Madi

Frack Free South Africa.
Clean energy. Follow Mandela's legacy-he spoke about the importance of water, environment, sustainability.

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

'Human Rights in Ukraine ...

European Broadcasting Union study exposes “brutal Russification” in Russian-occupied Ukraine
20.11.2023...
https://t.co/qPOhS7l9xw
Also
'Documenting
war crimes in Ukraine..
The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative..
https://t.co/vWGZpmhquA

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

An investigation by Disclose . NGO has unpicked Europe’s dependence on Russian metals including Aluminium and Titanium

Companies identified include #Airbus and the French company #Safran.

Since the start of the war Since the beginning of the war, the European Union has imported at least €13.7 billion euros worth of Russian metals, according to our calculations based on Eurostat data, the statistical office of the European Union.

This includes primarily aluminum, nickel, copper, and titanium. For France, the bill was approximately 276 million euros for the year 2022 alone, according to statistics compiled internally by the European Commission.

Aluminium imports from Russia gaps in the 12th package are well documented. In fact the European Aluminium association wrote to the EU on December 8th, 2023 - highlighting these gaps with proposed solutions.

They set out in their letter to the European Commission that “a significant gap” exists in the current sanctions regime imposed on Russia following its unprovoked aggression in Ukraine, but they do welcome the proposed inclusion of a limited number of aluminium products (notably wires, foil, tubes, and pipes) in the 12th package.

“At the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union took an understandably cautious approach to this issue, having in mind its reliance on Russian supply in recent years and the strategic importance of the material to numerous European industrial value chains.

However, 21 months later, circumstances have changed considerably.

The European aluminium industry has accelerated its decoupling from Russia, in part based on the advice of the European Commission. Today, although still significant in monetary terms (€2.3 billion in 2022), aluminium ingots from Russia account for only 9% of EU imports and 5% of total consumption in the EU. We are therefore confident that a combination of domestic production, currently running at less than full capacity, and imports from elsewhere would be more than sufficient to meet the needs of the European aluminium industry and the many downstream markets our companies serve.

Moreover, the inclusion of primary metal and the necessary anti-circumvention measures would in fact serve Europe’s downstream users by stimulating the establishment of more reliable and resilient domestic supply chains, stemming the flow of semi-fabricated products produced in third countries from discounted Russian metal and bolstering domestic production in Europe.”

Despite the invasion of Ukraine, European companies are allowed to purchase “critical” materials such as #titanium, #aluminum, or #nickel from Russia.

👉 More than 13 billion euros worth of these metals have been imported into Europe since 2022. Aerospace giants like Airbus and Safran are benefiting from this, even at the risk of fueling the Kremlin’s war machine and enriching oligarchs who are already under financial sanctions.

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Next 👉 Aluminium and Titanium being used with other critical materials to manufacture aircraft in the west..

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport https://t.co/mbx4Dnos7m

[Jake Broe @RealJakeBroe]

This is real. This is what Speaker Johnson plans to spend all next week on in the House. No vote on military aid for Ukraine will be debated or allowed.

Johnson after next week then plans to give everyone in the House another two week paid vacation to waste more time.

@SpeakerJohnson

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

A short history of Putin’s Chechnya conquests and the installation of a puppet bearded murderer under his direct authority and control, the TikTok Gucci wannabe-soldier, known as Ramzan Kadyrov - the boy who has a thing for goats.

Background:

Vladimir Putin's approach to Chechnya has been marked by a combination of military intervention, political maneuvering, and suppression of opposition, particularly during the Second Chechen War and its aftermath.

Putin's policies in Chechnya have been characterized by allegations of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, as well as restrictions on religious freedom, particularly for the predominantly Muslim population.

Ethnic Russians and Chechens have clashed bitterly since the 18th century in periodic border conflicts. Russian imperial troops routinely plundered Chechen settlements in bloody ethnic cleanses against Chechen civilians. During Josef Stalin's rule of the Soviet Union, about 400,000 Chechens and ethnic Ingush were forcibly deported from their homeland in the North Caucasus.

As many as 30% of people died from the hardship and violence of relocation, until the survivors were allowed to return to their land under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev 13 years later.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Chechens established a short-lived Caucasian Imamate which included parts of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia; there was also the secular pan-Caucasian Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus.

