https://twitter.com/ProfMJCleveland/status/1505564093171871747?s=20&t=f4hcmoM62XNF7_f0J57tNA
21 Mar, 2022 18:36
HomeRussia & FSU
Surviving among ruins: Life in a Donbass city Ukraine says no longer exists
RT visited civilians surviving in the blasted-through buildings and basements of a town hit hard by the conflict in Ukraine
A little way into the town, there is a large sculpture with “I ♡ VOLNOVAKHA” inscribed on it. On the heart between the two words, someone hasspray-painted the letter Z, the symbol of Russia’s military operation. There is a ruined church next to the inscription. Apparently, it fell into decay and began to collapse a few years ago. The same cannot be said for the rest of the city. It is badly damaged, and this has just happened recently
https://www.rt.com/russia/552376-russia-ukraine-volnovakha-civilians/
21 Mar, 2022 16:27
HomeRussia & FSU
Calls for violence against Russians hurt Ukraine’s image – Zelensky aide
Talk of genocide or castrating prisoners makes Kiev look bad, a senior spokesman cautions on social media
Calls for the killing of Russian children or the castration of prisoners of war are absolutely unacceptable and ruin Ukraine’s image as a civilized European country, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday. Responding to two recent public scandals, Alexey Arestovich called on Ukrainians to respect the Geneva Convention and laws of war.
“We must not go beyond the Geneva Convention, which allows the destruction of the enemy on the battlefield, but does not allow us to mock prisoners of war, and even more so to make calls for revenge on civilians, children, and prisoners of war,” Arestovich said in a video posted on Facebook.
Such calls severely harm Ukraine’s public image, Arestovich added, reminding Ukrainians that they also run afoul of international and domestic laws.
The presidential adviser specifically referenced two on-air outbursts by public figures that have done the rounds over the past week. On Sunday, doctor Gennadiy Druzhenko told the Ukraina 24 TV channel he had ordered his volunteer unit to castrate all male Russian prisoners of war, “because they are cockroaches and not people.”
Druzhenko apologized on Monday, saying he had got carried away by emotion and that neither he nor his colleagues have ever maimed anyone or had any plan to do so.
Earlier this month, Ukraina 24 presenter Fahruddin Sharafmal repeatedly cited a Nazi war criminal to urge his countrymen to “kill at least one Moskal” – a derogatory term for Russians – each and exterminate Russian children so the Russian nation itself would perish.
Sharafmal later apologized that his calls for genocide had damaged the reputation of Ukraine, saying he had become emotional because a friend of his had died during the offensive. Ukrainians would “never be inhuman, unlike the Russians,” he said in his apology video.
Arestovich, a psychologist and public relations expert, has been giving daily briefings on the conflict with Russia. On Monday, he claimed Ukraine had so far destroyed four out of 10 Russian forces – three on the ground and one in the air.
https://www.rt.com/russia/552414-ukraine-image-atrocities-adviser/
21 Mar, 2022 16:26
HomeRussia & FSU
Moscow explains missile strike on Kiev mall
this is the most public war ever
The Russian military says it ordered the hit after discovering Ukrainian rocket launchers parked on site
The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video it claims shows Ukrainian rocket artillery for which civilian buildings had been used as cover before it was hidden inside a Kiev shopping mall. The site was destroyed overnight in a missile strike, which the Ukrainian authorities described as an indiscriminate bombing of a civilian target.
“On March 21, during the night, a high-precision long-distance weapon was used to destroy a battery of Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher artillery and the base where they stored ammunition in a defunct shopping center,” Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters.
The Russian military spokesman added that Ukrainian troops had been using the Vinogradar neighborhood as a base for their operations, showing surveillance footage to that effect. The video ends with what looks like a single missile striking the site.
The Retroville shopping center, situated between the Vinogradar and Podolsk neighborhoods on the northwestern side of Kiev, was struck during the night. Ukraine’s emergency services reported on Monday that rescuers had recovered eight bodies from the scene.
