MOSCOW | BY ANDREW OSBORN

Donald Trump is a brave pro-Putin political maverick who would end U.S. foreign wars and perhaps lift sanctions on Moscow. Hillary Clinton, however, is a warmonger beholden to the military-industrial complex.

Russian state TV, which hews closely to the Kremlin’s world view, leaves little doubt about who Moscow supports in November’s U.S. presidential election: “The Donald.”

Vladimir Putin’s spokesman took brief exception this month to a Trump attack video which showed Putin laughing at the prospect of Clinton defending America. But officials and analysts say the Kremlin still sees Trump as the best candidate by a mile.

Putin has hailed Trump as “very talented”. The head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee said he’d be a worthy winner of the 2015 “man of the year” title in the United States.

And Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show “Vesti Nedeli,” claimed this month that the Republican party elite had struck a secret deal with the Democrats to derail Trump, in part because of his sympathy for Russia.

“Trump doesn’t suit the Republican party,” Kiselyov told viewers. “They usually divide up the state budget (among themselves) by frightening people about Russia. But Trump is ready to find a common language with Putin. That’s why they don’t need Trump and even regard him as dangerous.”

Kiselyov has been one of the chief proponents of state television’s strongly anti-American tone, once saying Moscow could turn the United States into radioactive ash.

Some experts say Trump appeals to Moscow because Putin believes a Trump presidency would be isolationist and leave Russia with a free hand.

“The Kremlin can’t believe its luck,” said Konstantin von Eggert, an independent Moscow-based political analyst who believes the Obama administration has not been forceful in countering Russia.

“President Obama and (Secretary of State) John Kerry were a dream team for them, but now they have an even better option; someone who thinks that America should have nothing to do with the rest of the world.”

RT, the Kremlin’s English-language TV channel formerly known as Russia Today, says it does not back any U.S. candidates. But it has described Trump as “idiosyncratic and raw,” and suggested he represents the popular will of U.S. voters, which a sinister U.S. establishment is trying to subvert.

“Can America’s elections be truly called democratic if the political establishment aligns itself against the popular will?” lamented Peter Lavelle, the American host of RT’s flagship talk “CrossTalk” show. “As things stand now millions of voters could be disenfranchised.”

‘THANK GOD FOR TRUMP’

Trump has received advice from Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a former U.S. military intelligence chief who advocates better ties with Russia, and who shared a dinner table in Moscow with Putin in December to celebrate RT’s 10th anniversary.

Trump has won friends in Moscow with statements praising Putin as a strong leader that he could probably get along with. His support for Russian air strikes in Syria was welcomed.

In January, after a British judge ruled that Putin had “probably” authorized the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London, Trump said he saw “no evidence” the Russian president was guilty.

“First of all, he says he didn’t do it. Many people say it wasn’t him. So who knows who did it?” Trump said.

This week, Trump said the United States should reduce funding for NATO. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said his comments showed the alliance was in crisis.

“For the last two years all we heard from Western newspapers and TV was very critical of Russia,” Victoria Zhuravleva, a Moscow-based expert on U.S.-Russia relations, told Reuters.

“So when you hear something that is not so critical and even more friendly towards your country it’s like: ‘Thank God, There’s one person we can talk to: Donald Trump‘”

Trump and Putin were similar, she said: “They are both open-minded, pragmatic, and say what they think.”

‘THE OLD BRIGAND’

The mutual appreciation between Trump and Putin has invited comparisons to the Russian leader’s friendship with another billionaire-turned-politician, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, who outraged Ukrainians and irked EU leaders last year by visiting Russian-annexed Crimea with Putin. They toured a Crimean winery and drank a priceless 240-year-old bottle from its cellar.

By contrast, Hillary Clinton, who is well known to the Kremlin because of her 2009-2013 stint as U.S. Secretary of State, is clearly not to Moscow’s taste.

“We really don’t want Hillary,” said one Russian official, who spoke anonymously because of the subject’s sensitivity. “She’s no friend of Russia’s.”

State media coverage has focused on what it has cast as her wacky promise to declassify UFO files and on the pressure she has faced for using her personal email account for government business and over her response to the fatal 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Pro-Kremlin bloggers, corralled by a Putin supporter who used to represent the ruling party in parliament, are enthused by the prospect of agitating on behalf of Trump.

“Trump is the first member of the American elite in 20 years who compliments Russia. Trump will smash America as we know it, we’ve got nothing to lose,” Konstantin Rykov told his followers on social media.

“Do we want the grandmother Hillary? No. Maybe it’s time to help the old brigand.”

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-russia-idUSKCN0WQ1FA

By Reuters March 25 at 2:34 PM

KIEV, Ukraine — The body of a lawyer of two Russian servicemen on trial in Ukraine has been discovered on the grounds of a former farming collective, prosecutor Anatoly Matios said Friday, saying two men were in custody in connection with the lawyer’s death.

Yuriy Grabovsky was part of the legal team representing the two Russians arrested in May on terrorism charges related to the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Their case has garnered extra attention because of Ukraine’s wish to exchange the servicemen for Ukrainians detained in Russia, including pilot Nadiya Savchenko.

Grabovsky disappeared early this month and on Thursday evening police launched a search for his body based on information from one of two men detained over his disappearance, Matios said in a briefing.

Matios said Grabovsky’s body was found at 4 a.m. during a police excavation of land on a former farming collective.

“Provisionally, I can say that . . . [he] was killed in a violent way and finished off with a firearm,” Matios said, adding that the lawyer had been robbed and also had an explosive device attached to his leg.

Matios said he could not provide detail on possible motives but later said that it was in Russia’s interest for the servicemen’s trial to be delayed.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement that blamed Ukrainian authorities for failing to protect Grabovsky, who they said had become a victim of anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine because of his role defending the Russian servicemen.

“Despite all warnings, Kiev authorities were still unable or unwilling to guarantee Grabovsky’s safety,” the ministry statement said.

Russia denies sending troops to help separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine and says the two Russians — Alexander Alexandrov and his commander, Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev — had quit their special forces unit to go there independently.

This week, Matios said that the Russian servicemen’s case would continue despite Gra­bovsky’s absence but that the men would not be physically present during the trial in the interests of security. Grabovsky was one of a team of lawyers representing the defendants.

