Hello everyone!
I am Anastasia Bryukhanova — and we are launching daily news.
They’ll be released on a new channel, so don’t forget to subscribe.
And today, while Maxim is away, we are here with Ekaterina Voropay.
Today we’re discussing:
Lavrov on Hitler’s “jewish ancestry”: Israelites shocked.
About the unfortunate consequences of ignorance and rudeness of Russian authorities.
Frontline news and the map of the war: new victims among civilians in Ukraine.
In Russia, factories keep exploding under mysterious consequences.
This time weird stuff happened in Perm.
Oleg Tinkov complains that he was forced to give up his Russian assets for nothing.
Yerevan is protesting again: Armenians demand the resignation of the Prime Minister over a possible capitulation in Karabakh.
And other news. Let’s begin.
Two days ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov gave an interview to the italian TV company Mediaset.
The whole interview was made of questionable and false statements: about nazi racial theory being officially supported in Ukraine;
about Vagner mercenaries having nothing to do with the Russian Federation; About AFU shooting their own citizens evacuating from Kramatorsk.
But the biggest response was caused by Lavrov’s words about Hitler’s jewish ancestry.
If I remember correctly, correcty me if i'm wrong, but I think Hitler too had Jewish blood.
It means absolutely nothing and we have long heard the wise Jewish people who say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews.
A family always has a black sheep, as we say.
In Israel, the idea of Hitler having semitic ancestry is not accepted, to put it lightly,
so immediately after the publication of the interview, the Russian ambassador was summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel
to explain the official standing of Russia on the subject.
Also, several Israeli ministers reminded Lavrov that the hypothesis that Hitler was a jew was debunked by historians many years ago.
Today it only lives on tabloid newspapers and in words of some outright anti-semites, who insist on portraying Holocaust as part of the internal quarrel between Jews.
The chairman of the Israeli national Holocaust memorial “Yad va-Shem” Dani Dayan
even accused Lavrov in “propaganda of invertion of the Holocaust and turning victims into criminals”.
Israel is the only developed democratic country that, since 2014, never imposed any kind of sanctions on Russia.
Surely, israeli companies aren’t crazy and do follow all the limitations imposed by the USA and EU, but no state decisions were made.
All while everyone made such decisions, from Japan to Australia and Switzerland.
There are certain objective reasons for that.
First, Israel has enough problems in its own region.
It is surrounded by neighbors who see the destruction of Israel as part of their ideologies,
it is constantly in the state of war in some form.
Becoming involved in conflicts outside its region without the real need for it is the last thing Israel could strive for.
Second, Israel has enough citizens, that is, voters, who are pro-russian.
They are Russian-speaking people from the ex-USSR who have kinship and social bonds in Russia.
In 2017, a million and a half, 17% of the population, could speak Russian.
Immigrants, their families and descendants, form a very heterogeneous community.
Some are still homesick, and there are enough Putin supporters, even quite radical ones, among the Russian-speaking community.
This isn’t surprising, but one may still wonder, how come there are so many Putin supporters in Russian diasporas across the globe.
These people see Russia through the mirror of Kremlin’s propaganda, they can’t get a reality check.
Russia they see is only getting richer and greater with each passing year under the leadership of the wise Leader.
Israel is a democracy, its politicians depend on their voters.
Russian nationals, including those who watch Russian television, see the world as it is presented by Dmitry Kiselev,
and live by the logic of the Russian propaganda — they are a very meaningful part of voters, no one wants to turn them away.
Third, Russia is the successor of the Soviet Union, whose relations with Russia were rather terrible.
But that country played one of the key roles in ending the Holocaust catastrophe with the creation in Israel, not the “final solution”.
No matter the crazy things Russia does, our authorities, including Putin himself, were always welcomed at every official ceremony.
This is a sensitive topic for Israel, and one shouldn’t speak about it without reason, and if you do, think about what you say.
And it is this subject that minister Lavrov decided to step on with his dirty shoe.
What did citizens, politicians, journalists, opinion leaders hear in that statement about Hitler’s “jewish blood”.
First, that it was jews who started the war, and second, that they themselves were killing themselves.
That the terrible tragedy of one people was nothing but an intra-semite quarrel.
To us — those who had to listen to these old men in big chairs for more than 20 years now — this Lavrov’s statement is nothing new
These politicians have already written their own version of history and now teach it to us,
the version based on soviet stereotypes, on something they’ve once heard, something they’ve once read, something they still remember from school classes.
