Russia rules out handing back Crimea, expands war games - Reuters
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· noreply@rferl.org (Ivan Putilov, Daisy Sindelar)
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ukraine
As Russia celebrates one year since its militarized annexation of Crimea, some residents on the peninsula are eager to remind the Kremlin that many people resisted the scheme -- and remain opposed to it today. The Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
 Reuters |
Russia rules out handing back Crimea, expands war games
Reuters Russia's parliament approved the annexation on March 21 last year after Russian forces took control of the peninsula, which is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, and residents backed joining the Russian Federation in a referendum. Dismissing a U.S ... Russia rules out return of Crimea, defying sanctions on its ailing economyChristian Science Monitor Russia's Vladimir Putin brandishes the nuclear optionCBC.ca Russia Rules Out Handing Back Crimea To UkraineHuffington Post Yahoo News- International Business Times- US Department of State (press release) all 340 International Business Times all 260 news articles » |
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Захарченко угрожает захватить Мариуполь, Славянск и другие города, где был "референдум"
Зеркало недели Лидер самопровозглашенной "ДНР" Александр Захарченко заявил о желании захватить те города Донецкой области, где 11 марта 2014 года прошел непризнанный референдум о "независимости ДНР", сообщает Интерфакс. "Мы должны занять все наши города, где проходил ... Захарченко призывает к наступлению на ДонбассеForbes Ukraine Главарь боевиков Захарченко угрожает продолжить захват городов Востока УкраиныПоследние новости в мире ДНР заявила о разных с Киевом взглядах на минские договоренностиГазета.Ru Все похожие статьи: 288 » |
Despite Snowden Leaks, Few Americans Curb Online Habitsby webdesk@voanews.com (Doug Bernard)
Some two years after Edward Snowden revealed that he leaked classified documents about government snooping, some Americans say they have taken extra precautions to protect themselves online. But by and large, most seemingly have not changed their Internet or mobile phone habits. Those are the conclusions of a report released this week by the Pew Research Center’s Internet project that explores U.S. attitudes about electronic surveillance. Titled "Americans’ Privacy Strategies Post Snowden," the study is the first to probe not only Americans’ opinions about alleged National Security Agency monitoring of phones and the Internet, but also how those opinions are shaping their behavior. "In this report, we have indications that a sizable segment of Americans are changing some of their behaviors in response to the Snowden leaks," lead author and Pew senior researcher Mary Madden said. "But most of these changes are not highly technical and instead point to self-censoring behavior." Nearly 90 percent of the 475 respondents had heard at least a little about the NSA programs revealed in the Snowden leaks, with about 30 percent saying they’ve heard a lot. Of that 90 percent, just about one-third say they’ve altered their behavior in some way to help shield their activities and guard their privacy on the phone or online. These steps included changing privacy settings on social media like Facebook (17 percent), avoiding certain apps or programs (15 percent), or communicating more in person than electronically (14 percent). One possible reason more adults didn’t change their behavior, Madden said, is a lack of awareness of available tools or a perceived lack of technological knowledge. "Things like encryption, proxy servers, anonymity services … these are all technologies that are being used by a pretty small segment of the population right now," Madden told VOA. "We find that over half of Americans say they in fact it would be difficult for them to find tools and strategies for them to be more private online." Study focus groups revealed another possible explanation, one that surprised the researchers. "There’s actually a segment of folks [who] ... didn’t take these steps because they didn’t want to appear suspicious or invite scrutiny," Madden said. "Some people actually feel the folks that actually are using encryption tools are then creating a red flag for their behaviors online." Overall, a majority of respondents (57 percent) said it was unacceptable for the U.S. government to monitor the communications of U.S. citizens, a result Madden says it very much in line with previous research findings from Pew’s Research Center for People and the Press. However, 54 percent said the U.S. monitoring of citizens of other countries was acceptable and a full 60 percent said monitoring American leaders and leaders of other nations was acceptable. "Younger adults are less likely to be OK with monitoring of other groups, and in general Americans have become less confident that these programs are in the public interest," Madden said. "Given our previous studies, and the high levels of concern that we monitored, it’s not particularly surprising. What was surprising is that Republicans have become less confident over time, more so than Democrats," she said. Previous studies by Pew have strongly indicated a large majority of Americans fear they have lost the ability to protect their privacy in general and particularly online, with little consensus about what, if anything, could help reverse that trend. "Overall, Americans just feel as though they’ve lost control about how their personal information is used; not just government monitoring, but companies’ use of it as well," Madden said. "So all these stories about government data collection and data breaches that are coming through the news just feed into this greater sense that they’ve lost control of their privacy."
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Андерс Ослунд: «рейтинг Чаушеску составлял 90 процентов» Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/media/video/crimea-price-for-russian-e...
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 National Post |
Russia planning to send nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea, missiles to Poland ...
National Post MOSCOW — Russia plans to station state-of-the art missiles in its westernmost Baltic exclave and deploy nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea as part of massive war games to showcase its resurgent military power amid bitter tensions with the West over ... As tensions with Russia spiral, where is NATO?Reuters Blogs (blog) Russia Deploying Strategic Bombers To Crimea, Missiles To KaliningradRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty all 128 news articles » |
Many residents are still elated over the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula but critics face threats and prosecution - and a crude nationalisation process is crushing private enterprises
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Azerbaijan Jails Opposition Activist on Drug Chargesby webdesk@voanews.com (Isabela Cocoli)
Azerbaijan sentenced opposition activist Siraj Karimov to six years in prison Tuesday on drug-related charges. Karimov and his brother, Faraj Karimov, an outspoken critic of President Ilham Aliyev, were arrested last July for allegedly selling drugs. Faraj Karimov is presently in pretrial detention. Amnesty International has recognized Siraj and Faraj Kerimov, along with other jailed opponents of Azerbaijan's government, as "prisoners of conscience." The London-based human rights group said in a report released this month that at least 20 government critics, political activists and journalists are in prison or in detention in oil-rich Azerbaijan, awaiting trial on charges ranging from fraud and embezzlement to abuse of drugs and treason. They include the prominent human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif Yunus. Arif Yunus' brother, Ramis, told Voice of America that the real number of jailed government critics is much higher. “There are actually in jail more than 100 political prisoners. It is 'Absurdistan,' not Azerbaijan,” he said. Ramis Yunus, a U.S. citizen, recently sent an open letter to President Barack Obama asking him to help gain the release of his relatives. Arif and Leyla, both in their 60s, “are on the edge of death,” Ramis wrote to Obama. “I hope that the U.S. will not sacrifice my family for the sake of its energy security.” Another prominent prisoner of conscience is investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, a contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Ismayilova has investigated corruption in Azerbaijan, stating that it begins with the president and stretches all the way down to petty officials. Ismayilova was accused of embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of power. She said in court this month that charges against her were “fabricated” and politically motivated. Aliyev, 53, became Azerbaijan's president in 2003 following an election that international observers said was flawed. Rights groups accuse his government of launching a campaign to silence opposition since he was elected to a third presidential term in 2013. Azerbaijan will host the European Games this June. VOA's Azerbaijan service contributed to this report.
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Вашингтон внимательно следит за масштабными учениями Минобороны России
РБК Пресс-секретарь Госдепартамента США Джен Псаки заявила, что масштабные учения, которые Россия проводит в различных частях, в том числе на северо-западе и в районе Арктики, не вызывают в Вашингтоне обеспокоенности, однако Соединенные Штаты внимательно следят за ... и другие » |
For years Bill Browder has been campaigning against the corrupt Russian authorities who prosecuted and eventually caused the death of an innocent man—Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. In his new book Browder tells Magnitsky’s story in a narrative that reads like a thriller and reveals the brutal realities of the Putin regime.
17 March 2015 Last updated at 21:40 ET
A scene from the Oscar-nominated Leviathan
Andrey Zvyagintsev directed Leviathan
Leo Tolstoy: 'Not a Russian writer'
Andrei Konchalovsky is critical of Hollywood
Russian dancers perform Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
The 1970 BBC production of the Chekhov masterpiece Uncle Vanya
A scene from the Oscar-nominated Leviathan
At the start of this year, BBC Radio Four devoted a whole day to a radio adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace.
On New Year's Day, listeners were invited to binge on it all day long, with only brief interruptions.
Now filming has begun on a new television version, in an adaptation by award-winning screen writer Andrew Davies.
So the current chill in relations with Russia, it seems, has not affected the British love affair with Tolstoy.
In fact, perhaps War and Peace can help us understand why Russians tend to view their nation as always under attack from outsiders.
For although Tolstoy's epic novel is about love, it is also the dramatic story of Napoleon's advance on Moscow and what it felt like to be part of a Russian family, packing up and fleeing the burning capital.
“Start Quote
End QuoteThis new vision embraces President Putin's pivot towards China, his rejection of Western values and civic links, and his insistence on Russia being a new centre of global conservatism”
In 1812, it was the French bearing down on Moscow, a century and a half later it was Hitler's Nazi army.
These pivotal moments in the nation's history are etched into the memory of every Russian and help underscore President Putin's claim that Russia is once again under threat from Western hostile forces.
This time, he argues, the enemy is the US, spearheading an onslaught by Nato allies who have used the conflict over Ukraine to impose sanctions, as part of a decades-old desire to keep Russia weak and fragmented, so the West can stay dominant and strong.
This is why, Mr Putin argues, Russians must remain united behind his presidency, and why Russian writers, artists and film-makers should use culture to help reinforce patriotism and loyalty.
Other voices
But not all contemporary Russian culture fits this Kremlin narrative.
Leviathan, the latest film from the distinguished director Andrei Zvyagintsev, has been making waves since it was premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Andrey Zvyagintsev directed Leviathan
Set in Russia's arctic north, it is a bleak but brilliant story of a small man crushed by corrupt bureaucrats and church leaders.
It won a further string of international honours, including best foreign film at the Golden Globe awards, and was shortlisted (though did not win) in the best foreign film category at the 2015 Academy Awards, the Oscars.
But in Russia, far from being hailed as a masterpiece, it ran into trouble.
Although it was partly financed by his ministry, the Russian Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinskyaccused the director of deliberately pandering to anti-Russian sentiment in the West in a bid to win international film prizes.
The Russian Orthodox Church also denounced it. One prominent Kremlin supporter, Sergei Markov, called it "anti-Putin".
Leviathan has not been banned in Russia, although its colourful profanities have been removed.
In fact, the row probably helped it win a wider audience.
Certainly when it went on general release in one south-western Moscow suburb in February, it was an immediate sell-out.
Russians rushed to the local cinema to see what all the fuss was about.
Invented myths
Mr Medinsky's criticism is not surprising.
A former MP with close links to the Kremlin, he made his name as the author of a series of popular but controversial history books called Myths About Russia, aimed at debunking negative stereotypes which, he claims, were deliberately invented by foreigners to undermine Russia's reputation.
But some Russian cultural figures have gone further, protesting not so much at Zvyagintsev's film, but at what they claim is Hollywood's unfair dominance of the global film industry.
Leo Tolstoy: 'Not a Russian writer'
Andrei Konchalovsky is a hugely successful Russian film director who comes from a well-known cultural family.
His father, Sergei Mikhalkov, wrote the lyrics for Stalin's National Anthem. His brother Nikita Mikhalkov, an Oscar-winning film director in his own right, served as minister of culture.
And Andrei Konchalovsky himself forged a film career both in Hollywood and Russia where he collaborated closely with the distinguished film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky.
Now, however, he is no longer well disposed to the American movie industry.
He refused to let his latest film, The Postman's White Nights, be considered for this year's Academy Awards as a protest against what he claims is American cultural imperialism.
When I caught up with him in London at a recent Azerbaijani arts festival, he gave two reasons.
Firstly, he said, he was opposed to the "popcorn" style entertainment of US blockbusters, which were now so prevalent in Russian cinemas.
And secondly, he was objecting to the idea that all non-English language films were "segregated" into one single "foreign film" category at the Oscars.
"What the hell does that mean?" he said. "I felt myself humiliated: foreign for who? I am strongly opposed."
Cultural realignment
But Mr Konchalovsky's criticism of Hollywood is part of what he sees as a wider cultural realignment, which echoes the geo-political shift President Putin likes to refer to in the political sphere: the decline of the West and the rise of the emerging economies of "the rest", including, of course, Russia.
Andrei Konchalovsky is critical of Hollywood
"I agree with certain politicians that the civilisational pressures of America are too strong," he told me.
"America has a big illusion about universal values of American dream. But it is a big illusion.
"We see how it crumbles when Americans try to impose democracy. They cannot dominate any more with their ideology.
"America has a Europe-centric view of the world, and those values of democracy, freedom, equal rights etc, have proved not to be universal.
“Start Quote
End QuoteAndrei KonchalovskyFilm directorWe are not Latins, the West is Latin”
"The old idea of absolute, unshakeable values of Western civilisation, that period is coming to an end."
So is Russia not European? I asked.
In Mr Konchalovsky's scheme of things, it turns out that it is not. It is part of a separate Eastern tradition.
"We have developed on the periphery of European civilisation.
"Our religion, geography, climate and history created our culture. We are not Latins, the West is Latin," he said.
"And the iron curtain is between Russia and Poland, not to do with socialism, but between Eastern philosophy - emotional; and Western philosophy - infatuation with order."
Old and new idea
It is both an intriguingly radical new idea: Russia as Eastern and Asian-facing; and a notion which goes back two centuries: the old paradigm of a cultural conflict in Russia between so-called Slavophiles and Westernisers.
In the past, cultural commentators have tended to argue that it left the country with a foot in both camps, a unique "Eurasian" nation.
Russian dancers perform Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
But in today's Russia, where state-run media now paints both the US and its European allies as hostile and as danger to Russia, there seems increasingly little room for a fudge.
A startling survey at the beginning of the year by the respected Levada polling organisation suggested that negative perceptions of the US, and the European Union had doubled in the past year - at least, according to the answers of those who were surveyed.
And judging by Mr Konchalovsky, this anti-Western, anti-European sentiment is now tipping over into the cultural sphere.
I asked him how he reconciled his theory that Russia was not European with the fact that many of Russia's greatest writers (like Pushkin, Tolstoy and Chekhov) were loved by Western audiences and seen as part of the European mainstream - evidence of a shared culture, and a shared system of universal values.
His answer left me dumbfounded.
"Tolstoy is not a Russian writer," said Mr Konchalovsky.
The 1970 BBC production of the Chekhov masterpiece Uncle Vanya
He then sketched out for me his view of Russia's cultural history, dividing it into the Muscovite period up to the end of the 17th Century, and then a period launched by Peter the Great who tried to Europeanise, but with limited success.
"There is a little fraction of Russian society that called itself maybe European: Russians that created basically everything that Russia can be proud of - starting from Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Chekhov, Dostoevsky - and which had incredible influence on Western culture because Russia is a very talented and powerful country.
"But Peter the Great didn't succeed to Westernise the whole nation. It was beyond his ability,
"So we have a tiny fraction (which is) European - and an enormous ocean of Russian Muscovites who basically don't care about the world."
Pivot eastwards
It is a radical thought: three centuries of an experiment to Europeanise Russia which is now coming to an end.
The Bolsheviks, after all, also drew on European ideas based on the works of that German thinker, Karl Marx.
This new vision embraces President Putin's pivot towards China, his rejection of Western values and civic links, and his insistence on Russia being a new centre of global conservatism.
Will it take hold, though?
Do most Russians really want to turn their backs on Europe and look East instead?
That is the deeper question behind the current crisis which is not only about what happens to Ukraine, but what will happen to Russia too.
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 BBC News |
Cultural struggle to define Russia's identity
BBC News On New Year's Day, listeners were invited to binge on it all day long, with only brief interruptions. Now filming has begun on a new television version, in an adaptation by award-winning screen writer Andrew Davies. So the current chill in relations ... and more » |
Envelope Laced with Poison Mailed to White Houseby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
The U.S. Secret Service says a letter addressed to the White House has tested positive for cyanide, a deadly poison. The agency, which is charged with protecting the president and other high-ranking officials, issued a statement Tuesday saying the letter was received at a screening facility away from the White House campus the day before. The letter initially tested negative for biological agents, but the agency said further tests returned a "presumptive positive" for cyanide. The letter has been sent to another facility for further testing. The Secret Service says it will have no further comment, due to the ongoing investigation.
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EU, U.S. Condemn Russia, South Ossetia 'Treaty'by noreply@rferl.org (RFE/RL)
Washington and Brussels have condemned a planned agreement between Russia and a Moscow-backed breakaway region of Georgia.
 ИА REGNUM |
Президент Молдавии: НАТО спасет нас от «секретных проектов Кремля»
ИА REGNUM Намеченный на 17-18 марта визит в Гагаузию депутата Государственной думы РФ Ириной Родниной отменен. Об этом сообщило комратское издание «Гагауз-инфо», поддерживающее кандидата в башканы Гагаузии Ирину Влах, в пользу которой Роднина должна была агитировать в ... Госдума: решение о запрете въезда российских депутатов в Молдову будет неконституционнымКомсомольская правда Все похожие статьи: 154 » |
Pentagon Plans Hard Look at Missile Defense Programsby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
The U.S. Defense Department has launched a major review of missile defense programs and capabilities, after military commanders called the current strategy "unsustainable" given tough budget pressures and rising threats around the world. Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described the review in a Feb. 4 memo to top officers in the U.S. Army and Navy, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. This year's review would also cover regional ballistic missile defense issues, the global reach of the Patriot missile defense system, and U.S. power projection capabilities. Hagel said a strategic review by top Pentagon officials last fall had concluded the current ballistic missile defense policy was sound, but recommended an update of a 2011 joint study to help shape the Pentagon's fiscal 2017 budget process. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert and Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno, in a memo dated Nov. 5, had called for a reassessment by the Pentagon. The Pentagon's current focus on forward-deployment of assets was too costly, they wrote, urging a shift to a more holistic approach that included use of non-kinetic "left of launch" technologies such as electromagnetic propogation and cyber. They said it was critical to develop a more cost-effective and sustainable long-term approach that addressed homeland missile defense and regional missile defense priorities. In his response, Hagel said the department would continue to look for "innovative" ways to address challenges, and urged Greenert and Odierno to play an active role in the various reviews. Kingston Reif, head of disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association, said the concerns raised by the Army and Navy underscored the myriad problems still facing the current system. Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said various Pentagon officials and others had worked for years on a "left of launch" strategy that lowered costs by targeting the electronic radar signatures of enemy command and control systems, or the targeting systems of incoming missiles. But he said relying on such capabilities to defend against potential missile attacks by North Korea or Iran - instead of the current ground-based interceptors - was problematic, since it would entail "preemptive strikes" that could have grave political and strategic consequences.
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Published on Mar 18, 2015
Hundreds of bodies are being buried in eastern Ukraine without being identified. On the separatist side, officials say they don't have the resources to cope with the sheer volume of bodies – which we found lining the corridors at the central morgue in Donetsk. A special report by Shahida Yakub for RFE/RL's Current Time (<a href="http://www.currenttime.tv" rel="nofollow">www.currenttime.tv</a>)
The Unknown Soldiers Of The Donbasby Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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Hundreds of bodies are being buried in eastern Ukraine without being identified. On the separatist side, officials say they don't have the resources to cope with the sheer volume of bodies...
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Prince Charles, Camilla Have Full Itinerary for DC Visitby webdesk@voanews.com (AP)
Prince Charles and his wife will visit the home of the man who, more than anyone else, ensured that Americans would no longer be his subjects. The visit Wednesday to George Washington's Mount Vernon estate by the Prince of Wales and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is one of many stops the two will make throughout the D.C. area. Among their other stops Wednesday are the National Archives, where they're expected to view copies of the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Later Wednesday, Charles will give a speech on reducing plastic waste. The day concludes with an evening reception for supporters of his charitable foundation. It is Prince Charles' 20th visit to the U.S.
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Putin Signs Pact With Breakaway Georgian Regionby noreply@rferl.org (RFE/RL)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a pact with a Moscow-backed breakaway region ofGeorgia, despite condemnation by Tbilisi and the West.
Paul Goble
Staunton, March 18 – Vladimir Putin’s personality and governing style, his domestic and geopolitical agendas and his possession of and willingness to threaten the use of nuclear weapons make him “the most dangerous person in the history of our civilization,” according to Andrey Piontkovsky.
Putin’s background in the KGB and his experiences over the last 15 years in power have convinced him that “the power of a dictator is not based on rational calculations, ratings, the political landscape but on a certain aura, mystery, and will” which gives Russians “a happy illusion” about him and themselves (www1.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=55074AB95E1B2).
That explains, the Russian analyst continues, why Putin gives interviews like the one in which he acknowledged his violations of international law in the seizure of Crimea and why Putin’s aides are always coming up with suggestive phrases from “’drown in the outhouse’” to “’national traitors’” that suggest he has returned Russia to unchallenged greatness.
And it reflects his own statements and those of his around him concerning his willingness to use force and the threat of force not just to subordinate the Russian people to his personal will but also to re-subordinate both the countries which were once part of the Soviet Union and those which were part of the larger Soviet bloc to Moscow.
But before declaring “an Orthodox jihad” against all these places, it would be well, Piontkovsky says, to ask “just how many divisions our Pope of Rome has” because “no state and no regime goes to war firmly convinced that it will lose.” Consequently, the Kremlin leader must believe he can win.
For some purposes as in Ukraine and elsewhere, Putin can make use of soft force and hybrid war, but the only real power he has is his stockpile of nuclear weapons or “more precisely the threat of using” them, the Russian analyst says. And thus, to win, Putin must “convince the West and above all the US leadership that he is mad and ready to use them.”
If he succeeds, Piontkovsky says, then “the West which is not prepared for the destruction of the planet in a nuclear catastrophe will, in Putin’s thinking, retreat step by step. It won’t sell arms to Ukraine even in the event of a massive attack by Russian forces, it won’t defend the Baltic countries when little green men go there, and so on down the list.”
In many respects, Putin has simply taken a page from the playbook of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Piontkovsky says, someone who has successfully cultivated the image of a madman with nuclear weapons who must be appeased lest he use them. Thus, it is no surprise Kim will be standing next to Putin on the Mausoleum on Victory Day.
While promoting that image in order to frighten and disorder the West, Putin is also seeking to advance his agenda abroad by various kinds of soft power, an agenda that includes in the first instance splitting the EU and the US, dividing the EU, and promoting Russian influence abroad and especially in Orthodox countries.