Most of the resistance was defeated by Bolshevik troops by 1922. Then, months before the creation of the Soviet Union, the Chechen Autonomous Oblast of the Russian SFSR was established.

Here's a brief overview of the wars in Chechnya 👇

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[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport https://t.co/wLkCEXE4jZ

[MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀 @Maks_NAFO_FELLA]

💔 "Donetsk region is under heavy shelling — there are civilian casualties", — OVA.

❗️In Ocheretyne, Russians dropped KAB-500 on the residential building. At least one person was injured. Presumably, there are people under the rubble, but a rescue operation is impossible due to shelling.

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport Another day without the resouces that Ukraine needs to protect itself, another day of terrorist massive attacks on apartments, homes where families live - and where they now die, are injured, traumatized Another day let down.

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

https://t.co/dTXEr8GJDZ

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport Another day without the resouces that Ukraine needs to protect itself, another day of terrorist massive attacks on apartments, homes where families live - and where they now die, are injured, traumatized Another day let down.

[MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀 @Maks_NAFO_FELLA]

💔 "Donetsk region is under heavy shelling — there are civilian casualties", — OVA.

❗️In Ocheretyne, Russians dropped KAB-500 on the residential building. At least one person was injured. Presumably, there are people under the rubble, but a rescue operation is impossible due to shelling.

[Peter Heine Nielsen @PHChess]

2 Ukrainian🇺🇦 Chess players died yesterday.

Yuriy Rastropin at the front.

Iliya Oskina in a Russian 🇷🇺 missile strike targeting civilians in Mykolaiv.

From the world of chess, there is just silence.

#RussiaisATerroistState

https://t.co/dvUeS8GYQM

https://t.co/kA2htKtcxq

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

If my content provides you value in knowledge and entertainment - the choice is yours.

Thank you.

https://t.co/CVGwBH5dBs

https://t.co/07juYvKPwN

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

Another Daily roundup of Russian Telegram chatter. Read the disclaimer please!

The sickness of Russian society and mass arrests edition. (The graphic not for the squeamish)

👉 Novosibirsk surgeon Rustam Kurmanbaev gives handmade gifts to friends. Everything would be fine, but he makes them from the flesh of patients and in the operating room. Heart shaped chunks of human flesh.

A criminal case has been opened against the doctor. It involves the use of fake documents.

https://t.co/SuvS7bn3Hv

👉 As the Cheka-OGPU learned, the leader of the Chekhov organized crime group Nikolai Pavlinov (Kolya), who in 2021 was sentenced to 17 years for creating an organized crime group for the purpose of stealing state property, has been released

👉 The Internal Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee are protecting “bandits in uniform” ? In Samara, where police beat witnesses , forced them to give false testimony under threat of reprisals and long sentences, and falsified evidence and decisions in a “custom-made” criminal case against businessman Yushin Alexander .

A man was illegally sentenced by a corrupt court to 20 YEARS in a maximum security camp just for DOING BUSINESS WITHOUT A LICENSE!

Such legal chaos of the security forces and the judicial system in relation to entrepreneurs actually puts an end to the business climate in Russia and nullifies all the efforts of the state leader. The laws in the country actually don’t work!

Here are three links to previous posts:

https://t.co/qCIgn6CHR0
https://t.co/nXlBWjgYJR
https://t.co/pQI91xVbm6

👉
As the Cheka-OGPU learned, LUKOIL vice-president Vitaly Robertus hanged himself with a cord in his office after learning that it was being developed by the Russian FSB and that he would be arrested for bribing customs officers. Apparently, this information was shared with him by the senior vice president of Lukoil, Oleg Pashayev, with whom Robertus committed suicide.

Robertus did not wait for them to come for him and took his own life.

https://t.co/zyGF75F9A7

👉 On the territory of the Tver region, Vasily Buryakov was detained, who is accused of attacking police officers of the Police Department for the city district of Losino-Petrovsky Municipal Municipality of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia “Shchelkovskoye” on April 7 of this year.

👉 Former head of the Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (UEBiPK) of the Novosibirsk Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Vyalkov, was detained for protecting an illegal business.

👉 As the Cheka-OGPU reported, the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation brought charges of theft of ₽1.676 billion from the Nanoenergo Fund Limited, created by Rusnano OJSC and Peresvet Bank, to the deputy chairman of the board of RUSNANO Oleg Kiselev and Irina Rappoport.

