#ream Russia

[pikilos]

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby face off at the World Cup

[x]

[burinazar]

Keep having semi coherent thoughts on what a weird mix I have experienced in fandom spaces last year of

“sense of sadness over practical language barriers preventing in-depth communication between parties who feel deeply affected by one another’s art”

and

“sense of deep connectedness brought about by the fact our appreciation for same characters and the art we showed each other anyway can overcome those barriers and our feelings can reach each other to some extent”

and the fact the story and characters in question have an in-narrative theme of separation thru different practical causes (usually more dire than mere language barriers — physical confinement, time shifts, loss of humanity) and yet the bonds between them prevail even so……..

This is really incoherent but I hope I can find a less silly way to articulate how meaningful it all feels and the combination of sad and sweet….

[cerise-on-top]

Fluff alphabet for Nikolai? You’re one of the few who write for him and he’s my favorite character! Thank you so much!!

Hey there! Really? There aren't many people who write for him? That's such a shame, he's literally such a cool character and I adore him so much! Also, sorry I wrote this relatively late, but life got inbetween! But I wrote it now!

Fluff Alphabet for Nikolai

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

If it was up to him, then you’d be spending most of your days at home, within the safety of your walls. However, he loves doing whatever it is you love. You wanna go on a hike? You wanna have a boxing match with him? You wanna start a book club? Everything is game for him as long as you’re down for it, or make the suggestion. He is the adaptable sort of person who can do just about anything, especially if he gets to spend time with you and make you happy.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

The fact that you can stay with someone like him. Nikolai can be a very cocky man, he doesn’t particularly hide his occasional cruelty either. Sure, he is calm and collected as well, but he could see why you would want to leave him for someone more “proper”. You could likely get anyone in the world, and yet you decide to stay with him? He, who has killed the guilty and innocent alike? Who makes fun of the police whenever he can? It takes a special kind of crazy to want to be with someone like that. He can appreciate that. 

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Since one of his abilities is that he can stay calm under any circumstance, he would likely calmly talk to you, try to talk some sense into you as well. His voice can be rather calm too when he wants it to be. He’ll be your voice of reason while getting you away from whatever may be upsetting you, shielding you from onlookers. When you’re sad he’ll offer some advice, or maybe some distraction, whichever you say you need more at the moment. His advice is actually pretty solid too, he’s been through a lot and isn’t the youngest anymore either.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He has a small country house in the middle of nowhere in Russia, and he’d love living there with you. No more soldier or mercenary business, just you and him living together there, disturbed by no one aside from the occasional bird chirping here and there. He’d chop the wood while you make him a lovely pie. It doesn’t need to be fancy, as long as he gets to spend his future with you, winding down from all the adrenaline he gets on a regular basis, he’s happy.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Surprisingly, he tends to be more passive in the relationship. Though, he could go either way, but normally he just goes along with whatever it is you want. Sure, he can and will flirt with you occasionally, and if you’re on the more passive side then he’ll take charge, but other than that he just goes with the flow and lets you decide. If you can’t decide for whatever reason, then he will. But whatever makes you happiest he’ll do.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

He would never raise his voice at you. It’s very hard to anger him in general, he usually believes he’s in the right anyway, which he usually is. He’s calm and collected at all times, but will be more factual with everything when he’s starting to get annoyed with you. However, he easily forgives, regardless of whether you apologize or not. Your relationship isn’t so weak that something like this should make it falter.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Generally speaking, he knows what is and isn’t a given, and he knows to appreciate the things that aren’t. So yeah, he’s a pretty grateful man, even if it doesn’t seem like he’d show it very often. Nikolai knows that you cleaning the house from top to bottom, you cooking him a meal and giving him all the love he deserves and so much more isn’t a given, so he likes to show his gratitude through the small things, such as making sure to take in every new detail about you and always complimenting you, getting you the occasional gift as well. Something small but meaningful.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

He runs a PMC, so naturally there are things he can’t tell you about. However, he does believe that secrecy kills a relationship. If it’s something he can talk about, he will. Although he won’t go into detail about how he tortured that man, he will give you constructive criticism on how you can improve your knitting. He’s not one for lying, you deserve to know just about everything. Isn’t the most open about his past, though.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

I think Nikolai changed the most during his youth, so likely long before he met you. By the time you met he had already become who he is today. I don’t think anyone or anything could change him that significantly anymore, unless something truly terrible happened. He knows to take care of himself. However, I feel as though he could have become a bit kinder as a result of meeting you.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He has faith in you to not leave him. Sure, he gets his spurts of jealousy, but he’s an adult, he doesn’t really act on it all that much. The only thing he really does when he’s jealous is talk over the other person to try and get your attention. He deals with it by either walking away from the situation or trying to get you away from the other person if he can. Again, he trusts you to not stray from him.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

He’s an attractive man, he likely had his fair share of lovers throughout his life, meaning he’s kissed plenty of times. When he was younger, he wasn’t a very good kisser, but he learned to adapt to the likes and dislikes of people. He could likely satisfy just about anyone with a few kisses these days. However, your first kiss with him would have beena a gentle one. He loved you even back then and was afraid of intimidating you. It was short, it was gentle, it was sweet.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

It wouldn’t be anything too fancy. He’d get you flowers, some chocolate or other sweets you like and invite you to a lake or something. And then he’d confess his feelings to you in a casual manner and ask you if you want to be with him. If you had said no then he would have made the offer of staying friends, at the very least.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

On the one hand, he does want to get married, on the other he doesn’t want to subject you to all the danger he’s usually part of. I think it would take him an eternity to propose and then it would be something simple as well. He’d test the waters by asking you if you want to marry him first, the ring comes later. Not much changes when you’re married to him. It still feels rather casual, but there’s always the fact you’re bound by your vows now. He’ll make it his goal to relive his honeymoon with you by going on a vacation with you every once in a while.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Милый/милая (my dear, darling), Любимый/любимая (loved one) and Солнышко (sunshine) are his go to. He’s not overly creative, but he sometimes also calls you by the names of cute little animals. Again, he’s more casual when it comes to things like this. More often than not, he calls you by your name. However, he’s not above using terms of endearment in your native language as well. He knows eight languages, and if yours isn’t among them then he’ll simply learn it.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It’s not obvious at all when he’s in love. Sure, he likes to spend more time with you, but he won’t prioritize you when he’s busy. Sometimes he’ll give you an expensive gift. Knowing fully well you’ll want to repay him, he’ll simply ask for your company and that you’ll pay for the coffee on your little date. He knows how to get what he wants, and if he wants a small outing with you then he’ll get it. He doesn’t express his feelings freely at first, but he’ll call and text you more often to check up on you. That’s about it, he has his feelings in check otherwise.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

He doesn’t really brag about his relationship. He only really mentions you here and there in front of his closest friends. The entire world doesn’t need to know about you, so he keeps you to himself for the most part. However, he doesn’t really mind PDA all that much. Sure, he won’t really initiate it, but if you really wanna kiss him, then you can just go for it. Same if you just wanna cuddle up to him under his jacket. He doesn’t really mind that sort of thing.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