In an interview with Novy Region-2’s Kseniya Kirillova published today, Aleksandr Sytin, the former analyst for the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies that was set up by the SVR and is closely tied to the Presidential Administration, provides new details about what RISI and its influential director Leonid Reshetnikov are doing to promote Putin’s agenda (nr2.com.ua/blogs/Ksenija_Kirillova/Rossiya-hochet-utverdit-svoe-gospodstvo-vo-vsey-Vostochnoy-Evrope-ekspert-92442.html).
According to Sytin, Reshetnikov is not making the kind of geopolitical argument one would expect from most analysts. Instead, Sytin says, Reshetnikov is pushing for the establishment “under contemporary conditions of a medieval model of Orthodox-imperial civilization which must oppose the ‘anti-Christian’ civilization of Europe and the US.”
The RISI director has been making the argument, Sytin continues, that “the Soviet Union conducted the correct policy of protecting its national interests” by “pushing the defense line far to the west. If we want to be a great state,” Reshetnikov says, “we must bring to the world our variety of economic, political, and cultural development.
Thus Putin’s agenda is “not limited and will not be limited by moves against Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the post-Soviet space as a whole.” His “chief goal is not simply the restoration of the territory of the Russian Empire” but to impose Russian dominance “over the entire territory of Eastern Europe at a minimum.”
According to Reshetnikov, Sytin says, “the countries of greatest interest” are those with Orthodox populations – Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro – but the RISI director also believes that Moscow must focus on Poland, France, Finland, Hungary and Austria, “everywhere where one can find rightwing nationalists, Christian fundamentalists and anti-globalists.”
RISI is already claiming success in Greece and to a lesser extent in Bulgaria and Serbia, Sytin says.
Kirillova pressed Sytin on the question of whether “the plans of RISI and the plans of the Russian authorities” are one and the same. Sytin responded that the “Novaya gazeta” document about Ukraine, while not in the typical format of RISI documents, completely reflects RISI thinking and Moscow’s actions.
And in support of his contention of RISI’s influence on Putin, Sytin pointed to two other things: the participation of senior Kremlin officials in the recent commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the institute and the role that RISI has played in introducing Kremlin officials to others beyond its ken who may be useful as in the case of Konstantin Malofeyev.
Although Sytin does not, one could add a third, to the extent Piontkovsky’s analysis is correct: Putin clearly sees enormous value in the kind of semi-mythic thought and language Reshetnikov uses and that his former assistant reports. That is yet another reason RISI and its leader should be watched most closely.
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СБУ обнародовало видео с российскими срочниками в Донбассе
ЛІГА.net Начальник следственного управления СБУ Василий Вовк обнародовал видео, снятое бойцами батальона Донбасс под Иловайском в августе прошлого года. Видео является дополнительным доказательством вторжения в Украину регулярных российских войск, сообщает пресс-центр ... СБУ расследует более 4 тысяч преступлений против нацбезопасностиРИА Новости СБУ собрала три тома материалов для жалобы на Россию в Гаагский трибуналВерсии.сом СБУ располагает информацией о медексперименте террористов с заложникамиУкраинское национальное информагентство Биржевой лидер -Зеркало недели -FaceNews.ua Все похожие статьи: 275 » |
A Moscow court has fined a prominent Russian human rights advocacy group for refusal to register as a "foreign agent" under a law Kremlin critics say is putting a chill on civil society.
Putin’s Latest Crimea Spin Attempts New Narrativeby webdesk@voanews.com (Mark Snowiss)
As Russia marks the one-year anniversary of Crimea’s annexation from neighboring Ukraine, the Kremlin is putting forth a new narrative in what analysts say appears to be a further attempt to legitimize its takeover of the peninsula. In a pre-recorded interview for a documentary that premiered earlier this week on state television, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that Moscow had been planning the annexation weeks before last year's controversial March 16 referendum on the territory joining Russia. Crimean and Russian leaders signed a treaty absorbing the territory into the Russian Federation on March 18, 2014, two days after the poll in which separatists said voters overwhelmingly approved union with Russia. The treaty was ratified by the Russian Federal Assembly on March 21. In the weeks before the vote, gunmen without military emblems on their uniforms took control of government buildings and military facilities. In the film, Putin also admitted for the first time that the soldiers, known as the “little green men,” were Russian, and that he was ready to put his country’s nuclear forces on standby during tensions over the crisis. The documentary – Crimea: Return to the Motherland – rehashes a storyline that presents events in Kyiv leading up to the annexation as a radical, neo-Nazi rebellion engineered by the United States. The Kremlin’s position, as articulated earlier this week by Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, is that the annexation prevented what would have been a looming humanitarian catastrophe driven by conflicts between local Russians and what he called U.S.-backed Ukrainian nationalist forces. The argument is Putin’s version of a playbook tapped by the West in 1999 when NATO bombed Russia-ally Serbia. That enabled Kosovo’s embattled Albanian majority to regroup and defeat Serb forces, leading to the eventual creation of an independent state, said Matthew Rojansky, a Russia expert at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington. Putin has referred to armed Ukrainian “neo-Nazis” threatening ethnic Russians, their desire to separate from Ukraine and the absence of a legitimate government in Kyiv after a “U.S.-contrived” uprising toppled former president Viktor Yanukovych. The Russian leader has repeatedly evoked Kosovo as a precedent for Crimea, though there are significant differences between the two situations. The action in Crimea may or may not have been a pre-planned land grab, Rojansky added. That ambiguity enabled Putin “to put a strategic framework on an operation that lacked one; he’s created a strategy after the fact,” said David Kramer, senior director for human rights and democracy at the McCain Institute. The Russian leader's attempt at spin is likely aimed first for internal consumption. “Putin thinks the annexation was an unvarnished success and he’s using that to pump up his reputation with the Russian people,” said John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. “He’s also sending a message of contempt for the West by peeling away the obfuscation because he knows the truth won’t hurt him,” he said. In fact, Putin’s new version of events may even raise his stature among Russians. “[In] the culture of public lying in Russia, the average Russian citizen needs to lie to the tax inspector, the police, his superiors, etc. Putin’s lies show his strength and cunning, standing up to the West while lying in their face,” said Peter Pomerantsev, a Russian writer and journalist living in London. “If anything, Putin is closer to people in this way – everybody knew he was lying, just as they lie, they understand he had to lie. It sort of unites people, I think,” he said. Sanctions bite Following the crippling economic sanctions imposed by Western governments after the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine, Russia's economy has taken a hit over the past year, especially from a severe drop in the price of oil – the country's main export. Experts disagree on when – and under what circumstances – the U.S. and European Union will end their respective restrictions targeting major companies in Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors. If the situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine continues to be relatively stable, and the Minsk agreement holds through mid-summer, EU sanctions – which are far more consequential than the U.S. measures – could be eased in a way that allows everyone to save face, Rojansky said. “The inertia [in Europe] is against continued conflict with Moscow,” he said. “The Russians don’t want Crimea to make their economy a permanent pariah. They need what they see as a plausible narrative for the Europeans to hang their hats on.” While Putin’s “responsibility to protect” argument may succeed in decoupling enough European governments to change EU policy, it is not likely to gain traction in Washington. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday there are no plans on lifting sanctions imposed following the Kremlin land grab. “Putin likely won’t allow Ukraine to develop in peace. He will continue to commit fresh aggression because he wants to destabilize the country. If his does that the sanctions will stay,” Herbst said. “A lot of this depends on whether the West pursues the right policy. We’ve done more than Putin thought we would,” he said.
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Russia Cracking Down on Human Rights in Crimea, Amnesty Reportsby By Jennifer Monaghan <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com>
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Wednesday that Crimean residents' rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly have all sharply suffered under Russian rule.
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MOSCOW — A fragile cease-fire in eastern Ukraine was coming under increased strain on Wednesday as pro-Russian rebels accused Kiev of violating a plan to give them significantly increased autonomy. The dispute risked casting war-torn eastern Ukraine back into a hot conflict after more than three weeks of relative peace. The immediate disagreement Wednesday stemmed from a law passed a day earlier by Ukraine’s parliament that rebels say does not give them as much freedom as they were promised in the peace plan. Fighting on the ground has significantly increased in recent days.Read full article >>
Deborah and James Burrows. (Patrick McMullan)
In New York’s current real estate climate, a television series set in a thriving, unpretentious neighborhood bar where folks from all walks mix and mingle and gobble beer nuts with their suds–where regulars are familiar with the details of one another’s family lives and share good-natured inside jokes–would seem to most of us nearly as unrealistic as, well, Friends. But then, verisimilitude has never been the currency of the sitcom. And anyway, wasn’t Cheers set in Boston? (We won’t delve here into the relative believability of the aforementioned friendliness among the constitutionally surly Boston set.)
In any event, James Burrows, a director and co-creator of Cheers, together with his wife, Deborah, has just dropped $4.2 million on a one-bedroom co-op at 1 Fifth Avenue, according to city records. More than $4 million for a four-room apartment in Greenwich Village, you say? Why, that’s more than $1 million a room! Now that’s more realistic.
Still, Mr. Burrows, who’s also known for his work on Will and Grace and Taxi, did manage a slight discount on the place, which was listed for $4.35 million with Ann Weintraub. The seller, Ronald Levandusky, is a plastic surgeon, whose ownership of the unit predates the city’s tracking system, so it’s unclear how much he paid for it initially, but it’s unlikely that the price reduction caused him too much pain.
Looks like spring.
The apartment itself sits up high in the building, a well-regarded prewar affair with a landmark designation. From the south side of the co-op, on the 26th floor, the views of Washington Square Park are tremendous, and those to the northeast and west aren’t half-bad, either. There’s an open, serviceable-looking kitchen and a corner living room with big picture windows and inlaid wood floors. There’s even a landline in the master bath!
A nice, quiet neighborhood bar? Well, surely, there must be a few that the NYU kids haven’t found yet.
Three cheers.
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update: 17-03-2015 (10:38)
Кого назначить убийцей Немцова и как далеко пойти в определении организаторов и заказчиков – политический торг минувшей недели, с которым, видимо, было связано длительное отсутствие Путина в публичном пространстве. Он оказался зажатым в тисках – с одной стороны серьезное давление ФСБ, с другой – необходимость защиты проекта "Кадыров", давно вызывавшего ярость силовиков, как в армии, так и в спецслужбах.
Сегодняшнее появление Путина означает, что торг закончен. И закончился он, видимо, каким-то компромиссом в пользу Кадырова. Об этом говорит еще одна сегодняшняя новость, которую мало кто заметил – обвинение, предъявленное арестованным по делу об убийстве Бориса Немцова, скорректировано (формулировка "убийство по корыстным побуждениям или по найму", которое озвучил сам Путин в ночь убийства Немцова, было заменено на "убийство по мотивам политической, идеологической, расовой, национальной или религиозной ненависти").
Это означает, что на Зауре Дадаеве все закончится. Он, бывший замкомандира батальона ВВ МВД РФ "Север", объявлен исполнителем, организатором и заказчиком. Подниматься выше – к Кадырову – уже не будут. Неделю назад в "Новой газете" вышла анонимная статья "Патриоты России и ее враги", в которой "чеченский след" приводил к командиру батальона ВВ МВД РФ "Север", Герою России, полковнику Алибеку Делимханову, брату депутата Госдумы. Упоминание Делимханова в этом контексте наталкивает на мысль, что если не самого Кадырова, то назначить убийцей Немцова предполагалось кого-то из чеченцев, куда более влиятельного, чем Дадаев, но этого не произошло.
Решив ограничиться Дадаевым, Путин подыгрывает Кадырову и тем самым берет на себя ответственность за убийство Немцова. Он, высшее должностное лицо, препятствующее расследованию и покрывающее организаторов и заказчиков убийц.
