John Brown's Notes and Essays

Here’s what we know : President Vladimir Putin will deliver a speech in Moscow, capping an annexation effort widely denounced as a sham. Putin will sign agreements on Friday to absorb four Ukrainian territories, the Kremlin says. The Pentagon announces an additional $1.1 billion in long-term aid for Ukraine. A mystery hovers over the apparent sabotage of two undersea gas pipelines: Did Russia do it? What we know about the pipeline breaks in Europe. Moscow releases final results of discredited referendums in occupied territories. The European Union proposes a fresh round of sanctions against the Kremlin over ‘sham’ referendums.

Across Eastern and Central Europe, statues honoring Soviet troops for their role in defeating the Nazis in World War II have in recent weeks come down or been slated for demolition. image from article, with caption:  Dr. Juris Vidins, right, in front of a Red Army soldier statue in the town of Rezekne, Latvia.  Credit... Katrina Kepule for The New York Times Katrina Kepule for The New York Times By Andrew Higgins , The New York Times , Sept. 25, 2022 [original article contains additional illustrations] REZEKNE, Latvia — Deported to Siberia by the Soviet secret police as a child and stranded there for more than a decade, Dr. Juris Vidins has for years cursed the large statue of a Red Army soldier looming over the center of his hometown in eastern Latvia. An inscription at its base honors the Soviet “liberators” who drove out the Nazis in 1944 — and who sent his father to a prison camp and the rest of the family to a frozen wilderness.   “This was not liberation, but occupa...

KYRGYZSTAN|FOREIGN POLICY|SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 / 11:12 AM [ see also]     AKIPRESS.COM - Acting Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau [jb  see  also] will travel to Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic from September 28-October 9, 2022. "Her 12-day trip will prioritize working with U.S. diplomatic missions on policy and messaging priorities, including countering disinformation from Russia and the People’s Republic of China, ongoing U.S. support to the people of Afghanistan, social equity, media freedom, and climate. Acting Assistant Secretary Trudeau will meet with government officials and civil society organizations, foreign media outlets and press, influencers, students, journalists, and U.S. public diplomacy sections," the U.S. Department of State said. In Uzbekistan, Acting Assistant Secretary Trudeau will deliver a keynote speech to Webster University’s English for Professionals in Mass Media gra...

image (not from article) from — Carly Olson, The New York Times ; see also Russian citizens have been fleeing to the European Union in droves since President Vladimir V. Putin’s announcement last week to call up roughly 300,000 reservists to the military, the E.U.’s border agency, Frontex, said on Tuesday. From Sept. 19 to Sunday, nearly 66,000 Russian citizens entered the E.U., up 30 percent from the previous week, the agency said in a statement. Most passed through the Estonian and Finnish border crossing points and have E.U. residence permits, visas or dual citizenship. In the past four days alone, 30,000 Russians have arrived in Finland.  The numbers confirm other reports of an exodus of Russians since Mr. Putin moved to expand the war through a draft.  Since Mr. Putin’s announcement, some young men who previously thought they would not have to fight now fear that the call-up could force them to be next on the front lines. Tens of thousands of Russian citizens have rushe...

, [jb: to die in Ukraine? For what? Putin [see a French word ? ] ... image (not from article) from Exodus adds to the thousands heading to countries including Armenia, Georgia, Mongolia and Nordic nations By Ann M. Simmons , The Wall Street Journal , Sept. 27, 2022 11:20 am ET [original article contains illustrations and a video] MOSCOW—Nearly 100,000 Russians crossed the border into Kazakhstan in the days following Russian President   Vladimir Putin ’s announcement of a   broad mobilization to generate new troops   to fight in Ukraine.   The flow is   part of an exodus of Russians   who have headed to countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Mongolia and Nordic nations in recent days and comes as uncertainty mounts over whether the Kremlin might mobilize additional manpower to complement the more than 300,000 reservists that were called up on Sept. 21. The exact number of Russians who have left the country since what the Kremlin called a “partial mobilization”...

[jb - EU - No more diamonds from Russia? see below] image (not from article), with caption:   Russian  royal gems, rare coloured diamonds on Geneva auction block - Sotheby's   Economic pain on Europeans of punishing Moscow is prompting some leaders to balk at new measures image from article, with caption:  A billboard in the Russian-held Ukrainian region of Luhansk displaying a soldier and a Russian flag and reading, ‘We believe in our army and our victory.’  PHOTO:  /ASSOCIATED PRESS By Laurence Norman , The Wall Street Journal , Sept. 27, 2022 11:21 am ET [original article contains additional illustrations] BERLIN—The European Union is poised to adopt new sanctions on Russia, even as some member countries are questioning existing restrictions and as the   economic pain they are inflicting   on EU citizens grows.   The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, is likely as soon as Wednesday to propose new import and export controls ...