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Olga of “Siberian Matrëshka” posted at her Telegram channel:

25 years ago
We elected a new president.
V. V. Putin.

25 years ago, we were very lucky.

And she invites to read her historiographic retrospective article about what President Putin achieved for Russia in this short time span. An article which we highly recommend and are re-blogging below.

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What did Putin do for Russia

OlgaMay 26, 2022

There are people in Russia who don’t remember how much Putin has done for Russia:

• Over 17 years, Putin increased Russia’s budget 22 times, military spending – 30 times, GDP – 12 times (Russia jumped from 36th place in the world in terms of GDP to 6th place),

• increased gold and foreign exchange reserves by 48 times!

• returned 256 mineral deposits to Russian jurisdiction (3 left to return!).

• broke the most enslaving “liberal” in the history of production sharing agreements – PSAs (explanation below)

• nationalised 65% of the oil industry and 95% of the gas industry and many other industries.

• raised the industry and agriculture (for 5 consecutive years Russia has been ranked 2-3 in the world in terms of grain exports, overtaking the United States, which is now in 4th place).

• Well, it’s quite a trifle: Putin (it was he) reduced the extinction of the Russian population from 1.5 million people a year in 1999 to 21,000 in 2011, i.е. 71.5 times.

• In addition, Putin cancelled the Khasavyurt agreement – thus defended the integrity of Russia, gave publicity to NGOs – the 5th column and forbade deputies to have accounts abroad, defended Syria, stopped the war in Chechnya.

The abolition of the PSA by Putin is a great achievement! The PSA is an agreement under which America has been robbing Russia since the 90s and in return Yeltsin was given loans.

Putin fought for its abolition for almost 4 years with the help of numerous successive amendments. So the abolition of the PSA caused America’s incredible hatred of Putin, as he took away from them the unhindered robbery of Russia. Therefore, there is hatred for Putin, but, unfortunately, not everyone knows about it.

Why can’t Putin change everything at once? Why does he make forced stops? Why does he sometimes have to go to temporary agreements?

Yes, because the gentlemen “democrats” in the 90s drowned the country, sold it and gave the bastards the opportunity to live off Russian natural resources, adopted a thousand treacherous laws, including the Constitution of 1993, and weakened the country so much that it was difficult for Russia in the early 2000s to resist America without consequences, which is why Putin is fighting them gradually.

That is why Putin had to manoeuvre and do everything gradually, not in a single moment, but in one direction, and now he is also thinking about how to solve the problems of Russia and at the same time not expose it to being torn to pieces like Libya and Syria. America has long been tired of Putin, who takes away from them with enviable constancy, now their influence, now site after site that they robbed in Russia, then he proposes to replace the dollar with another accounting currency…

And it’s all dangerous…

For example: Gaddafi paid with his life for the idea of changing the settlement currency of the dollar to another, now there is no rich flourishing LIBYA or Gaddafi. Libya is in ruins.

Most people in the 90s could not just go to the store and buy most products, they could not send their children – boys to the ARMY without pain and fear…

Chechen War. Fear, our guys were constantly dying. Cities sat without heating, gas and water. There were no salaries, rackets, open shooting in the cities. No pensions, no job, nothing. Nobody thought about improving housing, repairs, etc., they were glad that they were alive.

Now, when everything has changed and most people have begun to live much better, when the driveways and yards are crowded with cars, and the houses have been renovated, when it is already hard to see the old window frames and the front door, when almost everyone has done repairs in the apartments, in the houses only and you can hear how they drill, buzz and knock, when even the average person carries an overflowing bag of groceries from the store, when young families are compensated for part of the cost of housing, when maternity capital is paid and maternity benefits, payments from 1.5-3 and from 3-17 (but everything is still not to everyone’s liking and everything is not enough). And people no longer imagine how our mothers in the 50s and 60s simply gave birth and went to work on the 56th day and there was no help.

When pensions are brought on time, this has become the norm. And they are not cut, as in many countries. When the majority has it all, both work and salaries are paid on time. When, during the global crisis, we, to tell the truth, do not feel it, since life, by and large, does not change so much for us.

And now, when we began to forget the 90s, we began to grow rude and be susceptible to provocations. I understand that it was impossible to observe such a picture of well-being as it is now in the 90s. Even if a person worked in the 90s, and was busy at work 24 hours, he could neither earn nor feed his family. Such was the time.

And now, when gradual changes have come and for the most part we have begun to live better (of course, no one argues, everyone would like to live in a villa and get big money, but, alas, this is not the case anywhere), and so, having become better, for some reason, we began to forget how much work and labour Putin invested in our country and calmly succumb to any provocation. Yes, not everyone is still living well, not everything has been done yet and a lot of things still need to be done, but this is no reason to betray the person who pulled the country out of collapse! Moreover, now huge forces and means are thrown into opposition to him.

