This diaspora Russian 🤡 was a tad HORRIFIED not to find a “Putin must go” echo chamber in an emigre social media group where I lurk. 😂 This speaks VOLUMES.
“Wow, I definitely stopped by the wrong place. I fell for the group’s name [Russian Canada]. I’m a Russian speaker, live in Canada, and have Russian citizenship…What’s wrong with me then? You should change your group’s name or state in the group’s rules that this group is only for Russian Putin supporters. I would’ve kept walking. It seems that I landed amidst a clan of hyenas.”
@NinaByzantina
“Wow, I definitely stopped by the wrong place. I fell for the group’s name [Russian Canada]. I’m a Russian speaker, live in Canada, and have Russian citizenship…What’s wrong with me then? You should change your group’s name or state in the group’s rules that this group is only for Russian Putin supporters. I would’ve kept walking. It seems that I landed amidst a clan of hyenas.”
@NinaByzantina
Russian woman on social media: I’m exercising my right to vote by choosing Putin.
UK employer: You’re fired for a pro-war message! 🫠
I trust they’re being consistent and firing those “supporting war” starting with pro-Israel messages and those for every other country that’s at war now. 🤔
I also trust she sues the last pair of pants off them.
@NinaByzantina
UK employer: You’re fired for a pro-war message! 🫠
I trust they’re being consistent and firing those “supporting war” starting with pro-Israel messages and those for every other country that’s at war now. 🤔
I also trust she sues the last pair of pants off them.
@NinaByzantina
You may remember the story of a Russian fuel tanker, accompanied by a US ice breaker, aiding a desperate iced-in Alaskan town in 2012. But do you know about the dramatic Soviet rescue of over 2,000 ice-trapped belugas with classical music in 1985?
Read on.
In late 1984, thousands of beluga whales chased a key food source to shallower waters and got trapped in thick ice in the Bering Sea just outside of Chukotka, Russia (not too far from Alaska, US). With only a few ice holes left to breathe, as the temps dropped, the ice closed in. Without food or access to ice holes, the entire pod was facing a certain death. The local fishermen were the first to take note. These fishermen were initially excited about this but then realized the scale of this disaster. They tried to keep the belugas alive for weeks by crushing ice around them and feeding them fish. Despite their efforts, the mammals began to perish by the dozens.
Meanwhile, the Soviet authorities initiated a rescue mission by using the icebreaker Moskva led by Captain Kovalenko. The rescue mission came to be known as Operation Beluga (“Belukha” in Russian). Arriving in the area in early February, the ice was so thick that the Captain almost abandoned his mission. But seeing the scale of the tragedy, he persisted. At first, the icebreaker cut large pools to ensure that the belugas could continue breathing and eating.
But a big problem remained: how could the ship lure the whales to safety when they were terrified of a giant, 400-foot-long ship and its noisy propellers?
Then Moskva’s crew had a brilliant idea.
Music!
Thus, they began experimenting: Soviet pop music, classical, you name it.
Remarkably, the belugas proved to be fans of classical music and started to follow the ship. Other reports, however, mentioned their penchant for Soviet pop music instead. Be that as it may, the belugas moved slowly by following music. The Captain noted:
«Our tactic is this: We back up, then advance again into the ice, make a passage, and wait. We repeat this several times. The belugas start to ‘understand’ our intentions and follow the icebreaker. Thus, we move kilometer by kilometer.»
Slow and steady, all the remaining trapped belugas eventually made it to the open sea.
The estimates for the cost of this operation range from $150,000 to $200,000 in today’s money.
Sources: RBTH, Whale Scientists, Russia7, NYT.
@NinaByzantina
Read on.
In late 1984, thousands of beluga whales chased a key food source to shallower waters and got trapped in thick ice in the Bering Sea just outside of Chukotka, Russia (not too far from Alaska, US). With only a few ice holes left to breathe, as the temps dropped, the ice closed in. Without food or access to ice holes, the entire pod was facing a certain death. The local fishermen were the first to take note. These fishermen were initially excited about this but then realized the scale of this disaster. They tried to keep the belugas alive for weeks by crushing ice around them and feeding them fish. Despite their efforts, the mammals began to perish by the dozens.
