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Hungary to Maintain Energy Ties With Russia As No ‘Better Offer’ Exists

Sputnik – 23.12.2024

Hungary does not intend to abandon its energy cooperation with Russia in the absence of a cheaper and more reliable alternative, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti.

“Russia has been a reliable partner for us when it comes to energy supplies, that’s a fact, and in such serious issues like energy security, you only change your reliable source in case you have a better offer. But we don’t have a better offer, we don’t have an offer for more reliable or cheaper neither more reliable nor cheaper source to utilize. So why would we walk away from our energy cooperation with Russia?” Szijjarto said.

The minister emphasized that the issue of energy belongs to the realm of physical infrastructure and not politics.

“Not to speak about the fact that the energy supply is a matter of physical nature, so it’s very conservative thing to say, if there’s a pipeline, you can buy gas or oil. If there’s no pipeline, it’s just dream. So once you cut the Russian energy sources from Hungary, when it comes to natural gas or oil, simply the remaining infrastructure cannot supply the country, and it’s not a political question, if a pipeline has a certain capacity, you can make whatever statements it will not change,” he noted.

Paks II Nuclear Plant

The construction of the Russian-built Paks II Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary is moving fast, and changes to the budget will be negotiated, the foreign minister also told RIA Novosti.

“What is good news is that we are moving forward with the construction pretty quickly,” Szijjarto said.

The minister added that budget changes were nothing out of the ordinary when it came to the construction of a nuclear plant.

“Since the contract has been signed in 2014, so almost 11 years now, it is not too complicated to understand that during such a long period of time, prices of technologies, especially such complicated technologies and equipment, might have changed,” he pointed out.

The two sides will negotiate about that, the minister said.

December 23, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , | 1 Comment

Trump should leverage Arctic for Ukraine peace – analyst

RT | December 23, 2024

US President-elect Donald Trump would succeed in talks with Russia to end the Ukraine conflict by offering to lift sanctions on the Northern Sea Route and invite Western carriers to utilize Moscow’s project in the Arctic, an opinion piece in Responsible Statecraft magazine has suggested.

Trump’s campaign promise to swiftly stop the fighting between Moscow and Kiev “seemed increasingly out of reach,” Lyle J. Goldstein, a research professor at the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the US Naval War College wrote in his article on Friday.

As the Russian military “continues its slow but steady advance,” Putin could have decided “to push for a more complete Russian military victory and defy any near-term Western peace overtures,” he said.

“It is hard to imagine that dispatching more arms to Ukraine and slapping more sanctions on Russia will be successful at achieving peace,” Goldstein stressed.

However, Trump still has a chance “to break from the status quo and entice Russia to end the war” by making the situation in the Arctic – where a struggle for dominance between world powers has been intensifying in recent years – part of the negotiations, he wrote.

According to the analyst, the issue is “guaranteed to capture… Putin’s attention” because Moscow is interested in the effective functioning of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which runs from the Barents Sea near Russia’s border with Norway to the Bering Strait between Chukotka and Alaska, and “holds the key to unlocking major development in the country’s vast, resource-rich interior and more broadly for Siberia.”

In order to see Russia making concessions, “the US would need to lift sanctions that have been applied against NSR projects… [and] facilitate major European shipping companies like Hapag Lloyd and Maersk to green light the route.” Another step to “sweeten the pot” for Moscow could be “the encouragement and even incentives for Western investment along the NSR” by Washington and Brussels, Goldstein stressed.

“By appending peace proposals with a carrot guaranteed to catch Putin’s attention, negotiations having a substantial Arctic component could gain Trump’s favor and find success,” he insisted.

Trump said on Sunday that he wants to resolve the Ukraine conflict through direct talks with Putin. “We must end that war,” he stressed.

During his end-of-year press conference last week, the Russian leader said that he is “ready to talk [to Trump] anytime; I will be ready to meet with him if he wishes.”

At the same event, Putin reiterated that Moscow is open to negotiating with Kiev without any preconditions, except for those previously agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022. These agreements include a neutral, non-aligned status for Ukraine and certain restrictions on the deployment of foreign weaponry. He also emphasized that any negotiations must take into account the current situation on the ground.

December 23, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Syrian ‘end-game’ will change the Middle East

By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern Outlook – December 20, 2024

The fall of the Assad regime in Syria may have been a geopolitical loss for Iran (and Russia), but the fact that Islamists have overthrown the regime threatens both Iran and Arab states, creating prospects for their cooperation in the near future and minimising whatever gains the ‘winners’ of this ‘end-game’ may have made.

The ‘Winners’ and the ‘losers’

There are clear ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. But geopolitics is a very dynamic field in which gains and losses are hardly one-sided. In some ways, the fall of the Assad regime – and the inability of Iran to rescue its key ally in the region – may have been an outcome of Israel’s war on Palestine and Hezbollah, but it does not necessarily mean a permanent weakness of Iran and a permanent gain for Israel. For now, Israel is consolidating this gain by a) seizing Syrian territory, and b) bombarding the Syrian military positions to decimate its ability to launch any counter-offensive at all.

