But there are still eight Americans — and hundreds of Russian dissidents — who remain locked up in Russia. So we continue to remember them each week, and will do so until each and every one has been returned home.

Ksenia Karelina, dual U.S.-Russian citizen, recently convicted of espionage and sentenced to 12 years in prison for contributing $51.80 to an American charity providing aid to Ukraine.

*. *. *

Marc Fogel, a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, was arrested in August of 2021 for possession of 0.6 ounce of legally-prescribed (in the U.S.) medical marijuana. In June of 2022 he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

*. *. *

Robert Romanov Woodland, a dual US-Russian citizen, was teaching English in Russia when he was arrested in January of 2024 for allegedly attempting to sell drugs. In July, he was sentenced to 12-1/2 years in a maximum security prison.

*. *. *

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was stationed in South Korea when he fell into a Russian “honey trap.” He was on his way back to his home in Texas, on two weeks’ leave, when he was lured to Vladivostok by the Russian girlfriend he had met in Korea. He was arrested in May of 2024 on charges of alleged larceny and murder threat, and sentenced the following month to a prison term of three years and nine months.

*. *. *

Robert Gilman, already in jail in Russia serving a 4-1/2-year sentence (later reduced to 3-1/2 years on appeal) for kicking a police officer in 2022, found himself facing added charges in 2023 of punching prison staff in the head, and later also attacking a criminal investigator and another prison guard.

*. *. *

David Barnes, an American citizen and resident of Texas, was arrested in January of 2022 while visiting his children, who had been taken to Russia from Texas by his Russian wife. He was charged and sentenced in the fall of that year to 21 years in prison for child abuse (allegedly occurring while in Texas), on his wife’s accusation. I really wish I knew more of this story!

*. *. *

Eugene Spector, a dual US-Russian citizen already serving a four-year sentence handed down in June of 2021 on a bribery conviction, received additional charges of suspicion of espionage in August of 2023. No other details have been found, as the evidence is labelled “classified.”

*. *. *

Michael Travis Leake, a rock musician and former paratrooper, was sentenced in July of this year to 13 years in prison on drug charges — specifically, suspicion of selling mephedrone, and organizing a drug trafficking business “involving young people.”

*. *. *

Are any of these prisoners actually guilty of the charges leveled against them? I don’t know. But I do know that the recent timing of a number of the arrests, and the speed with which they were brought to trial, is a clear indication of Russia’s intentional roundup of American citizens to be used as (what I call) Putin’s Pawns.

What they are, quite simply, are HOSTAGES. And they will not — MUST not — be forgotten. Let’s shorten this list to zero.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/18/24

No, not the U.S.-Mexico border. And not the Israel-Gaza border. Not even the DMZ between North and South Korea.

This is the Kursk region, where western Russia meets eastern Ukraine.

And for the last 2-1/2 years, Russia has been using it — and similar areas along the Russia-Ukraine border — as launching pads for its massive attack on Ukraine’s military, infrastructure, and civilian population. You know, the “special military operation” that was supposed to be a simple “march-in-and-take-over” campaign, meant to last no more than a few days, or a couple of weeks at most.

Well, that didn’t happen, because the Ukrainian people refused to give away their country, their children, or themselves to Vladimir Putin’s maniacal plan to take over the world, one country at a time. And because the West came together and defended Ukraine in an unprecedented show of support for a country that isn’t yet a member of NATO.

We all know what a battering Ukraine has been taking ever since, despite their heroic defense and the continuing support of the West. And earlier this month, the decision was made to take Russia’s war onto its own territory, to finally let them know that paybacks can, indeed, be hell.

But Vladimir Putin was not prepared for that — nor, obviously, were his people. Because they had no idea what was really happening across the border; they knew only what Putin allowed them to hear. And it was mostly lies.

So now the people of Kursk are experiencing — on a much, much smaller scale — the horrors of war with which the people of Ukraine have been living for some 30 months. And, as always, it is the innocent civilians who suffer the most. The children who can’t understand what has happened to their homes; the old folks who can barely move, and who don’t want to leave their lifelong homes; and the women left to take care of the others because their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers are fighting to defend them and their homes against . . . what?

Most of them don’t even know, really, what the fight is about; and if they did, they wouldn’t want any part of it. Many of them have Ukrainian relatives and friends; they are ethnically one and the same people. Why are they killing each other, destroying one another’s homes and lives?

Because Putin wants Ukraine, and he doesn’t care how many lives have to be destroyed in the process.

And we may sit at home, smugly cheering Ukraine’s counteroffensive and the damage being done to Putin. From a tactical point of view, that’s great. But the ones who started the whole thing and are keeping it going are far from the front, plotting the number of additional recruits they will need to replace the thousands who have died, and are continuing to die.