Meanwhile, the Soviet authorities initiated a rescue mission by using the icebreaker Moskva led by Captain Kovalenko. The rescue mission came to be known as Operation Beluga (“Belukha” in Russian). Arriving in the area in early February, the ice was so thick that the Captain almost abandoned his mission. But seeing the scale of the tragedy, he persisted. At first, the icebreaker cut large pools to ensure that the belugas could continue breathing and eating.
But a big problem remained: how could the ship lure the whales to safety when they were terrified of a giant, 400-foot-long ship and its noisy propellers?
Then Moskva’s crew had a brilliant idea.
Music!
Thus, they began experimenting: Soviet pop music, classical, you name it.
Remarkably, the belugas proved to be fans of classical music and started to follow the ship. Other reports, however, mentioned their penchant for Soviet pop music instead. Be that as it may, the belugas moved slowly by following music. The Captain noted:
«Our tactic is this: We back up, then advance again into the ice, make a passage, and wait. We repeat this several times. The belugas start to ‘understand’ our intentions and follow the icebreaker. Thus, we move kilometer by kilometer.»
Slow and steady, all the remaining trapped belugas eventually made it to the open sea.
The estimates for the cost of this operation range from $150,000 to $200,000 in today’s money.
Sources: RBTH, Whale Scientists, Russia7, NYT.
@NinaByzantina
Now that we've had the time to process the joy (horror—for some ) of Putin's reelection in Russia, let's talk about it in 5 minutes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xucPATjOavg
@NinaByzantina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xucPATjOavg
@NinaByzantina
YouTube
PUTIN FOREVER? | The Winter Latina Show | Episode 8
Was the 2024 Russian presidential election real or a sham? What can we expect from Putin's fifth term?
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POV: When your babysitter is a Russian man, and you, the exhausted mom, are a ginormous bear.
🐻
@NinaByzantina
🐻
@NinaByzantina
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The luckiest man in Krasnogorsk 🇷🇺 was evidently late for the concert and didn’t get in since the terrorists were already there:
“Holy crap, they’re running around in there with machine guns!!”
The video is captioned with: “Oh my God, my curiosity almost killed me.”
@NinaByzantina
“Holy crap, they’re running around in there with machine guns!!”
The video is captioned with: “Oh my God, my curiosity almost killed me.”
@NinaByzantina
Like clockwork and just like Nord Stream, they try hard to reframe obviously harmful acts of terrorism (industrial and human) as being beneficial to the Kremlin. We should never underestimate how disgusting the mainstream media can get.
@NinaByzantina
@NinaByzantina
NATO’s horrific devastation of the former Yugoslavia at the heart of Europe that began 25 years ago on this day was a watershed moment for the unchecked unipolar hegemony. The latter has since unleashed chaos outside of the “Euro-Atlantic consensus,” but now appears to be in decline.
It was also the first major sign that per this “rules-based order,” Russia had to submit unconditionally or be challenged. And, weak though it was after a decade of West-backed neoliberal hell, Russia accepted the challenge. So its then-PM Primakov turned his plane around mid-flight over the Atlantic and rejected the scheduled meetings in Washington—a small, but meaningful act of protest that’s now famous.
There have been other attempts at cooperation and establishing a more equitable world like Putin’s 2007 Munich Speech that the “Euro-Atlantic community” ultimately rejected. The unipolar Borg was too busy gobbling up Iraq, going onto Libya, Syria, Ukraine, with other countries in between. And now we are where we are. And we remember that the former Yugoslavia was the first sacrificial lamb in this framework.
@NinaByzantina
It was also the first major sign that per this “rules-based order,” Russia had to submit unconditionally or be challenged. And, weak though it was after a decade of West-backed neoliberal hell, Russia accepted the challenge. So its then-PM Primakov turned his plane around mid-flight over the Atlantic and rejected the scheduled meetings in Washington—a small, but meaningful act of protest that’s now famous.
There have been other attempts at cooperation and establishing a more equitable world like Putin’s 2007 Munich Speech that the “Euro-Atlantic community” ultimately rejected. The unipolar Borg was too busy gobbling up Iraq, going onto Libya, Syria, Ukraine, with other countries in between. And now we are where we are. And we remember that the former Yugoslavia was the first sacrificial lamb in this framework.
