Russia expels US diplomats

The American embassy in Moscow was handed a list of those declared ‘persona non grata’ over the “hostile actions” of Washington

Russia has announced the expulsion of an unspecified number of US diplomats in response to Washington’s order to expel 12 staffers from Moscow’s mission to the United Nations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that on Wednesday it summoned “a senior diplomat of the US diplomatic mission in Moscow” and handed him a “a note with a list of deported American diplomatic employees declared ‘persona non grata’.”

The ministry revealed that it was a retaliation to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the UN mission in New York and of a Russian employee from the UN Secretariat.

“The American side was firmly told that any hostile actions of the United States against Russia would receive a decisive and adequate response,” the statement reads.

Washington notified Moscow of its decision to declare 12 Russian diplomats persona non grata at the end of February. The US claimed the Russians who were expelled had been “engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”

Moscow condemned the decision at the time, blaming Washington for a severe violation of commitments and calling on it to show “common sense” and to avoid further escalation. The Foreign Ministry said then that it would prefer not to expel American diplomats again but the “impudence” and “unwillingness or inability to negotiate” of the US might not leave any other choice.

A week prior, the US also ordered the expulsion of the second highest ranking diplomat at the Russian embassy in Washington, Sergey Trepelkov. Late last year, the US ordered 27 Russian diplomats to leave. Previously, about 200 Russian diplomats worked in the US.

On March 21, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that relations between Moscow and Washington were “on the brink of collapse.” Another harsh statement was made after US President Joe Biden, in response to Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” a “murderous dictator,” and “a pure thug.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/552583-russia-expels-us-diplomats/

Ukraine compares itself to Nazi Germany

The Ukrainian parliament equated its own struggles with those of the Third Reich

Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday appealed again to the West to impose a “no-fly zone” over the country. However, the parliament raised eyebrows online by comparing the devastation suffered by its cities to that suffered by Nazi Germany during Allied bombing raids. The bizarre choice of comparison is the latest Nazi-related statement to come out of Kiev.

An image posted to Twitter by Ukraine’s ‘Verkhovna Rada’ (Parliament) portrays a bombed out building in Hamburg in 1943 alongside similar damage to the Ukrainian city of Kharkov in 2022.

The text above the image reads “When the Sky is Open,” and a message in English demands that the West “#CloseTheSky over Ukraine.”

“Close The Sky” is a reference to the possibility of a NATO-imposed ‘no-fly zone’ over Ukraine, a step Kiev has demanded but leaders in Washington and Brussels have thus far refused to take. It would involve NATO committing to shooting down Russian aircraft over Ukraine, a step that would bring the alliance into open war with Russia and, in the words of US President Joe Biden, lead to “a third world war.”

Bizarrely, the image shared by the parliament asks the same allies that bombed Hamburg in 1943 to fight on Ukraine’s behalf today. The Rada did not explain why it chose to compare Kharkov with Hamburg, especially considering the fact that Kharkov itself was bombed by Germany during the Second World War, which would have made for a comparison that wouldn’t involve comparing Ukraine with Nazi Germany.

The analogy drew some puzzled comments online. “You aren't supposed to compare yourselves to Nazis in public,” one commenter joked. “Man, they really don’t know what optics are,” another quipped.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the Ukrainian government of harboring sympathies to Nazi Germany, and in a speech announcing the start of Russia’s military offensive on Ukraine last month, he said that one of Russia’s goals was to “denazify” the country.

Aside from integrating the neo-Nazi ‘Azov’ batallion into its military, the Ukrainian government has launched efforts to portray its people as racially distinct from Russians, whom politicians in Kiev have openly referred to as “orcs.”

Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera is considered a hero to Ukrainian nationalists, and just last week a television host in Ukraine, Fahruddin Sharafmal, caused controversy when he approvingly quoted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in calling for the murder of Russians and their children.

https://www.rt.com/russia/552585-ukraine-nazi-germany-post/

>>15929346

ehhhwww

Ukraine’s Propaganda War: International PR Firms, DC Lobbyists and CIA Cutouts

Dan Cohen reveals the network of foreign strategists, Washington DC lobbyists, and intelligence-linked media outlets behind

WASHINGTON DC — Since the Russian offensive inside Ukraine commenced on February 24, the Ukrainian military has cultivated the image of a plucky little army standing up to the Russian Goliath. To bolster the perception of Ukrainian military mettle, Kiev has churned out a steady stream of sophisticated propaganda aimed at stirring public and official support from Western countries.

The campaign includes language guides, key messages, and hundreds of propaganda posters, some of which contain fascist imagery and even praise Neo-Nazi leaders.

Behind Ukraine’s public relations effort is an army of foreign political strategists, Washington DC lobbyists, and a network of intelligence-linked media outlets.

Ukraine’s propaganda strategy earned it praise from a NATO commander who told the Washington Post, “They are really excellent in stratcom — media, info ops, and also psy-ops.” The Post ultimately conceded that “Western officials say that while they cannot independently verify much of the information that Kyiv puts out about the evolving battlefield situation, including casualty figures for both sides, it nonetheless represents highly effective stratcom.”

Key to the propaganda effort is an international legion of public relations firms working directly with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to wage information warfare.