In other words, Israel’s steps show a clear direction. First, it weakened Hezbollah by engaging it in a brutal war. Second, it is now supporting the Islamist takeover of Syria. The Islamists have declared that they have no problem with Israel as their neighbour. Israel’s Netanyahu, on the other hand, has already claimed the credit for “reshaping” the Middle East.

Another clear ‘winner’ is Turkey, which had long wanted Assad to go. For years, the Turkish military had been maintaining a direct presence in Syria’s Idlib province, which also happened to be the main province under (partial) control of the so-called “rebel” Islamists. For years, Turkish forces shielded these groups from the Syrian (and Iranian and Russian) strikes and offensives. In addition, the fact that Turkey allowed these groups to conduct trade across the Turkish border provided these groups with economic support too. Now that Assad is gone, Turkey finds itself in a much better position than it was earlier to counter Kurdish groups.

But there are no ‘losers’

All of this apparently translates into crucial geopolitical gains for Israel (Washington) and Ankara, except there are no permanent ‘losers’ here. The fall of the Assad regime has brought to power a well-known Islamist group globally designated as terrorist. It is said to be only previously allied with al-Qaeda, but the way it controlled Idlib for years provides a sufficiently sound snapshot of where the group stands as an ultra-orthodox network, with serious questions remaining about whether the group was ever able to shun its ideological past.

Still, there is little denying that the ability of armed Islamists to overthrow Assad and capture power has upset not only Tehran but also Riyadh, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and even Cairo. All of these states previously faced actual, or prospects, of popular discontent during the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. All of these states are Muslim-majority states, which makes them vulnerable to groups operating both regionally and domestically to overthrow monarchies and/or existing regimes. Can any of them face similar prospects as Syrians did? Let’s not forget that the “rebels” first emerged in Syria in the wake of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. If the end of the Asad regime is the continuation of the same ‘movement’, there is no denying that it can reach other states too. A clear logic for these states to cooperate with each other against this Islamist threat, backed as it is by Turkey and Israel, exists.

Therefore, while Iran may have become ‘isolated’ and the fall of the Assad regime may have blocked its ability to support Hezbollah via Syria, Iran’s prospects of developing new – and deeper – relations with the Arab world have also increased manifold. Therefore, while Netanyahu might be right in claiming that he is “reshaping” the Middle East, the new shape might not be exactly to his liking. The coming together of Iran and Arab states would directly undermine Israeli ability to defeat Iran in the short and long run.

Iran and the Arab world

They are already cooperating. Iran, Saudia, Qatar, and Iraq were all quick to oppose Israeli incursions into Syrian territory. A Saudi official statement called the Golan Heights “occupied” territory. This is not an isolated development triggered by Israeli actions. It is an outcome of an ongoing policy convergence between Riyadh and Tehran vis-à-vis Israel. On Nov. 11 at a summit of Islamic nations in Riyadh, the Saudi crown prince called on the international community, i.e., the US mainly, to compel Israel to “respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.” At the same gathering, he described the Israeli war on Palestine as “collective genocide.”

In Egypt, the fall of the Assad regime has brought back echoes of the fall of the Mubarak regime more than a decade ago. When the present Egyptian ruler overthrew the government of Mohammad Morsi, a Turkish ally, Erdoğan said he would never talk to Sisi. Yet, he met Sisi twice in 2024. The fact that Turkey is now backing Islamists – and it has always supported the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood – there is yet again every reason for Egypt to align its policies in ways that might help keep the Islamists at bay. This way includes closer ties with the rest of the Arab world, plus Tehran.

Quoting senior Western diplomats, a recent report in Middle East Eye described the situation as particularly unravelling for the UAE, which has “been unnerved by the US’s manoeuvring to open backchannels of communication to HTS via Turkey”.  The report also mentions the UAE’s efforts to “broker talks between the government of Bashar al-Assad and the US. The UAE wanted to strike a grand bargain to keep the Assad family in power”. The only reason why the UAE wanted Assad to stay in power was that the alternative to Assad would cause more damage to Emirati interests than any potential benefits. The Islamists are that alternative now that no one, except the Turks and the Israelis, wants.

Therefore, a logical response of these states (Arab and Iran) is to develop coordinated action to thwart any prospects of an Islamist revival, including the revival of the Islamist State, which has a sizable presence in Afghanistan. This is probably the only way that the Arab states can collectively outmanoeuvre Turkey and Israel. There is also little denying that any effort to deepen Gulf-Iran cooperation will be squarely seen as a welcome development in Moscow and Beijing, both of which have vital interests in the region.

