The USA has issued strong recommendations for Americans to leave Belarus. There are tensions that exist with Russia in regard to the Wagner group. Anti-Putin statements are met with Putin's hatred and revenge.
Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin (click here) emerged publicly for the first time since the aborted mutiny in Russia to declare the mercenary group has moved to Belarus “for some time.”
Prigozhin is heard welcoming a large number of fighters “on Belarusian soil” in a grainy video shot in poor light that was posted Wednesday on a Telegram channel linked to his group. There was no indication of where the video was taken or on what day, and Bloomberg News couldn’t independently verify it....
Any excuse is a good excuse to arrest an American.
August 22, 2023
By Victor Vincej
Uncertain conditions in Belarus (click here) have led U.S. State Department officials to recommend that all American citizens leave the former Soviet republic immediately.
U.S. personnel at the embassy in Minsk, Belarus, said in a recently issued alert that they may be unable to assist citizens living in or traveling to the nation, due to “the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, the potential of civil unrest [and] the risk of detention.” The alert also cites the Belarusian government’s support of Russia in its war against Ukraine and the increased presence of Russian troops in the country as ongoing concerns for U.S. travelers.
“Belarusian authorities have detained tens of thousands of individuals, including U.S. citizens, for alleged affiliations with opposition parties and alleged participation in political demonstrations. U.S. citizens in the vicinity of demonstrations have been arrested. Some have been victims of harassment and/or mistreatment by Belarusian officials,” reads the existing travel advisory from the U.S. State Department, which lists Belarus as a Level 4 (“Do Not Travel”) nation....
Russian President Vladimir Putin's (click here) most prominent opponent was sentenced Friday to an additional 19 years behind bars on extremism charges.
A Russian judge delivered the guilty verdict and sentencing in the closed-door trial against Alexey Navalny at a courtroom inside the maximum-security prison camp in Melekhovo, about 145 miles east of Moscow, where the Russian opposition leader is already serving 11 1/2 years. Russian prosecutors had requested a 20-year prison term for the latest charges, which stem from Navalny's pro-democracy campaigns against Putin's regime.
It's Navalny's fifth criminal conviction and longest prison sentence to date. All of the charges have been widely viewed as a politically motivated strategy by the Kremlin to silence its fiercest critic.
The United States subsequently called for Navalny's "immediate release," describing his latest conviction and sentencing as "an unjust conclusion to an unjust trial."
"For years, the Kremlin has attempted to silence Navalny and prevent his calls for transparency and accountability from reaching the Russian people," U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Friday. "By conducting this latest trial in secret and limiting his lawyers’ access to purported evidence, Russian authorities illustrated yet again both the baselessness of their case and the lack of due process afforded to those who dare to criticize the regime."...
Supporters of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny (click here) around the world are marking the third anniversary of his near-fatal poisoning with demonstrations against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Dozens of protesters took to the streets in cities in Australia, Switzerland, Georgia, France, Estonia, New Zealand, and other countries on August 20 under the slogan “Putin is a Killer.”
Protesters also carried signs condemning Russia’s unprovoked 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Navalny’s supporters posted on Telegram a photograph of a man in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus region of Daghestan, holding a sign reading, “Release Navalny! No repression! No war!”
They posted a similar photo of a man holding such a sign on Red Square in Moscow.
OVD-Info, which monitors repression in Russia, reported that two people were detained in Moscow carrying signs calling for the release of political prisoners. It was not clear if those incidents were related to the Navalny protests....
March 23, 2023
By Meg Kinnard
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (click here) is walking back his characterization of Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” following criticism from a number of fellow Republicans who expressed concern about the potential 2024 presidential candidate’s dismissive description of the conflict.
In excerpts of an interview with Piers Morgan set to air Thursday on Fox Nation, DeSantis said his earlier comments referenced ongoing fighting in the eastern Donbas region, as well as Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea. Ukraine’s borders are internationally recognized, including by the United Nations.
“What I’m referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I don’t think legitimately, but they had,” DeSantis said, according to excerpts. “There’s a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, that’s some difficult fighting, and that’s what I was referring to, and so it wasn’t that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it.”...
July 26, 2023
U.S. personnel at the embassy in Minsk, Belarus, said in a recently issued alert that they may be unable to assist citizens living in or traveling to the nation, due to “the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, the potential of civil unrest [and] the risk of detention.” The alert also cites the Belarusian government’s support of Russia in its war against Ukraine and the increased presence of Russian troops in the country as ongoing concerns for U.S. travelers.
“Belarusian authorities have detained tens of thousands of individuals, including U.S. citizens, for alleged affiliations with opposition parties and alleged participation in political demonstrations. U.S. citizens in the vicinity of demonstrations have been arrested. Some have been victims of harassment and/or mistreatment by Belarusian officials,” reads the existing travel advisory from the U.S. State Department, which lists Belarus as a Level 4 (“Do Not Travel”) nation....
June 23, 2023
By Lauren Kent and Mariya Knight
The chief of the Wagner private military group, (click here) Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Friday accused Russian military leadership of striking a Wagner military camp and killing a "huge amount" of his mercenary forces.
Prigozhin claimed that the Russian Ministry of Defense tricked Wagner and he vowed to "respond to these atrocities."
"They sneakily deceived us, trying to deprive us of the opportunity to defend our homes and instead hunt down Wagner PMC. We were ready to compromise with the Ministry of Defense to hand over our weapons and find a solution how we will continue to defend our country. But these scumbags did not calm down," Prigozhin said in a voice note posted on Telegram.
"They saw that we weren't broken and they launched strikes on our camps. A huge amount of our fighters were killed, our comrades in arms. We will make a decision about how to respond to these atrocities. The next step is ours," he continued, alleging that "they wiped out dozens."
Russia's Ministry of Defense denied the allegation in a Telegram post Friday, calling the messages and videos spreading on social networks on behalf of Prigozhin about the event "untrue" and "an informational provocation."
Prigozhin claimed that the "evil that is being carried out" by Russia's military leadership "must be stopped" following the alleged attack. "They disregard the lives of soldiers, they have forgotten the word 'justice,'" Prigozhin said in the voice recording....
By Lauren Kent and Mariya Knight
The chief of the Wagner private military group, (click here) Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Friday accused Russian military leadership of striking a Wagner military camp and killing a "huge amount" of his mercenary forces.
Prigozhin claimed that the Russian Ministry of Defense tricked Wagner and he vowed to "respond to these atrocities."
"They sneakily deceived us, trying to deprive us of the opportunity to defend our homes and instead hunt down Wagner PMC. We were ready to compromise with the Ministry of Defense to hand over our weapons and find a solution how we will continue to defend our country. But these scumbags did not calm down," Prigozhin said in a voice note posted on Telegram.
"They saw that we weren't broken and they launched strikes on our camps. A huge amount of our fighters were killed, our comrades in arms. We will make a decision about how to respond to these atrocities. The next step is ours," he continued, alleging that "they wiped out dozens."
Russia's Ministry of Defense denied the allegation in a Telegram post Friday, calling the messages and videos spreading on social networks on behalf of Prigozhin about the event "untrue" and "an informational provocation."
Prigozhin claimed that the "evil that is being carried out" by Russia's military leadership "must be stopped" following the alleged attack. "They disregard the lives of soldiers, they have forgotten the word 'justice,'" Prigozhin said in the voice recording....
What Chief Wagner was referring to is the extremely large number of dead Russians in Putin's Special Military Operation.
August 18, 2023
By Helene Cooper, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Eric Schmitt and Julian E. Barnes
The total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops (click here) killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began 18 months ago is nearing 500,000, U.S. officials said, a staggering toll as Russia assaults its next-door neighbor and tries to seize more territory....
...Russia’s military casualties, the officials said, are approaching 300,000. The number includes as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injured troops. The Russian numbers dwarf the Ukrainian figures, which the officials put at close to 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded....
By Helene Cooper, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Eric Schmitt and Julian E. Barnes
The total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops (click here) killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began 18 months ago is nearing 500,000, U.S. officials said, a staggering toll as Russia assaults its next-door neighbor and tries to seize more territory....
