Russophobia Kills

So do (sometimes) human rights activists.

When they become liberal idiots (and as such, surely Russophobic).

6 years ago the Amnesty Int'l reached their purpose: Ahmed 'One-Arm' Chataev was released, he escaped "an unfair trial" and "risk of torture and other ill-treatment" in that Evil Empire. FSB (or KGB, who cares) controlled Russia was shown her place once again. Interestingly enough, then in Ukraine the man was supported also by Stepan Bandera's Trizub ("trident") — the Banderite (=Nazi) movement that later became the core of the so called Right Sector uniting ultra radical Nazis of Ukraine.

Later this Chechen man was arrested in Bulgaria, and released again. Just to be later arrested in Georgia — though, with the very same result. Initially, it was Austria that awarded him with a refugee status back in 2003, when he made it to escape from Russia. He was caught in Sweden with some illegal handguns in 2008 and was even imprisoned for a year; but kept his respected anti-Russian refugee status.

But when you are playing with matches, a fire and burns shouldn't surprise you.

The thread has come to its end; Ahmed Chataev thankfully to his right defenders arranged the terroristic attack in Istanbul airport that took lives of dozens.

They are killed by Russophobia, so readily supported by the Amnesty Int'l.

They would be alive and kicking, if that FSB request was duly executed years ago.

Russophobia kills.


PS: Thanks to historian Alexander Dyukov for the idea.

Human Odessa Cries: Set Vladimir Grubnik Free!

Address of Odessa Human Rights Activists
Concerning Surgeon Vladimir Grubnik

Arrested by the SBU on a Charge of Terrorism

Here goes the full transcript of what the girl says in Russian.

Human rights activists of the city of Odessa are pledging to spread around information on the horrible fate of an Odessa local, whose only fault is that he did not accept categorically the anti-human and lawless political regime in the territory of present Ukraine.

The matter is that Vladimir Yuriyevich Grubnik was brutally arrested in Odessa on October 19, 2015. Grubnik is a candidate of medical sciences, a professor of the Odessa National Medical University, a surgeon of the Odessa City Clinical Hospital No. 11, and a member of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery.

The Ukrainian authorities charge him with participation in terrorist activity, though he denies this guilt completely. Being arrested, Vladimir was badly beaten; it is visible on photographs, which are attached to the published material. It was followed by methods of physical abuse, content in a punishment cell. At the same time, to the best our knowledge, Vladimir Grubnik has developing symptoms of  tuberculosis, which he suffered before.

#protectDrGrubnik

Cameron's 70,000 Moderate Fighters and Freedom of Speech

Sometimes reading Western media reveils true gems of journalism (albeit seldom without some specific Western taste).

Now it's Independent and an article of Robert Fisk titled "David Cameron, there aren't 70,000 moderate fighters in Syria - and whoever heard of a moderate with a Kalashnikov, anyway?". You are very welcome to follow the link and read it yourself, it well worth it.

However, the author cannot just pass by, leaving Russia untouched.

Vladimir Putin comprehends this. He knows that Turkey is helping Isis – this is why he is going to destroy the Isis oil smuggling route to Turkey – and, as a former serving KGB officer, he understands the cynicism of any crisis. If an American aircraft had strayed into Turkish airspace, he asked at his Kremlin press conference with François Hollande last week, does anyone believe that Turkey would have shot down the US pilots? We all know the answer to that. If Turkey wished to destroy Isis, why does it bombard Isis’ Kurdish enemies? Why does it imprison two of Turkey’s top journalists for reporting how the Turkish intelligence service smuggled weapons to Islamist fighters in Syria? And Putin is hardly going to object if the EU is bent on suicide-through-fear.

You know what?

The EU members do remember, I hope, advantages of unification and joining forces. So do we, former citizens of the Soviet Union. It's just natural, for people to unite. And unnatural — to disintegrate. The USSR fell apart due to problems carefully fed up by external forces using hot and cold warfare; and it became a geopolitical tragedy that cost tens millions of lives; at least 13 millions for Russia alone; quite close to losses in the WW2.

