Sources of Information

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: The stolen faces used to promote Vladimir Putin
By Juliana Gragnani, Medhavi Arora, and Seraj Ali
World Service Disinformation Team

Published 1 day ago

Photo: Indian social media influencer ER Yamini
Image source, ER Yamini
Image caption, Indian social media influencer ER Yamini would like to remain neutral on the Russia-Ukraine war, but on Twitter an account using her picture supports Vladimir Putin

Indian influencer ER Yamini has never tweeted in her life - she prefers to cultivate her big fan bases on Instagram and YouTube.

But in early March, a Twitter account using her picture tweeted: "#IStandWithPutin. True Friendship" accompanied by a video showing two men hugging - one representing India, the other, Russia.

Yamini says she doesn't support either country in the Russia-Ukraine war, and worries about her fans.

"If they see that tweet, what will they think about me?" she asks, "I wish they wouldn't use my photo on that profile."

The fake account is part of a network promoting Russian president Vladimir Putin on Twitter, which used the hashtags #IStandWithPutin and #IStandWithRussia on 2 and 3 March. This led to trending topics in different regions - particularly in the global south, apparently showing support for the war, in countries including India, Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria.

Screenshots of profile using Indian social media influencer ER Yamini's picture on Twitter
Image source, Twitter
Image caption, Hashtags #IStandwithPutin and #IStandwithRussia became trending topics in several countries, but some accounts tweeting it were inauthentic

Part of the activity tracked was organic - in other words, produced by real people - reflecting genuine support in some countries for Mr Putin and Russia.

But many other profiles appear to have been inauthentic. They retweeted messages in high quantities, produced few original messages, and were created very recently.

"They were likely produced by bots, fake profiles or compromised accounts, artificially amplifying support for Putin in these countries," says Carl Miller, co-founder of CASM Technology, a company that researches online harms and disinformation.

It tracked 9,907 profiles promoting support for Russia on 2 and 3 March, in several different languages. CASM found more than 1,000 of those accounts had spam-like characteristics.

The BBC investigated hundreds of these seemingly inauthentic profiles. Our research confirms Mr Miller's thinking - they try to pass as genuine, but in fact are fake.

Screenshots of a profile using American rapper Nipsey Hussle's picture on Twitter
Image source, Twitter
Image caption, American rapper Nipsey Hussle, killed in Los Angeles in 2019, had his picture used by an account promoting Mr Putin

Through reverse image searching, we have found that pictures used by these profiles were copied from celebrities, influencers and ordinary users, who had no idea their images were being used to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

We have not been able to determine who set up the accounts, or whether they have any connection to the Russian government.

An account named Preety Sharma, for example, states in its bio that they are a "model and entrepreneur" originally from India, now in Miami. It was created on 26 February, two days after Russia's invasion. "Putin is a good person", says one of its retweets.

But the woman depicted in the account's profile picture is in the other side of the world. Nicole Thorne is an Australian social media influencer who has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and only occasionally uses her original profile on Twitter.

Screenshots of a profile impersonating Australian social media influencer Nicole Thorne on Twitter
Image source, Twitter
Image caption, "From India to Miami", says this profile which actually uses an Australian influencer's picture

Another account tries to pass as Indian singer Raja Gujjar. Its first tweet was posted on 24 February, the first day of the invasion. And all 178 posts by the account are retweets, a strong indicator of automation.

The BBC contacted Ms Thorne and Mr Gujjar, and both confirmed these accounts weren't theirs.

Although very bot-like, not all accounts investigated were inauthentic.

Take one profile, created in February 2022 with tweets starting on 2 March. It has no followers. Reverse searching its profile picture, the BBC came across a young Indian man's account on LinkedIn.

But it's authentic, and set up by Senthil Kumar, an aeronautical engineer. We asked why he created an account just to retweet pro-Russia messages.

"Usually, I open Twitter and see what is trending. So I saw these posts and just retweeted them," he said. He believes Russia has supported India in the past, and Indians should now support Russia. And his profile was new, he said, because he had forgotten the password of his previous account.

Screenshots of a Twitter profile impersonating Indian singer Raja Gujjar
Image source, Twitter
Image caption, This account was created in January 2022, but its first tweet was posted on 24 February, the day Russia invaded Ukraine

Not the West

The accounts tweet a mixture of criticism of Western countries, express solidarity between the so-called Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), and offer direct support to Mr Putin.

"We default to the idea that information campaigns will be directed to the West. Yet none of the accounts were addressing the West nor claimed to be from the West," says Mr Miller.

To identify what might be a group of inauthentic accounts, he adds, researchers look at accounts' creation dates, an "inhuman" tweeting pattern (such as an account tweeting 24 hours a day), and the range of topics tweeted.

Graphic showing account creation day of 1,128 accounts tracked by CASM Technology


"None of these things are a smoking gun, but they all add up together to allow us to see if a given community of accounts look like it's suspicious," says Mr Miller.

The lack of a genuine profile picture can also be a telltale sign.

Out of a sample of 100 accounts tracked by CASM, the BBC found that 41 had no profile pictures. Another 30 had illustrations or pictures of personalities like Mr Putin or Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. Only a quarter had pictures depicting people - and some of those were stolen.

Twitter prohibits the impersonation of "individuals, groups, or organisations to mislead, confuse, or deceive others".