Salman Rafi Sheikh is a research analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs.

December 20, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ukrainians welcome in Russia – Putin

RT | December 19, 2024

The number of ethnic Ukrainians living in Russia is at least the same as that in Ukraine itself, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, discussing Moscow’s repatriation programs.

”We welcome them,” Putin said of the Ukrainian diaspora during his marathon year-end Q&A session. “Those are people of our culture, part of our people in essence.”

Millions of Ukrainians chose Russia when they fled their home country amid the conflict between the two nations or voted in referendums to break away from Kiev and ask Moscow to accept their regions under its sovereignty, Putin explained.

Five former Ukrainian regions have done so since the Western-backed armed coup in Kiev in 2014. Crimea joined Russia the same year and now constitutes two federal subjects: the city of Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Kherson Region, and Zaporozhye Region became parts of Russia in late 2022. Kiev has refused to acknowledge their new status, which serves as one of the focal points of the current hostilities.

Putin previously stated that Ukrainians and Russians are brotherly peoples and that Moscow considers only the government in Kiev, which it calls an illegitimate regime, as an enemy. On Thursday, Putin used the Russian idiom “folk without kin or tribe” to describe those currently in charge in Ukraine.

The president mentioned Ukrainians when discussing the policy which offers preferential treatment to certain groups of foreign nationals who want to become Russian citizens. Ukrainians are one of the categories that enjoy such privileges.

December 19, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

America’s Origins of Russophobia

By Joseph Solis-Mullen | The Libertarian Institute | December 18, 2024

For those that grew up in the United States in the 1990s and 2000s, the explosion of Russophobia over the past decade likely came as something of a surprise. A brief survey of the history of Russophobia, however, reveals that the decade and a half after the end of the Cold War was something of an anomaly in the past century and a half of American foreign policy, with a blend of inherited geopolitical fears and ideological tensions leading to a generally anti-Russian sentiment in Washington.

Our investigation begins with the so-called “Testament of Peter the Great.” An eighteenth century forgery of largely Polish origin, it purported to show, in the words of the University of London historian Orlando Figes, that the aims of Russian foreign policy were nothing less than world domination:

“… to expand on the Baltic and Black seas, to ally with the Austrians to expel the Turks from Europe, to conquer the Levant and control the trade to the Indies, to sow dissent and confusion in Europe and become the master of the European continent.”

First published in Napoleonic France in 1812, on the eve of the Grand Armée’s ill-fated invasion of Russia, it was to go on to provide the grist for many an English fear-monger’s mill.

In 1817, Sir Robert Wilson’s A Sketch of the Military and Political Power of Russia in the Year 1817 luridly detailed the military and geopolitical threat supposedly posed by Russia, and a decade later George de Lacy Evans’s On the Designs of Russia repeated these earlier warnings—both were favorably received by the public and among the ruling establishment, paranoid as ever about any potential threat to British control of India. Then, in 1834, the highly influential David Urquhart published his own pamphlet, England, France, Russia and Turkey, casting Russia as the perpetual antagonist to British interests in the Near East and Central Asia.

Not everyone was fooled, however. As noted by the Mises Institute’s Ryan McMaken, the great British liberals, such as Richard Cobden and John Bright, often opposed these characterizations and exaggerated threats. In turn, they were rewarded only with the scorn familiar to today’s scoffers. Indeed, the perception of Russia as a natural, age-old enemy became embedded in British geopolitical thought.

As the nineteenth century progressed, these ideas influenced American perspectives, particularly as the United States emerged as a power in its own right. Initially, U.S.-Russian relations were cordial, demonstrated by the Russian offer to aid the Union during the Civil War should Britain or France recognize the Confederacy, and by the sale of Alaska. However, this camaraderie began to erode in the final decades of the nineteenth century as American elites increasingly viewed Russia as a backwards autocracy at odds with the progress and democratic ideals of the United States.

The overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy and the seizure of power by the communists in 1917 would only further entrench this ideological divide—totalitarian communism being almost as at odds with the republican capitalism of the United States as the old Russian regime, but more dangerous for its apparently global revolutionary ambitions.

At the same time, the Rhodes Scholarship, established in 1902 and conceived by British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, was bringing American elites into closer contact with British institutions and thinking. Many prominent U.S. policymakers would pass through Oxford, absorbing the geopolitical theories of figures like Halford Mackinder, who viewed Eurasian control as pivotal to global power.

Graduates of the Rhodes program, such as Stanley Hornbeck, who served as an advisor to longest running Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and J. William Fulbright, the longest serving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, carried this thinking into U.S. foreign policy—along with later Rhodes scholars like Dean Rusk and Walt Rostow.

