Polyakov Forced to Sell his Stake in Firefly Aerospace

From Bloomberg:

The U.S. government has requested that Max Polyakov, a wealthy Ukrainian tech entrepreneur, sell his stake in the rocket company Firefly Aerospace Inc., citing national security concerns.

Firefly, a private rocket maker based near Austin, Texas, has been backed for several years by Polyakov, who built a software empire in Ukraine. Government and aerospace industry officials have expressed objections to Polyakov’s control of the company amid fears that valuable technology could make its way to Ukraine, Russia or other nations trying to develop rocket programs. Despite putting more than $200 million of his fortune into Firefly, Polyakov agreed to step down from the company’s board and Firefly’s day-to-day activities in late 2020 to help make it easier for the company to win U.S. government and military contracts and ease some of the underlying tensions. 

Murica does not trust Ukraine, and neither does it want any competitors. So tough luck, losers…

Kazakhstan Maidan Seems Like a Palace Coup

A version of the events has it, the current president, Tokayev decided to sideline the elder president, Nazarbayev through creating mayhem. Note the lukewarm reaction of US and the collective West, that way they are showing that these protests are not their pet project. This ain’t Belarus or Ukraine.

Sure Garry, fuck the EU!
Daily reminder why Putin is good…
EU must support every rioting scum around the World.
LMAO

However, this is Kazakhstan moving towards a political culture of the neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, and this is not sustainable.

Rumours of Maidan and War

So, you might have heard about Russian forces amassing on the Ukrainian border but events in Ukraine proper are even more tumultuous. Zelensky’s situation is very weak. He is hated by oligarchs and the plebs alike. The oligarchs, it is said, are preparing a new Maidan against Zelensky. It would seem they have received a green light from the West. Certainly forces in the West are interested in rocking Zelensky’s throne. The Guardian even dedicated an entire article to the Ukrainian leader in summer, in the connection with the Panama Papers, and this was carried over in Ukraine by a variety of Western funded talking heads.

Alongside all this, the Western governments are screeching about Russian forces amassing on Ukrainian border, preparing for an attack. I do not think Russia needs a war at present but equally, Russia will not stay idly by if Ukraine steps up her effort in the Donbas. Now, would Ukraine do the latter? Again, I am skeptical. The commander in chief, Zelensky, is so ubiquitously hate now that I do not think he commands any authority to muster a force that could take on Donbas. Nevertheless, he may try to save his rating by going full retard.

Mad times we live in, I bet the next year will be explosive, to say the least…

The West Barely Cares About Ukraine

That’s a fact, and as someone who blogs about Ukrainian issues in English, I know this very well. Today I have been reminded about this fact by reading an essay collection by some Anglo Evangelicals, who say “crisis in Ukraine is grossly underpotted.

This needs to be understood, at the end of the day, the Anglos have a very little interest in our region, and barely know anything about it. I try to focus on more international issues related to Ukraine, and I think that publications like Buzzfeed, New York Times, VICE do an adequate job of reporting the crisis there, albeit often tinged with pro-Western propaganda about the conflict (or rather conflicts) there. I quote from them regularly. Also, if anyone is interested in Ukraine, there is a wealth of material in English out there. Not that the Western public cares enough…

The US Department of Justice is Suddenly Interested in War Crimes Committed by Nazis in Donbas

From Buzzfeed. There aren’t any Nazis in Ukraine remember that?

The probe involves seven men but is centered on former Army soldier Craig Lang, who is separately wanted in connection with a double killing in Florida and is fighting extradition from Kyiv.

He (Craig Lang) first came in 2015 to fight with a far-right paramilitary unit, defending the country from Russia-backed forces. And he believed that if he were extradited back to the US, he could face war crimes charges.

“Any separatist or Russian soldier that I have killed would be a murder charge” in the US, Lang, 31, said in his gruff North Carolina drawl. “Understand that some of my fellow combatants are under investigation by the FBI for war crimes.”

It would be extremely rare for the US government to investigate its own citizens for alleged war crimes committed on foreign soil — no one, experts say, has ever been prosecuted, let alone convicted, under the US War Crimes Act. 

But now, BuzzFeed News can reveal that the Department of Justice and the FBI have in fact taken the extraordinary step of investigating a group of seven American fighters, including Lang, under the federal war crimes statute. Authorities suspect that while in eastern Ukraine, Lang and other members of the group allegedly took noncombatants as prisoners, beat them with their fists, kicked them, clobbered them with a sock filled with stones, and held them underwater.

You know, there are people, who have been talking about this for years hoping somebody in the West will listen.

The war crimes investigation was detailed in a DOJ appeal for assistance sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2018 along with two Ukrainian documents responding to the appeal the following year. The documents were leaked to an obscure pro-Russian website. BuzzFeed News reviewed and authenticated the documents and interviewed six people, in Kyiv and stateside, with direct knowledge of the US investigation. They include a top Ukrainian law enforcement official; a former Ukrainian National Police official who was involved in gathering information to fulfill the US appeal; and two other people who have assisted the FBI and spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

That obscure pro-Russian website is UkrLeaks. The owner, Vasily Prozorov, according to my knowledge, was an agent of one of the Ukrainian secret services, who defected to Russia. He has taken many secret documents with him, The man also has a YouTube presence.

