Or is it “Elons Musk”? You know — like attorneys general.

Either way, the thought of pluralizing someone who is already bigger than life is overwhelming. Yet, it seems already to have happened.

In case you haven’t been following this week’s news closely enough, I’d like you to meet . . .

Pavel Durov, referred to by one source as “A Russian Elon Musk.” [Joshua Berlinger and Anna Chernova, CNN, August 26, 2024.]

Holy crap! Another Musk isn’t enough . . . he has to be Russian to boot??!!!

A brief bio: At age 39, he is the multi-billionaire CEO of Telegram — the controversial, ultra-secure, encrypted messaging service so popular with today’s terrorists, criminal gangs, governments, and others with the deepest and darkest of secrets to be kept. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, he is a mathematical and programming genius who first developed VKontakte, Russia’s answer to Facebook; then went on to create Telegram. Like so many others, he ran afoul of the Putin regime when he refused to cooperate after they “requested” he disclose the very information his program was designed to protect . . . and then he left Russia.

Durov now holds both French and Emerati (UAE) citizenship, plus one or two others. He lives in Dubai, and spends much of his time jetting around the world. When he landed in France earlier this week, he was arrested by French authorities for much the same reason that he left Russia: his firm belief in people’s absolute right to privacy.

And suddenly his name has become a household word: “Have you heard what happened to Pavel Durov?” “Oh, my God, they’ve arrested Durov!” “How can they possibly charge Pavel for protecting his clients?” “Who the hell is Pavel Durov?”

Okay, I snuck that last one in because there are probably a few people out there who still don’t know who he is. But they will.

Of course, celebrity inevitably brings with it a loss of your own privacy. People want to know more about you — everything, in fact. And this man has made a practice of being, if not secretive, at least enigmatic. But bits and pieces are becoming known, such as . . .

. . . his claim to have fathered at least 100 children.

Ordinarily, that would have sent the real Elon Musk into a frenzy of jealousy and formulating a plan to catch up — a Herculean task, since he “only” has 12 of his own, leaving 88 to go. But Durov cheated; he admits to having provided sperm donations over some 15 years, which in itself is . . . no, never mind . . . whereas Musk . . . uh, forget it. Just thinking about those two. . . you know . . . is exhausting — and more than a little embarrassing.

It has been said that Durov “cuts the figure of a mysterious, globe-trotting tech bro with Mark Zuckerberg’s prodigiousness, Jack Dorsey’s bizarre lifestyle habits and Elon Musk’s libertarian streak.” [Id.] He is also sometimes found shirtless . . .

. . . which oddly reminds me of his old nemesis, this guy:

Sorry, Vlad . . . no contest. Although there is the age difference to consider.

Now, these three men, and a few others of their ilk, share a number of characteristics: intelligence, drive, focus, ruthless ambition . . . and ego. Because to be so sure that you have that “it” factor that will lead you to success, you have to have an over-abundance of self-confidence, a conceit that will not allow you to fail.

And there you have what I think is the perfect brief description of the not-so-mysterious Pavel Durov: an ego on legs . . . with killer abs.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/27/24

And from all accounts, she’s just as rambunctious as ever.

Her surfboard-stealing rampage in Monterey Bay during the summer of 2023, which caused her to be hunted down (but never caught) with the intention of re-homing her, was finally discovered to have been caused by — of all things — pregnancy hormones.

Well, she had her pup, and then apparently went off to winter somewhere else, as has been her habit. But this summer, she’s back at the Santa Cruz (California) surfing site known as Steamer Lane. And she seems to be up to her old tricks.

One observer — who couldn’t see her blue ID tag but was quite sure it was Laverna, as he had photographed her earlier — at one point viewed her “calmly cleaning herself atop a board she’d hijacked, which she shared peacefully with a gobsmacked surfer.” [Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, May 29, 2024.]

I’ll just bet that surfer was gobsmacked; I would be too. But I’d be glad to share my board with Laverna — I fell in love with her last year, and I’m thrilled to know that she made it through the winter and still wanted to return to her summer home.

Have a good rest-of-the-summer, ‘Verna, and come back any time. You may be pesky, but I’m sure that Santa Cruz still loves you.