Now some external forces are striving to blast the EU from inside. And it looks like some people see some profit Russia could get of it. I would greatly appreciate if you explain me the reasons of such thoughts; I just do not see any advantages for Russia from Europe in flames.

It looks like authors are just obliged to bite Russia and/or Putin at least once. In the "world of democratical rights and freedoms" only that speech is free, which is politically correct and meets some "corporate standards", isn't it?

Distillation of What Ukraine Is Now

The story below has been carefully collected and archived by Alexander Dyukov, Russian historian, author and human rights defender, founder of the Historical Memory Foundation. My part was just to translate and post it here. Well, and to add the last line.

You just have to see it with your own eyes.

These are the former armed insurgents of the so called "Maidan Self-Defense Forces", nowadays the "Kiev-2" battalion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

They seized a man; made him undress; beat him; tied his hands and threw him into dirt.

It's Autumn; and it's not that warm round there.

They pose with their beaten and bleeding victim lying in the foreground.

No Amnesty for Hypocrisy

In their recent news release, the Amnesty International inform about current situation with Syrian refugees.

Refugees in the region

More than 4 million refugees from Syria (95%) are in just five countries Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt:

• Lebanon hosts approximately 1.2 million refugees from Syria which amounts to around one in five people in the country
• Jordan hosts about 650,000 refugees from Syria, which amounts to about 10% of the population
• Turkey hosts 1.9 million refugees from Syria, more than any other country worldwide
• Iraq where 3 million people have been internally displaced in the last 18 months hosts 249,463 refugees from Syria
• Egypt hosts 132,375 refugees from Syria

How to Fire an Afro-Latino Gay Activist?

You have just wait till he says something indecent about Michelle Obama, the Daily Mail explains.

Neither being gay, nor being civil activist protecting minorities' rights, nor being a (once) respectable award-winning TV host can prevent you from losing your 17 years long carriere if you say something that the White House hosts dislike.

I wonder:

1. Will we see a kind of "JesuisFigueroa" campaign over there?

2. What would happen in case Rodner Figueroa made some comment of he like regarding some Jewish-American personality? Some WASP American personality? Some native American personality? Some Chinese or Japanese one (both American and 'homeland')? What reaction would be if he joked about the Russian first lady? Well, in fact I know Putin is divorced, so let the question be abut the first man? Or the German Chancellor, the first lady of herself? Does there exist a list of "sacred cows" American journalists have no right to touch somehow negatively? Can I have honest answers, please?

Big Guys Speak for Nemtsov

Many people die daily of all kinds of violent death, but not all of them deserve so a close attention from the top of the world.

Mr. Obama has immediately issued a statement (bold font is mine):

The United States condemns the brutal murder of Boris Nemtsov, and we call upon the Russian government to conduct a prompt, impartial, and transparent investigation into the circumstances of his murder and ensure that those responsible for this vicious killing are brought to justice. Nemtsov was a tireless advocate for his country, seeking for his fellow Russian citizens the rights to which all people are entitled. I admired Nemtsov’s courageous dedication to the struggle against corruption in Russia and appreciated his willingness to share his candid views with me when we met in Moscow in 2009. We offer our sincere condolences to Boris Efimovich’s family, and to the Russian people, who have lost one of the most dedicated and eloquent defenders of their rights.

Well, vast majority of Russian people does not consider Nemtsov a defender of their rights, and I am not an exclusion. So, Mr. Obama, I have an honour to reject your generous offering. His death is surely a crime to be investigated, and those guilty are to be prosecuted, but this is the only way Boris Nemtsov's death can be taken as a loss.