The fact that he can stay cool under any circumstance. Even when you’re out to get on his nerves like no other he can stay almost completely neutral. It’s really hard to piss him off, and even then he thinks more rationally than he normally would. He really doesn’t let his emotions get the better of him when he’s in a negative situation. You’ll never have him yell at you, only tell you facts. He can also argue for you in case someone is being mean to you.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s not really a romantic at heart. Sure, there’s the occasional gesture. He’ll gift you plushies, he’ll take you on a walk where you can watch the sunrise together, he’ll also cuddle you on the couch. However, he will also train you, he will take you to his shooting range, you will be sparring with him from time to time. Although it may not seem like much, that’s also another “romantic” aspect of his. He wants you to be able to defend yourself in an emergency, so he’ll make all of it seem more romantic than it really is. Will take you out for dinner, though. He can make some really mean pirozhki.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Naturally. He’s been through so much, he likely has some piece of advice for just about any situation. And even when he can’t give you any advice, he can help you out by either listening to your woes or by paying for whatever it is you need. He’ll always be there for you. Nikolai is a very loyal man once you’ve gotten on his good side. He would never let anyone he’s close with down, be it a friend or a lover. You can bet he’ll do just about anything for you.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

It entirely depends on what you want. He can honestly go either way. Sure, he might not want to spice his love life up by committing a murder with you every day, even if he could, but maybe going on a vacation every once in a while would be nice. While he may be down to try almost everything at least once, he doesn’t mind staying stagnant in that regard either. It’s really up to you. However, he will make you eat certain new foods he thinks you might like. He’s a great cook, his meals are always top notch.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He’s not a very empathetic person. Sure, he can usually tell what someone is thinking, but that doesn’t mean he cares enough about most people to feel what they’re feeling. Even in a relationship he isn’t the most emphatic person, he barely has any empathy for anyone. However, he can easily take notice of even the smallest of changes in your behavior and act accordingly. To him, life is more logical than anything else, not so much emotional. So he will act in accordance with the signs you give him and do whatever he has learned works for you. Either that or he will listen to his intuition. His intuition is great.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

His relationship with you is on par with the friendship he has with Price and Laswell. He knows that you can’t live off of love and air your entire life, so he keeps close contact with both of them as well. While you could not bribe him out of the relationship if you tried, he does sometimes think about cutting ties with you to keep you safe. He wouldn’t go through with it, but he does value a lot of things in life. Any relationship is important to him, whether it be romantic or platonic. So yeah, you wanting him to cut ties with Price or Laswell would immediately raise a red flag with him. He wouldn’t give up either of them either, please understand that. 

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

He runs so very hot. Out of all the main characters, he has the highest body temperature. Nikolai is very comfortable to cuddle with in winter. He doesn’t mind cuddling with you either, if that’s what you want. But just so you know, he’s a tall man and could likely wrap himself around you almost entirely. He’s also very strong, so he could make you feel very protected as well. That’s one of his favorite things to do, making you feel safe and secure. The more you melt into him, the more you trust him to protect you, the better. He’s a nightmare to cuddle with in summer, though.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

On his own accord he’s kind of like a cat. He prefers to watch you and be in the same room as you to show affection. Once he’s figured out your style of affection, he’ll act in accordance to that. You wanna cuddle? Sure. You wanna be together in the same room? Naturally. You wanna be mushy together and exchange loving words? Yeah, he can do that too, even if he isn’t the most emotional person. Generally speaking, he likes kissing and cuddling, but he doesn’t need to be all over you all the time. The occasional kiss and cuddle is alright, but too much skin contact has the potential to annoy him.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Since he knows that being distracted on the battlefield could lead to him never seeing you again, he tends to not think about you. However, once he has some downtime he likes to replay some of the moments he shared with you. The time you accidentally hurt yourself breaking a mug as he patched you up or when you fell asleep in his arms, he thinks about those moments more often than he’d like to admit. He doesn’t really keep a memento of you, you’re not even on his phone’s background, but he remembers you well. Your smiles, your tears, the way you’d hug him so tightly when he’d come home. He just thinks about you and those thoughts lull him to sleep.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he has killed for you several times already. To answer the question, yes. He’s killed for you, he’s broken the law several times for you. He runs his own PMC, he could technically go to war for you as well. And he would if someone were to take you away from him. He could likely destroy a small nation for you. While he won’t do it if you ask him to, if someone were to kidnap you, he would not hesitate to fight for you. Your safety is a priority of his, so he will do what he can to make sure you’re by his side, forever and always.

[mariacallous]

Three days after Kamala Harris was sworn into the Senate in early January 2017, the U.S. intelligence community released a stunning declassified report that concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an influence campaign meant to sway the previous year’s presidential election in favor of Donald Trump and undermine faith in U.S. democracy.

The revelations spurred three high-profile investigations into Russian election interference by lawmakers and special counsel Robert Mueller and would come to dominate headlines for much of the Trump presidency.

As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which conducted a wide-ranging three-year investigation of Moscow’s interference efforts, Harris had a front-row seat to reams of highly classified material about Russian intelligence operations targeting the United States. The experience left a long-standing impression on the vice president, according to current and former aides who characterize it as a highly formative experience that left her with few illusions about Moscow’s intentions.

“I see those first few weeks as pivotal, because those were both her and Donald Trump’s first few weeks in Washington,” said Halie Soifer, who served as national security advisor to Harris in the Senate.

A Republican source familiar with Harris’s time on the committee said that during the Russia investigation, members were exposed to “borderline raw intelligence” on Moscow’s interference efforts, which they described as an eye-opening experience, even for long-standing members of the committee. “I think it was sobering for everyone,” said the source, who requested anonymity to share their insights.

The Senate’s final report, which spanned over 1,000 pages across five volumes, is generally regarded to be the most detailed look at aggressive Russian intelligence efforts to make inroads with the Trump campaign and to sway the election in favor of the former president.

The report did not reach a conclusion as to whether the Trump team had actively sought to collude with Moscow for its own advantage.

As part of its investigation, the committee reviewed over 1 million pages of documents and interviewed more than 200 witnesses.

While much of the day-to-day work of the probe was carried out by committee staffers, senators from both sides of the aisle have described Harris as a quick study whose advice on questioning witnesses was sought by seasoned committee staff, according to a 2019 BuzzFeed article.

In public hearings on both the Intelligence and Judiciary committees, on which she also sat, Harris developed a reputation for her prosecutorial style as she interrogated senior members of the Trump administration.

“Members get out of it what they put into it, and she put a lot of time and energy and effort into it,” said the Republican source.

Former aides to the vice president have spoken of how her background as a lawyer also informs her view on foreign policy, placing particular emphasis on the importance of international laws and norms. In a 2019 interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Harris described the U.S. role in building a “community of international institutions, laws, and democratic nations” as America’s biggest foreign-policy achievement since World War II.

While the House Intelligence Committee Russia investigation was beset by political infighting, the Senate investigation remained bipartisan and largely free of public drama—something Harris has spoken fondly of.

“Every week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee would walk into that wood-paneled room—no cameras, no public, no devices,” said Harris during a memorial service last year for the late California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had been a long-standing member of the committee.

“Senators of both parties who would take off their jackets and literally roll up their sleeves, putting aside partisanship to discuss what was in the best interests of our national security,” she said.

Harris served on the Intelligence Committee, which, alongside the House panel, provides oversight of the sprawling U.S. intelligence community, throughout her four years in the Senate.

