The Russian soldiers crucified and tortured Ivan Monastyrskyi to entertain themselves.

April 16, 2022
by Louisa Loveluck and Serhiy Morgunov

Bucha, Ukraine - Police found the body (click here) in an abandoned Russian military camp where occupying soldiers had sat around drinking wine, their laughter so loud that neighbors seethed as it echoed down Yablunska Street.

They had known for weeks that there was a body in the camp, yet another among so many corpses the Russians left behind. Overwhelmed crews picking them up simply hadn’t gotten to it yet. So no one knew it was Ivan Monastyrskyi.

His neighbor was the first to identify him, recognizing the unshaven face of a man who had watched his beloved street become a killing field. When his wife, Yulia, approached the body, her blue eyes froze.

There were bullet holes in his calves and his arms were stretched out at strange angles between slats of wood with nails through them. His wife looked at the thin sweater he was wearing and couldn’t help thinking how he must have been so cold in his final minutes.

Yulia’s neighbors heard her that night, inconsolable.

“What happened?” they heard her crying. “What did they do to him?”...

May Ivan Monastyrskyi rest in peace. May his wife find solace in his passing. He did nothing wrong. He was a victim of hate.

The 2016 Russian Yaravaya Law makes it illegal to be Christian. It is my guess Mr. Monastyrskyi tried to make friends with the Occupation Russians. Obviously, his wife did not know he was in the camp, so he probably approached them in hopes of finding common ground and welcome them to their neighborhood. Other Ukrainians have done that with the Russians and were mildly successful, especially with the young conscription soldiers.

The older Ukrainians didn't want the war, as far as they were concerned the lack of electricity and heat in the cold winter and the lack of water was a form of suffering and they believed if the Russians were allowed to take over at least they would have water and heat in their homes. They attributed much of their suffering to the younger Ukrainians that wanted to live within a democracy with economic vitality.

Both of these perspectives regarding the Ukrainian people were written in accounts I read and/or were videos of those waiting in line for water. There was on occassion a working hand water pump in the community, probably a farm where the animals were watered.

I am sure Mrs. Monastyrskyi was hoping her husband would return soon with some sort of resignation to the presence of Russians now.

A: Russia adopted a law (click here) making it unconstitutional to be a Christian, even though the (Russian) constitution says you are free to profess any faith. (The Yarovaya law increases regulation of evangelism, including a ban on the performance of “missionary activities” in non-religious settings.)

Based on this law, which is active right now, if you declare that you belief this or that or if you publically invite someone to church, of if you share an invitation to a Christian conference or service on facebook, sometimes even if you just attend church you will receive a huge fine or you can be jailed for up to 3 years. If you represent a church as a pastor or leader, then the fine is $1M rubles ($15,700) and up to 5 years in jail, if they can prove that you were promoting your faith....

Russia expelled non-profits some time ago. Recently, human rights groups were removed from the country. They coulc even be in jail or prison by now.

April 9, 2022
By Mark Robinson

Under mounting international pressure (click here) for reported war crimes, Russia on Friday forced the closure of several prominent human rights groups' offices, CNN reported.

Driving the news: The Russian Ministry of Justice rescinded the registrations of 15 offices belonging to foreign NGOs and international aid organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace....

The march to war in Ukraine by Russia didn't happen overnight. Putin directed his military unexpectedly, but, the Russian government has been closing down freedoms and any alliances connected to any country that practiced freedom. It has been coming for some time. The more difficult the communists made the politics, the more and more Russia became a dictator state with plans for expansion.

19 September 2012

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (click here) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.

The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission, accusing it of meddling in politics.

USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes.

The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups....

USAID was not the only non-profit to be closed down by the Russian government.

March 1, 2022

By Peter Smith 

Ukraine’s tangled political history with Russia (click here) has its counterpart in the religious landscape, with Ukraine’s majority Orthodox Christian population divided between an independent-minded group based in Kyiv and another loyal to its patriarch in Moscow.

