IT'S A WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD WORLD
Christopher Miller is at it again with a great piece of reportage from the "Donetsk People's Republic": Welcome to the Bizarre World of the Ukrainian Rebels
A few passages:
"On city squares, entertainment is often provided by kids — one child poet, carrying a toy gun and wearing a camouflage bandana around her head, jumped on a stage recently, giving a live mic performance in which she damned the Ukrainian “Nazi morons." On another day, a group of school children performed a play in which they depicted Ukrainians as Nazis while black-and-white footage of World War II fascists played on big screen behind them.
Propaganda like this is ubiquitous. The city resembles the pages of a certain George Orwell novel, with gunmen roaming the streets reminding people to “speak the truth,” and billboards portraying the current fight to that of the Second World War.
The message is working. Many here believe they are fighting a continuation of their grandfathers’ war against the fascists. Question firing squad executions, extrajudicial detentions or the parade of prisoners of war through Donetsk and you’re likely to be called a fascist yourself and thrown into the makeshift prison called “Isolation” — an art center before rebels seized it and turned it into a dungeon.
Against this surreal backdrop, the rebel leadership wants to project normalcy and give the impression that life is returning to routine."
Read the whole surreal and beautifully written piece here.
MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP
Some items from RFE/RL's News Desk:
RUSSIAN RUBLE HITS ANOTHER RECORD LOW
The Russian ruble hit new all-time lows against the euro and dollar on October 13 despite recent government intervention.
The ruble dropped to 51.33 to the euro -- breaking the previous low from March -- and fell to 40.49 to the dollar.
The record lows came after Russian Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said the bank had pumped some $6 billion into propping up the currency since October 3.
International sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and Moscow's support for pro-Russian rebels have cut several major Russian firms off from key international debt markets.
Russia's oil-dependent economy is also hurt by low oil prices, dropping to $88 per barrel on October 13.
The International Monetary Fund said capital flight from Russia will reach some $100 billion this year and inflation is more than 8 percent.
(Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax)
UKRAINE SAYS FEWER RUSSIAN TROOPS IN CONFLICT ZONE
Ukrainian military officials say they have noticed a reduction in Russian soldiers fighting with pro-Russian separatists against government troops in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on October 13 in Kyiv that Russian personnel who had been in Ukraine have been returning to bases inside Russia.
Russia denies that it has any troops in Ukraine or that it supports the rebel forces in the areas the insurgents control in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
But Lysenko said volunteer fighters from Russia are still entering Ukraine from through border crossings controlled by separatists.
Lysenko's statement comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered thousands of troops posted near Ukraine to return to permanent bases.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Germany welcomes the news "but unfortunately we know from experience [with Russia that]...action alone [is] what counts."
(Based on reporting by AP and Reuters)
LITHUANIA BRACES FOR RUSSIAN 'HYBRID WARFARE'
Lithuania is creating a rapid reaction force to counter unconventional threats highlighted by the crisis in Ukraine.
The Baltic nation's top general said on October 13 that 2,500 troops will be on high alert and ready to respond to "hybrid warfare" involving unconventional attacks by unmarked combatants, like those in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
Major General Jonas Vytautas Zukas told reporters: "We must immediately increase our readiness for unplanned military actions during peacetime."
He said new threats include "manipulating national minorities, provocations, attacks by non-state armed groups, illegal border crossing, (and) breach of military transit procedures."
Kyiv and NATO accuse Russia of using those tactics to annex Crimea in March and aid pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia denies involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
NATO member Lithuania's new force is to begin operating on November 1.
(Based on reporting by AFP and Xinhua)
UKRAINE RECOVERS BELONGINGS OF MH17 VICTIMS
The Dutch government says Ukrainian searchers have recovered belongings including passports, luggage, jewelry and children's toys from the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The Security and Justice Ministry said in a statement that 40 members of the Ukrainian disaster response agency participated in a new round of searching at the wreckage site in Eastern Ukraine on october 13. Four Dutch officials and an OSCE team were also present.