In 2018, Harris backed an amendment that would compel law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing the communications of American citizens inadvertently gathered under a controversial program that enabled intelligence agencies to conduct wide-ranging foreign electronic surveillance.

She also used the perch to stress the need for greater investments in election security in light of Russia’s attempt to sway the vote, co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation on election cybersecurity.

[jeannereames]

Hello Professor Reames! How has the Macedonian Question influenced the historiography around Alexander?

The Macedonian Question & Ancient Macedonian Studies

(or, Come study ancient Macedonia! We cause riots!)

I’ll begin by explaining, for those unfamiliar, the “Macedonian Question” centers on who gets to lay claim to the name “Macedonia” and (originally) the geographical region, which is ethnically diverse but majority Slavic. It arose during the First and Second Balkan Wars of 1912-13, then returned after the breakup of Yugoslavia, from 1989 on.

I’ve been a bit chary about replying to this simply because it is (still) a hot topic, if not what it used to be even 10 years ago. Also…expect maps. Let me lead with three points:

1) The ancient Macedonians certainly weren’t Slavic. Slavs didn’t arrive in the area until the 6th century CE (AD), a millennia after Alexander lived. No ancient historian claimed they were Slavs, although some Slavic Nationalists used carefully edited quotes from ancient historians to support their own claims to the ancient Macedonians.

2) A lot of different peoples have passed through the Balkans and northern Greece (and even southern Greece) between now and 2300+ years ago. The Balkans have continued to be an ethnically contested area from antiquity to modernity, and who was “in charge” depended on what century it was.

3) Ancient concepts of Greek ethnicity didn’t ossify until around the Greco-Persian Wars. Prior to that, Greeks were more aware of/concerned with their citizenship/ethnicity in specific city-states (poleis) and/or language family groupings (Ionic-Attic, Doric, Aeolic).

Furthermore, these views were based on MYTH. To be Greek (Hellenic) meant to be descended from the mythical forerunner, Hellen, son of the equally mythical Dukalion (who survived the Flood…e.g., Greek Noah). There were other children of Dukalion, including a daughter Thyia. Thyia became the mother of Makedon, the mythical progenitor of the Macedonians.

So, by ancient criteria, Macedonians weren’t Hellenes (Greek). But they were kissing cousins. The ancients took these things seriously. That’s why I wanted to explain, so when the ancient Greeks said Macedonians weren’t Greeks, it didn’t mean what we’d consider it to mean today.

Back to the Macedonian Question … the issue of the Greekness of the ancient Macedonians got tied up in modern politics when Yugoslavia fell apart. During the First Balkan War and the division of Macedonia in 1913, “Macedonian Studies” didn’t exist yet. By the Third Balkan War (collapse of Yugoslavia), they did. And history was suddenly being pressed into the service of modern political agendas.

Now, let me back up and explain—as briefly as I can (so expect some judicious epitomizing)—the emergence of modern Greece and the First and Second Balkan Wars.

The Ottoman Empire began to collapse (not just decline) in the 1800s, and was essentially kicked out of Europe entirely by the First Balkan War and World War I. The last of it fell apart with the rise of Attaturk and the Young Turk Revolution, so Modern Turkey emerged in 1923.

Greece was part of that. The Greek War of Independence started in 1821, and Greece secured statehood in 1829/30, then became the Kingdom of Greece in 1832/3, which lasted until the military junta abolished it in 1973, after which it became the [Third] Hellenic Republic. From independence until the end of WWII, Greek borders expanded (see map below). Fun detail, the late Prince Philip, Elizabeth II’s husband, was a Greek (and Danish) prince.

The First Balkan War began in 1912, which was the Ottoman’s last gasp in Europe. The Austro-Hungarians wanted to make the Balkans a subject state, Russia wanted more control over the Black Sea, and Greece wanted to push north towards Thessaloniki and “Constantinople” (Istanbul). Ignoring Austro-Hungary, Serbia wanted to reconstitute “Greater Serbia” (14th Century Serbian empire)—which included a good chunk of Greece. And Bulgaria, with the strongest regional army, was eying the whole area south to the sea.

Oh, and let’s add in a dose of religious difference (Muslim vs. Orthodox Christian) just for snorts and giggles.

But this was basically about SEA TRADE access. So, for the three allies against the Ottomans, e.g., Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, Thessaloniki, Jewel of the Aegean, was the prize.

The war began October 8th, and by November 8th (1912), the three Balkan allies all hurried their armies to converge on Thessaloniki as the Ottomans withdrew. The Greeks got there mere hours ahead of the Bulgarians.

"Θεσσαλονίκη με κάθε κόστος!" (Thessaloniki, at all costs!) E. Venizelos

The war itself ended the next year (in part thanks to the Greek fleet in Thessaloniki), and Greece kept the city, and with it, still controls a lot of shipping in the Eastern Mediterranean. Shipping remains Greece’s second most profitable industry (after tourism).

Following the war’s conclusion, several issues arose, including how to partition the land—particularly the geographical region of Macedonia. The 1913 Treaty of London split it up between Bulgaria (smallest part), Greece, and Serbia (biggest part). Again, Greece and Serbia wanted to keep Bulgaria, with the most powerful army, from gaining substantially more land.

World War I intervened, and then the rise of Attaturk in Turkey and the “Megali Idea” in Greece. The Megali Idea, proposed at the Paris Peace Conference after WWI (map below), got Greece in trouble. It would have involved retaking not just the islands off Turkey’s coast, but chunks of the Turkish mainland, to match ancient Greek land claims. All THAT led to showdowns, with ongoing human rights abuses on both sides (including the Armenian Genocide earlier, which wasn’t related to Greece).

In 1923, Greece/Hellas and the new Republic of Türkiye agreed to an exchange of populations. So, Ottoman Turks/Muslims in Greece retreated to Turkey (were kicked out), and Greeks in Turkey retreated into Greece (were kicked out). About half those Greek refugees landed in Athens, whose population exploded overnight, creating an economic crisis. Many of the rest ended up in areas of northern Greece, where land from fleeing Muslims was to be had. Ergo, many new immigrants had very strong pro-Hellenic, anti-Muslim/anyone else feeling, and hadn’t been living for ages next to their (Macedonian) Slavic neighbors, who began to feel unwelcome. It also had negative effects on their Jewish neighbors, too. (The loss of Jewish life in WWII in northern Greece, especially Thessaloniki, is both shocking and heartbreaking.)

Keep in mind that the refugees on both sides had been living in their original countries not for a few decades, but for a couple centuries, or even longer in the case of the Greeks in Anatolia/Turkey. The first Greek colonies there date to the 700s/600s… BCE. There’s a good reason the Greeks and Turks hate each other, and it’s not just Cyprus. The atrocities at the beginning of the 20th Century were awful. Neither side has clean hands.

Anyway, there was a second Balkan War in 1913, which I’m ignoring, except for the map below. It amounts to Bulgaria getting pissy about their short shrift in the earlier Macedonian land division.

Then came fallout from World War II, when Greece got the Dodecanese from Italy, et al. But I want to fast forward to the collapse of The Berlin Wall in Eastern Europe, November 9, 1989, and Yugoslavia’s dissolution shortly after. That ushered in the Third Balkan War, or Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s.

Compared to the Bosnian Genocide and other shit going down with Milosevic, the return of the Macedonian Question seems minor. It involved the Yugoslavian province of Macedonia asking to be called “Macedonia” and Greece having a very public, international melt-down.

