Dmitry Medvedev predicts the outcome of the war in Ukraine: Victory or military coup--Tertium non datur

Dmitry Medvedev predicts the outcome of the war in Ukraine: Victory or military coup--Tertium non datur

    Thursday, August 25, 2022   No comments

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the scenarios for the development of the situation in Ukraine are no more than "one and a half".

Medvedev noted that this includes the achievement of all the objectives of the special military operation and the recognition of its results by the Kyiv authorities or the occurrence of a military coup in Ukraine and the subsequent recognition of the results of the military operation.

"Analysts of all stripes are competing in preparing forecasts for the Ukrainian conflict," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel, and the Kyiv authorities and Western pro-Ukrainian countries are preparing "predictions of victory."

“But in reality, it is all lies and demagogy to deceive voters. Everyone understands it all. They are just executing roles. There is only one and a half scenarios. The first is the achievement of all the goals of the special military operation and the unequivocal recognition of its results in Kyiv. The second is the military coup in Ukraine, and only after that the recognition of the results of the special operation.”

The statement:

Analysts of all stripes are practicing forecasting the Ukrainian conflict. Here The Guardian came up with five pieces. Forecasts of victory are being built in Kyiv and in the Ukrainian-affiliated countries of the West.

In fact, all this is pure lies and demagogy for the treatment of the electorate. Everyone understands everything. But they work out the roles.

There are only one and a half scripts.

The first is the achievement of all the goals of the [operation] and the unequivocal recognition of its results in Kyiv.

The second is a military coup in Ukraine, and only then the recognition of the results of the special operation.

That's all the options.

Tertium non datur!

     

Meanwhile, today, Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the number of members of the Russian Armed Forces by 137,000, bringing the total number of soldiers to 1,150,628.

The presidential decree stated: "The number of the Russian Armed Forces has been set at 2,039,758, including 1,150,628 soldiers."

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia is a superpower that pursues a policy that meets its interests.

On the occasion of the Russian Flag Day, Putin said that "Russia is a great power that will not pursue any policy in the international arena that contradicts its basic interests," noting that his country "will always follow traditional values."

 

Who is Alexander Dugin, who is described as Putin's brain, and whose daughter Daria was killed by Car Bomb in Moscow?

Who is Alexander Dugin, who is described as Putin's brain, and whose daughter Daria was killed by Car Bomb in Moscow?

    Monday, August 22, 2022   No comments

Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin is said to have great influence on Russian politicians including the current president, Vladimir Putin. His daughter killed by a car bomb. The Russian authorities announced the killing by detonating her car with an explosive device planted under the driver’s seat in a suburb of the capital, Moscow. Daria Dugin worked as a press secretary for her father, who is described as "Putin's brain", a nationalist and one of the most prominent theorists of the Kremlin's ideology who predicted the end of the era of Western liberalism.

To learn more about Dugin, we provide a summary of his ideas that he shared with Aljazeera network in an extended set of interviews (See interview1, and interview 2; Arabic) in which he talked about Russia, the West, Christianity, Islam, Chechnya, Sunnism, and other topics.

Russian identity and change

On the other hand, Dugin spoke to Al Jazeera about the Russian identity and the radical change that he said had affected it over the course of one century, as the country was an empire with its faith and perception, and after the Bolshevik Revolution, perceptions changed dramatically, and in 1991 the Russian identity changed again and Russia became part of The Western world, then Putin, changed identity again and Russia became a powerful country that defends its own conservative values, according to what the Russian philosopher says.

 

On Russian identity, "Putin's mind" says that his country is changing its position and "we are in a spiritual search for ourselves", and it is sensitive to changes.

 

However, Dugin confirms - in the first part of his meeting in the episode (14/11/2021) of the "The Interview" program - that Western tendency is still largely present within Russia, and there is a liberal elite and strong resistance to President Putin's reforms on the part of liberal intellectuals, and that This Western tendency hinders the special orientation of Russia.

 

He also believes that other civilizations have the right to rely on their own political teachings that are based on their own values, not on Western values.