Eight forensic experts will fly to Ukraine to examine the belongings before they are returned to the Netherlands.
The jet crashed on July 17 in an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, apparently shot down by a missile.
All 298 people on board were killed. Two-thirds of the victims were Dutch.
Kyiv blames the incident on the rebels and accuses Moscow of arming them. The rebels and Moscow deny the accusations.
(Based on reporting by Reuters and AP)
SO WHAT DOES 'SHIRTFRONT' MEAN, ANYWAY?
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott raised some eyebrows when he said he was planning to "shirtfront" Vladimir Putin over the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 at the upcoming G20 summit.
Now, thanks to news.com.au, we know what exactly that might mean.
Mr Abbott was speaking figuratively of course about his actions. He won’t actually lay a violent hand on the macho Russian.
But definitions are important. We have to know how serious was his figurative threat to understand how serious he will be with the Russian leader.
In AFL states, to shirtfront means to charge a rival player full pelt and hit them so hard they drop to the ground heavily. Apparently if a football is involved in this encounter it is only incidental and certainly not necessary.
In rugby territory – league and union, Mr Abbott’s game – to shirtfront means to grab by the coat lapels, or indeed the front of a shirt, and vigorously challenge.
So, if the Prime Minister threatening to metaphorically slam the Russian President into the ground? Or simply to muss up his shirt? In terminology Mr Abbott is most familiar with, probably the latter.
I guess we'll all find out on November 15-16 when the G20 summit is held in Brisbane, Queensland.
MORE DARTH VADER FUN IN UKRAINE
One of the many Darth Vaders vying for seats in the Verhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has released a campaign ad:
EVENING NEWS ROUNDUP
Some items from RFE/RL's News Desk:
TURKISH WAR GRAVES VANDALIZED IN CRIMEA
Graves of Turkish soldiers and officers killed in the Crimean War have been vandalized in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.
The leader of Azeri community on the Black Sea peninsula, Raqim Qumbatov, said on October 13 that metal Islamic crescents and stars on gravestones in a Sevastopol cemetery had been removed or damaged.
A video report by online news site Vesti.az also showed that road signs pointing to the graveyard and a memorial to Turkish soldiers who died during the 1853-1856 Crimean war had been removed.
Qumbatov said that before Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March, the signs and cemetery had been cared for properly.
Crimean authorities have not commented on the vandalism.
It comes amid what activists is a crackdown on Crimean Tatars, a Muslim minority group whose members largely opposed the annexation.
(Based on reporting by Vesti.az, crimea.kz and e-crimea.info)
ANOTHER MAKAREVICH CONCERT CANCELLED, THIS TIME IN BAKU
A concert by Russian rock musician Andrei Makarevich has been cancelled in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Makarevich, frontman of the legendary band Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine), has had concerts in several Russian cities cancelled in recent weeks.
Pro-Kremlin lawmakers and commentators in Russia branded him a traitor after he gave concerts in Ukraine for refugees from the eastern part of the country, where government forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists.
Makarevich wrote on Facebook on October 13 that Baku city authorities cancelled the concert by him and "The Creole Tango Orchestra" in order "to avoid pro-Ukrainian actions."
The concert was scheduled for October 31 at Baku's Heydar Aliyev Palace, a venue named after the late former president whose son, Ilham Aliyev, succeeded him shortly before his death in 2003.
KREMLIN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF OPPOSES MEMORIAL CLOSURE
The head of Russia's presidential human rights council has said he does not see any reason to close the independent rights organization Memorial.
Mikhail Fedotov told the Interfax news agency on October 13 there are "no grounds" for closing down Memorial.
Russia's Ministry of Justice on October 10 appealed to the Supreme Court to close Memorial but the reasons for the request were not made public.
Fedotov said the planned November 13 Supreme Court hearing on Memorial should be rescheduled to allow Memorial to conduct its planned November 19 conference on changes to its structure.