An old friend of Russia, Senator John McCain was way more eloquent:

I was devastated to learn of the murder in Moscow today of my friend Boris Nemtsov. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and many friends in Russia and around the world. With his death, the struggle for free speech and human rights in Russia has suffered another devastating blow.

That Boris's murder occurred in a secure part of the Russian capital raises legitimate questions about the circumstances of his killing and who was responsible. But regardless of who actually pulled the trigger, Boris is dead because of the environment of impunity that Vladimir Putin has created in Russia, where individuals are routinely persecuted and attacked for their beliefs, including by the Russian government, and no one is ever held responsible.

I had long been concerned about Boris's safety, and said so publicly. I will never forget the last meeting we had. I begged him to be careful, and Boris told me that he would never give up the fight for freedom, human rights, and rule of law for his fellow Russians, even if it cost him his life. I am heartbroken that it has come to that. There must be a full investigation of Boris's murder, and those responsible must be held accountable. The world will be watching.

He's an old soldier and evidently knows not that many English words, to be devastated to learn of another devastating blow to the struggle for free speech and human rights in Russia. His competence and expertise in conditions of life in Russia do impress: "environment of impunity" made a tear in my eyes.

As for the last paragraph, I do doubt such a warmonger as John McCain can be heartbroken because of a single human death. Especially taking into account the deceased was not an American, he was not even a EU citizen; he was just their Russian agent of influence, that is a grade C+ person, not higher. Besides, McCain's concerns resemble strangely enough with Nemtsov's own concerns he expressed in the interview I quoted in my previous post (go to the end of it).

I hope we will know whose dirty game it was.

The day before yesterday Boris Nemtsov was an ex-politician, frankly, a loser, a clown trying to play against Putin and against Russia (or, if you wish, for such Russia that would first of all please the USA and the EU). Those four bullets turned him into a fallen hero of anti-Putin resistance in a moment.

The question qui prodest remains. At present I feel our oppositioners will try to get as much benefits of it as possible; in fact, they've started. It's also good for radical (and stupid) Ukrainians, who evidently dislike their being in hell (carefully created by themselves within just a year) and would contribute everything they have to provoke a maidan in Russia.

Anyhow, we will see who will be beneficiaries of the criminal tragedy.

RIP, Boris, your game is suddenly over. The life is going on, though, for the world is hopefully without end.

Amen.

Does Pork Hurt the World?

Just a week has passed since that bloody terroristic attack at the Charlie Hebdo editorial office in Paris — and in no time this attack was kind of universally considered as a dreadful attack on one of the holy cows of the Western civilization, namely the freedom of speech — and quite an interesting piece of news has come from the UK.

Media say the Oxford Unversity Press banned the words 'pig', 'sausages' and 'pork' from children's books to avoid offence. Wise heads of the OUP have seemingly decided these words can somehow offend Muslims (and Jews, for the matter).

Some questions arise.

Well, what about the Hindus? AFAIK, there are plenty of them in the UK, let alone the rest of the world. Why not to ban 'beef'?

To the best of my knowledge, it is eating pork that is prohibited to the Muslims and the Jews. This is the exact point that reminded a Jewish Leadership spokesman in the Daily Mail:

Jewish law prohibits eating pork, not the mention of the word, or the animal from which it derives.

And it's just logic. There are many of various things in the world.Some people enjoy surströmming, some hate even the idea of seeing a tin of it, let alone smelling it. Some people find insects to be a delicious food; the French eat frogs' legs — for me as a Russian both kinds of stuff are no delicacy at all. By the way, some historians suppose that we Russians just never had that big lack of food that would make us find 'unconventional' meals. Well, in fact, being in Thailand I tasted some fried bamboo maggots (or something of the like), just to tick a checkbox of my life's agenda. Nothing special; it turned out I didn't lose anything by not eaing it.

Yet am I somehow hurted that people around eat strangely looking, smelling and cooked food? No. Am I hurted that people sometimes worship strange gods and prophets, which I cannot call 'mine'? Absolutely no.