But while there have been appeals to religious nationalism in both Russia and Ukraine, religious loyalty doesn’t mirror political fealty amid Ukraine's fight for survival.

Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in part as a defense of the Moscow-oriented Orthodox church, leaders of both Ukrainian Orthodox factions are fiercely denouncing the Russian invasion, as is Ukraine's significant Catholic minority.

“With prayer on our lips, with love for God, for Ukraine, for our neighbors, we fight against evil — and we will see victory,” vowed Metropolitan Epifany, head of the Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine....

True to form, freedom of speech has brought criticism of the Ukraine military.

The article below is not the reporting I am discussing here. The article below shows the continued genocide by Russia of the Ukriane people. The gossip that I heard today sought to understand and somewhat justify the Russian invasion. There is no rational that allows Russia to slaughter innocent people.

The comments come from someone who believes the Nazis are the Ukrainian military. That is not the case and I remind the leader of the Ukriane military is the commander and chief and he is Jewish. I think the Ukraine people have been in the hands of a man, namely President Zelensky, qualified to lead the country. He certainly has hands on time in the streets and in the killing fields. He does not sit at a desk without understanding what is transpiring across Ukraine.

Previous to the Russian invasion there was an extremist right wing group called the Azovs. They studied the methods of fighting, etc. It is my understanding they were involved in the Maidan in 2014. Why? Because they were battled trained. Azov shamelessly speaks to their philosophy as Nazis. In the USA we have similar people called White Supremacists/Nationalists. They do the same thing the Azov group has done. The difference in the focus of the two is startling.

To understand the Azov group one has to realize the Ukrainian national military was disarmed and mostly disbanded by the Pro-Russia faction of the Ukraine government. Instead of the national military, Yanukovych gave the Ukriane oligarchs power to organize and train militias acoss Ukriane to control the people. The national security of Ukriane was literally handed over to Russia at Russia's insistence. Basically, under the Yanukovych rule Russia saw Ukriane as a satellite to it's own power. Yanukovych was overseeing the country of Ukriane not as a sovereign country, but, as a state within Russia. The best example is the annexing by Russia of Crimea after the 2014 uprising. It is safe to say that the uprising in 2014 at the Maidan probably would not have happened without the Azovs.

Was the uprising a good thing? Yes. It separated Ukraine from Russia. The uprising in the Maidan began a backlash that ousted Yanukovych from power and sent he and his family to Russia. I am certain he would love to come back to rule over Ukraine as a state again. The people don't want it.

The reporting of Russia capturing Ukrianian people and forcing them into servitude to destroy their own country is a good illustration of Russia's perceived entitlement to the land and the people that populate that land.

• An advisor to Mariupol's mayor warned (click here) Russia plans to close off access to city
• He said 'filtration' of men still in the city has reached 'maximum momentum'
• He claimed Russian forces are using filtration camps and checkpoints to determine which of the city's residents could still be of use to Moscow
• Russia is doing this because the city is no longer habitable for many who remain, he said. Mariupol has been all-but reduced to rubble by Russian shelling 

Basically, Putin is running out of men and believe pressing captured Ukrainians into service for Russia is going to give him a better hand to play. Putin is desperate. The Russian military has set up "filtration camps." Such a camp by any other name is a concentration camp. The Ukrainians are probably being treated as possessions and used as if they are Russia's chatel. We now know what has become of the men, but, what has become of the women and children the Russians have captured and placed in their filtration camps? Better name is reassignment camps.

At any rate, the Avozs exist because of Russian oppression. Now that the Ukrainian government has reconstituted it's national military, with this invasion by Russia, the Avozs have joined the ranks of the Ukrainian military and are fighting for their country.

In the USA White Supremacists/Nationalists are more interested in racism (click here). The use of "Nazi" by Putin is for the purpose of instilling fear that dates back to WWII. That is not the issue at hand. Additionally, most countries are not "melting pots" like the USA. So, when the Azov group is discussed in relation to Ukriane there is no racism involved. They are a fighting force with military training related to the Nazis, but, Ukrainians are Ukrainians.

