Yet another Sunday has rolled around without any of Vladimir Putin’s HOSTAGES having been released. But this week has given us news of another variety of victims of Putin’s Purges: those high-ranking military officials suspected of the all-encompassing crime of “corruption”: bribe-taking, favoritism, outright theft, and the like.

These cases are different from the purely political arrests of dissidents and others opposed to the current regime. These individuals may actually be guilty of real crimes . . . although in three notable cases nothing has yet been proven, nor have trial dates been set. And once they are brought before a court (presumably, in their cases, a military court), the verdict is almost a foregone conclusion: in Russia, once charged, you can pretty much count on being adjudged as guilty.

The three we’re talking about have been in charge of various aspects of Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine: Vadim Shamarin, Deputy Chief of the General Staff; Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov; and Yury Kuznetsov, head of personnel for the Defense Ministry. (And not incidentally, the Defense Minister himself — Sergei Shoigu — was removed from his post, though he did land another cushy job as consolation.)

All three of the unfortunate arrestees have been charged with various levels of bribery. And it is reported that they are not alone; similar charges have been leveled against other members of the military. Yet the Kremlin, not surprisingly, insists that this cannot be labeled a “purge.” To them, it is merely the government’s ongoing crusade against corruption and financial “waste” — in these cases, specifically focused on the military.

Too bad they didn’t start closer to home, right there on the doorstep of the Kremlin itself.

*. *. *

But let us not forget the true HOSTAGES, still wasting away in various Russian prisons and penal colonies for the simple act of disagreeing with Vladimir Putin’s excessively onerous edicts. It is for them that this regular Sunday posting is written.

And so, once more: To those known . . .

Vladimir Kara-Murza – HOSTAGE
Evan Gershkovich – HOSTAGE
Paul Whelan – HOSTAGE
Ilya Yashin – HOSTAGE
Robert Woodland Romanov – HOSTAGE
Boris Akunin – HOSTAGE
Marc Hilliard Fogel – HOSTAGE
Asya Kazantseva – HOSTAGE
Ilya Barabanov – HOSTAGE
Alsu Kurmasheva – HOSTAGE
Aleksandr Skobov – HOSTAGE
Antonina Favorskaya – HOSTAGE
Oleg Orlov – HOSTAGE
Boris Kagarlitsky – HOSTAGE
Oleg Navalny – HOSTAGE
Ksenia Karelina – HOSTAGE
Ksenia Fadeyeva – HOSTAGE
Lilia Chanysheva – HOSTAGE
Vadim Ostanin – HOSTGE
Sergei Udaltsov – HOSTAGE
Konstantin Gabov – HOSTAGE
Danuta Perednya – HOSTAGE
Olesya Krivtsova – HOSTAGE

. . . and those hundreds of others whose names remain unknown to me . . . you are not forgotten, nor have you been abandoned. The fight continues on your behalf.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/26/24