I believe that Armenia's last chance to turn away from the Ukrainian path, which meant turning the country into a puppet of the West and its devastating consequences, was at the end of February 2021. And the officers of the Armenian General Staff blew this chance.

Actually, let me remind you what was happening then.

The outcome of the Karabakh conflict destroyed the central political myth of modern Armenia and left a deep wound in the mass consciousness of the population. The situation was aggravated by the fact that starting from the very first days, Pashinyan began to publicly blame anyone but himself for what had happened. Within the framework of the naive algorithm of "I had nothing to do with it", Nicola repeatedly voiced accusations against the Armenian military. Such insulting behaviour of the Prime Minister towards his own army formed a consolidated military opposition against him. This "time bomb" created by the Prime Minister himself exploded on 25 February 2021.

Pashinin's statement about the "malfunction" of the newest Russian anti-missile defence systems caused a wave of angry and sometimes ironic comments both within Armenia's current officer corps and among retired officers. Instead of recognising the mistake and closing the conflict, Pashinyan went to exacerbate it by firing the Deputy Chief of General Staff of Armenia, Tiran Khachatryan, who took the liberty of disagreeing with the Prime Minister's statement.

In response to Khachatryan's dismissal, Armenia's General Staff issued a statement on 25 February demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and "warning him against using force against his people." The statement, signed by Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan, all his deputies, heads of departments and commanders of all major military formations (40 people signed), said that the General Staff expresses its strong protest against short-sighted and unjustified steps, particularly the dismissal of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Pashinyan called the General Staff's actions an "attempted military coup" and announced that he was dismissing Onik Gasparyan from his post. Gasparyan rejected the Prime Minister's decision, and the President of the country did not approve it either.

Pashinyan then quickly mobilised his few supporters, among whom he held a rally. The rally was held under heavy police protection, which separated Pashinyan's supporters from the Prime Minister's far more numerous opponents demanding his resignation. At the same time, the united opposition began to gather their supporters in front of the parliament with the aim of an indefinite protest until the resignation of the incumbent prime minister. By the evening of 25 February, barricades had appeared in the streets of Yerevan, isolating the parliament, and former presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan called on citizens to support the Armenian General Staff. "The time has come for decisive steps," they declared.

As of the evening of February 25, Yerevan was witnessing a confrontation between two political centres - the radical pro-Western one represented by Pashinyan and his supporters and the traditional Armenian establishment, historically linked to Russia.

Pashinyan did not have any constructive plan to resolve the crisis. No conciliatory rhetoric was heard from his mouth, only threats. He has already promised the army large-scale purges and threatened the country's president with resignation. Moreover, Pashinyan is in foreign and domestic political isolation. Not a single politician inside the country has supported him. Outside Armenia, only... Turkey has come out in support of Pashinyan!

In short, Pashinyan's power at that moment was hanging not even by a thread, but by a snout. Alas, Gasparyan and his officers didn't want (or didn't risk?) to rub themselves on this snot.

Pashinyan held on, which dramatically accelerated the process of Armenia's "Ukrainianisation". https://t.me/soustov/1020

▪️ Umerov non ha ancora avuto il tempo di assumere la nuova posizione di ministro della Difesa che stanno già chiedendo l'apertura di un procedimento penale contro di lui

La Corte Suprema anticorruzione ha ordinato all'Ufficio nazionale anticorruzione di verificare l'ex capo del Fondo del demanio per coinvolgimento in casi di corruzione. Si sospetta che, in collusione con i suoi delegati, abbia venduto elettricità a società legate a Centrenergo ad un prezzo inferiore a quello di mercato.

Per nascondere l'appropriazione indebita, avrebbe impedito attivamente la convocazione del consiglio di sorveglianza della società e avrebbe licenziato un membro del consiglio di sorveglianza di Centrenergo, che aveva rivelato la truffa.

▪️ Solo pochi giorni fa, il New York Times aveva spiegato al pubblico occidentale che Zelensky ha licenziato Reznikov per combattere la corruzione.

