Outrageous cynicism

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with National Public Radio, “the US is actively seeking confirmation of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's (placed on the terrorist and extremist register) reported death. If it's confirmed, it is a terrible tragedy.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “his death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built. Russia is responsible for this."

The death of a person is always a tragedy.

One could wonder why the White House and the State Department found the death of a Russian citizen in a Russian correctional facility much more important and horrific than the death of an US citizen, journalist Gonzalo Lira, who was tortured to death in a Ukrainian prison?

Instead of making sweeping accusations, they (US officials) should have shown restraint and waited for the official results of the forensic medical examination.

🇷🇺🇮🇳 On February 15, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received Ambassador of India to Russia Shri Pavan Kapoor who is completing his ambassadorial mission.

Sergey Lavrov thanked Shri Pavan Kapoor for his efforts to develop Russian-Indian relations and awarded him the Foreign Ministry’s Honorary Badge ‘For Contributing to International Cooperation.’

🤝 The officials also discussed a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation.

#RussiaIndia

The way the Western leaders, politicians and media have responded to the news of Alexei Navalny's death has once again revealed their hypocrisy, cynicism and lack of principles. This is the “blame Russia first” approach in action. With a prepped script ready for every situation.

Let's look at the timeline. 👇

Today at approximately 2:19 pm, the website operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area reported the death of convict Alexey Navalny in Prison Colony No. 3.

Literally 15 minutes later, a flurry of carbon-copy accusations poured in:

- 2:35 pm, Tobias Billström: “Terrible news about Navalny. If the information about his death in a Russian prison is confirmed, it will be another heinous crime by Putin's regime”;
- 2:35 pm, Barth Eide: “I’m deeply saddened by the news of Navalny's death. The Russian government bears a heavy burden of responsibility for this”;
- 2:41 pm, Edgars Rinkevics: “Whatever your thoughts about Alexei Navalny as a politician, he was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin. That's a fact and that is something one should know about the true nature of Russia's current regime”;
- 2:50 pm, Jan Lipavsky: “Russia still treats foreign policy issues the same way it treats its citizens. It has turned into a violent state that kills people who dream of a beautiful, better future, such as Nemtsov and now Navalny, who was imprisoned and tortured to death”;
- 2:51 pm, Stéphane Séjourné: “Navalny paid with his life to fight against a system of oppression. His death in a penal colony reminds us of the realities of Vladimir Putin's regime”;
- 3:02 pm, Charles Michel: “The EU holds the Russian regime solely responsible for this tragic death”;
- 3:10 pm Kiev regime kingpin Zelensky: “Clearly, he was killed by Putin, like thousands of others who were tortured to death”;
- 3:16 pm (media), 4:50 pm (social media), Jens Stoltenberg: “We need to establish all the facts, and Russia needs to answer all the questions”;
- 3:20 pm, Mark Rutte: “Navalny's death once again bears witness to the immense brutality of the Russian regime”;
- 3:30 pm, Maia Sandu: “Navalny's death in a Russian prison is a reminder of the regime's egregious suppression of dissent”;
- 3:35 pm, Annalena Baerbock: “Like no one else, Alexei Navalny was a symbol for a free and democratic Russia. That is precisely the reason he had to die”;
- 3:43 pm, Ursula von der Leyen: “A grim reminder of what Putin and his regime are all about”;
- 3:49 pm, Ulf Kristersson: “The Russian authorities, and President Putin personally, are responsible for Alexei Navalny no longer being alive”;
- 3:14 pm, Olaf Scholz: “He has now paid for this courage with his life. This terrible news demonstrates once again how Russia has changed and what kind of regime is in power in Moscow”;
- 3:25 pm, Antony Blinken: “Beyond that, his death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built. Russia bears responsibility for this”;
- 5:28 pm, Emmanuel Macron: “In today's Russia, free spirits are put in the Gulag and sentenced to death”;

Within a short period of time, two hours as a matter of fact (starting at 2:19 pm), Western politicians and their subordinate media managed, it appears, to get the results of a forensic examination that has yet to take place, to investigate, to indict Moscow and to render a verdict.