Потому что всем ясно, что Дадаев это дисциплинированный боец элитного кадыровского отряда, и он с соучастниками мог совершить это преступление только по приказу Кадырова. Самого Кадырова, я предполагаю, попросил не лично Путин, а силовики, дав тому понять, что Путину этого бы хотелось.
Согласившись на такой ход событий, Путин не только признается в серьезнейшем государственном преступлении, которое по российской конституции требует отстранения его от власти, но и, что для него намного хуже, теряет авторитет в глазах силовиков.
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Адвокат Вадим Прохоров, представляющий интересы семьи Немцова, сказал "Коммерсанту", что с самого начала было понятно, что в убийстве оппозиционера политические и идеологические мотивы. По его словам, отрадно, что следствие пришло к такому же выводу. Однако, отметил Прохоров,
подобные политические убийства не могут обойтись без заказчиков и организаторов.
По информации "Интерфакса", все обвиняемые отказываются сотрудничать со следствием. Некоторые из арестованных на допросах пользуются статьей 51 Конституции РФ и не отвечают на вопросы. Их адвокаты заявляют об алиби.
Paul Goble
Staunton, March 18 – Vladimir Putin’s personality and governing style, his domestic and geopolitical agendas and his possession of and willingness to threaten the use of nuclear weapons make him “the most dangerous person in the history of our civilization,” according to Andrey Piontkovsky.
Putin’s background in the KGB and his experiences over the last 15 years in power have convinced him that “the power of a dictator is not based on rational calculations, ratings, the political landscape but on a certain aura, mystery, and will” which gives Russians “a happy illusion” about him and themselves (www1.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=55074AB95E1B2).
That explains, the Russian analyst continues, why Putin gives interviews like the one in which he acknowledged his violations of international law in the seizure of Crimea and why Putin’s aides are always coming up with suggestive phrases from “’drown in the outhouse’” to “’national traitors’” that suggest he has returned Russia to unchallenged greatness.
And it reflects his own statements and those of his around him concerning his willingness to use force and the threat of force not just to subordinate the Russian people to his personal will but also to re-subordinate both the countries which were once part of the Soviet Union and those which were part of the larger Soviet bloc to Moscow.
But before declaring “an Orthodox jihad” against all these places, it would be well, Piontkovsky says, to ask “just how many divisions our Pope of Rome has” because “no state and no regime goes to war firmly convinced that it will lose.” Consequently, the Kremlin leader must believe he can win.
For some purposes as in Ukraine and elsewhere, Putin can make use of soft force and hybrid war, but the only real power he has is his stockpile of nuclear weapons or “more precisely the threat of using” them, the Russian analyst says. And thus, to win, Putin must “convince the West and above all the US leadership that he is mad and ready to use them.”
If he succeeds, Piontkovsky says, then “the West which is not prepared for the destruction of the planet in a nuclear catastrophe will, in Putin’s thinking, retreat step by step. It won’t sell arms to Ukraine even in the event of a massive attack by Russian forces, it won’t defend the Baltic countries when little green men go there, and so on down the list.”
In many respects, Putin has simply taken a page from the playbook of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Piontkovsky says, someone who has successfully cultivated the image of a madman with nuclear weapons who must be appeased lest he use them. Thus, it is no surprise Kim will be standing next to Putin on the Mausoleum on Victory Day.
While promoting that image in order to frighten and disorder the West, Putin is also seeking to advance his agenda abroad by various kinds of soft power, an agenda that includes in the first instance splitting the EU and the US, dividing the EU, and promoting Russian influence abroad and especially in Orthodox countries.
According to Sytin, Reshetnikov is not making the kind of geopolitical argument one would expect from most analysts. Instead, Sytin says, Reshetnikov is pushing for the establishment “under contemporary conditions of a medieval model of Orthodox-imperial civilization which must oppose the ‘anti-Christian’ civilization of Europe and the US.”
The RISI director has been making the argument, Sytin continues, that “the Soviet Union conducted the correct policy of protecting its national interests” by “pushing the defense line far to the west. If we want to be a great state,” Reshetnikov says, “we must bring to the world our variety of economic, political, and cultural development.
Thus Putin’s agenda is “not limited and will not be limited by moves against Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the post-Soviet space as a whole.” His “chief goal is not simply the restoration of the territory of the Russian Empire” but to impose Russian dominance “over the entire territory of Eastern Europe at a minimum.”
According to Reshetnikov, Sytin says, “the countries of greatest interest” are those with Orthodox populations – Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro – but the RISI director also believes that Moscow must focus on Poland, France, Finland, Hungary and Austria, “everywhere where one can find rightwing nationalists, Christian fundamentalists and anti-globalists.”
RISI is already claiming success in Greece and to a lesser extent in Bulgaria and Serbia, Sytin says.
Kirillova pressed Sytin on the question of whether “the plans of RISI and the plans of the Russian authorities” are one and the same. Sytin responded that the “Novaya gazeta” document about Ukraine, while not in the typical format of RISI documents, completely reflects RISI thinking and Moscow’s actions.
And in support of his contention of RISI’s influence on Putin, Sytin pointed to two other things: the participation of senior Kremlin officials in the recent commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the institute and the role that RISI has played in introducing Kremlin officials to others beyond its ken who may be useful as in the case of Konstantin Malofeyev.
Although Sytin does not, one could add a third, to the extent Piontkovsky’s analysis is correct: Putin clearly sees enormous value in the kind of semi-mythic thought and language Reshetnikov uses and that his former assistant reports. That is yet another reason RISI and its leader should be watched most closely.
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Sweden's intelligence service SAPO has accused Russia of conducting extensive espionage operations on Swedish territory.
The chief analyst of SAPO's counterintelligence agency, Wilhelm Unge, said in Stockholm on March 18 that and as many as one-third of Russia's diplomatic staff in Sweden were spies.
Speaking to reporters as the agency presented its annual security report, Unge added that the number was constant, saying "this is the way things look year after year."
He said the Russian spies came from the military intelligence, GRU, and the Federal Security Service, FSB, and described them as "highly educated and often younger than during the Soviet era."
Unge said SAPO had stopped several attempts last year by Russia to obtain Swedish technology for its military forces.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP
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Russia is defying Ukraine and the West with a week of ceremonies marking the anniversary of its annexation of Crimea, a move that ran counter the international law, drew widespread criticism abroad, and reignited tension between Moscow and its former Cold War foes.
How Did Netanyahu Pull Off Israeli Election Win?by webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
As the dust settles on a dramatic election, the immediate questions are how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to stage such a fierce comeback, why the opposition fell short and what it means for Israel, the Palestinians and the world. Four days before the vote, Netanyahu looked all butdown for the count, with the last opinion polls giving the center-left Zionist Union a four-seat lead –enough not only to win but potentially to form a governing coalition. Even Netanyahu, a veteran campaigner who has emerged victorious from three elections in the past, seemed to think his days were numbered, saying there was a "real danger" he would lose and calling on his right-wing base to turn out. But in the final three days of campaigning – and on the day of the vote itself – "Bibi" went on a tear, giving more interviews than he has in years and making a series of right-wing pledges designed to attract nationalist voters. Visiting the Har Homa settlement in the West Bank, a development he authorized when he was first prime minister in 1997, he promised to go on building Jewish homes on occupied land the Palestinians want for a state, and acknowledged the settlement was designed to cut off Palestinians from Jerusalem. No Palestinian state In an interview the sameday, Netanyahu promised that if he were re-elected, he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state. The statement few in the face of his own past commitments and decades of international efforts to find a two-state solution to the conflict. At every opportunity, he said his Likud party risked losing. He sowed fears about what it would mean for Israelis' security and the spread of militant Islam if the center-left were allowed to secure victory. And on Tuesday, as the vote was under way, he railed against what he called "left-wing organizations" that he said were busing Arab-Israelis to the polls in an effort to bolster the center-left and oust him from office. While to many Israelis his comments sounded like the rantings of someone facing defeat after six straight years in power, they were carefully calibrated to prod the right- and far-right vote and close the gap with the center-left. "Seats changed hands within the right and center-left blocs but otherwise not much really changed," said Gideon Rahat, a professor of political science at Hebrew University. In effect, Netanyahu succeeded in robbing votes from his allies on the right – Naftali Bennett's pro-settler Jewish Home party and Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu – to ensure that Likud ended up with the largest total. Bennett's and Lieberman's support fell but they still won eight and six seats respectively, a tally that Netanyahu will be able to draw on as he tries to build a coalition. And by not eating into the center vote, Netanyahu ensured that Moshe Kahlon, the leader of the Kulanu party, a breakaway from Likud, emerged as the election's "kingmaker," someone "Bibi" will now try to entice back into the fold. Left out When it comes to the Zionist Union, it appears on the face of it that leader Isaac Herzog did most things right. His campaign, focused on socio-economics, won traction with voters and his final tally of 24 seats was both in line with opinion poll predictions and up from the last election in 2013. But he had nothing extra to draw supporters away from Likud. Netanyahu's hammering on security fears may have prodded undecided centrists toward what they knew rather than someone new. Around 15 percent of Israeli voters were considered undecided going into the election, making the wide swing in the final tallies more understandable – even if it also suggests Israel's polling methods leave room for improvement. Surveys showed the dominant election issue for most Israelis was the cost of living and housing. The centrist and left parties that campaigned on that platform saw an overall increase in support, winning around 50 seats this time, up from around 45 at the last election. But the bulk of Israeli voters still skew to the right, whether nationalists, settlers or the ultra-Orthodox. For them, issues of security, support for settlements and protection of their interests eclipse stand-alone economic concerns. "The politics of identity in Israel is very strong," said Rahat, explaining that religious or nationalist affiliation dominates in Israel rather than socio-economic class. "Support for Likud was based on identity, fear of change and the notion that overall Netanyahu is the only experienced person." Palestinians and Iran While the election results may come down to the shuffling of allegiances within major blocs, the repercussions are large. Netanyahu's pledge of no Palestinian state while he is in charge puts him on a collision course with the United States and the European Union at a time when both are desperate to breathe new life into the moribund peace process. His commitment to settlement building also will add fuel to the fire, strengthening Palestinians' belief that Israel is engaged in a land grab and hardening their determination to seek redress via the International Criminal Court. Palestine formally becomes a member of the court April 1 and plans to file war crimes charges against Israel over its 48-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as deaths stemming from last year's war in Gaza. In retaliation ahead of the ICC move, Israel has suspended the transfer of around $120 million a month in tax revenues it collects on the Palestinians' behalf, crippling the Palestinian budget and prompting deep cuts to state employees. The threat of a return to conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is never far from Israeli or Palestinian minds, and violence aimed at Jewish settlers in the West Bank is likely to intensify if Netanyahu follows through on his commitments. And hanging over the region is the question of what Israel does next on Iran. Netanyahu has made clear that he is determined to scupper the deal emerging between Tehran and the Obama administration on Iran's nuclear program. Israel's earlier rhetoric about "going it alone" against Iran if it has to – a hint at possible bombing raids – has died down. But the tension between Netanyahu and Obama has notdissipated. If anything, Bibi will be feeling more energized to take on Obama in the last months of his presidency.