👉 Infotsygan Ayaz Shabutdinov was charged with 73 counts of fraud, previously 50 were known, the lawyer told RIA Novosti.

👉 The FSB, using a Falkatus armored car, detained nine members of an organized crime group in Dagestan who stole 2.8 billion rubles from the budget. The gang included former and current employees of PJSC Rosseti Northern Caucasus, a branch of Dagenergo, and contractors

👉 ❗️Former director of the Gostekh project of the Tsifrum company Yaroslav Demchenko was detained in a case of major fraud, law enforcement agencies reported.

The chat is unverified. I do not endorse the views expressed, be wary of disinformation and DYOR. I monitor and translate Vatnik channels as a general mood check, so you don’t have to.

These translations and monitoring of Russian channels is light entertainment.

Quality research threads, work and time dedicated - is not free and not sustainable, without support or publishing my content behind a paywall, to ensure the whole operation is funded.

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

The Straits, wholly within the territory of Turkey, form a vital avenue of commerce between the landlocked Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, which opens into the Mediterranean. The struggle for control of these straits is as old as ancient Greece and has constituted one of the major themes of diplomatic history and international law.

The Straits are important both economically and strategically- economically as an avenue of maritime commerce between Black Sea nations and the rest of the world, strategically as a checkpoint against ingress to or egress from the Black Sea.

While the Straits are important to the Soviet Union, they are far more important to Turkey because they constitute the major factor of Turkish national interest, sovereignty, and security.19 Their narrow passage is well adapted for defense. Even the most powerful navies and the strongest armies have failed to penetrate or to occupy them. For five centuries Turkey has based its national existence and security on the Straits. Of necessity, questions concerning the use of the Straits are of supreme importance to Turkey.

Restrictions during wartime:

The Convention upholds the “principle of freedom of transit and navigation” through the straits, subject to certain limitations in time of war (Article 1). If Turkey is not a belligerent, all merchant ships, regardless of flag or cargo, may transit the straits in time of war (Article 4), subject to the same conditions applicable to merchant ships in time of peace (Articles 2 and 3). If Turkey is a belligerent, neutral merchant vessels may transit the straits by day through designated routes, but only if they do not assist the enemy (Article 5).

A number of highly specific restrictions in Article 14 and 18 were imposed on what type of warships are allowed passage. Non-Black Sea powers wishing to send a vessel must notify Turkey 15 days prior to the requested passing, and Black Sea states must notify 8 days prior to passage. Also, no more than nine foreign warships, with a total aggregate tonnage of 15,000 tons, may pass at any one time. Furthermore, no single ship heavier than 10,000 tonnes can pass. An aggregate tonnage of all non-Black Sea warships in the Black Sea must be no more than 45,000 tons, with no one nation exceeding 30,000 tons at any given time, and they are permitted to stay in the Black Sea for at most 21 days.

Only Black Sea states may transit capital ships of any tonnage, escorted by no more than two destroyers. Any revision to articles 14 and 18 requires 3/4 majority of signatory countries and must include Turkey.

Dodgy history of breaking the Convention:

On July 18, 1976, the 40,000-ton Soviet naval vessel Kiev, sporting a 600-foot flight deck and a complement of helicopters and fixed- wing aircraft, steamed into the Mediterranean after completing its transit of the Turkish Straits.4 The Montreux Convention, which governs transit of the Turkish Straits, limits the aggregate tonnage of all foreign naval forces in transit through the Straits to 15,000 tons.5 Only in the case of capital ships6 does it allow Black Sea powers to exceed this limit.

Although the Convention's definition of capital ships includes cruisers, it specifically excludes aircraft carriers. Nevertheless, Istanbul's military port authorities accepted the Soviet classification of "antisubmarine cruiser" and allowed the Kiev to pass.

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

Warships passing through the Bosporus Strait to the Black Sea.

The Turkish Straits include the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. The river-like Bosporus, to the northeast, is about eighteen miles long and varies in width from about 800 yards to two and three-quarters miles at the Black Sea entrance. The Dardanelles, to the southwest, are about forty-seven miles long and average three to four miles in width. The Sea of Marmara lies between.

Russian naval forces can gain access to the Black Sea via two routes—one from the Caspian Sea (via the Lenin Volga-Don Shipping Canal and the Sea of Azov) and the other from the Mediterranean Sea (via the Turkish Straits).

