Tankie source!

The scum that operates that website needs to be deported to russia (after having their citizenship cancelled).

I agree on all counts.

I am just pointing out that working for Press TV is just as bad what Google does.

While I wouldn’t trust Google on anything, the “journalist” cited in this article worked for Iranian foreign propaganda outlet Press TV. Even though what Google did was wrong, that’s a massive red flag. Working for Press TV is no different than Google working for the American far right oligarch regime.

Tankie / red fash source!

If workers went on strike in China, Russia or Venezuela they would be calling it a CIA op!

Funny, to see a member of the corrupt US oligarchy talk about corruption in other countries.

Don’t promote tankie sources, they don’t really care about the working class. Notice how the article excludes China (or say Cuba or Venezuela).

This is a tankie source.

Why the hell was Israel allowed to participate? It’s not like there is any sort of ecoconomic loss from kicking Israel out.

A menace to all liberal, democratic societies that value human rights and believe in real market competition that brings down prices and forces companies to focus on the needs of their customers and workforce (so not fake American-style competition rhetoric).

Corrupt GLP-1 addicted motherfuckers!

I used to always defend the US (even before 2014) on pragmatic grounds and due to the history of the 20th century. Americans tend to be slow, but they eventually do the right thing. They’ve done a lot of bad, but unlike russia and China they’ve also had genuine successes in their foreign policy such as promoting long-term democracy and freedom in Germany, Japan, Poland, the Baltic nations.

After they recognize russia’s annextion of Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk oblasts, they are de facto on par with Nicaragua, Cuba or North Korea as far as I am concerned.

And this is not merely a matter of far right Americans, the American centre-right (both party elites and the vast majority of their supporters, albeit not all) is very much responsible too. Vast majority of centre-right Americans (I’ve lived there for several, and I have close centre-right friends) are too well off to support true anti-corruption measures, the type that would take down many of the oligarchs that are the nexus of chauvinistic propaganda and corruption that enabled Trump. One example from my time in the US was Obama deciding to completely avoid any anti-crime measures in the financial industry in 2008 (a unique, historical opportunity).

And that’s why they are sending thousands of their citizens to help the russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine.

A true vanguard against imperialism!

That’s fair.

enough material for russian propaganda to legitimate further acts of war.

You should watch some russian propaganda. They already show “news” pieces about how their nukes can reach London and other European cities. That ship has sailed.

I agree with you on all the points that you mentioned (with the exception of “people seeking political asylum”, with some qualifiers), however, I think you misunderstand the mentality of the overwhelming majority of russians who support genocidal imperialism.

Remember that when WW2 began, the russians collaborated with the Nazis to split up Europe. To this day, even allegedly liberal russians (who publicly oppose the full scale invasion) don’t really recognize this. They still think that people believe their victim-hood narratives and don’t see them for who they really are. This is a key point in understanding russian mentality and finding effective solutions to dealing with them.

These measures you describe are fundamentally carrots. There is nothing in what you’re saying that would affect the calculus of any russian. From the poorer ones in the provinces, to the rich professionals in Moscow to the leadership and oligarchs. The “costs” inherent to your proposals do not represent a risk of loss to change their behaviour.

You mention fighting fire with fire. I am not calling for a pointless suicide march. I am calling for a sober approach to truly raising the costs for all russians.

The first point is recognizing that russia is a continental empire that is currently occupying many independent nation and I am not about Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The list is much longer.

You need the strike the underbelly of the their colonial empire. Provide freedom fighters in countries like Chechnya with monetary and financial support, so the population at large feels that they have a chance to get rid of the russians. Provide them with weapons (at least manpads) so they can take down russian planes. Intel so they can utilize senior collaborators like Kadyrov.

It’s not only about Chechnya and Dagestan, but Buryatyi, Komi Republic, Yukutia…

Utilize the children of senior leadership and oligarchs when they are on vacation in Dubai or the Maldives.

Provide financial support for developing the language and culture of occupied peoples. Show them that they have a chance.

I strongly disagree with providing “political asylum” to ethnic russians (with some exceptions for individuals truly opposed to imperialism).

Look at Vladimir Kara-Murza, the darling of the west, who was freed in a prison exchange.

Let’s see, what does he think about russian imperialism:

“I spoke with a colleague who works extensively with prisoners of war on both sides. So she had spoken a lot with Ukrainian prisoners of war who had been released from Russia, and with Russian prisoners of war who are still in Ukraine. And she told me there’s another reason why Russian Defense Ministry recruits so many representatives of these national minorities — because, allegedly, they say it’s psychologically really difficult for Russians to kill Ukrainians. Because it is… Because we are the same… We are the same, these are very closely related peoples, as everyone knows. We have almost the same language, the same religion, centuries and centuries of shared history… But if it’s someone who comes from another culture, allegedly, it’s easier. That’s what this colleague told me yesterday. I had never thought of it that way. For me, it was mostly about economic reasons, but since she told me that yesterday, I’ve started thinking about that too.”

Same fucking bullshit about “same people” and some racism on top.

And this is Vladimir Kara-Murza, can you imagine what goes through the head of the average russian?

And appeasing them has not led to war?

If they make small incursions into the Baltic nations, would you also support appeasement and enabling such actions?

The reason I ask is that I have close friends living in the central EU and they’ve definitely mentioned the presence of an attitude of cowardice among certain people “let them have the Baltics, they probably won’t get to us”.

What are those economic interests? What is the number? What is it as a percentage of annual EU GDP?

And yet the Europeans are too cowardly to launch sabotage programs against the russians without US backing.

That being said, respect to Poland and the Baltic nations for taking a sober understanding of what the russians are like.

Merkel and Schroeder are some of the biggest enabler of russian genocidal imperialism in recent years.

“First, they went after the anti-war voices. Now there are none left, and the repressive machine cannot be stopped,” said the Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann.

…

Schulmann describes the divide as a struggle between two rival camps – the veteran propagandists tightly bound to the defence ministry and the Kremlin, known as the “loyalists”, and the sprawling grassroots movement of ultranationalist war supporters known as the “militarists” or Z-bloggers, after the letter that has become a symbol of the invasion.

I wouldn’t trust Schulmann, like most russian “liberals” they always have excuses for the behaviour of their society:

I continue to think that they started the war by mistake, based on incorrect information. This happens with autocracies: an information bubble forms, they live in it, they encourage loyalty over competence, good news is brought to the boss and he thinks that now is the right time to do Crimea 2.0, only even bigger and better, with a mighty strike on foreign territory [Donbas and Crimea is not foreign territory?] .

This was from 2024, 10 years after the russian annexation of Crimea, the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Schulmann, being the russian that she is, doesn’t even consider the annexation of Crimea and invasion of Donbas as war.

And who the fuck is “they”? 85% of russians (with adjustments for preference falsification!) supported the annexation of Crimea and 65% of russians (at minimum, as per researchers, the real number is higher, even with preference falsification adjustments) supported the full scale invasion of Ukraine.

1.5 million Ukrainians having to leave the russian occupied parts of Donbas (including my family) and Crimea is no big deal for the russian “liberal” Ekaterina Schulmann.

This is what many Westerners don’t understand; if this is the attitude of an allegedly opposition minded russian, can you imagine what goes through the head of the median russian?

China and russia should foot the bill.

Let’s hope when one day Ivanishvili gets what he deserves and isn’t able to run away to Moscow.

I have not, no.

I hope you and your family end up in a russian internment camp!