And the innocent — the good, generous, loving, everyday Russian people — are suffering alongside their Ukrainian counterparts.

For war does not respect borders.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/18/24

On Friday, August 16th, it was reported that Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin had said there was “a high probability of an armed provocation from neighboring Ukraine and that the situation at their shared border ‘remains tense,’ [according to] the state-run Belta news agency . . .” [Lucy Papachristou, Reuters, August 16, 2024.]

He further stated, “. . . given the presence of Ukrainian armed formations in the border areas, there is a high probability of preparing and carrying out armed provocations on our territory, as well as high-profile actions, including with the involvement of Belarusian nationalist formations.” [Reuters, id.]

Belarusian President Lukashenko had said on the previous day that Ukraine could attack Belarus and widen the war. This comment came a little more than a week after Ukraine’s surprise counterattack across Russia’s border into the Kursk region.

Do they really have evidence that Ukraine might be planning to spread its troops that thin? Is Lukashenko — one of Vladimir Putin’s most ardent henchmen — simply looking for an excuse to jump with both feet into his idol’s war? Or is it just another propaganda ploy engineered by Putin himself for some as-yet-unknown reason?

For Lukashenko, any of these theories would be within the realm of possibility. I know nothing about Defense Minister Khrenin, but I presume he just follows orders like a good little sycophant.

In any event, thus far Ukraine doesn’t seem to have given any indication of an intention to go anywhere near Belarus’ territory. So perhaps Lukashenko and Khrenin should stop looking for a fight like bullies on a playground, and try to de-escalate, for once.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/18/24

For the third time, they have removed a post of mine — most of which are based strictly on news items of the day — on the grounds that they believe I have “tried to get likes, follows, shares, or video views in a misleading way.”

The first two times, I requested a review, but never heard back.

With all of the crap that appears on FB every day (amongst all of the legitimate, interesting posts), I am frustrated beyond belief at these arbitrary decisions, and my inability to do anything about them. What can possibly be “misleading” about a commentary on the news?

Therefore, I should appreciate the person or persons at Facebook reading my posts and making these judgments contacting me with a logical explanation. Otherwise, I quit.

I will continue to write my blog, even though most of my readership has been following me through FB. You will still be able to find me here, at http://www.brendochka.com.

Now I’m going to post this on Facebook and wait for a response.

Thanks for reading,

Brendochka
8/18/24

On Friday, August 16th, it was reported that Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin had said there was “a high probability of an armed provocation from neighboring Ukraine and that the situation at their shared border ‘remains tense,’ [according to] the state-run Belta news agency . . .” [Lucy Papachristou, Reuters, August 16, 2024.]

He further stated, “. . . given the presence of Ukrainian armed formations in the border areas, there is a high probability of preparing and carrying out armed provocations on our territory, as well as high-profile actions, including with the involvement of Belarusian nationalist formations.” [Reuters, id.]

Belarusian President Lukashenko had said on the previous day that Ukraine could attack Belarus and widen the war. This comment came a little more than a week after Ukraine’s surprise counterattack across Russia’s border into the Kursk region.

Do they really have evidence that Ukraine might be planning to spread its troops that thin? Is Lukashenko — one of Vladimir Putin’s most ardent henchmen — simply looking for an excuse to jump with both feet into his idol’s war? Or is it just another propaganda ploy engineered by Putin himself for some as-yet-unknown reason?

For Lukashenko, any of these theories would be within the realm of possibility. I know nothing about Defense Minister Khrenin, but I presume he just follows orders like a good little sycophant.

In any event, thus far Ukraine doesn’t seem to have given any indication of an intention to go anywhere near Belarus’ territory. So perhaps Lukashenko and Khrenin should stop looking for a fight like bullies on a playground, and try to de-escalate, for once.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/18/24

Looking back at August 17th in earlier years, I’m beginning to think it might be a good day to stay indoors, and preferably under the covers . . . or in the safe room, if you’re lucky enough to have one. Because there seems to have been a good bit of death and destruction on this date in the past. Such as . . .

1841: President Tyler is burned in effigy outside the White House. No, no, no, people! Don’t get any bright ideas from this. Put aside your political views and your anger, because today — in 2024 — that would be illegal in so many ways! Go to your local gym and take it out on the punching bag instead — it’s so much healthier, safer, and not likely to get you thrown into the slammer.

1862: U.S.-Dakota War begins in Minnesota. After six weeks, the starved and frustrated Dakota tribe was defeated by the U.S. military. (“He who has the most guns . . .”) The warriors were tried, some in proceedings that only lasted minutes, and were the victims of the largest mass execution ever in the United States. Not one of our nation’s finest moments.