Fedotov said the changes Memorial plans to make would address the Justice Ministry's concerns.
Created in the late 1980s by a group of Soviet-era dissidents, including Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov, Memorial has served as a tireless rights watchdog and important source of Soviet-era records for historians for a quarter century.
(Based on reporting by Interfax)
RUSSIAN WARSHIPS VISIT IRAN EN ROUTE TO AZERBAIJAN
A fleet of Russian warships berthed in the Caspian port of Enzali in Iran on October 13.
Russian navy ships "Dagestan" and "Grad Sviazhsk" were welcomed by local Iranian officials and Russia's Ambassador to Tehran, Levan Dzhagarian.
The vessels from Russia's Caspian Fleet came to Iran after holding joint exercises with two Kazakh warships last week.
After visiting Enzali, the Russian warships will head to Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Russian navy ships are visiting ports of the three Caspian states as part of a 20-day program to develop international cooperation between the Caspian states.
It was not clear why the Russian vessels did not also visit Turkmenistan, the only other Caspian state.
Last month, the leaders of five Caspian states -- Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, met in the Russian city of Astrakhan and agreed to prevent foreign militaries from gaining any influence in the Caspian Sea.
(Based on reporting by TASS, trend.az and IRNA)
THE PUTIN YOUTH
Ok, this is kind of creepy. Here's a passage from Foreign Policy's article, "Vlad Is Rad: Meet the Hipster Wing of Putin's Propaganda Machine":
The surroundings are decidedly 21st-century. But the group's manifesto reads like that of a political movement from the last century, or even a religious sect.
"The path laid by the father is not one of argument with him, but rather argument with the open world laying before us, an argument in which we are together with the father, at one with him," it says. "We don't fight with the power of the father, we share it, we learn the power, we master the power, together with the father we direct its energy toward our present and future."
By "father," the group means Vladimir Putin.
The article is a profile of the youth group "Set," or "Network," and it's worth a read.
HOW LOW CAN IT GO?
Kuwait's says the price of oil can fall another $15 per barrel and OPEC won't intervene. Price right now, according to Bloomberg, is about $84 for Light Crude and $88 for Brent Crude.
CHINA, CHINA, EVERYWHERE
There's lots of Russia-China action in the news today:
To keep it all in context, I'd recommend this piece from Bloomberg:
Defying his former enemies in the U.S. and Europe may force Vladimir Putin to aid the ascent of his biggest rival in the east.
Isolated over Ukraine, Russia is relying onChina for the investment it needs to avert a recession, three people involved in policy planning said, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters. This means caving in to pressure to grant China privileged access to the two things it wants most: raw materials and advanced weapons, two of the people said.
Russia’s growing dependence on China, with which it spent decades battling for control over global communism, may end up strengthening its neighbor’s position in the Pacific while hastening its own economic decline.
A COUPLE TWEETS FROM BEN JUDAH ON OIL PRICE DROP
AUSTRALIAN PM PLANS TO PERSONALLY CONFRONT PUTIN OVER MH17
Via Reuters:
(Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday that he would use an upcoming G20 leaders summit to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and the "murder" of Australian citizens.
Allegations that the jetliner was downed by pro-Russian separatists armed with surface-to-air missiles provided by the Kremlin sparked calls in Australia to bar Putin from the meeting of world leaders in Brisbane next month.
Abbott, who has been amongst the most strident critics of Russia's handling of the affair, said on Sunday that it was not within Australia's power to ban a G20 member from attending, but promised to give Putin a stern talking to.
"Look, I’m going to shirtfront Mr Putin – you bet I am," Abbott told reporters, using an Australian Rules Football term meaning to hit someone front on and knock them to the ground.
"I’m going to be saying to Mr Putin, Australians were murdered and they were murdered by Russian-backed rebels using Russian supplied equipment," he said.
And Abbot's comments haven't escaped notice in Ukraine. Here's a tweet from Channel 5's Myroslava Petsa: