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Info

Kremlin says sanctions on Putin's mysterious daughters are 'difficult to understand'

putin and daughter
© Getty/ReutersA composite image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his daughter, Katerina Tikhonova.
The Kremlin does not understand the latest sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's adult daughters, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, Reuters reported.

Peskov said the sanctions were "difficult to understand and explain," and framed them as being part of a manic Western reaction to Russia in general, Reuters reported.

"Of course we consider these sanctions in themselves to be the extension of an absolutely rabid position on the imposition of restrictions," he said, per Reuters. "In any case, the ongoing line on imposing restrictions against family members speaks for itself."

Comment: This just shows their desperation. They're running out of things to sanction and are too proud to admit the sanctions aren't working.

See also:


Telephone

Phone call records shed light on what happened near Kiev

Leaded audio recordings about Bucha atrocities.
Looking for Russian atrocities alleged by Ukraine, Kiev's security officials and Western journalists find something else

Ukrainian security officials and Western journalists who went looking for Russian atrocities northwest of Bucha in the Kiev region found no signs of human rights abuses, according to phone call records obtained by RT. Instead, locals told journalists the Russian troops gave them food and treated them well. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official complained that his own side's militia looted everything.

In a series of satellite phone calls, a reporter identified only as "Simon" tells his colleagues he visited Borodyanka - a town about 25 kilometers northwest of Bucha - and "there's no bodies in the streets at all," contrary to what he was led to expect.

The town has been "shelled to pieces," Simon says, "but there's no evidence of any rights abuses here at all." In fact, he and his crew interviewed multiple residents who said the Russian troops had been very friendly and gave them food and water and other supplies. "And we got quotes on camera for that," he adds.
"I don't know what the prosecutor was talking about, but we have seen nothing like that, at all. It's a completely different picture," Simon tells his colleagues. One French journalist may have seen a body of someone killed by shelling, but "no executions."

Comment: There are audio recordings that show that the Bucha atrocities are rigged in order to portray the Russian army and Russian intervention in Ukraine in the worst possible way




Binoculars

China weighs in on root cause of 'Ukraine issue'

destroyed armored vehicle
© Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/ Light Rocket/ Getty ImagesA destroyed armored vehicle near Kiev, Ukraine, April 7, 2022.
Beijing has said that the primary reason for the conflict is the "security imbalance" in Europe.

China said on Thursday that the fault lines of European security have caused the current Russian-Ukraine conflict. Moscow has insisted that one of the goals of its ongoing military campaign against Kiev is to make Ukraine declare itself a neutral country which will never join NATO.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his country's view on the matter during a phone call with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Magic Hat

Ruble stronger than before Ukraine crisis, Russia needs just 6 months to offset impact of sanctions

rubledollar
© Getty Images/Diy13The US currency's share of global reserves fell ten times faster in the last year than in the previous 20, Stephen Jen has said
The Russian ruble strengthened to 75 rubles to the US dollar and 81 against the euro on Thursday, reaching its strongest levels against major currencies since February 19.

The ruble plunged to historic lows after Russia launched the special military operation in Ukraine, and the US and its allies imposed unprecedented sanctions targeting the country's financial system. On March 7, the Russian currency fell to as low as 150 rubles to the dollar.

The ruble nosedived on February 24, immediately after the start of the military operation, as international penalties targeted its freely traded currency. Western countries froze Moscow's foreign reserves, making it difficult for the Bank of Russia to support the ruble by selling foreign currencies.

Comment: The strength of the ruble is one sign of the ongoing shift of influence from West to East, another is the actions of some the West's more influential allies who are increasingly ditching policies favourable to the US and instead opting for those congruent with the multipolar alliance: Gold-backed ruble could be a gamechanger - precious metals analyst

And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Bucha False-Flag - Sanctions Gas Theater - BRICS Dismantling Dollar Domination




Bizarro Earth

US, Poland to hold joint military exercises near Ukraine border

US, Poland  military exercises
© Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesU.S. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne take part in an exercise outside the operating base at the Arlamow Airport on Tuesday in Wola Korzeniecka, Poland.
A State Department source tells Fox News on Thursday that the U.S. and Poland will hold joint military exercises tomorrow near Rzeszow, about an hour away from Poland's border with Ukraine.

President Joe Biden had visited the city during his trip to Europe for a NATO summit in late March.

"Tactical and fire training at the training ground in Nowa Dęba is to deepen the interoperability of Polish and American troops and to harmonize Polish military units," the Polish military said in a statement previewing the military exercise.