1877: Billy the Kid kills his first man. In a classic case of an out-of-control teenager, Billy got an early start on his road to notoriety by dispatching an Arizona blacksmith — the first of an estimated 21 men to meet a similar fate at the hands of this angry young man. His parents really should have locked up their firearms.

1957: Foul balls batter unlucky Philadelphia Phillies fan. You should have stayed home, Alice! On this date in 1957, Alice Roth accompanied her husband — Philadelphia Bulletin sports editor Earl Roth — to a Phillies game, as she often did. They were seated in the press box behind the third-base dugout, along with their grandsons, when future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn hit a foul ball that took aim directly at Alice’s nose. She was receiving emergency treatment for her broken proboscis when Ashburn again came up to bat, hit yet another foul, and this time got poor Alice in the leg . . . which also broke. Either he was one powerful hitter, or she had the most brittle bones ever.

Alice was taken to the hospital, and apparently recuperated nicely. Ashburn of course apologized, they later became friends, and Alice continued attending games thereafter. I suppose she simply learned to duck.

1962: East Germans kill man trying to cross Berlin Wall. Ah, the good old days of the Cold War. Peter Fechter was just 18 years old when he and another young man made their attempt at scaling the wall from East to West Berlin. The other man made it, but Peter was shot by an East German guard and left to bleed to death. The Wall stayed in place until November 9, 1989.

1987: Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s last living henchman, dies. One of Hitler’s top henchmen during World War II, he was sentenced at Nuremberg to life in prison. On this date in 1987, at the age of 93, he was found strangled to death by an electrical cord. His death was ruled a suicide, though some suspected foul play. Either way, 93 years were more than enough for this Nazi.

And finally:

1998: President Clinton testifies before grand jury. Ah, yes . . . the Lewinsky affair. Not to mention the allegations of illegal real estate deals, suspected “cronyism,” perjury, obstruction of justice . . . Nasty stuff. But Clinton survived the impeachment proceeding, completed his term of office, and is still married to Hillary, who later served as the U.S. Secretary of State. Their estimated net worth today is around $120 million, so whatever they may or may not have done during their White House years, they haven’t suffered financially.

America: truly the land of opportunity.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/17/24

You mean you haven’t been following what’s been going on in Ukraine for the past 2-1/2 years?

Oh, that’s right — you rely on Russian news, from state-controlled Russian media. So you may not have heard about all of this:

Or the thousands upon thousands of these . . .

. . . left behind by your Russian troops in places like Kharkiv, and Bucha, and Mariupol, and Bakhmut, and Avdiivka, and so many more.

*. *. *

And now you’re wondering why this is happening to you:

And I’m sorry — truly sorry — if these pictures offend you. And I am so very sorry that the good Russian people are miserable and frightened because of the fact that the people of Ukraine are now — after 2-1/2 years of indescribable suffering — bringing your government’s war back onto your territory, where it started.

It is not fair for innocent civilians — women, children, grandparents — of any country to have to pay the price for the horrors inflicted by their leaders.

But the Russian people need to know the truth. This is all the result of Moscow’s “special military operation,” begun on February 24, 2022, because of Vladimir Putin’s insane compulsion to become “Tsar of all the Russias” . . . to take back lands that no longer belong to Russia, and some that never did . . .

. . . and ultimately, to rule the world.

You need to know.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/17/24

On August 1, 2024, sixteen political prisoners were released from Russian prisons in exchange for eight Russian criminals being held for various crimes in several different countries, in what was the biggest and most complex hostage exchange since the end of the Cold War.

See that man in the blue tee shirt (center front) and the obviously scared little boy holding his hand? They are Artyom and Daniel, father and son of the Dultsev family, recently returned to Russia after years of living abroad as “illegals,” first in Argentina and more recently in Slovenia — although Daniel and his sister Sofia were unaware until that very day that they were Russian and not Argentinian, and . . . well, I’ve already told their story (“The Children of Spies,” 8/7/24), and the Dultsevs are not the subject of this one.

To Artyom’s left (our right) in the first picture, in the striped jacket and baseball cap, is the real star of the exchange, Vadim Krasikov — the Russian hitman, until that day serving a life sentence in Germany for the murder of a Chechen emigre on the orders of the man with his back to us in the picture: Vladimir Putin. Krasikov seems to have been the linchpin upon which the success of the whole complicated transaction rested.

Both of those men — Krasikov and Dultsev — have become well-known as a result of this momentous event. But not the others, and we may never know exactly who they are, or why they were so important to Putin that he agreed to accept just eight of his people in exchange for sixteen of ours.