Indeed, during this period, U.S. strategy came to mirror Britain’s in its suspicion of Russian ambitions. Mackinder’s work on the Heartland Theory influenced American realists like Nicholas Spykman, whose views would in turn inform the policies of John Foster Dulles, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Secretary of State. The synthesis of British and American grand strategies, marked by shared Russophobia, persisted throughout the Cold War, interrupted only by moments of detente.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked a brief period during which Russophobia seemed to wane. However, the resurgence of tensions over the past decade reflects the deep-rooted nature of these perceptions, which never fully dissipated. The influence of figures educated under British tutelage continued, with Rhodes scholars like Richard Haas and Strobe Talbott playing key roles in shaping U.S. foreign policy post-Cold War. Talbott, as Deputy Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, was pivotal in crafting policies that expanded NATO, a move seen by Russia as a direct threat.

The resilience of Russophobia can also be viewed through the lens of American conservatism’s evolution. In Reclaiming the American Right, Justin Raimondo explored how the original Old Right, wary of foreign entanglements and empire-building, largely resisted the knee-jerk Russophobia that would later define the Cold War. Figures like Senator Robert Taft and journalist John T. Flynn saw anti-communism not as an invitation to global interventionism but as a principle grounded in American self-reliance and non-intervention. Raimondo argued that the transformation of conservatism in the post-World War II era—particularly with the rise of the neoconservatives—led to a more aggressive foreign policy, one that embraced Russophobia as both a geopolitical strategy and an ideological necessity.

This shift mirrored the integration of British geopolitical thinking into American policy circles, where Russia remained the perennial “other,” a rival to be contained or defeated. Raimondo’s analysis highlights how historical Russophobia, rooted in fears of Russian autocracy or expansionism, found new life under ideological pretexts—whether combating Soviet communism during the Cold War or resisting Russian influence in the post-Soviet era. As Raimondo reminds us, this hostility was as much about the ambitions of American policymakers as it was about any perceived Russian threat.

In conclusion, Russophobia in America did not arise from a vacuum but from a historical continuum that began with British anxieties and evolved through ideological, cultural, and geopolitical conflicts, and as a function of the domestic political incentive structures in Washington. This lineage of suspicion, and profitable fear mongering, has proven resilient, shaping policy and public perception for over two centuries, much to the detriment of (almost) all involved.

December 19, 2024 Posted by | Russophobia, Timeless or most popular | , , | Leave a comment

Vulnerabilities in Israeli-made GPS systems may delay weapons delivery to Denmark by 3 to 4 years

MEMO | December 18, 2024

Controversial weaponry deliveries to Denmark from Israeli military firm, Elbit Systems, may be delayed for three to four years due to issues with GPS functioning in battle zones, which Copenhagen believes are vulnerable to jamming on the battlefields and could cost more, state media outlet, DR, reported Wednesday.

Jyllands-Posten daily and the DR broadcaster in late November reported that the procurement deal signed early last year for weaponry with so-called civilian GPS systems was particularly vulnerable to jamming on the battlefield, as seen during Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reports.

This vulnerability could render the systems unable to accurately navigate or strike targets, severely compromising their effectiveness in combat.

The DR report noted that Danish military commanders acknowledged the urgent need to replace civilian GPS units with military-grade systems capable of operating in adversarial environments.

However, DR reported, citing sources familiar with the situation, expressed scepticism that it is not feasible to replace all GPS units in the systems.

According to insiders cited in the report, the upgraded artillery systems could take three to four years to fully operationalise, a delay that will have a significant impact on Denmark’s defence readiness timeline.

Without the upgrades, the weapons are expected to face major limitations in electronic warfare environments similar to those seen in Ukraine.

Last month, an independent legal investigation submitted to the Danish government revealed flaws in the procurement deal for self-propelled guns and rocket launchers from Elbit Systems in January 2023.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

US Withdrew From Arms Treaties to Develop New Weapons – Russian General

Sputnik – 18.12.2024

The US pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM), Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) and Open Skies treaties so it could build more destructive weapons, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov has said.

“The situation is also aggravated by the crisis in the system of international arms control commitments and agreements,” Gerasimov told a briefing for foreign military attaches.

“Since 2002, the United States has destroyed all the agreements in this area signed during the Cold War — the ABM Treaty, the INF Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty,” he noted.

“The reason why the United States withdrew from these agreements was the desire to ensure the possibility of creating new types of weapons, which were considered the most destructive.”

Gerasimov said the first and foremost issue was medium- and short-range missiles, as well as the US deployment of its missile defense systems in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The general said Russia’s Armed Forces in 2024 had met all the tasks set by the government.

“Summing up the performance of the Armed Forces this year, I would like to note that all the tasks set by the country’s leadership have been fulfilled,” Gerasimov said.

He noted that the renewal of weapons and military equipment was underway and the level of training of the command and units was increasing.

Much practical experience had been gained during the special operation in combat operations by various formations, use of aviation, air defense and other units.