 

He indicated in the context of his review of his identical vision with his president's on the Chechen issue, which he said Putin had found a solution for, as well as with regard to Georgia and Ukraine and the annexation of the Crimea in 2014.

 

Fourth political theory

The Russian thinker Alexander Dugin focused in the second part of his interview with the "The Interview" program on the fourth political theory, which he said is an anti-capitalist tendency, and talked about his vision of terrorism and its relations with Iran and Turkey.

 

Dugin described the fourth political theory as the theory of revolution and decolonization for Russian society, and it defends the originality of Russian civilization and human rights, but not according to Western values, which he said are not totalitarian and are unacceptable neither in Russia, nor in the Islamic world, nor in China.

 

Definition of terrorism

In the interview, Ali Al-Dhafiri's guest linked the issue of defining terrorism to the interests of states, and gave an example of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that he supported Washington's position after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and in return was waiting for the US administration to classify those he called the Chechen separatists in the category of Terrorists, which did not happen, and the Russian thinker says that Putin understood at that time the meaning of geopolitical considerations.

 

In another context, Dugin - one of the most prominent political theorists in Russia - saw that Iran is an ally of Russia and is one of the opponents of globalization and American leadership, and that radical Sunni Islam in the Arab world had supported the American strategy in the MiddleEast, but the new generation of leaders - continues the speaker - In SaudiArabia, Qatar and Egypt, he is looking for a new approach to Arab Sunni Islam, and he believes that staying in the orbit of American policy is bad for the Islamic world.

 

He also talked about his ideas, and said that he is a supporter of Islamic traditional values ​​in Iran, but nevertheless he has strong relations with Turkey, noting in his touch on Russia's future that Russia is Putin and he determines everything in politics, to conclude his speech by saying that in his country "the law does not something and rule everything."

 

It is noteworthy that after Putin took power in Russia, a new phase began in Dugin's political activity when he moved from the radical opposition camp to the pro-power camp.

 

The War in Ukraine creates new tends: Proliferation of weapons and widening of conflict areas

The War in Ukraine creates new tends: Proliferation of weapons and widening of conflict areas

    Monday, August 15, 2022   No comments

This is serious development: Russia will widen its operation in Ukraine to cover the range of weapons supplied by NATO to Kyiv; that seems to be the new strategy developed by Russian leaders, including supplying nations that are friendly to Russia with weapons the same way the West supplies it allies.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that "if the West provides Kyiv with long-range weapons, the geographical objectives of the special operation in Ukraine will move beyond its current goals."

Russia has previously sent a memorandum to NATO countries, due to the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that any shipment "containing weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia," considering that NATO's arming of Ukraine was "playing with fire."

This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed today, Monday, that Moscow values its relations with the countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa, and is ready to supply its allies with modern weapons. He made the remarks while opening the Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum and the International Army Games-2022, which started on Monday in the Moscow Region.

This year, over 6,000 soldiers and officers from 37 countries of the world are taking part in them.

Journalism, Where Bias Comes From?

Journalism, Where Bias Comes From?

    Friday, August 12, 2022   No comments

Reporting on war is rearely objective: 

Here, an injured child receives frontpage coverage, a name, age, and a photo to accompany the story.

Other children, though, no names, no faces, no stories--just a number: 15.

Turkish media: Erdogan and Assad may hold talks at the suggestion of Putin; US Media: Turkey builds "Bayraktar" aircraft factory in Ukraine

Turkish media: Erdogan and Assad may hold talks at the suggestion of Putin; US Media: Turkey builds "Bayraktar" aircraft factory in Ukraine

    Tuesday, August 09, 2022   No comments

The Kremlin announced today, Tuesday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed the situation in Syria.

Turkish media revealed that President Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, may hold a phone call, during the coming period, at the suggestion of Putin.

And the newspaper "Turkey" published a report, in which it was based on private sources, that Erdogan, who recently visited Sochi, Russia, exchanged views on Syria with President Putin, and the Russian President suggested that he meet Assad and Erdogan, in order to solve the problem of terrorism in Syria.

