1/ Donald Trump's friendliness to Russia has earned praise from Russian propagandists and a wave of Trumpmania from online sellers, including MAGA hats and Trump toilet brushes. One commentator suggests he'll be declared the Messiah and will build the Third Temple in space. ⬇️
2/ The notorious propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has broadcast a video of J.D. Vance's speech to the Munich Security Conference and has spoken approvingly of Vance's statement that negotiations between America and Russia are needed.
3/ "What did Vance say that Russian representatives haven’t said for a long time, and that doesn’t resound in our studio every time?," Solovyov asked on his show.
Other state-controlled TV channels have taken to describing Trump and Putin as "well-mannered and polite people".
4/ TV presenter and propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov told viewers on the Russia 1 TV channel's Vesti Nedeli show: "The intonation is very important here. The conversation is mutually polite and respectful". He says that Russia and the US are ready for "mutual gestures of goodwill."
5/ This is quite a change of tone for Kiselyov, who declared only recently that Russia was ready to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine and to turn the US into radioactive ashes.
6/ Voskresnoye Vremya quotes Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stating that "In the West, many were stunned when a normal, elementary conversation between two well-mannered, polite people [i.e. Trump and Putin] took place."
7/ The ideologist Alexander Dugin has changed his views too, from declaring that "any peace for Russia would be a disgrace and capitulation" to now regarding "Putin's negotiations with Trump without the EU and Ukraine" as "certainly a breakthrough."
8/ Meanwhile, Russian online sellers on the Amazon-equivalent Wildberries and the eBay-equivalent Avito are cashing in on a wave of Trumpmania. They are offering MAGA hats, watches, plates, T-shirts, posters, Trump figurines and even a Trump-shaped toilet brush.
9/ Russian translations of Trump's books 'Think Like a Champion: A Tycoon's Revelations about Life and Business', 'The Art of the Deal', and 'Think Like a Billionaire' have also seen a surge of sales, increasing by 2.6 times compared to the same period in 2024.
10/ One commentator takes Trumpmania a bit too far, however, in asking: "Can Orthodox rabbis recognize Donald Trump as the Messiah, which will give him a legal and legitimate opportunity to implement the main development project of his life - the Third Temple?"
11/ Naturally, the answer is yes: Trump will bring peace, will gather all Jews in the 'Trumpsphere' (formerly Israel/West Bank/Gaza), and has been proved by numerology to be "the very Messiah from the line of David." He will build the Third Temple in orbit with Elon Musk's help:
12/ "The Third Temple could be built in the sky. Specifically, assembled or 3D printed in near-Earth orbit. Then delivered to Israel on a SpaceX cargo ship."
13/ "Of course, it won’t be possible to place it on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – there are Muslim shrines there that can’t be touched. So, the Temple will be in the Ein Gedi National Park, near the Shulamit Falls. (Almost) according to Ezekiel’s prophecy." /end
1/ Russia is reported to have offered lucrative oil and gas concessions as a sweetener to get the Trump negotiating team to agree a favourable deal over Ukraine in Riyadh. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports a source's comments on the negotiations:
"Kirill Dmitriev (Russian Direct Investment Fund) was clearly appointed to the negotiating delegation from Russia as a person who at least knows a little about business."
3/ "That is exactly what the Russian leadership decided, that it was just necessary to bargain well with the Trump team and everything would be fine.
1/ The Russian army is using wounded soldiers as human bullet sponges, sending them out to identify Ukrainian positions by getting themselves shot. An appeal to Vladimir Putin by one man's wife illustrates how soldiers find themselves in this position. ⬇️
2/ The Russian 'Soldier's Truth' Telegram channel has published an 'appeal to the Tsar' from Sofia Sergeevna Merzlyak, the wife of 33-year-old soldier Alexander Alexandrovich Merzlyak, who is serving with the 1st Rifle Company of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
3/ This was formerly a unit under the 'Donetsk People's Republic' before its merger with the Russian Army in January 2023. Alexander Merzlyak is likely to be an inhabitant of the occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine. His wife describes him as a contract soldier, i.e. a volunteer.
1/ Russian warbloggers are furious about the catastrophic defeat of a Russian armoured column in the Kursk region, reportedly causing hundreds of casualties. They are bitterly critical of the commanders responsible. ⬇️
2/ The failed assault happened near the hamlet of Nikolskiy, near Malaya Loknya in Russia's Kursk region. According to the Russian 'North Channel' Telegram channel, Nikolskiy was mostly recaptured by North Korean forces, who then lost it in what may have been a failed rotation.
3/ North Channel wrote on 15 February: "Our allies were one step away from liberating the Nikolskiy farmstead in the Malaya Loknya area. As of yesterday evening, they controlled 80% of the settlement under intense fire pressure."
1/ Russian kindergarteners are being taught to throw grenades, navigate trenches, weave camouflage nets, and go through obstacle courses, as part of an increasingly intensive programme to train the next generation of Russians for war. ⬇️
2/ 2025 has been declared the "year of the defender of the Fatherland" by Vladimir Putin. Schools and local authorities have been using social media to publicise what they have been doing to commemorate it and promote nationalist-militarist values.
3/ The Russian independent news outlet Agency News has been reviewing social media activity for references to 'Zarnitsa' (literally "summer lightning"), originally a Soviet-era military sports game for schoolchildren that has been revived and expanded under Putin.
1/ The owners of the Russian oil tankers which sunk in the Kerch Strait in December 2024, causing damage estimated at $335 million, have been fined 600,000 rubles ($6,588). It's also emerged that they bought some of their tankers for under $13,000 each, likely from scrapyards. ⬇️
2/ The Arbitration Court of Krasnodar Krai has fined Volgatransneft, the company which owned the ill-fated Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers, 300,000 rubles for violating rules banning its tankers from operating at sea after the permitted sailing season.
3/ As mentioned in the thread below, the tankers should not have been operating on the day of the sinking, as the stormy weather caused wind and wave conditions that the ships were not designed to endure.
1/ Russian Muslims who fight in Ukraine are to be rewarded with a free pilgrimage to Mecca, under a new initiative of the Religious Council of Muslims of Russia. Around 14 million Russians, or 10% of the total population, are Muslims. ⬇️
2/ Veterans of the war in Ukraine are to be given a free ticket to the Hajj by the Religious Council of Muslims of Russia, which controls the number of Hajj tickets assigned to Russia. A family member can be nominated to go on the soldier's behalf.
3/ If the soldier has been wounded or disabled but wants to go himself, an additional ticket will be provided to a carer to accompany him. Up to 25,000 people from Russia will be permitted to perform the Hajj in 2025.