On Tuesday, President Petro ­Poroshenko said that Ukraine would be willing to hand over the two servicemen provided that Russia returned Ukrainians, including Savchenko, who has been sentenced to 22 years in jail for alleged involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukrainian-lawyer-of-captured-russian-soldiers-found-dead/2016/03/25/7805fea6-f2b2-11e5-85a6-2132cf446d0a_story.html

Russian media published a story claiming 1/3 of Europeans consider Crimea as a part of Russia, without any evidence.

Not only is the claim preposterous, Russian media duplicated mistakes in the original story on numerous proxy sites.  Also, the French and British polling firms cited in the reporting show no evidence of any such poll. The only logical conclusion is the polls cited in the survey were faked, the story itself is then completely fake, and RT and their associated proxies proferred fake stories to their readers. StopFake.org has based their very existence on the plethora of Russian faked stories, this is only the most recent example.

Not only does this exposure undermine any journalistic integrity Russian media may have built up recently, but this should further undermine any Russian attempts at justification for illegally seizing Crimea from Ukraine.

We in the West read such exposés of deliberate Russian media fakes, but it is uncertain if Russian citizens are even aware of the gross and utter fakery which is heaped upon them on a consistent basis.  RT’s motto is “Question More”, but it is RT themselves who should be questioned more as to their authenticity.

</end editorial>

Russian Media Publicize Dubious Crimea Poll

Source: http://www.stopfake.org/en/russian-media-publicize-dubious-crimea-poll/

March 22, 2016 – 23:33

On the eve of the second anniversary of the Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, official Russian publications RT and Ria Novosti published stories claiming that one in three Europeans consider Crimea Russian.

RT claims that Russia’s Sputnik news agency ordered a poll conducted by the British Populus and French Ifop research companies which revealed that a quarter of Americans and a third of Europeans consider the Crimean peninsula to be a part of Russia.

There is no mention of the exact question that was asked in the alleged poll.

StopFake reached out to both Populus and IFOP to inquire about the methodology they used in the poll, what questions were posed and how many respondents participated in the poll. None of the companies answered our inquiry.

There is no mention of a Crimea poll on the Populus web site and the RT English language story spells the name of the French polling company Ifop as Iflop. There is no mention of a Crimea poll on the IFOP web site as well.

The results of this dubious poll were also published by the sites Lenta.ru, Govorit Moskva, Russkaya Vesna, Ukraina.ru and others.

Source: http://www.stopfake.org/en/russian-media-publicize-dubious-crimea-poll/

Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, declared Russia is in an information war with the West.

We are currently in a state of information warfare with the trendsetters in the information space, most notably with the Anglo-Saxons, their media,” Peskov said.

Please note, Peskov could not resist an attempt to attack the US.  Which failed.

Now Russia has clearly stated their position.

</end editorial>

Source: http://tass.ru/en/politics/865324

Excellent coverage of a developing event in Russia, which leaves me thirsting with many, many questions.

This new center will concentrate on “propaganda campaigns, disinformation, fakes, and viral content”, and will do “monitoring and preventing information attacks online”.

The monitoring part is already widely being done, and the article alludes to computer semantic analysis to detect opposing opinions, also already being extensively done.

How do they intend to “prevent information attacks online”?   The wording is imprecise.  To prevent “information attacks online”, in my experience, one has to use:

• Trolls
• Spam
• DDOS
• Flooding (machine generated trolling)
• Malware
• Spurious code
• Good old fashioned hacking

None of those tools is moral, ethical, or even legal in the West.

Perhaps they have developed techniques for addressing and projecting a theme or meme in a dialogue automatically, preemptively (attempted by DARPA in the SMISC BAA in 2011)?

What could easily be done by this new center is to broadcast the truth and ignore Russian State guidance, which is definitely not done by Russian media. That would work very effectively in establishing truthful dialogue, but that would also attract visits from the FSB and the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Russian: Федеральная служба по надзору в сфере связи, информационных технологий и массовых коммуникаций) and they would be shut down quickly. 

It does not sound like this new center has government funding, the article suggests it might be funded by Kaspersky Lab.  This puts the lab, politically, squarely behind and overtly supporting the Russian government, instead of being the independent corporate entity it has attempted to portray.

My read about this article is that Russia realizes it is losing the information war that they started, they have wasted billions of rubles.  Again, an external enemy is blamed for their deeds, providing an excuse for yet another method of information warfare to be launched against the West.

</end editorial>

Written by Tetyana Lokot

Posted 26 March 2016 22:43 GMT

Source: https://globalvoices.org/2016/03/26/center-for-monitoring-propaganda-and-disinformation-online-set-to-open-in-russia/

Written by Tetyana Lokot

Source: https://globalvoices.org/2016/03/26/center-for-monitoring-propaganda-and-disinformation-online-set-to-open-in-russia/

China is increasing its censorship efforts both domestically, and internationally by targeting overseas critics and invoking internet sovereignty.

Oh bother

As Xi Jinping continues consolidating power, China’s media is facing increasing censorship. While this statement is not a novel one in itself, the manner and severity of recent censorship is. Behold China’s most censored photo of 2015, one that shows Xi Jinping during a parade and a children’s toy car sporting Winnie the Pooh.

This picture was widely shared on Chinese social media before the powers that be moved swiftly to block it. The friendly yellow bear elicited a decidedly unfriendly response; indeed the Chinese government went so far as to add ‘Winnie the Pooh’ to its internet search blacklist.

Making Winnie a persona non grata is the government’s response to a playful trend among Chinese netizens who often compare the Chinese leader to the famous bear.

The government’s reaction is disproportionate and puzzling for two reasons. Firstly, where some see harmless fun, Beijing sees a serious effort to undermine the dignity of the presidential office and Xi himself. Authoritarian regimes are often touchy, yet the backlash is confusing since the government is effectively squashing a potential positive, and organic, public image campaign for Xi.

Beijing’s reaction is doubly odd given the fact that Xi has made substantial efforts to create a cult of personality showing him as a benevolent ruler; going so far as to promote the moniker ‘Xi Dada’, or ‘Uncle Xi.’

Treacherous typos

Beijing’s attack on Winnie the Pooh may be farcical, but it is also an indication of more serious trends in China’s media. In recent months, Chinese media outlets have seen an outpouring of (even by China’s standards) supportive coverage of the government and Xi in particular.

Such focused messaging by the government does not tolerate any slip-ups, with Xi stating that the media must ‘bear the surname of the party’, in other words show filial loyalty to the party. Consequently, the government has come down hard on what it sees as subversion in the media.

In December, four journalists were suspended after the China News Service released a headline with a typo misspelling Xi’s speech (zhi ci) as Xi’s resignation (ci zhi). A similar instance occurred in mid-March when Xinhua had to correct a headline which falsely referred to Xi Jinping as China’s ‘last leader,’ as opposed to ‘top leader’.

On March 15th, Jia Jia, columnist for the state-backed Wujie News, was taken away by police after posting a letter calling on Xi to resign. A further 20 people were detained in connection to the letter, in a heavy-handed response from Beijing. Content of the letter aside, the government’s response can be attributed to the fact that Jia’s letter emerged at the same time as the aforementioned resignation typo.

The government did not want two news stories independently feeding the same argument and reacted with overwhelming force. The fact that the outlet is partly owned by the Xinjiang government – a restive autonomous region with a large minority Uyghur population – is likely another factor in the government’s response. Wujie News is also partially owned by Alibaba, raising concerns about the internet giant’s foray into media – notably its acquisition of the South China Morning Post in January.

In February the front-page editor of the Southern Metropolis Daily was fired after two adjacent headlines (in red box below), when read as one, stated ‘media bears Party’s surname, their soul returns to the sea.’

This was seen as criticism of Xi’s aforementioned statement on media loyalty. On March 29th, another editor of the Southern Metropolis Daily, Yu Shaolei resigned citing government censorship. In his resignation letter Yu regretted his inability to bear the party’s surname, and humorously wished the anonymous official responsible for censoring his social media accounts the best of luck.

Dangerous books

Alongside its clampdown on the mainland, the central government is also stifling dissent in Hong Kong, as witnessed by the recent arrest of five staff members of Causeway Books; a store specializing in books banned on the mainland. This event shocked Hong Kongers and the international community, with UK foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stating that “it would not be acceptable for somebody to be spirited out of Hong Kong in order to face charges in a different jurisdiction.” What is concerning is that two of the five employees arrested are EU citizens.

William Nao of Amnesty International states that, “coming after two Chinese democracy activists were returned from Thailand, it looks like the creeping internationalization of China’s crackdown on dissent.” Conversely, the state backed Global Times argued that Beijing’s actions were not only reasonable but also in conformity with Chinese law.

China’s internet sovereignty

In late 2014, Xi Jinping introduced the notion of internet sovereignty; sovereignty which rests in the hands of individual states who may censor content as they please. Xi has personally led China’s drive for internet sovereignty, resulting in the Cyberspace Administration of China calling for the government to have the strongest online voice. Furthermore, China’s ‘Great Firewall’ – the world’s largest and most sophisticated censorship program has been augmented. As of January 2016, it will not only block but also attack internet services deemed unsavoury by the government.

China’s promotion of internet sovereignty touts a state-centric approach to the Internet, one that adopts the zero sum language of Westphalian sovereignty. Consequently, actions by outside forces that impact China’s domestic internet are to be considered interference in domestic affairs and a breach of national sovereignty.

This line of reasoning has seen China indirectly target dissidents in foreign countries who publish anti-China material. For instance, U.S based dissident Wen Yunchao believes his parents and brother were arrested to pressure him to reveal sensitive information. Similarly, Zhang Ping – a writer based in Germany – states that three of his siblings have been detained in an effort to stop him criticizing China in the German media.

While Beijing has long sought to silence dissidents, the government’s concerted effort on the matter is raising concerns. Perhaps most troubling is China’s insistence that foreign nationals fall under Chinese law when interacting with Chinese internet services.

German writer and online satirist Christoph Rehage has come under fire by government backed online commentators for his video claiming that Chinese communist hero Lei Feng and Mulan would make great kids. Rehage, who speaks fluent Mandarin, had his Weibo account closed, cutting him off from his 100,000 followers. When Rehage compared Mao and Hitler in another video, he received numerous death threats, hate mail and abuse via social media and phone from pro-government netizens in China.

Furthermore, an influential government backed website called for him to be punished under Chinese law for libel against Mao, refuting CCP stances, and spreading vile opinions. According to China’s new internet sovereignty framework, the so called Seven Bottom Lines, Rehage could be bound by Chinese law, despite residing in Germany.

Zhu Wei, deputy director of the communication law center at the China University for Political Science and Law explains the government’s reasoning vis-a-vis Rehage: “We have to look at his intention. If he meant the video just as a commentary on something, without it being disseminated in China, then it has nothing to do with Chinese law. But if he made the video in order to have it disseminated on websites in China, or have other people repost it in China, then he comes under Chinese law.”

In imperial China the punishment for teaching a foreigner Mandarin was death. China’s imperial rulers did not want foreigners interacting with the Chinese people except through official interpreters. While Rehage and Beijing’s other foreign critics are not in mortal danger, China’s current rulers are seeking to ensure that the country’s digital reality is immune to alternate interpretation.

I am impressed that Moscow is now admitting spiriting Savchenko out of Ukraine. There has been no declaration, no statement, and no legal paperwork, but this is a clear admission.

The United States, at least, lists the charges when someone is extradited from another country, not so for Russia. In this case, charges were not proferred for a long time.  My assumption is Russia realized they had a tremendous propaganda opportunity and made things up on the fly.

The opportunity for an anti-Russian propaganda coup is equally possible, but the Western media does not seem to recognize and take advantage of the obvious Russian weakness of a manufactured incident. A Ukraine pilot performing wartime duty defending her country from external invaders, shot down and captured, miraculously appears in a Russian court, charged with a crime she obviously did not commit, accompanied by manufactured evidence, found guilty in an obvious kangaroo court, and sentenced to 22 years of hard labor in an obvious political setup.

Why the United States is not up in arms, the President pointing out the obvious crime against humanity by Russia is beyond me. The US Ambassador has made statements, but his comments do not carry sufficient weight. The Western Press, obviously, has not brought this to the President’s attention.

…and equally damning…

The Moscow Times has changed ownership and appears now to be totally State-controlled.

</end editorial>

By Vladimir Frolov Mar. 30 2016 14:26

Few should be surprised that the Kremlin has floated a proposal to exchange Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, recently sentenced to 22 years in prison, for several Russian nationals in U.S. custody. Even if those Russian nationals included the convicted international arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison term for a conspiracy to supply MANPADS to a Colombian terrorist group, and the former Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a 21-year term in a U.S. prison for drug smuggling.