The entire dust-up confused much of the rest of the world. The number of times I’ve had to explain it to (non-Greek, non-Slavic) people, who just boggled…. I’ve also seen tourists stand in polite perplexity while Greeks went on a hand-waving tear about how Macedonia has been Greek for 4000 years!!! [I’ve got a t-shirt with that on it.] Btw, 4000 years dates before the first Helladic peoples even migrated into the peninsula. Anyway….

Greeks consider the name Macedonia theirs, on historical grounds. They didn’t object to the new country, but wanted it called Skopje, after the capital, or something, anything not “Macedonia.” Meanwhile, the (Slavic) Macedonians were enormously insulted and pointed to the fact they lived in a region called Macedonia, and their ancestors had been living there for centuries, so why couldn’t they call their new country by the name of the region it occupied? Stated fears of actual territorial expansion by either side were largely scare tactics and fringe rhetoric. It really was all about the name. But increasingly, that began to include claims on the ancient Macedonians, or cultural appropriation. The new Macedonian state (FYROM, then) didn’t do itself any favors with their choice of the (ancient) Macedonian sunburst for their flag and naming their airport after Alexander, et al.

That’s how ancient history got sucked into all of this in a way it didn’t the first time.

Now, let me repeat. The ancient Macedonians were not Slavs. The Thracians were not Slavs either, nor the Paionians, nor the Illyrians, nor the Celts north of them. You won’t find the Thracians called “Slavic” in Bulgarian Museums, even while they take very good care of their regional history.

By the 1990s, Macedonian history had emerged as something more than just “Alexander the Great and Philip,” and questions arose about who these people may have been. Were they Greeks like the Thessalians and Epirotes to their south and west? Or were they non-Greeks like the Thracians, Paionians, and Illyrians to their north? This was an academic (not modern political) question, and involved: 1) what did Makedoniste (“to speak in the Macedonian manner”) mean? Was that a dialect or a different language?; and 2) to what degree did ancient Greeks really consider them non-Greeks (e.g., barbarians)? The fact we had so little epigraphy from the area complicated the language question. And ancient Greek politics complicated the second question. Were the angry repudiations by Demosthenes & Friends a real, widely held sentiment…or just ancient Athenian nationalism and anti-Philip propaganda?

This was mostly nerdy stuff that should have remained safely ensconced at dull specialist panels at academic conferences.

Except …. Manolis Andronikos had found the Royal Tombs at Vergina in 1978, and Greece was bursting with pride (as they should have been). Macedonia was back on the map! Tourists still largely stuck to the Greek south, but The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport saw an opportunity, even back then, to capitalize on tourism, so you can begin to see why it was important for “Macedonia” to remain Greek. Can’t have a country calling itself Macedonia and maybe confusing people about who Alexander and Philip had been, and where they’d lived (and syphoning off possible tourism dollars).

That may sound unduly cynical, but I’m actually with the Greeks on this, even if I’ve always rolled my eyes over the name thing. And, as noted above “Macedonia” was laying active claim to Philip and Alexander as if there was direct continuity between the ancient Macedonians and the modern ones. See below, the giant Alexander statue erected in Skopje (2011), the biggest in the whole city. It’s formal name these days is “Great Warrior,” by agreement with Greece in order to get to call themselves “Northern Macedonia” in NATO. But it’s Alexander.

Like I said, they weren’t doing themselves any favors, although those arguing in their defense liked to point out that Greece had started it, over the name.

Of course the increasingly heated rhetoric around the name, and ownership of Alexander and Philip, enveloped ancient history like the ash cloud from Vesuvius smothered Pompeii and Herculaneum. By the mid-1990s, “middle ground” wasn’t allowed. If one expressed any doubt about the Greekness of the ancient Macedonians, that was heard as, “You’re siding with the Skopjans!” This dispute was still going strong to the point there were riots and protests at the Balkan Studies’ 7th International Symposium on Ancient Macedon in Thessaloniki on October 16, 2002. These protests erupted over the presence of Kate Mortensen, Ernst Badian, and Daniel Ogden, albeit the protests involved different objections for each scholar. Badian, along with Peter Green and Gene Borza (not present), had long been in the crosshairs of the vehement “Macedonia was Greek!” crowd. But poor Kate got targeted because of her paper, “Homosexuality at the Macedonian Court,” and Daniel had the temerity to present about witchcraft at Philip’s court (UnChristian things!). There were some 40 police called in to protect the presenters. You cannot make up this shit.

Btw, by no means were all Greeks, especially not all Greek scholars, hostile to the (largely Anglophone) Macedoniasts who questioned the ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians. Olga Palagia and Gene Borza remained friends and even wrote articles together, but Olga was retired and had a certain freedom from pressure. Manolis Andronikos and Gene also remained friends until Manolis’s death in 1992. But there was an Official Party Line that had to be maintained, or risk losing an academic job or other position in the Ministry. This also got tied into the identity of the occupants of Royal Tombs I and II at Vergina. Greece’s official position is that these are Amyntas III and Philip II, respectively. This is far from a settled matter, however, especially outside Greece.

For more detail from somebody right in the middle of especially the early parts of the quarrel over who’s buried in “Philip’s Tomb” and the ethnicity of the Macedonians, check out Peter Green’s chapter 10, “The Macedonian Connection,” in Classical Bearings.

To return to the question about how it’s affected historiography, other than resulting in hostility towards non-compliant ancient historians (having their work essentially banned in Greece) and the occasional riot at an academic conference (!!), it also resulted in the production of TWO quasi-competing “Companions” to ancient Macedonia at the end of the first decade of the 2000s.

The original proposal (A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, Roisman and Worthington, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) had meant to include a number of high-profile scholars of both Greek and non-Greek background. But one of those was Loring Danforth (The Macedonian Conflict). When it came out that he was writing the chapter on modern Macedonia, the Greek contributors revolted en masse. (Some were genuinely furious, others had to, to keep their jobs.) Another Companion was put together with Robin Lane Fox at the editorial helm (Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon, Brill, 2011), and the Greeks (and a few others) jumped ship. That was a nice break for some younger Macedonian scholars, incidentally, who were then tapped to write chapters for the Roisman/Worthington volume—and very good chapters, I might add. But the end result is one heavily archaeological Companion (Lane Fox) and one heavily historical one (Roisman/Worthington), and which still has Danforth.

Between the arguments of the 1990s and now, however, one important shift has occurred: enough epigraphical data has emerged, and not just later [Hellenistic], to argue the ancient Macedonians did speak a form of Doric Greek. Many/most of us are now a lot more comfortable agreeing that the ancient Macedonians can be called “Greek” without feeling as if we’re selling our academic souls--even if we may still argue that’s not Philip in Royal Tomb II...an identification that some of the younger Greeks also aren’t sold on. And Philip in Tomb II was never the highly charged political issue that the Greekness of the ancient Macedonians was. It just got tied up in it for coming up around the same time. One Greek friend put it succinctly (paraphrased), “It felt like the non-Greeks, especially the Americans and Aussies, were trying to take away Philip and Alexander from us. Tomb II wasn’t Philip, and the Macedonians weren’t even Greeks.”

That may be a bit hyperbolic, but feelings don’t necessarily respond to logic, and Greece would like to have their bona fides.

