In recent discussion on Anatoly Karlin’s blog, I realised how recuperating lost empires is just not in vogue…

Recovery of lost lands is just not very common in post-WWII world. I can think of the reunification of Germany, a second Albanian state in Kosovo, and the return of Crimea in my lifetime. In the post-WWII world, India waged a war against Portugal to seize Goa, Indonesia seized East Timor for a time, China seized Tibet, Turkey seized half of Cyprus but overall land grabs are simply rare.

In Europe we see reluctance of countries to retake what is rightfully theirs. As I already mentioned in one of my rants, Ukraine is reluctant to take back Donbass and Crimea. Not only does the pro-Western elite in Kiev not want the most pro-Russian regions back, they don’t want to assume the burden of rebuilding Donbass.

Russia chickened out of taking Novorossiya in 2014. It was clear Russia was not economically ready to make this move. One can only note at this instance that even the economic powerhouse, Germany, was unable to fully converge with its formerly socialist Eastern territories. Now Russia’s strategy vis-a-vis Ukraine is reduced to a pathetic song of federalisation, and unless Ukraine, or parts of Ukraine beyond LDNR and Crimea, are somehow brought back into Russia’s orbit, any thoughts of recuperating lost lands of the Rus’ are unrealistic.

Similarly, Romania’s idea of reuniting with the Republic of Moldova has been traded in for Romania’s NATO membership. Why take care of some Romanians in an estranged, piss poor country, when there are cushy seats in Brussels available right now. Irredentism in places like Germany or Italy is the domain of neo-nazi megalomaniacs, good luck with that.

But since Africans will always sell you their diamonds, control over a territory is not necessary. Far more important is controlling the people. I met more than one Moldovan with a Romanian passport. Ukrainians with Russian passports are also not uncommon. Ukraine is still in the process of trying to justify herself within the confines of her inheritance, the Ukrainian state. The only people dreaming about territorial conquest in Ukraine are radical nationalists, much like in Italy or Germany, so good luck with that.

There are people in Europe willing to pay for being Bulgarian. BBC reports…

More than 20 people have been arrested, including officials.

Applicants are said to have paid up to $5,690 (£4,445) for fake certificates of Bulgarian origin.

Police have raided the offices of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad.

Staff at the agency were allegedly involved in selling fake certificates to buyers in nearby non-EU countries.

Many of the false applications are believed to have come from states with sizeable ethnic Bulgarian minorities, including Moldova, Macedonia and Ukraine.

Some reports suggest the agency was issuing about 30 dubious certificates a week.

Prosecutors say they are investigating the agency’s work on counts including bribe-taking, forgery and abuse of office.

One common accusation of Russians against Ukrainian language is that it was artificially polonised, and made different from Russian to assume its uniqueness. I can think of at least two examples of this…

In Ukrainian town or city is called “misto”:

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Towns and cities in Ukraine however bear the names Uzhhorod, a town in the extreme west of the country, Vyshhorod, in the suburbs of Kiev, and further east Myrhodod, in the Poltava region.

Each of these towns bear the Russian form “gorod”, “horod” in Ukrainian and South Russian pronunciation.

The thing is, “misto” is a Western Slavic (compare Czech: “město”) form, that clearly entered the Ukrainian language through the Polish language, and it was likely consciously chosen to replace the Eastern Slavic form still apparent in the names of Ukrainian cities.

Another such linguistic peculiarity concerns the hard sing. The hard sing is on old Slavic letter that at one point was overused. The Serbian language reformer,
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić famously wrote about the “Hardness of the hard sign”, and today the Serbian language lacks this letter altogether. The Russian language also dropped the hard sing following language reforms instituted by the bolsheviks, and now only uses it to mark a pause within a word. The Ukrainian language also dropped the hard sign, and now uses the apostrophe instead for the same function as the Russian language.

And I have to ask why? It is clear the Ukrainian language makers were aware of the hard sign. The apostrophe is a Late Medieval Western invention that has no tradition in Slavic languages. But it makes the Ukrainian language different from Russian, and that’s the point.

Earlier this month, RIA reported the opinion of the World Bank Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, Satu Kähkönen, who predicted a bleak century for Ukraine at the current rates of development…

If the current rates of development remain, Ukraine will need 100 years catch up with neighbouring European countries.

Kähkönen said that Kiev has not yet overcome results of the crisis of previous years.

“Income per capita is still lower than the same figures for 2014-2015” she said in an interview to Ekonomichna Prava.

According to Kähkönen, there is a risk reforms will be stopped, and may even be reversed because of [presidential] elections.

RIA reports…

Ukraine’s chances to become a leader in economic development are falling with a geometrical progression, and the country itself is a “failed case”, and cannot even be said to be in the middle. This is what the CEO of Naftogaz, Andrey Kobolev said to Novoe Vremya.

“If we remove emotions, we have a typical instance of a failed case. Not leaders, not in the middle. That is why the question of how to win in global competition becomes harder year after year.”

