Call to action!
"It is our responsibility to show the international community a clear antiwar stance that we as Russian citizens, free from the claws of Putin's regime and propaganda machine, are taking"
message from @rusdemsoc
"We cannot allow ourselves to get used to this criminal war, let alone remain silent when Putin claims that it is being waged on our behalf and with our support." @rusdemsoc
These banners speak volumes (Prague, 26.3.2022)
It's been nearly a year since Putin has started an atrocious war against Ukraine
On Feb 24-26 there will be massive rallies & demonstrations held by Russians all over the world to protest against this terrible war
Russians living abroad, join them!
📷 Russians in 🇨🇿 (26.3.2022)
📢 Save the Date
📣 Russians all over the world protesting against this terrible war
🗓 When? February 24-26
22 years ago – how time flies – I wrote a report on Russian corruption. I told Putin about corruption in his circle, gave examples.
I asked him directly: does Putin want 25% of his compatriots to consider the Russian President a bribe-taker?
🧵What happened after showed I thought better of him than he deserved. 1/9
It was the first anti-corruption investigation before it became mainstream! Social media wasn't really a thing back then, so I had to present it personally at the Kremlin, where he met with the business community. 2/9
Soon after, I was arrested on made-up charges. The accusation was ridiculous: stealing oil from my own company, Yukos. That speech would cost me 10 years of my life. 3/9
Everyone wants to know when Putin’s war on Ukraine will end. The only person who can know that for sure is Putin himself – but he doesn’t have long to decide.
🧵Here's why he has to make his mind up by this summer
First of all, let's discuss the military situation
It’s not true that Putin has no motivation to stop the war. While Russia has been on the offensive for the past year, it hasn’t achieved any strategic victories, and has been taking consistently heavy losses
Meanwhile, Ukraine is not receiving anywhere near enough equipment from its Western allies, and is dealing with a major shortage in manpower
Millions stolen from the Syrian people fund Assad's luxurious Moscow lifestyle.
Yet, they can't buy what matters most: life-saving treatment for his wife Asma as she fights leukemia.
🧵Here's latest on Syrian dictator's life in Russia — revealed by @dossier_center
First off, let’s look at how Assad got to Russia in the first place. Like the disgraced Ukrainian president Yanukovych, he was extracted by the Russian military, after his own commanders refused to protect him bbc.com/news/world-eur…
This scenario also draws parallels with the complete lack of resistance Prigozhin’s mercenaries faced as they marched into Russia. Dictators never learn – loyalty is always conditional
Politico has named Putin as one of the ‘losers of the year’ for 2024. But I disagree.
🧵Here’s why
In naming Putin a loser, Politico cites the continued failure of his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s seizure of territory in Kursk region, the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, the downing of an Azeri plane at Christmas, and the horrendous state of Russia’s economy
But in truth, how much does Putin really care about any of that? Thousands of Russian soldiers are dying in Ukraine, but that’s no loss to Putin – it’s a loss to their families, people he clearly doesn’t care about
Azerbaijan's Aliyev demanded an apology from Putin over a downed plane... and got it! This exposes cracks in Russia's regional alliances as its power fades.
🧵Turkey (and NATO) are reshaping the post-Soviet space in unexpected ways. Here's how
Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev has taken an unusually strong stance against Putin since one of his country’s planes was shot down over Russia at Christmas. We haven’t heard words like this from one of Russia’s few remaining geopolitical allies in a long time
The Kremlin's response to the crash was the same as always: denials, conspiracy theories, and the usual refusal to take responsibility. But this time, Aliyev didn’t accept it
Like every year, Putin held a very long press conference today. And like every year, he lied through his teeth the entire time.
🧵Here are just some of the falsehoods he pushed:
‘More than 40,000 sanctions have been placed on Russia’ – Just a couple of months ago, foreign minister Lavrov said the number of sanctions was only about half that, at 21,000.
‘We have no preconditions for peace talks’ – Putin himself in June said peace talks in Ukraine were conditional on Kyiv withdrawing from four of its regions and officially turning its back on plans to join NATO interfax.ru/russia/966604