As for people, the one and only thing that really hurts me, that I consider a sign of the coming doomsday — is when people say something like "We Ukrainians are better than Russians". You can invent many more possible combinations; as for the post-USSR territory, one of the most severe conflicts was between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. "We are way beter than those pigs", one can hear on the both sides. Yet is there a tiny grain of truth in these statements?

Well, get back to old Europe. It looks like the left hand (freedom of speech fighters) does not know at all what the right hand does (those 'political correctness brigades'), both hands acting erratically and chaotically. I am not a medic to make diagnoses, yet from my personal Russian viewpoint it looks like split-mindedness. Dissociative identity disorder, if you wish it doublespeakfully.

Or, to give things names, schizophrenia. Isn't it?


Post scriptum: Oh, no, uneffingbelievable! How can such a web site exist in the UK today? Ban it! Clean the world of those quite conveniently associated English pigs so that none could be offended!

Khodorkovsky Is Dead

Well, not literally. However, he is definitely dead as a political figure of (or for) Russia.

Quite a while ago Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Communist Youth Union functionary, was one of the reachest post-Soviet nouveau-riches in our country. Then he tried his luck as a politician, and finally got a 10-year sentence; many thought (and said) his trial was totally biased, and it was a Putin's triumph over his political opponent and possible competitor in running for presidency of Russia.

Many people (and I personally know some) — absolutely seriously — considered him as a potential future President of Russia, and were happy when he, having emigrated to Switzerland, turned back to politics, using mostly modern media and social networks.

However, yesterday, after the terroristic attack in Paris, he stated in his Twitter:

If journalists are a respectable community, no media publication should appear tomorrow without a caricature of the prophet [i.e., Muhammad].

Just for your information: in Russia, Islam is professed by 15 to 20+ million people.

So in Russia the real political game is over for Khodorkovsky forever.

I just cannot understand why did he say this BS; he surely isn't an idiot.

Opera of Propaganda

I've come across a real, hu-u-uge diamond of hypocrisy. You won't believe where I have found it.

Opera News published by the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Who could even thought of it!

You can hardly find someone who seriously believes in free and unbiased Western media. But do you think Opera is far from policy? Well, maybe it has been; however, not any longer.

Look what John Freedman has written about the "Russian Winter". Quite a piece of demagogy, quite expectable of an art critic in the field of art criticism, but not in the field of policy.

What does Valery Gergiev do? He supports Putin's repressive policies. Why 'Putin's policies' are repressive? Has John Freedman suffered? Who did suffer, and if did, why? Does Mr. Freedman know that in the USA there are way more convicted criminals, that in Russia, and recently, just for instance, there were riots in Fergusson; how are Obama's policies repressive in comparison to those of Putin?

Those policies have caused people inside and outside Russia to talk increasingly about a return to the worst tactics and attitudes from Russia’s Soviet past. The examples are legion. What follows is a small selection.

Let's have a look at that Mr. Freedman considers examples from the 'legion of the worst tactics and attitudes'.

As Russia’s hostile response to the Maidan protests in Ukraine increases in December 2013, Russian state television unleashes a war of lies, fear and incrimination against anyone who disagrees with official policy — tactics on a level that had not been seen since at least the late 1940s, if not the height of the Purges in the late 1930s.

Any normal state is supposed to react hostily to a coup d'état, and it was nothing more than a putsch, a coup in Kiev. Only he can talk about a 'war of lies, fear and incrimination' in Russian TV, who has never watched Ukrainian, which leaves far behind even such monsters of political propaganda as CNN, BBC, Deutsche Welle, etc. And — did Mr. Freedman witness the late 1940s in the USSR, let alone those great and evil Purges of the late 1930s, to compare with present time, I wonder?

