Tag Archives: Ukraine

Everything that touches upon the “project Ukraine” as it evolved through the last century-and-a-half.

The referendum on the independence of Ukraine on December 1, 1991: how Kravchuk deceived Sevastopol and Crimea

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This in-depth research and chronology article by Lyubov Ulyanova was published in the Sevastopol publication “ForPost” on November 30, 2022.

Without understanding the events and manipulations happening in the Ukrainian SSR in 1991, it is impossible to understand the mechanics behind the collapse of the USSR.

On March 17, 1991 the majority of the Soviet citizens voted for the preservation of the Union. But this vote was disregarded. Moreover, Ukraine held a referendum on independence, first denouncing the Union treaty of 1922, while Crimea was falsely assured that Ukrainian SSR has no intention of leaving the Union. This largely made the referendum on the secession of Crimea from Ukraine inevitable at some point in time, and that finally happened on March 16, 2014, after USA, dissatisfied with their already significant control of Ukraine, decided to push the country even further away from Russia though a Nazi-powered coup d’etat.

The article, while being long, is very much worth every minute that you will spend reading it, as it clears up many questions. One can summarise the key takeaways:

  • The “granite” colour revolution of October 1990, when protesters were taken with busses from Western Ukraine to Kiev.
  • Ukraine denounced the 1922 treaty, which means that Ukraine reverts to it’s pre-USSR state of not existing at all.
  • Ukraine expected to keep the borders as they were within the Union (i.e., following the 1922 Treaty and its amendments)
  • Ukraine used the “right to self-determination” to hold a referendum on independence
  • Ukraine denied Crime to have the UN-enshrined right to self-determination to hold its own referendum on independence
  • Ukraine promised that it will not leave the Union
  • Ukraine left the Union
  • Ukraine regarded USSR as “former”, non-existent
  • Ukraine deferred Crimea to the head of the USSR (Gorbachev) to repeal the 1954 decree of transfer of Crimea, thus recognising USSR as existing.
  • The process was closely guided from Canada and the USA
  • Crimea could appeal to the leadership of the USSR to repeal the 1954 decree, with a logical legal implication that as Russia is the legal heir of the USSR, Russia can repeal that decree on behalf of the USSR.

Watch also the following video, where Kravchuk speaks about the break-up of the USSR:

The referendum on the independence of Ukraine on December 1, 1991: how Kravchuk deceived Sevastopol and Crimea

Ukraine ratified a completely different text of the Belovezha Agreements compared to Russia and Belarus, and this calls into question the legal force of the Agreement as a whole.

Kravchuk distracted and deceived Sevastopol and Crimea in 1991.
The caption reads: “One must decide today that what can be decided today”. Date: 26.10.1991

Lapshin M.I. (Stupinsky territorial electoral district, Moscow region)… I have a question about the denunciation of the 1922 Union Treaty… Just look at the map of the USSR in 1922, and we will see that the states that have denounced the treaty today were located within completely different borders. Does the denunciation mean a return to the old days, when Russia was without the Far Eastern Republic, Kazahstan and Central Asia were part of the RSFSR, the border of Belarus was just west of the Minsk region, and Ukraine, to put it mildly, could show for itself quite different territory from what it currently has (most likely, it was, first of all, a hint at Crimea and Sevastopol – author note). Are we not creating the basis for huge territorial claims against each other by denouncing the Union Treaty?”

USSR 1922

This question, asked on December 12, 1991 by one of the deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR during the discussion in the Russian Supreme Council of the Agreement on the creation of the CIS, a few days after the “Belovezha”, was basically ignored by other participants in that discussion.

However, today, more than 30 years later, it cannot be said that this question was completely meaningless.
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On March 17th 1991, the referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held

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On March 17th 1991, the referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held. we are commemorating the event with a series of posts at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”, as well as publications here and at our Odysee and Rumble channels.

The question at the referendum was formulated as follows:

“Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of people of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?”

113.5 million people voted in favour of preserving the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, that is, almost 78% of those who voted.

In accordance with Art. 29 of the USSR Law “On National Voting” of December 27th 1990 No. 1869-I, a decision made through a referendum of the USSR is final and can be cancelled or changed only through a new expression of the will of the peoples of the USSR.

“The fate of the peoples of the country is inseparable; only through joint efforts can they successfully resolve issues of economic, social and cultural development”, stated the official commentary of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

On November 6th 1991, Yeltsin banned the Communist Party throughout Soviet Russia.

On December 8th, the will of citizens to live in a single multinational state was cynically and brazenly trampled on, when in Belovezhskaya Pushcha Yeltsin, Kravchuk and Shushkevich, without any legal authority to do so, with the criminal inaction of Gorbachev, secretly signed an agreement from the people that “The USSR as a subject of international law and as a geopolitical reality ceases to exist”.

On December 25th Yeltsin officially dissolved the Soviet Union. Next day, USSR to longer existed.

Word to the Rector — on the disappearance of the CIS documents


Backup at Rumble.

Russia is the legal successor of the USSR on the territory of all the Union republics.
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A posthumous sentence. How the French legalised Petlyura’s murder

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The extrajudicial execution of the Ukrainian Nazi Demyan Ganul yesterday bears a certain resemblance to the extrajudicial execution of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist and mass-murderer, Simon Petlyura, 99 years ago. Demyan Ganul was, among other, one of the people behind the Odessa massacre of May 2, 2014, for which a few days ago, the European Court of Human Rights has found Ukraine to be responsible.

Read on and compare. The article is from “Argumenty i Fakty”, published on October 26, 2014.

A posthumous sentence. How the French legalised Petliura’s murder

A bust of Simon Petlyura in Rovno, Ukraine.

Three shots fired at a Paris shop window

On May 25, 1926, a stranger approached a man who was looking at a street window at the corner of Paris Boulevard Saint-Michel and Rue Racine. After asking the man a question in Ukrainian and receiving an answer that satisfied him, the stranger took out a revolver and shot the man three times.

The shooter did not try to escape, but remained at the scene until the police arrived. After handing over the weapon to the police, he stated that he had shot a murderer.

The victim of the attack was taken to a nearby hospital on Jacob Street, where the man died fifteen minutes later.

The killer’s name was Samuel Yakovlevich Schwarzburd. His victim was Simon Petlyura, the former head of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, one of the most well-known figures of the time of the Civil War.

Both the killer and his victim were, as they say, “products of the era”.
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Indoctrination of the Ukrainian children with the Nazi ideology

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The indoctrination of the children with the Nazi ideology in the so-called Ukraine will be the biggest challenge during the denazification that Russia will have to eventually conduct on these ancient Russian lands, which currently fell under the sway of NATO. Grown-ups, once they are removed from the isolation of the propaganda source have a chance to revert to normal. The children, on the other hand, are like birds imprinted with the ideology, so undoing the damage done by NATO will be so much harder.

We have earlier published articles “Ukrainian children – zombified, brainwashed and trained by “Azov” terrorists to become children-soldiers” and “Cannibalistic master class for Ukrainian children”, which illustrated the many angles of attack on the mind of the Ukrainian children.

In this article we will show more of the Ukrainian schoolbooks and the Ukrainian mobilisation for the very young. But first, let us start with a few videos. Watch this cartoon from 1943, and tell yourself, is there any difference between it, and the subsequent video clips? Some of the materials come from our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”, starting with this post.

Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi, 1943

Backup at Rumble.

Ukrainian kids, brainwashed with Nazism

Backup at Rumble.

“Innocent kids”… preparing to burn people. Odessa, 02.05.2014

Backup at Rumble.

Underage Ukrainians are filling explosive components of strike drones with ball bearings

Backup at Rumble.

Ukraine to its children: Snitch on your family!

Backup at Rumble.

