max seddon Profile picture
Feb 24, 2022 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
It’s too early to say what the Russian people make of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but he’s already lost a few celebrities. Most of these guys rely heavily on the state for their living.

A short thread.
Ivan Urgant, Russia’s equivalent of Steven Colbert (who was once on his show): “Fear and pain. NO to war.”
Maxim Galkin, singer and husband of Alla Pugacheva, Russia’s biggest celebrity:

“I’ve been talking to friends and relatives from Ukraine since early morning! I can’t find the words to say what I feel! How can this be possible! There can be no justification for war! No to war!”
Pop star Svetlana Loboda: “My heart is broken. I’ve been in touch with my loved ones since 5am. How is this possible? Lord, stop all this! I’m just crying.”
Figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva: “I hope this all ends as soon as possible, like a bad dream.”
Pop star Valery Meladze: “Today something happened that could and should never have happened. History will judge everything one day. Now I want to beg you to stop military action and sit down to negotiate.”
None of them are protesting or mentioning Putin by name. But even stuff like this can get you banned from state TV for life.
This was compiled on the excellent @bbcrussian live blog by the brilliant @lizafokht, who you should all be following (and not just because we’re married) bbc.com/russian/live/n…
@bbcrussian @lizafokht A case in point on the risks of speaking out against the war in Russia, especially if you work in the almost wholly state-run culture industry

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More from @maxseddon

Aug 5
In August last year, a group of Iranian nuclear scientists flew to Moscow, ostensibly as consultants.

It was a cover story. The Iranians were traveling on diplomatic service passports, some sequentially numbered and issued on the same day just weeks before the trip took place. Image
The delegation was closely linked to Iran's SPND, or the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research. This secretive military research unit has been described by the US government as “the direct successor organisation to Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program.” Image
One of the Iranians once ran a company the US sanctioned for being a nuclear weapons-related procurement front under the control of the SPND. Another is known to western intelligence agencies as a senior SPND scientist. A third did his physics PhD under the SPND's founder. Image
Read 8 tweets
Dec 14, 2023
It’s time for the annual Putin presser and phone-in, combined into one – the first time he’s done it since the invasion of Ukraine.

Pavel Zarubin is showing off a huge pile of questions supposedly sent in by ordinary Russians. Expect this to be even more stage-managed than usual
Zarubin, the Swiftie-esque Putin fanboy who is moderating this, says some questions have been resolved already. "In the morning I complained I hadn't been paid my salary, and by the evening I got it!", one ordinary Russian supposedly said. Image
Putin says Russia has "strengthened its sovereignty," and seen off a sanctions onslaught from the west. Putin credits the "high consolidation of Russian society" and "stability of the financial-economic system." Image
Read 20 tweets
Nov 12, 2023
As their yacht bobbed on the Mediterranean, the microchip executive snapped a picture of his Russian partner asleep on the deck.

He only knew the Russian by his first name, Maxim. But he knew Maxim was using a shadowy network to get the chips for the Russian defense industry. Image
Marc Rocchi’s qcompany Ommic desperately needed Maxim’s business to stay afloat. A few months earlier Rocchi had flown to Greece to hand-deliver Maxim 230 microchips — €45,000 worth. Maxim had, at one point, offered Rocchi “cash and women” for more, though he declined. Image
Rocchi knew his ultimate customer was NPP Istok, which makes electronic warfare systems for the Russian military. Specialist microchips like Ommic’s high-performance gallium nitride and gallium arsenide-integrated circuit boards are vital to defense manufacturers like Istok. Image
Read 13 tweets
Oct 29, 2023
Insane footage on Russian social media from Makhachkala in the North Caucasus region, where there have been several anti-Semitic protests this weekend.

A crowd of people, some with Palestinian flags, broke into the airport in search of passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv.
Some of them tried to storm the plane, per Izvestia t.me/izvestia/149496
Remarkable to see security forces in Russia standing by for so long. By now, according to Baza, police in Makhachkala have chased them off the runway and outside the airport, where they are now protesting. The airport is closed t.me/bazabazon/22573
Read 6 tweets
Jun 26, 2023
Putin is going to make a “number of important statements” this evening, per the Kremlin. t.me/rt_russian/163…
Now Lukashenko’s press service says:

“⁉️⁉️⁉️ So many questions, versions, and suppositions…

Number One will TELL EVERYTHING and ANSWER them all. Very soon!

Follow the news!🔥🔥🔥”

I wish I were making this up t.me/pul_1/9281
Peskov says Putin's announcements "will, without exaggeration, determine the future of Russia" t.me/vestiru24/77826
Read 8 tweets
Jun 24, 2023
🚨 Belarus says it has convinced Prigozhin to stand down his armed uprising.

Lukashenko spent "the entire day" negotiating with Prigozhin after "agreeing on joint actions" with Putin and "additionally clarifying the situation through his own channels."

t.me/pul_1/9275
No immediate confirmation from the Kremlin or Prigozhin.
🚨 Prigozhin says Wagner is standing its coup attempt down and going back to Ukraine "according to the plan."

t.me/concordgroup_o…
Read 21 tweets

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