Politics
Wednesday 20 February 2019
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![Svobodnaya Pressa]()
Svobodnaya Pressa
Russian News Outlet
“USA Air Forces: ‘Thanks very much to the Russians for taking Crimea”
Read more...None of the U.S. Air Forces’ commanders or representatives, including General Tod Wolters, ever said the words cited in the Russian media outlet. -
![Dmitry Medvedev]()
Dmitry Medvedev
Russian Prime Minister
“The latest wave of anti-Russian sanctions is related not to our relations with the Americans but to the domestic problems in the United States.”
Read more...Russia's PM claims a tougher version of anti-Russian sanctions proposed last year is a “domestic” U.S. affair, unrelated to bilateral ties. But while efforts to pass sanctions in the U.S. have hit domestic hurdles, the sanctions themselves were drafted in reaction to Moscow’s international acts. -
![RIA Novosti]()
RIA Novosti
Russian state-owned media outlet
“‘Not Odessa, but Kotsyubeyev!’ Why does Kyiv erase the real names of cities”
Read more...While Ukraine’s “decommunization” law is not without controversy, countries have the right to rename cities and other geographical features as they wish. Nothing in the law requires new city names to be based on historical titles. -
![Roscosmos and Russian Academy of Sciences]()
Roscosmos and Russian Academy of Sciences
“It is considered necessary ... to develop a plan for legal support of the interests of the Russian Federation in possible territorial disputes and to instruct specialized universities to train the necessary number of specialists in space law.”
Read more...The United Nations Outer Space Treaty prohibits any national appropriation or occupation of celestial bodies and outer space resources. However, “loopholes” in the law can be used for such claims in the future. -
![Vyacheslav Volodin]()
Vyacheslav Volodin
Speaker of the State Duma
“A bill of [the] Verkhovna Rada that restricts the rights of observers at the elections of the President of Ukraine violates the international law.”
Read more...While Ukraine's banning of Russian citizens from entering the country to take part in the OSCE election monitoring mission is "without precedent," it does not violate international law, and there will still be OSCE observers. Only two members of the team were Russian citizens. -
![RT (Russia Today)]()
RT (Russia Today)
State-owned media outlet
“The Russian economy has seen the biggest growth since 2012, expanding by 2.3 percent last year, according to preliminary estimates provided by [the] Russian state statistics agency.”
Read more...The statistics are contradicted by numerous independent analyses and have even been questioned by senior Russian officials. The past head of the responsible government agency was recently dismissed. -
![Konstantin Kosachev]()
Konstantin Kosachev
Chairman, International Affairs Committee, Russia’s Federation Council
"Guaido’s status cannot be determined from abroad, whether by the president of the United States or any other country. It can be determined only by the people of Venezuela and only by constitutional means. In this sense, for Russia the presidential status of Guaido doesn’t exist."
Read more...The U.S. is just one of many countries and international organizations which recognize the interim presidency of Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaido. Many of these countries didn't recognize Maduro’s controversial reelection in 2018. His original term ended on January 10, 2019. -
![Semyon Bagdasarov]()
Semyon Bagdasarov
Director, Center for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies
“Objectively, for the Americans contacts with ISIL are more interesting… – for spreading sabotage actions beyond the pales of Afghanistan. On the border with Turkmenistan there is a major offensive is being cooked by Islamic State and allied groups. That is where they may surface.”
Read more...The Afghan Special Forces confirmed they conducted the operation arresting Islamic State members and transferring them under the Afghan National Directorate of Security control. The U.S. was not involved. -
![WikiLeaks]()
WikiLeaks
“U.S. largest audience TV host, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (Democratic party aligned) this evening: Russia will freeze you and your family to death.”
Read more...WikiLeaks mischaracterized the MSNBC host and RIA Novosti enhanced the misinformation. Both relayed only part of the program, ignoring actual U.S. government warnings cited in the program. Maddow’s concerns about a potential Russian threat were not baseless. -
![Yevgeny Prigozhin]()
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Russian businessman
“At the Defense Ministry, which I have no connection with, I cannot negotiate the financing/supply of a private military contractor that doesn't exist.”
Read more...“Putin’s chef” denies both the existence of the Wagner Group and his role in bankrolling the mercenary band, which has served everywhere from Ukraine to Syria. But Prigozhin’s claims do not stand up to scrutiny. -
![Alexander Ionov]()
Alexander Ionov
Vice chairman, Security Committee, State Duma
“Maria Butina is a human rights activist, for me Maria Butina is a public figure, a student of the American University, and the most relevant is that she is a person who did not work (collaborate) with the Russian state bodies.”
Read more...Alexander Ionov, vice chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Security Committee, has come out in support of “human rights” activist Maria Butina. He told VOA she never “worked” with Russian state bodies. But the long trail of evidence and links resulting in Butina’s U.S. guilty plea shows otherwise. -
![Maram Susli AKA Mimi al-Laham]()
Maram Susli AKA Mimi al-Laham
Vlogger, commentator
“NATO puppet #Bellingcat created an account pretending its [sic]"In #Venezuela" when the Bellingcat author behind it actually a student in Canada.”
Read more...While the Twitter account calls itself “In Venezuela,” it publicly identifies its physical location as based in Toronto, Canada. This is also stated at the top of the “about” section on the writer’s blog.