And for all those surfer friends of yours, here’s a thought: How about taking up a collection and buying her a board of her own? I can imagine her excitement . . .

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/27/24

* [From History.com, This Day In History, August 26, 2024, with the exception of the first item.]

1912: The world’s oldest living man was born on this date in Liverpool, England. He turns 112 today . . . and he has no idea how he’s lived this long.

He says he has no “special secrets,” no special diet — “no idea at all” how he’s made it this far. [Gemma Sherlock & PA Media, BBC News, August 26, 2024.]

And maybe that’s the secret: not trying. Just living your life, enjoying whatever comes your way, and taking things in stride. He was “quite active as a youngster” and did “a lot of walking,” but that’s about it. He added this bit of wisdom: “You either live long or you live short and you can’t do much about it.” [Id.]

In other words, life’s a crapshoot. But we already knew that.

Anyway, happy birthday, John . . . and as many more as you would wish for.

* . * . *

1920: 19th Amendment adopted. Congratulations, women of America: you now have the right to vote — if you can get out of the kitchen long enough to cast your ballot.

*. *. *

1939: The first televised Major League baseball game was broadcast from Brooklyn, New York, announced by Red Barber over Station W2XBS (later WNBC-TV). The game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds ended in a 6-1 win for the “Bums” (as the Dodgers were fondly called). Unfortunately, not many people other than the fans in the stadium got to see it happen; few homes had TV sets, and there was no regular programming in any event.

*. . *. *

1957: The Soviet Union announces successful test of ICBM.

Oh, crap!

*. . *. *

1968: Democratic convention besieged by protesters.

I remember that one, and it took a nasty turn when thousands of anti-Vietnam-War protesters took to the Chicago streets to voice their anger at Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey’s support of the war. Police and National Guardsmen clashed with the protesters, both outside and inside the convention hall. Delegates and members of the press, including Mike Wallace, were roughed up. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was later blamed by a federal investigative committee for inciting his police to riot.

Wait . . . this is beginning to sound strangely familiar. January 6th . . .

*. *. *

1346: Battle of Crecy.

Hundred Years War . . . British invasion at Normandy, France . . . very complicated, as are the reasons for all wars. So if you’re interested in 14th Century history, you know where to find the answers. Just thought I’d mention it in closing because I rather like the name (pronounced “Cressy,” if I’m not mistaken).

And it wasn’t the only famous battle fought at Normandy. There was the Battle of Hastings (England again) in 1066. And let us not forget D-Day: the allied landings at Normandy Beach, code-named “Operation Overlord,” on June 6, 1944, that turned the tide of World War II.

I’m imagining lots of ghosts still searching for their souls (and possibly their heads) at that strategic spot.

TTFN,
Brendochka
8/26/24

CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, a British national — and two Ukrainian journalists, Diana Butsko and Olesya Borovik — have been reporting from Ukraine for some time since the Russian invasion. Recently they were invited as part of a team to view territory now occupied by Ukraine. They were embedded with a Ukrainian military convoy and traveled to the Ukrainian-occupied town of Sudzha in the Kursk region.

“Our team was invited by the Ukrainian government along with other international journalists, and escorted by the Ukrainian miitary to view territory it had recently occupied,” according to a statement from CNN. The statement continued: “This is protected activity in accordance with the rights afforded to journalists under the Geneva Convention and international law.” [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, August 22, 2024.]

Now Russia’s FSB — successor to the KGB — says it has opened a criminal case against the three journalists, alleging they “illegally crossed into the country to film reports on Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory.” [Id.]

The August 22 statement continued: “In the near future, they will be put on the international wanted list,” and added that they would each face up to five years in prison.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow also summoned the U.S. Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, Stephanie Holmes, “to protest what it called ‘provocative’ reports by U.S. journalists from the Kyiv-controlled part of Russia’s Kursk region who ‘illegally’ crossed the Russian border.” [Id.]

And a case was launched last week against two Italian journalists who reported on the Ukrainian “offensive” into Kursk, also accusing them of illegally crossing the border.

So what we have here is the big Russian bear saying to the West, “I can come into your yard and destroy your house, take your toys, and kill your family and your dog . . . but you had better stay out of my yard or I’ll get you too.”