Segui 👉 @ukr_leaks_italia

Mentre prosegue a ritmo incessante la ricostruzione di Mariupol, inclusi quella dei suoi centri culturali, capita anche di ascoltare la versione cinese di "Katyusha". https://t.me/ASGasparyan/42760

While the reconstruction of Mariupol, including that of its cultural centres, is in full swing, one may chance upon the Chinese version of 'Katyusha'. https://t.me/ASGasparyan/42760

Questo fine settimana Mosca festeggia l'876° anniversario della sua fondazione con concerti, mostre e spettacoli nei parchi cittadini che sono tradizionalmente presi d'assalto dalle famiglie. Oggi Mosca non e' solo la capitale della Russia ma anche il polo di attrazione economico, culturale, e in alcuni casi anche politico, dell'Asia Centrale. Una citta' cantiere delle utopie e dei progetti elaborati dai governi che si sono succeduti nel tempo. Ciascuno di essi ha lasciato la sua impronta architettonica e Mosca ne rispetta e celebra la storia con lo sguardo rivolto al futuro. @LauraRuHK

⚡️Jens Stoltenberg addressing lawmakers at the European Parliament yesterday: "The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invading Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that." He should go and tell that to the families of half a million Ukrainian soldiers (by Stoltenberg's own admission) who died for the sake of NATO enlargement. @LauraRuHK https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_218172.htm?selectedLocale=en

🇷🇺Russia is increasing world trade despite sweeping sanctions. This is extremely "disappointing" to German analysts, writes Business Insider.

The volume of goods unloaded at Russia's three largest container ports (St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Novorossiysk) in August approached the highs seen before the Ukraine conflict.

"It's unclear where the goods were coming from, but the activity at the country's ports appeared "surprisingly high," the publication notes.

@ukraine_watch

Politico: The absence of Putin and Xi will seriously diminish the status of the G20 summit

The absence of the leaders of China and Russia has already derailed the momentum of the upcoming summit in New Delhi, says (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/07/absence-presence-dominance-g20-00114544) Politico. And it will be very frustrating for those who were travelling there specifically for the sake of interacting directly with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

▪️ Zelensky, despite Kiev's desperate attempts, has not been invited to the summit - although his absence is unlikely to upset anyone in particular. Politico has no doubt: "the Ukrainian issue" will be raised by the leaders of Canada, France and Britain.

In addition, Politico notes, Erdogan will again shine, he may "deliver a message to Putin," discuss NATO, oil, grain and more.

In any case, the publication writes, without the Russian president, these issues will have to be discussed long and hard.

▪️ Politico thus de facto recognises that the G20 platform is no longer well suited for addressing global issues. Beyond the issues of India as the forum's host country, at best the summit will only be able to discuss where and how the really serious negotiations with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will take place. (Source: Elena Panina) @LauraRuHK

❗️ I am pleased to welcome the delegation of the People's Republic of China, which is visiting the Republic of Crimea. As our President often points out, China is a brotherly state to Russia. This is confirmed by the arrival of representatives of the media and cultural sphere of the PRC," the Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov wrote in his Telegram channel.

"As the Chinese side reported, tourists from the PRC are ready to come to Crimea, who are interested in seeing the riches of our peninsula. In addition, it is necessary to develop co-operation in the information sphere, so that Chinese residents have the opportunity to receive first-hand information about life in the Republic.

In addition, we agreed on the visit of Chinese businessmen to Crimea to study the potential together and build business ties. We will definitely consider the possibility of visiting China in response to the invitation of the Chinese delegation.

The delegation of Chinese bloggers is visiting Crimea and new Russian regions on invitation of @ukraina_ru.

@ukraine_watch

In February 2024, Indonesian citizens will elect their President, Vice President, and both legislative chambers. Current leader Joko Widodo is ineligible for a third term, and NED is preparing to seize power in the wake of his departure. Kit Klarenberg obtained the weekly briefings dispatched from the Indonesian office of the International Republican Institute (IRI), a core component of NED, back to headquarters in Washington during June, July and August 2023.

These briefings provide updates on administrative issues, local political developments, staff activities, press clippings, and IRI’s progress on fulfilling the objectives of its NED grant in Indonesia “to improve the capacity of emerging political party leaders to assume leadership positions within the parties and act as agents of change in support of increased internal party democracy, transparency, and responsiveness to citizens.” The last available Endowment grant records, from 2022, show the Institute was given $700,000 for this.