Passage through the Volga-Don Canal is under the exclusive control of Russian authorities, which allows Russian warships from the Caspian Flotilla8 to conduct unimpeded naval exercises and operations with warships from the Black Sea Fleet. Access to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean, however, is under the exclusive control of Turkey and is regulated by the 1936 Montreux Convention.

Articles 2–7 consider the passage of merchant ships. Articles 8–22 consider the passage of war vessels.

On Sunday February 28, 2022 - Turkish leaders labeled Russian’s invasion of Ukraine a WAR, a rhetorical shift that sets the stage for Turkey limiting warships transiting the Turkish Straits and entering the Black Sea. Speaking on CNN Turk, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that “the situation in Ukraine has transformed into a war” and Turkey “will implement all articles of Montreux transparently.” Çavuşoğlu was referencing the 1936 Montreux Convention, an international agreement that governs the transit of all vessels and airplanes through the Turkish Straits, a strategic chokepoint that links the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict rages, the Montreux Convention has taken on increased importance as a potential regulator of warship traffic into the conflict zone.

As Turkey has invoked Montreux’s wartime provisions, Russian warships will generally be prohibited from entering the Black Sea.

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

Who controls the Black Sea?

There is some interesting history to consider:

Wars have been fought for centuries over command of the Black Sea. Controlling the comings and goings of vessels in this vast inland waterway, is key to securing that power. Throughout history, geography has given the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey major influence in this region. The Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1299 to 1922, controlled two major straits – the Dardanelles, which runs from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean Sea – as well as the Bosporus, which runs from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Collectively, they are known as the Turkish Straits, or simply “the Straits,” and provide the only entry to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean Sea. Upon the conquest of Crimea in 1475, the Ottoman Empire excluded all foreign ships from the Black Sea, effectively creating a “Turkish lake” for three centuries.

1923 Treaty of Lausanne
Ottoman dominance of the Black Sea ended in 1774 after an ill-fated decision to join Poland in a war against Russia. Catherine the Great secured Crimea as a Russian protectorate as well as freedom of passage through the Straits for its commercial shipping. The question of the Straits remained subject to the ebb and flow of great powers over the years. But the “ancient rule” of keeping the Straits closed to all warships continued until the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, only a year after the Soviet Union came into existence. The treaty laid down the principle of the freedom of passage for all vessels – even warships, but only during times of peace. It also set up an International Straits Commission to supervise the various provisions of the treaty, which included demilitarization.

By 1931, Turkey was increasingly concerned that the Lausanne Treaty’s demilitarization clause was incompatible with Turkey’s legitimate right of self-defense. The collective security system envisioned by the League of Nations began to disintegrate after Germany remilitarized and Italy invaded Abyssinia, now Ethiopia. This fundamental change in circumstance allowed Turkey to reopen the issue of the Straits at a conference in Montreux, Switzerland.

1936 Montreux Convention
Soviet Russia sought to make the Black Sea closed to all except the littoral states. Ukraine and Georgia were then part of the Soviet Union, while Romania and Bulgaria were Soviet allies. The United Kingdom and others wanted to limit the ability of Soviet warships to enter and exit the Mediterranean at will and then take refuge in the Black Sea if pursued by enemies. The UK also sought oversight of Turkey’s ability to close the Straits. These views were opposed by Russia and Turkey, while the United States was in its isolationist phase and did not take part. The resulting 1936 Montreux Convention allowed Turkey to remilitarize and once again control the Straits, which were firmly under its sovereignty. But the agreement regulating the passage of ships also assured Soviet dominance in the Black Sea.

Stalin’s pressure prompts Turkey to join NATO
Although the overall result was advantageous for the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin was not satisfied. At the Potsdam Conference in 1945, Stalin raised the issue of revising the Montreux Convention. It was agreed that the “Three Powers” (the Soviet Union, the UK and the U.S.) would take up the issue with the Turkish government. But Soviet pressure on Turkey to give up territory and agree to joint control over the Straits pushed Turkey into joining NATO in 1952.

Next: Russian dominance in the Black Sea 👉

4/15

[Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella]

Black Sea - a historical, geographical, trade and military perspective, relevant to the illegal war in Ukraine being conducted with genocidal intent by the Russian Federation and it’s state supporters.