So, a chunk of the tension from the 1990s has subsided. The Greekness of the ancient Macedonians is largely a non-topic in Macedonian studies today. We’re more interested in new and exciting things like revelations from recent archaeology regarding the sophistication of the Macedonian kingdom well back into the Archaic Age, the real impact of Persia and how early, and what exactly was going on up there before (and after) the Greco-Persian Wars. Or at least, those are certainly my burning questions about the Argead Kingdom up to Philip and Alexander.

[scotianostra]

John Cairncross WWII intelligence officer and Soviet spy was born on 27th July 1913 in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire.

Cairncross was highly educated, attending Glasgow University and obtaining degrees in French and German at the Sorbonne in France before entering Cambridge University on scholarship to study modern languages.

Was introduced to Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess and soon became a Communist working with the Cambridge Spy Ring. Monitored by Soviet agent Samuel Cahan, he received a short course in espionage tactics before taking the Home Office and Foreign Office exams, receiving the highest scores on both.

Was assigned to the Foreign Office in 1936 where he worked briefly with Donald Maclean. Served as Served briefly as the personal secretary to Lord Maurice Hankey who oversaw Intelligence services in Britain. Moved on to the Bletchley Code and Cipher School. In the course of his job he passed intercepted messages and other classified information to his Soviet handler. He often delivered cases full of intercepted German messages int he back seat of his car which he drove to the Soviet embassy.

During World War II, worked for MI6 in its London headquarters. Smuggled plans for postwar Yugoslavia to the Soviets. After World War II, continued to pass information to Soviet agents, including Kim Philby, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess.

In 1951, sensitive documents in Cairncross’ handwriting were found in Burgess apartment after Burgess and Maclean fled to Russia. He was thus fired from his position in the British Treasury department, although he denied being a spy. He turned to scholarly activities and humanitarian efforts for the United Nations.

In 1964, Sir Anthony Blunt confessed to being a Soviet spy and in return for leniency identified Cairncross as another Soviet agent. When confronted with the evidence, Cairncross admitted to his espionage, explaining that he had not spied for several years, saying that he spied only during World War II, when Russia was a British ally.

Soviet defectors later disputed Cairncross statements about his limited involvement in espionage. They claimed that he had turned over countless reams of information.

Fearful of negative publicity and scandal, the British government hushed up his activities, declining to prosecute him for espionage or to expose him to the public. Cairncross, in fact, remained for a time in his job as with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.

Cairncross was exposed in 1981 by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He continued his life in exile until 1995 when he moved to Britain and married American opera singer Gayle Brinkerhoff. Later that year he died after suffering a stroke.

[darkmaga-retard]

In general, putting former intelligence agents on the media as expert commentators is a really weird move. But this guy is something else altogether.

“Ivan told them to become anti-stabbers” is a lunatic statement, and it really discredits the entire British establishment that this argument

The Guardian:

There is “clear” Russian involvement in the far-right riots and security services will be looking closely at the instigators, a former head of the MI6 Russia desk has said. Christopher Steele, the ex-spy who compiled a notorious dossier on Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia, said that security officials would be “looking very carefully” at the people encouraging anti-immigration riots in the past fortnight. … Speaking to Times Radio, Steele said of the riots: “I think it’s clear there is some Russian involvement. The degree to which that’s happened and the effectiveness I think is still out for question. I mean, when you look at the original disinformation that surrounded the Southport killings, that does seem to have come from a Russian-linked website.” The origin of the false claim about the Southport stabbing perpetrator appears to be an outlet called Channel3 Now, which is styled to resemble a mainstream American network news channel and mixes potentially AI-generated US and UK news material. This website posted spurious claims that the Southport attacker was “on the MI6 watch list” and was “known to mental health services”. This was amplified by prominent far-right influencers. Steele said that the security services “will be looking very carefully at the instigators of these activities, including people like Tommy Robinson, even conceivably Nigel Farage, who incidentally said that we were being misinformed by the government about Southport”. Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been posting reams of material on platforms including X praising anti-immigration protesters from his holiday in Cyprus.

He is literally on vacation at a luxury resort while all this is happening.

[mewlabu]

My first few hours online:

"Leftists" and tankies attacking a Ukrainian in Canada for saying she's not into Russian culture at the moment re Nabokov, because she's in Canada and therefore a colonizer.

Photos and news I'd a young man who has been risking his life receiving Russian and Ukrainian bodies from the field so they can be returned, while Russians leave their dead behind, being killed in Bahmut.

Another attack by Russian rmisiles on residential areas with dead counts not finalized because the search for people continues

The UN released a statement about not punishing Russian athletes by denying them participation in the Olympics next to the news that a Ukranian who would have gone to the Olympics died just a few days earlier.

A Russian musician, and known supporter of Putin and the invasion, is invited to perform in a European country even after outcry and withdrawal of Ukranian performers from the festival.

More "anti-imperialist" and "leftists" screaming about their taxes funding tanks for Ukraine and framing any help to Ukraine in defending itself as somehow the greatest evil of our times.

A Russian propagandist is gang raped by Kadyrovites while covering the war, and NAFO guys flood someone's mentions making rape jokes no matter how many times Ukranians tell them it's not ok.

Switzerland giving Russia back billions in frozen assets. Austria and Hungary refusing to send any help. Discovery of multiple ways in which Russia is avoiding the meager sanctions and continues to access tech supplies to keep building their weapons.

Images of villages turned to dust. News of a possible renewed offensive in spring while the rest of the world kept debating providing Leapords only to finally agree to when it's going to take half a year to train and deliver them and so may not be soon enough.

Folks fundraising for specific battalions talking about how much harder it's getting because instagram, twitter block their posts or deboost them and people are getting bored and the reporting on the war is moving off front pages for much of the world.

Kids being forced to go to military boot camps in occupied areas with parents threatened to lose custody if they refuse.

Daily lists of young artists, teachers, tech experts, engineers, writers, parents, farmers, a whole future of a nation killed daily and being told to be more sympathetic to the ones who came to kill them.

Seeing Western talking heads give Navalny more passes on his nationalism and racism while writing reams of op eds about how unreasonable Ukraine is to want it's language protected.

Articles about poor Miss. Russia complaining people were avoiding her at Miss Universe and Miss Ukraine didn't want to take a selfie with her.

It's too much sometimes and I don't even have to live with air raids anymore or hide in a bomb shelter on top of it all too.

Millions aren't so lucky.