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- United flight turns back after passenger tackles man headed for cockpitA quick-thinking passenger on a United flight to Denver tackled a man who was ... The incidentstarted shortly after United Flight 1074 took off around 10:15 p.m. ... passenger had run toward the cockpit screaming "jihad, jihad.CNN - 3 hours ago
- United Airlines Flight Returns to Washington DC Airport After Passenger Runs Toward CockpitABC News - 1 day ago
- Passenger restrained on US flight after shouting 'jihad, jihad!'Telegraph.co.uk - 21 hours ago
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Passenger restrained on US flight after shouting 'jihad, jihad!'
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Story highlights
- Witness on plane says unruly passenger talked about someone trying to bring plane down
- Another passenger tells CNN man said plane was going too slow
- Airport spokeswoman: Passenger not arrested or charged with a crime so far
Dulles, Virginia (CNN)Two quick-thinking passengers in the third row of a United flight to Denver tackled and subdued a man who was heading toward the cockpit, other travelers on the plane told CNN on Tuesday.
The incident started shortly after United Flight 1074 took off around 10:15 p.m. Monday from Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington.
The Boeing 737 jet was supposed to take its 33 passengers and six crew members to Denver, but turned back because the unnamed passenger "failed to comply with crew instructions," United Airlines spokesman Luke Punzenberger said.
Joshua Lindstrom told "Anderson Cooper 360˚" Tuesday night that a man was acting strangely as he moved up the aisle.
"The flight attendant gave some sort of command to stand back, and he turned and started heading toward the cockpit. And the guy in 3E was a lightning bolt and just jumped out of his seat and took the guy down to the ground."
The hero's seatmate piled on and grabbed the out-of-control passenger's legs, Lindstrom said.
Passenger Donna Tellam told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" the men reacted so quickly she thought they were air marshals. She said the unruly man had come down the aisle, screaming about the plane going too slow and flailing his arms.
A flight attendant used plastic ties to bind the man's wrists as the plane headed back, she said.
Earlier, a government official with direct knowledge of the incident told CNN that the detained passenger had run toward the cockpit screaming "jihad, jihad."
Lindstrom told Cooper he didn't hear those words but after the flight was back on the ground the man who tackled the unruly passenger mentioned it.
"He said, 'Did you hear it? Like he said 'jihad' a couple times (while he was being restrained)," Lindstrom said. "... In the end it was more surreal than it was scary. It was wild."
Lindstrom said two other people helped keep the man on the floor for the 20 minutes or so that it took the flight crew to return to Dulles. During that time, the subdued man's mood would change. The man was rattling on about someone trying to bring the plane down, then become despondent and cry, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
A cell phone video shows the man, bruised on his face, being held down. At one point, he pleads, "Please stop, please stop, they said call it off." At another, the man seems to cry as he says, "I'm so sorry."
"Don't move," one passenger says, apparently trying to calm the man. "You're OK. We're going to get you off this plane, buddy."
The plane returned to Dulles around 10:40 p.m., said Kimberly Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which runs the northern Virginia airport.
Airport police took the unruly passenger off the plane, and airport firefighter-EMTs transported him to a nearby hospital, according to Gibbs.
As of late Tuesday evening, the passenger had not been arrested or charged with a crime, officials said.
There is nothing, so far, in the tackled man's background to suggest he has a connection to terrorists, the government source said. No weapons were found after he was subdued.
By then, the other passengers -- none of whom was injured -- had been rebooked on new Denver-bound flights. Some opted to take the first flight to Colorado on Tuesday, while others chose to leave later, according to Punzenberger, the United spokesman.
CNN's Rene Marsh reported from Dulles Airport, and CNN's Steve Almasy and Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Tina Burnside, Javi Morgado, Holly Yan and Diane Ruggiero contributed to this report.
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The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter@PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page.
US Ambassador Kennedy Allegedly Receives Death Threatsby webdesk@voanews.com (AP)
Japanese police are investigating phone calls threatening to kill U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and another American envoy, authorities said Wednesday. Tokyo police are investigating calls to the U.S. Embassy threatening to kill Kennedy and similar ones targeting Alfred Magleby, the U.S. consul general based on the southern island of Okinawa, an Okinawa police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on an investigation by Tokyo authorities. According to media reports, the U.S. embassy located in Tokyo's Minato Ward received calls in February from a man speaking English who said he was going to kill Kennedy, Xinhau news agency reported. Police were also looking into the case on suspicion of blackmailing. No other details, including motives, were known. Tokyo police declined to comment. The embassy also did not comment, citing policy regarding the ambassador's security. Okinawa is home to about half of the 50,000 American troops based in Japan. Kennedy, a lawyer and former book editor, is the daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, just a few days before Caroline Kennedy's sixth birthday. A staunch supporter of President Barack Obama, she became the U.S. ambassador to Japan in 2013. Earlier this month, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was knifed by an anti-U.S. activist in Seoul and had to be hospitalized for several days. On Wednesday, former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke at a Tokyo university, alongside Kennedy and Abe, as they attended a symposium on the legacy of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
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East Ukrainian War Refugees Seek Solace in Crimeaby By Ivan Nechepurenko <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com>
As Sergei Gabuyev watched a Donetsk street fight devolve into a sea of AK-47 fire in front of the city's central bus station one evening, he knew it was time to leave.
Russia's military has announced it was sending strategic bombers to the annexed Ukrainian territory of Crimea and will deploy advanced missiles to its exclave of Kaliningrad.
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57-ую улицу теперь называют «улицей миллиардеров» Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/media/video/nyc-real-estate-price/2683939.html.
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| Time: 02:35 | More in News & Politics |
"Господин Путин недавно уже публично рассказал, ответил на вопросы, поэтому, если РФ, а мы это ожидаем, будет просить отсрочку на полгода, мы отправим ответы за них и скажем, что это их главнокомандующий высказал свою позицию", — добавила первый замминистра, говоря о фильме "Крым. Путь на Родину".
По мнению Петренко, высказывания Путина в этом фильме ("Крым. Путь на родину" - прим. Каспаров.Ru) дают все основания для привлечения президента РФ к уголовной ответственности в рамках международного уголовного права.
Министр также уточнил, что в настоящее время проводятся экспертизы высказываний Путина, заключения по которым будут переданы в международные судебные инстанции.
Напомним, что в фильме "Крым.Путь на Родину", который показали на российских телеканалах 15 марта, президент России Владимир Путин заявил, что Вооруженные силы РФ после переворота в Киеве были готовы к любому развитию событий, в том числе и приведению в боевую готовность своих ядерных сил. Кроме того, глава государства рассказал подробности операции по аннексии полуострова Крым.
По словам Дадаева, тот же "Русик" нашел для него пистолет ПМ с патронами и автомобиль ZAZ Chance,
на котором, по версии следствия, убийца скрылся с места преступления. Подозреваемый уточнил, что пистолет калибра 9 мм с шестью патронами находился под правым пассажирским сиденьем в ZAZ Chance.
Также известно, что после совершения преступления человек "Русика" забрал пистолет, а сам "Русик" отвез Дадаева в аэропорт, откуда тот улетел в Грозный.
Ранее сообщалось, что обвиняемые в убийстве Немцова отказываются сотрудничать со следствием. Арестованные на допросах пользуются 51-й статьей Конституции РФ и не отвечают на вопросы.
Наливайченко также отметил, что в милиции и СБУ оказалось значительное число иностранных агентов, в частности начальник крымского главка СБУ Петр Зима, оказавшийся сотрудником ФСБ и принимавший активное участие в событиях, сопровождавших аннексию Крыма.
Всего в государственной измене подозреваются около 100 бывших сотрудников спецслужб, 10 из них арестованы.
Ранее сообщалось, что "Новая газета" получила доказательства планирования войны в Донбассе администрацией президента России.
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Page 8
Сначала руководитель украинской госбезопасности Валентин Наливайченко, а за ним президент Украины Петр Порошенко заявили, что снайперами, убивавшими протестующих в Киеве в феврале прошлого года, руководил лично Владислав Сурков, помощник президента России. К этому, как и к любой украинской новости, можно отнестись двояко в зависимости от уже сложившегося отношения к сторонам конфликта. Украинооптимист скажет, что это сенсация, хотя бы потому, что такое громкое обвинение звучит не со страниц прессы, а из уст главы государства, то есть сам уровень обвиняющего обеспечивает обвинению дополнительную достоверность. Украиноскептик сочтет обвинение смехотворным; в самом деле – год молчали, думали, а тут вдруг выступили к памятной дате, да еще и ссылка на бойцов «Альфы», которые что угодно скажут, чтобы их самих не обвинили в убийствах. Примерно так выглядит реакция российской стороны; представитель российского МИДа Александр Лукашевич сказал, что это все «бредни», а главред «Эха Москвы» Алексей Венедиктов, который часто выступает в роли неофициального высокопоставленного источника, на сайте своей радиостанции написал, что не верит этим обвинениям, потому что хорошо знает Суркова. С точки зрения российского информационного пространства сюжет можно считать исчерпанным, и вряд ли стоит ждать еще чьих-то опровержений. Президент Порошенко уже не раз выступал с эффектными обвинениями в адрес России – то в Давосе на экономическом форуме показывал кусок обшивки расстрелянного автобуса из Волновахи, то в Мюнхене демонстрировал паспорта и другие документы тех, кого он считает российскими солдатами в Донбассе. И в том и в другом случае российская пропаганда натужно, но громко и долго высмеивала украинского президента, разоблачая несостоятельность его доказательств. Логично было бы ждать такой же реакции и на обвинения в адрес Суркова. Но, думаю, не ошибусь, если спрогнозирую, что шуток и прибауток в российских государственных и окологосударственных СМИ по поводу этих обвинений не будет. Российская пропаганда будет обходить стороной эту тему так долго, как только это будет возможно. Может быть, до самого объявления Суркова в международный розыск и выдачи ордера на его арест.
Да, разумеется, слова Порошенко – это только слова Порошенко, а показания альфовцев – это вообще ничто, пустые слова, хотя протокол уравнивает пустые и непустые слова; у меня есть знакомый, которого в России обвиняли в избиении то ли девятнадцати, то ли двадцати омоновцев – понятно, что он их не бил и не мог бить, но каждый из «потерпевших» давал показания, что бил, и человека действительно посадили в тюрьму и держали там до тех пор, пока он не пошел на неприятный политический (знакомый был политиком) компромисс. Украинская судебная система, по крайней мере сейчас, не сильно отличается от российской, и показания альфовцев, как бы сомнительны они ни были, легко будут учтены и подшиты к делу. Очевидно, убедительных доказательств вины Суркова у украинцев нет, да и какие это могут быть доказательства – письменный приказ, прослушка телефона, видеозапись? Нет, к реальной вине или невиновности Суркова заявления Порошенко и Наливайченко, конечно, никак не относятся.
Может быть, украинцы просто недовольны тем, что Сурков присутствовал на переговорах в Минске и с помощью громкого обвинения хотят избавиться от его общества при будущих контактах с Россией. Может быть, объявление Суркова главным злодеем – это даже такой шаг навстречу Владимиру Путину; Украина назвала одно имя, которое она теперь считает главным российским злом, то есть Сурков – это такой символический предмет торга, и если Путин его куда-нибудь тихо задвинет, украинская сторона сможет использовать это в своей пропаганде, а сама пойдет на какой-нибудь неприятный компромисс с Москвой. Степень цинизма всех сторон украинского конфликта – это давно ни для кого не сюрприз, и разгадка громкого обвинения может быть самой простой и мерзкой (примерно так же, с поправкой на тюрьму и голодовку, Россия ведет себя с Надеждой Савченко, на которую навесили убийство журналистов ВГТРК, а когда будет надо, обменяют ее на кого-нибудь, а о погибших журналистах просто ничего не скажут, как и не было их).