If you are interested in learning about the Black Sea, and connecting the dots between Russian aggression, International Law governing the Black Sea , territorial rights, the Grain Initiative, Trade facts, stolen Ukrainian grain and Snake Island - this thread is for you! If you prefer - use the audio link at the end to have this thread read to you as an audio blog - great for listening in the car or as a bedtime ASMR Bonk!

👉 What is the Black Sea?

Let’s talk geography first. The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.

The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Don. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe. The Black Sea covers 436,400 km2 (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov), has a maximum depth of 2,212 m.

The Black Sea has a positive water balance, with an annual net outflow of 300 km3 (72 cu mi) per year through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles into the Aegean Sea. While the net flow of water through the Bosporus and Dardanelles (known collectively as the Turkish Straits) is out of the Black Sea, water generally flows in both directions simultaneously: Denser, more saline water from the Aegean flows into the Black Sea underneath the less dense, fresher water that flows out of the Black Sea. This creates a significant and permanent layer of deep water that does not drain or mix and is therefore anoxic. This anoxic layer is responsible for the preservation of ancient shipwrecks which have been found in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea, via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea. The Bosporus strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the strait of the Dardanelles. To the north, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait.

Popular supposition derives "Black Sea" from the dark color of the water or climatic conditions. Some scholars understand the name to be derived from a system of colour symbolism representing the cardinal directions, with black or dark for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east. Hence "Black Sea" meant "Northern Sea". According to this scheme, the name could only have originated with a people living between the northern (black) and southern (red) seas: this points to the Achaemenids (550–330  BC).

Next 👉 Who owns the Black Sea waters

1/15

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport https://t.co/72MGlLjodh

[HIMARS FELLA @olhaonet]

It´s Friday again #Fellas
Let's go!
#FollowFellaFriday

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport https://t.co/Cvs18ebBPh

[Shaun Pinner @ShaunPinnerUA]

After over a year and many hearings I am very happy to say that we were successful in our application for moral damages against the Russian state. While in detention we were exposed to highly unsanitary conditions and severe mistreatment which was in breach of the Geneva Conventions, that offers protection to prisoners of war.

As I have said previously, this is not about money, this is about justice and making Russia accountable for its inhumane treatment of not just Prisoners of War, but for all those who have been affected by Russian atrocities since the full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia was notified on all the hearings and the trial dates but ignored the communications and chose not to attend the trial.

I suspect an official statement will be made soon but I just want to thank Robinson Patman and Hogan Lovells who have worked hard to get us this far and continue to work on our behalf in the pursuit of justice, not just for us, but for the many.

This is the first step in a long journey but as from today, Russia are guilty, legally.

We have set precedence!

Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

https://t.co/9KGZdgykCy

[Shaun Pinner @ShaunPinnerUA]

I was against writing this book so shortly after being exchanged but I am so glad I agreed to the advice from the people I trust the most.
For one thing it allowed me to tell our story of Mariupol and the Russian aggression carried out on its citizens during those first days of the full scale invasion, a city I’d lived in since 2018. The brutal occupation, capture and torture of Ukrainian soldiers and the brotherhood we forged that led to our fight back & exchange late 2022 after several months of captivity, starvation & finally receiving the death penalty in a sham trial.
This book is my story about heroism that sometimes comes at the least likeliest times and from the people you don’t expect.
https://t.co/k0ejcsNWrv
Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

[Madi @frackfreeSA]

@MriyaReport https://t.co/TLswSLGrPe

[Shaun Pinner @ShaunPinnerUA]

https://t.co/RJSEoIQOe6
Listen to him👍🇺🇦

[Shaun Pinner @ShaunPinnerUA]

After over a year and many hearings I am very happy to say that we were successful in our application for moral damages against the Russian state. While in detention we were exposed to highly unsanitary conditions and severe mistreatment which was in breach of the Geneva Conventions, that offers protection to prisoners of war.

As I have said previously, this is not about money, this is about justice and making Russia accountable for its inhumane treatment of not just Prisoners of War, but for all those who have been affected by Russian atrocities since the full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia was notified on all the hearings and the trial dates but ignored the communications and chose not to attend the trial.

I suspect an official statement will be made soon but I just want to thank Robinson Patman and Hogan Lovells who have worked hard to get us this far and continue to work on our behalf in the pursuit of justice, not just for us, but for the many.

This is the first step in a long journey but as from today, Russia are guilty, legally.

We have set precedence!

Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

https://t.co/9KGZdgykCy