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      "body": "Warning! This user is on our black list, likely as a known plagiarist, spammer or ID thief. Please be cautious with this post!\nIf you believe this is an error, please chat with us in the #appeals channel in [our discord](https://discord.gg/7FkETjJ).",
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      "title": "Alex Jones Extended Interview with Russia Insider's Charles Bausman in Studio",
      "body": "This post first appeared on Russia Insider\n\nRussia Insider founder and editor Charles Bausman was in Austin with a film crew from the main Russian TV Channel, Rossiya-1, who were interviewing Jones for a documentary they are making, and Jones asked Bausman to join the broadcast, which he was happy to do, for about 45 minutes.\n\nIn a wide-ranging conversation they addressed the extraordinary dishonesty of the media about Russia, and Bausman shared his impressions and understanding of Russia having lived and worked there for many years. They discussed the huge Christian renaissance going on there today, the globalist funding of the Russian revolution in 1917 and how much the Russian people suffered as a result, current events in Syria, how Russia is building itself into a non-GMO agricultural superpower, Russia's successful push to increase birth rates, and why today's globalists and the media they control hate Russia with a passion, and take every opportunity to demonize it and mislead Americans about it.\n\nThey also discussed the spiritual dimension to Russia's current battle against globalism, agreeing that this is a struggle between good and evil, between a resurgent Christian nation asserting its national interests, and global forces that hate Christianity, and seek to destroy national sovereignty around the world. They also agreed that the American people are as much victims of globalism as the Russians, and are natural allies in this historic battle.\n\nA fascinating conversation!\n\nBausman moved back to the US with his family two years ago, and resides in Lancaster, PA.\n\nIf the video from Facebook doesn't load here (it can be slow), you can watch it directly on Facebook. We would have put it on YouTube, but YouTube deletes all videos with Jones' content immediately. They don't want Americans to have access to this kind of information.\n\nhttps://www.facebook.com/RussiaInsider/videos/408595570033686/\n\n![img_20191030_172800.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYAR2iFPmcKbL7BQCQ7uV85tTmXbJewKuXwgpuPj92JZg/img_20191030_172800.jpg)",
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      "body": "Congratulations @russia-insider! You received a personal award!\n\n<table><tr><td>https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@russia-insider/birthday2.png</td><td>Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!</td></tr></table>\n\n<sub>_You can view [your badges on your Steem Board](https://steemitboard.com/@russia-insider) and compare to others on the [Steem Ranking](https://steemitboard.com/ranking/index.php?name=russia-insider)_</sub>\n\n\n###### [Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1) to get one more award and increased upvotes!",
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      "title": "",
      "body": "Warning! This user is on my black list, likely as a known plagiarist, spammer or ID thief. Please be cautious with this post!\nIf you believe this is an error, please chat with us in the #cheetah-appeals channel in [our discord](https://discord.gg/7FkETjJ).",
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      "author": "russia-insider",
      "permlink": "3-lovely-russian-towns-you-ve-never-heard-of-torzhok-gorokhovets-kasimov",
      "title": "3 Lovely Russian Towns You've Never Heard Of: Torzhok, Gorokhovets, Kasimov",
      "body": "by [Alexey Timofeychev](https://russia-insider.com/en/alexey-timofeychev)\n\nThe names of these towns probably won’t ring a bell, but they’re certainly worth visiting because of their extraordinary architecture and history...\n\n### 1. Torzhok\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/5c1565a585600a097840f3a7.jpg?itok=9zjLZi_P)\n\nLegion Media\n\nWhile Torzhok has less than 50,000 inhabitants, it boasts dozens of truly remarkable historical and architectural sites.\n\nThe name of this city, which is located on the road from Moscow to St. Petersburg, derives from the Russian word for a trading site (“torg”). It is favorably situated at the crossroads of trade routes, and has a rich history that will fascinate anyone interested in Russia’s past.\n\nIn Torzhok’s early period (the city is first mentioned in chronicles in the mid-12th century) it was closely connected to a major medieval center of Russian trade, the city-state of Veliky Novgorod. Along with commercial privileges, its location also brought misfortune because it often was a target of attacks from both Russian and foreign rulers who wanted to gain control of the powerful and wealthy city-state. Fortune, however, smiled upon it again in the early 18th century when, after the foundation of St. Petersburg, the city happened to be on the main route between the old and new capitals.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/5c1565b015e9f90bdb3aa98a.jpg?itok=LaG_6C9X)\n\nLegion Media\n\nTorzhok’s most interesting sites include many beautiful religious buildings, such as the city’s main cathedral, the Transfiguration of the Savior, which was rebuilt according to a design by the famous architect, Carlo Rossi. [The Monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb](https://www.rbth.com/travel/326120-monastery-boris-gleb-torzhok) was reportedly founded as far back as 1083. One of the town’s architectural highlights is the wooden Church of the Ascension, built in the mid-17th century. The town is also known for [its embroiderers](https://www.rbth.com/arts/326543-golden-threads-of-torzhok), who worked for the Romanovs and then for the Soviets. The Russian Orthodox Church is today one of the local embroiderers’ main clients.\n\nThey say that Torzhok - with its picturesque river views, old architecture, and rich history - is Russia in miniature.\n\n### 2. Kasimov\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/5c1565cf85600a08da7e93e4.jpg?itok=EAQBFTqb)\n\nKonstantin Kokoshkin/Global Look Press\n\nIn the Russian heartland, in the Ryazan Region (only 200 km to the southeast of Moscow) you can find a place where an Islamic people have lived and ruled for centuries. Kasimov is a small town on the bank of the Oka River.\n\nThere are all the features of a usual Russian provincial town: A market square in the center, Orthodox churches of different centuries, old merchant residences and shops. But there is more. The Khan’s Mosque, with its 15th-century minaret, and the two khans’ mausoleums, make Kasimov unlike any other provincial town or city in central Russia.\n\nFor 200 years the area was called the Qasim Khanate. Its history dates to the mid-15th century when it was formed on the lands of the principality of Moscow. According to historians, the Moscow prince was either forced to give this territory to Qasim khan of the Kazan Tatars, or granted it to him in order to create a buffer state between Moscow and its belligerent Kazan neighbor. The Qasim Khanate became a vassal state of Moscow, and ceased to exist in the 1680s.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/5c1565f185600a091c0545e4.jpg?itok=HvBbA6sf)\n\nKonstantin Kokoshkin/Global Look Press\n\nThere is another peculiar detail: One of the Khanate’s rulers, Simeon Bekbulatovich, officially became Russian tsar in 1575 on the initiative of Ivan the Terrible. This was a bizarre situation when Simeon sat on the throne but real power remained in the hands of Ivan; this situation lasted for about a year. Then, Ivan stopped the farce and returned himself the official title; but the Qasim khan was generously awarded for his service.\n\nBesides historical monuments from the time of the Khanate, there is also a number of beautiful 17th-century Russian Orthodox churches, as well as the breathtaking Oka River scenery.\n\n### 3. Gorokhovets\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/5c15661985600a088a2c2d48.jpg?itok=fGpecH5C)\n\nLegion Media\n\nThis town with 15,000 residents is located some 300 km to the east of Moscow, and is probably unknown even to the majority of Russians. Recently, President Putin congratulated Gorokhovets residents with the town’s850th anniversary, calling it a “historical pearl of Russia.”\n\nThe town is indeed a beautiful place, with a remarkable landscape due to the huge Puzhalova gora(Puzhalova hill). There is a legend about the hill: during a Tatar raid on the town the invaders approached and were ready to attack, but they saw the huge ghost figure of a knight with a sword in his hand on the hill. This apparition convinced them not to try their luck, and they retreated. That’s how the hill got its name - “Frightening”.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/5c15668815e9f90b5f00805b.jpg?itok=-LksmUKo)\n\nLegion Media\n\nThe town center has many architectural monuments: Two Orthodox churches, and three beautiful monasteries. There is also a number of merchant houses of the 17th and 18th centuries. Such a large number of buildings can only be seen in Moscow and Pskov. The town also has wooden houses built in the Art Nouveau style that are absolutely stunning. Calling Gorokhovets a “pearl” is certainly not an exaggeration.  \n\n----------\n\nSource:  [Russia Beyond](https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/329688-3-underrated-russian-cities)",