To round it off, we created a meme combining Zelensky and Hitler’s Volkssturm, referring to the current Ukrainian initiative to reduce the conscription age to 14 years, which we described at our Telegram post here.


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Europe: Destined for Conflict? – George Friedman, 2015

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On February 4, 2015, George Friedman held a talk at the Chicago Council for Global Affairs. The complete recording of this revealing presentation is available on YouTube.

We created a 14 minute long extract from the Q&A section of the talk with what we feel are highlights of the American plan for the Ukraine in particular and Europe in general, adding a few of our comments and illustrations.


Backup at Rumble.

Now, 10 years later we can all safely say that the American plans were playing out before our eyes as outlined in the talk.

From our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”

The crimes of the Kiev Nazi regime and its Western accomplices in numbers

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From the Telegram channel of the Russian Foreign Ministry. See also OCSE observers were spies and artillery fire corrector for the Ukrainian side.

🎙 Interview by Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin, to TASS News Agency (March 3, 2025)

Key talking points:

• Since 2014, the Investigative Committee has initiated 6’500 criminal cases related to crimes against peace and security of humanity, as well offensives against individuals and property. Most of the criminal cases under investigation involve shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure by the Kiev regime, though evidence of other crimes of varying severity have been established as well.

• A total of 918 individuals are being held criminally liable in these cases, including members of the high command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and commanders of military units that have been targeting civilians.

• The investigation of 423 criminal cases against 566 Ukrainian servicemen and mercenaries has been completed. Evidence has been gathered of their involvement in using prohibited warfare methods, cruel treatment of prisoners of war and civilians, and murder and damage to property. Sentences have been handed down to 519 individuals, among them 145 members of the banned Azov regiment (designated as a terrorist organisation in Russia). Life sentences have been imposed on 62 individuals.

• Since February 2022, the investigative bodies have opened 5’031 criminal cases against servicemen of Ukraine’s armed formations which represent 80% of all ongoing cases.

• The evidence indicates that, beyond following orders from higher-ranking officials, motives for these crimes include political and ethnic hatred towards the Russian-speaking population.
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Snipers on Maidan – New testimonies from Ukraine

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From the Telegram channel of Eva Karene Bartlett, Reality Theories

This is additional proof to the material provided Snipers on Maidan – A German newsreel from 2014, which we translated last year.


Backup at Rumble.


Backup at Rumble.

Bombshell: Maidan activist stated that he saw sniper in pendulum floor window of Hotel Ukraina shooting numerous Maidan activists. It matches open window in video in which protesters wondered that snipers from hotel were shooting Maidan activists. A Svoboda leader lived in this room during massacre, according to Prosecutor General Office investigation. He said that he was in this hotel room at that time & was filming massacre from it. Wikipedia editor was killed at that time & place when he & other Maidan activists were looking at Hotel Ukraina. Verdict confirmed my studies findings that he was killed from Maidan-controlled area and not by police.

But Prosecutor General Office investigation & USAID funded Ukrainian media denied that there were any snipers in this hotel, even when this Maidan activist testified what he saw and BBC & ICTV filmed snipers there. Verdict stated that the Maidan sniper shot at BBC journalists from neighboring room of Hotel Ukraina which was “activist controlled.”

Prosecutor General Investigation revelated another far-right Svoboda leader leaved in neighboring hotel room that was filmed by BBC and ITCV. The same Maidan activist also posted on X that he also saw gunshots from another Hotel Ukraina room & identified this room on 13th floor.

This activist also noted that brother of killed Maidan activist considered that he was shot dead from the upper floors of the hotel based on his steep wound direction on his left side and his position in the video with Hotel Ukraina on his left. But investigation attributed the killing of his brother to the commander of the special Berkut company based on the falsified forensic examination of the bullet because Berkut police was on the ground on his right during his killing.

