“Their power resides in their words . . .”

Please . . . bring them home!

Удачи в новом году!

Brendochka
12/31/23

There’s still nothing like an old Saturday Evening Post cover to make us go “Aw-w-w-w!” and long for simpler, seemingly better days. And it reminds me that the last thing we need on this, the most hopeful of holidays, is another of my litanies of the world’s grim news reports. So I’m taking a brief break tonight to celebrate the survival of another year and raise a glass to the next, hopefully better one.

And to that end, I say to all of you out there, wherever you may be . . .

Happy New Year, one and all! Whether you’re planning to party hearty, or celebrate quietly at home with family and a few friends, or just hit the couch and watch the crowds on Times Square living it up — I hope you have a wonderful segue from 2023 into 2024. And here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy, peaceful, safe, and prosperous year ahead.

See you next year.

Brendochka
12/31/23

Locking Alexei Navalny away for 30 years wasn’t enough; forcing his team into exile wasn’t enough; even sending him to Siberia to further isolate and punish him wasn’t enough. Now some of his regional team leaders have also been imprisoned on charges of committing “extremist” or “terrorist” acts . . . simply because they are politically opposed to Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship. They haven’t tried to kill him, or anyone else; they haven’t tried to forcibly overthrow the government; they haven’t been building bombs in their basements. Their power resides in their words; and Putin is all too familiar with that power and its potential threat to his totalitarian regime.

Since so many of Navalny’s supporters have fled the country to continue their work from the relative safety of other European nations, Putin is now extending his grasp to the far reaches of Russia’s vast territory.

This summer, Lilia Chanysheva, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation leader in the central Bashkortostan Republic, was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison.

Vadim Ostanin, the head of Navalny’s office in Barnaul, has been handed a sentence of nine years.

And now — since it truly is never enough — Ksenia Fadeyeva, who has headed the Foundation’s office in the Siberian city of Tomsk, has also received a nine-year sentence, again for alleged acts of “extremism” — a term that can mean whatever the court says it means.

Her attorney, Semyon Vodnev, said in a video posted by SOTA Media, that the defense had been “bullied.” “What happened in this trial has nothing to do with justice,” he said. Calling the verdict “illegal, baseless and unfair,” he stated that he had to refrain from speaking his mind, or otherwise “I will probably find myself on the same bench as Ksenia.” [AFP, Dec. 29, 2023.] He indicated that her sentence will be appealed — for all the good it will likely do.

In the meantime, it is not clear where Ms. Fadeyeva will be incarcerated; but since she is already located in the Siberian city of Tomsk — somewhere between Novosibirsk and the outer fringes of Hell — one thing is certain: it won’t be a picnic.

*. *. *

So now we add these three brave souls to our growing list of HOSTAGES being held in Russian prisons for having done nothing more than speak the truth about the Putin regime. They are not prisoners who have committed violent, or even white-collar, crimes. They are men and women of conscience: HOSTAGES to Putin’s mad, narcissistic, unconscionable lust for lifelong power, and his paranoid obsession with an upcoming election whose outcome is pre-ordained.

They must not be abandoned to the fate he has chosen for them.

*. *. *

Please . . . bring them home!

Brendochka
12/30/23

Just a year ago, this blog sprang forth, fully formed, as though from the head of Zeus . . . Well, perhaps not so dramatically. On December 22, 2022, I introduced myself to the wonderful world of blogging with an article titled “This Is Me.” And on Christmas day, I posted my first story-line chapter, “My First Commie.”

My blog was called “All Roads Led To Russia,” and that’s what most of the first 28 chapters were about: my travel, business, and personal adventures in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Czechoslovakia, England, Hungary . . . wonderful, exciting times, since unmatched. Then I ran out of those stories, and turned to a mix of other topics: my early years, the world as it was throughout the decades of my life, and as it is now. And the name of my blog became, appropriately, “The Blog About Everything.”

It seems serendipitous that my one-year anniversary should fall just as we prepare to tiptoe cautiously into yet another year. Let’s face it: 2023 hasn’t generally been known for its joyous news items, and it’s not surprising that we’re facing 2024 with more than a little trepidation. Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first, and then remind ourselves that there was also news to celebrate along the way.

So here we go: 2023 in a nutshell.

*. *. *

There were natural disasters aplenty. A pair of earthquakes — 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude — struck Turkey near the Syrian border in February, killing approximately 60,000 people. More disastrous earthquakes occurred later in the year in Morocco and Afghanistan, taking another 6,000 lives. Volcanoes erupted in Iceland and other parts of the world. Droughts killed wildlife and evaporated water supplies in some areas, while at the same time torrential rains caused destruction and death in other parts of the world. Wildfires became commonplace due to the excessive summer heat. Entire species of animal life became endangered. It seemed as though the gods were angrier than they had ever been.

And the world’s humans didn’t help. Russia’s “special military operation” — in reality, a full-fledged war of attrition — raged on in Ukraine, and is now about to enter its third year. And lest the world become bored with that conflict, Hamas decided it was a good time to invade Israel from Gaza on October 7th — a day of autumnal celebration for the Jewish people — slaughtering 1,400 innocent men, women and children, seriously wounding nearly 9,000 more, and taking 250 (mostly civilian) hostages. Needless to say, Israel retaliated with a vengeance. That conflict, too, continues to this day.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin continues to tighten his grip on society, passing ever more onerous laws against practically everything and imprisoning people simply for speaking against his policies. He has become the 21st Century’s Josef Stalin, reincarnate.

The saber-rattling continues in China, North Korea, Russia, Iran . . . You’d think we should be used to it by now, but it’s a good thing we’re not. When you let your guard down, that’s when you’re doomed.

Donald Trump continued to campaign for a second term as president, despite his overwhelming legal difficulties, both civil and criminal. The really bad news is that — inconceivably — he could still win. I’m thinking that Canada is looking better and better every day.

Congress installed a revolving door on the House Speaker’s office, with one disastrous choice after another passing through it. And they’ve once again played havoc with people’s livelihoods, not to mention the efficient operation of the government itself, by failing to pass the annual budget, and only managing to come up with a series of stopgap measures. And why? Because tied to the budget is the question of further aid to Ukraine, which apparently hasn’t suffered enough.

A lot of good people passed away in 2023: Henry Kissinger, Rosalynn Carter, Tony Bennett, Betty White, and dozens of others. Rest in peace, each and every one of you; you’ve left the world a good bit better than you found it.

*. *. *

So now, on to the good news. Hmmm . . . this may be a little more difficult.

But we need look no farther than Taylor Swift, who has had enough joy this year to satisfy a whole bunch of people. She became a billionaire, through a combination of talent, business acumen, hard work, and more than a smidgen of incredibly good luck (being born beautiful, talented, and smart didn’t hurt). She is Time’s Person of the Year. Her tours are sold out almost before they’re scheduled. And her love life seems to be thriving. She is a dynamo, a force of nature, a role model . . . and we all want to be her. Wishing her well seems redundant and a bit late, but I do; she has worked hard and earned it.

The Covid pandemic finally slowed down. Not that the virus has disappeared completely. It seems that, like the garden-variety flu, it will be with us for the foreseeable future, but in a milder and more treatable form. It’s now okay to socialize and travel again, and even to shake hands. I never did take to that awkward elbow-bumping thing.

Finland gained admission to NATO, seriously pissing off Russia. So that’s two more good things.

Patches, a 40.3-pound cat in Richmond, Virginia, has finally found a forever home with a local woman, Kay Ford. Under her care, Patches — known as “the largest cat anyone has ever seen” — was last reported as weighing in at a much healthier 28.63 pounds. Good job!

And there’s more good news in the animal kingdom. A precocious sea otter named Laverna has been allowed to remain in her home off the coast of Malibu, California, since it was discovered that her previous naughty behavior (stealing people’s surfboards) was due to her unsuspected pregnancy. Now that her pup has been born and her hormonal condition normalized, she’s calmed down, and continues to live happily in her Pacific home. It makes me smile just to look at her. I don’t think it’s fair that she was named after the Roman Goddess of Thieves, Cheats and the Underworld.

After following Laverna’s story (and writing a couple of blog chapters about her), I found that I had fallen in love with otters in general. They are the most adorable mammals! So I’d like to close the happy part of this year’s retrospective with some proof of cuteness.

Now, if that didn’t make you smile, nothing will!

Happy New Year,
Brendochka
12/30/23

I have such lovely memories of my one visit to Hungary in the early fall of 1990: being granted a private tour of the enormous, sumptuous Parliament with its columns of lapis lazuli and malachite; riding the funicular railway up to the Fisherman’s Bastion overlooking the entire city of Budapest; enjoying some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, in a small Jewish-owned restaurant tucked away in a quiet neighborhood on the Buda side of the river, and pastries at Cafe Gerbaud in the heart of the Pest side of town; cruising along the Duna (Danube) on a bright, sunny day to the artists’ enclave of Szentendre; and sitting by the window of my hotel room to watch the lights on the Lanchid (Chain Bridge) go out each night precisely at midnight.

It was a magical time in Hungary then, as it was in all of Eastern Europe, when the Communist regime was breaking apart and the Soviet Bloc nations, one by one, were regaining their independence and forming their new, democratic governments. Prime Minister Jozsef Antall was making that happen in Hungary.

That was thirty-three years ago. The Communist regime in Russia, which controlled the multi-nation Soviet Bloc, had fractured under the more liberal rule of Mikhail Gorbachev. The fifteen republics of the Soviet Union became fifteen separate, independent nations. And as the people of Russia enjoyed greater freedoms and the benefits of a burgeoning capitalist economy under Gorbachev and his successor, Boris Yeltsin, so did the rest of Eastern Europe.

That is, until 1999, when Russia — as Russia always seems to do — suffered a new plague, this one known by the name of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Sadly, science has not yet developed a preventive vaccine or a cure for this particular plague, which exhibits a unique ability to spread without actual physical contact.

During the past twenty-three years, Putin has not only tightened his grip on Russian society; he has been working tirelessly to bring the leaders of other, far-flung nations under his seemingly benevolent umbrella of protection — nations in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America . . . and, of course, Europe. He has forged alliances with other, still Communist or Communist-leaning, nations such as China, North Korea, and Cuba. And, while most of Europe continues to fight for freedom and democracy, there are exceptions: Belarus, for example, whose self-styled President, Aleksandr Lukashenko, is one of Putin’s most willing lapdogs.

And now, also Hungary — under its current Prime Minister, Viktor Orban — is leaning heavily in Putin’s direction.

And just who is this Viktor Orban, and how did he become Prime Minister of a country that has been enjoying freedom and prosperity for three decades? I’ve already commented on his background in my blog post of September 1, 2023, “Hungary: Another Wild Card?” and his transition from purported anti-Marxist-Leninist activist to right-wing admirer of Vladimir Putin — to whom he has referred as a “model on which . . . [to build] an ‘illiberal democracy’ that opposes the EU’s multi-cultural values.” I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean: an “illiberal democracy . . . [opposing] multi-cultural values”? Isn’t that one oxymoron piled on top of another oxymoron, spoken by . . . well . . . a moron?

He has been outspoken — in an interview with Fox News and as published on X — in his belief that “We should make a deal with the Russians on the new security architecture to provide security and sovereignty for Ukraine but not membership in Nato [sic]”; that the return of Crimea to Ukraine is “totally unrealistic”; and that “the best chance for peace [is] for former US President Donald Trump to return to power and for him to end military support to Ukraine.”

And he has maintained close ties with Russia, even since its invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, repeatedly opposing sanctions against Moscow.

But that was then. What has he done for us lately? Well . . .

At the EU Council Summit in Brussels on December 14th, 2023, he abstained from the vote to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, calling EU membership for Ukraine “a bad decision.” And on December 15th, he blocked a $55 billion EU package for Ukraine. [Elsa Court, The Kyiv Independent, Dec. 21, 2023.]

Also, in his annual press conference in Budapest on December 21st, he declared that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not a war. “There was no declaration of war between the two countries. When Russia declares war then there will be war,” were his precise words. And continuing: “We should be happy that war was not declared, because then there will be general mobilization in Russia. I don’t wish this on anyone.” Instead, he described the invasion as a “military operation.” [Elsa Court, The Kyiv Independent, Dec. 21, 2023.]

Now, where have we heard that before?

Oh, yes . . . I remember now.

*. *. *

There are other issues as well, such as the EU’s withholding of funds from Hungary due to human rights violations, which Orban has called “blackmail.” And Orban’s alleged cooperation with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, another of Putin’s admirers, in their opposition to Sweden’s NATO membership.

Taken together, it all spells trouble for Hungary, for Ukraine, for the member nations of the Western alliances (NATO and the EU) . . . and for free peoples everywhere. And the next national election in Hungary isn’t until 2027. Are the people of that country awake to the dangers this man presents?

They need to be.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/29/23

Please . . . bring them home!

Brendochka
12/29/23

Today there is news about Alexei Navalny, and about the prison camp in which he is being held. That he is alive and keeping his spirits up, is the good news. The rest is . . . well, judge for yourselves.

Below is a picture of Prison Camp IK-3, known as “Polar Wolf,” located 40 miles above the Arctic Circle in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District — a frozen wasteland that once was part of Stalin’s infamous GULAG Archipelago, and now serves the same purpose for Vladimir Putin. The sign on the wall at left reads: “Sector No. 1. Strict Conditions for Serving of Sentence.” The well-dressed people in the picture are clearly officials, four of them in uniform, and not inmates. I don’t know whether the Russian Orthodox Church in the background is actually open to the prisoners . . . but it does dress the place up rather nicely for photo ops.

Thanks to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), first-hand information on the conditions existing in the camp has been obtained from former inmates who survived sentences much shorter than Navalny’s, and gave testimony following their release. One survivor, released in 2018, told prisoners’ rights activist Olga Romanova:

“In the winter, prisoners would be hastily assembled in the courtyard in light clothing. They were held in formation and not allowed to clap or rub their hands together. They had to stand for 30 or 40 minutes without moving when it was -45 degrees Celsius or colder. If one person moved, the whole group was doused with water.”

Ms. Romanova added that in the spring, a new form of torture consisted of mosquitoes and biting flies. If an inmate moved, the whole group was again doused with water from a water cannon.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov spent five years in the IK-8 prison (“Polar Bear”), in the same Arctic region. He revealed:

“As soon as you cross the threshold, they let you know that you are in purgatory where you have no rights and there is no one to complain to. Beatings, humiliation, electric shocks, being kept in a cold cell naked or in wet clothes — but that is still not the worst. . . . You can be sealed in the fetal position in an iron box where you can hardly breathe and have to urinate on yourself. . . . They routinely threaten to rape you when they are bullying you.” [RFE/RL, Dec. 27, 2023.]

IK-3, Navalny’s new “home,” holds about 1,050 of Russia’s most incorrigible prisoners — serial killers, rapists, pedophiles, repeat offenders, and others convicted of the most serious crimes and serving sentences of 20 years or more . . . plus the occasional political prisoner, like Platon Lebedev, a businessman convicted of tax evasion — in the United States, a “white-collar” crime.

According to RFE/RL, there are no flights to the area during most of the year, and only limited train service. The only communication is by the normal Russian postal service, and the sender never knows whether a letter was received at the other end.

Apparently, there is a prison cell phone service, which had been working but — by the strangest of coincidences — was out of service around the time of Navalny’s arrival.

Human rights activist Sergei Davidis wrote on December 25th in a post on X, concerning the prison camps in that region: “There is no point in their existence except to make convicts suffer and to waste budgetary funds.” [RFE/RL, Dec. 27, 2023.]

And that is where they are holding this man, who has done nothing more than speak the truth.

*. *. *

Whatever prisons have been chosen for Evan Gershkovich (Lefortovo Prison, Moscow); Paul Whelan (IK-17 prison camp in Mordovia, 350 miles southeast of Moscow); Vladimir Kara-Murza (IK-6 in Omsk, Siberia); or Alsu Kurmasheva (a remand prison in Kazan, about 520 miles east of Moscow), it hardly matters — every prison in Russia is like a vision from Dante’s Seventh Circle of Hell. They must not be abandoned there.

*. *. *

Please . . . bring them home!

Brendochka
12/28/23

No sooner do I publish articles bemoaning the totally isolated situation in which Alexei Navalny now finds himself, some 40 miles above the Arctic Circle in far, far, far-away Siberia, than some wise guy (or gal) at Politico, citing an Associated Press article dated yesterday, blows me out of the water. That article begins as follows:

“Alexei Navalny resurfaces with darkly humorous comments. ‘I am your new Santa Claus,’ Navalny said in a tweet.”

Navalny said??!!! In a freakin’ tweet???!!!!!! What the hell . . . ??!!!

How is this even possible? In a place at the farthest reaches of nowhere, where inmates are kept incommunicado, how does Navalny manage to tweet? Is there even wi-fi in the Arctic Circle? Is he really at that magical place where Santa Claus lives and all things are possible?

Seriously, for the sake of my sanity, I need to know. The only possibility that occurs to me is that the tweet was actually sent — at Navalny’s instruction — by his attorney, who apparently has been permitted one visit with him since his arrival at the world’s biggest ice floe. (And by the way, that attorney deserves a medal just for making the journey!)

Am I right about that? And if not, what is the answer? Does anyone out there know, and could you please enlighten me before I go totally nuts?

In the Politico piece, Navalny is further quoted as saying that he was in a good mood following his transfer, but that the northern winter darkness is discouraging, and that: “I don’t say ‘Ho-ho-ho,’ but I do say ‘Oh-oh-oh’ when I look out of the window, where I can see night then the evening, and then the night again.”

With an attitude and a sense of humor like his, perhaps he can survive after all. One can only hope.

And wouldn’t that be the biggest “yob vas” (“up yours”) of all to Vladimir Putin!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/27/23

Welcome back, everyone. After what I hope was a happy holiday for all, and as we approach the end of a generally — how to describe it? — stressful year for the world, it is clear that the news did not take a vacation while we were opening gifts and loading up on eggnog. So let’s jump right in, shall we?

Starting with this guy . . .

As of five days ago, it seems the Russian President had missed at least two significant events, instead sending two of his favorite puppets to act and speak for him: Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov. Maybe he was indulging in a little holiday de-stressing at a favorite Siberian spa; even a president is entitled to some time off.

But to miss this . . .

. . . is practically unheard-of in diplomatic circles. You don’t normally send an underling — even a high-ranking one — to meet with the leader of another country, and especially if that other country is your currently most valuable strategic ally. But in really dire circumstances, of course, you might have no choice but to assign your vice-president (or prime minister) to the job, which is what was done in this case; Mikhail Mishustin traveled to China for a two-day meeting with Xi Jinping and his Premier, Li Qiang.

In Putin’s absence, Mishustin was probably the best choice for a meeting focused on strengthening trade, transport, e-commerce, and other vital issues of economic cooperation, since his background is primarily in the area of economics. And Putin had recently met with Xi, though primarily to discuss an agreement on a swap of weapons for technology.

But in light of the recent spate of rumors of Putin’s alleged illness, one wonders: where was he last week, and what was the dire circumstance that was important enough to keep him from another meeting with his BFF in China?

Hmmm . . . As with so much that happens in Russia, we’ll probably never know.

*. *. *

The second item is not so much an event as an accusation in search of a direct response.

On December 22, 2023, the Wall Street Journal published an article detailing the manner in which Yevgeny Prigozhin — then head of the Russian mercenary army known as the Wagner Group — was killed . . . and on whose orders. We know that he — along with two of his top Wagner leaders, four bodyguards, and three crew members — died in the crash of his private plane on August 23, 2023. Until now, the Kremlin has denied knowledge of any foul play, writing it off as an accident such as mechanical failure or pilot error. Or, more fancifully, that a hand grenade — presumably belonging to the Wagner Group itself — may have detonated on the plane. They have also denied that the crash had anything to do with Prigozhin’s failed attempt at a mutiny against Russia’s Defense Ministry just two months earlier. The classic Kremlin response: Deny, deny, deny.

But now, Western intelligence officials and an unnamed former Russian intelligence officer have told the Wall Street Journal that Prigozhin was indeed targeted and killed — no, assassinated — on the orders of none other than Putin’s long-time loyal friend, former head of the KGB’s successor agency the FSB, and now Secretary of Russia’s Security Council: Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev.

The informing intelligence officer presented details, specifically, that “Patrushev gave orders to his assistant in August to design an operation that would kill Prigozhin.” Further, according to Western intelligence, “A small bomb was put under the plane’s wing during a delay when safety inspectors were looking at the aircraft.”

And what has Vladimir Putin had to say about this serious accusation? Absolutely nothing. Not a single word, as far as I can determine. As has become his custom more and more frequently, what little he has to say has come from the mouth of his loyal Charlie McCarthy . . . excuse me, Dmitry Peskov . . . the Kremlin’s official spokesman (the equivalent of the U.S. White House press secretary). In this case, even Peskov said he wouldn’t comment. But then he turned right around and did just that, saying: “Lately, unfortunately, The Wall Street Journal has been very fond of producing pulp fiction.”

And Mr. Peskov appears now to have become rather fond of American movie jargon. “Pulp fiction”?? What’s next — an adaptation of Donald Trump’s favorite: “fake news”? That’s cute, Dmitry. But it won’t make us like you any better.

*. *. *

As for Nikolai Patrushev, I’ve already introduced him at some length in two earlier blog posts, both dated November 8th of this year. I suggested then that we keep an eye on him, and I am now more convinced than ever that I was right. He is considered by some to be on the short list of possible successors to Putin in the event . . . oh, I dare not say it! Heeding my own frequently-offered advice, I must be careful what I wish for. Because as bad as U.S.-Russian relations are now, they can — though it may be difficult to believe — become even worse.

In Russia, there is always something worse.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/27/23

Alexei Navalny. Paul Whelan. Evan Gershkovich. Vladimir Kara-Murza. Alsu Kurmasheva. And all the other political prisoners in the vast archipelago of Russian prisons and camps who must not be forgotten.

*. *. *

Following are pictures from Prison Camp IK-28, Arkhangelsk Region,“only” about 781 miles north of Moscow. But obviously still cold enough and isolated enough to freeze an inmate’s significant body parts . . . not to mention his soul.

These photographs are allowed to be published because this is supposedly one of Russia’s “better” camps.

Now imagine life — such as it is — for Navalny: 2,000 miles farther east in Prison Camp IK-3, some 40 miles above the Arctic Circle, and known to be one of the worst and most brutal of all of Russia’s penal outposts.

Imagine him completely at the mercy of the elements and the vicious prison guards, as well as the majority of his fellow inmates who are not political prisoners, but violent criminals and terrorists.

Imagine him being completely cut off from family and friends — no visitors, no phone, no mail, no word at all from the outside world.

Now imagine him facing this life for the duration of a sentence of 30 years. Could even the strongest, healthiest, most courageous person survive for long?

Can Navalny?

We must not forget . . . he does not belong there . . . he must be brought home.

Brendochka
12/27/23