But that’s not new; it’s typical Russian bullying. It’s really about much more than that: it’s about harassment of journalists — specifically those from Western countries — setting them up for arrest, conviction and imprisonment on purely made-up charges. And why? Well, for one thing, to shut them up (as though there won’t be others to follow in their wake). But, even more importantly, to hold them — as they did Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and the others — hostage for future use when it’s time to barter once again.

And they don’t give a damn about world opinion, or sanctions, or human rights, or the Geneva Convention. It’s Putin’s way, or the proverbial highway.

Or so he thinks.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/26/24

Of course, I think you’ll love it no matter what language you speak. But then, I’m a bit biased: I was born here.

One of the great things about America is its diversity . . . of scenery, of cultures, of climates, of food, and — something I didn’t fully realize until a few days ago — of languages. Oh, of course I know we are considered the world’s “melting pot”; we are, after all a nation that was built by peoples from many lands. My own grandparents emigrated from Ukraine (which was then still part of the Russian Empire) in 1905. But I had no idea how many languages are spoken here.

Bienvenue en Amerique.
Willkommen in Amerika.
Amerika’ya hos geldiniz.
Witamy w Ameryce.
Добро пожаловать в Америку.

That’s just five ways of saying “Welcome to America” (French, German, Turkish, Polish and Russian — and thanks to Google Translate for the first four). But according to WordFinderX, there are as many as 350 to 430 different languages being used throughout the U.S. today. Nearly 80% of people reported in the last national census that they speak only English at home; yet this country has no de facto official language. Not surprisingly, Spanish is the second most-widely spoken language here.

But what about the other 348 to 428 languages? Where will you find someone to converse with in, say, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic, or Hmong? (No, that is not a typo; Hmong is a dialect found in parts of China, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. I just learned that.)

Luckily, someone has taken the time to figure it out for us. They took household population data to determine the most spoken language — exclusive of English and Spanish — across the country. They then broke it down by regions, states, major cities, and even individual districts and neighborhoods. [Paul Anthony Jones, Mental Floss, August 21, 2024.]

And they made a color-coded map for us:

And boy! were there some surprises there! For example, who would have thought to look for a substantial Portuguese population in Utah? Or Philippine (Tagalog) in Nevada? Vietnamese in Texas? Korean in Georgia? Arabic in Iowa?

And there were some interesting tidbits in the regional breakdowns as well. For example, Virginia shows a large Korean-speaking population; but in its capital city, Richmond, the breakout language is Russian.

Keep in mind that in every case, these are third, after English and Spanish. And nationwide, the language that comes in overall third is . . . German. All those terra-cotta-red areas on the map are heavy with Deutsch speakers, largely where German immigration was once high, but in a couple of other places as well, including — oddly enough — Alabama. So if you’re ever in Montgomery or Tuscaloosa, and you find yourself tempted to argue with someone, I’d think twice before calling them a dummkopf — because they might just understand.

Most countries don’t have that problem . . . or is it a privilege? . . . to contend with. For example, when I lived in Prague in 1991, I didn’t speak Czech. But my second language is Russian, and I knew that most of the people there had had to learn some Russian during the recent Soviet occupation. Plus, they’re both Slavic languages and there are some similarities. So I would start out with a cab driver, or a store clerk, or a waiter like this:

Me (in English): “Hello. Do you speak English?”

Them (in Czech): “No. Do you speak German?”

Me (in Russian): “No, sorry. Do you speak Russian?”

Them (in Czech, and offended because they really didn’t like the Russians, though they had forgiven the Germans for World War II): “No!”

Me (again in Russian): “Sorry. I’m American, and I only speak English and a little Russian. I think you understand me, yes?”

Them (nicer now, but still in Czech): “Oh, American! Okay. I understand.”

And thus we would continue — me in my not-so-good Russian and them in Czech. And somehow, with a lot of hand gestures and funny facial expressions, we would understand each other. I did eventually learn some essential phrases in Czech, such as “Bottom of the hill on the left” for the cab drivers taking me home at night, and “Not two oranges — two kilos of oranges” for the lady in the produce shop who never did catch on that I wanted to make my own orange juice.

