Politics
Friday 29 December 2017
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“The introduction of troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 prevented the West from carrying out a coup d'etat in Czechoslovakia using the technology of ‘velvet’ revolutions and preserved peace and harmony with all the peoples of the countries of the Warsaw Treaty Organization for more than twenty years.”
The official media outlet of the Russian Defense Ministry, TV Zvezda, published a controversial op-ed that said Czechs should be grateful for the Soviet military invasion of Czechoslovakia in response to Prague Spring in 1968. -
“[A] U.S. State Department claim that Russia’s military strength eclipses that of European Union states is especially ludicrous... [I]t [Russia] is not stronger than the European Union, by any measure, and the State Department’s [Brian] Hook [senior policy advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State] is spreading clear disinformation. All to serve an agenda that has nothing to do with Europe’s security.”
The EU does not have a military, and the U.S. and NATO have some military disadvantages in Europe, while Russia’s rapid military modernization and actions in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine make it a conventional military threat to the region. -
“This brave old man was a messenger in a unit of fighters for the freedom of Novorossiya. Neighbors and friends in Luhansk knew him as Mikhalych, his fellow militiamen knew him by his nom de guerre Charlie. Today he fell into the clutches of the Banderovtsy. Before the execution these filthy men draw a swastika on his forehead. We will not forget, we will not forgive!”
Despite the satirical nature of the tweet passing off a photo of the notorious American criminal as a Russian militiaman in Ukraine, the post was retweeted by top Russian politician and even made headlines in the Russian press. -
“It has nothing to do with the national team’s participation [in the 2018 Winter Olympics].”
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko claims the international anti-doping body’s refusal to reinstate the Russian anti-doping agency will not affect Russia’s participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea next February. However, national Olympic teams have seen their teams partially or entirely banned from competing due to the actions of their countries’ Olympic committees and/or governments. -
“I propose moving the celebration of World Press Freedom Day to November 10” [the day RT-America filed as a foreign agent]
Despite Simonyan’s constant criticism of the U.S. for violating press freedom, Polygraph.info’s fact-check of RT’s FARA documents found that the U.S. Intelligence community assessment -- “RT has positioned itself as a domestic US channel and has deliberately sought to obscure any legal ties to the Russian Government” – is accurate and fact-based. -
“Crimea did not have any foreign investors when it was part of Ukraine, in connection with the exceptional corruption of the Ukrainian government; you could count them [foreign investors] on your fingers.”
Corruption in Ukraine indeed impeded foreign direct investment in Crimea prior to Russia’s annexation, but the peninsula did have foreign investors. Still, Russia’s annexation, continued corruption, and the sanctions imposed on Moscow for its actions in Crimea have undercut foreign investment. -
“#RusMoD shows irrefutable evidence that US are actually covering ISIS combat units to recover their combat capabilities, redeploy, and use them to promote the American interests in the Middle East.
The original social media post contained an image from the video game AC-130 Gunship Simulator. Other photos came from airstrikes in Iraq from last year. -
“NGO …designed merely to inform not influence. Programs… reflect balance… and are not aimed to primarily benefit any foreign government or political party.”
RT has registered under FARA as T&R Production, a limited liability company; listed as its “foreign principal” ANO TV-Novosti, an “NGO organized under Russian Federal Law”; and claimed that the registrant (RT) “exercises independent editorial control.” None of that is true. -
“The established facts show that not a single Russian connection has been found. All the connections that have been found are internal, including at the Democratic National Committee, where an insider interfered with the process and leaked information to the rivals.”
A report from the Director of National Intelligence Office states that there is “high confidence” among US intelligence agencies that the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian military intelligence agency also known as the GRU, was involved in illegally obtaining and disseminating data that was turned over to and published by WikiLeaks. -
“Japan, in violation of international agreements, makes a decision on the purchase of U.S. weapons. By doing so, it creates full-fledged armed forces, which is prohibited by the agreements reached following on from the results of World War II.”
No international treaty or domestic legislation bans Japan from buying weapons for self-defense. And while the Japanese forces are highly capable of pursuing offensive operations, they are legally and operationally constrained as “Self-Defense Forces.” -
" This Ofcom, which looks at us under a magnifying glass and writes us warnings, for the previous year wrote more to Fox News than to us."
While it is true that RT received fewer warnings in 2016 from the UK’s communication regulator Ofcom than Fox News, it was only one fewer, and RT has received a total of 14 warnings while Fox has received nine. -
“100 million killed by communist regimes -- these numbers are pulled out of a hat. Besides, imperialist regimes, including Hitler, killed just as many. Propaganda.”
A top Russian lawmaker calls the commemoration in the United States of a National Day for the Victims of Communism “propaganda” and dismisses the figure of 100 million victims of communist regimes as a number “pulled out of a hat.” In fact, that estimate is based on thorough research and archival documents.