After Russia hastily annexes the Crimean peninsula in March 2014, Putin borrows the phrase “national traitors” from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf to describe those who oppose his actions. As a result, the notion of “national enemies,” or “enemies of the people” — the latter phrase used to devastating effect by Stalin during the Purges — is revived in public discourse to refer to anyone not backing Kremlin policies.

Bullshit for the stupid incapable of logic thought. For those who don't know history I remind: the Crimea was illegally given to Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by Khruschev (physically remaining in one and the same country); after disintegration of the USSR the region as an autonomous republic had a right to choose which was violated by the Ukrainian power in 1992. After the Ukrainian coup, in March, 2014 the citizens of Crimea had a referendum at which vast, absolute majority voted for independence from Ukraine... In no way it was an annexation; it was rather incorporation or reincorporation, if you wish; in plain words, coming home. Just compare it with Kosovo where there was no single trace of democracy at all, and shut up.

As for the Mein Kampf, there are plenty of words used in the book; does anyone using them quote Hitler? As for national enemies of enemies of people — hostis publicus is a definition from the Roman law, Nero was declared one by the Senate back in AD 68, quite a great while before those Stalin Purges. Robespierre fought against enemies of public, and Stalin had not been designed yet at that time. Wait, wait, have a look. In 1930 Frank Loesch regarded Al Capone with his gangsters as public enemies, and afterwards Mr. Hoover of the FBI extensively used the definition to describe top wanted criminals. Was it Stalin who advised them such a term? What for have you gone out of the theatre, Mr. Freedman?

Political denunciations return with a vengeance: independent writers, artists, directors and performers are vilified by the Kremlin-friendly press, accused of perversion and sedition.

Bullshit and quite an Orwellian doublespeak. Mr. Freedman; not all those who do not support the Kremlin are independent; not all those pro-Russion or patriotic are Kremlin-friendly. Yet at present those acting against Kremlin foreign policy act in favour of the USA and EU, against Russia. Having lived in Russia for 26 years you are supposed not to be such narrow-sighted, Mr. Freedman.

For the first time since the Soviet era, forced psychiatric treatment — read: incarceration in an asylum — is used as punishment for individuals convicted in political trials.

Well, it seems like he has just an overdose of some ultra liberal press (which in our local conditions unfortunately means anti-Russian and russophobic, strongly devaluating abstractly perfect liberal values). It is so convenient, to allegate someone in all deadly sins not giving a single fact or name.

A law bans the use of obscenities on stage or screen.

Well, maybe there is no such a law in the USA, but I wonder how many 'f-words' and 'c-words' I (or any movie character, for that matter) can freely express at the prime time on any US federal TV channel? Though as is, the law is a bit to strict, I have to admit; there should be provided some 'adult' areas.

Another law bans the casting of doubt on “official” historical accounts of World War II; history is no longer something to be studied, debated and understood but something the government defines.

Well, not that bad. We are sick and tired of those who say it were the USA who took victory over Germany and won in the WW2. There are even idiots who say if Hitler conquered the USSR we would all drink Bavarian beer now. Such delusions definitely do not worth debating and studying.

Russian parliament’s so-called “anti-gay” law bans the “propagandizing of gay lifestyle to children.”

Hey Mr. Freedman, anti-gay or anti-propagandizing to children? Do you as a theatre critic see and feel the difference? The law is called 'anti-gay' only by such russophobic doublespeakers as you. Generally. none in Russia is somehow concerned how are you doing in your bedroom; just do not fuck children; paedophilia is still a crime here (and I do hope it remain forever, irrespective of what they do in Europe).

Peaceful protesters, even individual pickets, are routinely muzzled and arrested, although individual pickets are expressly defended in the Russian constitution.

Another piece of bullshit; 'peaceful protesters' have already become a mem, after the armed coup in Kiev conducted by those 'peaceful protesters'. Again, we see no names, dates and facts. Just and allegation. Well, Mr. Freedman; being in Russia, you can enjoy true and real freedom of speech you cannot even hope for in the USA or EU. And as for individual pickets — though our constitution does not deal with such tiny details of life, they are allowed by law and people do not have any troubles with them. Just try one!