So let’s, each in his place, do at least a little bit for the development of Russia, help him, and not help those who openly sell themselves and sell Russia, acting into the hands of other people’s aspirations. They really do not want to see Putin as PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA!

The experience of working in the FSB was not in vain – “Putin’s ingenious multi-move”

By the time of the “Munich speech” (02/10/2007), President Putin realised that a tough confrontation with the West was inevitable, but at the same time, the Russian Army was not ready for it. At the same time, open preparations for the coming war would give the West time to inflict a geopolitical defeat on Russia at a time when it is not yet strong enough, or to prepare itself well for a new “cold” war with the prospect of spilling over into a “hot” one, and by no means allow Russia to take revenge for the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century – the collapse of the USSR by the CIA agents.

What to do?! But, as the saying goes, “they don’t take anyone to the KGB.” Only a master of special operations could come up with such a multi-move.

Its essence was in the temporary disguise of the true vector of development of Russia and the Russian Armed Forces. Therefore, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev was elected as the successor, agreeing to the thankless role of an eccentric systemic liberal.

But to Anatoly Serdyukov, who was appointed to the post of Minister of Defence on February 15, 2007 (immediately after the “Munich Speech”!) The Motherland and the President gave an even more difficult task. The appointment of such a DEMONSTRATEDLY incompetent person in military affairs to the post of Minister of Defence was supposed to give our Western “partners” the appearance that the Russian army is close to its final disintegration, severing ties with the domestic military-industrial complex, and turning into a structure capable only of conducting local anti-terrorist operations.

For this, Mistrals that were unnecessary to the Russian fleet were purchased, for this, “fakes” were thrown about plans to purchase used German Leopards, Italian helicopters, armoured cars, and wheeled tanks … But military competence was not required from Serdyukov – military affairs were handled by other, specially trained people, whose names have not yet been removed from under the stamp “secret”. Other talents were required from Serdyukov, the possession of which he demonstrated to perfection in his previous post – in the Federal Tax Service. This is the ability to conduct secret financial transactions, the ability to disguise serious government spending in a veil of fly-by-night companies, kickbacks, and illegal VAT refunds.

The West convinced itself so much of the total corruption of the Russian elites that it fell for its own bait and swallowed the bait, which was shown by the special operation to annex Crimea. Intelligence brought the Western powers information about total corruption in the Russian Ministry of Defence, and it was so plausible for them, it fit so much their own ideas about Russia and Russians, that they did not think to dig deeper.

Meanwhile, the Russian Army was re-equipping and preparing for the upcoming battles at an accelerated pace, in the strictest secrecy, using the “stolen” and “irrationally spent” money, secret objects, bunkers and control centres of the Strategic Missile Forces, a new type of radar were built.

It must be said that the “total theft” at the Olympic construction sites was just as much a diversionary manoeuvrer that made it possible to conceal from a potential adversary a sharp increase in funding for defence programs. Serdyukov had another mission that not everyone is aware of – he was a destroyer, a battering ram who broke the rotten corporate solidarity of the generals, who were satisfied with the status quo, and who needed nothing but soldiers for the construction of their dachas.

Yes, Serdyukov did not know how and was not intended to build a new model army. This mission was entrusted by the President to Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu. But for the “builder” Shoigu, the site was prepared by the “destroyer” Serdyukov, do not forget about this …

To complete the task, Anatoly Serdyukov attracted the most reliable, including Evgenia Vasilyeva, with whom Serdyukov allegedly had an affair.

In the West, they laughed – “Oh, those lustful Russians!” But he who laughs last laughs best…

When Serdyukov completed his mission in the Ministry of Defence, the special operation entered its final stage – a criminal case was opened against him and his assistant in order to delay the moment when the terrible truth about them would become clear to our “friends” overseas. Is it clear to them now, or do they seriously believe that Serdyukov and Vasilyeva were stealing, and Putin is covering for them? It is not surprising if this is so – after all, the intellectual degradation of the Western elites has gone very far, people like Psaka and Obama are so primitive that they can understand the meaning of only the most straightforward operations.

However, we have witnessed how Russia “out of nowhere” has a modern combat-ready army that forces the whole world to reckon with itself.

Now, when a 90,000-strong strike group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stuffed with American equipment and instructors, is stationed on the borders of the DPR and LPR, and a NATO strike group is being deployed in the Baltic states, there is no point in hiding anything. It’s time to fully open the cards. And Vasilyeva’s parole is just the end of a special operation that will go down in history and special services textbooks.