[blueweave8]

Horizontal Directional Drilling Market Demand, Trends, Forecast 2022-2029

BlueWeave Consulting, a leading strategic consulting and market research firm, in its recent study, estimated the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Marketsize at USD 9.46 billion in 2022. During the forecast period between 2023 and 2029, BlueWeave expects Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Marketsize to grow at a significant CAGR of 5.7% reaching a value of USD 13.21 billion by 2029. Major growth drivers for the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Marketinclude the increasing adoption of HDD technology for precise and minimally invasive drilling operations. This technique facilitates the drilling and reverse reaming of pipes with precision, navigating through obstacles in the underground terrain while minimizing harm to ecosystems. Market expansion is further fueled by increasing investments in shale gas projects and the ongoing development of high-speed connectivity in the telecom industry. Notably, The global surge in oil and gas activities has spurred an increase in horizontal directional drilling (HDD) worldwide. Recognizing the environmental impact of conventional drilling methods, there is a growing emphasis on employing eco-friendly drilling technology, leading to the expansion of the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market. The horizontal directional drilling approach stands out for its precision and reduced power consumption compared to vertical maneuvering techniques. Another significant driving force is the rapid globalization and urbanization, fueled by the escalating energy and fuel demand in developing nations. This surge in demand is closely tied to ongoing infrastructure development, utility system construction, and advancements in the telecommunications sector, including 5G testing. These factors, along with related developments, are anticipated to contribute significantly to the market's swift growth during the forecast period. The increasing utilization of horizontal directional drilling products in surveying, designing, and installing subsurface electrical systems for subterranean cables further propels the expansion of the market. Also, the rising demand for natural gas and electricity distribution in middle and upper pipeline lines is expected to drive market growth. The use of horizontal directional drilling fasteners in utility, communications, and oil and gas industries offers benefits such as increased stability, enhanced device management, and improved treatment and monitoring outcomes. However, high costs and technical challenges are anticipated to restrain the overall market growth during the forecast period.

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The Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market has been significantly impacted by intensifying geopolitical disruptions in recent times. For instance, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has disrupted supply chains decreased service demand, and increased uncertainty for businesses. This turmoil extended to energy markets, causing turbulence due to Russia's significant role as a major gas supplier, resulting in noticeable price fluctuations. In addition, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other have had widespread implications, injecting a level of risk for investors across various sectors. Beyond the war zones and disputed areas, the ongoing crisis jeopardizes stability on a global scale. It becomes imperative for businesses and investors alike to comprehend and adeptly manage these interconnected challenges.

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The in-depth research report on the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market covers various country-specific markets across five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. North America holds the highest share in the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, liquid fuel consumption in 2022 was reported at 8.8 billion barrels per day. The growing prevalence of infrastructure and utility projects in North America is a key driver for the increased demand in horizontal directional drilling equipment and services. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region emerged as the second-largest user of drilling services for oil and gas excavation activities.

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[betshy]

Russia Leaks Information About UK Election Candidates

This is what the Russian Foreign Ministry published on Facebook on the 29th June, 2024: Ambassador Andrei Kelin’s interview to TASS News Agency (June 28, 2024) - General elections in the UK - Labour Party’s view on the Russia-UK relations - UK's cooperation with China - Reform UK's participation in the Elections - Statements by Nigel Farage on Russia - Deliveries of long-range weapons to the Kyiv regime - Hearings on the Dawn Sturgess case - The situation surrounding Sergei and Yulia Skripal - British sanctions against Russia - Freedom of the press in the UK - Russia-NATO Relations - Retaliatory measures following the expulsion of the Russian Military Attaché from the UK Read in full: https://london.mid.ru/.../ambassador_andrei_kelin_s.../ *** Labour Party’s view on the Russia-UK relations The Labour Party’s manifesto is replete with reams of paper and portraits of Keir Starmer, yet notably deficient in specifics, especially regarding economic affairs. As for Russia, the manifesto reiterates the usual rhetoric: a focus on NATO membership, closer ties with the EU, comprehensive aid to Ukraine, both through NATO and bilaterally. It also calls for a special tribunal for Russia and the confiscation of Russian assets to be handed over to Ukraine. This stance reflects a broader anti-Russian sentiment. I do not foresee any improvement in Russo-British relations under Starmer. He, along with the Labour Party leadership, wholly subscribes to current government policies and deviates not an inch from them. United Kingdom's cooperation with China Labour’s policy formulations on China reveal the government's ongoing vacillations. On the one hand, there is recognition that developing economic relations with China could serve as a lifeline for the British economy. On the other hand, there is pervasive paranoia about espionage, with every Chinese individual working in education facilities here viewed as a potential spy. This is exemplified by the recent, rather amusing scandal involving military insignias ordered from China, which London later feared could be used to obtain British military secrets. Hence, I do not anticipate any changes. These vacillations will likely continue, heavily influenced by the nature of U.S.-China relations, as Britain tends to follow Washington's lead blindly. The so-called 'Golden Era' with China has long since passed.  Statements by Nigel Farage on Russia Regarding Farage’s current statements on NATO-Russia issues, the main point is not the statements themselves, which are contradictory and incomplete, but the reaction to them. These statements have been condemned by virtually the entire political establishment, including all government ministers, party leaders, leading commentators, and major newspapers. This demonstrates the high level of ideological rigidity in British high society at present and the extent of de facto censorship. Any deviation from the approved line is not just unacceptable but condemned outright, with no room for dissent. Deliveries of long-range weapons to the Kyiv regime Britain is supplying Ukraine with Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles. We have a reasonable estimate of the quantities involved, considering production capabilities, and we understand the capabilities of these missiles. They are sophisticated, high-tech weapons launched from aircraft and requiring significant technical maintenance. We are certain, though the British deny it, that these missiles need highly skilled operators for mission planning and targeting. We are confident that these operators are not Ukrainians but those involved in their production and training. Hearings on the Dawn Sturgess case / The situation surrounding Sergei and Yulia Skripal The next hearings in the Dawn Sturgess case are scheduled for October 14. Speculation abounds in the press about whether the Skripals will attend. Despite numerous inquiries to the Foreign Office about the status of Yulia and Sergei Skripal, we received only one response months ago, indicating that Yulia can contact the Embassy but has so far chosen not to do that. Sergei Skripal’s status remains unclear. We will continue to seek information from the British about his condition and legal status and the circumstances of the incident. Russia-NATO Relations Statements about a Russian threat to NATO countries are particularly pronounced in the UK, especially ahead of the NATO summit. Notably, all party manifestos advocate increasing defence spending from the current 2% to 2.5%, including Farage’s Reform UK party. The narrative that Russia will not stop but continue its aggression serves two purposes: justifying increased defence spending to support the domestic defence industry and NATO, and ensuring public support for continued military aid to Ukraine instead of domestic investment. Read the full article

[xtruss]

Reverse Engineering in Action: Russia Finds HIMARS’ Weak Spot

© Photo: Directory of US Military Rockets and Missiles

President Putin has indicated that Russia wouldn’t rule out the reverse engineering of sophisticated Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. Russia has already amassed quite a bit of success in this area, says retired Russian military intelligence officer Anatoliy Matviychuk.

"The enemy also produces modern equipment. And if there's an opportunity to look inside and see if there's something there that we can use, well, why not?" Putin said in an interview with Russian media on Sunday.

The United States and its allies have poured over $94.5 billion in military equipment into Ukraine over the past 18 months, draining their own armories to send everything from the latest modifications of Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to HIMARS precision rocket launchers, Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, and Caesar howitzers.

As the conflict progressed, Russian Army troops and Donbass People’s Militia militiamen began capturing this equipment, with reams of footage emerging online showing troops strutting around near trophy Leopards and Bradleys, or engaging in training using seized Javelin and Stinger missile systems. Earlier this month, Russian troops got their hands on an intact Storm Shadow missile, dismantling it and taking it away in a truck to a rear area for further analysis.

"Any trophy equipment we capture on the field of battle is valuable in terms of its design features, certain design solutions for some of its components," retired military intelligence officer and military analyst Anatoliy Matviychuk told Sputnik.