Well, all the article is strongly biased in the way I have just commented. Just read it if you have not. You see: it is written by quite ea single-minded person whose superidea is that Russia is to blame and has no right for its own policy.

The only thing I'd like to add. Talking about those who 'support the Kremlin', Mr. Freedman takes such names as Valery Gergiev, Anna Netrebko, Oleg Tabakov, Yuri Bashmet — real geratest stars of Russian culture, known worldwide.

But talking about those sufferning, he names musicians Diana Arbenina, Andrey Makarevich (with all due respect, Russian rock is often called govnorok here, i.e. 'shitrock') and some other artists who share one thing in common: they are marginal. They do not form cultural space of Russia. They are just scene or TV personalities.

By the way: one of the images illustrating the article, is taken in London. The image itself is a good sample of biased journalism; it was taken using a super wideangle lens so that there was an impression of a huge mass of people gathered. The caption reads: "Human-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, center, joins Ukrainian activists in a London protest". Could one please explain how a London protest is related to the theme under discussion? And, last but not least, why 'Ukrainian activists' do their protest in London, and not in Kiev?

How can a theatre critic who has lived in Russia for 26 years compare Gergiev and Bashmet to Arbenina and Makarevich? Gold to clay? You've worked evidently too hard, Mr. Freedman, isn't it a high time to take a leave and have a rest?

They Say

One of these days a Russian online magazine and news aggregator Tjournal published an interview with Jovan Savovich, a Bosnian Serb who immigrated to Russia from former Yugoslavia early in 2000-s and started some very successful Internet sites, among which invitation-only Leprosorium and a very popular (hundreds thousands visitors) community Dirty.ru.

I am not going to translate the full inteview, it would take a lot of time and makes no sense for me, as Internet issues and mentioned sites are not what I am concerned about. Just a couple of paragrphs that fit the topic of my blog.

Here I am, a Serb who came to Russia from Bosnia, and for 13 years I've been running a web site visited by hundreds thousands people daily, and they write whatever they want, and nobody touches me. So every time somebody slanders the freedom of speech in Russia I just feel lack of words to say — my personal experience is different.

Just like every one who slanders medical service in Russia, goes against my personal experience. In Russia one can do whatever he or she wants with more freedom than anywhere else in the world, and then Russian doctors will save him from any shit, when the others would say "Just take him the f*** out to the morgue".

Surely, many people have different experience, but my personal one is more or less like that. So I live here, and not because I still have not decided where to escape, but because it's cool here.

They say various things about Russia, just like about all cool places, but in practice I do not know a country which is more free. Evidently, I am a very vatnik*. And we the vatniks are for freedom.

______________
*Vatnik (pronounsed ['vut-nik] — a quilted (cotton wadded) jacked, used by Red Army as a part of winter uniform, cheap and warm enough for frosty weather. Vatniks were (and still are) widely used in all regions of Russia with harsh winters by all people, from prisoners of legendary and heavily mistificated GULag to free workers and peasants of both genders.
Since 2011 is used as a derogatory and offensive term for people with pro-Soviet and patriotic mentality. However, after the Ukrainian Maydan events the word is widely used by pro-Ukrainian (I mean the current Kiev regime) propaganda for anyone supporting Russia, Putin, Novorossiya, Donetsk and Lugansk Republics and ideas of the so called "Russian World". So is used the basic word vata ['vuh-tuh], literally 'cotton wool'.

On Freedom of Speech - 2

Last week Margarita Simonyan met Julian Assange. Yep, that very person behind WikiLeaks.

Margarita is not only a beautiful woman and happy mother of two; she, being of ethnically Armenian descent, is a true patriot of Russia and a really smart editor-in-chief of the RT TV, doing an excellent job in her position.

