Thread by @ZarinaZabrisky

💥A slide with a quote from Putin: he learned in the streets of Leningrad to always hit first if he can't avoid the fight. Few minutes into his speech at Valdai Business club meeting in Sochi, Putin claimed that Russia will never use the nuclear weapons first, but...thread👇

2. "In this situation, we are kind of waiting that someone will use the nuclear weapon against us, we are kind of (coughs) not doing anything ourselves..." (в этой ситуации мы как бы ждем, что к нам кто-то ядерное орудие применит, мы как бы сами ничего не делаем.")

3. "We, like martyrs, will go to heaven, and they will just die like dogs (alternative translation: croak) because they will not have time to repent." ("мы как мученики попадем в рай, а они просто сдохнут, потому что они даже раскаяться не успеют")

3. He then promised vengeance (возмездие; as in biblical "Мне отмщение, Аз воздам, глаголет Господь.") Notably, he is using apocalyptic terms (martyrs, heaven, repent, vengeance.)

3. Another slide in the background featured a quote about the unacceptance of "our own funeral."

3. 💥💥💥 Importantly, Putin openly called Trump "his partner."
("это дискуссия двух партнеров..." 0:5:41) tvc.ru/news/show/id/1…

4. A mix of street slang, biblical terms and gangster mental images is a typical vocabulary of the mafia state/religious nationalism created and weaponized by Putin and his political technologists.

5. Also, for those who follow Alfa Bank: Petr Aven who works on distancing himself from the Kremlin and its policies, is in the audience.

6. Read more about Petr Aven and why is it important here: medium.com/@ZarinaZabrisk…

6.1. and here theguardian.com/us-news/2018/a…

Read more about Valdai club here: medium.com/mosaic2/nixon-…

☝ thread on Putin's #Valdai speech. Linguistic/cultural analysis+details. @WendySiegelman @dcpoll @grantstern @patrickLSimpson @J_amesp @peterjukes @AlexandraChalup @velvetblade @MelissaJPeltier @kate_hammer @Agenthades1 @ushadrons @craigunger @LincolnsBible @XSovietNews