This is all consistent with findings of my academic studies of the Maidan massacre in Ukraine. But official government investigation, media with some exceptions, Wikipedia & various self-proclaimed experts continue to deny that there were snipers in Maidan-controlled Hotel Ukraina.”
– Source

For those still calling the start of the SMO on February 24, 2022 for an “unprovoked Russian aggression”

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Facts for those who still parrot the US propaganda calling the start of the SMO on February 24, 2022 for an “unprovoked Russian aggression”

From our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”

This is a news item from February 21, 2022, as found on TV Zvezda.

⚡️⚡️⚡️

A video from the place of preventing of the violation of the Russian state border by a sabotage and reconnaissance group from the territory of Ukraine has been published.

A unit of the Russian armed forces promptly arrived at the scene of the clash and destroyed both infantry fighting vehicles with anti-tank fire.
2022-02-21 19:38:01

A unit of the Southern Military District unit, together with the border patrol of the FSB of Russia, prevented the violation of the Russian state border by a sabotage and reconnaissance group from the territory of Ukraine.

On February 21, 2022, at about 6 a.m. Moscow time, in the area of the village of Mityakinskaya, Rostov region, on the section of the state border of the Russian Federation with the Republic of Ukraine, a border patrol of the FSB of Russia detected the penetration of a sabotage and reconnaissance group.

To detain the sabotage group, the border patrol of the FSB of Russia requested reinforcement from the unit of the Russian armed forces of the Southern Military District allocated for operational protection of the state border.

During the clash, two infantry fighting vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine crossed the state border with the Russian Federation from the territory of Ukraine for the emergency evacuation of the sabotage group.

A unit of the Russian armed forces promptly arrived at the scene of the clash and destroyed both infantry fighting vehicles with anti-tank fire.

As a result of the clash, 5 violators of the border of the Russian Federation from the sabotage and reconnaissance group were destroyed. There are no casualties among the servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the border troops of the FSB of Russia.

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Ukraine, 17.02.2025 – Repost

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This is probably the strongest condemnation of the “civilised West” to date. Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Ukraine is available in English at the site of the “Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN”. Video in Russian is available at their Telegram channel.

Before reading on, do watch the following three short videos:


Backup at Rumble.


Backup at Rumble.


Backup at Rumble.

Main statement:

Mr. President,

We thank Roger Waters for his statement with an analysis of the history of the Ukrainian crisis and assessments of the significance of the Minsk agreements with regard to the relevant diplomatic efforts.

Today marks ten years since the adoption of UNSC resolution 2202, which endorsed the “Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements”. Having thus expressed its support for the solutions that had been found in Minsk a few days prior, the Council took the implementation of these agreements under its supervision. We all hoped then that a long-term and lasting peace would finally come, but all hopes of ours were fated to fail. Moreover, today the very word-combination “Minsk agreements” has become something of a diplomatic euphemism replacing the words “failure” or “lie”. We believe that our Security Council has every reason to analyze why this happened and why peace in the east of Ukraine never came after that.

First of all, let me briefly recall that the 13 points of the Package of Measures unambiguously defined the sequence of concrete steps to normalize the situation in Ukraine and bring Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LNR and DNR) back to Ukraine’s fold. The last of these steps was to restore Kiev’s control over the State border in the east of the country. For this to happen, the Ukrainian leadership needed to undertake a number of measures geared towards granting the LNR and the DNR broader autonomy and protecting the identity of the Russian-speaking population.
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Pokrovsk 2025 – Only Russians live here

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In Pokrovsk, a Euronews film crew recorded a local resident who, like many others, refuses to evacuate to Ukrainian territory


Backup at Rumble.

During the interview it became clear that no one is afraid of the arrival of the Russian army and the capture of Pokrovsk, because “by passport they are Ukrainians, but in their souls they are Russians.”

In conclusion it was said that “there are no Ukrainians here, everyone is Russian.”

The look on the Euronews journalist’s face at the end is priceless.

Source: Slavyangrad

Meanwhile:

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are preparing a new counteroffensive in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They have accumulated units near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) and intend to deliver an unexpected blow. The Kiev regime has set the task of recapturing lithium mines that American President Donald Trump has set his sights on, Russian experts believe.