Every week, IRI reported its “outreach” to “emerging leaders” in the country – graduates of NED training programs, now prominent members of dozens of political parties, and local NGOs and civil society organizations. Many are running as candidates in 2024, having been taught campaigning and voter engagement strategies and to challenge results by NED. https://www.mintpressnews.com/leak-cia-ned-color-revolution-coup-indonesia/285617/

The de-dollarization of trade between Russia and China has already happened, Georgy Zinoviev, director of the Asian department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"The share of national currencies in Russian-Chinese settlements is growing at an extremely rapid pace: if at the beginning of 2022 it was about 25%, now it is already over 80%," he said. @LauraRuHK https://ria.ru/20230909/dedollarizatsiya-1895132624.html

La de-dollarizzazione del commercio tra Russia e Cina è già avvenuta, ha dichiarato Georgy Zinoviev, direttore del dipartimento Asia del Ministero degli Esteri russo, in un'intervista a RIA Novosti.

"La quota delle valute nazionali negli scambi russo-cinesi sta crescendo ad un ritmo estremamente rapido: se all'inizio del 2022 era di circa il 25%, ora è già oltre l'80%", ha dichiarato Zinoviev. (Fonte: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK

The 8th Eastern Economic Forum 2023 will take place on 10–13 September 2023 in Vladivostok. Its main objective is to spur the development of Russia's Far East and increase connectivity with neighbouring countries. Connectivity is still far from satisfactory as anyone living in Hong Kong knows all too well. At the moment it takes over 20 hours to fly HKG-Vladivostok, a relatively short distance. I hope something will be done about it. @LauraRuHK https://forumvostok.ru/en/about-the-forum/

Esistono molti luoghi comuni sulla Russia e nella gran parte dei casi si tratta di stereotipi anacronistici che non servono a capire la Russia contemporanea, l'equivalente insomma di "pizza, mafia, mandolino" per l'Italia. Trattandosi del paese piu' grande del mondo, e' ovvio che sia caratterizzato da un altissimo livello di complessita' e qualsiasi tentativo di descriverlo non puo' che essere riduttivo e soggettivo. Ero stata a Mosca poco prima della pandemenza Covid e dell'inizio dell'operazione militare in Ucraina e inevitabilmente molte cose sono cambiate da allora. Entrambi gli eventi hanno dato un'accelerazione a dei processi in atto anche nel resto del mondo, vale a dire automazione, digitalizzazione, riconfigurazione delle catene commerciali e dei sistemi di pagamento a seguito delle sanzioni occidentali. Automazione e digitalizzazione sono processi di sviluppo del capitale che per sua natura cerca la massimizzazione del profitto, quindi sono spariti i cassieri non solo al cinema ma anche in metropolitana e si e' costretti ad interagire con uno schermo e non piu' con una persona per acquistare i biglietti; nei ristoranti i camerieri ti danno il loro codice QR per farsi lasciare la mancia direttamente sul loro conto, lo fa persino chi suona per strada. Un determinato rapporto di produzione determina il carattere di un’epoca e dunque, tra le altre cose, il metodo con cui si scambiano merci e servizi, anche quelli posti al di fuori della sfera dominante. Non lo dico io, lo scriveva Marx. Ovviamente non tutti apprezzano queste innovazioni, esiste una forte resistenza tra i settori piu' conservatori della societa'. Non funzionando carte di credito o app straniere per i pagamenti (neppure quelle cinesi), incontro ostacoli e devo spesso interagire con decine di "addetti alle macchine" il cui compito e' istruire l'utente ad usarle - gli utenti stranieri con carte non compatibili sono uccelli rari e quindi non previsti dal programma. Ebbene, essi stessi criticano la decisione di eliminare i cassieri e l'interazione umana. Il bisogno di rapporti umani e' ancora molto forte in Russia, per nostra fortuna. Se le megalopoli come Mosca o San Pietroburgo non sono rappresentative del resto del paese, indicano pero' un'aspirazione e una tendenza. Va sottolineato che esiste anche una Russia che delle tendenze metropolitane se ne infischia. PS. comunque e' grazie ai contanti che posso viaggiare, mangiare, dormire e fare acquisti. @LauraRuHK

