Putin's media allies flipping out after being flooded with 'thousands of texts and photos' of Russian military dead: report

Tom Boggioni
March 06, 2022


According to a report from the Daily Beast's Russian media expert Julia Davis, Russian media personalities, who have been making excuses for Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, are bitterly complaining that they are being flooded with texts critical of their positions as well as upsetting photos of dead Russian soldiers supposedly killed during the invasion.

Writing that Putin's "top propagandists are most concerned about getting bombarded with text messages and losing the information war to Ukraine," than with the invasion itself, Davis provided examples of their complaints.

"On Thursday’s episode of The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, state TV propagandist Vladimir Soloviev complained that he and editor-in-chief of RT Margarita Simonyan are being terrorized by unknown individuals, receiving endless calls and texts about Russia’s military activities in Ukraine," she wrote before quoting Soloviev complaining, “Margarita and I can show our telephones to demonstrate that we’re getting a thousand calls and texts per hour.”

RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene on Ukraine: ‘The people that are suffering the most are the ones that are dying’

According to Davis, "TV propagandist" Olga Skabeeva was even more excitable, exclaiming that supporters of Ukraine have been “endlessly calling everybody, everybody, all citizens of Russia, including me and [husband] Evgeny!"

The report notes that during a panel discussion Skabeeva couldn't contain herself and interrupted another guest by complaining she is enduring a "mass attack that started at 2 a.m... we started getting calls from the territory of Ukraine, two to three minutes apart, Ukrainian and Polish phone numbers calling nonstop... And then, text messages with threats to kill me and my family, and photos—endless photos—of corpses, which they say are the corpses of Russian soldiers!”

You can read more of Davis' reporting here -- subscription required.

Global death toll nears 6 million as COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year

By David Rising The Associated Press
Posted March 6, 2022 3:05 pm


The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The milestone is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe. The death toll, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, stood at 5,997,994 as of Sunday afternoon.

Remote Pacific islands, whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

READ MORE: Long COVID: Almost a third of people report lingering symptoms, study finds

Hong Kong, which is seeing deaths soar, is testing its entire population of 7.5 million three times this month as it clings to mainland China’s “zero-COVID” strategy.

As death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries, the region has seen more than 1 million refugees arrive from war-torn Ukraine, a country with poor vaccination coverage and high rates of cases and deaths.

And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the United States is nearing 1 million reported deaths on its own.

Death rates worldwide are still highest among people unvaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore’s medical school and co-Chair of the Asia Pacific Immunization Coalition.

2:15 What have been the experiences of Black British Columbians during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“This is a disease of the unvaccinated — look what is happening in Hong Kong right now, the health system is being overwhelmed,” said Pang, the former director of research policy and cooperation with the World Health Organization. “The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population.”

It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020. Four months later another million people had died, and 1 million have died every three months since, until the death toll hit 5 million at the end of October. Now it has reached 6 million — more than the populations of Berlin and Brussels combined, or the entire state of Maryland.

But despite the enormity of the figure, the world undoubtedly hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths, in addition to excess deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infections, like people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.

2:02 The health impacts arising from the Ukrainian refugee crisis

Edouard Mathieu, head of data for the Our World in Data portal, said that — when countries’ excess mortality figures are studied — as many as nearly four times the reported death toll have likely died because of the pandemic.

An analysis of excess deaths by a team at The Economist estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is between 14 million and 23.5 million.

“Confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID, mostly because of limited testing, and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death,” Mathieu told The Associated Press. “In some, mostly rich, countries that fraction is high and the official tally can be considered to be fairly accurate, but in others it is highly underestimated.”

The United States has the biggest official death toll in the world, but the numbers have been trending downward over the last month.

READ MORE: Cough, cold or COVID-19? Doctors say with symptoms overlapping, it’s impossible to tell

Lonnie Bailey lost his 17-year-old nephew, Carlos Nunez Jr., who contracted COVID-19 last April — the same month Kentucky opened his age group to vaccinations. The Louisville resident said the family is still suffering, including Carlos’ younger sibling, who had to be hospitalized himself and still has lingering symptoms. The aggressive reopening of the country has been jarring for them to witness.

“For us it is hard to let our guard down; it’s going to take a while for us to adjust,” Bailey said.

The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and new weekly cases have been declining recently in all regions except for the Western Pacific, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, among others, the World Health Organization reported this week.

