Tag: ukraine

CNN, ABC and CBS News to stop broadcasting in Russia after Putin’s threat to lock up journalists for 12 years: Bloomberg, BBC and Canada’s CBC ‘temporarily suspend’ operations

CNN International, the global arm of CNN, ABC and CBS News will stop broadcasting in Russia, after the Kremlin introduced a new law in the country that could jail anyone intentionally spreading ‘fake’ news.

Bloomberg News, the BBC and Canada’s CBC also said they were temporarily suspending the work of their journalists inside Russia. 

Russian officials have said that false information has been spread by enemies such as the United States and its Western European allies in an attempt to sow discord among the Russian people.

Lawmakers in Moscow passed amendments to the criminal code making the spread of ‘fake’ information an offense punishable with fines or jail terms. They also imposed fines for anyone calling for sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

The new legislation was passed by parliament and will become law when Vladimir Putin signs it, as he is widely expected to do. It was not clear when Putin would sign the measure.

It appeared to give the Russian state much stronger powers to crack down, by making it a criminal offense to spread fake information, with a jail term of up 15 years for posting about ‘fake news.’

‘CNN will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward,’ a spokesperson said Friday. 

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Putin Will Declare War On Any Country Creating A Ukraine No-Fly Zone “That Very Second”

Ukraine’s President Zelensky and his top officials have over the past days been very openly urging a US and NATO imposed no-fly zone over the country, which would effectively bring American forces into a direct shooting war with Russia. On Saturday Russian President Putin issued a stern threat to any external power thinking about intervening by sending direct military forces. 

Putin made clear a no-fly zone would result in the Kremlin’s immediate declaration of war on any country intervening in such a way. The AP reported and translated his fresh comments made before civilian aviation industry members and pilots as follows: 

A no-fly-zone would spell war for any third party who tries to enforce one over Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has said.

Speaking at a meeting with female pilots on Saturday, Putin said Russia would view “any move in this direction” as an intervention that “will pose a threat to our service members.”

“That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,” the Russian president said.

Further he addressed the ratcheted up sanctions on Russia from the West, which are now serving to isolate Russia almost on levels akin to the US sanctions regimen on Iran – with of course the important exception that the US has not yet directly targeted Russian oil and gas exports.

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Russian News Websites Hacked Purportedly by Anonymous Amid Ukraine Invasion

Several Russian state-controlled or state-aligned websites appeared to have been hacked early Monday.

The websites for the major Russian state-owned news agency, TASS, the Russian nationally distributed newspaper, Kommersant, and the daily broadsheet newspaper, Izvestia, which was founded in St. Petersburg during the Russian Revolution and was one of principal media outlets in the Soviet Union, all displayed a message signed purportedly by the notorious hacking collective Anonymous.

“Dear citizens. we call on you to stop this madness,” the message began.  “don’t send your sons and husbands to sure death. Putin is making us lie and puts us in danger.  We have been isolated from the world, no one is buying our oil & gas. In a few year’s time we’ll be living like in North Korea.  Why do we need this? For Putin to make it to history books? This is not our war, let’s stop it!”

It continued, “This message will be deleted and some of us will be fired and maybe put to jail. But we can’t tolerate this anymore. Russian journalists who care. Anonymous.”

The message comes several days after Anonymous, an international hacking collective that has carried out cyberattacks against governments and corporations, appeared to declare war against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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The Overton Window Is Being Shoved Toward Warmongering Extremism

A substitute teacher at an Arlington, Virginia middle school has been suspended for teaching an insufficiently one-sided perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Apparently one of the students recorded the lesson and showed it to their parents who complained to the school.

This happens as RT America shuts its doors following an astonishingly aggressive censorship campaign against Russia-backed media outlets throughout the western world.

The virulent post-9/11-like hysteria about Russia that has been promoted by one-sided mass media reporting on the war, and by the five years of fact-free conspiracy mongering which preceded it, has created an environment where you’ll get shouted down on social media for voicing any opinion about this conflict apart from saying Putin invaded because he is evil and hates freedom. Voices calling for diplomacy, de-escalation and detente are being systematically drowned out.

Meanwhile you’ve got massively influential pundits like Sean Hannity calling for a direct NATO airstrike on a Russian military convoy in Ukraine, without the slightest risk of losing his immense platform for advocating a move that would probably lead to a very fast, very radioactive third world war.

