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Beyond Left and Right, Beyond Red and White: Framing the Liberation War in Donbass

Nina Byzantina

by Nina Kouprianova

“There are no separate Russia or Ukraine, but one Holy Rus” – Elder Iona of Odessa

The year 2014 saw an unprecedented surge of patriotism in contemporary Russia, which resulted in popularizing the notion of the Russian World. One reason for increased patriotic sentiment was Crimea’s return to the home port after the overwhelmingly positive vote by its majority-Russian residents in a referendum one year ago. The onset of the liberation war in Donbass from the West-backed Kiev regime was the other. This war truly delineated the stakes for the existence of the Russian World. The latter is not an ethnic, but a civilizational concept that encompasses shared culture, history, and language in the Eurasian space within a traditionalist framework. To a certain extent and despite the obvious ideological differences, the Russian Empire and the USSR embodied the same geopolitical entity. A particularly noteworthy aspect of the ongoing crisis in Donbass…

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“Europe Does Not Exist Anymore” – US Plan For Europe’s Self Destruction Explained By Stratfor CEO

The Barricade

This short speech given at the Chicago council on Global Affairs explains very succinctly the American plans for the destruction of Europe, chiefly Russia. George Friedman openly talks of a ‘spoiling war’ similar to Japan and Vietnam, a reference to the destruction of all aspects of society in those countries.

Friedman also proclaims American exceptionalism with the statement “we can invade everybody, nobody can invade us” as well as the need to be more honest about the “American Empire”.

Most disturbing is his admiration of Ronald Reagan “funding both sides in the Iraq-Iran war”, and suggesting that America does the same within Europe, namely between Germany and Russia. For Friedman and the United States, Russia needs to be totally contained by NATO expansion and US-forward-based troops.

Friedman’s great desire is to understand what position Germany will take, because as he puts it “Europe does not exist anymore”, all that remains…

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What does Putin want?

SLAVYANGRAD.org

Original: Чего хочет Путин?
Translated by Alexander Fedotov / Edited by @GBabeuf

It is gratifying that Putin was not instantly blamed by “patriots” for a full-scale defeat of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass, which did not happen in January-February, and for the Moscow consultations with Merkel and Hollande.

However, that would negate neither their desire that victory should have already come yesterday, nor the certainty of the most radical that Putin will anyway “give up Novorossiya,” nor the identical fears of moderates immediately on the signing of another truce (if it is going to be signed)—which is necessary not only for regrouping and replenishing the army of Novorossiya (which really could be effected without ceasing active hostilities), but also to consolidate the changed configuration on the international front, as well as to prepare for new diplomatic battles.

In fact, no matter how much attention amateurs of political and/or…

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The Tragedy of Uglegorsk: Exodus from the “City of the Dead”

SLAVYANGRAD.org

Original: Komsomolskaya Pravda
Translated by Alya Bailey / Edited by @GBabeuf
Photo credits: Aleksandr Kots, Dmitriy Steshin

uglogorsk_head

The Militia opened a humanitarian corridor for the residents and organised the evacuation. The Ukrainian side did not want to let the civilians cross their front line.

People started leaving the town early in the morning. We ran into the first group of refugees already on Gorlovka’s outskirts. Packed cars with windows steamed on the inside and white sheets, scarves on aerials and mirrors. People had hardly any belongings with them—they escaped with only the clothes they were wearing and had filled the vehicles to the brim. Then we saw a few Urals with children in the cabs. The first transfer point is at the administrative building of one of the mines. Here, the Militia is checking ID papers—a lot of Ukrainian soldiers are left in the city, hiding…

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