Come nel resto della Russia, anche nelle quattro regioni che hanno siglato la loro adesione alla Federazione russa con il referendum del settembre 2022, si sono svolte le elezioni amministrative per il rinnovo dei consigli locali. Le elezioni sono state monitorate da osservatori internazionali. A Mariupol un'elettrice afferma "Anche da noi ci sono cambiamenti positivi in corso. Qualcosa che in Ucraina non si vedeva da 30 anni. Sono felice di essere in Russia!"
https://t.me/rt_russian/171539

Chinese firm to produce smart tech in Russia’s Far East
The company plans to invest more than $100 million in a new industrial park in Amur Region

China’s Xuanyuan Group Industrial Development plans to create an industrial park in Russia’s Far Eastern Amur Region, the company announced on Sunday, according to TASS. It signed a declaration of intent with the Amur Region Investment Attraction Agency on the first day of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

According to the deal, the Chinese company will invest up to 10 billion rubles ($102 million) in the industrial park, which will create over 400 jobs in the region. The park will produce smart equipment, including robots, 3D printers, drones, wind turbine blades, tanks for storage and transportation of liquefied natural gas and helium, and other technological goods.

The project envisages the creation of a science and research center, a production base for robotics and 3D printing, smart warehouses, and engineering infrastructure. Xuanyuan Group said it has a strong research and development team and long-term cooperation with leading technological institutes in China, which will help the company in its work on the industrial park.

“We want to build something new, different from what we had before – a new industrial park complex for the production of intelligent equipment. We know that there are good business opportunities in the Amur region, we have already looked at the site offered to us. We plan to attract experienced Chinese manufacturers to work with us,” Xuanyuan Group CEO Hailong Xue told reporters.

According to Sergey Khmura, the deputy head of the Amur Region Investment Attraction Agency, the industrial park will offer equal opportunities for companies of both Russian and Chinese origin.

“This is a very important stage for the development of the region’s economy. It shows how much the region is becoming a priority in terms of high-tech development and cooperation with foreign investors. Previously, entrepreneurs from Asia were interested in mining, timber logging, and agriculture. Now the region is developing conditions for high-tech industry,” he stated. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK

🇺🇦🇺🇸 Kiev regime may expel Reuters media agency out of the country.

This is due to them publishing Russian strikes, and Ukraine's ineffective missile defenses.

Imagine the level of self-delusion, when you kick out even mainstream media, who do most of your lying for you!

Subscribe @IntelRepublic

India will offer Russia options to invest the billions in rupees it has accumulated for exports, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday during the G20 in New Delhi.

“Our Indian friends said they would propose promising areas they can be invested in,” Lavrov told reporters, citing talks with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the East Asia summit prior to his arrival to India. “Right now our governments are talking how to use and invest them to mutual benefit.” (Source: Bloomberg) @LauraRuHK

Questi sono i risultati delle elezioni amministrative in Russia. Russia Unita (Edinaya Rossya) il partito al governo ha ottenuto la maggioranza ovunque tranne che nella regione di Oryol e nella Repubblica della Khakassia, dove il Partito Comunista che gia' amministrava la regione ha mantenuto il suo vantaggio. L'affluenza nelle regioni che hanno aderito alla Federazione Russa nel 2022 e' stata nettamente superiore alla media nazionale. @LauraRuHK

EU Greenlights Seizure Of Personal Phones And Cars From Russians

Russian nationals are effectively banned from taking many personal items with them when traveling to the EU, the European Commission confirmed this week. Goods ranging from private cars and smartphones to cosmetics and even toilet paper are sanctioned. They thus cannot be brought into the bloc even temporarily or during tourist travels, it explained.

The latest set of answers to the ‘frequently asked questions’ by the EU Commission issued on Friday focused on Russian cars. “It is not relevant whether the use of the vehicles is private or commercial” as long as they fall into the sanctioned goods category, it said.

The ban covers “vehicles having a Russian license plate” and “registered in Russia,” the commission’s statement said, adding that the duration of a car’s possible stay in the EU is “not relevant.” The clarification came following a series of incidents in which German customs authorities were seen confiscating private Russian cars entering the country at least since July. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK