Clearly, the US is the aggressor in the Ukraine war.

By Ted Belman

On Dec 21, 2021, Alexander Markovsky, a friend of mine,  and I wrote Ukraine, NATO, and the Most Fateful Error of American Policy, though Markovsky dominated the input.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact, NATO, in a violation of the verbal agreement between Secretary of State James Baker and Russian Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, launched a massive expansion to the east.

“This expansion can be seen from Moscow only as a strategy to encircle Russia and turn its neighbors into hostile countries.  As long as Russia was economically and military weak, the process proceeded unabated. NATO has grown from 16 countries before the reunification of Germany, to 28 today.”

Our next article was on January 14, 2022, If USA and Russia are Implacable Foes, all Lines of Inquiry Lead to NATO.

In 1961, as a young academic Henry Kissinger had an opportunity to interview President Harry Truman. He asked the President what in his presidency had made him most proud. Truman replied, “That we totally defeated our enemies and then brought them back to the community of nations.”

Unfortunately, the U.S. chose not to emulate Truman’s achievement. With the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact, the military threat to Western Europe had ended, but NATO alliance did not disband itself. Mission accomplished was not good news for the military alliance — it needed new enemies and a new mission for self-preservation.

“Indeed, NATO had no difficulty adjusting to the emerging world order. A new enemy was invented — Russia was to be treated as a descendant of the “evil empire.” The concept of an alliance was quietly converted into a doctrine of collective security.  The difference is that while alliances are aimed at a specific threat and define the obligation of each partner in case of belligerency, collective security is an ambiguous concept that defines no specific threat and is designed to resist any aggression anywhere in the world. In this new mission NATO equated peace and security with expanding democratic gains and proliferation of American values.

“After the restoration of the economy and years of heavy investment into the modernization of its armed forces, Russia feels strong enough to confront what she considers as a serious threat to her security. […]

“A glance at the map of Europe shows that if Ukraine and Georgia became members of NATO, Russia would be almost entirely flanked by NATO on its European border.

“This irrevocable fact of geography forced Putin to demand from America a security guarantee that Ukraine and Georgia would never be accepted into NATO. To demonstrate that he meant business, he assembled a sizeable military force in the proximity to the Ukrainian border.

“Moscow caught Western allies at the moment of maximum weakness. The geopolitical environment has dramatically changed in Russia’s favor. European Union is in a state of economic weakness and political uncertainty. Obsessed with Global Warming or Cooling or a vague Climate Change it has shut down its nuclear and coal fired power plants and is depended on Russian gas to keep its industries running and homes warmed.

“European members of NATO have degraded their military capabilities and are totally dependent on the U.S. for their defense. “

On Feb 26, 2022, I wrote The pot is calling the kettle, black, in which I accused the US of being the bad guy, not the Russians. I listed all the reasons for doing so beginning with:

“After the fall of the USSR, the US invaded Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq , and Libya. She overthrew Mubarak, the long standing ruler of Egypt and installed its own regime and attempted to do the same with Syria. She expanded NATO eastward after promising not to do so.  She handcuffed Israel, thereby violating its sovereignty, and demanded she cease settlement construction and back the two-state solution.”

In the first article recited, we wrote:

“He (Putin) made it perfectly clear that he would not allow Ukraine to join NATO. To resolve the issue peacefully, he suggested to President Biden that the U.S. would offer Russia a guarantee that Ukraine would not be admitted to the NATO military alliance. But NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, rejected the idea and affirmed a NATO right to bring more countries into the alliance. Unless the situation changes, Moscow will have no choice but to invade Ukraine.

“There is little risk for Moscow in doing such an invasion, either militarily, politically, or economically.”

Today we see how right we were. Russia is winning the war, Putin remains very popular and Russia has overcome the worst sanctions ever.

All this is confirmed by

John Mearsheimer | EVERYTHING the UNITED STATES touches turns to ASH

Reaching a Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine: Jeffrey Sachs

Scott Ritter – The US Military is no match for the Russian Army 

Col. Macgregor Debunks Ukraine Propaganda- It’s Time to End the War

In an analysis of the events leading up to this war, we must reference the CIA orchestrated Maidan Coup (2014) and the failed Minsk Agreements.