There is no explanation other than to assume these responses were prepared in advance.

Perhaps we could believe this unbelievable, seemingly miraculous swiftness had the whole world not witnessed the months-long, toothless “investigation” into the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, which fizzled out eventually.

What distinguishes all these statements is the glaring absence of even a suggestion of perhaps... waiting until the results of a forensic examination and investigation are available.

Embassy Comment

We are rather surprised to see such an attention by Jonathan Eyal to the fate of the criminal, died in prison (article “Why death of opposition leader is politically convenient for Putin”, published in the Straits Times on February 18, 2024). Of course, death is always a tragedy, but it became tragedy twice if politicized. If Jonathan Eyal is so sensitive with the fate of prisoners, why did not he pay any attention to the fate of Mr. Gonsalo Lira, US citizen, who died recently in Ukrainian jail under very suspicious circumstances (disclaimer - he was a sharp critic of Zelensky regime) or 65 Ukrainian prisoners-of-war, killed by their own armed forces by downing IL-76 aircraft this January. The US mum on this, so did Mr Eyal.

They do not mum on Navalny’s death with the wide range of accusation of Russia coming from western capitals just hours after the news on Navalny's death were published.

What we see is another political campaign against Russia and it is regrettable, that Mr Eyal and the ST are a part of it. Such campaigns are groundless and based on assumptions or "highly likely" narrative that are considered equal to evidence by the masters of "rules-based order". It is not about the law, it is about publicity. And thus we see allegations in Mr Eyal article that opposition leaders in Russia are killed or poisoned in weird circumstances. It is just another iteration of "highly likely" narratives, that the author is very exposed to, living in the UK. Critical thinking is not in fashion there nowadays.

👉 Duplicity of the Western MSM led by US outlets condensed in one picture: double standards, hypocrisy, cynicism and lack of principles.

🎙Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova on #Ukraine (excerpts from the briefing of 14 February 2024):

💬February 18 will mark ten years since what turned out to be a turning point in the #Euromaidan wave of unrest in Kiev.

On this day in 2014, the ostensibly peaceful anti-government demonstrations rapidly devolved into massive violence. The headquarters of the ruling Party of Regions was seized and burned down. Two of its employees were killed. The rioters ruthlessly attacked the Berkut police unit and other law enforcement forces, which refrained from using weapons in response. The Western masterminds and orchestrators of those “rallies” (atrocities in fact) urged the rioters on, causing further escalation. Meanwhile, the collective West leaders were openly interfering in Ukraine’s internal affairs and threatening the country’s government, literally saying that if the president or the security forces used weapons to restore constitutional order, the state of Ukraine and all decision-makers would be punished.

Twenty-nine Maidan rioters and 11 law enforcement officers were killed and hundreds were injured in just two days of clashes, February 18 and 19, 2014.

In essence, these events launched the escalation of violence, which subsequently claimed many thousands of lives and maimed millions of lives. Ukraine was rapidly heading for a disaster, a brutal anti-constitutional putsch/coup. All these years, the Kiev regime has been trying to distort the truth about those terrible events.

February 12 was another recent memorable date. Exactly nine years ago in Minsk, thanks to the titanic efforts of the international mediators – Russia, Germany, and France – an agreement was reached on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, intended to end the civil war triggered by the February 18, 2014 events. I am referring to the civil war that the Kiev regime unleashed against its own population in south-eastern Ukraine, sending tanks to suppress the people who stood up to defend constitutional order.

That package of documents, the Package of Measures, was signed by all parties to the conflict including Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk. The document was approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2202, becoming the sole framework for an intra-Ukrainian settlement and an integral part of international law.

The Package of Measures was a unique opportunity to preserve peace in Ukraine, but the Kiev regime missed it.

Kiev did not even consider starting to fulfill the agreements reached, deliberately ignoring its own commitments. The key condition for ensuring a comprehensive, long-term, and sustainable settlement was the establishment of direct and mutually respectful dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk. But both Petr Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky categorically rejected the very idea of direct negotiation with those who represented the interests of Donbass. They continued to refer to those people as their citizens and yet refused to talk to them. Apparently, they did not even think of the region’s population as human beings, openly calling them “scum” and “species.”