@NinaByzantina
So let me get this straight. On the one hand, Macron has been saber-rattling about fighting Russians in Ukraine for weeks. On the other, he simultaneously wants to cooperate with Russia in fighting terrorism. What a confusing foreign policy! No wonder the French invented the term “double entendre.” 😜
@NinaByzantina
@NinaByzantina
In the past few years, Kiev shot itself in the foot by turning Ukraine from an important gas transit country to a NATO weapons testing site on the bodies of its own people.
One of its biggest cash cows was a transit pipe carrying Russian gas through its territory to Europe which continues to rely on Russian energy despite the self-defeating sanctions. In the past, Kiev even appropriated gas meant for the EU countries for itself. Now, its contract with Gazprom is about to expire and will not be renewed.
But countries like Hungary don't need Ukraine because they can get Russian gas via TurkStream in Europe.
Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto also stated:
"We do not need transit through Ukraine."
“I think it was an excellent decision on our part to build the TurkStream together with Serbia, Türkiye, and Bulgaria. Now it ensures the security of our gas supplies.”
Source: RT.
@NinaByzantina
One of its biggest cash cows was a transit pipe carrying Russian gas through its territory to Europe which continues to rely on Russian energy despite the self-defeating sanctions. In the past, Kiev even appropriated gas meant for the EU countries for itself. Now, its contract with Gazprom is about to expire and will not be renewed.
But countries like Hungary don't need Ukraine because they can get Russian gas via TurkStream in Europe.
Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto also stated:
"We do not need transit through Ukraine."
“I think it was an excellent decision on our part to build the TurkStream together with Serbia, Türkiye, and Bulgaria. Now it ensures the security of our gas supplies.”
Source: RT.
@NinaByzantina
Insanely revealing language from CNN: “Washington ALLOWED the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.” 🤦🏻♀️
Dude, they abstained. There’s no UN Security Council King to snap his fingers and allow the lowly peasants to carry on last I checked.
The UNSC permanent members’ power is supposed to be equal. Obviously, permanent UNSC members’ veto power and even abstentions impact such resolutions. Hence the often-glacial speed at which the UN operates, as the case of Gaza illustrates. But you likely won’t see the media talking about China or Russia singlehandedly “allowing” a resolution to pass because they’re not viewed as the supreme global overlord.
@NinaByzantina
Dude, they abstained. There’s no UN Security Council King to snap his fingers and allow the lowly peasants to carry on last I checked.
The UNSC permanent members’ power is supposed to be equal. Obviously, permanent UNSC members’ veto power and even abstentions impact such resolutions. Hence the often-glacial speed at which the UN operates, as the case of Gaza illustrates. But you likely won’t see the media talking about China or Russia singlehandedly “allowing” a resolution to pass because they’re not viewed as the supreme global overlord.
@NinaByzantina
Ukraine is alleged to have been training militants, including terrorists, in the Middle East, according to the head of Russia’s FSB intelligence, Aleksandr Bortnikov, for quite some time. One example of the work by Ukraine’s intelligence, in his view, is a large number of people of various nationalities fighting on the side of the Kiev regime, including radical “Islamists” and mercenaries recruited by Kiev to conduct military operations directly on the Russian border.
Bortnikov gave a fascinating, revealing, and ominous (read till the end) interview to the Russian media about the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Russia. Some of Bortnikov’s statements made headlines today. You can look it up yourself. But I translated a bit more of this publicly available interview that did not make it into the Western media.
The opinions published here may not reflect the opinions of the translator, i.e. yours truly.
Regarding those who organized, or contributed to, the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack, Bortnikov stated:
«Since [the terrorists] were fleeing, this means that they still intended to leave. And I’ll let you in on a little secret: the other [Ukrainian] side wanted to ‘greet them as heroes.’ For now, this statement will remain exactly as I’ve said it. Let's see to what exactly the scoundrels’ statements who are now under investigation lead.»