In my article, Ukraine: The right of self-determination supersedes sovereign inviolability, I discuss the Maidan Coup of 2014 and the Minsk Agreements which followed.

“The 2014 CIA masterminded coup, sometimes referred to as the Maiden uprising, which removed the pro-Russian head of state, Viktor Yanukovych and installed a pro-West head of state is not mentioned (by the West). That’s OK in their book, but best forgotten. They (the West) take no responsibility for the bombardment by Ukrainian Army of the citizens of the Donbass since then, killing over 14,000. Nor do they acknowledge the role of the Nazi Azov Battalion which Ukraine made part of their army and which did most of the killing.”

At this time Russia annexed Crimea and separatists declared independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine.  As a result the West sanctioned Russia and began the bombardment by the puppet Ukrainian Army, killing 14000 Ukrainians over the ensuing years.

The Minsk Agreements, between Ukraine and the separatists, which were signed in 2014 and 2015 attempted to restore peace to the region or so we were told.

“Moscow may see Minsk II as a way to guarantee its central security demand – that Ukraine is never allowed to join NATO. Washington and NATO have already rejected that demand.”

Because of this rejection, Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence.

In Dec 2022, we learnt of the real intention of the Minsk Agreements.

Real intention behind Minsk agreements further destroys credibility of the West

In an interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit last week, former German chancellor Angela Merkel revealed the West’s real intention behind its negotiation with Russia and Ukraine to promote a ceasefire in 2014. She admitted the Minsk agreements were an “attempt to give Ukraine time” and that Kiev had used it “to become stronger.””

Evidently it was the goal of the West to build up the Ukrainian Army so that it could repel a Russian attack which was expected.

Russia recognized their independence in Feb 2022 and began what it called, a “special military operation.”  The West called it an invasion.

The fact that the West is now heavily involved in the supply of weapons and money to Ukraine, even though Ukraine‘s application to join NATO has now been rejected, suggests the Russia’s fears were well founded. Russia didn’t imagine that NATO would attack her even if Ukraine wasn’t a member of NATO.

The stated goal of the US is regime change in Russia and extending US hegemony.

Some may see this as a good thing and others not. Clearly the growth of BRICS (Russia and China trigger global shift from US through BRICS!) suggest the rejectionists are in the majority. Most people in the world reject US hegemony and the New World Order. They prefer Nationalism to Globalism. They prefer a multi-polar world to a uni-polar world.

The USSR was feared because it wanted to extend Communism throughout the world. Now the US is feared because it wants to dominate the world in the name of “democracy” as defined by the NWO.

In my article, Ukraine: The right of self-determination supersedes sovereign inviolability above mentioned I wrote:

The Principle of Self-Determination in International Law

“The Charter of the United Nations came into force in 1945, in which Article 1 includes reference to self-determination. This meant, for the first time, self-determination was recognised in an official international legal document, affirming that it was an existing right. However, the lack of definition and detail as to what self-determination entails provided in the Charter left little ability for the right to be applied, particularly in relation to secession. But, the 1966 International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights  (ICCPR) transformed that by providing a substantive definition about what is encompassed in the right to self-determination;

‘All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’.

‘The ICCPR was ratified by Ukraine on Oct 12, 1973 so it is bound by it.

‘This right of self-determination therefor supersedes the sanctity of sovereignty.

‘Surely, the residents of the four provinces and the Crimea have the right of self-determination as legalized by this Treaty. They speak Russian as their mother-tongue and think of themselves as Russian.

‘These residents have not only overwhelmingly voted “yes” in their respective referendums recently held, they also voted “yes” in the 2014 referendum. They previously voted overwhelmingly for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian candidate for the presidency in 2010.

‘The West called these referenda “shams” and said they were “unconstitutional” and “lacked legitimacy”. The above noted right of self-determination was not conditional on whether or not it was “constitutional”. Thus it is ipso facto, legal.

‘In calling the referenda “shams”, the West is in fact, recognizing the right of self-determination providing the referenda are properly held.

What say you?

March 25, 2023 | 54 Comments »

Leave a Reply

50 Comments / 54 Comments

  1. @Tanna, Edgar, Zorn and Michael.
    If you must have at it do it in Chit Chat. I am going to remove your tweets on this thread that have nothing to do with Ukraine.
    The primary reason I do this is to enforce the rule I have stated. All tweets must be about the subject matter.

  2. @Tanna Did you, a Christian proseletyzer, seriously accuse EDGAR,of all people, of being “antisemitic?” Now, how are redefining this term to suit yourself, taking a page out of the Left’s and Perpestinian’s handbook. 😀

  3. @Tanna

    “If YHVH does not come back to Zion in my lifetime my children and grandchildren will not even believe in the creator by the time they reach 60 plus. “

    😀 Like Eisenhower’s Mom who quit the Jehova’s Witnesses because the end of the world didn’t come on schedule?
    Just WWI. What a disappointment.
    Good luck with that.

    Religious nutjobs have been predicting the end of the world throughout recorded history, probably forever.

    You know the tongue in cheek Pesach prayer:
    “They tried to kill us. We’re still here. Let’s eat.” 😀

  4. Edgar, It’s real simple my man, you and Zorn should just keep your mouth shut and stop all the Antisemitic remarks. I’m not a female. I’m 100% romping stomping masculine male. Remember Esau?

    I never suggested you reprobates have your on page. Your endless comments need to be in chit chat, so you don’t drive all the serious comments into oblivion.

  5. TANNA-

    It’s very nice of you to offer me my “own page”, It’s many years since I had one…and I did have one. But where and when and why>?? I expect no definitive answer so don’t rack your brains. They are too wound around the babblings of a drug crazed lunatic of 2500 years ago, who couldn’t even visualise a match, or running water. Not to mention toilet paper of which NOSTRADUMBUS has several tons in a 100 foot hideaway hole he dug at the beginning of the Pandemic.

    I am sorry for both of you believe me really pathetic, and sad. BUT..if it makes you happy …..Well…..?? I know Michael and regard him.as a friend, cuckoo of course but still a friend.

    You I don’t know at all but believe that you are female and for me, therefore, a lady.
    I support Sebastien’s suggestion of a separate page for the two of you. Not that I suspect you of trying to convert Jews, I don’t, but I believe that you’d be happier with no one like Sebastien and me chipping in.

  6. Hi, Tanna

    Thank you for responding. 🙂

    I do find it somewhat interesting trying to figure out how this battle of Ezek38-39 and Zech 12-14 will play out and not only the time frame it will happen in but the chorology of it all.

    I think it’s obvious, that I’m also interested in trying to figure these things out — and have been, since I was a small child. One thing has recently come to mind, though — this business of being on the lookout for a kinetic World War, akin to WWII on steroids.

    Have you ever followed Steve Bannon’s War Room? Steve B. and Peter Navarro have been telling us for years, that China has always considered itself at war with us, with something called “unrestricted warfare”. To the Chinese Communist Party, this means using EVERY weapon at their disposal to defeat us; and “kinetic” war, or shooting war, is the weapon of last resort. Xi would much rather take us down with psychological warfare (getting us to go bat crap crazy, fighting one another over “intersectionality”, “pronouns”, etc., hating our own neighbors, reviling our founding fathers, turning families against themselves,etc., than having to risk Chinese blood and treasure in a fighting war.

    What I have described here is a SPIRITUAL war against us: confusion, hatred, all these things are matters of the SPIRIT, which are, as the NT says, “mighty, to the tearing down of strongholds”. Are we waiting for all the nations of the world to attack Israel (Zech. 14)? They already are, in the spirit. Several battles every year are fought in the UN General Assembly and Security Council, in the form of resolutions to denigrate and attack Israel.

    It may seem, on the surface, that attacks like these, and like Xi’s attacks against us, are “merely” spiritual or psychological warfare; but the reality is that these are more powerful than physical attacks. Take the case of fentanyl and related drugs. Do you know that more young Americans are being killed by these every 6-7 months, than in ten years of the Vietnam War? What’s the bigger killer? A shooting war? or a drug addiction, in which the victim kills himself? More to the point, how many bullets did the Chinese have to fire at us, to convince our President to open our border to cartels and drug trafficers? They didn’t need ANY bullets — some bribes and cocaine, and an occasional Russian prostitute was enough to take control of the US President and his entire family, and through them to steer the course of the most powerful empire the world has ever known.