In his opinion, global leaders will develop very fast, which will attract qualified cadres into these countries. One of the most important factors will be the quality of human potential. Meanwhile, chances of Ukraine to become a global leader are falling with a geometrical progression, thinks the head of Naftogaz.

Oleg Sentsov has been awarded a Sakharov Prize for Human Rights by the European Parliament. Has the European Parliament become a legal arbiter in Russia?

It is nothing but pure propaganda in the service of the malignant Kiev regime. The European Parliament did not do any investigation of the case, and attempt to put in doubt the decisions of Russian authorities. Meanwhile, thousands of people are locked up on political charges in Ukraine, and I decided to drop some truth bombs…

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And similar in Czech…

The Head Military Prosecutor of Ukraine, Anatoly Matios, has some interesting view on what the soldiers in the zone of ATO are doing…

Watch the video, I have given it English subtitles…

And don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more content like this.

Since I introduced the topic of wealthy Russians Eurointegrating, that is buying passports and residency, let me share what I found on Bloomberg.  

Switzerland’s top court lifted reporting restrictions on the reasons for Roman Abramovich’s failed bid for residency in the Alpine nation, rejecting the Russian billionaire’s claims that disclosure would damage his reputation.

The Supreme Court judges cited concerns raised by Swiss police that Abramovich was “suspected of money laundering” and had “presumed contacts with criminal organizations,”

Furthermore…

These would make his residency in the country “a threat for public safety” and also “a reputational risk for Switzerland,” according to the document. Abramovich, through his lawyer, denies allegations of money laundering and ties to criminal organizations made by the Swiss authorities.

And…

Despite his enormous wealth, Abramovich hasn’t been seen in London since the U.K. government failed to renew his visa in the spring, amid a sharp deterioration in relations between London and Moscow.

If you need to blame somebody for something, blame Russia. From UNN…

Image of Ukraine as a corrupt country is being actively popularised abroad. The Russians want to create a Ukraine fatigue around the World, said (Ukrainian prime minister) Hroysman at a forum of statesmen “Sofia Kievskaya”.

“What concerns corruption in Ukraine, one has to ask, why does the whole world know about this, and does not know about something else that is our positive trait? Why? If we talk about corruption today, I can say that we have been able to do away with it in many spheres. But it remains in many businesses.”

According to Hroysman, this can be explained by the fact that “the story about total corruption in Ukraine is popularised abroad.” He confirmed, on one hand that there still is corruption in Ukraine. But on the other hand, according to Hroysman, this is amplified so that to create a negative image of the country.

“I think that things are amplified with the assistance of Russia. Russians want to create a Ukraine fatigue. We have internal issues that we need solving, that is an obvious fact. But together with the negative phenomena, there is also progress… Today many NATO, and EU countries are thinking about the ways to defend themselves against this hybrid, informational aggression from the Russian Federation. If we look at the hybrid attack: military aggression, economic aggression, energy aggression. The machine of Russian propaganda works in every hotel abroad.”

Federalisation of  Ukraine, has been and is Russia’s policy towards Ukraine since 2014…

In Spring 2014, thousands of people in South-Eastern Ukraine carried Russian flags and demanded a referendum. They wanted, like Crimea, to join Russia. The Russian politicum, media, and propagandists called them “supporters of federalisation”. In most of the South-East, local separatist movement was crushed by Maidan goons. Thousands of people are in Ukrainian jails on political charges now.

Only Donbass erupted in a rebellion that Kiev was unable to handle. Russia helped these rebels survive in a pitiful state, only to once again push for her cherished idea of federalisation. According to the official Kremlin position, the Donbass republics need to reintegrate back into Ukraine on a federative basis. The Russian state media regularly refer to the Donbass republics as “self-proclaimed”. According to Konstantin Zatulin, a bigwig from the Russian parliament, responsible for the CIS, and similarly pro-Kremlin talking head Nikolay Starikov, Donbass should be reintegrated into Ukraine to make at least part of Ukraine pro-Russian. Zatulin also shamefully said that the Donbass people are not Russian enough.

The problem for Kremlin’s dream of federalisation is in that apart from fools like Zatulin and Starikov, nobody believes in it. Ukraine is not planning to change the constitution that defines the state as “unitary”. I recently heard US envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Walker say that federalism is not constitutionally possible, hence confirming Kiev’s position on the matter, and America’s support for it.

Also, I am not certain if enthusiasm for Russia will last in many parts of the South-East. Pro-Russian political movements have been suppressed. Kherson, always the most Ukrainian of South-Eastern regions, according to my information has gone a bit nationalist in recent years. Same story could be said to occur everywhere apart from coastal cities that still retain a strong Russian element. But these places will only grow further apart from Russia while they are dominated by Kiev.

A little war that would settle the fate of Donbass would likely be the best way out of this situation. Liberation of Donbass and its integration into Russia would be a good outcome for Russia. Support for liberation in other regions would be the best outcome for Russia. It would bring what the Russian nation craves, greatness, and heroism. But do you see the cowards of the Kremlin, Surkov or the fat nerd Zatulin, as people who could do the right thing?