Alexander Baunov Profile picture
Oct 1, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read Read on X
1/7 Among much real and imagined bad news from Russia, this really is awful bit.ly/2SeZaRJ
2/7 Russia’s Investigative Committee has arrested staff & doctors of companies that provided surrogacy services to single men (in reality, some of them in gay couples), is removing children from their families, & threatening to charge the fathers with trafficking children.
3/7 There is ongoing discussion about the moral and legal aspects of surrogacy around the world. But the arguments the Russian authorities are using in this particular case have nothing to do with protecting women or children.
4/7 Investigators claim that the fathers had no right to use the procedure of artificial insemination, because they are of “non traditional sexual orientation.”
5/7 Their crazed logic runs this way: artificial insemination is a fertility treatment given to women and couples, but a healthy single man cannot be infertile, and a single man of non-traditional sexual orientation can’t be a sperm donor, so it must be child trafficking.
6/7 Last year, a gay Russian couple had to emigrate when authorities tried to seize custody of their adopted children who had lived with them for years, purely on the grounds that the parents were in a same sex partnership. The officials who had allowed the adoption were punished
7/7 As time goes by, the anti-gay legislation—which in the beginning seemed more rhetorical than practical—is gradually taking on a chilling and very real form.

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More from @baunov

Nov 21
THREAD 1/10 It now makes sense why Maria Zakharova was cut off during the briefing and asked not to comment on the ballistic missile strike.
2/10 A statement from “the man himself” (Putin) was expected. Had she spoken, it would’ve preempted the intended gravity of the event, turning it into routine—and perhaps, due to her style, even farce.
3/10 Was the interruption planned to build suspense or spontaneous? Likely the latter. A typical working moment brought to the surface due to urgency—perhaps the Foreign Ministry had its response ready, but mid-briefing, the Presidential Administration ordered silence.
Read 10 tweets
Oct 21
THREAD 1/15 Maia #Sandu essentially repeated David Cameron's gamble and has nearly staged #Moldova's Brexit (Moldexit) even before joining the EU.
2/15 Sandu assumed that the pro-European sentiment among voters was stronger than the support for her government. Since she leads the pro-European camp, she expected that backing the European choice would strengthen her mandate and lift her political standing.
3/15 Cameron had a similar strategy—he sought to tap into euroscepticism, thinking it would boost his mandate without going beyond his control.
Read 15 tweets
Mar 18
THREAD 1/12 The result of #Putin reelection of more than 85% was predictable for many reasons. In the 2012 elections, it was over 60%, in 2018 over 70%, and in 2024 it's expected to be over 80%. More than 90% will be reserved for the very end—towards 2030.
2/12 Many Russian governors have been re-elected with over 80% of the vote after the start of the war. In 2023, there were 8 out of 21, some even with 86%. Putin had to get more.
3/12 The unprecedentedly irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine needed to be balanced by a figure that would demonstrate unwavering support for it.
Read 12 tweets
Jun 27, 2023
THREAD 1/5 In the third television appearance within two days on the topic of "#Wagner" and #Prigozhin, Putin spoke about him and his people not as patriots and defenders of the homeland, etc. - as it has been customary before yesterday.
2/5 He spoke about him as a screwed businessman who is trying to have it both ways: he received $ 1 billion for his military company and earned another one billion in a year from food supplies to the Russian military, and probably stole something on the way.
3/5 Ordinary Russian citizens love defenders of the homeland and dislike cunning businessmen, and the figures of 80 billion rubles ($ 1 billion) received twice should be repelling. He himself demanded action against those who profited from the war , but look at what he's doing.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 5, 2023
THREAD 1/9 Putin was not present at Erdogan's inauguration, which he would have definitely attended in the past. Me recent piece in @ForeignAffairs explains an important reason foreignaffairs.com/russian-federa…
2/9 The reason is not only the war, but the indictment of the International court Criminal Court against him. For the same reason he is not going to the G-20 in South Africa. foreignaffairs.com/russian-federa…
3/9 Diplomats and political leaders can reach agreements in both cases, but even then, it cannot be guaranteed that the judiciary will fully submit to the executive power. In this respect even those countries are not Russia.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 26, 2023
THREAD 1/6 Why should the West supplying Ukraine with a few dozen tanks make such a difference, when it has already provided so much weaponry? The difference is that weapons and artillery mean a slow war, while tanks mean a fast war.
2/6 New, modern tanks could accelerate the course of the war — at least in theory. After its blitzkrieg failed, Russia adapted its plan, betting instead on a long war, and counting on its bigger population, resources and arms industry to win.
3/6 This is a war of attrition that Russia believes can be won without involving too many of its own people, simply by waiting it out and wearing the Ukrainians down.
Read 6 tweets

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