In their version of history, the Soviet Union was waging a war against the entire world, the world that had been made our enemy by jews and America.
Who cares about Lavrov when Beglov says that the siege of Leningrad was conducted by 13 European countries.
And when Putin starts dwelling into history, well this is something: with all his mumbling about Polovtsians and Pechenegs and Ryurik’s slavic mother he completely dwarfs Lavrov and his jewish Hitler.
But to Israelites, this common Soviet anti-Semitism and conspirology has become a revelation.
It immediately filled the front pages of the largest publications, TV channels and social media feeds.
Again, we have become accustomed to the extreme degree of cynicism of our politicians,
to the fact that history is always adjusted to the current goal, that you can talk nonsense and never be held accountable.
So we don’t fully understand the effect that such careless anti-semitic statements can have on Israeli politics.
There will be consequences. Israel, which, may I remind you, has voters, not subjects, have heard it, every politician has heard it.
If there is a way to have the most loyal of countries in the developed world turn on you in mere 20 seconds, then this is it.
All advocates and lobbyists of Russian leadership’s interests in Israel will have a rough time now.
You might say that it was merely an accidental slip of the tongue that the elderly man blurted out without thinking.
But it was rather logical: after you’ve been perverting your external politics for years, when you consider outright lies,
fantasies, and rudeness an instrument in negotiations, sooner or later you’ll find that someone who, for some weird reason,
takes your words quite seriously.
And suddenly a country that looked the other way no matter what you did, even openly making friends with islamic terrorists
that wish to destroy it, realizes that a jerk like you isn’t worth talking to.
In Donbass, the Russian troops keep storming Ukrainian positions without much success.
The main goal is to capture Rubezhnoe and Popasnaya.
Recently we said that the Russian offensive in Izyum has been stalled too.
There were almost no advances in the direction of Slavyansk and Barvenkov.
The stalemate really threatens the plans of the invader.
According to a number of military analysts, the Russian army was to encircle and destroy the Ukrainian group in Donbass.
To do this, it is necessary to close the ring by advancing from the South (from Gulyai-Pole) and from the North (from Izyum).
But they fail.
It was assumed that there would also be smaller encirclements.
For instance, Russian troops were advancing from Rubezhnoe and Popasnaya towards Kramatorsk.
But for now they didn’t see much success either.
Meanwhile, the Kherson group of Russian troops is now 50 kilometers from Krivoy Rog, but fails to advance any further.
Neither we see any advancements in Mykolaiv direction.
All that the Russian army succeeds in now is missile strikes.
Yesterday, two missiles hit Odessa.
One hit a bridge in Zatoka — the only land corridor to the south of Odessa region.
Before, it was already shelled twice.
It is possible that Russia is targeting the bridge to disrupt Ukraine’s connection with its territories in Bessarabia.
It is the southern part of the Odessa Region, bordering Moldova and Romania from one side, and the sea from another.
By the way, the Ukrainian army reported the destruction of two Russian Raptor type vessels in the Black Sea near Snake Island with a Barkatar.
With another missile, the Russian army attacked Odessa itself.
And again it hit a residential building.
According to local authorities, a 15-years old boy died.
Peaceful civilians keep dying in the war that Putin started.
One of the most shocking chapters of this war was written in Bucha.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops, hundreds of murdered civilians have been discovered there.
Their bodies were in mass graves, in cellars, even on the streets.
Yesterday, another victim from this town became known.
During the occupation of Bucha, the famous artist of the sixties, Lyubov Panchenko, died of starvation.
She had been developing Ukrainian culture at the time of Soviet censorship.
Because her works had a clear national character, she was persecuted.
She lived through the Soviet times, but didn’t survive Putin. Lyubov Panchenko died at 85.
Just yesterday on our news channel we talked about how the war came to Russian territory, and here we go — more explosions in Belgorod region.
On Monday night, there were two. In the morning, the governor reassured the locals, saying that it was not Ukraine attacking, but the Russian air force fulfilling its military objectives.
According to the operational headquarters, there were no casualties.
No damage to buildings either.
Over the past month, an oil depot and an ammunition depot caught fire in the Belgorod region, several times the local authorities reported shelling of border villages from Ukraine.