Military expert Valery Shiryaev announced the accumulation of Ukrainian troops south of Krasnoarmeysk. According to him, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attack in the Kursk region, which began on February 6 and did not produce any significant results, has another purpose – to conceal the preparation of an offensive in another area.

Source: AiF

False Flag Alerts!

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‼️ The Ukrainian special services, with the assistance of their Western curators, are preparing to carry out a series of high-profile anti-Russian provocations, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said.

It is planned to undermine a foreign vessel in the Baltic Sea with Russian-made mines, and blame Russia.

According to calculations by Ukrainian and Western intelligence agencies, such an action will push NATO to close Russia’s access to the Baltic Sea.

Source: RIA Novosti

💥💥💥

‼️ Kiev, together with European special services, is preparing attacks on representatives of the Russian non-systemic opposition and entrepreneurs fleeing the law living abroad, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said.

It is planned to involve people from Asian and Middle Eastern countries as performers. Up to $20,000 is offered for participation in such acts. A condition for the perpetrator in case of arrest is to blame the Russian special services, the agency noted.

Source: RIA Novosti

Bucha 2.0 in the making! Ukraine shelled Sudzha, Kursk in a false flag attack!

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From our post from ysterday evening at “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.
Read also: Bucha massacre – the script from the German Nazi false flags of 1945; Killing of the Russian POWs by UkroNazis

‼️🇺🇦🏴‍☠️ Bucha 2.0 in the making!

Rocket warning and the analysis of video metadata

Ukrainian Nazis blew up a school in occupied Sudzha, Kursk, where they were holding captive residents, and are blaming Russia

▪️ The occupation military commandant’s office of the Armed Forces of Ukraine unexpectedly announced that a rocket attack had been launched on a boarding school in Sudzha, Kursk region.

▪️ According to the militants, dozens of people may be under the rubble.

▪️ The Kiev regime has decided to cover their tracks after the discovery by Russian fighters of many bodies of residents in Russky Porechnoye, whose murders were confessed by captured Ukrainian soldiers.

▪️ Fearing the imminent liberation of the area by the Russian army, the Nazis may begin to prepare for the discovery of the inhabitants they killed over the course of six months…

Source – Khersonskiy Vestnik

⚡️⚡️⚡️

The school building that the ukros hit with 4 HIMARS rockets. On the building it is written: “PEOPLE”

‼️ And now, attention ‼️

We have just looked at the metadata on the video posted by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which captures the consequences of the attack on the boarding school in Sudzha.

Quickly and in order:

🟠 The Lpr1 guys reported the flight of missiles towards the city of Sudzha at 18:55 Moscow time. Let’s say they arrived at 19:00.

🟠 In JUST 20 minutes (the metadata time is Kiev time, an hour less than Moscow time), the Ukrainian video editor has already rolled out the finished video, with superimposed music, stills, colour changes, etc.

⚡️ That is, do you understand what is happening!?!?.

A rocket attack was launched on an object near which a man WAS ALREADY WAITING, quickly shot a video, edited it, and DEFINITELY showed it to his immediate superior (since video NEVER gets to the official telegram channel of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine without editing), after which the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to coordinate the final post, etc. (therefore, the post came out after a couple of hours).

What do we have as a result?

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT Bucha 2.0 scenario!

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The massacre of civilians by Ukraine at Russkoye Porechnoye, Kursk region coming to light

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❓ Question: The Russian Investigative Committee released new data on atrocities committed by the Ukrainian armed forces in the Russkoye Porechnoye (Russian-upon-River) village, Kursk Region. The report, in particular, quotes forensic experts and servicemen as saying of the inhuman cruelty with which civilians were killed. Will Russia demand that these crimes be condemned by international organisations?

💬 Maria Zakharova: The Russian Foreign Ministry has already provided a detailed assessment of these atrocities by the Kiev regime.

Photos and videos were distributed during the briefing, which SHOCKED the journalists.