Although the overall figures in the Pacific islands seeing their first outbreaks are small compared to larger countries, they are significant among their tiny populations and threaten to overwhelm fragile health care systems.

1:51 PHAC: Time to ease COVID-19 ‘societal disruption’

“Given what we know about COVID … it’s likely to hit them for the next year or so at least,” said Katie Greenwood, head of the Red Cross Pacific delegation.

Tonga reported its first outbreak after the virus arrived with international aid vessels following the Jan. 15 eruption of a massive volcano, followed by a tsunami. It now has several hundred cases, but — with 66% of its population fully vaccinated — it has so far reported people suffering mostly mild symptoms and no deaths.

The Solomon Islands saw the first outbreak in January and now has thousands of cases and more than 100 deaths. The actual death toll is likely much higher, with the capital’s hospital overwhelmed and many dying at home, Greenwood said.

Only 12% of Solomon Islanders are fully vaccinated, though the outbreak has provided new impetus to the country’s vaccination campaign and 29% now have at least one shot.

READ MORE: More evidence Omicron variant causes milder symptoms, WHO says

Global vaccine disparity continues, with only 6.95% of people in low-income countries fully vaccinated, compared to more than 73% in high-income nations, according to Our World in Data.

In a good sign, at the end of last month Africa surpassed Europe in the number of doses administered daily, but only about 12.5% of its population has received two shots.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still pressing for more vaccines, though it has been a challenge. Some shipments arrive with little warning for countries’ health systems and others near the expiration date — forcing doses to be destroyed.

Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit by the omicron variant, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new risk has emerged as hundreds of thousands of people flee to places like Poland on crowded trains. Health officials there have been offering free vaccinations to all refugees, but have not been making them test upon arrival or quarantine.

“This is really tragic because great stress has a very negative effect on natural immunity and increases the risk of infections,” said Anna Boron-Kaczmarska, a Polish infectious disease specialist. “They are in very high stress, being afraid for their lives, the lives of their children, they family members.”

Mexico has reported 300,000 deaths, but with little testing, a government analysis of death certificates puts the real number closer to 500,000. Still, four weeks of falling infection rates have left health officials optimistic.

In India, where the world was shocked by images of open-air pyres of bodies burned as crematoria were overwhelmed, the scars are fading as the number of new cases and deaths has slowed.

India has recorded more than 500,000 deaths, but experts believe its true toll is in the millions, primarily from the delta variant. Migrants from India’s vast hinterland are now returning to its megacities in search of jobs, and the streets are packed with traffic. Shopping malls have customers, albeit still masked, while schools and universities are welcoming students after a months-long gap.

In Britain, infections have fallen since an omicron-driven surge in December, but remain high. England has now lifted all restrictions, including mask mandates and the requirement that all who test positive isolate at home.

With about 250,000 reported deaths, the African continent’s smaller death toll is thought to stem from underreporting, as well as a generally younger and less mobile population.

“Africa is a big question mark for me, because it has been relatively spared from the worst so far, but it could just be a time bomb,” Pang said, noting its low vaccination rates.

In South Africa, Soweto resident Thoko Dube said she received news of the deaths of two family members on the same day in January 2021 — a month before the country received its first vaccines.

It has been difficult, but “the family is coping,” she said. “We have accepted it because it has been happening to other families.”

WATCH: Where have past variants of concern gone? – Feb 24, 2022

  

© 2022 The Associated Press

Spanish flu - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

The 1918 influenza pandemic, also known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was March 1918 in Kansas, United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.'

Ukrainian airport 'completely destroyed,' says Zelensky

BY JOSEPH CHOI - 03/06/22 

A Russian missile strike "completely destroyed" an airport in the city of Vinnytsia on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"I've just heard the report on the missile strike in Vinnytsia. Eight missiles against our city, against our peaceful Vinnytsia which has never posed a threat to Russia in any way. A brutal, cynical missile strike has completely destroyed the airport," Zelensky said in a video message on Twitter.

Vinnytsia is central city in the western half of Ukraine, with the closest international border being Moldova.

"They continue total destruction of our infrastructure, our life built by us, our parents and grandparents, generations of Ukrainians," Zelensky added of Russia's invading military.

Zelensky reiterated calls for a "humanitarian air zone" to be set up.

"We are people and it is your humanitarian duty to protect us, protect people. And you can do it," said Zelensky. "If you do not do that, if you at least do not give us aircrafts for us to be able to protect ourselves, there can be only one conclusion: You also want us to be slowly killed."