More than 30 countries have provided Ukraine with $350 billion in financial aid, including about $170 billion for military needs, and more than 165,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been trained to NATO standards, Gerasimov said.

But the goals of the special military operation would definitely be achieved, he insisted.

The general added that the proportion of strategic nuclear forces units equipped with the newest weapons was now at 95 percent.

Gerasimov announced that the first regiment equipped with the S-500 surface-to-air missile system, which is capable of strategic missile defense, was on the verge of completion.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Medvedev warns The Times over piece on Russian general’s murder

RT | December 18, 2024

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday slammed Britain’s flagship daily The Times for justifying the assassination of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov. Medvedev blasted the editors as “lousy jackals” who are part of a hybrid war against Russia.

Kirillov, who headed Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, was killed in a blast outside his residence on Tuesday morning. Russian investigators said an improvised explosive device (IED) packed with up to 1kg of TNT was attached to an electric scooter parked near the building’s entrance. Investigators suspect Ukrainian special services of orchestrating the attack, which took place mere hours after the general was accused by Kiev of being linked to the use of chemical agents on the battlefield, a claim Moscow has denied.

In an article on Tuesday, the UK outlet claimed that its sources within Ukraine’s security services admitted responsibility for the assassination. It went on to describe the incident as “a legitimate act of defense by a threatened nation.”

“The assassination is a discriminate strike against an aggressor,” The Times wrote. The paper further characterized Kirillov’s killing as an “eminently defensible” act that should be seen as “a warning and deterrent to other plenipotentiaries of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”

“It’s impossible to ignore the editorial published in The Times, where the bastards called the terrorist attack on Igor Kirillov and his assistant a ‘legitimate act of defense’,” Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said in a Telegram post. He stated that according to the logic employed by The Times, its entire management could now be considered “legitimate military targets” for Russia, along with all Western decision-makers.

“All NATO decision-makers from countries that provided military assistance to Bandera Ukraine are participating in a hybrid or conventional war against Russia… All these individuals can and should be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian state,” Medvedev said, adding that the people “who committed crimes against Russia” always have accomplices, including in the media.

“And they, too, are now legitimate military targets. These may include the lousy jackals from The Times, who cowardly hid behind an editorial… So, be careful! After all, a lot can happen in London,” he warned.

Russian authorities have launched a criminal probe into Kirillov’s death and brought charges of murder, terrorism, and illegal weapons trafficking. On Wednesday, the Investigative Committee announced it has detained a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan suspected of carrying out the attack. According to the investigators, the suspect admitted that he had been recruited by the SBU, and agreed to carry out the bombing in exchange for a reward of $100,000 and safe passage to the EU.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Mainstream Media, Warmongering, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Kiev regime kills Russian general who exposed Western Big Pharma’s crimes in Ukraine

By Lucas Leiroz | December 18, 2024

The Kiev regime continues to use terrorist tactics against Russia, carrying out targeted assassinations against public figures outside the conflict zone. In yet another provocative move, Ukrainian intelligence assets in Moscow killed Igor Kirillov, head of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Forces of the Russian Federation. The case clearly shows the terrorist nature of the Ukrainian regime and the impossibility of any kind of peace negotiations.

Kirillov’s assassination was carried out using a remotely activated explosion. This type of tactic has become commonplace in Ukrainian intelligence’s operations, being one of the main techniques used by the regime to eliminate specific targets. Along with Kirillov, his top aide, Ilya Polikarpov, also died in the attack. Both were leaving a building in Moscow when the explosive was remotely activated by a mercenary working for Kiev.

The main suspect has already been captured by the Russian security service. He is a citizen of Uzbekistan who was hired by Ukraine to carry out the terrorist attack in exchange for a reward of around 100,000 dollars, as well as relocation to a European country. The operation was carefully planned, with the Uzbek mercenary receiving a series of specific instructions to be successful in the plot.

The first step of the plan was to place the explosive device – which he received from the Ukrainian team – on an electric scooter parked near Kirillov’s residence. He then rented a car equipped with a surveillance camera and transmitted live footage to the organizers of the attack. According to the suspect, the organizing team is based in the Dnepropetrovsk region of Ukraine. Watching the images in live broadcast, the Ukrainians chose the most appropriate moment to detonate the explosive, giving the order to the Uzbek terrorist to carry out the attack.

The case has a number of similarities with other recent terrorist attacks carried out by Kiev. The Ukrainian regime often uses explosives to kill its opponents, in addition to hiring mercenaries from Central Asia to carry out operations on Russian territory. It is worth remembering cases such as that of Daria Dugina and Maxim Fomin, both journalists who were murdered with explosives, as well as the Crocus City Hall massacre, when Tajik terrorists were hired by Ukrainian intelligence to murder civilians in Moscow.