Correspondents, who had seen a lot, could not believe that such inhuman cruelty, exposing the beastly nature of the terrorist scum, was possible in the 21st century. The information that has emerged, including the fact that Ukrainian Nazis opened fierce fire during the evacuation of killed civilians from the village of Russkoye Porechnoye by Russian troops, is another testament to the criminal nature of the terrorist regime in Kiev.

Obviously, the extremists knew that they were committing a grave crime and tried to destroy evidences.

We believe it is crucial to inform the broadest international community of the crimes committed in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kursk Region. Russian news agencies already possess an exhaustive body of evidence of neo-Nazi punitive operations against civilians protected by a number of international documents including provisions of the binding Fourth Geneva Convention.

Particular focus should be given to a selective nature of persecution of the elderly, the most socially vulnerable members of the occupied population.

The supporting materials distributed by the Russia Investigative Committee clearly show signs of grave offenses committed during the armed conflict: hands bound with duct tapes, traces of torture, bruises from blows, gunshot wounds, bodies of people whose deaths resulted from hours of abuse by perpetrators, evidence of rape and other violent sexual acts.

The Main Military Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee has already initiated a criminal case against members of Ukrainian armed units implicated in the terrorist act against civilians in the Kursk Region under Article 205, Part 3, Paragraph (b) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Terrorist Act Causing Death to an Individual). A number of Ukrainian servicemen from the 92nd Detached Assault Brigade were found to have been involved in the crimes.

We believe that the bloody nature of the Kiev troops’ actions in the Kursk Region should be widely exposed on international platforms such as the United Nations, the OSCE and their relevant structures, recorded by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and become the subject of proceedings by international human rights mechanisms, including NGOs.

We are certain that the real nature of Zelensky’s junta was most clearly manifested in Russkoye Porechnoye, whose name has obviously become one of the driving factors for the Russophobic regime in Kiev and its armed gangs: it is against everything Russian that the current post-Maidan authorities are fighting with support of the “collective West.”

This announcement at the site of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at their Telegram channel.

From the Russian Mission to Geneva

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the atrocities committed by Ukrainian militants in the Kursk Region:
– January 31, 2025

▪️ The latest documented atrocities by militants of Ukrainian armed groups were committed in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye, Kursk Region, recently liberated by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

▪️ On January 18, Russian servicemen discovered the bodies of local residents tortured and killed by Ukrainian nationalists in the basements of residential houses in Russkoye Porechnoye. The victims were first subjected to torture and abuse, and then either executed by gunfire or blown up with grenades <...>
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Following in Breivik’s footsteps. An AUF POW uncovered the secret base of “Azov” in Norway

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Following in Breivik’s footsteps. An AUF POW uncovered the secret base of “Azov” in Norway
— “Argumenty i Fakty”, 20.01.2025

Another spot has been identified on the map of Europe, where the fighters of the Azov battalion (a terrorist organisation, prohibited in Russia) are being trained. The unit, which is officially called the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, underwent intensive training at one of Norway’s military bases. This was stated by Ukrainian POW Yevgeny Aksyonov in a comment to RIA Novosti.

This Ukrainian soldier was also at the training camp in Norway. Ordinary Ukrainian soldiers, unlike the “Azov men,” were trained according to a simplified program, Aksyonov said.

Azov fighters often find connections with neo-Nazis from Scandinavian countries, who, like the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, share radical racist views.

According to the captured soldier, the 3rd assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine consists of former Azov fighters, despite the fact that it abandoned the toxic name back in 2023. In Norway, he saw a group of 12 members of this unit.

“The training was conducted by the Norwegians through an interpreter. The information was completely closed and classified. All I know is that one base was called “Charlie.” The 3rd assault team was trained there, and they pushed them harder. They were running there and under the buildings, trying their best. And some trenches were stormed there,” Aksenov said.