According to Faktxeber, Russia used interesting economic tactics, tricked everyone around its finger and earned more than $20 billion in a couple of days. Plus, it returned about 30% of the shares of its own monopolies. Putin fooled both the EU and America, and how beautiful! In front of the eyes of the whole world, he played everything like clockwork. Previously, part of the shares of energy companies belonged to foreign investors, Americans and Europeans – this means that almost half of the income from the oil and gas industry went not to the Russian treasury, but to the accounts of the “financial sharks” of Europe. Due to the situation in Crimea, the rouble began to fall sharply, but the Central Bank did nothing to support the rouble exchange rate. There were even rumours that Russia simply did not have a reserve of currencies to support the rouble exchange rate. These rumours and Putin’s statements that he is ready and will protect the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine led to a large drop in the price of shares of Russian energy companies, and “financial sharks” began to put up shares for sale until they completely depreciated. Putin waited all week and only smiled at press conferences, and when the price fell below the plinth, he gave the command to sharply buy shares simultaneously from all Europeans and Americans. By the time these “financial sharks” realised that they had been cheated, it was already too late: the shares were in the hands of Russia. Not only has Russia earned more than $20 billion these days, it has also returned the shares of its companies to Russia. Now the income from oil and gas will not go abroad, but will remain in Russia, the rouble rises by itself, and Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves do not need to be spent on its support, and the “financial sharks” of Europe are left with their noses, they have been fooled. In a matter of minutes, they bought shares that bring billions of dollars for a penny, and left them without income from oil and gas. There has never been such a brilliant operation in the history of the stock market.

As you can see, we took full advantage of the situation. And what did the European Union gain from the sanctions against Russia introduced in recent days?
Absolutely nothing. Rather, on the contrary – only lost in everything:

They banned flights to the EU and the operation of their aircraft. We responded by banning flights over Russia. Now the Europeans and the British, in order to fly to Asia, will need to make a huge detour, which will cost them more. But the American Boeing did not impose such sanctions and will continue to work, taking market share and profit from the Europeans.

Also, for domestic flights, our aviation will receive an unprecedented incentive – instead of purchasing foreign aircraft, our manufacturers of civil aircraft and aircraft engines will receive support.

Disconnected from SWIFT a number of Russian banks. And how will they pay for our oil, gas and fertilisers? It should be recalled here that Ukraine, which the Europeans have lost, is the second largest grain exporter in the world. Including the European Union. Well, what will the Europeans do without gas, fertilisers and grains from Ukraine?

They banned the import of their cars into Russia. And what about us? There are plenty of car manufacturers in the world to choose from. But the Europeans are now ruining their industry with this ban.

Moreover, at least Russia has something to make planes and cars out of – we are the largest supplier of titanium and palladium to the world market. And if in response we ban their export, then what will the Europeans make their planes and cars from?

They also banned the broadcasting of our channels in Europe. It so happened that the West has always been stronger in propaganda, and we are in real power. And now, when in response to the ban on broadcasting of our channels, we ban Western resources, they themselves beat out a trump card.

It is also worth noting the rise in gas prices in Europe after the start of the operation in Ukraine – from $900 to $1,400. As well as the growth of oil prices – more than $100 per barrel. Add to this rise in prices new laws, according to which this profit will no longer be able to settle offshore.

And we get a simple conclusion – we only benefited from the sanctions, so we can continue to maintain this state of affairs and definitely will not retreat, as European politicians hoped for, scaring us with sanctions.

The calculation was rather psychological – to try to intimidate the leadership of the Russian Federation, put pressure on the pro-Western elites in order to influence Putin and his team. And of course, try to intimidate the Russian population with a drop in living standards, a ban on tourism and popular consumer goods.

But in reality, Europe will soon have to lift these sanctions, because otherwise the European economy will face a complete disaster, and on all economic fronts at once:

Pragmatic Americans, imposing sanctions more selectively, will simply force European companies out of the market;

Europe, having lost grain exports from Ukraine and gas and fertiliser supplies from Russia, will begin to experience real hunger;

Let’s add to this even before the operation in Ukraine, the shutdown in Europe of up to half of the enterprises producing fertilisers;

Such a high gas price will make European goods expensive and unprofitable. A ban on specific products would deal a double whammy.

This would be a complete disaster for Europe, so the sanctions are more likely to have an emotionally intimidating effect in order to try to keep Ukraine in their sphere of influence, continuing to receive from it grain, ferrous metals and, of course, cheap labour – Ukrainians.

But instead of intimidation, it turned out exactly the opposite – the leadership of the Russian Federation used the situation in our interests by nationalising the economy, and the Europeans shot themselves in the foot. Sanctions also had no effect on the course of the operation in Ukraine. Ukraine will be liberated.

The very attempt to intimidate the leadership of the Russian Federation and our citizens turned out to be a mistake. It was necessary initially, even before the start of the operation, to support our demands for security guarantees. And now the sowing and grain exports to Europe are under threat, the gas transportation system of Ukraine may suffer as a result of hostilities, and the Americans will definitely not miss the moment to benefit their companies at the expense of European ones.