Comment: See also: Psychotic Polish deputy-PM offers US to install nukes in his country, wants Washington to send tens of thousands more troops


Snowman

Why do Europeans have to sacrifice hot showers to 'stick it to Putin'?

Europe eu US sanctions
EU citizens are being asked to make great sacrifices to support a sanctions regime against Moscow over its military offensive in Ukraine. But how long will Western consumers be willing to live without creature comforts?

What a difference a month can make. Not long ago, Moscow and Berlin had the champagne on ice for an expected ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nord Stream 2, a planned 1,234-km (766 mile) pipeline extending from Russia to Germany that would have kept Europe warm and toasty for decades. Now, EU officials are advising their citizens to dial back their time in the shower and invest in wool sweaters as calls for decoupling from Russian energy supplies ratchet up.

"Everyone is asking, 'what can I do,'" remarked Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition. "You can do two things," she recommended. "Control your own and your teenager's showers, and when you turn off that water, you say, 'take that, Putin.'"


Comment: Note that this is supposed to be a commissioner, a person in a position of top responsibility; does she really believe what she's saying? Does she think the average person is so stupid that they need to be spoken to as though they were an intellectually stunted child? With representatives like this, is it any wonder Europe is in the dire state it's in?


Comment: Indeed, whilst a proportion of people are simply incapable of seeing the facts, and will simply choose to perish believing the lies, a great many others will eventually come to realise that they've been tricked, but not before they and their loved ones undergo near unimaginable suffering: Also check out SOTT radio's:



Attention

Central bank smackdown: Glazyev vs. Nabiullina

Russia Central Bank
© ReutersA Russian state flag flies over the Central Bank headquarters in Moscow, Russia.
Why did Putin appoint a financial terrorist to run Russia's Central Bank? Did he know he was putting Russia's future in the hands of someone whose interests align more closely with power-mad globalists than with the Russian people? Does he understand the role the Central Bank chief played in facilitating Washington's theft of Russia's foreign reserves? Does he understand the role the Central Bank chief played in allowing Russia's currency to be ripped to shreds by vicious hedge fund speculators acting on Washington's behalf? Does he understand that doubling interest rates overnight to 20% will wipe out business investment, increase unemployment and push the economy headlong into a protracted slump? Does he like the idea that Russia's national bank is now lending money at the same inflated rate as a Mafia loan shark? Would Putin borrow money at 20%? Would anyone?

And if no one borrows money, then there's no credit expansion. And if there is no credit expansion, there's no economic growth. And if there's no growth, the economy goes into a downward-death spiral that curtails personal consumption, weakens business investment, boosts the jobless rate, shrinks the social safety-net, lowers living standards, intensifies social discontent, and threatens the political stability of the country. These are the knock-on effects of bad monetary policy. And, these are the outcomes that Russia can expect if Putin sticks with the current Central Bank chief.

And there's more, too, because the economy provides the funding for the military which is currently embroiled in a scorched earth, life-or-death struggle with the United States in Ukraine. If the economy tanks, the war effort will falter, morale will sour, material support will diminish and Russia will face its biggest challenge since the Wehrmacht gathered outside Moscow in October, 1941. So, a personnel change must be made immediately. The economy must be strengthened, domestic investment must be increased, and the correct monetary policies must be put in place. That means Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina has to be removed immediately. Here's more from Russian economist Sergei Glazyev:
When we talk about the nationalization of the Central Bank, (what we mean is) bringing it into a policy of conformity with national interests. Right now, its policy is contrary to national interests.... We see in whose interests such a policy is pursued. The Central Bank raised interest rates to 20 percent, giving the bankers a dominant position in the economy. Possessing the most expensive and scarce resource, money, they determine which enterprise will survive, and which enterprise will die, go bankrupt, and so on. Rising interest rates are holding the entire Russian economy hostage to a handful of bankers. ("Events Like These Only Happen Once Every Century (Sergey Glazyev)", The Saker)
Sound familiar?

It should. We can all​ remember other instances when Central Bankers took advantage of a crisis to enrich themselves and other members of the banking cabal.

Popcorn

Sit back and watch Europe commit suicide

euro flag tatters
© The CradleWashington's competition with rising power Russia is so fierce, it is willing to sacrifice Europe.
The stunning spectacle of the European Union (EU) committing slow motion hara-kiri is something for the ages. Like a cheap Kurosawa remake, the movie is actually about the US-detonated demolition of the EU, complete with the rerouting of some key Russian commodities exports to the US at the expense of Europeans.