“You know, if we can see on satellite imagery where the convoy is, I don’t know, maybe some smart country, maybe NATO might take some of their fighter jets, or maybe they can use some drone strikes and take out the whole damn convoy,” Hannity said on Premiere Radio Networks’ The Sean Hannity Show on Wednesday. “And then nobody takes credit for it, so then Putin won’t know who to hit back.”

Hannity hastily adds that he’s “not talking about nuclear war,” but then adds a “but” which completely contradicts him.

“But at what point is this gonna end?” Hannity asks. “Cuz nobody did anything after Georgia was taken in ’08, nobody cared about Crimea being annexed in 2014.”

Hannity has also made repeated calls for Putin’s assassination, saying that “if you invade an innocent sovereign country, and you kill innocent men, women and children, you don’t deserve to live.” An interesting position for one of the most aggressive defenders of Bush’s Iraq invasion.

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As Ukrainians Get Killed and Displaced, Weapons Companies Reaping Record Profits Off Their Suffering

In only the first week of fighting, investors have already posted $69 billion in stock gains on the 33 major defense and aerospace stocks in the largest Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) of its kind, the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), says an Investor’s Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith.

As Investors.com reports, Northrop Grumman (NOC) already pulled 9% past analysts’ 12-month price target on the stock. Shares are up a powerful 18% since the war began, putting $10.9 billion into investors’ portfolios. It’s a similar story with Lockheed Martin (LMT). Following a 27% run-up just this year, and 16% since the war, shares blasted past analysts’ price target by some 7%.

This is by design and the model has been in place for decades.

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Zelensky Lies About Russia ‘Shelling Nuclear Plant’ And Triggering ‘Radiation Leak’ in Latest Bid to Con NATO Into War

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in an “emotional” speech on Thursday night that Russia intentionally launched an attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the city of Energodar with tanks and warned that the entirety of Europe could be destroyed as a result.

“Right now, Russian tanks are firing upon nuclear units,” Zelensky said. “These are tanks equipped with thermal imagers. That is, they know where they are shooting, they have been preparing for this!”

He continued: “I appeal to all Ukrainians, to all Europeans. To all people who know the word ‘Chernobyl.’ Who know how many grief and casualties the explosion at the nuclear power plant caused. It was a global catastrophe. Hundreds of thousands of people struggled with its consequences. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated. Russia wants to do it again. And already repeats. But six times more!”

“Europeans! Wake up, please! Speak to your politicians! Russian troops are firing upon the nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the city of Energodar. There are six power units. Six! One power unit exploded in Chernobyl,” Zelensky said.

“The Russian military must be stopped immediately! Shout to your politicians. Ukraine has 15 nuclear units. If there is an explosion, it is the end of everything. The end of Europe. This is the evacuation of Europe. Only immediate European action can stop Russian troops. Do not allow the death of Europe from the catastrophe at the nuclear power plant!”

Zelensky regime officials claimed they detected “elevated levels of radiation” and urged NATO to immediately institute a no-fly zone over Ukraine (which would immediately mean World War III).

Everything they said was a lie. The International Atomic Energy Agency and the White House both fact-checked Zelensky’s claims on Thursday night and reported there was no radiation leak.

“Ukraine regulator tells IAEA there has been no change reported in radiation levels at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant site,” the IAEA said.

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Pro-Russian Mayor in Eastern Ukrainian City of Kreminna Found Shot Dead in the Street After He Was Detained by Officials

The Pro-Russian mayor Vlodymyr Struk was found dead in the street of Kreminna in Luhansk eastern Ukraine after he was reportedly detained a day earlier.

His wife claimed he was taken by unidentified people in camouflage clothing a day earlier.

The Daily Mail reported:

The pro-Russian mayor of a city in eastern Ukraine who welcomed President Vladimir Putin’s invasion was ‘shot dead’ after being kidnapped from his home, it has been announced.

Vlodymyr Struk, of Kreminna in Luhansk, was killed on Tuesday and suffered a ‘gunshot wound to the heart’ after he was ‘abducted from his home’, according to his wife.

Announcing the news on Facebook, the adviser for Interior Minister of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko claimed Mr Struk was a ‘Luhansk People’s Republic supporter’ (LPR) and actively pursued a ‘pro-Russian position’ in the last week by ‘communicating with the Russian Federation’.

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