    Thankd again for responding. Breakfast time — gottarun.

  7. Michael, Sorry for the delayed response. Been busy and then try to honor the Sabbath. We are going to have to get Mr. Zorn and Edgar their own page. They keep driving comments into the past pf far, I can’t find anything. It would be nice if there was a way to review just a posters(ones) comments, so one could tell if they need to get out the old pencil to response.

    Anywho…. I understand where you’re coming from and no big disagreement’s. After looking at these passages’ multiple times over the years, I have taken a position of wait and see. Things keep changing. It’s hard to know who’s on first and then in Geopolitics —- as they say, it’s like looking in the window of a whorehouse – you never know who will be in bed with who, next.

    I do find it somewhat interesting trying to figure out how this battle of Ezek38-39 and Zech 12-14 will play out and not only the time frame it will happen in but the chorology of it all. It does seem to me that things are building to a climax and what will be the first domino to fall….. well, we keep watching and waiting. I do think, the events in Ukraine are part of Hashems plan to reposition people/nations. Just as we all were surprised as the events unfolded to see the nations support Ukraine so fast and furious…. we will be just as much if not more taken back, when the nations turn on Israel. It will be like sharks drawn to blood.

  8. SEBASTIEN_

    Your “just for laughs” is a laugh all right. I don’t think the moyels used scythes, even the Scythian moyels……..

  9. Hi, Tanna

    I hear the sound of squealing pigs, running over the cliff, but haven’t seen anything from you after answering your question.

    Did you get the memo?

  10. @Edgar Actually this digression that belonged in chit-chat began as a tangent in “The Judicial Reform Debate” by Ted.

  11. @Edgar Just for laughs, the thought just occurred to me that when Ted replied, “looked for your comment but couldn’t find it. Sorry,” you could have counter-replied, “No comment.” 😀

  12. HEY NOSTRABUMBUS–

    It sounds as if Ezekiel was indulging in a hefty helping os the Amanita Muscaria (John Allegro remembered).

    Some prophecy…First Jerusalem (and presumable the rest of Israel) has to be destroyed and “the women ravished” …THEN only, will all the nations of the earth be destroyed and the flesh stripped from their bones..

    UG double H UGHHH.

    Old Zeke sounds like a necropgiliac. I recall (vividly) his predilection for tons of dry bones. He must have been on that stuff daily…a breakfast dish perhaps…very nutritious.

  13. SEBASTIEN-

    You asked me how one reverses a circumcision. Well, I’ll always try to help an fellow Yid…even a “Jew”. But first. remove all forbidden foods from your home.

    1) Acquire a short.length of cord with 4 rubber tipped clips at one end.
    2) Expose your penis…privately..
    3) Attach the clips to the surrounding skin edges.
    4) Attach a comfortable but significant weight to the single end.
    5) Wear a jockstrap so as not to excite anyone.
    6) When the skin is stretched enough to join together.
    7) Find a discreet dressmaker, and engage her services.
    8) Place your penis in a suitable position on the sewing machine plate for
    partial sewing.
    9) Don’t move.
    10) DON’T MOVE….!!!

    11) Immediately after a satisfactory result, hurry to the nearest synagogue and say a Birkat Hagomel…..(3 times).!!!!

    TED this should be in Chit-Chat…Sorry.

  14. @Michael

    3. Zelenskyy: The seminal national hero, who understands the heart of his heroic countrymen. This Jewish comedian has more courage and common sense than a whole United Nations of “experts”.

    Forgive me, but this probably tops every joke Zel ever told. To suit a foreign power, he threatened a more powerful nation, and has bankrupted his already bankrupt nation while having lost the most productive lands in what was once Ukraine and might now be better named as Ukr- (the -aine is sitting in Russia). Some say he is an incorrigible drug addict, but on this who knows the truth. Still if this rumor were actually true, it would at least provide some solution why he is fighting someone else’s battles, getting beaten pretty badly and is still determined to his forces decimated and defeated rather than to negotiate an end to this war he is fighting for Uncle Joe, or is it Sam? None of this seems to be based on common sense, but then again common sense is not so common, and if Zel ever had any to boast about, it certainly must have been slipped into the blue shirt which was probably captured by the Russians as well.