On May 1, a fire broke out in the region at the facility of the Ministry of Defense.
There were also reports of explosions last night.
Eyewitnesses posted a video of flashes online and said they saw a plane in the sky.
Something strange happened in Perm yesterday.
According to local authorities, a fire broke out in a powder factory in Perm, two people died.
Witnesses say that they’ve heard a powerful explosion.
“Windows trembled” in their homes, and there was heavy smoke coming from the facility.
The regional labor inspectorate said that two factory workers died in the fire, and another woman was hospitalized in serious condition.
The department explains the tragedy on the plant with “products caught fire” at a production site in a workshop.
Perm powder factory produces ammunition for Grad and Smerch MLSs, air-defense systems, booster stages for sea-launched missiles, including those launched from submarines.
In addition, they manufacture charges for close combat systems, tank artillery and self-propelled guns.
Coincidence or not, but a week earlier, a similar "accident" occurred at the Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces in Tver.
There too was a fire, the building partially collapsed, 17 people died, around 40 were injured.
We don’t know what happened with certainty yet, but there are 3 explanations:
First, a mere coincidence, something that in the times of war nobody believes anymore.
Second, they’re basically covering up their thievery.
A plant or an institute were supposed to be making weapons for a war that no one saw coming, so they weren’t really making weapons but stole money.
And here comes the war and the front is awaiting ammunition and they’re not coming.
What do? Put the warehouse on fire and pretend it was an accident.
Third, it could be sabotage, and not necessarily one ordered or coordinated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
From the very beginning it was clear that the war against Ukraine is madness,
considering how closely tied Russian and Ukrainian societies are.
All wars are terrible, but to fight Ukrainians, many of whom live or lived in Russia and often have relatives here — this is something that defies all logic.
So we shouldn’t be surprised by mysterious accidents that now happen far from the border where the fighting is happening.
In an interview to the New York Times, the founder of Tinkoff-bank, Oleg Tinkov, said that the Kremlin threatened to nationalize his business.
According to the businessman, the day after he published his anti-war post in Instagram, the presidential administration contacted the top managers of the company.
The PA threatened to confiscate the bank unless it breaks ties with Tinkov.
As a result, Oleg had to sell his shares to Vladimir Potaning “for nothing”.
The entrepreneur also stated that his friends in the security forces warned him that he was in danger.
He hired bodyguards.
In his Instagram post, Oleg Tinkov was very hard on the Russian leadership. I quote:
“Generals wake up with a hangover and realize that their army is sh*t.
How can an army be good when everything else in the country is sh*t, mired in nepotism, lackeyship and servility?”
Tinkov also called to stop the war.
Immediately afterwards, Tinkoff-bank renounced its founder, saying he was “merely a one of 20 million customers”.
And then announced a name change.
This is not just a single case of stealing assets from major business owners who condemned the war.
For instance, the former vice-president of Gazprombank Igor Volobuyev, who left for Ukraine and tried to join the Territorial Defense,
said to The Telegraph that he had lost all his money from all accounts.
By his words, he was keeping his money in Gazprombank and lost access to them.
Volobuyev thinks that it was a “payback for desertion”.
Victor was born in Akhtyrka in Ukraine and now wants to defend his homeland “to the end”.
According to Volobuyev, Gazprom was discrediting Ukraine for a long time, portraying the country as “unscrupulous transit agent of Russian gas”.
The Armenian opposition is on the streets, demanding the resignation of prime minister Nikola Pashinyan.
Decentralized rallies began at the end of April, and are only growing bigger since.
Today, protestors are blocking the streets of Yerevan and are building barricades of trash cans and street benches.
The unrest was caused by intentions of signing a peace treaty regarding Nagorno Karabakh on Azerbaizhanian terms.
Pashinyan voiced such plans after the meeting with Ilham Aliev in Brussel, on 7 of April.
Karabakh was the first of post-soviet ethnic conflicts, it started after the Soviet center in Moscow ceased to be a deterrent in the region.
In the beginning of the 90th, after two and a half years of conflict, in which tens of thousands died, the Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh republic became, in fact, independent.
With Armenia controlling vast territories around it.
In 2020, the armed conflict resumed.
Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, strengthened after 30 years of oil revenues, managed to push back the Karabakh and Armenian armies significantly.
After a month and a half of fighting, with Russia as the intermediary, a treaty was signed, guaranteed by Russian peacekeepers.