Languages are tremendous fun, and I wish I had a greater facility for them. I used to work with a brilliant woman (American) who was fluent in Russian, Chinese, and Classical Greek. What she ever did with that last one is beyond me, but I was so jealous of her ability!

I spent most of my life in the Washington, D.C. area, where you can walk down the street and hear any number of languages being spoken in the space of a city block. One day, while waiting for the light to change so I could cross the street, I overheard a young couple arguing in Russian, thinking no one could understand them. I said nothing, until the light changed. As I stepped off the curb, I turned, looked at the man and said — in Russian — “She’s right, you know.” Great fun, indeed.

Welcome to America.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/26/24

That’s an easy one: it’s “лицемерие” — or “litsemeriye” in the more familiar Latin alphabet. Broken down, it’s a blend of two words: “face” and “measure,” which makes perfect sense.

But allow me to go off course for a moment before coming back to the subject. On August 19th I posted an article titled “Protection . . . or Censorship?” expressing my concern over Facebook’s having removed one of my posts because they didn’t like something (unspecified) about some part of it. Bottom line: I changed the title, removed a picture, and re-posted the article with the main text unchanged — and it cleared the FB “censors.” But that’s just small stuff.

This week there has been a big to-do in the news about a man named Pavel Durov being arrested in France. Durov was born in Russia 39 years ago, but is now a citizen of both the UAE and France, living in Dubai but traveling widely throughout the world on his private jet. He is a billionaire entrepreneur, the originator of “VKontakte” (“In Contact”) — the Russian equivalent of Facebook — and now CEO of the very successful, and very controversial, messaging app known as “Telegram.”

Telegram’s success is largely due to the fact that it provides custom security settings, including “secret chats,” and does not require the use of a phone number. It has been widely used by the Russian and Ukrainian governments as a platform for a second war — a war of words — and by other governments and individuals throughout the world for even more nefarious purposes.

And here is where Pavel Durov ran into trouble: As CEO of Telegram, he unconditionally refuses to furnish confidential user information to governments — including France — attempting to investigate criminal activity being conducted on Telegram. (He similarly refused the same “requests” from the Russian government, which was why he left Russia in 2014. He was considered a hero then.)

It’s the old “protection vs. censorship” conundrum, which even the so-called experts have been unable to resolve, and I certainly wouldn’t presume to try to untangle.

*. *. *

So this is where I make a U-turn, and go back to my original subject: Hypocrisy.

You will recall that Pavel Durov was born and raised in Russia. It is unclear whether or not he has renounced his Russian citizenship since acquiring others; but whatever the case, the Russian government has predictably stuck its nose into Durov’s present problem — not to protect one of their native sons, but to turn it into yet another sticky legal and political issue.

You see, Durov is also in trouble in Russia since his refusal to comply with a court order that would have given the Kremlin access to private Telegram messages. As a result, Telegram has been blocked in Russia since 2018 (except, apparently, when the Kremlin chooses to access it for its own purposes). So yeah, you can bet they want “access” to him!

And here’s where it gets funny. It seems that Russia’s “representative to international organisations in Vienna,” one Mikhail Ulyanov, has now said about France’s arrest of Durov that:

“Some naive persons still don’t understand that if they play more or less visible role in international information space it is not safe for them to visit countries which move towards much more totalitarian societies.” [Al Jazaeera, August 25, 2024.]

And that’s not all. The Russian Embassy in Paris has requested consular access to Durov, and demanded that French authorities — you’re going to love this one — “ensure the protection of his rights.” The embassy further said — in a statement posted on Telegram, no less! — that “As of today, the French side has so far avoided cooperation on this issue.” [Mary Ilyushina and Rachel Pannett, The Washington Post, August 25, 2024.]

Who are these people? Ulyanov in Vienna, and some unnamed embassy official in Paris, preaching about “totalitarian societies” and “protection of rights”?!! Are they freakin’ serious??!!!