The choice of Igor Kirillov as a target is easy to understand. He was responsible for investigating Ukrainian and Western crimes involving biological and chemical weapons. Since 2022, the Russian Federation has been releasing several reports showing illegal Western biomilitary activities in Ukraine, with Kirillov leading this investigative effort. He has published data proving the involvement of several Western public figures and companies in the production of biological weapons on Ukrainian soil. Those responsible for financing the biolabs included Big Pharma corporations and the Soros Foundation, as well as individuals such as Hunter Biden, the son of the US president.

In fact, the impact of Kirillov’s revelations was so deep that it caused a crisis in the Western pharmaceutical lobby. Since 2022, the crimes committed by American and European Big Pharma companies have been more easily exposed. Even the Covid-19 vaccine lobby has lost strength, with mandatory vaccinations being banned in many countries. These companies started to be the target of lawsuits and their shares have lost market value, which has obviously made Kirillov a target for several Western oligarchs.

In the same vein, Kirillov was the main investigator of chemical weapons provocations by Ukraine. The use of chemical weapons by Kiev troops has become commonplace in the conflict, with several cases of Russian military personnel and civilians being poisoned by toxic substances deliberately released by Ukrainians.

In 2023, I was invited by the Russian Mission in Geneva to present a report at the UN Human Rights Council on this topic, where I recalled several cases of Ukrainian use of chemical weapons. It must be mentioned that the US, which is the biggest supporter of the Kiev regime, is the only country in the world that still publicly maintains stockpiles of chemical weapons, and is therefore a possible supplier of these toxic materials to Ukraine. Without the work of the investigative committee led by Kirillov, this type of violation of international law would never have been revealed, which is why his efforts were so important.

It is still too early to determine the level of Western involvement in the assassination of the Russian general, but it is safe to say that the Kiev regime never acts “on its own.” Ukraine always receives authorization to carry out each attack, since it is a mere proxy agent without any sovereignty.

In addition, Kirillov has caused a great damage to the Western pharmaceutical lobby, becoming a public enemy of many oligarchs. In the end, this is just further proof that any negotiation in the conflict is unfeasible. Both the West and Ukraine are betting on terrorism and all-out war against Moscow, leaving no alternative but a military solution.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Alleged provocations exposed by Russia’s murdered general: The main cases

Igor Kirillov spent years investigating incidents involving chemical and biological weapons

RT | December 17, 2024

Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was killed on Tuesday in Moscow along with his assistant in an assassination allegedly carried out by Ukraine, was the Russian military’s top official on the hazards posed by weapons of mass destruction.

Kirillov commanded the military branch responsible for protecting troops and civilians from chemical and biological weapons, and from the radioactive fallout of a nuclear strike or ‘dirty bomb’ attack. He was also in charge of military investigations into numerous high-profile cases directly and indirectly involving Russia.

He delivered over 40 briefings about the findings made by specialists under his command since being appointed in 2017. He also regularly offered his expert opinion to Russian officials and the media. His work came as allegations of chemical weapons use became an increasingly frequent tool in Western foreign policy over the past decade.

Syria

The turning point was arguably the war in Syria and claims by then-US President Barack Obama that Damascus had deployed chemical weapons against opposition forces, thus crossing a Washington-declared ‘red line’. In a Russia-mediated attempt to deflate tensions, the Syrian government agreed in 2013 to destroy all of its declared stockpiles of such weapons.

However, more incidents followed, which the West blamed on government forces, alleging that Damascus never actually fulfilled its obligations. Moscow, meanwhile, maintained that anti-government groups were conducting false flag operations, while foreign-funded organizations, such as the notorious White Helmets, were providing media support.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which has the mandate to investigate such allegations, was compromised by Western influence, Russia believes.

“Syrian authorities demanded on numerous occasions that the OPCW deploy specialists on the ground [for investigation], but received refusals that cited lack of security,” Kirillov said during a briefing in 2018, as he detailed cases of alleged manufacturing of chemical weapons by militant groups.

The same year, the OPCW faced what was arguably its worst internal crisis while investigating a chemical attack in the city of Douma.

According to whistleblowers, its top management suppressed findings by field investigators and manipulated testimony to implicate Damascus. Dissenting scientists argued behind closed doors that the evidence contradicted such a claim, only to be dismissed as disgruntled employees when they went public.

Kirillov reported in 2019 that Russian troops deployed in Syria conducted hundreds of tests for traces of chemical weapons as part of their monitoring mission.

Novichok

Moscow was accused of deploying a chemical weapon in 2018, after Andrey Skripal, a Russian intelligence defector, and his daughter fell ill in Salisbury, Great Britain. London and Western media claimed that they were poisoned with Novichok, a toxic chemical allegedly developed exclusively by the Soviet military.

Although civilian officials were responsible for Moscow’s messaging over the incident, Kirillov was called in to set the record straight about Novichok’s “Russian” nature. Western nations, including the UK, have chemical weapons programs of their own with enough expertise to synthesize highly lethal compounds, he pointed out.