  15. Hi, Tanna. You said,

    Michael, would you please show reference for these forecast.

    For you, I’ll give an answer. Doing so for Sebastien would be “casting my pearls before swine”.

    1. The Northern Coalition to be defeated first:

    Ezek.38
    [1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
    [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
    [3] And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
    [4] And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
    [5] Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
    [6] Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
    [7] Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
    [8] After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. (Israel 2023)

    Ezek. 38
    [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

    Ezek.39
    [1] Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
    [2] And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

    This battle is followed by some seven years of peace. The US & NATO (“the merchants of Tarshish”) do not take part in this battle (Ezek. 38:12)

    2. “NATO will fall later”. This is an attack on Israel by a “Unipolar World”, specifically the UN:

    Zech.14
    [1] Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
    [2] For I will gather all nations (the UN) against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

    [12] And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, (nuclear war) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

    This is the final battle. The reign of Messiah and his saints begins here.
    [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

  16. @Tanna They’d probably arrest him anyway because they’re clearly crazy. The lunatics are running the asylum.

  17. @Tanna

    “The Bible says that the Russia-China-Iran axis will fall first, and that NATO will fall later”

    Where?

  18. Michael, would you please show reference for these forecast.
    “As I said, let’s wait and see how he fares. The Bible says that the Russia-China-Iran axis will fall first, and that NATO will fall later. Let’s see if Vlad has come up with a better idea.”

    Per Dmitry Medvedev comments about those Arresting Putin. My thoughts exactly. Politics, gentlemen screwing each other publicly and putting a good face on their evil deeds. If I had the Power(Putin) I would leave my most loyal friend with their finger on the buttons and take a site seeing trip around the world and dire someone to stop me. The ICC and NATO along with the UN building would be my first three stops.

  19. Hi, Honeybee

    Is “B. Poster” = “Ted Belman as poster”? I missed that one. If so,

    B. Poster:

    In the “Good Guys/ Bad Guys” contest, we all come out as “bad guys”, except the Messiah. In the Ukraine War context, here’s the lineup as I see it:

    1. Joe Biden, the Biden Crime Family, the Deep State (American, Israeli, Russian and Ukrainian):

    All megalomaniacal monsters, completely untrustworthy. Biden himself is mentally unbalanced.

    2. Putin, through his puppet Medvedev: A psychopathic madman:

    Oliver JJ Lane24 Mar 20232,168
    3:07

    Kremlin loudmouth Dmitry Medvedev has made clear anyone who tries to arrest President Vladimir Putin can expect to feel the wrath of nuclear Russia, including “all our weapons”.

    The announcement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week that they had issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin has clearly riled Russia. After threatening to bomb the ICC itself failed to produce whatever the hoped-for response was, former Russian president turned National Security Council warmonger Dmitry Medvedev has moved on to threatening to bomb any country that would fulfil its treaty obligations to serve the warrant.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/24/russia-threatens-to-nuke-everyone-over-international-criminal-court-arrest-warrant-for-putin/

    3. Zelenskyy: The seminal national hero, who understands the heart of his heroic countrymen. This Jewish comedian has more courage and common sense than a whole United Nations of “experts”.

    4. The Ukrainian People: Listen to them:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTv0Io4FymU

    These people can be betrayed and killed; I don’t think they can possibly be defeated.

  20. As to who the “aggressor” id, I’m not sure. What does seem clear is the lines between who the “good guys” and who the “bad guys” are is much less distinct for Cold War 2 than it was during Cold War 1. While the parties of Cold War 1 had strong disagreements, they generally respected one another. Perhaps this mutual respect stemmed from a shared experience in fighting Nazi Germany and a recognition on the part of the American side that the Soviet/Russia, for all its flaws, was the indispensable nation in winning WW2. Today the parties hold each other in utter contempt and generally do not respect one another. This is especially problematic for America who seems to me to be routinely going out of its way to provoke Russia for what looks to me like no good reason. Furthermore during Cold War 1 the US respected Russia’s extraordinary power and acted accordingly. Today the US vastly overestimates its own power while vastly underestimating that of Russia.

