The NHL has announced that they’re cutting ties with Russia. For me, it’s about time. Personally, I would like to see the NHL ban any Russian or Belarusian player who has used the NHL as a platform to express support for Putin, starting with Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
I don’t believe this violates Ovechkin’s rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ovechkin can continue to say anything he wants; he just won’t be able to use the NHL as a platform.
Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a Putin apologist, has been banned from every symphony and opera company in the U.S. and Europe. Same with Russian soprano Anna Netrebko. As far as I’m aware, neither Gergiev nor Netrebko are being prevented from traveling in the U.S. or Europe; they just cannot use Western cultural institutions as platforms.
I am against banning Russians and Belarusians from cultural and sporting events because of their nationalities, as Wimbledon is doing. I am only in favor of banning those Russians and Belarusians who express support for Putin and the war he is conducting in Ukraine.
As we’re learning more about atrocities committed in Ukraine by the Russian Army, who are in Ukraine under orders from Putin, it becomes increasingly indefensible for Western cultural and athletic institutions to make themselves available as a platform, to be used by Putin apologists.
Putin values Russian artists and athletes as propaganda tools. We should take away their ability to spread Putin’s message using Western institutions as a platform.
INTERNATIONAL
Friday, July 08
A well-known Italian presenter on the air revealed the lie of the Russian "TV presenter" Vladimir Solovyov. According to him, the Russian attack on the Donbass was just an excuse for Vladimir Putin to seize even more territory of Ukraine.
Der Spiegel: Lavrov leaves G20 summit due to boycott. The foreign ministers of the G20 countries at the Indonesian summit decided to ignore Sergey Lavrov. First, the diplomats refused to take a photo with him, and then the ministers of the G7 countries missed the official dinner. Perhaps this is a foretaste of the reception Putin will get, if he attends the G-20 Summit in person this Fall.
The mothers of Russian soldiers killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine blamed Izvestia correspondent Valentin Trushnin for the death. “After the release of a report by the military correspondent of Izvestia, Valentin Trushnin, on June 30, 2022, the positions of military personnel were fired upon by heavy artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This happened due to the video footage,” the mothers wrote in a collective statement to the Astrakhan branch of Soldiers’ Mothers.
White House Press Secretary: Democratic changes in the British government will not affect the support of Ukraine from the Western allies against the backdrop of Russian aggression.
● “Our alliance with the UK remains strong, our special relationship with the people of this country will continue, nothing changes,”
● She also recalled that President Biden confirmed at the NATO summit in Madrid a week ago that NATO countries will continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend democracy in the face of a brutal war. According to the speaker, this process remains unchanged.
Kazakhstan withdraws from the 1995 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) agreement on the Interstate Monetary Committee.
● “To approve the protocol on the termination of the agreement on the establishment of the Interstate Monetary Committee dated May 26, 1995, carried out in Minsk on October 25, 2013,” the decree of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, says.
The Guardian: Britain's Defense Minister says there is no risk of a dramatic change in his country's policy. Wallace noted that although Johnson is "incredibly sad" to leave the premiership, "the entire political system supports what we are doing in Ukraine.
NHK: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated during his speech in the city of Nara. The attacker was arrested. A police spokesman said that Mr. Abe had a cardiac arrest during his transfer to the hospital. Mr. Abe died in hospital. Nara is the ancient capital of Japan.
“… Taking Kramatorsk & Sloviansk will be problematic for Russia – After taking Lysychansk, the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut are next on Russia’s “list.” Over the past 8 years, Ukraine has built up substantial defense lines in front of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The Economist’s military expert doesn’t think Russia has sufficient strength to capture any of the 3. It is important to remember that Ukraine has built up similar defense lines around the portions of Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts that Russia occupied in 2014. So far, Russia has been unable to penetrate those defense lines, so it stands to reason that they’d have trouble penetrating similar defense lines around Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.…”
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Perhaps it might be well to remember the “Propasna breakthrough” and what it led to when prognosticating on what future military abilities are likely to be displayed in Ukraine.
Nonsense. You just want to ban any prominent Russians who you disagree with. Stop couching it with your fake conditions and justifications and admit your fascist tendencies. As for Ovechkin, how has he used the NHL as a platform? Has he ONCE said anything, in an NHL capacity, on NHL time or NHL TV programming that was political? NO.