I am not going to translate her full article on their meeting. I just want to draw your attention to one thing she says Assange told her.

He remainded the story of Kurdish TV in Denmark.

It was quite democratic and within the general freedom of speech rule that Denmark gave home to Kurdish TV, to a great dislike of Turkey.

Once Danish Premier-Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was chosen as a NATO General Secretary to be. And Turkey said they would veto his election. Just because of this Kurdish TV channel.

It was a minor problem in comparison with the necessity of consensus within the NATO. Even Barak Obama asked them to find a creative solution (so that nobody could feel the freedom of speech was in danger). The solution was found, and Rasmussen got a consent from Turkey and became the General Secretary.

Now, when his term is over, as far as I know there is a Kurdish TV in Denmark again. Evidently, until they in Denmark decide to have another politician in the top NATO circle or do anything else that require a consent of Turkey.

Just to finish.

The RT UK has already got nine warnings from Ofcom. They threaten to withdraw the RT's broadcasting license, because RT is biased and do not reflect to an extent this or that point of view. When RT asked why the BBC is not getting such warnings, being quite biased and contended in reflecting certain viewpoints (e.g. teh viewpoint of the Kremlion upon the Ukrainian issues), the response was they did not regulate the BBC. Nice!

What is that if not a perfect sign of hypocrisy? When it comes to really big business (and no tiny little doubt the strengthening NATO or weakening Russia being such), one of the basic liberal values, the freedom of speech can wait.

Is the RT propaganda, funded by the Russian gov't? Definitely so. But so are the BBC World Service, die Deutsche Welle, France 24, funded by their gov'ts. One of the basic values of capitalism of which we suffered the lack in the USSR, is free competition. Yet it seems that in the field of information and media competition is limited. You are free to say anything — until it satisfies the NATO and the USA behind. And they say these were we Russians who lived under a totalitarian regime...

Bye bye, freedom.

On Freedom of Speech

In my opinion, it's a pure fun and a brilliant, exemplary sample of hypocrisy of some politicians of the post-Soviet political scene.

Inese Vaidere, a member of the European Parliament for Latvia, has written a letter to Martin Schulz, the President of the EP requesting to prohibit entry to all the EU countries to Alexander Dyukov, a Russian historian.

Yes, Dyukov expresses viewpoints that the current political beau-monde of the Baltic countries and now Ukraine generally dislike. He digs deep into the bloody cooperation of Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Nazis and volunteers with Hitler Nazis during the WW2. He does so good that in Latvian media they always call him 'a pseudo historian', and the Latvian foreign ministry announced him a persona non grata. What a nice and logic way of a scientific dispute with someone with an unwelcome point of view, isn't it?

Recently he presented to the European Parliament his book devoted to human rights violations in Ukraine since February, 22 to May 22, 2014, that is during the events that were hypocritically called the 'Revolution of Dignity'. So Mrs Vaidere, being — quite traditionally for new political elites of Baltic countries — ultra-patriotic and russophobic, raged upon the fact that such a person was permitted to the EP.

Freedom of speech, you say? Do you know what that is? It's not only about your possibility to say how bad the USSR (or Russia, or Putin for that matter) is; it is also about the very same possibility for us to openly say things, some of which you definitely might dislike. Yet none of us lives in paradise, and there can be lots of criticism in all directions. But any argument or dispute should be logic to be positive.

And now back to the funny side of the story.

Alexander Dyukov was born in 1978. A year after Inese Vaidere, an economist, became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Isn't it hilarious?

In fact, in all post-Soviet countries many people whose current wealth is based upon a firm Soviet background are now acting as if willing to be more Catholic than the Pope. Sometimes it means to be more anti-Soviet than, say, Sir Winston Chirchill, and more russophobic than Adolf Hitler.

To be trendy.

Introductory Note

Hello everybody!

First of all, let me introduce myself.

