Francis Scarr

YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg Voices from the street - the mood in Moscow

As Russia celebrates the New Year I gauge the mood in Moscow. “Russian people are patient,” one man tells me, “they stay silent.” Thanks to @lizashuvalova.bsky.social

The Kremlin says Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev for the "tragic incident" which led to the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashing in Kazakhstan on 25 December kremlin.ru/events/presi...

Russian large channels have stayed almost silent for the past two days about the downing of the airliner over Chechnya. This time it seems a directive was issued to stay quiet.

The only exception was one channel today, which called it "just another statistic of war."

...Baku expects the Russian side to admit that the Azerbaijani aircraft was shot down, make an official apology to the Azerbaijani people and conduct a full investigation, as a result of which all culprits will be brought to justice."

"For the Azerbaijani side participating in the investigation, the situation is absolutely obvious. No one claims that this was done on purpose. However, taking into account the facts that have been established,...

Первичные итоги расследования: самолет AZAL был сбит российской ПВО - Эксклюзивные данные Caliber.Az Как стало известно редакции Caliber.Az из достоверных правительственных источников, по предварительным итогам расследования было установлено, что самолет AZAL, направлявшийся...

Even pro-government media in Azerbaijan are now saying that yesterday's plane crash was caused by a Russian air defence missile

(Full quote in thread)
caliber.az/post/pervich...

Exclusive: Russian missile caused Aktau crash, investigation confirms 38 passengers were killed on Wednesday after Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed as it attempted to make an emergency landing near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

"Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau on Wednesday."
www.euronews.com/2024/12/26/e...

Вице-мэр Москвы — РБК: «Коррекция произошла, но драмы нет» Владимир Ефимов, в апреле 2024-го возглавивший столичный стройкомплекс, в интервью РБК рассказал о перспективах рынка недвижимости в 2025 году, сколько строителей не хватает городу и почему Москве не ...

Deputy Moscow mayor Vladimir Yefimov has said that the Russian capital's construction sector is short of up to 70,000 workers
www.rbc.ru/business/26/...

Was Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer jet shot down? Marks on the plane’s exterior suggest it was hit by military air defenses. Meduza considers the evidence. — Meduza On December 25, 2024, a few hours after an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer passenger jet crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, an anonymous Russian blogger, who is connected to Russia’s Air Forces and goes by the...

meduza.io/en/cards/was...

All the videos of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight showing the damage show holes in the wreckage have entry holes on the port side and exit holes on the starboard side, likely with a slight angle from below.

МВД РФ объявило в розыск Илью Яшина. В августе он вышел на свободу в результате обмена заключенными — Meduza МВД России объявило в розыск политика Илью Яшина. На карточку в базе розыск обратила внимание «Медиазона».

Russia has placed opposition politician Ilya Yashin on its wanted list despite him being handed over to Germany in a prisoner exchange in August

It seems that he's facing new criminal charges although they haven't been announced officially
meduza.io/news/2024/12...

Hinkle was on Channel One too and told their reporter it was his "patriotic duty to help the people of Donbas in their fight against fascism just like my grandad fought against fascism together with Soviet troops during WW2. I think any respectable American should be doing this"

Jackson Hinkle popped up on Russian state TV last night

Described as a "member of the US Communist Party", he’s been busy helping the Russian Communists send a shipment of "humanitarian aid" to Donbas

The correspondent suggested that most of it is going to soldiers on the frontline

YouTube traffic in Russia drops to 20 percent of pre-throttling levels, platform ‘de facto blocked’ in country — Meduza YouTube traffic in Russia has dropped to just 20 percent of its pre-“slowdown” levels, according to IT expert Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society, who shared the data on his…

YouTube traffic in Russia has fallen to just 20 percent of the levels seen before the authorities began throttling the service, according to IT expert Mikhail Klimarev, who described the platform as "de facto blocked in Russia."