Zelensky has repeatedly called on Western leaders to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion. He recently repeated this request during a Zoom call with U.S. congressional lawmakers.

However, U.S. and European officials have so far said a no-fly zone is not a viable option.

On Sunday, multiple officials said creating a no-fly zone would only serve to heighten the conflict, with lawmakers including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FLa.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) warning directly engaging with Russia would result in World War III.

CRIMINAL CYBER CAPITALI$M
Lapsus$ hackers leak Samsung source code and massive data dump from security breach

By Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson


Samsung appears to have fallen victim to a serious security breach if the leaks from data extortion group Lapsus$ are anything to go by.

Amounting to a colossal 190GB of data, the group says it has in its possession Samsung source code and other confidential company data. It is just days since the Lapsus$ claimed responsibility for a hack that resulted in data being stolen and leaked from data stolen from GPU chipmaker NVIDIA.

The attack on NVIDIA was said to be a reaction to the company limiting the crypto-mining capabilities of its chips, but details surrounding the Samsung leak are less clear. In fact, it is not even apparent whether Lapsus$ is responsible for the security breach that resulted in data being stolen from Samsung, or whether the group simply managed to acquire it.

So far, Lapsus$ has only -- as Bleeping Computer shares -- teased the data it claims to have obtained. But if the group's assertions are true, it has three archives of Samsung data including source code for security products, encryption data, and backend data.

 Among the data teased are:
source code for every Trusted Applet (TA) installed in Samsung’s TrustZone environment used for sensitive operations (e.g. hardware cryptography, binary encryption, access control)
algorithms for all biometric unlock operations
bootloader source code for all recent Samsung devices
confidential source code from Qualcomm
source code for Samsung’s activation servers
full source code for technology used for authorizing and authenticating Samsung accounts, including APIs and services

While Lapsus$ used the data obtained from NVIDIA to demand a ransom, it is not known whether this has also happened with Samsung. Samsung has not commented on the matter so far, so we only have the word of Lapsus$ to go on for now.

TikTok takes action against Russia

Social networking service halts livestreaming and posting of new content as it evaluates situation in Russia.

Israel National News
07.03.22 00:02
TikTokiStock


Social networking service TikTok on Sunday became the latest company to take action against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, announcing it is immediately halting livestreaming and the posting of new content as the company evaluates the escalating situation in Russia.

“TikTok is an outlet for creativity and entertainment that can provide a source of relief and human connection during a time of war when people are facing immense tragedy and isolation. However, our highest priority is the safety of our employees and our users, and in light of Russia's new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service in Russia while we review the safety implications of this law,” the company said in a statement.

“Our in-app messaging service will not be affected. We will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when we might fully resume our services with safety as our top priority,” it added.

Several companies have taken steps against Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine. Last week Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced that it would be restricting access to Russian state-controlled media in Europe, including RT and Sputnik.

Meta added that content from Russia state-controlled media would be demoted on Facebook and Instagram, and that links from those outlets would be labeled in order to give “context” to people who do access them.

Music streaming giant Spotify announced last Wednesday it is closing its Russia-based office and removing Russian state-sponsored content from its service.

Twitter began taking steps against Russian content on Tuesday, announcing that it would be labeling all websites affiliated with the Russian government and reducing the circulation of their content. According to Yoel Roth, head of site integrity at Twitter, over 45,000 tweets a day share links to Russian state-affiliated media outlets. These will now be stamped with “Stay Informed” labels.

Over at Google, its Google Maps service is no longer showing live traffic data in Ukraine out of concern that it could be used by Russia to identify troop movements. Google Pay has stopped working in Russia, and YouTube has announced that it will begin blocking channels that have links to Russia state-backed media outlets across Europe, due to their “spread of disinformation.” Google’s Alphabet has begun blocking mobile apps connected to RT and Sputnik media from its Play store.

Apple is no longer selling its products in Russia and has removed RT’s and Sputnik’s apps from its App Store outside Russia. Following in Google’s footsteps it has disabled traffic incidents on its Apple Maps in Ukraine.

Ukraine conflict: Anonymous (and the internet) vs. Russia [Continuously updated]

• By Alan Buckingham
• Published 4 days ago

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A few days ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Likely most of you have seen at least some of the endless coverage that currently blankets the airwaves. But TV is only giving you part of the story; you can learn a lot more by nosing around online. For the past several days I have kept a running update of what hacktivist collective Anonymous has been up to. The group has been busy and they have made the Russian government even busier, hacking their various state-run 'news' services, such as RT (Russia Today). You can look back at the original post and the multiple updates that were added to it on a daily basis. 