The proposal is likely not politically feasible in Washington. This seems clear enough from the strong denials from the U.S. Embassies in Moscow and Kiev. Moreover, the fact that Russian officials are going public is essentially an acceptance it has failed to sell the deal. At the same time, Russia is still scoring important political points that might yet yield the desired results.

The Kremlin’s primary objective is to impress upon Washington that the United States should cease its practice of arresting Russian nationals in third countries on charges brought in the United States. These arrests are often made as a result of sting operations by undercover U.S. government agents — both Bout and Yaroshenko’s arrests were stings. Moscow has made little secret of its displeasure with such U.S. acts, which it views as an illegal extraterritorial application of U.S. law.

Moscow is making the point that the United States should no longer apply such practice to Russian nationals. And in doing so, it is resorting to the old Soviet toolbox — creating leverage to exert political cost, then offering a “fair trade.”

During the Cold War it was inconceivable that the Unites States would kidnap a Soviet citizen abroad without triggering a superpower crisis. Russian leaders see value in reverting to the full “superpower parity” mode — not only in Syria, but across the board of Moscow’s complex but important relations with Washington. It is part of the Russian game to regain “street cred” from any future administration in Washington. It is also a great sell domestically — “taking care of ours” and standing up to the U.S. bully.

The second point is to impress upon leaders in Ukraine that they would have to accept any deal negotiated between Washington and Moscow. By refusing to negotiate Savchenko’s exchange for Russian servicemen held by Kiev in the context of the Minsk agreements, and by putting the possibility of her release into the context of a bilateral U.S.-Russian negotiation, Moscow is pressing its contention that Ukraine is not really a sovereign country, but a U.S. puppet. This puts Washington into a double bind — refuse to exchange Savchenko and offend the Ukrainians, accept the Russian deal and offend them more.

This is precisely why it is hard to see Washington eventually agreeing to a deal like this. If it were a strictly bilateral U.S.-Russian matter and involved only U.S. and Russian nationals, it might have been possible to release Bout and Yaroshenko through a presidential pardon, particularly if Moscow held U.S. government agents or their Russian spies in its custody. The Soviet Union exchanged its dissidents with the United States for spies and communist leaders. And in 2010 a major spy swap secured the release of 10 Russian “illegals” arrested in the United States after an SVR defector had unmasked them.

They were exchanged for four Russians serving long prison sentences for espionage for the United States, among them former SVR officer Alexander Zaporozhsky who had betrayed Moscow’s most valuable spy in the United States — FBI agent Robert Hansen.

It would appear that there are simply not enough spies to trade around anymore. Moscow would certainly like to secure the release of Evgeny Buryakov, a Vneshekonombank official in New York arrested last year. He recently pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to register under FARA as a “Russian government agent,” and now faces up to five years in jail. But Moscow does not appear to be holding anyone of similar value to the United States, hence the trickery with Savchenko.

It is still possible that Savchenko will be exchanged for Russian servicemen in Ukraine, and perhaps for around 300 Donbass separatists now in Ukrainian prisons. Moscow may well push Kiev to pass the politically-explosive blanket amnesty included in Minsk-2 as part of the deal.

It is not inconceivable that Bout and Yaroshenko would get some relief, but not outright release as part of the Savchenko exchange. But that is perhaps not the point. The main victory for Moscow would be if the United States stopped arresting Russians abroad.

All Russia’s denials regarding Ukraine are moot.

Russia lied about everything, from the beginning.

Russia did everything, planned everything – Russia is responsible for everything in Donbass.

Russia murdered thousands of Ukrainians. Russia invaded Ukraine – twice.

</End editorial>

VON JULIAN RÖPCKE

BILD has obtained a document containing the true plans by Russia for the occupied territory of the Donbass.

The records of the “Inter-ministerial Commission for the Provision of Humanitarian Aid for the affected Areas in the Southeast of the Regions of Donetsk and Luhansk” from 23rd October 2015 reveal what observers have long feared: The Russian government is steering all affairs of the “separatist areas”  in the east of Ukraine.

Russian ministries are responsible for Ukrainian politics

In this regard, the concrete plans extend far beyond “humanitarian issues”. In six working groups, the subject areas of “Finance and tax law”, “Defining wage policies as well as residential and public service matters”, “Restoration of industry”, “Trade with energy sources”, “Establishment of a market for electricity” and “Transportation infrastructure” are being planned down to the last detail. The regions are consequently being treated as parts of Russia’s sovereign territory.

Experts to whom BILD showed the document saw practically no difference from commission records concerning the Russian state itself. Deputy leaders of five ministries of the Russian Federation head the relevant cross-departmental working groups; the secret service “FSB” has supervision over each working group.

Even four members of the Russian homeland (!) secret service “FSB” are named. Only the Commission Chairman and the Liaison Officer to the Government of Russia are above them in terms of hierarchy.

Numerous other Russian authorities, such as the Federal Customs Office and the Anti-Monopoly Service attend the regular sessions of the Commission in the Russian Duma.

Foto: government.ru, arrko.ru, pressmia.ru

Explosive: As the sole Ukrainian, a representative of the Ukrainian energy giant “DTEK” owned by the oligarch Rinat Achmetov was present at the meeting in October last year, according to the record.

In contrast, absolutely no member of the so-called separatist governments of Luhansk and Donetsk was present at the session, the puppet politicians were only informed about the results of the meeting. Common practice, as was confirmed to BILD from expert circles.

Concrete tasks of the Russian ministries are for example the “an assessment of the effectiveness of the collection of taxes and dues by the tax authorities of the (Ukrainian) territories and the development of proposals for the improvement of their function and strengthening of the budget discipline”.

Another working group deals as an example with the “development of proposals for a further support of the restoration and maintenance of the public transport system in the territories for 2016”. This includes the delivery of spare parts for “busses, trams and trains” as well as “proposals for the optimization of the transport logistic”.

In conclusion, the five involved Russian ministries address their respective genuine tasks with the remarkable anomaly of controlling the fate of Russian-ruled areas in eastern Ukraine.