BuzzFeed News also interviewed Dalton Kennedy of North Carolina and David Kleman of Georgia, both 24, who had interviews with federal agents and provided proof of those encounters. They, along with Quinn Rickert, 27, of Illinois; Santi Pirtle, 30, of California; Brian Boyenger, 33, of North Carolina; and David Plaster, 37, of Missouri were investigated by the DOJ and FBI in the probe. When they arrived in Ukraine, Lang, Rickert, and Pirtle allegedly joined Right Sector, a volunteer far-right nationalist group that formed in November 2013 and later created a paramilitary force to respond to Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine in spring 2014. Human rights groups have accused Right Sector fighters of abusing and torturing civilians and combatants.

The DOJ — based on video and photo evidence, as well as interviews with some of Lang’s fellow American fighters — says in the documents that Lang was the main instigator of the alleged torture of detainees in eastern Ukraine. In April, BuzzFeed News detailed how Lang became increasingly radicalized while fighting in Ukraine and had ties to white supremacists. He now resides with his Ukrainian partner and their child in Kyiv. He was detained by Ukrainian border guards in August 2019, wears an ankle monitor, and is banned from leaving the country while he fights extradition to Fort Myers to face trial in the 2018 killings of Deana and Serafin “Danny” Lorenzo in Florida. Authorities allege that Lang and another former Army soldier who fought with Right Sector in Ukraine lured the couple to a meeting to buy guns — but instead ambushed them and robbed them of $3,000, used to fund Lang’s foreign fighting adventures.

The DOJ appeal doesn’t make clear whether US authorities had interviewed any alleged victims in Ukraine or confirmed that anyone was killed. But based on the evidence gathered, the DOJ appeal says, the Americans “allegedly committed or participated in torture, cruel or inhuman treatment or murder of persons who did not take (or stopped taking) an active part in hostilities and (or) intentionally inflicted grievous bodily harm on them.”

Roughly 40 other Americans have fought on the Ukrainian side, according to BuzzFeed News’ reporting and expert research. Many are veterans or men who had hoped to join the US military but couldn’t, and wanted to help a democratic ally in its fight against Russia’s aggressive authoritarianism. Others are opportunists who see a shot at a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and a fresh start. And several are combat enthusiasts who hop from war to war

…some are far-right extremists who have set their gaze on Ukraine, a place that has become a destination and training ground for such types in the West. As far-right extremism has risen in the US, so has the interest among American white supremacists in militarized right-wing Ukrainian groups that have had success in growing and mainstreaming their organizations and movements. They include violent neo-Nazis like those from the Rise Above Movement who have gone to Ukraine to meet and train with some of the groups — and then export what they learned to the US.

Unlike Buzzfeed, I personally think that most Westerners, who went to fight for Ukraine were motivated by radical nationalism, or were simply soldiers for hire. I do not think that many are democracy fetishists, who came to help Ukraine from Putler. I mean, the vast majority of Ukrainian volunteer battalions were nazi outfits.

That they were involved in banditry is a common knowledge in interested circles.

Lisbon City Hall Leaks Pavel Elizarov’s Personal Info to Russian MID

There is scandal in Lisbon. It became known that the city hall CML, where we are announcing our protests is forwarding all personal information about the organisers of the protests in support of Navalny to the Russian Embassy and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We discovered this by accident.

In January, while there was a lockdown, me and two other organisers have announced our protest for the 23, in front of the Russian Embassy via email. We have, as always included our personal information, number of the ID, address, telephone number.

We have first received the usual answer, and then in the spirit of the Covid era an answer from the Portuguese Ministry of Health, where, alongside their recommendations there was also a PDF attached with that personal information that we have provided! That is, they are sharing our personal information.

But that would be OK, nothing surprising, however, from the conversation it is apparent that the letter with the PDF was also forwarded to the Russian Embassy in Portugal and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The city hall has issued an official apology, having pointed out that this is a common practice surrounding protests that take place near embassies. I hope they were doing this not being aware that they are putting people in danger, but I am not sure they have stopped this practice. We will have to solve it though courts.

LMAO! They are trying to be public figures and don’t think anyone will find their details? Here are some photos from from Pavel Elizarov’s profile, LMAO!

Source

The Pyrrhic Victory of Svidomites Over Netfix Zrada

For Svidomites and Zrada, please consult my Glossary of Terms.

It looks like svidomites have won from Netflix a change of subtitles at the film Brat 2. Now instead of “Ukrainian Nazi Collaborator” it says “Banderite”. But is this a peremoha? While the Western audience does understand a little about Nazi collaboration, it may use Google to find out what Banderite is. They will find Wikipedia

The term derives from the name of Stepan Bandera (1909-1959), head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists that formed in 1929 as an amalgamation of movements including the Union of Ukrainian Fascists.[1][2] The union, known as OUN-B, had been engaged in various atrocities, including murder of civilians, most of whom were ethnic Poles. This was the result of the organization’s extreme Polonophobia, but the victims also included other minorities such as the Jews and Romani people.[3][4] The term “Banderites” was used by the Bandera followers themselves, by others during the Holocaust, and during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by OUN-UPA from 1943–1944. These massacres resulted in the deaths of 80,000-100,000 Poles and 10,000-15,000 Ukrainians.[5]

And here dear readers is how a peremoha slowly turns into zrada…