Now it’s time to start again and unlike the original story, this time we are letting you know there will be updates that you’ll want to check back in on. We will post them as they happen, which could be once or more in a day. We will begin with what is happening today, March 2. 

SEE ALSO: In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Anonymous is working quicker than government red-tape [Updated]

Earlier this morning, we learned that someone at Google is being especially unhelpful to the Ukrainian cause, in fact actively working against those trying to get the truth out to the people in Russia who are living in the middle of an overwhelming disinformation campaign orchestrated under Putin’s orders. 

That announcement came not long after MSN had pointed out that Google Maps and reviews were being used to help get information to people. 

Anonymous also posted several images of a leaked document that show that Putin had this planned out a long time ago, and had already given the order a month before the invasion began. That was the time when he was claiming he had no plans to do anything and entered into talks with various world leaders under false pretenses. 

Update 1:

While everyone is worried about the people of Ukraine during this time, those who have friends and family located in the nation with the unfortunate Russian border, are suffering more than most. 

A Twitter feed called Duty2Warn, which focuses on current news, has made an announcement regarding communications service Frontier that has allegedly sent out an announcement to its customers promising free calls to Ukraine, now through March 11. We have sent an inquiry to Frontier to verify this, although there is really no reason to doubt it.

 

Update 2:

As of today, March 3, Anonymous has announced (although it hasn't taken responsibility for the act), that the Russian Space Agency has been hacked. 

 

Problems continue to mount for the Russian leader and, to a certain extent, his main ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Update 3:

This evening, March 3, Anonymous is announcing the Crimean government website has been successfully taken offline. Crimea, for those who don’t know, is a district in Ukraine, which Vladimir Putin seized back in 2014 in his ongoing attempt take to put the old USSR back together.

Update 4: 

This morning March 4, Anonymous is announcing that the personal data of Russian soldiers who are or have fought in Ukraine have been released to the internet. Many may consider this a questionable move, as the soldiers are following the orders of Vladimir Putin at penalty, not only of death, but the death of their families. 

Update 5: 

Today, March 5, the fight in Ukraine continues unabated. In the tech news from this invasion the fight also continues.  

Anonymous has set up a new way for people to help and it has posted instructions. 

 

 

Meanwhile, The Times of London is reporting the Ukraine president Zelensky has survived three assassination attempts during this week. 

And a Russian private jet is being tracked and appears headed for the United States. 

You can also track the private jets of all of the Russian oligarchs on Twitter at: https://mobile.twitter.com/ruoligarchjets 

Update 6:

Late Saturday after (EST US), March 5, Anonymous has announced it has taken down the website FSB. Ru. This is the Russian Security Services. 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has published a guide to help Ukrainian and Russian users to stay safe with the Telegram app. You can find that here. 

Update 7: 

Sunday morning, March 6, began with news a lot of people have been waiting for. For the past several days the cries have been forthcoming for Visa and Mastercard to pull out of the Russian market, and today many people got their wish as each company issued a statement late Saturday that all transactions taking place in Vladimir Putin’s nation would no longer be accepted. You can read the lengthy statements, if you wish from Visa and Mastercard. 

One wonders now if this will finally push holdouts McDonalds and Burger King to follow suit. Transactions for the two just became much more difficult, given that the current value of the Ruble is less than one penny per US dollar. Other holdouts such as Pepsi and Coca Cola may stick it out longer. 

After being caught and widely shamed for buying a load of Russian oil at a big discount, Shell had to release the following statement via its Twitter account. 

Anonymous, meanwhile, released a statement regarding its attacks, reassuring everyone that it was doing everything it could to minimize effects on regular citizens. 

In a follow-up to yesterday’s post, regarding the Russian jet that seemed to be bound for the US, it landed at Dulles, outside of Washington DC. It was here to pick up the recently expelled Russian diplomats and return them to Russia. 

Update 8: 

A lot can change in a day, and this one has been no exception. As of the late afternoon, Sunday March 6, several services have made big announcements and we’ve learned about more of Vladimir Putin’s plan for his own country. 

It began with TikTok blocking Russian users. That sounds bad on the surface, as people have been uploading videos and news about what is going on there, but the service gave a compelling reason in its official statement. 

Just hours later, it was reported that Netflix will cease business in Russia, stranding approximately one million subscribers there. 

In a Facebook post, we learned that the Chief of General Staff in Belarus has resigned "Due to the mass refusal to take part in hostilities...Belarusian army does not have the ability to staff any battalion group." 

Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that Italy has seized villas and yachts from Russian oligarchs totaling a whopping $156 million dollars. 

Finally, it has been learned of Putin’s plans to take Russia off the internet, isolating the people to only what state-run media approves for them. Anonymous announced that it plans to take action on this as well, shortly after Nexta TV, Eastern European news and media service, released documents confirming the plan 

Biden And Allies Are Coming For Russian Billionaires’ Yachts: Forbes Tracked Down 36. Here’s Where To Find Them

Giacomo Tognini
Forbes Staff
Billionaires
Staff Writer, Wealth Team.



ILLUSTRATION BY FORBES, ALFA NERO BY NEWSCOMN
Most of the yachts are registered through offshore vehicles and docked in far-flung locales.

Russian billionaires have been in the spotlight since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said his administration would work with European countries to target Russian oligarchs by seizing “their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets.”

The European Union imposed sanctions on six Russian oligarchs on Monday, bringing the total number of sanctioned Russian billionaires to 16. At least four yachts owned by sanctioned billionaires—Alexey Mordashov, Gennady Timchenko, Alisher Usmanov and Viktor Vekselberg—were last tracked in Italy, Germany and Spain. Their personal assets in the European Union, from private jets and superyachts to luxury real estate, may now be frozen. Italian authorities froze Mordashov’s Lady M yacht and Timchenko’s Lena yacht on March 4, a day after German authorities confirmed Usmanov’s Dilbar yacht couldn’t leave a shipyard in Hamburg.

It’s still unclear whether the EU, the U.S. or the U.K. will declare additional sanctions on other individuals. As recently as February 28, Forbes tracked the wealth of more than 100 Russian billionaires. Using data from yacht valuation experts VesselsValue, Forbes has compiled a list of every yacht owned by Russian billionaires and recent dropoffs—both those that have been sanctioned and those that have not. At least 12 Russian billionaires fell out of the three-comma-club on Tuesday.

According to VesselsValue’s head of superyachts, Sam Tucker, yacht “ownership is notoriously private.” The firm has 90% confidence in its data on these yachts, which are generally owned through offshore companies registered everywhere from the Isle of Man to the Cayman Islands. Collectively, the 36 yachts are worth at least $4 billion. The eight yachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires are worth nearly $1 billion.

“Technically speaking, these yachts are owned by a special purpose vehicle, often being in a different jurisdiction to the beneficial owner,” Tucker said. “There are also lease systems, which further distance the [owner] from the asset.” Lease systems are legal structures commonly used to purchase yachts, allowing individuals to own a yacht through a separate company—often registered in places such as Malta and Cyprus—that then leases the yacht to the individual.

While the Russian economy crashes under the weight of sanctions, yachts owned by the country’s billionaires are anchored in much sunnier climes: everywhere from Monaco and Barcelona to Dubai and the Seychelles.

Here is a list of all of the yachts owned by Russian billionaires and billionaires born in Russia tracked by Forbes and Vessels Value:

Philipsburg, St. Martin
Malé, Maldives
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Barcelona, Spain
Victoria, Seychelles
Off the coast of Victoria, Seychelles
La Digue, Seychelles
Tivat, Montenegro
Imperia, Italy
Galle, Sri Lanka
Monaco
St. Augustine, Florida
Trieste, Italy
Off the coast of Puntarenas, Costa Rica
English Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda
Five Islands Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda
Istanbul, Turkey
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Hamburg, Germany

Russian billionaires are starting to leave Vladimir Putin

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Russia's business and political elites are against the invasion of Ukraine. This is an extremely rare display of opposition to Kremlin policy, notes the Moscow Times. Among Putin's critics, there are many Russian oligarchs who until recently supported him.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Sunday in the Bundestag that Russian banks will not only be disconnected from the SWIFT system but will also be ejected from the European Union. Not only that, the billions of euros in the assets of the Russian oligarchs will be seized, so immediately there were criticisms of Russian oligarchs who oppose the war in Ukraine.

In the terrorized, bribed and propaganda-laden Russia of Putin, every, even the smallest, criticism of the government is treated as an attack on Putin, whom he identifies with Russia. Anyone who criticizes the authority and its decisions have problems. Those most involved in civil society and attempts to democratize Russia end up in labor camps. Many oppositionists were killed. Despite this, two of the most powerful Russian oligarchs spoke out against their own country's aggression in Ukraine. Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska even said it was time to end "state capitalism" in Russia. According to the Moscow Times, on Sunday, the co-founder of Alfa Bank, Mikhail Fridman, whose parents live in Lviv, Ukraine, called the war in Ukraine "a tragedy" and said that the bloodshed should be stopped as soon as possible.

