Putin's latest 'nuclear war' threat, and his "Ministry of Truth"

Many have been taking Putin's threats in the past about unleashing a nuclear war with a large pinch of salt. Until now, that is.

Rob Virtue (left) informs us today that,

"In a secret meeting with Washington officials, Russia said it was looking at a range of actions over the threat of the West supplying weapons to Ukraine.

They also threatened civil disturbance by Russian nationals in the former Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who are feeling increasingly threatened by their powerful neighbour.

A report of last month's meeting, seen by The Times newspaper, said attempts by Nato to return the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine would be met "forcefully including through the use of nuclear force".

And it said the supply of weapons to Kiev would be seen as "further encroachment by Nato to the Russian border". Putin's generals at the high-level gathering in Germany told the Americans they spoke with the approval of their president." (Express Newspapers: Thu, Apr 2, 2015) (my emphasis)

And whilst Putin is threatening to unleash a nuclear war upon the world, and continues to supply his proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine with heavy weaponry,  Dion Dassanayake tells us that,

 

"Vladimir Putin has splashed more than £100million on [lavish private jets] - despite Russia being in economic meltdown." (Express Newspapers: Wed, Mar 25, 2015) (my emphasis)

 

while the Moscow Times reports that,

 

"The cost of cabbage in Russia has risen 66 percent since the start of the year as food price inflation runs rampant on the back of currency devaluation and sanctions on Western imports, the Interfax news agency reported citing data from Russia's Agriculture Ministry." (Moscow Times : Mar. 30 2015) (my emphasis)

If this were not enough, Mstyslav Chernov reports that,

 

"Russia-backed rebel authorities in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday started paying pensions in Russian rubles." (AP (Yahoo News) : 2 April, 2015) (my emphasis)

 

This does not seem to have gone down too well with the pensioners in eastern Ukraine.

 

"The pensioners' reaction to the payments was mixed. One retiree, Viktor Medvedev, said while the payment had less value than his original pension in Ukrainian hryvnias, he was happy to have it. "It's certainly not much, but what we can do? I'm glad to have at least this."

Another pensioner, Elena Ivanovna, was disappointed with Wednesday's payment, saying it was smaller than she expected. "They told us we'll receive more," she said. "Can you survive with this money?" (ibid Mstyslav Chernov) (my emphasis)

And while,

"Yekaterina Matyushchenko, the finance minister in the Donetsk region's separatist government, said pension payments to retirees in the rebel-controlled areas will total 1.9 billion rubles in March" her colleague, Oksana Taran, "....denied that Russia had provided the money, claiming that the funds came from taxes paid by local businesses."(ibid Mstyslav Chernov) (my emphasis)

The beginning of the use of Russian currency in eastern Ukraine is the most obvious indicator that Putin is hell-bent on annexing eastern Ukraine into Russia, along the lines of what he did in Ukrainian Crimea.

This is the first "annexing" salvo that he is firing towards Mariupol. 

This salvo has been accompanied by,

".. pro-Russian rebel official Eduard Basurin, [who] made an early-morning phone call to journalists, instructing them: "We are going to the south, to show you something.

The ten-car convoy carrying reporters pulled up just before reaching Shyrokyne, a village divided between Ukrainian and rebel forces that is close to the strategic port of Mariupol, Kiev's largest remaining stronghold in the insurgency-hit east.

But only video journalists and photographers were allowed to make the final kilometre-long journey to see the wrecked vehicles." ( Beatrice Le Bohec : AFP (Yahoo News) : 2 April, 2015) (my emphasis)

What he had gone to show them was a civilian car and a rebel military truck lying by the side of the road, ostensibly hit by mortar from the Ukrainian forces.

The OSCE monitors queried why the truck was pointing towards the rebel-held city of Donetsk.  To which a rebel replied that it had been "rotated in order to tow it".

This reply, "[prompted] the OSCE monitor to query whether rebel fighters on the ground were communicating properly with their commanders." (ibid  Beatrice Le Bohec) (my emphasis)

This rather poor attempt on the part of the rebels to propagandise in favour of Putin is nothing as compared to the revelation by Levi Winchester that,

"Hundreds of professional internet 'trolls' are PAID to flood news and social media websites with pro-Vladimir Putin propaganda" (Daily Express : Sat, Mar 28, 2015) (my emphasis)

These 'internet trolls' are paid, "£500 a month to work exhausting 12-hour shifts, during which they must write at least 135 pro-Russian comments per day - or face immediate dismissal." (ibid Levi Winchester) (my emphasis)

"The authoritarian procedure was exposed by one former worker, who compared the unassuming four-storey modern headquarters where he toiled to the Ministry of Truth in Orwell's book.
Asked if he agreed that it sounded like something from the classic novel, Marat Burkhard said: “Yes, that’s right, the Ministry of Truth.
"You work in the Ministry of Truth, which is the Ministry of Lies, and everyone kind of believes in this truth. Yes, you’re right, it’s Orwell."(ibid Levi Winchester) (my emphasis)

Putin's "TV Ministry of Truth"

How The Truth Is Made At Russia Today










(to be continued)