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      "body": "Warning! This user is on my black list, likely as a known plagiarist, spammer or ID thief. Please be cautious with this post!\nIf you believe this is an error, please chat with us in the #cheetah-appeals channel in [our discord](https://discord.gg/7FkETjJ).",
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      "permlink": "the-chinese-are-mercantile-and-extremely-thin-skinned-have-very-little-respect-for-the-rather-less-mercantile-russians",
      "title": "The Chinese Are Mercantile and Extremely Thin-Skinned, Have Very Little Respect for the Rather Less Mercantile Russians",
      "body": "*The mildest criticism by a liberal, anti-Putin paper was enough for a Chinese diplomat to Russia to blow the lid off and start dissing Russia as a whole. The two are strategic partners against the Empire, but the touchiness of the Chinese won't make the relationship easy*\n_____________\nby [Anatoly Karlin](https://russia-insider.com/en/anatoly_karlin)\n\nChina is well known for denying visas to overly critical and/or hostile journalists. Write too many bad and unfair things about it and you _quietly_ get the boot, while China maintains plausible deniability. “_Oops, your visa application seems to have gotten lost yet again, sorry._”\n\nMeanwhile, your employer loses its “on the ground presence” and is now saddled with supporting you at home.\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/main/2019-Mar-11/e15-334_1.jpg?itok=zWopWSL5)\n\nIt's safe to say the days when the Chinese looked up to Russia are long gone\n\nAnd while it is China that has gotten the most flak for such policies, this is in fact something that “democratic” countries such [the US](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070905438.html \"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070905438.html\") (anti-imperialists, socialists), Israel (anti-Zionists), and the Ukraine (Russian reporters) practice as well.\n\nI don’t see anything wrong with this. Hateful, surly laowai have no innate, God-given right to sully their host nation’s soil with their propaganda, which in many cases they can produce at home [just as easily](http://www.unz.com/akarlin/claas-relotius/#comment-2713068 \"http://www.unz.com/akarlin/claas-relotius/#comment-2713068\").\n\nAnd it also seems to work, at least to the extent that the Western media seems to write far fewer calumnies against China than against Russia, which doesn’t systemically practice this (despite my [long-standing](https://twitter.com/akarlin88/status/445801760758583296 \"https://twitter.com/akarlin88/status/445801760758583296\")[suggestions](http://www.unz.com/akarlin/how-can-russia-hurt-the-us/ \"http://www.unz.com/akarlin/how-can-russia-hurt-the-us/\") that it should).\n\n**What is rather weird is stating such policies out loud and dissing that journalist’s country at large, especially when said country happens to be a strategic partner and not an adversary like Canada.**\n\nThis is what recently happened to Nezavisimaya Gazeta journalists who wrote about the topical issue of China’s slowing growth. [According to their account](http://www.ng.ru/world/2019-03-04/2_7523_china.html \"http://www.ng.ru/world/2019-03-04/2_7523_china.html\"), the Chinese Embassy became aggressively involved, with its press advisor Gou Yunhai demanding the removal of the offending material:\n\n> “I’ll tell you categorically that you should immediately delete this article from your newspaper’s website, otherwise you will be blacklisted and you will never be allowed to enter China!”\n\nThis seems to have been the article in question (“[China will infect the Russian economy with a crisis](http://www.ng.ru/economics/2019-02-28/2_7521_china.html \"http://www.ng.ru/economics/2019-02-28/2_7521_china.html\")“) that provoked the official’s ire [machine translation]:\n\n> Further deceleration is indicated by the February PMI business activity index. Thus, in the services sector, the PMI index was 54.3 points versus 54.7 points in January. And in the industrial sector, it was 49.2 points against the January value of 49.5 points. As a result, in the industrial sector, this index value was the lowest after March 2016, the Prime agency reports, citing data from the State Statistical Office of China.\n> \n> Unexpected was the fall of the car market inside the PRC, recorded by industry representatives. In January, the Chinese Passenger Car Association reported that car sales in China in 2018 decreased by 6% to 22.7 million. As it was clarified, this is the first decline in car sales in the country in more than 20 years. …\n> \n> A different opinion is shared by the first vice-president of the Russian Club of Financial Directors, Tamara Kasyanova. According to the expert, if another US president is elected in 2020, the US approach to China may change, there is a chance that these countries will return to the previous level of trade cooperation, and then in 2021 Chinese GDP growth may even accelerate to 9%.\n\nApart from the sensationalist title – which, in fairness, may have been the only thing that evidently non-Russophone official read – it’s not even some radical text claiming that China is cooking its GDP figures, which is a topic of some considerable interest today, but a simple citation of economic statistics that, so far as I know, China doesn’t even deny.\n\nThe official continued:\n\n> “You’re lying!!! The Chinese economy slowed down???? We last year showed economic growth of more than 6%, and what is your growth???? Russia will become infected by the Chinese economy??? … Only the GDP of one Guangdong province is much larger than the whole of Russia. Where is our social discontent???? I just felt great discontent in Russian society, especially after Putin’s address.”\n\nIncidentally, that is factually wrong. Russia’s GDP [1.6T/3.8T] is higher than [Guangdong’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_administrative_divisions_by_GDP \"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_administrative_divisions_by_GDP\") [1.3T/2.3T] in both nominal and PPP terms as of 2017, even though Guangdong is slightly ahead in GDP per capita terms (nominal only).\n\nNow  **I wouldn’t treat this as some major scandal, since Chinese diplomats are not exactly well known for their diplomatese around the world, so they can be given some leeway on account of that.**  At the very least, the Chinese do not openly foment treason and color revolution in Moscow, unlike Russia’s “Western partners.”\n\n**Furthermore, I think there’s a good chance that diplomat will be disciplined.**Boorishness aside, you’re not supposed to be **open** about denying journalists visas, at any rate.\n\nIt’s also worth bearing in mind that NG is a moderately liberal publication, and Russian liberals are the most Sinophobic ideological bloc in Russia (with attendant foreign policy implications). I don’t know if Russia should get riled up by the Chinese harassing Russian liberal journalists, with their penchant for apologizing for the US and promoting its interests, to the same extent as it does over Western countries harassing RT or Sputnik.\n\nHowever, such attitudes _may_ offer a glance into the sort of reality that countries too deeply drawn into the Sinosphere may find themselves in. It’s probably not going to be a nirvana. Free speech will be restricted as it is under the American sphere, if on different topics.\n\nRussia is too large and self-contained for that to be a real risk, but things may turn out otherwise for some of the smaller and more dependent South-East Asian and African countries.\n\n----------\n\nSource:  [The Unz Review](http://www.unz.com/akarlin/chinese-diplomat-threatens-russian-journalist-with-visa-cancellation-disses-russian-economy/)",
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      "title": "People Say Russian Cuisine Is Dull - It Is Completely the Opposite",
      "body": "*Like much else in Russia, the cooking is wildly complex ...\n“piglet wrapped in dough, lobster soup with small pies, cream of wheat made with heavy cream (Gurievskaia), botvinia (a cold, fermented soup) with sturgeon, white cured fish fillet, _baidak_ pie (a huge savory pie with a twelve-layer filling, everything from eel livers to beef brains) in a brown butter sauce.​​​​​​\"*\n__________\nby [Nicholas Kotar](https://russia-insider.com/en/nicholas-kotar)\n\n_**About the author**_: _For lovers of Russian culture, folklore, and history, Kotar’s work is a treasure. The grandson of White Russian immigrants, the 34-year-old is an author of epic fantasy novels inspired by Russian fairy tales. You can see his four books  [here on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Nicholas-Kotar/e/B00ICLJL7M/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1516375308&sr=8-2-ent)._\n\n_He is also a deacon of the Russian Orthodox Church, a professional translator, and choir director at the [Holy Trinity Monastery](http://www.jordanville.org/) in Jordanville, NY, where he lives. Here is [his bio from his blog](http://nicholaskotar.com/about-me/), where he writes about many aspects of Russia. We highly recommend following it and subscribing to his email list to get exclusive material._\n\n_He has an excellent [Pinterest page](https://ru.pinterest.com/nicholaskotar/), and you can follow him [on Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.kotar/) Here is  [an archive of his work](http://russia-insider.com/en/nicholas-kotar)  published on  **Russia Insider**._\n\n_He is currently running a remarkably successful [crowdfunding on Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1402845448/raven-son-epic-fantasy-inspired-by-russian-fairy-t) to be able to publish his upcoming novels. Please support him if you can!_\n\n----------\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/1424872375_1308906122_03.jpg?itok=Apxz949G)\n\nYesterday, I got back from an amazing trip to Saratov, Russia, where I was one of 41 men recording sacred music for a men’s choir CD. One of the more surprising aspects of the trip was the food. It was actually good. And this despite it being a fasting period.\n\nA little while ago, some friends of mine got into a discussion about Russian cuisine. The usual opinions were expressed—Russian food is terrible, boring, tasteless, fatty. But then someone made an important point. All the bad things people hear about Russian food are more properly referred to as Soviet problems.\n\nInterested, I looked for some properly patriotic articles on the internet, and found a good one. Here is it: [five myths about Russian cuisine busted](http://russian7.ru/post/5-zabluzhdenijj-o-russkojj-kukhne/full/)!\n\n_For some, it’s too fatty. For others, it’s simply tasteless. A third might think it too simple, a fourth, too old-fashioned. Turns out, they’re all wrong._\n\n----------\n\n### Post-Soviet Myth: Russian food is fatty and uninspired\n\nSeventy years of Soviet life have created this myth. Or rather, this is definitely true of Soviet cuisine, but not Russian cuisine in a more general sense. Soviet cuisine loves lots of mayonnaise, oils, fatty sausages, sardines, margarine—everything that would maximize a Soviet citizen’s caloric intake from the minimum amount of food eaten.\n\nBut in 1913, which historians generally consider the year of Russia’s peak of cultural development, the cuisine was completely different. There were many competing restaurants and eateries, with Moscow at the center of a bustling culinary culture. The highest aristocrats from Petersburg came to Moscow for special culinary tours, including such stops as the public houses of Testov, Gurin, Egorov, and the Saratov Restaurant.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/russkaya_kukhnya_2.jpeg?itok=frexVF9E)\n\nThe variety of dishes in these places was staggering. Here’s a typical menu from the restaurant of the merchant Guliarovskii: “piglet wrapped in dough, lobster soup with small pies, cream of wheat made with heavy cream (Gurievskaia), botvinia (a cold, fermented soup) with sturgeon, white cured fish fillet, _baidak_ pie (a huge savory pie with a twelve-layer filling, everything from eel livers to beef brains) in a brown butter sauce.\n\n### Peasant Myth: Russian cuisine is too simplistic\n\nThere’s a Russian proverb: “Cabbage soup and porridge—that’s all we need to eat”. This ironic maxim is everywhere used literally to characterize the actual state of ancient Russian cooking. It’s true that perhaps a peasant from Tambov could live mostly on turnips and porridge, but in many regions even peasants ate well. This was especially true of the areas around the capital and in Siberia. As proof, we have the writings of foreign travelers.\n\nTake, for example, the travel journal of Marco Foscarino (1537): “Two chickens or ducks are sold for some tiny silver coin. The peasants also have all varieties of meat. In the winter, meat can survive for an entire month. They have wonderful fowl, which they catch with nets or with falcons (they have very good breeds here). Near the Volga, huge and delicious fish are served, especially sturgeon. The white lakes give a great variety of large and small fish of varying quality.\n\n### The Myth from Nature: Russian cuisine uses few fruits because of the long winter\n\nSimply not true. Even Pierre Bezuhov (in _War and Peace_) cultivated pineapples in his hothouses. Everyone used greenhouses and hothouses. The common people had a million ways of preserving berries and fruits for the entirety of winter in ways that preserved their vitamin content. These included baking, preserving in honey, freezing, or drying. Even the _Domostroi_ (a document more famous for its questionable advice of husband-wife relations) included recipes for preservation of fruits:\n\n“Take a watermelon, cut it into pieces, cut out the seeds, leaving behind two finger’s width of the skin. Put them into alcohol and hold them until it is time to change the alcohol. Repeat the procedure. Then, having taken the molasses, boil them on a low fire and take off the foam from the top.\n\n### The Myth of Fasting: Russian cuisine is tasteless\n\nThis may be partially true of some fasting dishes, as many people who search old recipes find out. However, this is not characteristic of Russian cuisine in general. In many regions, dishes were seasoned extensively. Coastal cuisine, for example, added _volozhi_ to all dishes. These were sauces in which food was cooked, baked, or garnished. There was a huge variety to these _volozhi_. Some were based on sour cream or butter, some were based on berries. The rich even had spiced lemon sauces.\n\n### The Myth from Folklore: Russian cuisine is archaic\n\nYes, traditionally speaking, Russian cuisine had been rather one-sided. This is because of the universal prevalence of the Russian oven, which led to the majority of dishes being baked (whether fish, fowl, or meat). However, in the city culture of the 19th century, this one-sidedness was decidedly overcome.\n\nThere were many French chefs working in Russian restaurants, which does not mean that they imported French food. Rather, they effectively experimented with traditional Russian styles. Russian officers also brought back with them (after wars) various tastes that now are considered typically Russian.\n\nThis kind of “fusion” cuisine includes such delicacies as pastries, charlotte pies, veal Orloff, crepes with oysters, as well as the now world-famous salad created by Lucien Olivier in the famous Hermitage Restaurant.\n\n----------\n\nSource:  [Nicholas Kotar](http://nicholaskotar.com/2016/07/08/five-myths-russian-cuisine/)",
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      "body": "The US conducted a genocide against North Korea. Why? Because they wanted the US out of the peninsula after the Japanese occupier was driven out. Killing the Yellow Man was no problem for the exceptional Americans in Korea as well as in Vietnam. As in the Land of Freedom and Democracy there was Apartheid against the Black Man.\n\nThe US: at least as bad and as cruel as the Nazis and the Romans.",
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      "body": "Warning! This user is on my black list, likely as a known plagiarist, spammer or ID thief. Please be cautious with this post!\nIf you believe this is an error, please chat with us in the #cheetah-appeals channel in [our discord](https://discord.gg/7FkETjJ).",
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      "author": "russia-insider",
      "permlink": "us-atrocities-in-korean-war-chem-and-bio-weapons-mass-civilian-bombing-and-execution",
      "title": "US Atrocities in Korean War - Chem and Bio Weapons, Mass Civilian Bombing and Execution",
      "body": "*Koreans not only have good reason to view the US with suspicion and mistrust, it's a miracle they don't hate us for all eternity*\n___________\nby [A Political Junkie](https://russia-insider.com/en/political-junkie)\n\nWith the world's press spending a great deal of its energy on the rather fractious relationship between the United States and North Korea, a look back in time gives us some fascinating insight regarding the geopolitical stresses that rule the region, particularly the stresses that occurred during the Korean War.\n\nThanks to the [International Action Center](https://iacenter.org/) and the [International Association of Democratic Lawyers](http://iadllaw.org/) (IADL), a Non-Governmental Organization which was founded in 1946 and acts as a consultative group to UNESCO, we have an [interesting document](http://iadllaw.org/1952/10/iadl-report-u-s-crimes-in-korea-1952/) that outlines some of America's actions on the Korean Peninsula during the early 1950s.\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/main/2018-Jun-4/59cd5e37fc7e934f1a8b4568.jpg?itok=68w3ZJvc)\n\nIn March 1952, the IADL issued a Report on U.S. Crimes in Korea during the Korean War. Here is a screen capture showing the title page:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen1_0.png?itok=9TBBj-s6)\n\nIn the early 1950s, the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea repeatedly asked the United Nations to protest violations of international law by their enemies, the United States-led international coalition.\n\nThese requests were ignored by the United Nations and, as such, the Council of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers set up a Commission consisting of lawyers from several nations to investigate these allegations with a \"boots on the ground\" trip to Korea which took place from March 3rd to March 19th, 1952, visiting the provinces of North and South Piengan, Hwang Hai, Kang Wan, including the towns of Pyongyang, Nampo, Kaichen, Pek Dong, Amju, Sinchon, Anak, Sariwon and Wonsan among others.\n\nHere is a list of the lawyers that saw first-hand what had occurred in the DPRK:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen2_0.png?itok=kD0VOtYJ)\n\nThe IADL notes that, under United Nations rules, the U.S. intervention on the Korean Peninsula was unlawful and that President Truman's orders to the American Navy and Air Force should be considered an \"aggressive act\" that went against the United Nations Charter.\n\nHere are some of the more interesting findings of the IADL Commission:\n\n**1.)** **Bacteriological Warfare:**\n\nThe Commission investigated the allegations that American forces in Korea were using bacteriological weapons against both the DPRK armed forces and the nation's civilian population. Between the 28th of January and the 12th of March (i.e. during the dead of winter), 1952, the Commission found the following insects which carried bacteria in many different locations:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen3.png?itok=pGifbj4G)\n\nThe Commission noted that many of the insect species had not been found in Korea prior to the arrival of American forces and that many of them were found in mixed groups or clusters that would not normally be found together, for example, flies and spiders.\n\nIt also noted that the January temperature was 1 degree Celsius (just above freezing) to 5 degrees Celsius in February but that the prevailing average temperature was far below the freezing level, temperatures that are extremely hostile to insect life.\n\nThe insects were infected with the following bacteria which include plague, cholera and typhus:\n\n-   Eberthella typhus\n-   Bacillus paratyphi A and B\n-   Shigella dysenteriae\n-   Vibrio cholera\n-   Pasturella pestis\n\nHere are some examples of what was reported by local citizens:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen4.png?itok=PCESYcPz)\n\nIn addition, a great quantity of fish of a species which live in regions between fresh water and salt water were found; these fish were found in a half rotten state and were infected with cholera.\n\n**2.)** **Chemical Weapons:**\n\nOn various occasions since May 6th, 1951, American planes used asphyxiating and other gases or chemical weapons as follows:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen5.png?itok=R4Y707MU)\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen6.png?itok=NyHSZxEW)\n\nIn the first attack on Nampo City, there were 1,379 casualties of which 480 died of suffocation and 647 others were affected by gas.\n\n**3.)** **Mass executions of civilians**:\n\nAccording to witnesses, the commander of the U.S. Forces in the region of Sinchon by the name of Harrison ordered the mass killing of 35,383 civilians (19,149 men and 16,234 women) during the period between October 17th and December 7th, 1950.\n\nThe civilians were pushed into a deep open grave, doused with fuel oil and set on fire. Those who tried to escape were shot.\n\nIn another case, on October 20th, 2015, 500 men women and children were forced into an air raid cave shelter located in the city of Sinchon. Harrison ordered American soldiers to put explosives into the shelter and seal it with sacks of earth prior to the fuse being lit.\n\nHere are other examples of mass murders:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen7.png?itok=qNIkxEQp)\n\n**4.) Bombing and Attacking** **Civilians**:\n\nPrior to the Korean War, the capital city of North Korea, Pyongyang, had a population of 464,000. As a result of the war, the population had fallen to 181,000 by December 31, 1951. In the period between June 27, 1950 and the Commission's visit, more than 30,000 incendiary and explosive devices were dropped on the city, destroying 64,000 out of 80,000 houses, 32 hospitals and dispensaries (despite the fact that they were marked with a red cross), 64 churches, 99 schools and university buildings.\n\nHere is a description of one of the aerial bombardments of Pyongyang:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen8.png?itok=AX3TFMlZ)\n\nHere is the conclusion of the Commission:\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen9.png?itok=IejV7c9x)\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen10.png?itok=q28KuKWh)\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen11.png?itok=2zFSUPE2)\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/screen12.png?itok=V7BZNn1J)\n\nThe IADL Commission unanimously found that the United States was guilty of crimes against humanity during the Korean War and that there was a pattern of behaviour which constitutes genocide.\n\nLet's close this posting with the [conclusion](https://iacenter.org/Koreafiles/ktc_verdict.htm) of the 2001 [Korea International War Crimes Tribunal](https://iacenter.org/Koreafiles/ktc-contents.htm/) which examined the testimony of civilians from both North Korea and South Korea over the period from 1945 to 2001:\n\n> _**The Members of the International War Crimes Tribunal find the accused Guilty on the basis of the evidence against them: each of the nineteen separate crimes alleged in the Initial Complaint has been established to have been committed beyond a reasonable doubt.** The Members find these crimes to have occurred during three main periods in the U.S. intervention in and occupation of Korea._\n> \n> 1.  _The best-known period is from June 25, 1950, until July 27, 1953, the Korean War, when over 4.6 million Koreans perished, according to conservative Western estimates, including 3 million civilians in the north and 500,000 civilians in the south. The evidence of U.S. war crimes presented to this Tribunal included eyewitness testimony and documentary accounts of massacres of thousands of civilians in southern Korea by U.S. military forces during the war. Abundant evidence was also presented concerning criminal and even genocidal U.S. conduct in northern Korea, including the systematic leveling of most buildings and dwellings by U.S. artillery and aerial bombardment; widespread atrocities committed by U.S. and R.O.K. forces against civilians and prisoners of war; the deliberate destruction of facilities essential to civilian life and economic production; and the use of illegal weapons and biological and chemical warfare by the U.S. against the people and the environment of northern Korea. Documentary and eyewitness evidence was also presented showing gross and systematic violence committed against women in northern and southern Korea, characterized by mass rapes, sexual assaults and murders._\n>     \n> 2.  _Less known but of crucial importance in understanding the war period is the preceding five years, from the landing of U.S. troops in Korea on September 8, 1945, to the outbreak of the war. The Members of the Tribunal examined extensive evidence of U.S. crimes against peace and crimes against humanity in this period.  **The Members conclude that the U.S. government acted to divide Korea against the will of the vast majority of the people, limit its sovereignty, create a police state in southern Korea using many former collaborators with Japanese rule, and provoke tension and threats between southern and northern Korea, opposing and disrupting any plans for peaceful reunification. In this period the U.S. trained, directed and supported the ROK in systematic murder, imprisonment, torture, surveillance, harassment and violations of human rights of hundreds of thousands of people, especially of those individuals or groups considered nationalists, leftists, peasants seeking land reform, union organizers and/or those sympathetic to the north.**_\n>     \n> 3.  _**The Members find that in the period from July 1953 to the present, the U.S. has continued to maintain a powerful military force in southern Korea, backed by nuclear weapons, in violation of international law and intended to obstruct the will of the Korean people for reunification.**Military occupation has been accompanied by the organized sexual exploitation of Korean women, frequently leading to violence and even murder of women by U.S. soldiers who have felt above the law. U.S.-imposed economic sanctions have impoverished and debilitated the people of northern Korea, leading to a reduction of life expectancy, widespread malnutrition and even starvation in a country that once exported food. The refusal of the U.S. government to grant visas to a delegation from the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea who planned to attend this Tribunal only confirms the criminal intent of the defendants to isolate those whom they have abused to prevent them from telling their story to the world._\n>     \n> \n> _In all these 55 years, the U.S. government has systematically manipulated, controlled, directed, misinformed and restricted press and media coverage to obtain consistent support for its military intervention, occupation and crimes against the people of Korea._\n> \n> _It has also inculcated racist attitudes within the U.S. troops and general population that prepared them to commit and/or accept atrocities and genocidal policies against the Korean people._\n> \n> _It has violated the Constitution of the United States, the delegation of powers over war and the military, the Bill of Rights, the UN Charter, international law and the laws of the ROK, DPRK, Peoples Republic of China, Japan and many others, in its lawless determination to exercise its will over the Korean peninsula._\n> \n> _**The Members of the Korea International War Crimes Tribunal hold the United States government and its leaders accountable for these criminal acts and condemn those found guilty in the strongest possible terms.\"**_ (my bold)\n\nAnd Washington wonders why the North Koreans are so hostile toward the United States!\n\nThe irony of Washington's criticism of other nations (i.e Syria) and their use of chemical weapons is stunningly hypocritical.\n\n----------\n\nSource:  [Viable Opposition](http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/06/war-crimes-in-korea-guilty-as-charged.html)",
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      "body": "Warning! This user is on my black list, likely as a known plagiarist, spammer or ID thief. Please be cautious with this post!\nIf you believe this is an error, please chat with us in the #cheetah-appeals channel in [our discord](https://discord.gg/7FkETjJ).",
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      "title": "Venezuela: Why Did Russia and China Issue a Rare Double Veto at the UN?",
      "body": "by [Veterans Today](https://russia-insider.com/en/authors/veterans-today)\n________\nThe American resolution said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected in May 2018 as a result of “not free and not fair” [elections](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.moneytimes.ru/encyclopedia/5950.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhit8EKpwX9392vgC9btG6BfPKVudg) , it called for new presidential elections and organizing access for delivering foreign humanitarian aid to the country. 9 members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, South Africa joined the Protestants in Russia and China, and three delegations abstained.\n\nNote that Russia and China do not often impose a double veto, more adhering to the “distribution of responsibilities” on vetoing Western resolutions. For example, the resolution on Syria is vetoed by Russia, and on the DPRK – by China. The last double veto was imposed in 2008 on a resolution on Zimbabwe, and before that in 2007 on Myanmar. In both cases, the West did not suit the government of these countries, and the resolutions were based on Chapter VII of the UN Charter, allowing the use of force to implement the resolution.\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/w726xauto/public/ScreenHunter-745.jpg?itok=ug3Q-T3b)\nAnd this time, the draft submitted by the US delegation “was written to change the regime disguised as caring for people. We have already seen all this in relation to Libya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan,” said Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily at the discussion table. Nebenzya. If this resolution is adopted, the Security Council will for the first time in history decide on the appointment of the president and dismissal of another, ”said Nebenzya.\n\nHe added that the US is using efforts to deliver [humanitarian aid](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.pravda.ru/world/1407991-chavism/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhimDU7g2BmeMajEiBwMsBTItpPMqA \"Venezuelans decided to defend socialism\") as a cover for [military action to overthrow Maduro](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://military.pravda.ru/1408072-maduro/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhhJSRTVqiA543CunIRNGt8KBdauYA \"The expert told how the US will overthrow Maduro by force\") . Humanitarian organizations avoided this channel as a political ploy, the Russian permanent representative remarked and asked why the United States did not want to send supplies through the usual UN channels.\n\nUS Special Representative for Venezuela Elliot Abrams said that such [assistance](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.moneytimes.ru/encyclopedia/274.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhiil1SfpCtWfk-yFbKDHTJOBJGAmg) will be “redirected” by the Maduro regime.\n\nMa Zhaoxu, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, said that Beijing is against military intervention in Venezuela’s internal affairs and “against humanitarian aid for political purposes, which creates instability not only in Venezuela, but also in neighboring countries.” through dialogue and consultation. China knows that the Venezuelan government has shown restraint in trying to maintain peace and security in the country, “Zhaoxu said.\n\nThen, in the UN Security Council, a Russian project was voted, which proposed using the negotiation process in Uruguay. Apart from Russia, China and South Africa, Equatorial Guinea voted for him. Thus, he was unable to collect 9 votes for approval, but still was vetoed by the United States, Britain and France.\n\nNebenzja noted that at the expert-level consultations on this text, “we did not hear any specific comments. Western experts stated that they would not work on our text and the American colleagues immediately submitted their draft to the vote. Where is the diplomacy? Where search for a compromise? “, – said Nebenya.\n\nAccording to Pravda.Ru, the self-proclaimed Venezuelan President Juan Guaydo [arrived in Brazil](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.pravda.ru/world/1408343-guaido/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhgKtOV5VW48HDrwINugODq06IM89g \"Brazil can still be persuaded to start a war with Venezuela\") on Thursday to try to convince the country’s authorities to help the United States in their intervention in Venezuela. On Monday, the “Lima group” adopted a resolution on the inadmissibility of the [use of force](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.pravda.ru/news/world/1407976-latin/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhi3XmjlF_AfAqa4uGW12DTHWVKsOA \"US Secretary of State admitted invasion of Venezuela\") in solving the Venezuelan crisis. Despite the blockade and diplomatic pressure, Nicolas Maduro [demonstrates](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.moneytimes.ru/encyclopedia/9985.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhgt4T4iFvoqaQVsWTQYNr8aNa77GQ) nerves of steel and holds the levers of power, which distinguishes him favorably from the previous “dictators” deposed by Washington.\n\n----------\n\nSource:  [Veterans Today](https://www.veteranstoday.com/2019/03/03/venezuela-what-caused-the-double-veto-of-russia-and-china-in-the-un-security-council/)",
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      "body": "*Part of the story is the domestic agriculture boom reducing the need for food imports*\n________\nby [Ben Aris](https://russia-insider.com/en/ben_aris)\n\nRussian customs reports that in 2018 the country’s goods trade surplus climbed to $212bn, or roughly 12% of GDP. Russia is now running a triple surplus again for the first time in years: trade, current account and federal budget. Both the budget and the current account surpluses are at record levels. The record trade surplus was driven partly by the rise in oil prices in 2018, but falling imports, especially falling food imports, played at least as important a role.\n\nExports remain heavily weighted towards hydrocarbons, which totalled $260bn in December – more than half of Russia’s exports, with minerals and base metals making up another $48.7bn from the total of $461bn.\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/w726xauto/public/main/2019-Mar-3/1067928564.jpg?itok=FRprhcZZ)\n\nImports are half as much as Russia’s exports, which has led to the record [current account](http://pro.intellinews.com/russia-brings-in-a-record-current-account-surplus-in-2018-154971/?source=russia) surplus in 2018. Imports are more evenly distributed but the top four items – machinery ($80.7bn), chemicals ($32.4bn), vehicles ($28.4bn), and base metals ($18.5bn) – accounting for 70% of the total imports to Russia.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/11_4.png?itok=zzmeuSs0)\n\nOne of the main drivers of the growing trade balance has not been growing exports or rising oil prices, although that has contributed to the record, but as important, or more so, has been falling imports, which were flat or decreasing in 2018, especially in the second half of last year. This is partly due to the falling [real incomes in 2018](http://pro.intellinews.com/real-income-finishes-2018-with-tiny-gains-but-wage-growth-remains-stagnant-154728/?source=russia), down for the fifth year in a row.\n\nThe second factor driving down imports is Russia’s increasing self-reliance in food production. Russia’s imports of meat and meat products plummeted by almost 58% to 800,000 tonnes over the past four years since introduction of sanctions and counter-sanctions, Sergei Dankvert, director of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight, said in an interview with Rossiya 1 channel in February.\n\n“We have interesting figures to share. Let’s take the year of 2014. We imported almost 1.9 million tonnes of all types of meat and meat products then. Now let’s have a look at the past year, and we see only 800,000 tonnes. We’ve replaced almost 1 million tonnes over the four years,” he said. “If we look at milk and dairy products, we had 1.164 million tonnes (imported in 2014), and now we have only 790,000 tonnes,” he said. He added that imports from Belarus amount to about 350,000 tonnes, and imports of dairy products and milk from all other countries amounts to about 450,000 tonnes. The reduction of imports happened simultaneously with an increase in domestic production, he added.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/22_4.png?itok=FXzimelj)\n\nCountry-wise, China has become the single most important partner, accounting for 12.4% ($60.6bn) of Russia’s exports in December and 22% ($56.9bn) of its imports. European countries feature heavily as Russian export markets, but the US accounts for only 2.8% ($13.5bn) of Russia’s exports, although it is the third most important source of imports, accounting for 5.3% ($13.9bn) of Russia’s total imports in December.\n\nAs an aside Russia is much less exposed to Brexit than its peers in Central Europe as the UK accounted for only 2.1% ($10.4bn) of Russia’s exports and 1.7% ($4.4bn) of its imports in December. That puts the UK on a par with Ukraine which has the same export numbers, but ranks above the UK in terms of imports: Ukraine accounted for 2.3% ($6bn) in December and continues to run an almost $2bn trade deficit with Russia.\n\nRussian goods exports rose by 26% from the previous year. This reflects changes in both quantities and prices. Some of these may prove to be temporary. Energy prices are a major driver of fluctuations in Russia’s case, Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT) reports.\n\nThe EU accounted for 46% of Russian exports, while 12% went to China. Two-thirds of earnings from goods exports came from fossil fuels. The combination of a slight increase in oil and gas export volumes and higher world prices raised export earnings by a third. In addition to fossil fuels, there were also significant increases in exports of metals and grains. With the bumper crop of autumn 2017, 2018 wheat exports were up by a third from 2017. Russia produces about 10% of the world’s wheat. In recent years, about half of Russia’s wheat production has gone to exports.\n\nThe trend in exports last year was not reflected in imports. Russians spent only 5% more on imported goods in 2018 than in the previous year. Import growth was depressed by the ruble depreciation of more than 10% against the dollar and euro.\n\nAbout 37% of Russia’s goods imports last year came from the EU and 22% from China. While half of imports consisted of machinery, equipment and vehicles, growth in the category was modest. Pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs were also important import good categories.\n\nPreliminary balance of payments figures for the fourth quarter of 2018 show Russian revenues from exports of goods and services were up nearly 20% y/y even if the growth was no longer as fast as in the previous quarter. For the entire year, export earnings were up by over 20% as revenues from energy exports ballooned by over 30% on strong export prices.\n\nRussia’s spending on imports of goods and services in the second half of last year was unchanged from 2H17. For all of 2018, spending on imports was up by a few percent. The spending of Russian travellers abroad was up by about 10% for the year although the growth stopped in the fourth quarter. The overwhelming underlying factor was ruble depreciation. Total spending on imports of goods and services in the second half of last year roughly matched 2008 and 2010 levels.\n\nThe gap between export earnings and spending on imports widened in 2018 to produce a whopping current account surplus of about 7% of GDP – Russia’s largest current account surplus since 2006.\n\nThe net capital outflow from the private sector increased substantially in 2018. The flow of direct investments from abroad into the Russian corporate sector (excluding banks) dried up almost entirely, while FDI outflows from Russia remained rather notable. Similar to 2017, banks’ capital outflow abroad mostly arose from decreases in their foreign liabilities.\n\nTrade turnover between Russia and China in January 2019 increased by 10.8% on an annualised basis to $9.2bn, China's General Administration of Customs said in a report issued on Thursday. China's exports to Russia grew by 11.5% in the first month of 2019 and exceeded $4.3bn. Russia's exports to China also increased by 10.2% to $4.89bn. In 2018 trade turnover between Russia and China increased by 27.1% on an annualised basis to $107bn. Russia and China are hoping to grow trade turnover from $100bn in 2018 to $200bn by 2020.\n\nThe Russian Federation remained Ukraine’s main trade partner in 2018, despite mutual trade restrictions imposed in 2016. In 2018, Ukrainian exports to other countries amounted to $47.3bn, an increase of 9.4% compared with 2017, according to the figures released by the State Statistics Service on February 19. The biggest share of the country’s exports ($3.7bn) still falls on Russia, despite a 7.2% decrease, which is followed by Poland ($3.3bn), Italy ($2.6bn), Turkey ($2.4bn), Germany and China ($2.2bn each). All in all, 42.5% of Ukrainian exports ($20.2bn) were to EU countries last year. Among importers, Russia also remains the first. In 2018, imports of Russian goods to Ukraine rose by 12.3% compared with 2017 to $8.1bn. China was the second ($7.6bn), followed by Germany ($5.9bn), Belarus ($3.8bn), and Poland ($3.6bn). Total Ukrainian imports equaled $57.1bn last year, an increase of 15.2% compared with 2017, with 40% ($23.2bn) from EU countries.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/33_1.png?itok=LIbfbF-6)\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/44_0.png?itok=AEjx1W3p)\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/55.png?itok=3uEMmsEd)\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/77.png?itok=BEE4PkwB)\n\n----------\n\nSource:  [bne IntelliNews](http://bne.eu/russia-s-goods-trade-surplus-up-20-in-2018-to-212bn-157253/)",
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      "permlink": "zvfti-an-amazing-war-memorial-at-site-of-biggest-tank-battle-ever-kursk-battle",
      "title": "An Amazing War Memorial At Site of Biggest Tank Battle Ever (Kursk Battle)",
      "body": "_Part of the Battle of Kursk, the assault on Prokhorovka was the last push of the German army to take the eastern front._\n_________\n_This article is from a series by the invaluable William Brumfield, ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Craft_Brumfield)), Professor of Slavic Studies at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA._\n\n_Brumfield is the world's leading historian of Russian architecture. He makes frequent trips to Russia, often to her remote regions, and records the most unusual examples of surviving architecture with detailed, professional photography._\n\n![<figcaption>The German advance was stopped by unimaginable willingness of Russian soldiers to die, and the will of their commanders to sacrifice them</figcaption>](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/w726xauto/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.07.png?itok=RatRN9ZF)\n\nThe German advance was stopped by unimaginable willingness of Russian soldiers to die, and the will of their commanders to sacrifice them\n\n_His most recent book is a real treasure, Architecture At The End Of The Earth, Photographing The Russian North (2015). ([Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Architecture-End-Earth-Photographing-Russian/dp/0822359065/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471089682&sr=1-1&keywords=william+brumfield)). This truly beautiful book was made possible by the support of a US philanthropist, and its true cost is 3 times its retail price, and we can't recommend it highly enough. Here is [our 2015 review](https://russia-insider.com/en/node/9319/draft) of it._\n\n_Bravo to RBTH for making Brumfield's work possible, and providing such a great platform for his beautiful photography. We recommend visiting the RBTH page, which has a slide show for each article with many more pictures than we can fit in here._\n\n_Don't believe in miracles? Well, we can assure you, Brumfield's work is undoubtedly just that. You can find a complete list of his articles on RI [here.](https://russia-insider.com/en/professor-william-brumfield)_\n\n_The original headline for this article was: **The Prokhorovka Memorial Complex: Bearing witness to sacrifice and faith.** All photos are by the author._\n\n----------\n\nIn the middle of the rich agricultural lands of Belgorod Region lies the ​small town of Prokhorovka (population 9,000). At the beginning of World War II, it was little more than a railroad whistle stop near a collective farm, but events in summer 1943 conspired to make it one of the most important places on the planet. It was at Prokhorovka that the German army’s final offensive effort on the eastern front was stopped for good.\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/s400/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.42.19.png?itok=99zdICuL)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.42.19.png)\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/s400/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.42.34.png?itok=uIVTQPeu)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.42.34.png)\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\nThe origins of Prokhorovka date to the late 17th century, when a settlement known as Ilinskaya Sloboda was established by Polish settler Kirill Ilinsky, who moved to the Belgorod lands following the Russo-Polish war of 1654-1667. In addition to its rich soil, the area was located near the origins of the Psyol River, making it an ideal site for farming.\n\nAfter 1860, the village bore the name of Alexandrovskoye in honor of the reigning Tsar, Alexander II. The name Prokhorovka appeared in the 1880s on a nearby station on the newly opened Kursk-Kharkov-Azov Railroad, one of whose engineers was V. I. Prokhorov. Alexandrovskoye absorbed the station into its territory after World War II, and the town was renamed Prokhorovka in 1968 in a recognition of the fame of the Prokhorovka battlefield.\n\n**_Prokhorovka at war_**\n\nThe epic clash that occurred at Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943 was part of the much larger Battle of Kursk, which lasted from July 5 to August 23 and is recognized as the biggest tank battle of all time. The Battle of Kursk began when the German army launched Operation Citadel, an attempt to use a pincer formation to smash a large bulge at the center of the eastern front created by the sporadic fighting following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad.\n\nThe north side of the bulge formed as a result of Soviet gains during the Kharkov Offensive in February and early March 1943. This part of the offensive also led to the German evacuation of the Rzhev salient, a bloody stalemate that had cost hundreds of thousands of casualties in 1942. In the south, however, a German counteroffensive retook Kharkov and Belgorod in the middle of March, thus denting the Soviet line and creating the south flank of the bulge. At that point, both sides consolidated positions in anticipation of more favorable conditions in the summer.\n\nLacking the sweep of summer operations the preceding two years, Operation Citadel was Hitler’s last attempt to achieve a major tactical victory on Soviet territory. On the north flank, Soviet forces led by Konstantin Rokossovsky held the Wehrmacht to modest gains despite a massive assault. On the south flank, German forces led by Erich von Manstein had greater success against the Voronezh Front commanded by Nikolai Vatutin and posed a threat to Kursk and its vital rail junction. In order to blunt the German armored thrust developing toward Prokhorovka, on July 10, Ivan Konev, commander of the newly created Steppe Front, rushed forward the Fifth Tank Army, led by Pavel Rotmistrov.\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/s400/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.43.07.png?itok=Ol5oVzIi)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.43.07.png)\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\nThe approach of Rotmistrov’s tanks on the morning of July 12 brought a massive concentration of military hardware in a relatively confined space. The rapid movements of armored vehicles combined with the dust and smoke over broad fields created the proverbial fog of war, and to this day historians argue about the details of the battle, including the actual strength of the opposing forces and their losses.\n\nIt is now accepted that the Soviet losses in armor were much larger than the German. Soviet aviation was more active on the northern flank, and Rotmistrov’s exposed, lighter tanks were outgunned by SS armored formations. Nonetheless, the desperate Soviet effort succeeded in its main task of halting von Manstein.\n\nShortly thereafter, Hitler halted Operation Citadel and began withdrawing forces to deal with the threat to Italy posed by the Allied invasion of Sicily. The Red Army in turn launched offensives that culminated in the march to Berlin in spring 1945. In the interests of boosting war morale, the clash at Prokhorovka was proclaimed not just a critical part of an overall strategic victory (which it was) but also a tactical victory over SS divisions (now considered a debatable assertion).\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.50.56.png?itok=zLODY4Cs)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.50.56.png \"snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.50.56.png\")\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.07.png?itok=utjAkph9)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.07.png \"snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.07.png\")\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\n_**Remembering the sacrifice**_\n\nAfter the war, the Prokhorovka battlefield was enshrined as a memorial to Soviet resistance against the Nazi invaders. Pavel Rotmistrov returned to the site for a commemoration 25 years after the battle, yet many felt that not enough had been done to mark this extraordinary event. Regional public efforts advocating a higher level of commemoration found a major ally in 1993 when the prominent politician Nikolai Ryzhkov actively supported the construction of a major memorial complex at Prokhorovka. The site was now designated Russia’s Third Battlefield (Tretye ratnoye polye), following Kulikov polye (Snipe Field), where Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Tatars in 1380, and [the Borodino battlefield](http://rbth.com/articles/2012/09/07/borodino_the_field_on_which_empires_clashed_18055.html), where the Russians fought the French on their approach to Moscow in early September 1812.\n\nThis memorialization campaign resulted not only in a new museum but also in the creation of a narrative that placed the struggle in religious, and specifically Russian Orthodox, terms. As Ryzhkov proclaimed in a widely distributed article in November 1993, “We will build a temple at Prokhorovka.” The realization of this campaign, which found enormous public and state support, is readily evident in the ascending tower of the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, visible on the approaches to Prokhorovka. Completed in the spring of 1995, the shrine was consecrated on May 3, 1995 by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II.\n\nThe towering form of the church, designed by the architect Dmitry Sokolov, bears a strong resemblance to a Russian memorial designed by Vladimir Pokrovsky and erected in Leipzig in 1912-1913 to commemorate the joint Russian and German victory over Napoleon a century earlier. Other prototypes include 16th-century Muscovite tower churches such as the Ascension at Kolomenskoye. The design also corresponds to the medieval Russian concept of a “church beneath a bell tower.”\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.34.png?itok=X_IWCQp6)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.34.png \"snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.51.34.png\")\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\nThe interior of the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul is richly decorated with frescoes, mosaics and icons. It also includes the names inscribed on marble tablets of some 7,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the days surrounding the Prokhorovka battle.\n\nThe territory around the cathedral includes the more modest parish Church of St. Nicholas, a parish house and a center for war veterans. To the southwest of the cathedral is an arched monument containing the “Bell of Unity of Three Fraternal Slavic Peoples” — Russian, Ukrainian and Belarussian — who made the essential contribution to the victory. This monument, surmounted with an Orthodox cross, was dedicated on May 3, 2000, in the presence of the three presidents of the respective countries — Vladimir Putin, Leonid Kuchma and Alexander Lukashenko — as well as Patriarch Alexy II.\n\n[![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/s400/public/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.58.50.png?itok=oYlYzBlH)](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/snimok_ekrana_2016-09-03_v_12.58.50.png)\n\nPhoto by William Brumfield\n\nBeyond the cathedral memorial complex is a large museum built during the same period. Its several interior halls present the military history of Prokhorovka and the Kursk Battle, as well as the larger context of the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in Russia. In the center of the main atrium is an example of the legendary T-34 tank, the workhorse of Soviet armored forces.\n\nThe memorial complex, located in the center of Prokhorovka, is complemented by a monumental bell tower 59 meters in height. Designed by Vyacheslav Klykov and dedicated on May 3, 1995, the tower consists of four sides with relief panels devoted to the sacrifices and the religious faith that led to victory.\n\n----------\n\nSource:  [RBTH](http://rbth.com/special_projects/discovering_russia_1/2016/09/02/the-prokhorovka-memorial-complex-bearing-witness-to-sacrifice-and-faith_626611)",
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      "title": "In 2018 Russia Exported More Wheat Than Any Country Ever",
      "body": "*44 million tons, edging out America's record from distant 1981*\n_____________\n  \n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/main/2019-Feb-27/66.jpg?itok=_lUgClyL)\n\nThe re-emergence of Russia's wheat exports after a hundred years hiatus has been a sight to behold\n\nThe December wheat export data for Russia came in this month and  [has shown](https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/117537/)  that last year Russia sold more wheat abroad than any other country ever has. Way back in 1981 the US sold 43.9 million tons (41.7 million tons by another account). Last year Russia edged that out with 44 million tons.\n\nFor the third year in a row Russia has been the world leader in wheat exports. Moreover its lead has been growing. It exported 1.3 million tons or 5 percent more than the US in 2016, 5.8 million tons or 21 percent more in 2017, and 21.5 million tons or almost double as the US in 2018.\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/main/2019-Feb-27/8175970-3x2-700x467.jpg?itok=MMVDAsMx)\n\nRussia's success in getting its wheat export industry off the ground and into the stratosphere has been truly astounding, the Soviet Union by comparison sometimes had trouble feeding itself and was reliant on imports from the US.\n\nThe primary reason behind Russia's success are greater yields per area planted (albeit there is still much room for improvement compared to the west), but to be fair a secondary reason is also that since the 2014 collapse in oil prices and start of western financial warfare on Russia the ruble has been undervalued making Russian exports cheaper, as well as making it more difficult for domestic consumers to compete with foreign ones.\n\nThat said the Russian meat production (table below) is likewise growing and has been restored to its Soviet peak, so it doesn't seem as if the Russian meat industry is having difficulty purchasing animal feed.\n\n![](https://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/121704_original.png?itok=5ZlEGBPh)",
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      "permlink": "putin-explains-in-detail-why-his-mach-20-missiles-change-world-balance-of-power",
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  "trx_id": "a4c97c4a39d1441a5268bcec04d81c1f72c50ab8",
  "block": 30709855,
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  "timestamp": "2019-02-27T08:47:51",
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    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "russia",
      "author": "russia-insider",
      "permlink": "putin-explains-in-detail-why-his-mach-20-missiles-change-world-balance-of-power",
      "title": "Putin Explains IN DETAIL Why His Mach 20 Missiles Change World Balance of Power",
      "body": "by [Oscar Platt](https://russia-insider.com/en/oscar-platt)\n\nRussia's new Avangard (Fr. \"Avant-garde\") missile system is a technological wonder. Scientists and engineers managed to overcome a number of technological hurdles, like how to keep a vehicle from disintegrating while traveling at mach-20, with temperatures reaching 3000 degrees Celsius.\n\nIn light of the US' withdrawal from the INF treaty, this is a big development.\n\nIt is also alarming, because Sunday evening Dmitry Kiselyov, TV personality and Kremlin confidant, listed  [Russian targets inside the US, including the Pentagon and Camp David, Maryland](https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-25/now-were-not-threatening-anyone-russian-tv-lists-nuclear-targets-us).\n\nhttps://youtu.be/NvXiO_iItGg\n\nhttps://youtu.be/nT9hYgO9X1s\n\n**Transcript 1:**\n\n> **Komsomolskaya Pravda Editor in Chief Vladimir Sungorkin:**  Mr President, you have compared the Avangard system with the first near-Earth satellite today.\n> \n> Does this not seem to be an overstatement because the first satellite is a far cry from the Avangard system?\n> \n> What happened? Why did you use such a powerful comparison?\n> \n> **President Vladimir Putin:**  I see, thank you for your question.\n> \n> As you can see, I have made a reservation.\n> \n> This system absolutely compares with the first near-Earth satellite in terms of maintaining our security.\n> \n> I will explain.\n> \n> The launch of the first space satellite implied, in terms of ensuring security, that the Soviet Union had received systems, or ballistic missiles, for delivering nuclear warheads to the territory of the potential enemy.\n> \n> In effect, that launch ushered in an entire missile programme.\n> \n> Of course, that programme had been developing before that event, but, in effect, it began with that launch.\n> \n> This implies ballistic missiles.\n\n![](http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/styles/1200xauto/public/yt9_0.jpg?itok=jaG9Me-k)\n\n> But our American friends invented the anti-ballistic missile defence system to safeguard against these ballistic missiles.\n> \n> Therefore, we had to provide an adequate, asymmetrical but serious response. What kind of a response is this?\n> \n> The Avangard system is our response.\n> \n> A winged glider vehicle moves at Mach 20-plus inside dense atmospheric layers; it was difficult to imagine this in the past.\n> \n> In terms of our defense capability, this amounts to the same landmark achievement as the launch of the first space satellite.\n> \n> This is because that launch implied ballistic missiles, and we are now talking about a new strategic weapons system that moves along a flat trajectory inside dense atmospheric layers.\n> \n> This is another delivery vehicle?\n> \n> Yes, of course, this amounts to another delivery vehicle. But this is an absolute breakthrough in terms of modern technologies and materials.\n> \n> This winged glider vehicle’s nose section heats up to almost 3,000 degrees Celsius. Can you imagine this? What does 3,000 degrees feel like?\n> \n> The Sun’s surface heats up to 6,000 degrees, and here we are talking about 3,000 degrees.\n> \n> I have already mentioned the chocolate-coated ice cream effect, when the vehicle flies along and melts away as it goes.\n> \n> It is coated with a plasma layer, and its sides heat up to 1,900–2,000 degrees. At the same time, the vehicle is controlled accordingly.\n> \n> You know, when I attended the latest tests and when I watched them, the operator said “Acknowledge message” which means that the vehicle had hit the bull’s eye, the target.\n> \n> The Russian science, engineering school and defense sector have scored an amazing success. Indeed, this is absolutely tremendous.\n> \n> Therefore, a comparison with the first near-Earth satellite is quite adequate and appropriate.\n\n**Transcript 2:**\n\n> Now, let's discuss the military part of the address. Experts are commenting on the most advanced weapons which the president spoke about yesterday, such as Zircon the hypersonic missile.\n> \n> Elizaveta Khramtsova has the details of its combat specifications.\n> \n> It's like a knife through butter. That's how experts describe the capacities of the new Russian hypersonic system Zircon. It'll outperform any anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense system of a potential adversary. The high-precision cruise missile Zircon will have a range of over 600 miles. Its hypersonic speed of Mach 9 is also impressive. The Zircon will pose a treat not only to the intermediate-range missiles deployed in Europe; it'll help destroy the key elements of the control system of their decision-making units which are located outside of the European continent.\n> \n> **Vsevolod Khmyrov, Rear Admiral (Retired):**  \"Given the fact that the missile systems belong to the Americans, it's clear that they'll be controlled from the decision-making units located in the territory of the American continent.\"\n> \n> This type of weapons plays a special role, given the situation with the INF Treaty, which Washington decided to ruin. If the treaty is terminated, the American partners will be able to deploy shock troops onto the European continent. In the framework of the American anti-missile defense system, Aegis Ashore systems with MK 41 systems have already been deployed in Romania. The same systems will be in Poland soon. Not only defense missiles but also strike Tomahawks with a range of 1,500 miles can be launched from them.\n> \n> The experts stress that the Zircon can destroy the Pentagon's illusion that in the case of an escalation, American servicemen will be safe. Anti-missile defense systems won't help the opponent.\n> \n> **Vsevolod Khmyrov:**  “If a vehicle carrying Zircon missiles is 300 miles away from the coastline, it'll take the missiles five minutes to reach the targets in the coastal zone at a distance under 300 miles. What can be done during this period of time? At best, one can detect the missiles flying to the target but not intercept them. A hypersonic system as such as the Zircon practically pierces any anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense system. There's no defense against it.”\n> \n> The number of Zircons which can be put in service leaves no doubt that decision-making units will be destroyed. According to experts, there can be 2-3 surface ships and submarines carrying Zircons which are on combat duty in the Western Atlantic Ocean or the Eastern Pacific Ocean on each direction. Each vessel can carry about 40 missiles.\n> \n> Vladimir Putin mentioned the projects to create a promising novelty in his previous address to the Federal Assembly. The president stressed that today, the work on the hypersonic missile Zircon is successfully progressing according to schedule. The new missile is supposed to be launched from sea-based carriers, follow-on surface ships, and submarines. Some of them either have already been made or being made to carry the high-precision missile system Kalibr. This means that the development of the new type of weapons won't affect the budget.\n> \n> The sea-based system Poseidon also undermines all of the Pentagon's efforts to create a naval anti-missile defense system. The president also mentioned this system in his address. The system is automated and compact. The unmanned underwater apparatuses of Poseidon are extremely hard to detect and harder to intercept. Vladimir Putin noted that the first nuclear submarine carrying the Poseidon unmanned vehicle will be launched this spring.",
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