 The leading figures of the shadow government

Vergrößern

Foto: pressmia.ru

The commission, which an insider referred to as “shadow government of the Donbass” while talking to BILD, is chaired by the Russian politician Sergey Nazarov. Nazarov began his political career in the Rostov region, which neighbours Ukraine. He was active there in various functions in the coal business before he was summoned to Moscow.

Vergrößern

Foto: government.ru

The Deputy Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation reports the results of the meeting directly to Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and close friend of Vladimir Putin.

Officially, Kozak and Nazarov work together within the framework of the “Commission for the Socio-economic Development of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol”. This commission met, amongst other dates, on the 15th October 2015, only a few days before the secret session of the Donbass Commission.

Vergrößern

Foto: arrko.ru

The Deputy Commission Head of the Donbass Commission is Leonid Gornin, also Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. Gornin has continually championed the fiscal consolidation of Russia in recent years, but spoke out, amongst other things, against a financial reallocation in favour of the annexed Crimean Peninsula. With him, it appears, as cost-effective as possible a governance of the occupied Donbass is to be realised.

Ensuring the authenticity of the Russian paper

To not endanger the source of the secret paper, BILD will not publish the document itself. However, BILD was allowed to see the original document and owns a digital copy, which it provided to several experts for verification.

BILD checked the authenticity with the help of numerous sources and informants. Ukrainian oligarchs, who had fled to Russia in 2014 with the pro-Russian ruler Viktor Yanukovych, indicated they knew about the objectives of the Duma Commission. They too were asked for money to implement the plans.

Vergrößern

Foto: government.ru

BILD also showed the document to high-ranking government representatives of the Russian Federation, Russian journalists and secret services of several countries. The unanimous assessment of all experts: The paper in the hands of BILD is genuine.

The commission’s work is already bearing fruit.

The Donbass Commission, or de facto government of the Russian-occupied areas in eastern Ukraine, was established in December 2014. Officially: on account of “the urgent need and critical humanitarian situation” in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.Yet directly after its foundation, the Commission disappeared from the scene, officially never meeting again.

Vergrößern

Foto: government.ru

As BILD has found out, regular meetings of the Commission were actually held at intervals of two to four weeks. But nothing was known about their content – until now.

Just five months after the commission was founded, the entire occupied areas began to be supplied with Russian roubles, as BILD reported exclusively in January 2016. It is to be assumed that this measure came about as a direct result of the commission’s work. The plans now unveiled extend far beyond maintaining financial support for the so-called Peoples’ Republics.

HOW RUSSIA FINANCES THE UKRAINIAN REBEL TERRITORIES

BILD EXCLUSIVEHow Russia finances the Ukrainian rebel territories

The BIILD-research proves: Russia has taken over the financial control of the self-proclaimed „People’s Republics“ in eastern Ukraine

Evidently, the Russian government has assumed control over all areas of state responsibility for the Ukrainian regions – and this without Ukrainian involvement, not even the separatists! This not only determines the present destinies of the regions with roughly three million inhabitants.  The long-term planning for the future of the territory is also pressing ahead.

Intelligence agency sources have confirmed to BILD that it actually appears as though Moscow is completely controlling the Ukrainian region. The still contested part of the Donbass appears “like a satellite state of Russia”, is how experts interpreted the situation.

The commission is taking the Minsk Agreement to the absurd

Put simply, this means that Moscow is only promoting the implementation of the Minsk Agreement as a show for the West.  Behind the curtains, a separate plan for the controlled areas in the Donbass has been put into effect since the end of 2014 (only three months after signing the peace plan Minsk).

Rather than envisaging a reintegration of the regions in the Ukraine over the medium term, this plan aims to secure its long-term existence under complete Russian control. The aims of the commission coincide with the events observed locally, which BILD brought to light in January 2016, but extend far beyond this.

Russia is planning a permanent stabilisation of the political, social and economic situation in the Donbass under its control. That will make the Donbass a puppet state of the Russian Federation, whose future is set to be decided exclusively in Moscow. This is confirmation of the failure of the Minsk Agreement, adherence to which by Russia is merely pretence.

Furthermore, the west’s demand that Ukraine should enable democratic elections in the areas not under its control is taken to the absurd by the revelation. The political figures up for elections in such vote would not be the ones in charge for the development of the area. Those that hold on to power are located in Moscow.

Source: http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/ukraine-konflikt/donbass-shadow-government-45102202.bild.html

RT published an amusing report entitled “RT at infowar with UK? Damning report submitted to British parliament“.

Apparently RT does not listen to Putin’s spokesperson, Peskov, who on 26 March 2016 said

We are currently in a state of information warfare with the trendsetters in the information space, most notably with the Anglo-Saxons, their media,” Peskov said.

RT’s report goes on to cite a repeat-offender “useful idiot” for Russia Insider, Gilbert Doctorow from the American Committee for East-West Accord, whose fancy title belies that he is more than a Russophile, he is a Russia cheerleader.

The RT report also cites Andrey Klimov, a member of Russia’s Federation Council, who not only had his American visa revoked, but was also placed on the sanction list.

Willy Wimmer is also cited, who is a very pro-Russian German MP, who has railed against the US support of Ukraine in the recent crisis. He has also ranted against US sanctions against Russia.

The RT report is not only not in the least objective, the so-called experts, and their testimony is clearly biased against the West, but the purpose of the article appears mainly to undermine Western efforts to counter massive Russian propaganda efforts.

What is their intent?  To sow a seed of doubt?  To undermine Western efforts to counter Russian Information Warfare? To promote Russian national interests?

Yes.

In Russia, it appears  that evidence provided by State Security is being used against Putin opponents.  Color me shocked.

What would be highly illegal in the civilized world, a hidden camera was used to film an illicit affair in Paris. This video was broadcast by way of a Russian state TV documentary film over state television to embarrass the opponent.

Separately, what appears to be surreptitious voice recordings of another opposition leader is used to undermine him before an upcoming Russian election.

This is absolute corruption which is sadly normal for Russia, using State security apparatus to provide evidence to sway an upcoming election.

If only Russian state security would broadcast Putin’s romps, then justice might be served.

</end editorial>

Henry Meyer

April 2, 2016 — 9:37 AM EDT

• State TV shows Kasyanov having adulterous affair with activist
• NTV film exposes rifts between leaders of Russian opposition

A Russian state TV documentary film showed opposition leader and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov having an adulterous sex romp with a party activist and exposed deep rifts with other top Kremlin opponents, raising pressure on the opposition ahead of key elections later this year.