This is a map of the varied ethnicity in Ukraine. (click here) Make no mistake, Putin and his military want to wipe out the Ukrainian population from the map. The forces within Russia are only interested in Russians and no other ethnicity. The rest of the world needs to take example of this because Putin is coming for them next.

Russia's invasion into Ukraine is about control and not about eradicating Nazis. If that was the case Russia and Ukraine might work together, but, since there has been little uprise since the Maidan, the Azov groups seem quite happy.

Vladimir Putin has no intention to allow Ukrainians the right to live and carry on their identities or their faiths. As far as Putin is concerned Ukrainians are a problem and they will be less and less a problem if they are eradicated. That is what this boils down to and the Azovs are not true died in the wool Nazis. They are Ukrainians that armed themselves in training during the time when Yanukovych was in power and disarmed the national military.

Putin is using the Nazis as scapegoats for his war against Ukrainians. There is no threat to any other country, except, Russia by the Avozs. Especially now, they are part of the Ukrainian mlitary.

We know for a fact that Russia is only interested in Russians because of the internal laws that have taken place by the Duma. The Russian diaspora was returned and given jobs, but, within a year after their return they had to declare their dual citizenship. In another year there was a fine for dual citizenship status. That fine was supposed to be paid annually. But, after a time that fine was dropped and all Russians had to declare their Russian heritage as their only identity and their only citizenship. The opportunity to have a dual citizenship in Russia was then criminalized.

This tightening noose around the Russian people has lead to political dissent. Well over half the Russian people do not approve of this level of oppression. They are unable to rid themselves of the oppression because of a very, very corrupt election process.

The resistence by Ukraine to become a Russian possession is real for real reasons and has nothing to do with the Nazis of WWII or racism. 

April 16, 2022
By Adam Schreck and Mstyslav Chernov

Russian forces resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, (click here) western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russia’s pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia’s military command had warned a day earlier of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites.

But the toll of war reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of a war that has shattered European security and plunged East-West relations to new lows. In the Kyiv region alone, Ukrainian authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago....

Time to check expiration dates.

16 April 2022
By Sheryk DeVore

Avian flu (click here) has likely killed hundreds of double-crested cormorants nesting at Baker’s Lake near Barrington, Illinois.

Wildlife biologist Chris Anchor said this is the largest outbreak of disease in wild birds he’s seen in Cook County.

“I’ve never seen anything like this since I started working here 41 years ago,” said Anchor, of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. “Chances are this is happening in other places, and we’re not aware of it because no one is looking.”

The outbreak, which affects wild, backyard and commercial bird populations, was likely caused by the same highly infectious strain of avian flu that is sweeping the country.

Since early February, more than 23 million birds in commercial flocks have been killed by avian flu or euthanized due to the outbreak, mostly outside Illinois, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Cases have been reported in 24 states this year, with Iowa the hardest hit, The Associated Press reported. While poultry remains safe to eat as long as it’s properly cooked, the prices of eggs and other poultry-related foods are soaring....

On April 17, 2007, (click here) FDA licensed the first vaccine in the United States for the prevention of H5N1 influenza, commonly referred to as avian influenza or "bird flu." This inactivated influenza virus vaccine is for use in people 18 through 64 years of age who are at increased risk of exposure to the H5N1 influenza virus subtype contained in the vaccine. This vaccine is derived from the A/Vietnam/1203/2004 influenza virus. The vaccine is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur Inc. of Swiftwater, PA and has been purchased by the federal government for inclusion within the Nation's National Stockpile.

This vaccine could be used in the event that the H5N1 avian influenza virus develops the capability to spread efficiently from person to person, resulting in the rapid spread of disease across the globe. Vaccines are critical to help counter the spread of influenza disease during a pandemic.