That the clique in Kiev was sabotaging the Package of Measures never evoked a proper response from the deals’ European guarantors, Germany and France, although we have repeatedly brought the Kiev regime’s inaction to their attention. It did not emerge until later that Berlin and Paris did this deliberately. They had no interest in a peaceful settlement; they were preparing the Ukrainian army for an armed struggle against Russia. Ex-Chancellor Merkel and former President Hollande, who used to be proud of their co-authorship of the Package of Measures and their co-sponsorship of the Minsk process, announced this without a shadow of regret. So, they deceived the whole world – everyone who craved peace in Ukraine, their citizens who voted for them, and the parties they represented, also because they played the role of peacekeepers, when in fact, they had no intention of being peacekeepers.
They deceived the UN Security Council.

They never mentioned their plan to never implement the Package of Measures when it was presented and became a binding document before the eyes of the entire international community. Which was forgery.

Seeing Kiev’s preparations for the forceful suppression of Donbass, which would have led to numerous casualties among civilians, Russia could not stand back and watch. We did not have any other choice but to begin the special military operation to protect civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. We could not abandon Russian people, Russian-speaking people of various ethnic backgrounds and beliefs, who associated themselves with Russian history and culture, to be butchered by Banderite cutthroats. They were people who wanted peace but who were given not simply a war, but the Kiev regime’s literal attempt to annihilate them.

The Ukrainian neo-Nazis continue their barbaric, indiscriminate shelling of civilians in these Russian regions. According to the DPR’s authorities, 58 people have been killed, 204 injured, and 390 houses have been destroyed since the beginning of the year.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are also using drones. Thus, on February 9, 2024, the Russian air defence forces shot down 19 drones in four Russian regions and above the Black Sea. On February 11, 2024, 33 Ukrainian drones were destroyed in the Kherson Region.

Meanwhile, the West continues to overlook the terrorist actions of the Kiev junta, turning a blind eye to all their criminal activities and the threats to commit them. Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, Mikhail Fyodorov, attracted attention by making a brigandish statement that resembled the rhetoric of Al-Qaeda and ISIS (organisations that are banned and globally recognised as terrorist). He went as far as promising major explosions throughout Russia.

I have one request to the representatives of the Kiev regime who make such statements. Please refrain from attempting to disavow your words, claiming they are fake, or that you did not make such statements. The reality is, you did utter those words. We observe and remember all this. Our law enforcement agencies are doing the same; a topic I will address shortly.

There should be no illusions that the Kiev regime will escape accountability for such statements and malevolent actions. Russian law enforcement agencies are closely monitoring and documenting all these incidents. Everyone complicit to terrorist attacks will inevitably be brought to justice. Do you want examples? We have them.
The Russian courts continue to sentence Ukrainian militants who committed felonies against civilians, based on proof collected by the Russian Investigative Committee.
Thirty three Ukrainian neo-Nazis were sentenced to 27-29 years in prison for committing crimes against civilians in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Ukrainian militant Maxim Chernushenko was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of two residents of Mariupol in March 2022.

No criminals will be able to escape punishment. They will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Today, on February 14, Brussels will host a regular, 19th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein group). Its agenda will focus on providing Kiev with air defence systems, munitions, and other weapons that the Ukrainian Armed Forces need.

Even the United States cannot decide whether they should continue sponsoring the Kiev regime. The US’s desire to shuffle off the unbearable burden of funding Zelensky on to Europe is becoming clearer. First of all, to Germany, which is the leader in this sense. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Washington on February 9, 2024, to receive instructions. It was he who emotionally urged the Western countries to do everything in their power to prevent Russia from winning.

Let me remind you that their initial goal was to inflict a strategic defeat upon Russia. However, the rhetoric has shifted, and now they say that they cannot let Russia win.

I must disappoint them; they have failed to fulfill both of their threats. We will persevere.

In his remarks, Olaf Scholz mostly noted that, in the event of a Russian victory, the Golden Billion run the risk of finding itself in an unpredictable world, one that would be much more dangerous than during the Cold War era.