But Ankara made it clear that it is "too early" for a meeting between the two presidents, while a phone call is still possible.

The newspaper pointed out that there are diplomatic contacts from a Gulf country and an African one with Syria and Turkey, in order to arrange a meeting between Presidents Assad and Erdogan.

During their bilateral summit in Sochi, Putin and Erdogan confirmed their support for preserving the unity of Syria. 

During this meeting in Sochi, Putin was accompanied by the president of the Chechen Republic, R. Kadyrov, who might be called upon to nudge Turkey further in the direction of Russia.

Erdogan announced, earlier, that his country intends to launch a military operation inside Syrian territory to combat “terrorism” and establish what he described as a “safe zone,” noting that his country “will not ask permission before launching a military operation in Syria.”

While Ankara says that its military presence in Syria aims to prevent the threat from the Kurdish factions, Damascus considers the Turkish military presence in the country an occupation and a threat to regional and international peace.

In a letter sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to both United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council, Syria protested Turkey's intention to launch a military operation inside its territory.

Last May, an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates confirmed that "Syria's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity will not be the object of blackmail or bargaining by the Turkish regime."

Reacting to the latest media report about possible talks between the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is Syrian sources, off the record, rejected the the idea of such event happening, characterizing it as "totally incorrect."

...

Meanwhile, US media sources highlight another aspect of Turkish involment in matters of concern to Russia.

The American "Newsweek" magazine said today, Tuesday, that the Turkish company "Baykar", which produces the "Bayraktar" unmanned combat aircraft, is currently building a factory on Ukrainian soil.

The magazine quoted Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, as saying that the Turkish company had already purchased a plot of land in Ukraine and developed the station project. Bodnar added that "Baykar" intends to build the plant in fulfillment of the personal commitment of the company's owners to make this production in Ukraine.

The magazine pointed out that the Bayraktar TB2 drones were considered one of the most valuable weapons for Ukraine in the first months of the war, especially before the arrival of the American "HIMARS" missiles.

She noted that Ukraine had more than 20 unmanned aircraft produced by the "Baykar" company when the war began, and acquired them during the past two years.

Because Kyiv currently has a limited supply of these planes, and given that Russia has learned a lesson from weakness during the first phase of the war, it is unlikely that Ukrainian forces would risk losing their TB2s from unmanned aerial vehicles, by pushing them forward in areas where Russian air defenses could easily fall."

She added that "a TP2 aircraft factory can fundamentally change the situation in Ukraine," noting that the time required for the construction of the factory is still unclear.

...

Editors' Note: This story was updated to include the Syrian government's rection to the news about the phone call between the two presidents.

A Saudi prince claims Western bias, comparing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza

A Saudi prince claims Western bias, comparing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza

    Monday, August 08, 2022   No comments

A Saudi prince responded to the sympathy of the Ukrainian ambassador in Israel: The hypocrisy of the West and its double standards have exceeded all limits.. People in Ukraine in the eyes of the West are not like people in Palestine

The Saudi prince, Abd al-Rahman bin Musaed, said, "The hypocrisy of the West and its double standards have exceeded all limits... People in Ukraine in the eyes of the West are not like people in Palestine."

The Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, Yevgeny Kornichuk, expressed his “great” sympathy with the Israelis, which a prominent Saudi prince considered “hypocrisy.”

In a tweet published by the Ukrainian embassy in Israel, Cornicheuk said: “As a Ukrainian whose country is under a long-term brutal attack by its closest neighbor, I feel great sympathy for the Israeli people.”

Cornichuk added, “Terrorism and attacks against civilians have become a daily routine for Israelis and Ukrainians. We have to put an end to this. We pray for peace and hope for an end to the escalation soon,” before the shooting stops between Israel and the “Islamic Jihad.”

It is a good sign that even the Saudi ruling family is moved by the plight of vulnerable peoples and outraged by the disproportionate use of force. But it is not clear if the Saudi ruling family would have the same sympathy and concern for civilians living in Yemen, a country that has been under Saudi armed attack, sanctions, and isolation killing thousands of children and pushing poverty in that country to record levels.