The US and its allies had an opportunity to gain insight into Soviet research, including from chemists involved in it, he added during a briefing in 2018. A scientist named Vil Mirzayanov was the first person to discuss the program dubbed Novichok publicly after moving to the US.

He went as far as to publish a formula for one of the chemicals developed by the USSR, which Kirillov said was deeply irresponsible and posed a proliferation threat.

Ukraine and US-led biolabs

A significant part of Kirillov’s reports in the media focused on the Ukraine conflict after it escalated into open hostilities with Russia in 2022. Some of them documented alleged use of chemical agents by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield or warned of possible provocations by Kiev.

Others dealt with a network of US-backed microbiological labs, which have been a source of major concern for Russia and other countries. Washington claims that the Pentagon-funded activities by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency are merely meant to detect and identify naturally emerging threats. Critics, however, believe the program pursued more sinister aims.

Kirillov claimed that the US evacuated some 16,000 relevant samples from Ukraine while other pieces of evidence were destroyed. But some materials were captured by the Russian military, giving Moscow a glimpse into the clandestine research, the late general claimed.

With his visor up

In October, the UK placed personal sanctions on Kirillov, along with the entire Russian military branch under his command. London cited Kiev’s claims that the general was responsible for using chemical weapons in the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has consistently denied such accusations, insisting it destroyed such materials back in 2017.

The Ukrainian security service SBU announced formal charges against Kirillov hours before his murder. A source in the agency told the media that the assassination was its operation against a “war criminal.”

Kirillov spent years “exposing the crimes of the Anglo-Americans,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, commenting on his death.

“He worked without fear. Did not hide behind anyone’s back. Walked with his visor up. For the motherland and the truth,” she added.

December 17, 2024 Posted by | Deception, False Flag Terrorism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Key Revelations Slain Gen. Kirillov Exposed About Pentagon’s Biolabs Scheme

By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 17.12.2024

General Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiological Chemical and Biological Defense Forces, gained prominence due to his regular appearances at military briefings, accusing the Kiev regime and its US patrons of operating biolaboratories and using chemical weapons.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense troops of the Russian armed forces, was killed in a blast triggered by an improvised explosive device planted near his residence in Moscow. He leaves behind a legacy of eye-opening findings.

On Illegal US Bio-Research

Revelations by Russia’s Defense Ministry on illegal biological experiments at the Prestige Biotech’s California laboratory touched off a US Congressional investigation. The US Department of State played a direct role in the Biosecurity Engagement Program, which was initiated by ex-President Barack Obama, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov revealed in one of the Ministry of Defense briefings.

The program’s priority areas for implementation include the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Ukraine, and Africa.

Third-party contractors, intermediaries, and NGOs—such as Metabiota, CH2M Hill, and EcoHealth Alliance—are utilized to serve the interests of clients like the State Department, Pentagon, FBI, and CIA, as well as for military biological research.

“Unconditional deterrence of adversaries” from using weapons of mass destruction against Washington and its allies has become one of the points of the new US national strategy, it was noted.

On US Biolabs in Ukraine

The US State Department is directly involved in these biological programs, despite the federal foreign agency’s denials, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov repeatedly underscored.

The United States aims to exert global control over biological matters, he noted in one of his reports. He added that under Barack Obama, US biological programs in other countries were promoted at the recommendation of the State Department, with supporting documents available as evidence.

Pentagon’s Deadly Biological Warfare Program

Slain Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov regularly exposed the Pentagon’s biological warfare program. Recent developments indicate that the United States has embarked on preparations for a new pandemic by looking into virus mutations, he said at a briefing in August 2023.

Commenting on the establishment of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, led by Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biosecurity at the National Security Council, retired Air Force Major General Paul Friedrichs, in July 2023, Kirillov told reporters:

“The priority areas of this department include work on the creation of vaccines and drugs for stopping viruses and their genetically modified variants, as well as the introduction of advanced technologies in bioproduction. Thus, the United States, as it was in 2019, began preparing for a new pandemic by implementing search for virus mutations.”

The newly established Office is prioritizing the creation of vaccines and drugs said to combat viruses and their genetically modified variants, Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops warned.

Furthermore, documents uncovered during the special military operation in Ukraine have confirmed that the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is involved in accumulating dangerous pathogens across various regions of the world.

US Officials Linked to Hazardous Vaccines

The Russian Ministry of Defense released the names of American officials connected to the development and production of dangerous vaccines, General Igor Kirillov told reporters in 2023.

This list includes former Johnson & Johnson Board member Mark McClellan, Pfizer Board member Scott Gottlieb, and Stephen Hahn, the CEO of Flagship Pioneering Inc.

He underscored that officials from regulatory agencies have been lobbying and prioritizing the commercial interests of pharmaceutical companies to the detriment of existing safety and quality standards.