A nine-story building – the tallest of several on the site – was heavily damaged by the blast and subsequent fire, which was only extinguished at around midday on Monday. The general area was devastated, according to images of the aftermath. Windows in residential buildings hundreds of meters away were reportedly shattered by the shockwave.
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said the attack had been conducted by Russia in clear violation of the rules of war and would be investigated as a premeditated mass murder.
Before Moscow showed the drone footage, there was widespread speculation online that Russia might have launched the attack after seeing videos on Ukrainian social media showing the launchers at Retroville.
Several Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok users had posted images and videos of the rocket artillery being operatied in the area, and even parked up in what looked like a garage or an underpass between two parking lots.
RT could not immediately verify whether the footage was authentic or had been manipulated. The individual behind one of the Facebook accounts that had made the connection between the photos and the strike apologized for having shared their post and subsequently deleted it, after others accused them of being a Russian propagandist spreading fake news to justify the attack.
https://www.rt.com/russia/552408-kiev-mall-bombing-military/
21 Mar, 2022 16:13
HomeBusiness News
UK prepares to ‘temporarily’ nationalize Gazprom retail unit – report
Government wants to ensure continued energy supplies to customers
The UK is preparing to temporarily nationalize Gazprom’s British retail supply arm, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The measure is taken to ensure distressed companies continue energy supplies to customers amid losses due to higher energy costs.
Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd is a prime candidate to be taken into the UK’s special administration regime, Bloomberg has cited a person familiar with the matter, adding that no one at the Gazprom unit was available to comment.
The unit – trading as Gazprom Energy - has over 30,000 business customers and supplies energy to businesses and public institutions, including parts of the UK’s National Health Service.
READ MORE: EU piling more sanctions on Russia
A special administration regime as a resolution mechanism for distressed energy supply companies intended to ensure the continuity of supply in the event of a failure of a supplier.
On March 8, the UK announced that it was planning to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by the end of the year.
https://www.rt.com/business/552410-uk-nationalizes-gazprom/
21 Mar, 2022 14:06
HomeRussia & FSU
Russia considers banning uranium exports to US
Aint that fucking bite on the ass
Deputy PM says the measure is being discussed as a response to the US embargo on Russian energy resources
The Russian government is considering a ban on the supply of uranium to the US as a possible response to Washington’s embargo on Russian energy resources.
On March 8, President Joe Biden announced that his administration was banning Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the US as part of a sanctions package in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Uranium, which is not currently produced in the US, has not appeared on the sanctions lists.
Speaking to parliamentarians and reporters on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak discussed plans to diversify Russia’s oil exports. Asked to comment on the idea of stopping uranium exports to the US as a potential “counter-sanction” measure, Novak replied that “this matter is also on the agenda, it is being reviewed.”
Almost half of the uranium being used by US nuclear power plants has been imported from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, despite the US having its own significant reserves.
US uranium mining sites in Texas and Wyoming, which boomed during the Cold War, have remained mothballed for a number of years. However, recent weeks saw some energy companies expressing readiness to resume production subject to agreement by nuclear power producers to commit to long-term agreements.
Speaking about the impact of the sanctions, Novak said that the US and UK embargo on Russian energy resources would not mean big losses for the Russian economy.
“This affected us to a lesser extent, because we supplied very little there… As for the United States, we supplied 3% of our total crude oil exports and 7% of our petroleum products,” he explained.
When it comes to Europe, in Novak’s opinion, there is no chance that the region would ban Russian energy supplies.
“It’s definitely impossible at the moment… The same is true for oil, now it’s impossible to replace Russian oil,” the deputy prime minister said.
He added that “in the extreme case,” Russian “would diversify deliveries towards Asian markets.”
Meanwhile, according to a Reuters report, EU ministers are set to discuss a ban on Russian oil as part of a fifth package of sanctions.
https://www.rt.com/russia/552404-uranium-supply-us-russia/