According to the industry news site PRWeek, the initiative was launched by an anonymous figure who allegedly founded a Ukraine-based public relations firm.

“From the first hour of war, we decided to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help them distribute the official sources to show the truth,” the nameless figure told PR Week. “This is a hybrid war: the mix of bloodily struggling fight with a huge disinformation and fake campaign lead by Russia [sic].”

According to the anonymous figure, more than 150 public relations firms have joined the propaganda blitz.

The international effort is spearheaded by public relations firm PR Network co-founder Nicky Regazzoni and Francis Ingham, a top public relations consultant with close ties to the UK’s government. Ingraham previously worked for Britain’s Conservative Party, sits on the UK Government Communication Service Strategy and Evaluation Council, is Chief Executive of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation, and leads the membership body for UK local government communicators, LG Comms.

“We’ve been privileged to help coordinate efforts to support the Ukrainian Government in the last few days, “ Ingham told PRovoke Media. “Agencies have offered up entire teams to support Kyiv in the communications war. Our support for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is unwavering and will continue for as long as needed.”

With an anonymous Ukrainian figure joining two of the top public relations figures in the Kiev government’s propaganda blitz, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs distributed a dossier folder (archived) with materials instructing public relations agencies on “key messages,” approved language, content for debunked propaganda constructs, far-right and Neo-Nazi propaganda.

The folder is run by Yaroslav Turbil, described on his LinkedIn page as “Head of Ukraine.ua — Ukraine’s digital ecosystem for global communications. Strategic Communications & Country Brand Promotion.” Turbil has worked at multiple “civil society” organizations closely linked to the U.S. government and interned at Internews, a U.S. intelligence-linked organization that operates under the guise of promoting press freedom.

Some feature generic “no war” messages, while dozens of other images celebrate “The Ghost of Kiev” – a heroic Ukrainian pilot who turns out to be non-existent – and the phony “Snake Island 13” incident.

Many use xenophobic and racist language, and some are explicit in their praise of prominent Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, including C14 leader Yevhen Karas, the Right Sector fascist paramilitary, and the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion. Multiple images call for “Banderite smoothies” – a reference to Molotov cocktails named for the late OUN-B commander Stephan Bandera, who collaborated with Nazi Germany in the mass murder of Jews and ethnic Poles during World War II. Another image depicts a book titled the: ”Encyclopedia of Incurable Diseases,” listing Russia, Belorussia, North Korea, Syria, and Eritrea.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/ukraine-propaganda-war-international-pr-firms-dc-lobbyists-cia-cutouts/280012/

Nancy Pelosi Says She “Eats at 5:30, Like a Peasant”

https://youtu.be/SiER1jmeSvk

Federal agency that broadcasts America's message had chronic security lapses, records show

Biden administration quickly rehired senior officials dismissed on recommendation of career adjudicators, following investigation by outside law firm.

The federal agency responsible for broadcasting America's message to the world routinely ignored security protocols "for at least a decade" while using the same visas intended for au pairs to hire foreign nationals as journalists, according to a report its first Senate-confirmed CEO sent investigators.

A week before President Biden took office and immediately fired him, Michael Pack submitted a formal request to the State Department's Office of Inspector General for a full investigation of security, financial and other issues in the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which Pack led for seven months.

His report, and supporting materials, alleged that 1,500 of the agency's 4,000 workers had security clearance issues such as improper background checks.

Pack's leadership team "learned that previous senior management had repeatedly failed to adhere to national security protocols and essential federal government personnel security practices for at least a decade," the report said. "The actions — and, in many cases, inactions — of the individuals responsible for producing this crisis placed U.S. national security in danger and imperiled USAGM's ability to fulfill its legal mandate of advancing U.S. foreign policy."

Biden's new USAGM leadership quickly rehired senior officials dismissed on the recommendation of career adjudicators, following investigations by McGuireWoods, an outside law firm. Just the News has reviewed the official summaries of the law firm’s investigation, which were recently submitted by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) into the Congressional Record along with Pack's Jan. 14, 2021 letter.

Perry told Just the News Not Noise Tuesday that he "legally" obtained those materials after the agency refused to share them. USAGM then told him "you don't have all of it" and refused to provide the rest. "American taxpayers have paid for this," Perry said. "This is corruption at the highest level," including an employee subsequently convicted of embezzling.

Officials dismissed by Pack "left largely unaddressed" repeated warnings from federal intelligence and personnel offices, he wrote to State Department Deputy Inspector General Diana Shaw.

The veteran PBS documentary filmmaker also alleged the agency allowed a senior official to spin off a fund intended for internet firewall circumvention in repressive countries and use it as a slush fund.

U.S. intelligence services told Pack they were "watching" three individuals in the agency "and another has come up since," showing "there's a real risk here," Pack told Just the News Not Noise. "Why have security procedures if you're not going to follow them?"

One of the rehired officials, a senior strategy official, was found to have "wiped or otherwise factory reset" agency-issued electronic devices when he was put on leave pending investigation, violating multiple internal policies and possibly federal record retention rules, the law firm inquiry found.

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/hold-federal-agency-broadcasts-americas-message-had-chronic-security

>>15929601

Can't find a better sauce

>>15929777

Trips of truth - seems this was a clown op

shows how many clowns are here