Galeev-style threads are being made fun of for good reason, but there actually is some "historical context" to Ukrainian war crimes, and I'm not going to appeal to the deficiency of someone's genes or culture, as Western "Russia experts" generally do.
The modern Ukrainian state, by embracing the heritage of Stepan Bandera & the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, has created a military culture that is built upon glorifying things like sabotage & guerilla warfare - generally, the "dirtiest" kind of war.
Who are the main military heroes in the propagandistic account of Russian history? People like Generalissimo Suvorov with his heroic bayonet charges & Alps-crossings, or the ever-victorious Admiral Ushakov, who was declared a Saint.
The current Ukrainian myth, which, as I've said many times, attempts to impose an identity based upon Galician anti-Soviet resistance on all Ukrainians, reveres Bandera - a man famous for engaging in a very different kind of warfare: assassinations, terrorism, ethnic cleansing.
These archetypes are absorbed from an early age as kids are being taught to worship the UPA as Founding Fathers. That is why the idea of urban warfare is easily understood by most Ukrainians - the state has been telling them for decades that Ukraine is founded upon this.
The idea that they're endangering civilians doesn't even cross the minds of the military - this is what they have been taught is the pinnacle of patriotism. And the worst thing is, that this strategy doesn't even imply victory. Its goal is to impose high costs on the enemy.
Protecting civilians does not factor into this, & looking for spies & saboteurs within their own ranks was the main activity of the UPA. It's a sad state of affairs, and I believe that three decades of government propaganda are to blame for the UKR military thinking this way.
P.S. I'm not just referring to the stuff in the videos - the whole UKR military strategy is focused on using cities as cover for military action. There is overwhelming evidence for them using civilian residences as firing positions, placing artillery near civilian targets, etc
P.P.S. The concepts of ius ad bellum & ius in bello are separate from each other for a reason, and if you believe that one party of the conflict has declared an illegal war, that does not in any way absolve the other party from being bound by the rules of war.
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Sergey Markov, a Kremlin loyalist, United Russia member, and regular Russian TV talking head, was just labeled a foreign agent.
Here he is in Baku, calling Aliyev a "brilliant leader" who "won the war"
Might seem small, but I think this is a GIANT shift in Russian politics: 🧵
Russia is CRAWLING with Azeri political lobbyists. I've talked about this on our podcast many times. Aliyev's little helpers had access everywhere for years.
Markov was one of the most obvious offenders, parroting Baku's line while presenting himself as a Putin loyalist at home.
At the height of recent Russia–Azerbaijan tensions, Azeri police arrested and tortured random Russian IT guys and journos taken from the street
And while that was happening, Markov was in Baku, groveling at Aliyev's feet, praising him as the victorious genius (see first post)
The 'Russia hoax' wasn't fake because Trump never met shady oligarchs in Moscow strip clubs — it was fake because it had zero to do with Russia's interests
It served as proxy cover for a far more intimate, untouchable link: Israeli circles - a staple of foreign collusion in US
Trump’s a greaseball tangled up with oligarchs from everywhere. The only real question is: whose national interests did it all actually serve?
I doubt Trump sniffing crushed Adderall off a Moscow prostie with an Azeri billionaire had much to do with Russia’s civilizational goals
The insistence on Russiagate in 2016 by Trump's political rivals was driven by pure necessity
They couldn't touch Epstein or his real backers — they were entangled too
Russia was the only safe weapon they could use without blowing themselves up
Russia played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. In the summer of 1775, King George III of Great Britain sought the support of Russia to send a 20,000-strong military corps to crush the rebellion in North America.
This corps would consist of combat units from the Russian army and would be led by a British general. Great Britain would pay for the recruitment of the troops and their transportation by ship to North America. The British believed that the Russian troops would guarantee Great Britain success in the upcoming campaign.
However, Russia refused to send any troops and proclaimed "armed neutrality," meaning resistance to British attempts to restrict trade with the rebel colonies at sea. Northern European countries such as Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Prussia supported this policy.
Catherine's political and military actions helped to further isolate Britain within European politics, ultimately leading to the eventual victory of the young American republic. The proclamation of the Declaration of Armed Neutrality by Russia, which received the official approval of the Continental Congress of the United States in October 1780, had great international significance.
If Catherine the Great had not engaged in political maneuvering with other imperial powers, and instead had chosen to support the British cause, the American Revolution might have turned out differently.
The first direct trade connections between America and Russia were established already in 1763-1766, when American ships, despite the prohibitory policy of the mother country, completed at least 8 successful cruises to St. Petersburg.
In the course of the war for independence, individual ships under the Russian flag sailed to the shores of America via Bordeaux, and beginning in 1783, the merchant ships of the United States were visiting Russia ever more frequently.
An interesting quote by the new Russian Minister of Defence Andrey Belousov: 'By preserving traditional values of the West, which are originally the values of Western Christian European civilization, Russia can become a guardian of these values. This may seem like a paradoxical idea, but it is nonetheless true. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that the West is our enemy.'
Belousov's father, Rem Belousov, was responsible for developing Kosygin's reforms, the same reforms that could have saved the USSR, but Brezhnev decided against them.
Honestly it's all very white-pilling, friends.
What i like about Belousov is that he's obviously smart. He might lack the military experience - just like all the previous ministers of defence. But at least he's 20 iq points smarter than them.
The "blood and barbaric" terrorist attack has killed dozens of innocent, peaceful people
He expresses gratitude to ambulance crews, firefighters and rescuers who did everything to save people's lives; condolences to all those who have lost relatives and friends
March 24th will be a national day of mourning, additional anti-terrorist measures have been introduced in Moscow and other regions