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Владислав Сурков - человек из народа
Главный по куклам здесь я!
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Владислав Сурков
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[...] Владислав Юрьевич Сурков, человек без роду-племени, без связей и корней, появился в ближнем Подмосковье в середине 1980-х после двух лет службы в Советской Армии с твердым намерением пробиться в люди. Поступать в престижные московские вузы не решился - к точным наукам склонности не имел, да и отметки по ним выше четверки не поднимались, но хотелось какого-то действа, руководства коллективом. Умные люди присоветовали: «Поступай, Владик, в Московский институт культуры, там и общежитие дадут, учеба не трудная, девчонок полно, да и на руководителя можно выучиться». Недолго думая искатель столичного счастья подал документы на театральный факультет. Это факультет, подготавливающий по традиции, заведенной еще со времен наркома Луначарского, руководителей народных театров. Хотя, по другим источникам, Владислав сначала поступил в Московский институт стали и сплавов, но потом бросил по причине неодолимой тяги к культуре.
По одним данным, у Суркова отец был чеченец или кумык, а мать еврейка, по другим, все наоборот: мать чеченка, а отец из евреев, но смесь гремучая даже для Кавказа. В Управлении кадров Администрации президента Сурков числится русским. Место рождения, по одним источникам, Москва, по другим - поселок Солнцево Липецкой области. Так что наш читатель Миша Касьянов немного ошибся, они с Владиславом не земляки.
Уже на первых курсах бойкий юноша познакомился и сошелся с людьми, которые были близки к тусовке непризнанных литературных гениев. Ее возглавлял режиссер и литературовед Владимир Гусинский. Институт культуры на станции Левобережная стал одним из тех мест, где выращивалась демократическая поросль. Зеленоград, Долгопрудный, Химки - эти подмосковные городки стали кузницей демократических кадров грядущей ломки советского уклада.
По одним данным, у Суркова отец был чеченец или кумык, а мать еврейка, по другим, все наоборот: мать чеченка, а отец из евреев, но смесь гремучая даже для Кавказа. В Управлении кадров Администрации президента Сурков числится русским. Место рождения, по одним источникам, Москва, по другим - поселок Солнцево Липецкой области. Так что наш читатель Миша Касьянов немного ошибся, они с Владиславом не земляки.
Уже на первых курсах бойкий юноша познакомился и сошелся с людьми, которые были близки к тусовке непризнанных литературных гениев. Ее возглавлял режиссер и литературовед Владимир Гусинский. Институт культуры на станции Левобережная стал одним из тех мест, где выращивалась демократическая поросль. Зеленоград, Долгопрудный, Химки - эти подмосковные городки стали кузницей демократических кадров грядущей ломки советского уклада.
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Юлия Вишневская
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Студенту Суркову приходилось подрабатывать на жизнь пошивом дефицитных джинсов, как в свое время делал молодой Эдик Лимонов, и литературным рабством - строчил романчики для предприимчивых издателей, которые кучковались вокруг Гусинского. Это были, по свидетельствам знакомых, дамские сексуальные романы с непременными завлекательными описаниями для изголодавшегося читателя, взращенного на пресной советской классике типа: «Она обняла его за колени, его упругий член...»
В богемно-литературной компании молодой провинциал познакомился и быстренько женился на красивой Юлии Вишневской, у которой были состоятельные родители и даже собственная квартира в престижном районе Москвы, где постоянно устраивались богемные вечеринки. Сама Юлия слыла последовательницей движения хиппи и вела соответствующий образ жизни. По некоторым источникам, Юлия является дальней родственницей Бориса Березовского.
Богемная жизнь в доме супруги на деньги ее родственников совсем отучила Владислава от регулярного труда: институт в далеких Химках он забросил и остался недоучкой. Зато, иногда выходя «в свет», во всякие демократические тусовки, Сурков завоевал доверие Сергея Станкевича, вокруг которого концентрировались разные комсомольцы: инвалид Илья Заславский, совсем не инвалид Василий Шахновский. В друзьях у «перестроечников» числился и Евгений Савостьянов - будущий разрушитель КГБ.
В богемно-литературной компании молодой провинциал познакомился и быстренько женился на красивой Юлии Вишневской, у которой были состоятельные родители и даже собственная квартира в престижном районе Москвы, где постоянно устраивались богемные вечеринки. Сама Юлия слыла последовательницей движения хиппи и вела соответствующий образ жизни. По некоторым источникам, Юлия является дальней родственницей Бориса Березовского.
Богемная жизнь в доме супруги на деньги ее родственников совсем отучила Владислава от регулярного труда: институт в далеких Химках он забросил и остался недоучкой. Зато, иногда выходя «в свет», во всякие демократические тусовки, Сурков завоевал доверие Сергея Станкевича, вокруг которого концентрировались разные комсомольцы: инвалид Илья Заславский, совсем не инвалид Василий Шахновский. В друзьях у «перестроечников» числился и Евгений Савостьянов - будущий разрушитель КГБ.
Путевка «Менатепа» дорого стоит
Славе не находилось достойного места в бурном перестроечном процессе, пока друзья не познакомили его еще с одним комсомольцем из райкома ВЛКСМ, - Михаилом Ходорковским. Последний возглавлял в райкоме всяческое научно-техническое творчество молодежи, на основе которого зачиналось первое крупное кооперативное движение в Москве и делались первые капиталы на еще не разворованной государственной собственности. Ходорковский учредил кооператив «Менатеп», в котором на рекламное направление посадили Владислава Суркова. На этом поприще почти шесть лет прорулил в разных ипостасях недоучившийся режиссер, искусство которого крепло и совершенствовалось вместе с «Менатепом», выросшим из комсомольской шарашки до банка первой величины на всем постсоветском пространстве.
В «Менатепе» Сурков оброс первыми серьезными связями в бизнесе и политике. Слыл он человеком по-молодежному жестким, всегда выполнял заказ, невзирая на лица и обстоятельства. Рекламные кампании проводил дерзкие, наглые и броские. В «Менатепе» Сурков приобщился и к рекламе на телевидении. Именно в телерекламе возникли мощные денежные потоки, и Сурков прочно сел на их регулирование, попутно возглавив в 1992 году Российскую ассоциацию рекламодателей, а позже войдя еще в ряд советов по этому направлению в первой Государственной Думе.
В то время к Суркову прибился молодой депутат Вадим Бойко - журналист из Сочи, и с тех пор стал ближайшим товарищем. Вместе друзья стали проталкивать первые лоббистские проекты в Государственной Думе. Сначала это были законы по рекламе, потом стали брать заказы на законодательство по табаку и другие не менее прибыльные отрасли: от экономики и ее потребностей их возможности быстро выросли до обслуживания политических проектов и программ.
В Госдуме еще не сложилась практика и система проталкивания нужных законов, и все строилось по простой, еще советской схеме: руководителя фракции вызывали в Кремль и там доходчиво объясняли, как нужно голосовать, при этом суля какое-то вознаграждение и «откат». Все остальное проходило абы как и абы где. Говорят, что если бы не изобретательные ребята Сурков и Бойко, которые разработали тактику лоббизма и четкий прейскурант на услуги депутатов, то последние продавались бы просто-таки за банку тушенки.
Дуэт Сурков - Бойко поставил все на научную основу: лоббизм начал строиться на всех уровнях власти, от рядового до великого.
К 1995 году Владиславу Суркову настолько хорошо удалось освоить деликатный процесс лоббизма, что многие стали понимать: для того чтобы решить вопрос в свою пользу, надо идти к нему. Владислав стал принимать заказы, и большинство на «ура» проходило. Но в «Менатепе» Владислав уже достиг предела карьерного роста, а его распирали новые грандиозные планы.
В «Менатепе» Сурков оброс первыми серьезными связями в бизнесе и политике. Слыл он человеком по-молодежному жестким, всегда выполнял заказ, невзирая на лица и обстоятельства. Рекламные кампании проводил дерзкие, наглые и броские. В «Менатепе» Сурков приобщился и к рекламе на телевидении. Именно в телерекламе возникли мощные денежные потоки, и Сурков прочно сел на их регулирование, попутно возглавив в 1992 году Российскую ассоциацию рекламодателей, а позже войдя еще в ряд советов по этому направлению в первой Государственной Думе.
В то время к Суркову прибился молодой депутат Вадим Бойко - журналист из Сочи, и с тех пор стал ближайшим товарищем. Вместе друзья стали проталкивать первые лоббистские проекты в Государственной Думе. Сначала это были законы по рекламе, потом стали брать заказы на законодательство по табаку и другие не менее прибыльные отрасли: от экономики и ее потребностей их возможности быстро выросли до обслуживания политических проектов и программ.
В Госдуме еще не сложилась практика и система проталкивания нужных законов, и все строилось по простой, еще советской схеме: руководителя фракции вызывали в Кремль и там доходчиво объясняли, как нужно голосовать, при этом суля какое-то вознаграждение и «откат». Все остальное проходило абы как и абы где. Говорят, что если бы не изобретательные ребята Сурков и Бойко, которые разработали тактику лоббизма и четкий прейскурант на услуги депутатов, то последние продавались бы просто-таки за банку тушенки.
Дуэт Сурков - Бойко поставил все на научную основу: лоббизм начал строиться на всех уровнях власти, от рядового до великого.
К 1995 году Владиславу Суркову настолько хорошо удалось освоить деликатный процесс лоббизма, что многие стали понимать: для того чтобы решить вопрос в свою пользу, надо идти к нему. Владислав стал принимать заказы, и большинство на «ура» проходило. Но в «Менатепе» Владислав уже достиг предела карьерного роста, а его распирали новые грандиозные планы.
«Альфа» ведет к вершинам
Молодого и талантливого специалиста по лоббированию и рекламе старшие товарищи направили в «Альфа-банк». Кое-кто считает, что «старшие товарищи» были важные люди одного из еврейских конгрессов. А кое-кто говорит, что это абсолютная чушь, и Владислав пробивался всюду исключительно сам.
Банчок стал набирать обороты аккурат тогда, как в него пришел руководителем, уволившись с поста министра, еще один талант - Петр Авен. Авену нужно было срочно набрать надежных людей для очень быстрой раскрутки «Альфа-банка», создаваемого как ударный отряд передового капитализма.
Банк с самого начала был накрепко прикручен к американским кредитам, причем деньгами американских демократов, то есть еврейских финансовых кругов. Знаменитая финансово-спекулятивная компания «Merrill Lynch» была идейным и денежным вдохновителем молодого банка.
В «Альфа-банке» Сурков быстро занял пост вице-президента по PR. И друг Вадим Бойко тоже стал вице-президентом «Альфы».
Два опытных рекламиста «рулили» исключительно два объекта: Государственную Думу и Совет Федерации. Могущество воздействия строилось не на каком-то супермастерстве заговаривать зубы, а просто на деньгах.
Все очень хорошо работало, особенно на уровне региональных выборов. Были взяты на прикуп почти все фракции, включая коммунистов. Через двух друзей шло практически все финансирование и все заказы из властных структур самых высоких уровней.
Банчок стал набирать обороты аккурат тогда, как в него пришел руководителем, уволившись с поста министра, еще один талант - Петр Авен. Авену нужно было срочно набрать надежных людей для очень быстрой раскрутки «Альфа-банка», создаваемого как ударный отряд передового капитализма.