The statements of the business magnates are accompanied by other signals from the Russian political elite. Tatiana Yumashev, daughter of Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin and the driving force behind his 1999 presidential nomination, joined celebrities, artists, and ordinary Russians by turning her Facebook profile picture black square by signing it "No for War". She was joined by several other people, including the daughter of the oligarch Roman Abramovich, son-in-law of defense minister Sergei Shoygu, and the son of the head of RosTech and longtime friend of Putin, Sergei Chemezov.

(bizblog) 

Peaky Blinders: The Real Diana Mitford, Blackshirts and British Fascism

Who was Diana Mosley, the real historical character encountered by Tommy Shelby in season six?

By Louisa Mellor|March 6, 2022|

Photo: BBC


Warning: contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders season 6 episode 2 ‘Black Shirt’

At the end of every Peaky Blinders episode comes the expected fiction disclaimer declaring that its names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. The usual next line about “any resemblance to persons living or dead” being purely coincidental isn’t included, for the obvious reason that several of the show’s characters don’t just bear a resemblance to persons living or dead, they’re unequivocally them. Charlie Chaplin, Oswald Mosley, Winston Churchill… The latest is Lady Diana Mitford, played by Amber Anderson (Strike, Emma.).

Peaky Blinders season six is currently taking place in early 1934, when the real Diana was 24 years old. She was one of seven Mitford siblings including six sisters whose lives were endlessly reported by the contemporary press due to romantic scandals, a range of published writing including Nancy Mitford’s comic and biographically inspired novels, and Diana and Unity Mitford’s ties to British fascism and Adolf Hitler.

A renowned beauty, Diana married brewing heir Bryan Guinness aged 18, but divorced him four years later after starting a relationship with anti-Semitic politician Oswald Mosley, by then leader of the British Union of Fascists. Speaking to Mavis Nicholson in this 1977 television interview, Diana recalled being drawn to Mosley’s charisma and cleverness, citing general dissatisfaction with the National Government of the time and saying, “there was somebody who seemed to know the answer. Now, looking back, one sees that he was right.”



Unlike many others who shared Diana Mosley’s politics in the 1930s but later distanced themselves in the wake of the holocaust, she remained unrepentant about her Nazi sympathies, anti-Semitism and fascist beliefs. “When we knew Hitler, he hadn’t committed his crimes,” Diana maintained in 1977, arguing that other dictators including Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao had been responsible for more bloodshed than Hitler and yet continued to be visited – and as she saw it, endorsed – by British politicians.

After her divorce, Diana had intended to live alone as Mosley’s mistress. Instead, she became the second Mrs Mosley three years after the shock death of his first wife Lady Cynthia Curzon, from peritonitis following a perforated ulcer.
“Our friend in Berlin”

In 1933, the year that ‘Cimmie’ Mosley died, Diana and her younger sister Unity – a badge-wearing member of Mosley’s BUF – took a summer holiday to Bavaria. The choice of destination was partly due to curiosity about the newly appointed German Chancellor. Speaking in 1977 to interviewer Mavis Nicholson, described Hitler as a fascinating man whom everybody wanted to meet: “People don’t get from being an out of work painter to being dictator of a very big powerful evolved country like Germany unless they’ve got some very special thing within them, and obviously he had it.”

As described in Mary S. Lovell’s 2001 biography The Mitford Girls, through a society contact, the sisters secured tickets to the first Nuremberg rally, which Diana described in a personal letter as “a demonstration of hope in a nation that had known collective despair.” From that point on, Diana and Unity befriended Hitler and several high-ranking members of the Nazi Party, a friendship that became an obsession for Unity (who shot herself in the head in protest on the day that Britain went to war with Germany, but survived). Around that time, Diana suggested that Winston Churchill (a cousin of the Mitfords on his wife Clementine’s side) meet the German Chancellor, but he refused.

At this time, Oswald Mosley was holding regular fascist rallies in venues around the UK, which became known for violence when fights broke out between his supporters and protesters, as seen in the Peaky Blinders season five finale and season six, episode two ‘Black Shirt’ (so named for Mosley’s supporters’ Mussolini-inspired ‘camicia nere’ fascist uniform). These fights culminated in 1936’s Battle of Cable Street in London’s East End, in which Metropolitan police and Mosley’s supporters violently clashed with anti-fascist protesters.

Two days after the Battle of Cable Street, in October 1936, Diana and Oswald Mosley married in a secret ceremony in Berlin. Their wedding was held in the drawing room of apartments belonging to chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels and was attended by their “friend in Berlin” Adolf Hitler. Earlier that year, Diana and Unity had attended the 1936 Berlin Olympics as Goebbels’ particular guests.


Oswald and Diana Mosley were fascists and sympathisers of the Nazi party who continued to regret Britain’s role in WWII throughout their lives. They had been in favour of making peace with Nazi Germany and had planned for Oswald Mosley to become Britain’s fascist leader. Instead, when Winston Churchill became PM in 1940, Oswald and Diana Mosley were imprisoned under the Defence Regulation 18B, which allowed for the internment without trial of those suspected to have Nazi sympathies or otherwise opposed to the war with Germany. They were released in 1943, and thereafter exiled from London. Oswald Mosley died near Paris in 1980, and Diana Mosley followed 23 years later in 2003.

PM must reveal his role in peerage – Yvette Cooper

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper wrote to Boris Johnson asking him to hand over information to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.

Evgeny Lebedev and Boris Johnson (Ian West/PA) / PA Archive

By Geraldine Scott

Boris Johnson has been urged to tell a powerful parliamentary committee everything he knows about Russian-born media mogul Evgeny Lebedev’s elevation to the House of Lords.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has written to the Prime Minister following a report in The Sunday Times which alleged that security services withdrew an assessment that granting a peerage to the Moscow-born son of an ex-KGB agent posed a national security risk after Mr Johnson personally intervened.

The newspaper reported that intelligence provided by MI5 and MI6 to the House of Lords Appointments Commission via Cabinet Office security officials initially said there could be a national security threat, but this was later withdrawn.

Ms Cooper has now called on the PM to “make available to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) the advice and information you were given about the ennobling of Evgeny Lebedev and full information about the role you played in the process”.

Lord Evgeny Lebedev (Dominic Lipinski/PA) / PA Wire

The cross-party ISC has the security clearance to view highly-classified intelligence on matters of national security, and Ms Cooper said in her letter: “As you will agree, it is the first duty of the Prime Minister to protect national security.

“Given that Mr Lebedev is still a member of the House of Lords, it is in all our interests to ensure that these allegations can be thoroughly investigated.”

Earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very concerned” about the reports surrounding Lord Lebedev and insisted the case should be referred to the ISC as it goes to “the heart of national security”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, he said: “I’m very concerned about that story, because it goes to the heart of national security and there’s at least the suggestion that the Government and the Prime Minister were warned that there was a national security risk in this particular appointment.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab (PA/Joe Giddens) / PA Wire

Speaking on the same programme, Dominic Raab suggested Lord Lebedev, who owns the Evening Standard newspaper alongside The Independent, went through a “very strict and stringent” process when he was granted his peerage.

The Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister said he did not know the facts of the case, but claimed the peerage appointment process had been “applied very rigorously”.


He said: “There is a strict and stringent process when anyone is granted a peerage. I don’t know the facts of the case, I wasn’t involved in it. But I do know that it was applied very rigorously in this case.”

He added: “This was done properly and correctly, and we have procedures and systems in place to make sure it is.”

Lord Lebedev told the Sunday Times that “all” of the allegations in its report were incorrect and the questions did not “merit an answer”.

Last week, the media mogul appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion of Ukraine, through the Evening Standard newspaper.

The crossbench peer said: “I plead with you to use today’s negotiations to bring this terrible conflict in Ukraine to an end.”

In a statement published alongside a photograph of a paramedic performing CPR on a girl injured by shelling, Lord Lebedev said: “On this page are the final minutes of a six-year-old child fatally injured by shells that struck her Mariupol apartment block on Sunday.

“She is still wearing her pink jacket as medics fight to save her. But it is too late. Other children, and other families, are suffering similar fates across Ukraine.

“As a Russian citizen I plead with you to stop Russians killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

“As a British citizen I ask you to save Europe from war. As a Russian patriot I plead that you prevent any more young Russian soldiers from dying needlessly. As a citizen of the world I ask you to save the world from annihilation.”

How useful are Turkish-made drones fighting in Ukraine?