“Kasyanov Day,” which was broadcast on Friday by state-controlled channel NTV, used footage from a secret camera and a recording device to show Kasyanov and his alleged lover, Natalia Pelevine, half-naked in a bedroom. Elsewhere in the film, they appear to meet in a Paris hotel.

Kasyanov, who served as prime minister from 2000 to 2004 before falling out with President Vladimir Putin, on Saturday declined to comment on the film. He said he expects pressure on him and other Kremlin critics to escalate. Pelevine, writing on her Facebook page, blamed the authorities and secret services for what she called a “criminal” act, apologizing for what is shown in the documentary.

The Russian opposition is complaining of an unprecedented crackdown before September parliamentary elections. Russians will go to the polls as they endure a second year of recession triggered by the collapse in oil prices, with incomes falling the most since Putin came to power 16 years ago.

Death Threats

Kasyanov said in an interview last month that pro-Kremlin activists were hounding him and supporters of his opposition Parnas coalition across the country. He’s also facing death threats, including an Instagram video posted in February by the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, that showed him in the cross-hairs of a scope sight. Kadyrov later added a picture of himself with a sniper rifle.

Kasyanov said in an interview last month that pro-Kremlin activists were hounding him and supporters of his opposition Parnas coalition across the country. He’s also facing death threats, including an Instagram video posted in February by the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, that showed him in the cross-hairs of a scope sight. Kadyrov later added a picture of himself with a sniper rifle.NTV has played a prominent part in pursuing opposition leaders. In 2012, it provoked demonstrations when it broadcast a documentary alleging that protesters had been paid to take part in anti-Putin rallies. Anger at alleged ballot-rigging in 2011 parliamentary elections sparked the largest street protests during Putin’s rule.

NTV has played a prominent part in pursuing opposition leaders. In 2012, it provoked demonstrations when it broadcast a documentary alleging that protesters had been paid to take part in anti-Putin rallies. Anger at alleged ballot-rigging in 2011 parliamentary elections sparked the largest street protests during Putin’s rule.The latest film, which also gives details of luxury properties in Russia and abroad that it says are owned by the ex-premier, includes audio recordings in which Kasyanov describes as a major threat his fellow opposition leader, Alexey Navalny.

The latest film, which also gives details of luxury properties in Russia and abroad that it says are owned by the ex-premier, includes audio recordings in which Kasyanov describes as a major threat his fellow opposition leader, Alexey Navalny.“How to build a front against Navalny,” a voice sounding like Kasyanov’s says. “That’s the main task, which should take priority over anything else.” Navalny declined to comment.

“How to build a front against Navalny,” a voice sounding like Kasyanov’s says. “That’s the main task, which should take priority over anything else.” Navalny declined to comment.Leaked Calls

Leaked Calls

Such tactics by state-friendly media aren’t new. In 2011, a pro-Kremlin website Life News leaked private phone calls involving an opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in which he disparaged other Putin opponents. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was shot dead near the Kremlin in February last year. The main suspect is the deputy head of an elite police unit loyal to Kadyrov, who’s denied any involvement in the killing.

Such tactics by state-friendly media aren’t new. In 2011, a pro-Kremlin website Life News leaked private phone calls involving an opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in which he disparaged other Putin opponents. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was shot dead near the Kremlin in February last year. The main suspect is the deputy head of an elite police unit loyal to Kadyrov, who’s denied any involvement in the killing.
The September vote is the biggest test of the authorities before the presidential election in 2018, when Putin can seek a fourth term. While his personal ratings remain high, the government and regional authorities are becoming targets of popular discontent.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-02/state-tv-targets-putin-s-former-prime-minister-with-sex-movie

Russia gives a loan in the form of missiles to Armenia, then Armenia attacks Azerbaijan.  Whoda thunk?

Russian soldiers suddenly are part of the Armenia Army.

Armenia even followed the Russian playbook, calling it a counterattack.  Can you spell provocation, perhaps?

A ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia has been in place since 1994 when ethnic Armenians occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh area, now called a Republic.

Let me review.  Transnistria from Moldova. Abkhazia from Georgia, South Ossetia from Georgia. Crimea from Ukraine, Donbass from Ukraine. Now Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan.  All “secessions” or occupations backed by Russia.  Gee, do you detect a pattern here?

Russia, in support of yet another war?  “Putin urges restraint”, my tookus.  Azerbaijan already declared a cease-fire, but I don’t hear the same from Armenia.  Gee, Putin, are your words only for show?

• https://www.rt.com/news/338196-nagorno-karabakh-armenia-azerbaijan-turkey/
• https://www.rt.com/news/338220-azerbaijan-stops-karabakh-hostilites/
• https://www.rt.com/news/333091-russia-aircraft-base-armenia/

Russian trolls are already coming out in support of the “brave” Armenians.

• http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=086_1459631758

ht to mj for answering my RFI.

(Translated from Russian by my Chrome browser)

Today, all the newspapers came out with headlines like: “Armenia in Karabakh tossed his installation” Smerch “.” However, if you look, it’s not quite true. Armenia Rockets actually tossed, but those missiles – not her. Or, if you chase up the language -. “It is not quite”

The sequence of events that led to the transfer of these missiles, unfolding before our eyes in the last month, it’s easy to keep track of even the publications in the open press, you Google, as they say in the help. All the facts which I write more easily in the Google network.

The situation is so clear that leaves no room for maneuver for interpretation.

So, in late February, Russia announced that Armenia gives credit for $ 200 million at a very favorable conditions. With a 2-year grace period and installment payments for 10 years. But it is very strange credit in the sense that the money itself, “hands on” Russia does not provide Armenia.She gives the money instead of Armenia rocket launchers 200 million. Dollars. Moreover, these supplies missile instantaneously, within a few days.

Two weeks later, the press service of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation declares that “Russian conscripts” who served in the Russian military base in Armenia have become a massive shift in the service under the contract, in the end, all units were most staffed employees on a contract (who do not course, “recruits” the law does not allow to involve military action in peacetime, and “contract” – please).

After another two weeks on the Armenian landfills “Kamhud” and “Alagyaz” start “training missile units”, reported by all the same the press service of the Southern Military District of Russia. All the truth in such ambiguous terms that it is not clear who is who “prepares”. Whether Russian specialists are preparing the Armenian experts, whether the Russians are preparing themselves, using polygons provided by Armenia.

