Russia
Friday 22 September 2023
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“MTS was the first company in Russia to present the iPhone 15 Pro Max in its flagship store a day before the start of global sales."
The Russian government uses a scheme called parallel imports to avoid bans and get sanctioned foreign goods to the domestic market. That includes the iPhone 15 sold in Russia despite Apple’s exit last year. -
"In total, 65.14% of the Kherson region’s voters took part in the voting."
Any form of Russian “elections” in Ukrainian war zones are illegal in the eyes of international law. Russia’s claims of high turnout are unverifiable. -
“We’re not [punishing] anyone at all. Who are we [punishing]? This [foreign agent] law has been in force since 1937, I think, or 1938 in the USA, ours is almost a copy, only it’s much more liberal.”
The Russian government has been using the “foreign agent” law as an effective tool for public disrepute and criminal persecution of dissent, including in suppressing press freedom. -
“Zinaida Vasilievna Ermolyeva … who was called Madame Penicillin… invented penicillin."
Penicillin was discovered by Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, Australian pathologist Howard Florey and British biochemist Ernst Boris Chain, for which they received a Nobel Prize. -
“…in no country in the world, wherever the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance invaded, neither the elementary order nor the pre-war standard of living of the local population was restored.”
Since its creation, NATO has conducted military missions in six conflicts. In four countries, the quality of life and order has improved significantly. In two others — Libya and Afghanistan — the situation remains turbulent. -
“The politician [Umerov] has played an active role in spreading blatant propaganda about the alleged mistreatment of the Crimean Tatar community by Russia in Crimea – claims that Crimean Tatar leaders actually living in the peninsula have repeatedly debunked.”
Russia’s oppression of the Crimean Tatars and systematic persecution of their leaders is well documented. -
"And while Russia clearly provided security guarantees for shipping under this deal, the other side used humanitarian corridors for terrorist attacks against Russian civilian and military facilities."
There is no evidence that Ukraine ever used the Black Sea grain corridor for any military purposes. -
“[Releasing the map] is a routine practice in China’s exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law. We hope relevant sides can stay objective and calm, and refrain from over-interpreting the issue.”
Beijing’s apparent claims to disputed territory in India, Southeast Asian neighbors’ maritime backyards and Russia’s half of a divided island has set off alarm bells across the region. -
"...The United States decided to impose sanctions against... Aymani Nesievna (Kadyrova). ...What kind of threat can a woman who has been doing charity work all her life, helping hundreds of thousands of people around the world, pose to the United States?”
Aymani Kadyrova is involved in illegally transferring children from Ukraine to a camp near Grozny, Chechnya, for "re-education." -
“They are throwing [Ukrainian soldiers] on our minefields, under our artillery fire, acting as if they are not their own citizens at all. It is astonishing.”
Unlike Russia’s winter offensive, which saw the use of “human wave attacks,” the pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive has reflected a desire to stem combat casualties. -
"Navalny calls his supporters to actively participate in ‘elections in 40 regions of Russia’ this September. Needless to say, ‘elections’ will take place in 36 regions; other four are Ukrainian regions Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya."
In calling on his supporters in Russia to vote in the country’s regional elections on September 10, opposition leader Alexei Navalny posted a link to the Russian version of Wikipedia showing that elections will be held 45 Russian regions, including five partially occupied Ukrainian regions. -
“[T]he two countries' military relations have set a model in non-alignment, non-confrontational cooperation that does not target any third party.”
China and Russia are aligning their foreign policies and military strategies to undermine the Western-led liberal-democratic world order. That alignment is confrontational in nature, given that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and China is eyeing Taiwan.