...Russia’s military casualties, the officials said, are approaching 300,000. The number includes as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injured troops. The Russian numbers dwarf the Ukrainian figures, which the officials put at close to 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded....
Besides the obvious genocide by Russia of Ukraine, Russia has been having a field day victimizing more Russians. President Navalny, the rightful leader of Russia, has been given even more prison time.
August 4, 2023
ByPatrick Reevell and Morgan Winsor
Russian President Vladimir Putin's (click here) most prominent opponent was sentenced Friday to an additional 19 years behind bars on extremism charges.
A Russian judge delivered the guilty verdict and sentencing in the closed-door trial against Alexey Navalny at a courtroom inside the maximum-security prison camp in Melekhovo, about 145 miles east of Moscow, where the Russian opposition leader is already serving 11 1/2 years. Russian prosecutors had requested a 20-year prison term for the latest charges, which stem from Navalny's pro-democracy campaigns against Putin's regime.
It's Navalny's fifth criminal conviction and longest prison sentence to date. All of the charges have been widely viewed as a politically motivated strategy by the Kremlin to silence its fiercest critic.
The United States subsequently called for Navalny's "immediate release," describing his latest conviction and sentencing as "an unjust conclusion to an unjust trial."
"For years, the Kremlin has attempted to silence Navalny and prevent his calls for transparency and accountability from reaching the Russian people," U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Friday. "By conducting this latest trial in secret and limiting his lawyers’ access to purported evidence, Russian authorities illustrated yet again both the baselessness of their case and the lack of due process afforded to those who dare to criticize the regime."...
There is a pattern. Speak out against Vladimir Putin and be the victim of oppression and in the case of Yevgeny Prigozhin quite possibly dead in a plane crash.
August 20, 2023
Supporters of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny (click here) around the world are marking the third anniversary of his near-fatal poisoning with demonstrations against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Dozens of protesters took to the streets in cities in Australia, Switzerland, Georgia, France, Estonia, New Zealand, and other countries on August 20 under the slogan “Putin is a Killer.”
Protesters also carried signs condemning Russia’s unprovoked 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Navalny’s supporters posted on Telegram a photograph of a man in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus region of Daghestan, holding a sign reading, “Release Navalny! No repression! No war!”
They posted a similar photo of a man holding such a sign on Red Square in Moscow.
OVD-Info, which monitors repression in Russia, reported that two people were detained in Moscow carrying signs calling for the release of political prisoners. It was not clear if those incidents were related to the Navalny protests....
And there is a Republican running for President probably hoping for the return of the NRA - Russia connection. His position is counter to that of the USA and NATO while adding permission for Russia to find justification in the number of Russians that may live in the region DeSantis questions as Ukraine. DeSantis support of ANY idea of a Russian right to genocide is Anti-American.
By Meg Kinnard
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (click here) is walking back his characterization of Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” following criticism from a number of fellow Republicans who expressed concern about the potential 2024 presidential candidate’s dismissive description of the conflict.
In excerpts of an interview with Piers Morgan set to air Thursday on Fox Nation, DeSantis said his earlier comments referenced ongoing fighting in the eastern Donbas region, as well as Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea. Ukraine’s borders are internationally recognized, including by the United Nations.
“What I’m referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I don’t think legitimately, but they had,” DeSantis said, according to excerpts. “There’s a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, that’s some difficult fighting, and that’s what I was referring to, and so it wasn’t that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it.”...
Anyone that turns the other way on genocide is not ever supposed to be in an office in the USA, especially a Trump Wannabee.
A century after his father and mother fled Russia (click here) to escape the Bolsheviks, renowned mathematician Alexey Sossinsky (click here) found history repeating itself when President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Brought up in France and the United States, Sossinsky moved to the land of his parents' birth in 1957 and carved out a distinguished academic career.
But at 85 he is now an exile once more. When Putin launched the war last year, he left with two suitcases in the middle of the night....
Brought up in France and the United States, Sossinsky moved to the land of his parents' birth in 1957 and carved out a distinguished academic career.
But at 85 he is now an exile once more. When Putin launched the war last year, he left with two suitcases in the middle of the night....