“Take for example the Leopard tank, which is interesting to us in terms of the components of its armor, and the fire control system of its tank gun. The Bradley IFV is also of interest, in terms of the projectiles used by its 25 mm cannon,” the retired colonel, whose military record includes service in the Soviet Group of Forces in East Germany, Afghanistan and Syria, said.

"All the equipment we capture is carefully studied by our military engineers. We compare it to our own equipment and immediately make methodological recommendations about the means to combat this equipment on the battlefield. And, in the future, it's possible that some elements can even be introduced in our own equipment," Matviychuk explained.

Successes of Reverse Engineering

Matviychuk says there’s plenty of evidence showing that Russian forces are already taking advantage of the analysis of captured NATO equipment, particularly in the field of missiles.

"The HIMARS we’ve captured were once able to evade our Pantsir air defense systems quite well. Not anymore. We have found their weak spot, found their control system’s frequencies, and our air defenses systems now destroy them superbly. As for the Storm Shadow missile we’ve captured, we also see now in reports from the Defense Ministry that nearly 90 percent of these missiles are shot out of the skies by our air defense systems," the observer said.

Anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex "Pantsir-S1" at the anti-terrorist exercises of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) "Peace Mission - 2021" at the Donguzsky training ground in the Orenburg Region. © Sputnik/Alexey Kudenko/Go to the mediabank

Russian air defense troops in the field confirmed in January that their Pantsir platforms had been outfitted with a new thermal imager and software update to dramatically increase the interception rate of HIMARS rockets.

Last week, a senior executive from Russian technology giant Rostec said the effectiveness of upgraded Pantsir missile/gun systems had reached "100 percent" effectiveness against HIMARS rockets on the battlefield in some cases.

"Any weapon is modernized and improved based on the results of its combat employment. This is a continuous process. For example, after the enemy received HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, specialists at High Precision Systems upgraded the Pantsir to intercept these rockets. Today we see examples of HIMARS strikes successfully countered by our surface-to-air missile/gun system. There are precedents when all 12 rockets launched from an American MLRS were shot down," the official said.

Now, the issue is getting enough upgraded air defense systems to the 1,000 km front line, given Ukrainian forces’ tendency to use their Western-provided equipment to attack not only Russian forces, but to deliberately target civilian areas, particularly in the Donbass.

— Ilya Tsukanov | Monday 17 July, 2023 | Sputnik International

[mariacallous]

Yveneny Prigozhin’s wartime atrocities propelled the brutal mercenary into the limelight. But Prigozhin—who was once Russian president Vladimir Putin’s chef and a small-time criminal—also held a title as one of the world’s biggest disinformation peddlers. For years, Prigozhin operated the notorious Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that meddled in US elections and beyond.

When Prigozhin suddenly died in a mysterious plane crash on August 23, around two months after he led his Wagner Group mercenaries in a failed mutiny against Putin, the trolls didn’t stop posting. Instead, according to a new analysis shared with WIRED, some continued to show their support for him.

In the days immediately after his death, a coordinated network of pro-Prigozhin accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) pushed messages saying that the warlord was a hero and good for Russia, despite the Wagner Group’s failed rebellion against Putin in June. These messages also blamed the West for the plane crash and said that the Wagner Group would continue operating in Africa.

“It was not profitable for Putin to kill Prigozhin. PMC [private military company] carry a lot of weight in Africa, and Prigozhin skillfully managed it, despite his ‘character quirks,’” one account posted on X. “Prigozhin served for the good of Russia, remained faithful to his military oath, and was killed by saboteurs, or terrorists mined the plane,” another speculated. “In short, he just ditched his phone and disappeared into the sunset, just like in a typical action movie,” a third posted.

The organized accounts were all identified and shared with WIRED by Antibot4Navalny, an anonymous group of volunteers who track Russian-language influence operations on X. A person behind the group, whom WIRED granted anonymity due to safety concerns, says they started inspecting the posts of suspected X accounts after the crash when they “noticed that Prigozhin is surprisingly covered in an exclusively positive light.” The group found 30 accounts pushing pro-Prigozhin narratives, they say.

The activity could be a sign that Prigozhin remained in control of the Internet Research Agency troll factory until he died, the group claims, adding that it echoes similar activity they previously saw. Reports have said that after the attempted June uprising, Prigozhin-owned news websites and the troll factory were being shut down or looking for new owners. “Domestically, there was a lot of debate whether or not Prigozhin lost his control over the troll factory as one of the immediate aftermaths of the mutiny,” the Antibot4Navalny member says.

While the posts on X are only a tiny snapshot of social media activity, they highlight how Russian-linked propaganda has changed since the Internet Research Agency interfered in US politics in 2016, experts say. The Russian misinformation and disinformation industry has evolved into a rich ecosystem of state-backed media, massive Telegram channels, and more conventional social media posts. Millions of people follow so-called military bloggers and war journalists on Telegram—some of these channels are linked to the Russian state, while others are aligned with Pirgozhin and the Wagner Group. But all can muddy the waters or repeat set lines.

“Confusion in the information space is one of the aims of the Kremlin information operations—to make everything equally unbelievable so people’s trust in all kinds of sources is undermined,” says Eto Buziashvili, a disinformation and influence operations researcher with a focus on Russia at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. Since the start of its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has blocked and censored social media websites, banned independent news media, and pushed reams of disinformation.

Kyle Walter, head of research at misinformation and disinformation research company Logically, reviewed the posts shared by Antibot4Navalny and says they show “signs of being inauthentic.” The X accounts were largely created earlier this year, have low volumes of original posts, and mostly retweet or reply to accounts, and some of them also follow each other, Walter says. The themes the accounts posted about around the plane crash also match what Logically has seen from monitoring Telegram channels linked to the Wagner Group, he says. Walter adds, however, that linking them directly to the Internet Research Agency is harder to do.

The Antibot4Navalny researcher says that based on their previous research, they believe that the pro-Prigozhin trolls operate in similar ways. They “primarily serve” the interests of Putin, but they also push pro-Prigozhin narratives when it doesn’t “hurt” the Russian president, the researcher says. The approach “still worked in the plane-crash episode: Cover Putin as strongly as possible, but also, it is a nice opportunity to praise Prigozhin,” they say. The researcher says they are reporting the accounts to X.

As well as the posts around the plane crash, the Antibot4Navalny group also shared previous research and analysis with WIRED. In one instance, the group reported more than 7,000 suspected accounts to X. We tested dozens of these accounts and found that they have all been removed from the Elon Musk-owned social media company. Antibot4Navalny says the “troll” accounts are often active in groups, pushing the “same set of talking points” and mostly replying to tweets about news related to Russia and Ukraine or pro-Ukrainian channels. X did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

On July 14, the Antibot4Navalny researcher says, some of the accounts they have tracked replied to posts discussing comments from Putin, who said that the Wagner Group “does not exist” and that there is no legal basis for the group. The accounts, the researcher says, sent messages saying that Wagner operated legally and referenced Concord, the catering company owned by Prigozhin. The Antibot4Navalny researcher claims that the points were not included in any Kremlin-controlled media and that mentions of the company “served interests of the troll factory/its owner—rather than interests of the Kremlin.”

Buziashvili, the Atlantic Council researcher, says she believes the troll factory is still operating. “Part of them might be still supporting Prigozhin,” she says. “For most of the people who were working there, they would just continue their work regardless of who is their current boss.”

