Author Archives: RomanInUkraine

Who Killed One of the Most Notorious Right Sector Leaders in Ukraine?

Great read. Here’s the concluding paragraph:

So, the Muzychko killing is most likely going to go down as one of those enigmatic deaths where many people have potential motives for murder, and each will construct a narrative about why someone else did it. The Right Sector gets rid of a notorious member whose brutal behavior would reduce Yarosh’s chances in the May elections. Ukrainian police, meanwhile, can show that they control the situation in the country and no one can threaten their legal authority. The Kremlin loses a useful propaganda tool, but it also eliminates a thug with a lot of Russian blood on his hands. And if Bilyi really did commit suicide, it was in the knowledge that fellow thugs would remember him as a martyr.

As the old murder mystery cliché goes, “Ask yourself who benefits?” In this case, just about everyone.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/27/who-killed-one-of-the-most-notorious-right-sector-leaders-in-ukraine.html

Dr Maltsev on history of Kremlin Propaganda

Today I have a presentation on Soviet – Finnish War by a student in my Political Economy class. I am reading her paper and amazingly enough Stalin’s arguments for the war are almost word to word to Putin’s in his anti-Ukrainian campaign. Fighting Finnish fascism, need to protect Soviet borders, liberation of Russian/Karelian speakers, etc.

Curt on Gender in Ukraine

CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS : GAY LIFE IN KIEV

You know, Ukrainian’s get a lot of flack over their supposed intolerance of gays. But I don’t see any evidence of it. The Butch college girls sitting next to me look and act just like they do in in the west. They could be from Seattle given the way they’re dressed – particularly the girl with blue hair.

It might be that I live in one of the university districts, but the gay men here are just a little less flamboyant at attracting attention than their american counterparts. But ALL Ukrainians are less flamboyant and seeking of attention than their American counterparts. They have these strange things called ‘extended family’ and ‘real friends’, and daily participation in ‘social life’ that they get attention from, rather than living in McBoxes, surrounded by ‘stuff’ and dependent upon media for a sense of membership in a group that gives them positive status rewards. (Strange as it is, Americans are outliers in this regard – aliens to the rest of the world.)

You can’t celebrate being gay, which is to force it into the social and political realm. And you certainly can’t politicize it. You can’t politicize much of anything here really. Politicizing anything is (rightly) considered an attempt to gain privileges of some sort – and attention. Both of which are not ‘Ukrainian’ values.

I mean, my ‘hairmaster’ (hairdresser) would look right at home in San Francisco or Seattle – both of which are pretty friendly to gender differences.

RACISM VS GAY LIFE
I see the very clear genetics of every damned tribe from the Urals to the western Celts in this city. It’s absolutely beautiful, and a crucible for the study of european tribalism. But it’s pretty clear that there is a very big difference between the western Indo European/Uralic, Turkic, Afro-Asiatic (Arabic), African cultures and the third group: East asians, and southeast asians. And while in the states our history with slavery has forced us to attempt equality, it’s pretty clear here that ‘troublemakers’ are not desirable. But why are they considered ‘troublemakers?’ Well, for the same reason blacks and hispanics in the states and muslims and Romanians in the UK, and Turks in Germany are considered ‘troublemakers’: because statistically it’s true.

All clubs do exercise “Face Control”, which means that if your face would reduce the desirability of the club then they’ll reject you. You don’t have any ‘rights’ per say to enter a business. Nor they to serve you. The clubs just protect their brand value.