Propaganda videos boasting of the successes of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones in the Ukraine war are popular on social media. But what role are these drones really playing in the conflict?


Ukraine has had TB2 drones since 2019, and has purchased around 50 over the past three years

Several congratulatory videos have circulated on Ukrainian and Turkish social media channels in recent days, boasting of the exploits of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone. The Ukrainian military has used the drone successfully against the Russian military several times, the videos, with English and Turkish subtitles, claim. They often include pictures of exploding or destroyed Russian vehicles and equipment.

But exactly how successful the Bayraktar drones, often known simply as TB2s, have been during the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not yet been independently verified.

Ukraine has had TB2 drones since 2019, and has purchased around 50 over the past three years. Last Wednesday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated that a further, unspecified number of TB2 drones had been purchased and that these were ready to enter combat. On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had benefited greatly from the Turkish-made drones.

Turkish-made drones a popular purchase

As usual when it comes to arms shipments, Turkey has not commented on the matter. The world often only learns of the existence of these drones from media reports, if they are used in combat or if the recipient country talks about it.

The Bayraktar TB2 was developed and produced by a Turkish company, Baykar Technology. The business belongs to two brothers and was first founded in 1986. Over that time it has grown to become a giant of Turkish arms manufacturing, belonging to the Bayraktar family. The son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Selcuk Bayraktar, is the company's chief technology officer.

According to the company itself, it grew its exports sevenfold between 2006 and 2021. Media reports say the TB2 has brought business orders from 16 countries, including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Tunisia, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Poland was the first NATO member to purchase the drone last year, adding 24 to its arsenal.

Baykar Technology has close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The TB2 has flown more than 420,000 hours in places like Syria , Libya and Iraq. Many analysts believe the drone was a decisive weapon during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020.

The TB2 has also recently been used in Ethiopia. According to investigators, an attack by the drone killed at least 59 civilians in Tigray.

The Bayraktar TB2 is 6.5 meters (21 feet) long and has a wingspan of 12 meters. It can stay in the air for up to 24 hours and travels at maximum speeds of 220 kilometers an hour (135 miles per hour). Additionally, the TB2 is less expensive than other similar drones.
Could the TB2 influence the Ukraine war?

It's unclear how many drones Ukraine actually has at its disposal, and whether Turkey has delivered all of the latest order. But if Ukraine did have all the drones it asked for, could this change the outcome of the country's war with Russia?

Wolfgang Richter, a retired colonel in the German army and a military expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), doesn't think so.

A drone can only attack one target at a time, he pointed out. "That means it can take out tanks or artillery pieces," he told DW. If the Ukrainian military did have all the drones it had ordered, it could inflict losses on the Russian side but compared to ground combat, the impact of drone warfare would be limited, Richter argued.

Richter pointed out that there was a column of around 600 combat vehicles approaching the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and that the Russians were attacking Ukraine from four different directions. Additionally nobody knew whether Ukrainian combat drones were still operational or whether some had already been destroyed.
What is the Turkish position on the conflict?

Turkey's President Erdogan has maintained a good relationship with both Russia and Ukraine for years. Turkey has supplied combat drones to Ukraine but bought surface-to-air missiles, the S-400 system, from the Russians.

It's going to become more difficult to maintain that kind of balance in the future, said Daria Isachenko, an expert on security and defense policy at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies at SWP. She believes Erdogan cannot afford to play favorites with either Russia or Ukraine, as this would have serious security and economic consequences.

Russia cannot replace what the Western alliance offers Turkey, but nor can the West replace Russia in Turkey's calculations, she said. So, she believes, Erdogan will only do what is necessary.

Although Turkey has invoked the Montreux Convention and blocked the passage of Russian warships from naval areas it controls, Isachenko doesn't think Turkey would join the West's sanctions regime against Russia.

"Because that could quickly be followed by a response from Moscow," she told DW. "And this would then hit the Turkish economy hard, especially in areas like tourism, construction and wheat imports." Turkey imports around 70% of its wheat from Russia.

This article was originally published in German

MARIUPOL AND VOLNOVAKHA: BESIEGED CITIES APPEAL FOR HELP

Escape from Mariupol

Residents in the besieged port city of Mariupol say they are running out of water and have no more electricity or gas. City officials were forced to postpone the planned evacuation of civilians along a humanitarian corridor after Russia violated the agreed upon cease-fire on Saturday.

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SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/03/ukrainian-drone-enthusiasts-sign-up-to.html