Source: http://shipilov.com/realtime/765-rossiya-perebrosila-svoi-rakety-v-nagornyj-karabakh.html

Continued at https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2016/04/03/azov-video/

I am still waiting to see more facts on this issue.

This Moscow Times article is notable for two reasons.

First, The Moscow Times is publishing an article critical of Putin’s associates, which it has done only rarely since changing ownership.

Second, the proximity of the people involved infers an association with President Putin.

What is interesting, however, is the mention of Ukraine’s President Poroshenko. Without further details, this may involve writing something new and different for up to 72 heads of state.

MANY more details are available in this ABC Australia report.

$ 2 billion, that is the amount passed through this network in just this one scheme, and these people do this globally.

The ICIJ findings include evidence that:

• Associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly shuffled as much as $2 billion through banks and shadow companies
• Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife secretly owned an offshore firm that held millions of dollars in Icelandic bank bonds during the country’s financial crisis

The files also expose or identify:

• Offshore companies controlled by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the King of Saudi Arabia and the children of the President of Azerbaijan
• Offshore companies linked to the family of China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, as well as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has positioned himself as a reformer in a country shaken by corruption scandals
• 29 billionaires featured in Forbes Magazine’s list of the world’s 500 richest people
• 33 people and companies blacklisted by the US Government because of evidence that they have done business with Mexican drug lords, terrorist organisations like Hezbollah or rogue nations like North Korea
• New details of offshore dealings by the late father of British Prime Minister David Cameron, a leader in the push for tax-haven reform
• Customers including Ponzi schemers, drug kingpins, tax evaders and at least one jailed sex offender
• Movie star Jackie Chan, who had at least six companies managed through the law firm

</end editorial>

The Moscow Times

Apr. 03 2016 22:22

A giant leak of documents has exposed members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle in an alleged $2 billion clandestine money laundering scheme.

The so-called Panama Papers published online on Sunday evening detailed a trail of transactions that leads from Bank Rossiya, a Russian bank on the EU and U.S. sanctions list, to various countries including Switzerland and Panama.

Through a series of complex financial offshore deals, the funds were then shuffled back into the pockets of Putin’s close associates, reportedly making them millions of dollars.

The expose identified musician Sergei Roldugin as a key figure in helping to channel the funds back to Russia. Roldugin is one of Putin’s closest friends and his daughter’s godfather.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in late March warned of an impending hatchet job on the Russian president by international journalists, anticipating the publication of “another hoax [article], pretending to be objective,” the RBC news agency reported at the time.

The revelations are the result of a year-long investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on the basis of more than 11 million leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The records implicate 72 current or former heads of state, including Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko.

Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, on Twitter called the expose “the biggest leak in the history of journalism.”

Source: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/massive-leak-involves-putin-associates-in-shadowy-money-scheme/564653.html

Such a tease, Russia cannot control this new oil field which is just outside the grasp of the Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine.

Oh Vladimir Vladimirovich, it is just outside Donbass.  All you would have to do is sacrifice about 15,000 more Russian soldiers and you could get this oilfield.

I’m just teasing, you little corruption czar.  It would take at least 50,000 Russian soldiers at the rate you’re going, all your T-14 tanks, and most of your T-64, T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks.  Six months, risk a colored revolution, your entire inner circle would be on corruption charges, and your government would be sanctioned by the entire world.  But you,  Vladimir Vladimirovich, you could be rich and retire to your palace on the Black Sea.

You’ve already gone after Ukraine’s Black Sea oil and gas supplies.

Do you mean, Vladimir Vladimirovich, that Ukraine might have enough oil to not be dependent on Russian oil ever again? You can’t have that, ye of tiny fingers, you must attack.

Yet more salt in Putin’s wounds.

</end editorial>

Ukraine Discovers Oil Field

Ukraine’s state gas and oil company Naftohaz has reported discovering a sizeable oil field on the country’s territory.

Nafothaz said late July 11 that the discovery was one of the largest oil fields found in Ukraine in some 15 years.

Naftohaz believes the Budishchansko-Chutovskoyefield in eastern Ukraine’s Poltava region, contains some 12.8 million tons of oil.

Naftohaz has been working the site since 2011 and the company’s public relations department said it was the first oil field owned solely by the Ukrainian company.

Ukraine’s government is attempting to wean the country off its dependence on Russian energy supplies. Kyiv has placed a priority on developing the country’s own energy resources and diversifying sources for importing energy supplies.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-discovers-oil-field/25044815.html

Despite the rape of the 13-year-old Russian-German girl, named only as Lisa F,  being disproven, Russian FM Sergei Lavrov raised the incident during a talk with his German counterpart, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.  Many analysts consider the incidentLisa F fake rape a Russian staged provocation to further undermine the German government and stir up animosity in favor of Russia.

The fake rape might be considered an Active Measure, most likely staged by Russian intelligence operatives, as they have done for decades.

Apparently Russia believes it can wage an information war against the West on an ongoing basis without consequence.  Russia is attempting to prompt the dropping of sanctions against Russia through distraction and overwhelming opposition to Russia.

Certainly Russian information warfare efforts are ongoing, consistent, and aggressive while simultaneously blaming the West for all Russia’s woes.  Russia appears to be doing everything possible to exacerbate the situation in Germany, the EU, and any country Russia perceives as even the tiniest of threats.  The question is what will the West do to minimize, counter, or even bring a halt to Russian aggression in the information environment and elsewhere.  It will take more than the tiny counter-Russian propaganda effort currently in place, it will require coordinated, synchronized efforts using all the elements of national power, and then some, by most of the governments of the West.

</end editorial>

Mon Apr 4, 2016 12:10pm BST

BY PAUL CARREL AND ANDREAS RINKE

At an hour-long meeting in Moscow on March 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov irritated his German counterpart by raising the case of a German-Russian girl who said she was raped by migrants in Berlin earlier this year.

After the girl’s claims were reported by Russian media in January, Lavrov accused Germany of “sweeping problems under the rug.” The Berlin public prosecutor’s office, though, said a medical examination had found the girl had not been raped.

That was why Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was so upset when Lavrov raised the issue again. “I can only hope that such incidents and difficulties, as we had in that case, aren’t repeated,” he told reporters afterwards.