It helps to have a 5th columnist actress strategically placed - in this case astonishingly incompetent European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen - with her vociferous announcement of a crushing new sanctions package: Russian ships banned from EU ports; road transportation companies from Russia and Belarus prohibited from entering the EU; no more coal imports (over 4.4 billion euros a year).

Briefcase

Need for a special counsel in Hunter Biden's case has grown urgent

Bidens
© Andy Wong/EPA-EFEPresident Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden
David Weiss, the US attorney for Delaware, seems to be leading a genuine investigation of Hunter Biden: Prosecutors taking the case to a grand jury the other day even asked a witness about "the big guy," for whom Hunter and his partners had reserved a 10% cut of one potential (and lucrative) deal.

No one familiar with the case has suggested who the "big guy" might be if not now-President Joe Biden, and at least one of the partners has confirmed it was Joe.

Then, too, Weiss is a veteran of the Delaware office, appointed US attorney in early 2018 by President Donald Trump — not a political hack. The only thing at all questionable about his Hunter investigation is why it has taken so long, when the probe actually began long before the last election. Hunter's bank records on his dealings with the Bank of China, for example, got subpoenaed back in May 2019.

For the long wait, you have to assume the blame rests with his superiors in Washington. It would've been standard procedure to hold off making headlines in the runup to the 2020 vote, but delays since then likely came at the order of central Justice, namely Attorney General Merrick Garland and his top aides.
Weiss/Garland/Klain
© Al Drago/UPI/Demetrius Freeman/Pool/Reuters/KJNDavid Weiss US Attorney Delaware • AG Merrick Garland • WH Chief of Staff Ron Klain

Dollar

US to send $100M in additional military aid to Ukraine

Delivery
© Ukraine Ministry of DefenseUS military aid to Ukraine
The U.S. is sending up to $100 million in additional military aid to Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the country continues.

The State Department and Pentagon announced the military funding in statements Tuesday evening. The money will go toward Javelin anti-armor systems, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he authorized an immediate drawdown to address Ukraine's need for more anti-armor systems. Drawdowns allow the president to help countries during emergencies without needing approval from a legislative authority or budgetary appropriations, according to a Defense Department handbook.

Tuesday night's drawdown marks the sixth such allocation the U.S. has made for Ukraine since August, according to Blinken. The U.S. has provided Ukraine with more than $1.7 billion since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in late February. He said in a statement:
"​​I have authorized, pursuant to a delegation from the President earlier today, the immediate drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $100 million to meet Ukraine's urgent need for additional anti-armor systems.

"The world has been shocked and appalled by the atrocities committed by Russia's forces in Bucha and across Ukraine. Ukraine's forces bravely continue to defend their country and their freedom, and the United States, along with our Allies and partners, stand steadfast in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Comment: The pile on of military supplies seems to have no end:
Czechia has provided Ukraine with tanks for use in its ongoing conflict with Russia, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, on Tuesday.

The Central European nation has also reportedly supplied Kiev with howitzer artillery pieces and Soviet-made BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles. The supplies have been funded by the Prague government and some private donors, who joined a state-backed crowdfunding campaign.

Western nations have been supplying Ukraine with weapons, ammunition and fuel since shortly after the start of the Russian military attack, in late February. Most deliveries to date have included portable anti-tank and anti-air missiles, as well as small arms.

Australia said earlier this week it has been flying Bushmaster armored vehicles to Europe, destined for use by Kiev's forces. German media also earlier reported that Berlin had approved the delivery of self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine by a number of other NATO members.

Some NATO states, such as Slovenia, have virtually depleted their own supplies. Now, its prime minister, Janez Jansa, says his nation's Western allies are in no rush to replenish these stocks.
"Unfortunately, our reserves are depleted and now we are trying to replace equipment... with new deliveries from US.

"If the war is going to get longer and longer, the war equipment that is being damaged needs to get serviced. Ukrainian repair houses are 100% busy, and they are asking other nearby allies to help them with repairs."
Earlier, Russia warned that it would consider arms deliveries to Ukraine as legitimate military targets but Moscow hasn't targeted any arms convoys outside of Ukrainian territory so far. It has not commented on a potential response to NATO states providing equipment repair facilities to Ukraine.
The MIC must be having one helluva field day as the war thickens and the usual hands-off countries continue relinquishing their dispensable military equipment to Ukraine.