Банк с самого начала был накрепко прикручен к американским кредитам, причем деньгами американских демократов, то есть еврейских финансовых кругов. Знаменитая финансово-спекулятивная компания «Merrill Lynch» была идейным и денежным вдохновителем молодого банка.
В «Альфа-банке» Сурков быстро занял пост вице-президента по PR. И друг Вадим Бойко тоже стал вице-президентом «Альфы».
Два опытных рекламиста «рулили» исключительно два объекта: Государственную Думу и Совет Федерации. Могущество воздействия строилось не на каком-то супермастерстве заговаривать зубы, а просто на деньгах.
Все очень хорошо работало, особенно на уровне региональных выборов. Были взяты на прикуп почти все фракции, включая коммунистов. Через двух друзей шло практически все финансирование и все заказы из властных структур самых высоких уровней.
Купить всех, но Ельцина удержать!
Весной 1999 года Кремль поставил задачу: «Импичмент не должен пройти!» На обеспечение заслонов к отставке Ельцина был брошен как «внештатник» президентской администрации Сурков, так и главный пиаровец постылого к тому времени Владимира Гусинского - Сергей Зверев.
Сергея Зверева для этого назначили заместителем главы администрации президента по внутренней политике и связям с общественностью. С этой должности подвинули Андрея Логинова, который ныне представляет правительство в Госдуме. Потом Зверева убрали, потому что он был как бы креатурой Гусинского. А на его место назначили Суркова.
Сурков после срыва импичмента стал VIP в Кремле. Во-первых, деньги на подкуп депутатов давал «Альфа-банк», во-вторых, Сурков лично бегал по Думе и вел уговоры-переговоры, как надо голосовать по Ельцину.
Получив кабинет в Кремле, Владислав стал распространять свое влияние на те ветви власти, которые раньше ему были неподвластны: министерства, ведомства, государственный аппарат. С первого дня назначения его понесло в губернии. Там он с помощью ресурсов «Альфа-банка» стал осуществлять национальную и кадровую политику в интересах отдельно взятой финансовой группы. Все понимали, что переходный период скоро закончится и Ельцин долго не удержится. Надо было успеть расставить свои кадры на ключевые места.
Сергея Зверева для этого назначили заместителем главы администрации президента по внутренней политике и связям с общественностью. С этой должности подвинули Андрея Логинова, который ныне представляет правительство в Госдуме. Потом Зверева убрали, потому что он был как бы креатурой Гусинского. А на его место назначили Суркова.
Сурков после срыва импичмента стал VIP в Кремле. Во-первых, деньги на подкуп депутатов давал «Альфа-банк», во-вторых, Сурков лично бегал по Думе и вел уговоры-переговоры, как надо голосовать по Ельцину.
Получив кабинет в Кремле, Владислав стал распространять свое влияние на те ветви власти, которые раньше ему были неподвластны: министерства, ведомства, государственный аппарат. С первого дня назначения его понесло в губернии. Там он с помощью ресурсов «Альфа-банка» стал осуществлять национальную и кадровую политику в интересах отдельно взятой финансовой группы. Все понимали, что переходный период скоро закончится и Ельцин долго не удержится. Надо было успеть расставить свои кадры на ключевые места.
Дедушку Ельцина выпроваживал тоже он
В период дряхления и увядания президента Ельцина Сурков четко сидел под Волошиным и прекрасно понимал, что вылезать из-под шефа пока рановато. Но своего старого приятеля Вадима Бойко он сделал главным помощником Волошина. И тот стал рулить всеми общественными организациями, партиями и движениями. Друзья не теряли нити управления политическим процессом. Впереди маячили новые выборы, никто не знал, что будет. Бойко, будучи уроженцем Сочи, захотел даже стать мэром на родине. И у него были все шансы прибрать город-курорт к рукам. Но в последний момент его сняли с дистанции. Суркову намекнули: «Славик, ты свои ручки не протягивай и своих людей не сажай туда, где рулят более важные товарищи - серьезная братва».
Сурков ждет момента, когда красные директора, губернаторы и бандиты, военные и эфэсбэшники в регионах ослабнут. И выбирает себе то место, куда он сможет уйти. Но это будет потом.
Накануне выборов в Госдуму 1999 года решили все олигархи снова мириться, понимая, что с Ельциным светлого будущего им не видать. «Альфе-групп», как наиболее внедренной в Кремлевскую власть, была поручена деликатная роль финансово подготовить уход с поста дедушки Ельцина.
«Альфа» лоббировала в Госдуме гарантии «семье» и отставному президенту. И именно эти силы искали и продвигали будущего президента Владимира Путина. В то время Путин ни в каких колодах и раскладах не значился, хотя Борис Березовский ныне хвастливо утверждает, что он нашел и двинул будущего президента. Путин был одним из многих претендентов и числился в списках соискателей через запятую наряду со многими. Питерец Путин был приближен к власти с периферии, находился в Москве как человек без всякого тылового обеспечения. Наличие компромата и всяческих историй, связанных с Собчаком и его окружением, в руках кукловодов из «Альфы» делало питерского выдвиженца удобной и компромиссной фигурой.
После ухода дедушки Ельцина «Альфе-групп» был дан зеленый свет на проведение выборной кампании и наполнение ее идеологической компонентой - умеренного патриотизма. «Альфа-банк» проплачивал выборы Путина и получил возможность формирования администрации президента. Три бывших вице-президента «Альфа-банка» стали заместителями главы администрации президента России, оставаясь на постах и поныне. Более того, они стали распихивать на ключевые посты своих людей. Например, купили место в Госдуме в списках ЛДПР давнему приятелю Суркова по Институту культуры Константину Ветрову и поставили его председателем Комитета Госдумы по информационной политике. До этого депутат Ветров также был вице-президентом «Альфа-банка».
Большие переживания и волнения испытали Владислав Сурков и его коллеги, когда на выборах в США проиграли демократы, и победил республиканец Буш. Потому что «альфовцы» - это представители демократических еврейских финансовых кругов США и осуществляют бизнес и политику России в их интересах.
Владислав Сурков очень сильно задергался и даже, как утверждают наши источники, посматривал на улицу, выискивая место. Но в конечном итоге «вашингтонский обком», оценив по достоинству отсутствие всяческих идейных убеждений кремлевского политика, жесткого прагматика, подходящего под американский термин «yuppiе»: молодого, безликого и никакого, - одобрил кандидатуру. После того как Суркова свозили в США на смотрины.
Более того, его проверили на Березовском. Новая власть должна была продемонстрировать народу, что борьба с олигархами идет. Необходим был козел отпущения, которым назначили БАБа. Сурков публично его сдал. Непосвященные подумали, что это - новый управленец, молодой комиссар и готов выполнить любые поручения. И ныне он рассматривается на все варианты и должности в кремлевской колоде. Определенные группировки в Кремле с замиранием сердца следят за спектаклем, поставленным этим режиссером. В спектакле играют отведенные роли лондонский олигарх-изгнанник Березовский, коммунист душка-Зюганов, страшный Проханов и статисты второго ряда. Только подлинной жизни и соков этой жизни в России становится все меньше и меньше от таких спектаклей...
Народ благодаря стараниям «Славика» «вааще» ни во что не верит, на выборы идти не хочет, во всем подозревает подставу и уже научился произносить слова «Павловский» и «Сурков» лучше, чем «теща».[...]
Сурков ждет момента, когда красные директора, губернаторы и бандиты, военные и эфэсбэшники в регионах ослабнут. И выбирает себе то место, куда он сможет уйти. Но это будет потом.
Накануне выборов в Госдуму 1999 года решили все олигархи снова мириться, понимая, что с Ельциным светлого будущего им не видать. «Альфе-групп», как наиболее внедренной в Кремлевскую власть, была поручена деликатная роль финансово подготовить уход с поста дедушки Ельцина.
«Альфа» лоббировала в Госдуме гарантии «семье» и отставному президенту. И именно эти силы искали и продвигали будущего президента Владимира Путина. В то время Путин ни в каких колодах и раскладах не значился, хотя Борис Березовский ныне хвастливо утверждает, что он нашел и двинул будущего президента. Путин был одним из многих претендентов и числился в списках соискателей через запятую наряду со многими. Питерец Путин был приближен к власти с периферии, находился в Москве как человек без всякого тылового обеспечения. Наличие компромата и всяческих историй, связанных с Собчаком и его окружением, в руках кукловодов из «Альфы» делало питерского выдвиженца удобной и компромиссной фигурой.
После ухода дедушки Ельцина «Альфе-групп» был дан зеленый свет на проведение выборной кампании и наполнение ее идеологической компонентой - умеренного патриотизма. «Альфа-банк» проплачивал выборы Путина и получил возможность формирования администрации президента. Три бывших вице-президента «Альфа-банка» стали заместителями главы администрации президента России, оставаясь на постах и поныне. Более того, они стали распихивать на ключевые посты своих людей. Например, купили место в Госдуме в списках ЛДПР давнему приятелю Суркова по Институту культуры Константину Ветрову и поставили его председателем Комитета Госдумы по информационной политике. До этого депутат Ветров также был вице-президентом «Альфа-банка».
Большие переживания и волнения испытали Владислав Сурков и его коллеги, когда на выборах в США проиграли демократы, и победил республиканец Буш. Потому что «альфовцы» - это представители демократических еврейских финансовых кругов США и осуществляют бизнес и политику России в их интересах.
Владислав Сурков очень сильно задергался и даже, как утверждают наши источники, посматривал на улицу, выискивая место. Но в конечном итоге «вашингтонский обком», оценив по достоинству отсутствие всяческих идейных убеждений кремлевского политика, жесткого прагматика, подходящего под американский термин «yuppiе»: молодого, безликого и никакого, - одобрил кандидатуру. После того как Суркова свозили в США на смотрины.
Более того, его проверили на Березовском. Новая власть должна была продемонстрировать народу, что борьба с олигархами идет. Необходим был козел отпущения, которым назначили БАБа. Сурков публично его сдал. Непосвященные подумали, что это - новый управленец, молодой комиссар и готов выполнить любые поручения. И ныне он рассматривается на все варианты и должности в кремлевской колоде. Определенные группировки в Кремле с замиранием сердца следят за спектаклем, поставленным этим режиссером. В спектакле играют отведенные роли лондонский олигарх-изгнанник Березовский, коммунист душка-Зюганов, страшный Проханов и статисты второго ряда. Только подлинной жизни и соков этой жизни в России становится все меньше и меньше от таких спектаклей...
Народ благодаря стараниям «Славика» «вааще» ни во что не верит, на выборы идти не хочет, во всем подозревает подставу и уже научился произносить слова «Павловский» и «Сурков» лучше, чем «теща».[...]
Карабас-Барабас любит марионеток и дорогие машины
[...] Многие источники отмечают, что он - мизантроп, скрытен и замкнут. Но когда надо, может сыграть и открытость, и откровенность, сдобренную юношеской робостью и смущением.
Люди, близко наблюдавшие его, отмечают, что в душе он всех презирает, считая себя гением, и частенько клокочет от ненависти и злобы, скрывая эти чувства за маской сарказма, ехидства и напускного равнодушия.
С Юлией Вишневской Сурков продолжает состоять в формальном браке, но та почти постоянно проводит время в Лондоне, наездами бывая в Москве. У Вишневской есть сын, записанный на официального супруга. Такой характерный для новорусских брак, когда супруги проживают многие годы за тысячи километров друг от друга, даже породил в кремлевской среде слухи о бисексуальности серого кардинала.