    As for Ukraine, I knew at the start that Russia would prevail and via letter writing and phone calls urged our leadership to steer clear of this conflict. Knowing the outcome and realizing no American interests is served by this there seemed and still seems to be me no good reason for involvement in this.

    To extricate ourselves from this, obviously reparations will need to be paid to Russia for sanctions unjustly posed on them. I think former POTUS Trump understood this. The longer we try and stretch this out the more painful it is going to be. As my grandfather once told me, “when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging!!”

  21. One thing is sure.
    There is plenty of DISINFORMATION out there. From all sides.
    Considering what the US msm have been doing (colluding with the Gov); whatever comes out of the US gov/msm must be taken with a big grain of sea salt!
    Europeans are the last ones interested in a war on their soil!

  22. Michael S Sugar I thought you were an educated man!!!!! Russians have a congenital ear problem that causes them to stumble and fall out of windows. The long winter cause them to be depressed and suicidal. I suggest you use Google for information.

  23. I’m not a politician nor an expert in Russia/Ukraine, but I do think the West is culpable for goading Russian into this war – the USA and its allies want to achieve the New World Order, and Putin stands in the way of that. Making the world safe for the NWO and opening up the Russian market to American and other Western products are not justifiable goals, in my opinion. I don’t like what I’ve heard of Putin, but I dislike even more the fake news we in the West (I’m in the UK) are being served up every day by our politicians. Thank you, Ted, for this very informative article.

  24. Hi, Honeybee

    Arguably, wartime is about the worst time to find the truth of anything — especially from retired military brass-turned-“experts”. You know, of course, of the “fake news” problem here. That’s why Ted frequents Sputnik ant RT, quasi-official Russian propaganda organs (I prefer the Moscow Times, which represents the opposition). We also have a considerable problem with censorship by Facebook, Google, etc.

    In Russia, there’s yet another obstacle to finding out what’s going on — namely, suicide:

    Putin purge? 39 top Russians dead by ‘suicide,’ COVID and ‘shaman rites’
    By Michael Kaplan
    March 15, 2023 2:02pm Updated
    It’s a particularly deadly time to be on Russian President Putin’s bad side — 39 bodies, piled up since war broke out in Ukraine, collectively underscore the point.

    Just this month, two former bigshots bit the dust.

    Sergey Grishin, a financial fraudster and oligarch who sold Harry and Meghan their Montecito, California, mansion for $14.7 million, perished from sepsis on March 6.

    Coincidence or not, this happened after he criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Virologist Andrey Botikov — who helped develop the controversial Sputnik V Covid vaccine — went in a less subtle manner on March 1: He fell victim to a belt around his neck.

    Energy bosses, politicians and outspoken critics are among those who have paid the ultimate price.

    Putin and leaders of Russia’s bloodthirsty Kremlin, according to Russian expert Jon O’Neill, have their fingerprints on at least some of the deaths that range from the mysterious to the gruesome to the seemingly accidental.
    Vladimir Putin
    High-profile deaths have become endemic in Vladimir Putin’s Russia since that nation invaded Ukraine.
    Mystery deaths among the Russian elite have increased since the Ukraine invasion.

    “Putin does not want to murder people directly,” O’Neill, co-author of “The Dancer and the Devil: Stalin, Pavlova and the Road to the Great Pandemic,” told The Post. “If he does, he gets exposed all over the world. He wants people appearing to kill themselves or seeming to die from unusual diseases. Putin wants to kill people on a deniable basis.
    Sergey GrishinFinancial fraudster Sergey Grishin, who sold a mansion to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and died of sepsis.Wikipedia/ CC BY-SA 3.0

    “At the same time, everyone in Russia knows that these people are being murdered. It sends a message to those associated with Putin: You better stay in line.”

    Suspicious deaths since March of 2022 include Colonel Vadim Boyko, the Ukraine War’s chief of mobilization, who was said to have committed suicide. Just one problem: He was shot five times.

    Meanwhile, Marina Yankina, a Russian defense official, plummeted 16 stories to her death from her apartment window.

    Although the St. Petersburg news outlet Mash maintained that she had committed suicide and notified her husband before leaping to her death, O’Neill believes that the death of Yankina and other military officials can be tied to failures Russia is experiencing in Ukraine.