The information about running “under the buildings” is not surprising — the commanders of the AFU regularly throw “Azov” units to hold underground fortifications. This was the case at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where several hundred militants of the unit were blocked in 2022.
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Did Putin Deport or Save Children?

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Below is a re-blog of an article by Putinger’s Cat from their Telegram channel.

Kids from Mariupol at a Crimean children’s camp. August, 2023

Could the fact that children were taken to safety on passenger planes belonging to the Russian military and from military airfields be considered as extreme in given circumstances?

The topic of forced deportation of children from the war zone periodically pops ups in the Western and Ukrainian media. In such recent publications, a report put together by Yale University, a prestigious US school, and supported by the State Department has been cited frequently. The author of the report, Nathaniel Raymond, who happens to head the Yale Humanitarian Research Laboratory, claimed that “planes and vehicles under the direct control of Russian President Vladimir Putin were used in a program to remove children from the occupied Ukrainian territories.” According to the report, this happened in the mid-2022, and the mentioned children from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions were first brought to Rostov and, from there, transported, by plane, to the Chkalovsky military airport near Moscow. Mr. Nathaniel Raymond went as far as actually claiming that one such flight took place on September 16, 2022, by a Tu-154 M aircraft, registration number RA-85123, operated by the 223rd flight detachment of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

Due to thе air traffic restrictions and temporary local airport closures implemented at the onset of the SMO, at times, it’s only possible to fly out of the region on special flights of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. The receiving Chkalovsky airport in Moscow is, essentially, no different from civilian airports. The Tu-154 plane that allegedly transported children to Moscow is a legendary Soviet passenger plane from the 1970’s. Another seventeen such aircraft are currently in service with the Ministry of Defence. Therefore, the fact that children were taken to safety on passenger planes belonging to the Russian military and from military airfields should not be viewed as something extraordinary in these circumstances, as the Yale University author suggests.

The topic of forced deportation of children from war-torn territories received little attention and was rarely commented on by the Russian public. “Russia did not kidnap but rather rescued Ukrainian children, bringing them out of the war zone. What were we supposed to do, leave children in orphanages, under artillery fire?” This question was raised by President Putin at last year’s Russia-Africa summit.

Ten-year-old Kira and thirteen-year-old Bogdan, from Kherson, are among the four hundred children who returned, from Russia, to their parents in Ukraine via third countries. In an interview with CNN’s correspondent Nick Patton in April of 2023, Kira repeated, twice, that her time spent in an orphanage in Crimea was “great”. On the other hand, Bogdan claimed that he was “bored” because children were taught “singing Russian songs” and that “Ukrainians and Russians are fraternal peoples who must live in harmony.” In the report, Kira’s father, Alexander, and Bogdan’s mother, Irina, admitted that they voluntarily sent their children to an orphanage in Crimea because, as single parents, they did not have the means to support them in wartime conditions. After the withdrawal of the Russian army from Kherson, they changed their minds, and, a few months later, Russian authorities returned their children, through a third country, as per procedure.

However, the Yale University report claims that children from Ukraine were subjected to “pro-government and paramilitary propaganda”, which “was documented in camps where thousands of children were transferred to and subjected to patriotic re-education” as part of the process of “forced naturalization” of Ukrainians, which, according to the report, represents “elements of crimes against humanity.” Kira and Bogdan spoke with Nick Patton in Russian, the use of which has been prohibited in Ukraine’s public spaces since 2019. In some parts of Ukraine, for example, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the so-called language police are tasked with punishing anyone who is heard speaking Russian. Logically, the “language police” would have punished Kira and Bogdan’s parents, had they caught their children speaking Russian to an American journalist.

The Hague based International Criminal Court (ICC), which many mistakenly identify as the Special Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, charged Russian President Vladimir Putin, in March 2023, with the “illegal deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine” and issued a warrant for his arrest. Maria Lvova-Belova, an employee of the presidential administration in the Kremlin who oversees children’s rights, was accused of the same crime – the “crime” of taking children from war-torn areas, with the available means, and returning them to their parents when possible.