In 2022, during the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the whole world saw that the Russian army is strong
in exercising and parading, but shows total lack of military capability in real combat.
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It was shelling border territories and even captured a border village, Farrukh, which was supposed to be protected by peacekeepers.
Russia protested but didn’t respond in force.
It has become obvious from its response that the Russian army will not stand up for Karabakh.
Pashinyan had no choice left: either he gives up Nagorno Karabakh without war, or tomorrow he’ll have to fight alone against an enemy
that has a strong army, an economy enriched with oil revenues, and modern weapons.
With the help of the EU, a meeting was organized between Pashinyan and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev.
There, they’ve agreed on something of a compromise.
Pashinyan agreed on recognizing the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh, as long as there are safety guarantees for the Armenian population.
The opposition is unhappy, because most Armenians aren’t willing to just give away an entire region,
for which tens of thousands of their compatriots died, and so they are on the streets now.
We’ve watched the whole of YouTube (well almost) and here we’ve got something interesting for you:
On Popular Politics, Maria Pevchikh and Michael Naki compare the contents of Russian and Ukrainian medkits.
Russian soldiers use outdated and ineffective tourniquet, and to get to the wound, they’d have to rip their clothes with their bare hands, while AFU medkits have handy scissors.
And they have plaster, too! It would seem that any medkit should have plaster, but apparently not Russian soldiers.
On Feigin Live, the Vladimir Zelensky Office advisor Alexey Arestovich tells of the situation on the front —
how boats are being sunk near Snake Island and how Chernobaevka events repeat regularly.
Regarding the possible referendum in Kherson he said that there probably will be no referendum,
but they may just announce the unification with Russia.
As for the peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia he says that by now, the only acceptable outcome would be the capitulation of Russia.
Economist and energy specialist Mikhail Krutikhin talks on Alexander Plyushchev's channel about the consequences
of the oil and gas embargo for Russia - exports to China today are already working at the limit of transport capabilities.
This means that part of the wells will have to be mothballed, and each well means thousands of jobs, which are the backbone for some regions.
Anna Mongait talks to activists Darya Serenko and Lelya Nordik about the “Feminist anti-war resistance” movement.
Activists of the movement held women's anti-war marches in a hundred Russian cities,
launched a fund in support of the protesters, and gathered tens of thousands of followers on social networks.
Each day the Feminist Resistance suggests various forms of civic activism — from spreading truthful information about events in Ukraine to charity.
Mariya Borzunova’s channel Fake News is back!
She analyzes propaganda fakes:
dummies of victims in Bucha, Mariupol, Zelensky’s alleged “drugs”, an attempt on Solovyov, and much more.
Before telling the last piece of news, we will tell you what we are watching today:
The European Commission may complete work on the next, sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia.
It will most likely include a phased oil embargo.
According to Politico sources, the import of Russian oil is planned to be banned until the end of this year.
Also, even more Russian banks, including Sberbank, may fall under the sanctions.
Baiden is going to sign a land-lease law which has already been approved in the Congress,
after which it will become easier for Ukraine to purchase modern american weapons.
This will give the AFU an advantage over the Russian army who has almost nowhere to restock weapons from.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the Verkhovna Rada.
Deputy Aleksey Goncharenko spoke about this, but he did not disclose the details.
The United Kingdom provides Ukraine with active support; earlier, the prime minister personally came to Kyiv and met with Zelensky.
In Bucha, with the help of French experts, a DNA examination will begin to identify the bodies of those killed during the Russian occupation.
Residents will be able to take a DNA analysis for free - samples of all the dead have already been taken by forensic experts.
By comparing these samples, experts will be able to find and identify relatives from the database of unidentified victims.
In Ukraine, in Borodyanka settlement near Kyiv, a ginger cat was rescued, who was stuck on the seventh floor of a collapsed building.
A frightened animal was discovered by a local resident Yevgeny Kibets.
The cat was sitting in a room without walls and a roof, which had been an apartment before the shelling, and meowed in fright.
Evgeny turned to Facebook users and asked for help in finding a car with a turret.
State Emergency Service officials joined in the rescue of the cat.
They drove a fire truck with a ladder to the destroyed house and lowered the cat to the ground.
The animal was watered and then handed over to the veterinarians.
After the cat gets stronger, they will start looking for a new family for him.
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