    “It can’t be a mistake Putin made,” said O’Neill. “It has to be bad execution. Those people know too much about what really happened. That is why they are dying.”
    People who allegedly died by “suicide”
    Suicide cluster: Allegedly Self-inflicted deaths have apparently spread among elite Russians.

    Knowing too much can apparently be fatal if you are a would-be comrade crushed by Putin’s leadership.

    “Russia under Putin has become a state where political opponents can and will be killed,” Professor Anthony Glees, an intelligence expert from the University of Buckingham, told the Sun Online.
    Andrey Botikov victim of strangulation Andrey Botikov developed a controversial vaccine before falling victim to strangulation.Andrey Botikov/ LinkedIn

    “Russia under Putin is a mafia state, a network of vile criminals who believe that if they don’t hang together, they will ultimately hang separately. Death is always there to remind Putin’s cronies of their duties.”

    For those with clout in Russia’s oil and gas industries, the death of Sergei Protosenya sent a collective chill.

    Formerly the CEO of Novatek — a company with ties to the Kremlin — he and his family were enjoying life in Spain. But on April 19, 2022, his wife and two daughters were found at their villa, chopped up by an axe; Prostenaya was hanging from a noose.

    The government-controlled energy company painted it as a murder-suicide. However, Fedor Protosenya, son of Sergei, has serious doubts.

    “He loved my mother and especially Maria, my sister,” Fedor said of his father. “He could never do anything to harm them. I don’t know what happened that night but I know that my father did not hurt them.”
    Elite Russians who have died of alleged natural causes
    Elite Russians who have died of alleged natural causes.

    Oil boss Alexander Subbotin died May 8 of last year — allegedly of a “drug-induced heart attack” while attending a shamanic ritual.

    O’Neill believes that these victims and others made the mistake of criticizing Putin cozying up to China at the cost of Europe and the longterm health of Russia’s energy sector.

    “The fear us that Putin’s desire to control Ukraine and take Russia’s [oil and gas resources] to China is driving Russia into the hands of China, which supplies Russia with weapons,” said O’Neill. “The people who express dissent get killed.”

    John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington DC, concurs.
    Accidental deaths have also hit elite Russians since Putin chose to invade Ukraine.
    Accidental deaths have also hit elite Russians since Putin chose to invade Ukraine.

    “It’s a bad time to disagree with Putin,” Hardie told The Post. “There might have been a time when that would have slid. But tolerance to for opposition to the war and the regime in general has narrowed considerably.”
    Marina YankinaMarina Yankina, a Russian defense official, plunged to her death from a 16-story window. There are suspicions that it was not her choice.Social media/EAST2WEST NEWS

    O’Neill insisted that there is a method behind the murderous madness.

    “Some people you can disappear, but you want to kill them because it sends a message,” he explained. “Putin could have made [Protosenya] disappear and it would not have made much of a ripple. But he wanted it to be public.”

    Similarly, over the course of the same month, April 2022, Vladislav Avayev and Vasily Melnikjov, gas boss and medical boss, respectively, were found dead in what looked like murder-suicides.

    Avayev appeared to have shot his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself. Melnikov reportedly did the deed by taking out himself and his family with a knife.

    Like the Mexican drug cartels that use extreme violence as a graphic threat to anyone who may fall out of line, Kremlin thugs and other violent kingpins in Russia send similar messages, according to O’Neill.
    What do you think? Post a comment.

    “If you are a dissident, you may be willing to give up your own life for the cause,” said the author. “But you would never be willing to give up your children. Them killing you and your family, that will dissuade anyone else from failing to cooperate.”

    Not every death is as outrageous as dismembered relatives and multi-shot suicides — some are attributed to unlikely accidents.
    General Alexei Maslow dead after Putin snubGeneral Alexei Maslov came down with a fatal illness after Putin backed out of visiting his tank factory.Public Domain

    Gas executive Andrei Krukovsky fell off a cliff on Sochi. Real estate oligarch Dimitriy Zelenov happened to die after tumbling down a flight of stairs and whacking his head, and Vayachelav Taran, who made billions in crypto currency, died in a helicopter crash while flying from Switzerland to Monaco.

    And then there is General Alexei Maslov, who became fatally sick after Putin kiboshed a visit to the former Army leader’s tank factory.