A lot of turkic and arabic men come to Kiev trying to find women. A very few black men. (A lot of ‘douchebag’ Americans do too, and that’s just one of the reasons that I avoid the expat community like lepers. A trip to the Embassy is all I need to remind me how pathetic fat, ignorant and privileged americans are.) Yes, Ukrainian women are absolutely the best women in the world. It’s true. It’s one of those things that’s just inconceivable to people who haven’t lived here. And because of the open sexuality (pervasive display of feminine confidence, pride, desirability and power) a lot of men think that these women will be ‘easy’. Which is pretty much the opposite of the truth. Women are more honest here. But you must COURT them. They ‘give it up’ a lot less easily than in the west. They just do it honestly. Sure, it’s a lot easier to have a fling with an attached woman here, and it appears to me that italian-style ‘mistresses’ are pervasive, family is still the center of all personal life. And courting a woman is a matter of determining your potential as a family member. (I think I have that right. The generations differ a bit. But I think I have that right.)

And like any society, especially one where so many men are ‘useless, unproductive, alcoholic, and lazy’ a less desirable, but aggressive, higher testosterone male, who is willing to court, can pick up marginal and below the margin women here, who are vastly superior to the women they could find at home.

Unfortunately, they’re considered ‘creepy’, profane and rude. So the clubs use ‘Face Control’ to keep the places ‘desirable and safe’ for women. Women in turn draw men. And that’s the economics of clubs.

COMPARISON
So I tend to look at these things the same way: society is just a big extension of the FAMILY and families here – not a corporation. So within your ‘family and circle’ you can do whatever you want. But politicking aside from criticizing the corrupt government seems to pretty much reject particularism of any kind.

It’s actually a means of enforcing the local perception of equality.

Given that all political privileges are by definition thefts, I have to pretty much agree with how things are done here.

If it weren’t for the pervasive political corruption and soviet-induced absence of the rule of law, then this would be one of the most desirable societies on earth.

Curt Doolittle
Kiev.

More Russian Propaganda: One guy, many roles? From *pro-‪#‎Ukraine‬ mercenary* to *pro-‪#‎Russia‬ victim.* ‪#‎Russian‬ TV’s at it again ‪#‎RussianSpring‬

“The two nationwide channels of Russia – NTV and Russia-1 – depicted the same person to be both: an extremist from Germany, who supported a far-right movement in Ukraine; and a pro-Russian protester, who became victim of Ukrainian nationalists.

NTV told it’s viewers, that the person is a German citizen who trained a group of 50 EU citizens (!) to cooperate with “Right Sector” movement in Ukraine (!!) in order to shoot (!!!) into peaceful pro-Russian protesters.

Russia-1, on the other hand, only depicted the person to be a peaceful “federalization supporter” in Ukraine (pro-Russia activist), who became victim of Ukrainian far-right extremists of “Right Sector”, who were, supposedly, backed by Ukrainian police and army. The person was shot in leg, and, as Russia-1 reports, “will not walk for half a year”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTmzgKE4JDg

In reality the person is (or he says he is):
1) a pro-Russian activist;
2) citizen of Germany;
3) who brought to Ukraine 500,000 Euro of “his own money” to support pro-Russian protests;
4) caught a bullet in a clash between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Mykolaiv, Southern Ukraine.

(It is unclear however who shot him. Previously a Russian spy Maria Koleda was detained by Security Service of Ukraine, who confirmed that she was shooting with her gun during this clash.)”

https://www.facebook.com/russiahandsoff/posts/1487749634774857

Respected Ukrainian Military Analyst Warns Russian Invasion Imminent

Seems like they’re two days late. Please tell them to hurry.

The well-known Ukrainian military analyst, Dmitry Tymchuk, warns that the invasion of East Ukraine by Russian troops is imminent and could take place within 24 hours. . . .

Tymchuk describes the Russian invasion plan as follows:

“We, the group ‘Information Resistance,’ have received from our reliable sources the satisfactory confirmation of the statement of Ukrainian Foreign Ministry that the observed activity of the separatists in eastern Ukraine which has been lasting for the last three days is nothing but the beginning of the second phase of the scenario for the Russian invasion in our country.

