Posted on 03/12/2015 8:04:25 PM PDT by annalex
In Soviet times, at least, the arrangement of the pigs at the trough was a sure indicator of power shifts.
Another emergent theory regarding the disappearance is advanced cancer, by the way. The theory goes, things got bad enough so that the official explanation of “down with a mild flu” or “he’s just hunting bears” could not be given because the time frame could not be predicted. In the little footage that was given out, he winced seemingly in pain sitting down, and generally appeared drugged.
The siloviki [law-enforcement and intelligence] also object to the fact that Kadyrov gets $3 billion out of the budget every year. Thus, a conflict between Kadyrov on the one hand and the siloviki leadership on the other broke out. Putin pulled back from the scene to see how things would play out, and in the end, he apparently took Kadyrov’s side.”
Yes the rivalry between the siloviki and the Chechen mafia has been pointed out by many. It possibly played out in the separatist regions also, where the Chechens did some of the fighting.
Putin Mobilizes Forces Preparing to Fight With NATO and US
by: Pavel Felgenhauer
utin’s continued assertion of Russians and Ukrainians as “one people” sounds much alike one of the Nazis’ most-repeated political slogans: “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer”—“One People, One Empire, One Leader.” In pursuit of a dream of the reunification of all the presumed Russian peoples, nuclear blackmail or “brinkmanship” may be used and sudden military exercises will be enacted that are, in essence, direct preparations for possible large-scale war in Europe.
http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=43670
Thanks AdmSmith.
It is interesting that “one people” rhetoric somehow coexists with rabid anti-Ukrainian propaganda, complete with ever derogatory term for that nation possible.
The “one people” mentality was, I should add in fairness, commonplace in 19 c. As soon as the Tsar was gone, however, Ukraine did everything in her power to secede. In fact, the tragedy of it is that if Ukraine leaders in 1919 were not afraid of cutting deals with Denikin, the victory of the White Guard would have been nearly certain.
Good article, thank you.
Maybe he is deleting 30,000 ‘personal’ emails like when Hillary just recently disappeared for weeks
The sectors where the government plans to cut spending the most are the environment – minus 16.2 percent, communal services – minus 10 percent, education – 4.9 percent, and culture – 7.3 percent. Even the defense and security structures face cuts, albeit not as large as these, the Moscow commentator points out.
But there is one sector where instead of cuts, the Russian government is calling for increases – and that is propaganda. There, the Kremlin plans to increase funds by 3.1 percent out of the budget and by 400 percent in total spending on Russia Today and by more than 80 percent for TASS.
As Yakovenko puts it, “the most important and necessary people in the country at a time of crisis, sanctions, war, and isolation are Margarita Simonyan and Sergey Mikhaylov,” two leading Moscow television anchors. Apparently, the regime believes that “if they will lie more and better, then all problems will disappear and everything will be well.”
http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.se/2015/03/putins-priorities-propaganda-over.html
The sectors where the government plans to cut spending the most are the environment – minus 16.2 percent, communal services – minus 10 percent, education – 4.9 percent, and culture – 7.3 percent. Even the defense and security structures face cuts, albeit not as large as these, the Moscow commentator points out.
But there is one sector where instead of cuts, the Russian government is calling for increases – and that is propaganda. There, the Kremlin plans to increase funds by 3.1 percent out of the budget and by 400 percent in total spending on Russia Today and by more than 80 percent for TASS.
As Yakovenko puts it, “the most important and necessary people in the country at a time of crisis, sanctions, war, and isolation are Margarita Simonyan and Sergey Mikhaylov,” two leading Moscow television anchors. Apparently, the regime believes that “if they will lie more and better, then all problems will disappear and everything will be well.”
http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.se/2015/03/putins-priorities-propaganda-over.html
“The old miners aren’t around anymore,” he says, adding that there are fewer volunteers like himself as well. “Now they are being replaced by regular forces. Their mission is to hold on — not to surrender any positions under all circumstances.”
Mambetov says he stopped receiving his salary in December.
Many of the most devoted separatists feel that Moscow has abandoned them by not recognizing the region as it did with Crimea, Mambetov says.
http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyz-mercenary-russian-military-in-ukraine/26911714.html
Thanks for both of those.
Yes, the separatists presented a real problem for Pu, because while they are anti-Ukrainian, they are not necessarily pro-Russian, and they know how to use weapons. It was in Pu’s interest to use them for a foothold in Eastern Ukraine and get them killed off as many as possible in the process. Remember, the real strategic interest of Pu is not so much avoiding the encirclement by NATO — his behavior in Ukraine clearly showed everyone who still doubted that no country is safe unless it is in NATO — but avoiding a Russian Maidan. Of course, anti-Ukrainian as the separatists are they are independence minded: the perfect Maidan material.
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