unity.

“One country, one president, one victory,” Slutsky told mourners.

A message of condolence was also read out from a Russian-backed leader in eastern Ukraine, and Sergei Mironov, who leads the Just Russia party in parliament, called for the destruction of what he called “the regime” in Kyiv.

“Victory will be the best monument to Dasha,” said Mironov.
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spaminator

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Ukraine investigating 28,000 Russian war crimes, including child deaths: ambassador
Yulia Kovaliv says crimes being documented and probed with help from Canadians

Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Aug 23, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation

OTTAWA — Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada says her country is investigating more than 28,000 war crimes, including the killing of 373 children, by Russian forces.


Ambassador Yulia Kovaliv says the crimes being documented and probed, with help from Canadians, include the kidnapping of children to Russia and the murders of fleeing civilians.


In an interview, she says Russia’s war with Ukraine goes beyond military aims and includes destroying Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

She says Russian soldiers are burning books on Ukrainian history in occupied cities, bombing museums and churches and forcing Russian to be spoken in schools in occupied areas.

Russia is also engaging in energy terrorism, she says, bombing 90 per cent of wind farms and solar energy facilities in Ukraine.

To raise funds for Ukraine on the country’s Independence Day, the ambassador will on Wednesday auction off a piece of a Russian missile that fell on a base where Canada used to train Ukrainian soldiers.

She grabbed the piece of shrapnel just before she came to Canada to take up her diplomatic posting in April.
 

Ron in Regina

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According to the (mistaken) conventional wisdom of the wider world, Aug. 24 is the sixth-month anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The war, with all its horror, has been truly and genuinely in our faces for only the past half-year — and not in the frozen, faraway sense that has marked the conflict for the past eight years.

For the Ukrainians, today is more like the 3,108th day of fighting (give or take a day or two) in a war that started with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow's first attempt to take over the eastern Donbas region.

Much has been written over the past six months about the war's brutal effect upon the people of Ukraine and their pulverized cities. But one expert following the conflict closely is now paying increasing attention to what he suspects are signs that the Russian regime itself is starting to unravel.
 

The_Foxer

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Makes a body wonder. . . will the outcome 30 years down the road be "Russia's Vietnam" or "Russia's Korea?"
Afghanistan was russias vietnam :) This is almost closer to russia's thermopylae. Except it may have a more happy ending for the ukranians than it did the greeks.

This i think will stand on it's own as a new thing. It's been utterly fascinating to watch. Everyone around the world knew it was going to happen and everyone was sure ukraine would fall within days, and wow.

It's strange - such a relatively small conflict, and yet i think it's really going to be world changing in many ways. its going to alter energy policy around the world, it's going to radically change defense and war policies and practices, it's going to radically influence weapons tech development - the use of drones in this conflict alone is a complete game changer as far as how wars might be fought in the future. Hell - one kid with a store bought drone pretty much destroyed an entire russian attack on a city and wiped out one of their advancing formations.

Russian influence around the world is going to nosedive. This will have a very long term and significant impact on the world.