Except for the seemingly shy fellow with the shaved head, second from left, trying to remain invisible behind the man in the khaki shirt. He has just been outed by the Polish government, which has retroactively indicted him on espionage charges, some two weeks after letting him leave the country. His name is Pablo Gonzalez . . . or Pavel Rubtsov . . . depending on where he is.

He was born Pavel Rubtsov in 1982 in Moscow, but moved to Spain with his Spanish mother at age nine. There he became a citizen, receiving the Spanish name of Pablo Gonzalez Yague. He eventually became a journalist, working for outlets Publico, La Sexta and Gara, a Basque nationalist newspaper. [Vanessa Gera, Associated Press, August 14, 2024.]

On February 28, 2022, Rubtsov — let’s call him by his original name — was arrested in Poland, where he had lived since 2019, on charges of espionage. He was accused of being an agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (GRU), who “carried out activities for Russia using his journalistic status. As a result, he was able to move freely around Europe and the world, including zones affected by armed conflicts and areas of political tension.” He had been scheduled to cross the border into Ukraine that day with a group of reporters. [Graham Keeley, VOA News, March 9, 2022.]

Authorities alleged that while in Poland he had “obtained information the use of which by the Russian secret services could have a direct negative impact on the internal and external security and defense of our country” and that he was about to travel to Ukraine to “continue his activities.” [VOA News, id.]

Rubtsov, of course, has consistently denied all of the allegations against him . . . which immediately brings to mind the cases of Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and other legitimate journalists who have been falsely accused and convicted of espionage in Russia. The facts and circumstances of their cases are vastly different, of course. But is it not also understandable that Rubtsov would now claim, under the protection of his journalistic credentials, to have been similarly falsely charged?

On the other hand, if he hasn’t lived in or been connected to Russia since he was nine years old, why would he have been included by Putin in the exchange?

And — as the real point of this whole exercise — why on earth would the Polish authorities file new charges against him after releasing him, now that he is safely out of their grasp in Mother Russia?

And therein lies the most perplexing question of all: Why now?

A prosecutor in the city of Lublin, Poland, filed the indictment on August 9th. In accordance with Polish privacy laws, the indicted individual was identified only as “Pablo G. Y. and Pavel R..” [A.P., id.] But it is said to be clear from other details that the case is against Pavel Rubtsov. In the indictment, Rubtsov is accused of espionage, which in Poland carries a prison term of three to fifteen years.

Specifically, the defendant in that case is accused of “providing information to Russian military intelligence from April 2016 to February 2022 in Przemysl, Warsaw and elsewhere, ‘which could cause damage to the Republic of Poland, including as a NATO member state.’” It was not indicated whether Rubtsov would be tried in absentia. [A.P., id.]

And to add to the mystery, the prosecutor’s office advised that separate investigations are underway into an unspecified number of other people, including a woman named only as Magdalena Ch. — apparently known as Rubtsov’s ex-girlfriend.

Perhaps Rubtsov, or Gonzalez, or whoever he is has only been belatedly charged because of his association with these “other people.” If so, that would totally blow the possibility of his being an innocent journalist clear out of the water.

And so, the plot thickens.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/17/24

Well, you just keep them locked up. That’s all.

Just a few days short of five months ago, on March 22nd, gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall entertainment venue in the Krasnogorsk suburb of Moscow, Russia, killing more than 140 people and setting fire to the building. They made their escape from the city, but were later apprehended and brought back to Moscow — somewhat the worse for having been brutalized by their captors — where they were identified as being Tajik members of ISIS-K: Islamic State-Khorasan.

Moscow had become a victim of Islamist terrorism.

For the past few months, there has been little or no publicity concerning the suspects. But now we have learned that they were brought to court yesterday — “dressed in prison clothes and shackled hand and foot” — where a judge extended their detention until November 22, 2024. [RFE/RL, August 16, 2024.]

This is not an unusual procedure in criminal cases in Russia. Extension of detainment without establishment of a trial date can be ordered for any number of reasons: frequently to allow the prosecution to build — or sometimes fabricate — a stronger case against the defendants.

In this case, where the prosecution alleges that the attack was planned and financed by ISIS-K — and that there was also purportedly Ukrainian involvement — there most likely are complex political and diplomatic issues to be considered in addition to the simpler question of guilt or innocence of the individuals. So it may well be some time before they ever come to trial.

Assuming they survive that long.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/17/24

What can you say about someone — and you must know by now who I mean — who, first of all, spent his youth evading the draft because he allegedly suffered from “bone spurs” (a new term for cowardice), and then has the cojones to stand up before the world today and say that the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom is better than the Congressional Medal of Honor, because the recipients of the latter are “either in bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead.”

I am, for one of the few times in my life, speechless.

Just sayin’ (or, for once, not) . . .

Brendochka
8/16/24