The rape case is indicative of the mutual suspicion that officials from both countries say extends to the highest levels of government. At the root of those tensions lie opposing visions for Europe and the Middle East. Those rival visions have led to clashes at diplomatic negotiating tables, in cyberspace and in the media.

German and other European security officials accuse Russian media of launching what they call an “information war” against Germany. By twisting the truth in reports on Germany’s migrant crisis, the officials say, Russia hopes to fuel popular angst, weaken voters’ trust in Chancellor Angela Merkel, and feed divisions in the European Union so that it drops sanctions against Moscow.

“Russian propaganda is a danger to the cohesion of our society,” Ole Schroeder, German deputy interior minister and a member of Merkel’s conservatives, told Reuters.

Russian officials deny their country is mounting a campaign against Germany. “These accusations are atrocious,” said one Russian official, who said Moscow is the victim of an “indiscriminate information war” being waged from Germany.

In February, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied the Kremlin had exploited the rape case to stir up tensions around immigration in Germany.

“We cannot agree with such accusations,” Peskov said. “On the contrary, we were keen that our position be understood, we were talking about a citizen of the Russian Federation. Any country expresses its concerns (in such cases). It would be wrong to look for any hidden agenda.”

But officials in Berlin say Russia’s aim is to muddy what is true and what is not and shake Germans’ trust in Merkel. “The idea today is to get disinformation, which means you don’t believe anything,” Hans-Peter Hinrichsen, a Foreign Ministry official, told a recent meeting on Russia’s role in Europe at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

German and European officials say Russia’s aim is two-fold: To exaggerate the problems the migrant crisis is causing Germany and to push Germany to relax its backing for European sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s interference in Ukraine. While EU governments last month extended asset freezes and travel bans on Russians and Russian companies, there is less consensus on whether to prolong more far-reaching sanctions on Russia’s banking, defence and energy sectors from July.

Both sides agree on one point: relations between the two countries are at their lowest point since the early days of the Cold War.

BIKINI TROLLS?

Beginning in the late 1960s, the then West Germany pursued a policy of ‘Ostpolitik’, which encouraged warmer ties with Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the two countries grew even closer thanks to trade and cultural ties. But those ties began unraveling when Vladimir Putin returned as Russian president in 2012, and worsened further after the Ukraine crisis began in late 2013.

“All the networks, all the personal ties – they just don’t work anymore,” said Stefan Meister, at the DGAP.

The accusations of disinformation have spawned a whole new vocabulary. Officials at NATO now talk about the ‘weaponization of information’ by Russia. Colonel Aivar Jaeski, deputy director at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, says Russia’s campaign against Europe uses “angry trolls” who produce online hate speech, and “bikini trolls” to lure followers and then sow discord and doubt about news events.

Jaeski pointed to a NATO StratCom report on trolling, which says the Guardian newspaper’s online edition was targeted “in a troll attack that is considered to have been ordered by the Kremlin” over its reporting on the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied funding or backing online trolls, and has specifically denied any connection with a company based in St Petersburg whose ex-employees have said they were paid to spread disinformation, praise Putin and criticize the West.

A GERMAN CAMPAIGN?

In the rape case, Russian media reported the German-Russian girl – under German law she can only be identified as Lisa F. – had been abducted by ‘Arab-looking men’ and raped repeatedly over a 30-hour period. Janis Sarts, director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, said Russian media continued to report that even after the Berlin authorities said the girl had not been raped.

Europe’s East StratCom Task Force has collected dozens of examples of Russian reporting on the migrant crisis that it says are clear cases of deliberate disinformation.

German daily Bild reported in March that Germany’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies were warning of increasing Russian interference in German politics.

Moscow rejects the idea of any coordinated campaign. One Russian official said there was a German media campaign to paint Russia in a bad light and “demonize” it. The official said that Russian media had formerly been too positive about Germany and were now more objective. “This ends the discrepancy that saw the German media be very critical of Russia and the Russian media paint a very favorable picture of Germany,” he said.

BLACK BOX

At the March 23 meeting, the two countries reached an “academic cooperation accord.” Both sides also continue to emphasize cultural ties.

But repairing political ties may be harder. Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) – junior members in Merkel’s ruling coalition and the party behind “Ostpolitik” all those decades ago – seems increasingly ready to compromise with Moscow. Sigmar Gabriel, an SDP member and Germany’s Economy Minister, said recently that the EU should try to lift sanctions on Russia by this summer.

Merkel, though, has refused to ease the sanctions, insisting that Russia first needs to comply with an agreement to enforce a ceasefire, pull back heavy weapons, exchange prisoners, and hold internationally monitored local elections in eastern Ukraine.

German officials say Merkel speaks to Putin more than any other Western leader and recognizes better than most that the Russian leader respects firmness.

But the governments still struggle to understand each other.

“The Kremlin is like a Black Box: we have a rough idea of who sits in the Black Box but we have no idea what they are thinking, what they are worried about, what they are thinking for 5-10 years’ time,” a senior German official said.

(Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Berlin, Robin Emmott in Brussels and Andrew Osborne in Moscow; Edited by Simon Robinson)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-russia-relations-insight-idUSKCN0X10NV

Several high-level Chinese leaders have been implicated in the “Panama Papers” scandal, but Chinese censors are removing all trace, suppressing the news from the Chinese people.

The brother-in-law of current President Xi Jinping is implicated, as is the daughter of former Premier Li Peng, and the grand-daughter of Jia Qinglin, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC).

The main focus of the “Panama Papers” is the use of off-shore banks and accounts. While using an off-shore account is not usually illegal, it is commonly used to hide money gained illicitly, mask illegal purchases, and avoid taxes in one’s home country.

140 key world leaders have been implicated, but the Chinese have gone to great lengths to hide any mention of the close family connections with the Chinese President.

Neither the Romanized word “Panama” nor the names of several of those named can currently be searched on Weibo, the country’s largest microblogging site and the locus of many (often coded) public discussions about the indiscretions of Chinese officialdom.

Source.

Additionally, any mention of the Panama Papers has been deleted from social media.

President Xi has been under fire for his family’s great amassed wealth, inexplicable on his salary.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the report and now the ICIJ’s website is blocked in China.

When “Panama Papers” is searched on the Chinese search engine Baidu, heavily filtered results are also accompanied by an official warning, “According to relevant laws and regulations, some of the search results are not shown”.