Your reporting here is really poor. These are not "pro-Moscow authorities" of Kherson region in south Ukraine but the Russian occupation administrators. Please use the correct designations.
You name Kirill Stremousov a "deputy head of the Military-Civilian Administration". He is a local blogger and imposter. Ukrainian prosecutors initiated a criminal case against him on treason charges.
Honestly, @GuyReuters, I expected more scrutiny of Russian propaganda from you. TASS is a Russian propaganda outlet, it is NOT a genuine information provider.
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THREAD. In #Russia, the authorities are reportedly circulating a memo to all government-controlled or state-owned entities / firms, to explain the official position on the Russian #war on #Ukraine to workers / employees.
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1) The “military operation” is a preventive measure in order to prevent the full-scale aggression against Russia that is being prepared by Ukraine. 2) There was a real threat that Ukraine would use missile, nuclear and biological weapons against Russia.
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3) Our cause is right. Russia does not start, but ends the 8-year war. 4) Pollster VTsIOM data show the support of the absolute majority of Russians.
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#Russia's proxies in the Donbas conflict zone, DPR and LPR shelled #Ukraine's armed forces positions on 18 February 66 times, 52 of which involved weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements.
IMHO, events in #Kazakhstan in the past week have undermined Putin's argument that #Russia has a right to a 'sphere of influence' in the former Soviet space. This will weaken Russia's negotiating position in the upcoming talks.
I will explain why.
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Putin's notion of Russia's 'area of privileged interest' is based on the narrative that Moscow acts as the stabilising force in the region. If the Kremlin is allowed to keep countries in its sphere of influence, they will be stable, with low levels of violence.
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Kazakhstan was a political, military and economic ally of Putin's Russia for the past 30 years. The only competition which Russia experienced there was not with the West, but with China - and mostly in economic / trade matters.
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On Tuesday, #Russia's state-owned Gazprom did not book any additional gas transit capacity via #Ukraine for August 2021, for the fourth month in a row.
Gazprom opted to not book additional capacity via Ukraine even during the stoppage of gas deliveries to the EU during planned maintenance of Yamal-Europe and Nord Stream pipelines earlier this summer.