*. *. *

I don’t believe any further comment on my part is necessary at this point. I just wish my public source of all Russian wisdom, Dmitry Peskov, would come back from wherever he’s been this past week, and straighten things out for us. You are sorely missed, Dima.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/25/24

Born in Tambov, central Russia, Pavel Kushnir was by all accounts a musical prodigy, doubtless inheriting his talent from his musician parents. He began playing the piano at age two, and at 17, performed a 2-1/2-hour concert of the 24 preludes and fugues of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Later that year, he was admitted to the Moscow Conservatory. [Elizaveta Fokht, BBC News Russian, August 24, 2024.]

A classmate at the Conservatory, Julia Wertman, describes Kushir as having “cultivated a ‘dissident image,’ often wearing a shabby coat and black clothes, with a half-litre bottle of vodka sticking out of a pocket.” [Id.]

Another friend, Olga Shkrygunova, described him as “a cog that didn’t fit any machine, and it had been that way since his childhood.” [Id.]

After graduation, he moved around, taking jobs in smaller cities, where he believed he would have more musical and personal freedom than in Moscow — Yekaterinburg, then Kursk, followed by three years in Kurgan on the Asian side of the Ural Mountains, where he lost his job at the philharmonic orchestra in 2022, for reasons unknown. He finally wound up in Birobidzhan, playing with the Philharmonic there.

He began spending his free time protesting the war in Ukraine. He told friends he would go out at night to stick posters around the city, bearing slogans denouncing the draft and describing Vladimir Putin as a fascist.

He published four anti-war videos on YouTube, which had only five subscribers; the final one described the Russian massacre at Bucha, Ukraine, in 2022.

In 2023, he began staging hunger strikes. He felt the need to protest, and didn’t know how else to do it. His friends tried to convince him to leave Russia, but they never managed to arrange the trip. In late March of 2023, he told his friend Shkrygunova that he felt as though he was being watched, and that he “kept seeing the same person.” [Id.]

He was a man with a mission; he knew the dangers; yet he kept going . . . always alone.

*. *. *

A few months after his last YouTube broadcast, a video was shown on a Telegram channel friendly to Russia’s secret services wherein Kushnir was seen being led by masked men into a white minivan. The report stated that a criminal case had been opened against him, charging him with “making a public call to engage in terrorist activity” — a crime punishable by up to seven years in jail.

And then there was nothing more until August 2nd, when his friend Olga Shkrygunova and human rights activist Olga Romanova published news of his death in an article on the Vot Tak online news report. [Id.]

*. *. *

Oddly, there is no record in the Birobidzhan City Court of a criminal case against Kushnir, though there is a non-criminal charge of “petty hooliganism” filed on June 20th. On July 19th, he was fined an unknown amount; the copy of the verdict sent to him was returned on July 30th, marked “not possible to deliver.”

Pavel Kushner, age 39, had already died in pretrial custody — officially of “dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure.”

And in so doing, he accomplished what he had wanted to do all along: he became known for the cause he had undertaken. A book he wrote in 2014 has been republished in Germany. Tributes to him have been written by 22 leading classical musicians and others.

And his YouTube channel, which had only five subscribers in his lifetime, has now been viewed more than 22,000 times.

Pavel Kushner — a man with a conscience who chose his own form of imprisonment in order to protest the despotic regime of Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine — is no longer alone and unknown.

In his own way, he was another of Putin’s hostages.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/25/24

. . . is this:

In truth, I have no special affinity for diamonds. They’re beautiful, but not really a necessity in my life.

But this diamond — well, that’s a whole different ball game. Found in Botswana — the world’s second-largest producer of natural diamonds (behind, of all places, Russia) — it is the largest one found in more than a century, and the second largest ever discovered in a mine.

As yet unnamed, it weighs in at about half a kilogram (a little over a pound), and is described as “fist-sized,” “exceptional,” “overwhelming,” and . . . by Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi . . . simply “Wow!” [Sello Motseta, Associated Press, August 22, 2024.]

It is, of course, too soon to place a value on the stone. I’m not a gemologist — not even an amateur — but I would guess that the value will depend on the usual “cut, clarity and color,” the absence or number of imperfections, as well as how it is to be divided into individual gemstones. To put it in perspective, a smaller diamond from the same mine was sold for a record $63 million in 2016. [Id.]

I do know that I would not want to be the lapidary chosen to make that first cut.

And if it were mine? Well, I don’t really enjoy a lifestyle that calls for the Crown jewels.

And I’m fairly small, so no Liz Taylor-size gems for me.

Nor do I crave jewel-encrusted costumes.

On second thought, maybe if I looked like that . . .

But more realistically, don’t you agree that it might make a nice:

Well, that can be decided later. For now, just add it to my Christmas wish list . . . somewhere between the new Jaguar XJ and that little estate in The Hamptons I saw listed on Zillow. And thanks in advance.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/25/24

We continue to celebrate the homecoming of the sixteen hostages on August 1st, and wish them renewed health and success in their return to families, friends, and their real lives.

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

Sadly, but not surprisingly, this week saw the Russian court’s denial of the appeal of one of those eight Americans, Gordon Black, and his return to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

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.

*. *. *

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.

*. *. *

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
8/25/24

Having recently heard the descriptions of the Russian prison systems from the sixteen newly released (i.e., traded) political prisoners, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which four prisoners convicted of actual violent crimes could manage to overwhelm and take hostage twelve people — eight officers and four inmates — killing four of the officers before themselves being shot and killed by special forces snipers.

But it happened this week in maximum security prison IK-19 in Surovikino, near Volgograd, Russia.

What we have learned from American journalist Evan Gershkovich and the others of their experiences has been horrifying: innocent civilians, guilty of no more than having criticized the Russian government or the war against Ukraine, being locked for months in punishment cells, deprived of basic necessities, and never seeing another human being other than the prison guards and occasionally their attorneys.

Yet in a supposed “maximum security” prison, we now have four ISIS-affiliated convicts — charged with violent crimes — being in a position to grab and kill prison officers and other inmates during a meeting of the prison system’s disciplinary commission. [Radina Gigova and Sergey Gudkov, CNN, August 23, 2024.]

There is a scarcity of detail thus far; but such meetings are said to be held “where cases of malicious violators are considered, among other things.” It does seem that there must have been a sizable group of people present; but there is no information given as to whether the prisoners were involved in the meeting, whether they were in any way restrained, whether the prison guards were armed . . . or much of anything else to indicate exactly how the scenario evolved, other than the fact that the assailants did have knives. Where they got those knives, we don’t yet know.

There is a description of one of the hostage-takers “displaying a flag emblematic of the Islamic State” — likely the photo above — and an indication that one of the suspects said the strike was “revenge” for the militants presently being held elsewhere on charges of having committed the attack on a concert venue near Moscow earlier this year in which more than 130 people were killed. [Id.]

This week’s siege ended when “Snipers from the special forces of the Russian National Guard in the Volgograd Region neutralized four prisoners who had taken prisoner [sic] employees hostage with four precise shots; the hostages were freed.” [Id.]

Well, except the three who had been killed earlier (the fourth victim died later).

Further information (though unconfirmed) identified the four perpetrators as being two men from Uzbekistan and two from Tajikistan. Three were serving terms for illegal drug charges, and one for “inflicting serious damage to a person’s health.” [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, August 23, 2024.]

This was an incident that never should have occurred in the first place. But once it did start, the “special forces” knew exactly how to end it. They’re good at “neutralizing.”

*. *. *

On reading these articles, I couldn’t help making the mental leap from prison IK-19 to other prisons — those penal colonies where American and other Western political prisoners have been (and some still are) held hostage on false charges built out of thin air — and some questions come immediately to my mind. First and foremost: Why are non-violent political prisoners — those men and women like Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza — so closely confined and guarded, when they are obviously not a physical threat to anyone? Whereas in prisons for violent criminals . . . well, we’ve just seen what can happen there.

There are still eight American hostages locked away in Russian penal colonies on strictly political grounds, falsely convicted of espionage and similarly ludicrous charges. They’re never going to riot, to try to take hostages, to cause any sort of trouble. They deserve humane treatment, but they won’t receive it as long as Vladimir Putin is allowed to use them as pawns for a future trade . . . because he knows that the worse they are treated, the more incentive there is for us to bring them home.

And the grand-prize question — the one I keep asking, over and over again — is this: How long is Vladimir Putin going to be allowed to continue flouting international law, invading sovereign countries, and committing his crimes against humanity? Surely, the Russian people deserve better.

First of all, they deserve the truth.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/24/24