He elaborated on Ukraine’s alleged role:
«What needs to be done in order to prove one’s worth [to the West]? It is necessary to carry out sabotage and terrorist acts in the [enemy’s] rear…»
Here, Bortnikov mentioned drone attacks and raids on the Russian border towns as the most obvious examples.
When asked about whether the U.S. intelligence services actually provided Russia with any additional information as the Western media claims—beyond publishing a warning to their own citizens to avoid specific public places in early March 2024—Bortnikov diplomatically clarified:
«The information [that the Americans gave us] was very general….We reacted to this information accordingly…Thanks, of course, for what they told us, but, nevertheless, we need more specifics.»
He was then asked whether Kirill Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and other leaders of Ukraine’s special services are legitimate targets, Bortnikov emphasized the fact that everyone who commits crimes against the Russian Federation and Russian citizens is considered legitimate targets.
«Why are they still alive?»
«Everything is yet to come!» - Bortnikov smiled.
Sources: TASS, Rossia, Reporter.
@NinaByzantina
Bortnikov gave a fascinating, revealing, and ominous (read till the end) interview to the Russian media about the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Russia. Some of Bortnikov’s statements made headlines today. You can look it up yourself. But I translated a bit more of this publicly available interview that did not make it into the Western media.
The opinions published here may not reflect the opinions of the translator, i.e. yours truly.
Regarding those who organized, or contributed to, the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack, Bortnikov stated:
«Since [the terrorists] were fleeing, this means that they still intended to leave. And I’ll let you in on a little secret: the other [Ukrainian] side wanted to ‘greet them as heroes.’ For now, this statement will remain exactly as I’ve said it. Let's see to what exactly the scoundrels’ statements who are now under investigation lead.»
He elaborated on Ukraine’s alleged role:
«What needs to be done in order to prove one’s worth [to the West]? It is necessary to carry out sabotage and terrorist acts in the [enemy’s] rear…»
Here, Bortnikov mentioned drone attacks and raids on the Russian border towns as the most obvious examples.
When asked about whether the U.S. intelligence services actually provided Russia with any additional information as the Western media claims—beyond publishing a warning to their own citizens to avoid specific public places in early March 2024—Bortnikov diplomatically clarified:
«The information [that the Americans gave us] was very general….We reacted to this information accordingly…Thanks, of course, for what they told us, but, nevertheless, we need more specifics.»
He was then asked whether Kirill Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and other leaders of Ukraine’s special services are legitimate targets, Bortnikov emphasized the fact that everyone who commits crimes against the Russian Federation and Russian citizens is considered legitimate targets.
«Why are they still alive?»
«Everything is yet to come!» - Bortnikov smiled.
Sources: TASS, Rossia, Reporter.
@NinaByzantina
Aristotele Fioravanti, a ~60-year-old Italian architect, arrived in Moscow on March 26, 1475, about half a millennium ago. His mission was to fix the disaster that occurred at the Moscow Kremlin in the previous year: the collapse of the new Dormition (Assumption) Cathedral that was on its way to completion. Before that, the original structure was built in 1326.
The key problem, an issue with limestone, was diagnosed by Pskov-area craftsmen. But they did not take it upon themselves to build a new cathedral. As a result, Grand Prince Ivan III sent an envoy to Italy in search of a suitable master.
Fioravanti and his team worked fast by late medieval standards: they completed the cathedral in 1477, whereas interior decorations took another two years to finalize.
The cathedral is an oldest fully preserved structure in Moscow. It served as a place for royal coronations until 1896 and a burial ground for Orthodox patriarchs and metropolitans. Today, it is part of the Kremlin museums.
@NinaByzantina
The key problem, an issue with limestone, was diagnosed by Pskov-area craftsmen. But they did not take it upon themselves to build a new cathedral. As a result, Grand Prince Ivan III sent an envoy to Italy in search of a suitable master.
Fioravanti and his team worked fast by late medieval standards: they completed the cathedral in 1477, whereas interior decorations took another two years to finalize.
The cathedral is an oldest fully preserved structure in Moscow. It served as a place for royal coronations until 1896 and a burial ground for Orthodox patriarchs and metropolitans. Today, it is part of the Kremlin museums.
@NinaByzantina