He should have been more straightforward: it will prove more dangerous than during World War II. The thing is that neo-Nazism is reincarnating in Germany. We can see members of the German Government talk about their Nazi ancestors with great respect. We can see how neo-Nazism is staging a comeback all over Germany. They are reprinting Adolf Hitler’s most fiendish legacy called Hitler, Mein Kampf: A Critical Assessment. I will discuss this in greater detail today.

It may be surprising that, despite the corrupt and criminal nature of the Kiev junta, European politicians are saying that Ukraine is allegedly saving Europe from Russia. In reality, the regime of Vladimir Zelensky resembles a stone tied to the neck of a drowning person. It is dragging the European Union to the bottom and devastating a formerly thriving and prosperous territory. European functionaries do not care what their own citizens (who finance Ukrainian elites, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the personal expenses of Ms Zelensky out of their own pocket) think of this. They disregard the disintegrating economy of a formerly thriving and flourishing Europe, and they also overlook the deteriorating social situation there. It is hardly surprising that against such a backdrop hard-working farmers are protesting in EU countries. They do not get their hard-earned money from speculative stock trading, securities machinations, or from the creation of new “bubbles” on real estate and digital technologies markets. No, the farmers provide agricultural produce and food that keeps everyone alive. Today, they are losing profits as cheap Ukrainian foodstuffs are being imported. They face skyrocketing fuel and energy expenses, due to the EU’s criminal energy policy with regard to its own citizens. They are counting their losses brought on by tax hikes. Where are these taxes heading? They are spending these tax proceeds on carnage managed by Vladimir Zelensky, whom the United States has installed.

His regime continues to show its true face; in reality, this is just a snout. On February 11, 2024, Maxim Ostapenko, Director of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra Museum-Reserve, voiced his intention to swap the remains of the Russian Empire’s Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, a reformist, for Ukrainian prisoners of war. Stolypin was killed in Kiev in 1911 and buried at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra; this resting place is now turning into a museum. This is not the first time when Ukrainian nationalists are trying to perform a Danse Macabre.

The media has published multiple stories showing how they sell holy relics and deliver them abroad. They have now come up with a new initiative. Earlier, they suggested using the remains of General Nikolai Vatutin, who liberated Kiev (who is buried in central Kiev) and legendary Soviet secret agent Nikolai Kuznetsov (whose grave is in Lvov) for these purposes.

That nothing is sacred for Vladimir Zelensky’s regime is also further evidenced by the ongoing barbaric actions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It has recently become known that on the night of January 22, Kiev neo-Nazis brutally beat Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny. During his life, the metropolitan has actively been involved in charitable activities. Since the 1990s, hundreds of orphans and children deprived of care have been saved thanks to his efforts. For this, he was awarded the Hero of Ukraine title in 2008 (we have talked about this). The Vladimir Zelensky regime is offended by the fact that the metropolitan will not renounce his faith and instead remains devoted to the canonical church, which the Kiev regime is shamelessly and so zealously destroying. Last year, a criminal case was opened against him, accusing him of allegedly inciting interreligious hatred.

The story is again about children. For some reason, anything related to children, attempts to save them and protect from destructive logic, evokes such a reaction from the Kiev regime. Or literally without reason. Why? Because for the Kiev regime, children are also a commodity.

We call on relevant international organisations to strongly condemn the ongoing inhumane repressions of the Kiev regime against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and force it to stop this arbitrariness.

The above facts confirm the relevance of the tasks of the special military operation to denazify and demilitarise Ukraine and eliminate threats emanating from its territory. These objectives, as the Russian leadership has stated, will definitely be fulfilled.

🔗https://vk.cc/cuJ8pC

#Maidan10years

🇷🇺 #Avdeevka (~31,75 sq km) has been liberated from the Ukrainian nationalists and neo-Nazis.

This will allow to move the frontline further away from #Donetsk and decrease the number of terrorist attacks against its residents.

Full Russian MoD statement is available here: https://t.me/mod_russia_en/12444