My name — and, as a Russian, I have not only a name, but a patronymic as well — Vladimir Vladimirovich (meaning that my father's name was Vladimir as well). But I am not only a namesake of our President; the same name+patronymic had our famous poet Mayakovsky, writer Nabokov, and many other less known, but respectable persons.

In Russian, familiarly-diminutively they call me Volodya or even Vova, Vovan, Vovik, Vovchik; you, being representatives of a slightly different civilization, can call me Vlad or Mir or even Sam (derived from my family name; BTW, it was my nickname among my university-mates) or how ever else — I don't mind until your giving me names becomes offensive.

I was born in 1970 — while the USSR was strong and atop of one of the two poles of the world. I came home from my military service in 1990 — when USSR was going (or, to be more precise, was lead by some powers) to collapse. I graduated from the Moscow State University; my faculty had its own name — the College (or Institute) of Afro-Asian Studies, and my main subjects were Economics and Afrikaans — so ek kan ook 'n bietjie praat, menere an mevrouens, — in 1995, while the process of destroying the Soviet heritage and building up something new on its remains was on the very go.

I have two children, two wonderful sons of 21 and 16 (at the moment), that is I am also a husband and a father. My younger son Alexander does pretty well in figure skating, so no surprise this sport became one of my biggest interests in life.

As for my job, I started (not alone; with a couple of enthusiastic colleagues) Photomagazin magazine in 1993. It was at the time the only non-governmental magazine on photography and photo equipment, and in 1996 it was the only one, when former "Soviet Photo" died. Since then my job is connected with cameras, lenses, tripods, photographers and related goods and people.

Yet and however, I remain a Russian. And the world has too little knowledge of this particular part of my life.

Having not that bad skills in spoken English, I was invited some times by the BBC to share my views on, let's say, incorporation of Crimea or Victory Parade in Moscow with their radio and TV audience, but one or two minutes af air time is definitely not enought to share all aspects of my thinking, my views, my feelings about the situations.

Recently they wanted me to comment on economic 'crysis' in Russia — and it was kind of a milestone. I have decoded to start my own English language blog, to have a good possibility to share my opinions with everybody who'd like to know.

Since 1991, I do not belong to any political party or movement, I am a trade journalist in the field of photography, but my job never urged me to express my political views or comments. This blog is my entirely and absolutely private project. I am not supported, or funded, or somehow sponsored by any political body, party, institution or government.

Whether you enjoy it or not — just be polite; I always have reasons to say what I say. I will definitely ban for offenses.

I do not promise to tolerate everything; yet I will try to do my best in responding to your questions. Ask me whatever you'd like to know abour Moscow (my home city), Russia, our Russian ideas, feelings, words, etc.

Let's do the world a better known and mutually understandable place together. It's the place our children and grandchildren have to live in. So let us help them.

I do hope my voice won't remain the one crying in the wilderness, supposedly the world is to a certain extent civilized indeed, and able (though seemingly seldom) to solve matters using the power of words instead of weapons.

PS: Just for your information: I include a small set of my personal images, so that you have a better understanding that I am a real world person, not just a set of letters on the screen of your gadget.

I and my younger sister in the countryside ('dacha') near Moscow; judging by her size & pram, it is the sunny summer of 1978.

I was a good soldier in 1990; a picture with the regiment's banner as a background was an official encouragement. 

 I am on air of the BBC World News' "World Have Your Say", March 2014, talking about Crimea.
Yes, I'm proud, by the way.

PPS: I have a blog in Russian; I write there what I feel is important to me, to Muscovites (as Moscow is my native and home city) and to my compatriots, Don't be jealous; if you want to read what I write there — please be so kind to learn Russian; it's definitely difficult but not more than English was for me (and it was not the only one I learned, you know).

PPPS: I know my English is not perfect, it is not my native tongue. Yet I hope it is quite understandable. However if I have failed to express a thought in a proper way, let me know about it and I try gratefully to correct or improve my texts.