In particular, according to our information, the separatist leaders, who follow the plan of General Headquarters of Russian Armed Forces, have been given the instructions to organize a “corridor” through the state border of Ukraine for passage of the convoys of military equipment from the Russian territory at the night of April 8-9.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/04/08/respected-ukrainian-military-analyst-warns-russian-invasion-imminent-but-first-need-dead-protesters/

Right Sector Cleaning Defaced Synagoge With Jewish Leaders

In Odessa some provocateurs have ransacked a synagogue and Jewish cemetery drawing swastikas, “Death to Jews” and nationalistic slogans linked to the far-right (although I hate this term) “Right Sector”.

Upon hearing the news, a leading commander of “Right Sector” took the first train from Kyiv to Odessa to arrange for the clean up.

I do wonder sometimes… how far will Russia go in it’s attempts to label Ukrainians as fascists? What next, dress up some KGB thugs in Ukrainian national dress and go around shooting Jews?

***

http://www.forumdaily.com/pravyj-sektor-prishel-v-sinagogu-i-budet-krasit-evrejskoe-kladbishhe/

They are nationalists. They need to distance themselves from the neo-nazi label to achieve true nationhood, independent from Russia.

99.9% likely that this was done by Russian provocateurs.

Ukraine’s combat dolphins fall into Russian hands

Simferopol: Russian forces have completed their takeover of the Ukrainian navy’s assets in Crimea with the storming of the minesweeper Cherkasy.

The Ukrainian navy has been reduced to only 10 vessels, with the other 51 it held at the beginning of this month, including its only submarine, now flying the Russian flag.

But of all the Ukrainian military assets Russia has seized during the annexation, none is quite as unusual as the combat dolphin program.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/ukraines-combat-dolphins-fall-into-russian-hands-20140327-zqnhp.html

See this earlier post about the dolphin program.

Putin’s Libertarians

This essay is part of a trilogy regarding Kremlin influence over the alternative libertarian media in the west.

Part 1: Putin’s Libertarians

Part 2: When your Former libertarian Hero Calls You a Nazi

Part 3: The latest Libertarian Shillery for Russia

***

I spent almost a week writing this long essay. It was exhausting, and personally important. I’ve been betrayed by my intellectual tribe — parts of it, anyway.

***

PUTIN’S LIBERTARIANS

Last August, I met former Belarusian Presidential candidate Yaroslav Romanchuk at a libertarian conference near Lviv, Ukraine. He was somewhat of a Ron Paul figure, a businessman-turned-politician advocating radical free market reforms in Belarus. The consequences for being a libertarian in or near Russia are much more severe than in the United States. In 1994 he faced pressure: to stay in business he’d have to either join the mafia or join the government. He ended up abandoning the import-export business he had spent years building.

We joked about America’s RT (Russia Today) news service — that the United States government should sponsor a Russian language libertarian channel in Russia and Eastern Europe. The joke, which for us needed no explanation, was that governments can invoke principles of freedom when they undermine a rival government, while simultaneously behaving like a savage tyrant at home. This should not be difficult to understand. Continue reading →

Two Jokes About Russia’s Invasion

(thanks, Elmer!)

“I have stopped speaking Russian in Ukraine”
“Why, because you are afraid that Ukrainians will attack you for speaking Russian?”
“No, because I am afraid that Putler will come to “protect” me”

***

Telephone call from St. Petersburg to Ukraine:

“I hear that the fascists have taken over Ukraine”
“No, so far they have only taken over Crimea”

Polish ex-President: Russia seeks to occupy (conquer) all of Ukraine.

Curt’s reaction to Polish concern that Russia seeks “to occupy (conquer) the whole of Ukraine.”

If Russia had something positive to add to the world, rather than as a source of corruption, brutality, and poverty, then that would be one thing. But Russia is a net negative influence on everything it touches.

***

Me:

It is Likely that Polish politicians are exaggerating the threat to bolster support. Not that that’s a bad thing from my perspective. I want support.

ps – I knew he’d come to his senses.