BBC World Service - The Global Jigsaw, The language of war: Russia Decoding the Kremlin’s warspeak

The latest episode of the #TheGlobalJigsaw is a brilliant one

Listen to my colleague Vitaly Shevchenko explore the ways in which the Kremlin and its media machine exploit language in an effort to justify and rally support for the war against Ukraine
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Clearly irked by suggestions that the Oreshnik missile isn't all it's talked up to be, Putin flippantly proposes a "technological duel" in which the West puts its most advanced air defence systems in Kyiv and tries to repel an Oreshnik strike

In front of a banner from the 155th naval infantry brigade which he says he was given as a gift, Putin says Russian forces are advancing "along the whole frontline every day" in Ukraine

The state TV people clearly liked that quote too...

Despite the Kremlin's efforts to push "traditional values", Russia's divorce rate has now reached a record high

For every ten marriages in 2024, there have been eight divorces, giving Russia the third-highest divorce rate worldwide, according to state pollster VTsIOM
tass.ru/obschestvo/2...

Chechen special forces commander Apti Alaudinov has become an honorary professor of South-West State University in Kursk

Alaudinov earlier became an unofficial spokesman for the Russian operation to repel Ukraine's incursion into Kursk, constantly claiming non-existent Russian successes there

Акции «Газпрома» упали до минимума с января 2009 года В бумагах «Газпрома» продолжились распродажи. Котировки компании снизились до минимального уровня с января 2009 года. «РБК Инвестиции» спросили экспертов, какие причины у этого и что будет с бумагами ...

Russian state energy giant Gazprom's shares are now trading at their lowest since January 2009
www.rbc.ru/quote/news/a...

Syria's new government says there's no place for Russian presence Syria’s new transitional government says there is no place for Russian presence in Syria a week after the country’s long-time President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. The new government also says it is open to engage in contacts with all countries to pave Syria’s new future.

www.euronews.com/2024/12/16/t...

РИА Новости ❗️Начальник войск радиационной, химической и биологической защиты ВС РФ Игорь Кириллов и его помощник погибли в результате взрыва на Рязанском проспекте в Москве, сообщили в СК

Lt Gen Kirillov, the commander of Russia’s chemical, biological and radiation defense forces, was assassinated this morning in a scooter bombing outside his home in Moscow. t.me/rian_ru/273237

Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark, more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events told Reuters.

Some yarn from Reuters: Bashar al-Assad secretly fled to Moscow, leaving relatives and officials to fend for themselves
www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Brief updated thoughts on RF in Syria. Russian navy seems to be parked 8-13km off Tartus concerned about ship vulnerability. Russian forces are assembling in Khmeimim airbase for what looks like a drawdown with several An-124 having made pick ups there in recent days. 1/

Putin has decorated Yevgeny Poddubny, the state TV "war correspondent" who survived a drone attack in Kursk Region in August

YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg Steve's Reading Russia - Russian Press Review (11 December 2024)

One Russian paper today: “We need to say it straight: Russia & Iran suffered a major defeat in Syria.” Plus, problems with the Superjet (“the wretched child of the Russian aviation industry”) & an attempt to declare Santa Claus a ‘foreign agent’.

Минобороны России ⚡️ Утром 11 декабря 2024 года киевский режим нанес ракетный удар западным высокоточным оружием по военному аэродрому Таганрог на территории Ростовской области. В ходе проведенного разбирательства дос...

The Rus Defence Ministry says Kyiv used Atacms in this morning's attack on a military airfield in Taganrog

It claims 2 of the 6 missiles were shot down with the other 4 jammed

However, it acknowledges personnel casualties (supposedly due to falling debris) and vows a response
t.me/mod_russia/4...

Москва поддерживает контакты с силами, контролирующими Сирию Москва поддерживает контакты с теми, кто контролирует ситуацию в Сирии, это необходимо для решения вопросов безопасности российских баз и диппредставительства, находящихся в этой стране, заявил пресс-...

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Syria:

"Back then Russia accomplished its mission, and then Assad's leadership worked in its country, was engaged in developing its country"

"Now we need to proceed from the realities that exist on the ground"
www.interfax.ru/russia/997094

Syrian embassy in Moscow

The time interval between Russian "red lines" and reality is sometimes just a weekend.

Source of pic: Al Jazeera