Following the plane crash, Buziashvili says, Russian officials and state media pushed multiple “theories” simultaneously. On one TV show, both the UK and NATO were blamed for the plane crash, she says. Other instances blame Ukraine and claim that Prigozhin was not killed in the crash. Pro-Wagner Telegram channels were also pushing claims that the plane was shot down by Russian aviation, Buziashvili says, and that they wanted “revenge.” Nobody has formally claimed responsibility for the explosion—both Putin and Ukraine have denied involvement.

Despite the changing information ecosystem, the amount of Russian disinformation on social media is colossal. During the first year after it launched the war in Ukraine, Russia’s disinformation reached an audience of “at least” 165 million and generated 16 billion views across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube, TikTok, and Telegram, according to a European Commission study of Russia-linked activity published last week. Subscribers to pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have “more than tripled” since the start of the war, the report says. “Preliminary analysis suggests that the reach and influence of Kremlin-backed accounts has grown further in the first half of 2023, driven in particular by the dismantling of Twitter’s safety standards.”

“What we typically see these days is narratives formulated on Telegram,” says Logically’s Walter. The company has recently found pro-Russian channels pushing disinformation about Niger’s military coup, and it has also linked a Russian fact-checking website and Telegram account to a presenter on Russia’s “biggest” propaganda TV show. “You have Western influencers who are sympathetic to Russian causes that will translate those narratives and then share them on mainstream platforms. And they circulate more broadly,” he says.

Walter says that over time, and largely because of the war, it has become easier for Russian propaganda and disinformation to attack the West. “From a tactics perspective, there’s a lot less direct involvement that we can attribute from the Russian state itself, and it is more these proxies,” he says. “Russian disinformation efforts are gradually adapting to any sort of Western countering that gets put in place.”

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

[ad_1] At the snowy roads close to Kursk, tanks and army apparatus prevent site visitors. Movies from across the Russian town—kind of 100 miles from the border with Ukraine—display cars waiting in line to move educate tracks getting used to move tanks from one position to the following. Dozens of army automobiles were filmed parked together. And shaky pictures displays tanks rumbling throughout snowy flooring alongside a busy road. All of those information have something in commonplace: They have been shared on TikTok.If Russia invades Ukraine, don’t be expecting the TikToks to forestall. From small Belarusian villages to commercial Russian towns at the Ukrainian border, because the tanks and troops have rolled in, native citizens have captured the scenes on their telephones—and uploaded what would possibly someday be a very powerful proof to social media.“There's a large number of knowledge available in the market,” says Benjamin Strick, investigations director on the Centre for Data Resilience (CIR), a nonprofit group that makes a speciality of countering affect operations. The CIR crew, in conjunction with different open supply investigators, were busy verifying and mapping movies of troop actions in Russia and Belarus for a number of weeks, painstakingly evaluating landmarks in video pictures with satellite tv for pc photographs and different professional knowledge to substantiate their authenticity. The CIR’s map of verified movies plots the actions of army apparatus and troops all around Ukraine’s eastern flanks. In January, the CIR mapped 79 items of pictures; in February, it has verified 166 movies thus far.Since April 2021, the mobilization of Russian troops has been accompanied by way of reams of virtual proof. Those come from a number of assets, from smartphone pictures to high-resolution overhead photographs captured by way of business satellite tv for pc firms. Troops, helicopters, and army hardware have all been noticed in satellite images. However for other folks at the flooring, TikTok has emerged as a key platform for appearing army actions.“TikTok is for sure probably the most major platforms getting used to file this,” says Eliot Higgins, the founding father of open supply investigative unit Bellingcat, which has been exposing Russian espionage for years. That pictures steadily additionally reveals its means onto Twitter or different social media platforms and joins different pictures being posted there.The TikTok movies from round Kursk—all of that have had their location verified by way of the CIR—supply a snapshot of the way robust open supply intelligence, often referred to as OSINT, has grow to be. The movies give a contribution to media reviews and coverage discussions. They are able to be low high quality and poorly framed, however they display precisely what is going on at a selected second in time.Accounts sharing quick movies of troop buildups, which were reviewed by way of WIRED, steadily seem to be from common other folks—movies of tanks shifting take a seat subsequent to clips of youngsters taking part in. This additionally way no longer many of us are staring at them. More than one verified movies from round Kursk have underneath 1,000 perspectives or even fewer feedback and stocks. “There is not any want for traitors, on tik tok the entire actions of apparatus shall be proven 😂,” reads one remark under a TikTok video of tanks ready to move a street. [ad_2] Source link #Russia #Invades #Ukraine #TikTok #Shut

[scotianostra]

John Cairncross WWII intelligence officer and Soviet spy was born on 25th July 1913 in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire,.

Cairncross's father was the manager of an ironmonger's and his mother a primary school teacher. John Cairncross was one of a family of eight, many of whom had distinguished careers. All three of his brothers became professors. One was the economist Sir Alexander Kirkland Cairncross (a.k.a. Alec Cairncross). The journalist Frances Cairncross is his niece. Cairncross grew up in Lesmahagow attending the town's Academy, before going on to University of Glasgow; the Sorbonne and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied French and German.

it was while at Cambridge Cairncross was introduced to Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess and soon became a Communist working with the Cambridge Spy Ring. Monitored by Soviet agent Samuel Cahan, he received a short course in espionage tactics before taking the Home Office and Foreign Office exams, receiving the highest scores on both.

Cairncross briefly with Donald Maclean at the Foreign Office before the war, he was assigned to Bletchley Park in 1942/43 but unlike in The Film The Imitation game it is highly unlikely he would have met, let alone blackmailed Alan Turing. He did however pass on cases full of intercepted German messages which he transported in the back seat of his car to the Soviet Embassy. Cairncross joined Secret Intelligence Service MI6 in 1944 and continued working for them until 1951 when sensitive documents in Cairncross’ handwriting were found in Guy Burgess apartment after he and Maclean fled to Russia. He was thus fired from his position in the British Treasury department, although he denied being a spy. He turned to scholarly activities and humanitarian efforts for the United Nations.

In 1964, Sir Anthony Blunt confessed to being a Soviet spy and in return for leniency identified Cairncross as another Soviet agent. When confronted with the evidence, Cairncross admitted to his espionage, explaining that he had not spied for several years, saying that he spied only during World War II, when Russia was a British ally.

Soviet defectors later disputed Cairncross statements about his limited involvement in espionage. They claimed that he had turned over countless reams of information.

Fearful of negative publicity and scandal, the British government hushed up his activities, declining to prosecute him for espionage or to expose him to the public. Cairncross, in fact, remained for a time in his job as with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.

He was finally outed as a spy in 1981 but no charges were ever brought against him. Cairncross spent most of his life in exile but returned home in 1995 dying later the same year after a stroke.

[arun-pratap-singh]

Brittney Griner returns to WNBA and signs one-year contract with Phoenix Mercury

After almost a year imprisoned in Russia, Brittney Griner will return to the WNBA and will do so with her former team, the Phoenix Mercury. The two parties have reached an agreement to pen a one-season deal. ‘Her Hoop Stats’ broke the news on Saturday, with the ESPN confirming Griner‘s comeback. Griner, who will earn 165,100 dollars, returns to the ream where she plied her trade from 2013 to…