    According to O’Neill, crafty killing is business as usual for Russian leaders.

    “They are known as ‘liternoye assassinations,’” he said of a practice that originated under Stalin (for whom Putin’s father was a personal chef). “It means a death that looks like a natural death but is actually a murder.

    “The most famous of the liternoye assassins was Sergei Spiegelglas. He famously said, ‘Anyone can murder someone. But it takes a true artist to carry out a natural death.’ Putin is carrying on that tradition with a unit of murderers who are former KGB killers.”

  25. @Honeybee
    I suggest you google each of those issues. You will find that it is far from clear even if you saw it on TV. In fact I believe you will it each item to be debunked.
    None of them are proven.

  26. Thank you for the morale boost, Honeybee. I’ve had a bellyfull of statements like

    The US Military is no match for the Russian Army

    and

    EVERYTHING the UNITED STATES touches turns to ASH

    The US has been “touching” Israel for two generations now — being virtually their only supporter in world fora, and using their veto power dozens of times, to protect them from hostile UN resolutions. I don’t exactly call that “turning them to ash”. I also note that during war after war, Israel has had to defend itself against RUSSIAN tanks, often using US-produced F-16s, only to hear the likes of Mearscheimer and Ritter bad-mouth us.

    Oh, Peloni! How “well done!” Sebastian, how “excellent!” You fellows have taken leave of your senses. I suppose you think Russia is ready to stand with you against a nuclear Iran. Don’t bother telling me “Yes, indeed!”, as I am CERTAIN you and Ted will sing in chorus.

    The US is going through some very hard times nowadays, and you are rejoicing in kicking us while we’re down. Kick away! In our 400 years of history, we’ve weathered many a kick — from both foes and supposed “friends” like you. Keep it up, and suck up to countries that hate you, like Russia and China. I don’t think it will turn to your benefit.

  27. Michael S Well written post. Nice to read pro-USA. No one mention the 16,000 kidnapped children. Or the bombing of hospitals, schools, and civilians. Let us not forget the mass graves with bodies of men with their hands bonded.

  28. Russia is winning the war, Putin remains very popular and Russia has overcome the worst sanctions ever.

    Really? Let’s wait a while, before drawing conclusions. Russia is following in the footsteps of Germany in WWI and WWII: Between them and the Chinese, they are #2, but they try harder!”

    https://imgs.search.brave.com/P9OwT-1cKcyP4QEysRM0HWakO2xix5VgGrMCiVU9XUY/rs:fit:620:414:1/g:ce/aHR0cDovL2NhY2hl/ZC5pbWFnZXNjYWxl/ci5oYnBsLmNvLnVr/L3Jlc2l6ZS9zY2Fs/ZVdpZHRoLzYyMC9v/ZmZsaW5laGJwbC5o/YnBsLmNvLnVrL25l/d3MvT0tNL0RGRTBG/NzAyLUVFRUItQTY2/Ny0zMTIwNkNFREUw/QjI0NDhGLmpwZw

    Up until the outbreak of WWI, Germany had been a key member of Congress Europe, along with Austria, Russia and the UK. They chafed at British and American hegemony then, as the Russians and Chinese do today. After an inconclusive First World War, Germany saw a new opportunity with the ascending superpower, Japan — just as Russia sees the ascendant China today.

    HItler caught the West sleeping: He divided up Poland with his Russian co-conspirators and pounced. Within a little over a year, he controlled most of Europe.

    After a year with both feet in the Ukraine, Putin has not performed as gloriously as his forerunner Adolf Hitler. After hard fighting, he has managed to only extend his holdings in E. Ukraine by a few miles. At the same time, he has managed to sever Russia economically from most of the world’s economy, and now is under indictment from the ICC, the modern equivalent of the Nurenburg trials.

    As I said, let’s wait and see how he fares. The Bible says that the Russia-China-Iran axis will fall first, and that NATO will fall later. Let’s see if Vlad has come up with a better idea.

  29. @Ted, Excellent article. I couldn’t have said it better. Left nothing out. Interesting point about Truman.

  30. @Ted
    A masterful compilation detailing the culpability of the US in pursuing their regime change by proxy which they launched against Russia. Very well done!