Replies

A friend of mine from Finland who is rather an expert in these matters sent me the following just before this latest story broke:

Hi!

I am fine but busy, as things here bordering to Russia are getting all the more interesting about every week now. While the Moscow police was well geared to break up an attempted demonstration (a type of thought crime) by chess grandmaster Garri Kasparov and the other remaining liberals, arresting hundreds of passers-by, it seems to be impotent when faced with pro-Putin youth, the Nashi, blockading the Estonian embassy for several days. At the same time, Russian officials were shocked by the “brutality” of Estonian police arresting some vandalizing Russian youth in Tallinn. Although Russians themselves have removed statues of war heroes in several Russian towns, they prefer to call the decision by the Estonian government to move a statue and the bodies buried beneath it from hectic downtown to the old military cemetery (where all the other Soviet soldiers are buried), an act of fascism and a deliberate insult to ethnic Russians. According to the logic of non-chess playing Kremlin, the Soviet statue represent “mother Russia” who “liberated” Estonia during the Second World War, and Estonians should remain grateful and humble toward the “Russian liberators”. Yet, according to official Soviet history and Putin himself, Estonia was since 1940 a part of the larger Soviet Union, and its citizens were drafted to the common Red Army. Now, if that was so, then the “liberators” were not Russians but Soviets (including loyal Estonians themselves), and the whole statue issue should not concern other former Soviet republics (like the Russian Federation) at all! And if, on the contrary, the liberators were indeed ethnic Russians and the statue represents them only, why would Kremlin not draw the logical and correct conclusion, that Estonia was an independent country “liberated” unwillingly by a foreign power? But the issue is not actually about history, ethnicity, or statues (not any more than the cartoon conflict was about Islamic theology), but about Russia’s need to test the mutual solidarity of NATO members, to draw attention from domestic troubles to “enemies” abroad, and to build up the Russian national-socialistic Nashi movement.

Putin's NASHI 'brownshirts' in action - again.

Where are the Moscow police?

Kremlin-loyal Nashi protesters chase after the car of Estonia's ambassador to Moscow after she gave a news conference that was delayed due to protesters' disruption, May 2nd, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov

Members of pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi block an entrance to a Moscow newspaper building in order not to let Estonian Ambassador Marina Kaljurand leave on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007.

Nashi (trained)'protesters' shout anti-Estonian slogans (as ordered) as they block the exit of a Moscow newspaper to prevent the car of Estonia's ambassador to Moscow from leaving the building, May 2nd, 2007. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)

The leader of the Kremlin-loyal youth organisation 'Nashi' (Ours) Vasiliy Yakimenko (L) argues with the head of the press centre of a Moscow newspaper, where Estonia's ambassador to Moscow was to give a news conference, after Yakimenko and supporters stormed the venue May 2nd, 2007. Russian protesters demonstrating against the removal of a Soviet war memorial in Tallinn on Wednesday broke into a hall where Estonia's ambassador to Moscow Marina Kaljurand was to hold a news conference. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov (RUSSIA) Note the older Kremlin organizer in the photo below. Also note there are no Russian police even trying to fake 'resorting order' Putin's Nashi thugs have carte blanche from the Kremlin, just as Hitler's Brownshirts did while engaging in street brawls:

Members of pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi help their comrade in a Moscow newspaper building on Monday, May 2nd, 2007. Estonia's ambassador Marina Kaljurand said Wednesday that pro-Kremlin (thugs) youth 'activists' tried to attack her as she tried to hold a news conference in Moscow. Dozens of activists from the youth group Nashi and others, however, barged into the building, chanting 'Fascism Will Not Pass!' and were confronted by Kaljurand's bodyguards, who sprayed pepper spray. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel)

Not a cop in sight ....how convenient.

Members of pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi block an entrance to a Moscow newspaper building in order not to let Estonian Ambassador Marina Kaljurand, leave on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel)

Note: not one Russian cop in sight in any of the photos. Is it not strange if street thugs are attacking people the cops should rush in, arrest the guilty and restore order. No way, since the Kremlin ordered their trained NASHI brownshirts into action against the Estonia embassy and newspaper offices . Where is the condemnation from the White House? Where is the outcry for justice from Number 10 (London) or NATO on these brazen violent violations clearly against the diplomatic corp in Moscow. This is a whole new chapter for 'While the West Slept in 2007'.

Members of pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi shout in a Moscow newspaper building in order not to let Estonian Ambassador Marina Kaljurand hold a news conference on Wednesday, May 2, 2007. Estonia's ambassador said Wednesday that pro-Kremlin 'gang members' tried to attack her as she tried to hold a news conference in Moscow. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel)

The leader of the Kremlin-loyal youth organisation 'Nashi' (Ours) Vasiliy Yakimenko (R) shouts anti-Estonian slogans minutes before the start of a news conference by Estonia's ambassador in Moscow in the press centre at a Moscow newspaper May 2, 2007. Russian protesters on Wednesday broke into a hall where Estonia's ambassador to Moscow Marina Kaljurand was to hold a news conference. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)

Estonian ambassador to Russia Marina Kaljurand speaks to the media in a Moscow news room on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007, shortly after pro-Kremlin youth activists tried to attack her. The protesters angry at Estonia's removal of a Soviet war memorial from downtown Tallinn were repulsed by Kaljurand's bodyguards who had to use a pepper-style gas to protect the ambassador. Kaljurand told reporters, 'Apparently the attack was aimed against me, but nobody got through to me. Nobody touched me.' (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Madame ambassador you are a very brave lady! Under the appalling, exceedingly dangerous circumstances, due to the Putin régime's ordered attacks on the Estonian embassy, coupled with the Kremlin's withdrawal of proper police protection, it would be wise to depart from Russia and demand NATO take firm attack against the Russian dictatorship.

Which nation's embassy will Putin ordered attacked next? In protest to this incredible, very visible state approved violence attack against a sovereign nation's diplomatic quarters, all free nations should immediately withdraw their ambassadors in protest to the Kremlin's savage, Islamofascist like displays of preplanned and sanctioned KGB ordered brutality.

What additional stunts are being cooked up by Putin and his neo-Soviet henchmen for the weekend?