US Democratic Party’s Role in Military Biological Research

Investment funds belonging to prominent figures such as the Clintons, the Rockefellers, Soros, and Biden, along with other NGOs affiliated with the Democratic Party in the US, are bankrolling military biological research, documents and analytical materials studied by Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops have revealed.

Multinational corporations often referred to as “Big Pharma” are involved in this scheme, including Pfizer, Moderna, Merck, as well as Gilead, a US military-affiliated company. Furthermore, US experts are working on testing new medicines, bypassing international safety standards.

The involvement of non-governmental and biotech organizations enables the leaders of the Democratic Party to pocket additional financial revenue for election campaigns and to conceal cash flows.

Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops warned in January 2024 that Washington’s goals in the military-biological domain are multifold, ranging from the creation and manipulation of the causative agents of “particularly dangerous infections in regions of the world that are strategically important for the United States,” to efforts to achieve global “superiority” in biomanufacturing, biological monitoring, and the expansion of potentially unethical and illegal military biological research outside US jurisdictions.

December 17, 2024 Posted by | Corruption, Deception, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Brussels further damages European industry by approving 15th sanctions package on Russia

By Ahmed Adel | December 17, 2024

The Council of the European Union announced the approval of the 15th round of sanctions against Russia on December 16. Clearly, by imposing a new package of sanctions, the EU is willing to continue destroying its own industries by persisting on a policy of economic warfare despite the boomerang effects.

“This package of sanctions is part of our response to weaken Russia’s war machine and those who are enabling this war, also including Chinese companies. It shows the unity of EU member states in our continued support to Ukraine,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

“Our immediate priority is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. We will stand by the Ukrainian people on all fronts: humanitarian, economic, political, diplomatic and military. There can be no doubt that Ukraine will win,” she added.

The new package includes, in particular, a list of personal sanctions against 54 individuals and 30 organizations that, according to the Council’s announcement, are “responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.”

The restrictions are intended to “address the circumvention of EU sanctions through targeting” Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” and weaken the country’s military industry.

Specifically, 52 third-country vessels were sanctioned, which the bloc claims are involved in oil imports from Russia, the delivery of war material to this country, and/or “the transport of stolen Ukrainian grain.”

The new economic restrictions also target Russian defence companies, chemical plants, and civilian airlines. For the first time, sanctions are fully applied to several Chinese entities for cooperating with Russia.

Since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February 2024, the EU has adopted numerous restrictive measures against Russia. According to the Castellum.AI database, more than 19,500 individual and sectoral sanctions have been triggered against Russia since the start of the military operation.

However, despite Russia becoming the most sanctioned country in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the 22nd Congress of the United Russia Party that the Russian economy continues to develop despite the unprecedented Western sanctions.

“Russia is developing, the economy is growing and this is amid sanctions, literally unprecedented in world history, against the background of gross interference and pressure on the part of the governing elites of some countries,” the president said on December 14, adding that foreign blackmail and attempts to stop Moscow will come to nothing.

“Russia is confident, it is conscious of its righteousness and its strength, and this is why all objectives set for the short and long term will certainly be met,” Putin said.

The Russian president’s comments followed the EU’s announcement on December 11 that member states had agreed to the 15th EU sanctions package against Russia. Now, even as European companies more openly express their interest in returning to the Russian market, the EU acts against the interests of citizens and the business community alike as prices escalate and the cost of living gets out of hand.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that the country will stand up to the pressure of sanctions that the West began imposing on Russia several years ago and continues to intensify because they lack the courage to admit the failure of such punitive measures.

Rising costs, driven partly by a rejection of Russian energy, are causing Europe to lose its global competitive advantage. Although Europe has maintained energy supply security, prices on the European market are now much higher than before. Some analysts predict a further rise in energy prices and the danger this poses to the European industry.

It is worth remembering that current gas prices in the European Union are almost five times higher than those in the United States. As a September report on European competitiveness points out, EU companies continue to face electricity prices between two and three times higher than the US.

A separate study by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Deutsche Industrie und Handelskammer or DIHK) finds that high energy costs and a lack of reliable supplies are holding back industrial production, while “the risk of deindustrialization,” according to Siegfried Russwurm, chief executive of the industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, “continues to increase.”

The energy crisis and the resulting economic recession in Europe are partly due to the EU’s refusal to accept cheap and reliable energy supplies from Russia. With these economically suicidal measures, Brussels wanted to force Moscow into capitulation. However, Russia has reoriented its export flows, particularly towards Asia.

Meanwhile, European buyers have been forced to purchase energy sources from alternative suppliers at higher prices, which obviously affected the competitiveness of European producers and hit the continent’s major economies. In effect, the anti-Russia sanctions have boomeranged, but Europe continues to insist on this economically suicidal policy.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

December 17, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia | , | 1 Comment

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