Сурков - человек очень состоятельный, имеет стандартный набор недвижимости: хатенку на Рублевке, домишки в Испании и Канаде, акции многих успешных отечественных и зарубежных компаний. Но, как Сталин, проживает на госдаче. Часть средств вкладывает в коллекцию старинных и современных кукол, которую собирает супруга Вишневская. Собрание кукольных персонажей является одним из самых больших в мире и оценивается в несколько десятков миллионов евро. В Москве на улице Чехова, рядом с психдиспансером, находится даже музей госпожи Вишневской, где выставлена часть собрания. Злопыхатели утверждают, что и сам Владислав Сурков любит играть в куклы. Его якобы наблюдали в запасниках музея, когда он выстраивал из игрушек, подобно Карабасу-Барабасу разнообразные мизансцены. Кроме того, Сурков обожает роскошные машины и дорогие вещи. Он был одним из первых чиновников, который сел на дорогую иномарку, в то время как другие еще маскировались под патриотов и ездили по совету Бориса Немцова на «волгах».
Люди, близко наблюдавшие его, отмечают, что в душе он всех презирает, считая себя гением, и частенько клокочет от ненависти и злобы, скрывая эти чувства за маской сарказма, ехидства и напускного равнодушия.
С Юлией Вишневской Сурков продолжает состоять в формальном браке, но та почти постоянно проводит время в Лондоне, наездами бывая в Москве. У Вишневской есть сын, записанный на официального супруга. Такой характерный для новорусских брак, когда супруги проживают многие годы за тысячи километров друг от друга, даже породил в кремлевской среде слухи о бисексуальности серого кардинала.
Сурков - человек очень состоятельный, имеет стандартный набор недвижимости: хатенку на Рублевке, домишки в Испании и Канаде, акции многих успешных отечественных и зарубежных компаний. Но, как Сталин, проживает на госдаче. Часть средств вкладывает в коллекцию старинных и современных кукол, которую собирает супруга Вишневская. Собрание кукольных персонажей является одним из самых больших в мире и оценивается в несколько десятков миллионов евро. В Москве на улице Чехова, рядом с психдиспансером, находится даже музей госпожи Вишневской, где выставлена часть собрания. Злопыхатели утверждают, что и сам Владислав Сурков любит играть в куклы. Его якобы наблюдали в запасниках музея, когда он выстраивал из игрушек, подобно Карабасу-Барабасу разнообразные мизансцены. Кроме того, Сурков обожает роскошные машины и дорогие вещи. Он был одним из первых чиновников, который сел на дорогую иномарку, в то время как другие еще маскировались под патриотов и ездили по совету Бориса Немцова на «волгах».
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Vladislav Surkov was born Aslambek Andarbekovich Dudayev in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic, and later changed his name to Surkov. He is a Russian businessman, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and current close advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin.Under the pen name Dubovitsky, Surkov has published a number of works of science fiction, including the “gangsta fiction” novel Okolonolya (“Near Zero”). Surkov initially denied that he was the author of Okolonolya and wrote a preface to the novel stating, “The author of this novel is an unoriginal, Hamlet-obsessed hack.” Surkov was subsequently discovered to be, in fact, the author.He is one of the Russian government officials recently sanctioned by President Obama.The Guardian quoted his reaction: “The only things that interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg, and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”“Without Sky” is a science fiction short story, first published as an annex to the magazineRussian Pioneer, No 46 (May 2014).
There was no sky over our village. That’s why we went to the city to watch the moon and birds, on the other side of the river. The people in the city were not thrilled to have us, but they did not try to stop us. On one of the hills, where the brick church stood, they even built an observation platform. Since for some reason they considered us drinkers, in addition to benches and a pay telescope, they built a small tavern by the observation deck, and a police post.
I could understand the city people. They had suffered greatly from the rage and envy of newcomers. And though it was insulting that they considered us - their closest neighbors, almost city people ourselves - intruders, still, we could understand them. And after all, they understood us. They didn’t drive us away. No matter what they wrote on their websites, they didn’t drive us away.
Everyone understood, if they were honest, that it was not our fault we were left with no sky. On the contrary, it was a great honor for us, in a way. The marshals of the four coalitions chose our sky for their decisive battle because the sky over our village was the best in the world: calm and cloudless. The sun flowed through our sky like a wide, peaceful river. I remember them well, the sun and the sky. The marshals found this place ideal for the final battle. It’s not surprising. This was when all armies were airborne, and here there were no clouds, no turbulence. It was perfect.
This was the first non-linear war. In the primitive wars of the nineteenth, twentieth, and other middle centuries, the fight was usually between two sides: two nations or two temporary alliances. But now, four coalitions collided, and it wasn’t two against two, or three against one. It was all against all.
And what coalitions they were! Not like the earlier ones. It was a rare state that entered the coalition intact. What happened was some provinces took one side, some took the other, and some individual city, or generation, or sex, or professional society of the same state - took a third side. And then they could switch places, cross into any camp you like, sometimes during battle.
The goals of those in conflict were quite varied. Each had his own, so to speak: the seizing of disputed pieces of territory; the forced establishment of a new religion; higher ratings or rates; the testing of new military rays and airships; the final ban on separating people into male and female, since sexual differentiation undermines the unity of the nation; and so forth.
The simple-hearted commanders of the past strove for victory. Now they did not act so stupidly. That is, some, of course, still clung to the old habits and tried to exhume from the archives old slogans of the type: victory will be ours. It worked in some places, but basically, war was now understood as a process, more exactly, part of a process, its acute phase, but maybe not the most important.
Some peoples joined the war specifically to be defeated. They were inspired by the flowering of Germany and France after being routed in the second World War. It turned out that to achieve such a defeat was no simpler than achieving victory. Determination, sacrifice, and the extraordinary exertion of all forces were required, and, in addition, flexibility, cold-bloodedness, and the ability to profitably administer one’s own cowardice and dullness.
But all of this was realized and analyzed later by historians and economists. Then, it was just war, World War V, and rather horrifying. I was six. We were all six or younger, all who today enter the Society, who are thirty years old now. We remember how, from the four corners of our sky, the four great armadas swooped down. These were not roaring, screeching and howling airborne apparatus of the old kind, as we had become used to seeing in the video-archives. For the first time, the newest, absolutely silent technology was employed, with some kind of invisible systems of complete noise reduction.
Hundreds of thousands of airplanes, helicopters, and rockets destroyed each other throughout a day in the silence of the tomb. Even falling, they were silent. Sometimes dying pilots screamed out, but rarely, because almost all of the machines were pilotless.
At that time, automatic machinery was being hurriedly brought into general use, and not only in the field of transportation. They introduced hotels without staff, stores without sales people, homes without masters, financial and industrial firms without directors. Even a couple of “pilotless” governments were organized as a result of democratic revolutions, so airplanes were nothing to speak of.
As a result, there was no one to scream while crashing onto roofs, bridges and monuments. The only sound was the cracking and crackling of our homes as they were destroyed beneath the rain of falling debris. And it wasn’t loud. The systems of sound reduction were effective across almost the complete depth of the battlefield.
Our parents tried to shelter us in the city. Above the city, the sky was clear, but the city people closed the city. Our parents cried for help from our side of the river. They begged them to at least take the children, at least those younger than ten, or seven, or three. Or younger than one year old. Or only the girls. And so forth. The city people did not open the city, and we children could understand them. We understood our parents, too, of course, including my own.
My father said: they won’t let us in. We have to dig down. We burrowed into the riverbank sand, in a minute’s time, it seemed. Everyone did, even the fattest and oldest of us. People don’t know themselves well. It might seem strange, but we are, in fact, much more nimble and intelligent than worms. One detail: it was winter. Freezing. The sand was hard.
Mama and Papa burrowed in together with me. They were warm and soft. Papa, a brave and clever man, brought some of my favorite candy from the house with him, a full pocket. And Mama bought my handheld game player. With it, I was happy and not bored in our burrow, so my time passed splendidly. The tail of an airplane fell on us, towards evening.
The fighter aircraft of the Northern Coalition were super-light, made of almost weightless materials. Even if an entire one of these fighters fell on us, the whole airplane, it would not have caused us serious harm. And Papa had dug us in pretty deep.
The place where we were hidden attracted the tail of another airplane. Unfortunately, it was an attack aircraft of the Southeastern League, an older plane, relatively silent, but heavy. Our burrow was deep, but not as deep as the tail of the attack fighter was heavy. The sand above us was frozen solid, but all the same, it was sand, not concrete, not steel, not the shawl of Our Lady: sand. And sand is not steel. I learned this well then, once and for all. And to this day, wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me: Is sand steel or not? I will answer: No! On the run, not pausing for a minute to think, not doubting. No.
I lay between Mama and Papa and didn’t hear the blow. It’s possible that Papa made some funny quacking sound when the excessive weight crushed him, or he swore coarsely. One time he had yelled out something of the sort in front of me and frightened me.
It’s possible that my mother also let out some kind of sound, but not necessarily. I’m not sure she even had time for a guilty smile, like the one she always had when something unpleasant happened to Papa or me. I hope it wasn’t painful.
They were killed. I wasn’t. Death wound round their bodies but didn’t reach mine. My brain was just touched by its black and stifling presence. Something boiled out of my brain and evaporated: the third dimension, height.
When they dug me out in the morning, chilled to the bone because my parents had quickly grown cold and become like the sand, I saw a two-dimensional world, endless in length and width, but without height. Without sky. Where is it, I asked? It’s right there, they answered. I don’t see it, don’t see it! I became frightened.
They gave me treatment, but didn’t cure me. This kind of contusion, severe, can’t be cured. The tail of the attack fighter crushed my consciousness into a pancake. It became flat and simple. What do I see in place of the sky above our village? Nothing. What does it look like? What does it resemble? It looks like nothing, resembles nothing. It’s not that this is incommunicable, inexpressible. There’s nothing of that. There’s just nothing.
After the war there were about fifty other cripples like me. All of us, the two-dimensionals, turned out to be the same age. Why? No one knew. The city scientists dug around in our consciousness for a while. They wrote a few treatises. They dragged us around to symposiums and talk-shows. Several foundations were organized on our behalf. Laughing at us was forbidden by a special law. They built an observation platform for us and a charitable institution. Then we went out of fashion and they forgot all about us.
If it was only that we didn’t see the sky above our village, that would be nothing, but our very thoughts lost the concept of height. We became two-dimensional. We understood only “yes” and “no,” only “black” and “white.” There was no ambiguity, no half-tones, no saving graces. We did not know how to lie.
We understood everything literally, and that meant we were absolutely unsuited for life, helpless. We required constant care, but they abandoned us. They wouldn’t let us work. They wouldn’t pay us a disability pension. Many of us deteriorated, fell and perished. The rest of us organized ourselves to stay afloat, to save ourselves together or perish together.
We founded the Society and prepared a revolt of the simple, two-dimensionals against the complex and sly, against those who do not answer “yes” or “no,” who do not say “white” or “black,” who know some third word, many, many third words, empty, deceptive, confusing the way, obscuring the truth. In these shadows and spider webs, in these false complexities, hide and multiply all the villainies of the world. They are the House of Satan. That’s where they make bombs and money, saying: “Here’s money for the good of the honest; here are bombs for the defense of love.”
We will come tomorrow. We will conquer or perish. There is no third way.
Translation copyright © 2014 by Bill Bowler
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