The company told us that since the war began, it has removed more than 100,000 accounts for violations of its platform manipulation and spam policy, including the suspension of dozens of accounts connected with the hashtags #IStandWithRussia and #IStandWithPutin.

Screenshots of profile using Indian actress Nazriya Nazim's picture on Twitter
Image source, Twitter
Image caption, Twitter removed 11 out of 12 accounts specifically flagged by the BBC for using other people's pictures, including this one of Indian actress Nazriya Nazim

Twitter says it has investigated and suspended hundreds of the accounts pointed out by CASM's research and sent to the platform by the BBC, including 11 out of 12 accounts specifically flagged by us for using other people's profile pictures.

But it said it found no evidence of widespread co-ordination to artificially amplify sentiment around the Ukraine war.

[DaffyVina]

I found this article, analysing Russian media after the parades of Victory day, interesting.
Some of the things being said are demonstrably factually incorrect, regarding both history and the present day.
The completely false narrative is like a lesson in propoganda 101.

14:09 11 May
Russian newspapers celebrate Putin's Victory Day speech and predict his next move
Steve Rosenberg
Reporting from Moscow

Photo: Russian newspapers report extensively on Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day speech, in which he likened the Soviet war against Nazi Germany with Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
Copyright: BBC

Let's turn now to what Russian newspapers have been saying since Vladimir Putin delivered his Victory Day speech on Monday, in which he likened Russia’s offensive in Ukraine to the Soviet war against Nazi Germany.
“Our soldiers and officers are saving the world from Nazism, just like our grandfathers and our great grandfathers once did,” declares the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The pro-Kremlin press continues to promote the false Kremlin narrative that Russia sent its troops into Ukraine to fight Nazis, who are supposedly being backed by the West.

Photo: Russian newspapers printed that soldiers and officers are saving the world from Nazism
Copyright: BBC

“Hitler’s former allies are now arming Ukraine,” writes Komsomolskaya Pravda. “The whole of Europe armed Hitler, just like it’s arming Zelensky. The economic power of Europe worked for the German fascists. Today it’s working for Ukrainian Nazis.”

The language is extraordinary. But the objective is clear.

The Russian authorities want the Russian public to think of President Zelensky - Ukraine’s Jewish President - as a Hitler-like figure to justify the Kremlin’s military operation.

What will be Vladimir Putin’s next move in Ukraine? Moskovsky Komsomolets concludes:
“He’s not about to retreat. He’s prepared for a long, protracted fight. He doesn’t care how long it takes."

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine conflict: Russian chemical attack claim fact-checked
By Alistair Coleman & Kayleen Devlin
BBC Monitoring
Published 7 hours ago

A Russian defence ministry briefing during the invasion of Ukraine
Image source, AFP
Image caption, Russian military briefings frequently portray Ukrainian forces as criminals and neo-Nazis

Russia is using a familiar tactic to blame an adversary for attacks it has not carried out - on this occasion accusing Ukrainian forces of blowing up a fertiliser storage facility.

The purpose of the attack, says Russia's defence ministry, was so that the Ukrainians could then accuse Russian forces of having launched a chemical weapons attack.

Russia also claims that the Ukrainian security forces have attempted to set up a second "false flag" event, by appealing for bodies to be used to "simulate a Russian air attack".

There's no evidence that either of these claims is true.

Moscow has a history of falsely accusing its opponents of staging "provocations" which either never happened at all, or were subsequently carried out by themselves or their allies.

What has Moscow said?

A Russian Ministry of Defence briefing on 11 May asserted that Ukrainian forces had "carried out an explosion of a tanker with fertiliser, presumably ammonium nitrate, which resulted in a cloud of orange smoke that dissipated after some time".

According to Moscow, the aim of the explosion, which occurred in the Kharkiv region, was to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons in order to "extract additional military aid from the West by the Kyiv regime".

No evidence was given in support of the claim that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the explosion.

What we know about the incident

The location in a video showing the plumes of orange smoke rising into the sky was identified using satellite imagery as Dolgenkoye, an agricultural region near the city of Kharkiv.

One Ukrainian media outlet quoted reports on Telegram that the cloud of smoke formed after "a Russian drone hit an object".

Following the explosion, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, said he did not believe it was a Russian chemical weapon attack, although he did add the qualification that he would have to "clarify such preliminary data".

The BBC was unable to find evidence of Ukrainian officials subsequently accusing Russia of using chemical weapons in this incident.

Cloud of orange smoke after farm is hit

Image source, Telegram
Image caption, The footage showed an explosion on a farm in Dolgenkoye

Video and satellite imagery showing the farm buildings hit are consistent with an explosion where facilities containing ammonium nitrate have been set on fire - releasing a characteristic orange-coloured cloud, says Wim Zwijnenburg, an arms researcher at Pax, a Dutch humanitarian organisation.

Mr Zwijnenburg says up to 40 similar agricultural facilities have been destroyed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February.

In recent weeks, Dolgenkoye has been the target of shelling from Russian forces, with satellite imagery showing various fields in the area scarred by shelling.

Satellite images of a farm in Dolgenkoe

Image source, Wim Zwijnenburg
Image caption, Satellite images of the area show damage to the farm after the attack

Other recent Russian 'false flag' claims

Operation Z, a pro-Russian social-media channel with almost 800,000 subscribers recently claimed doctors in Ukraine had been instructed to take the bodies of women and children to a hospital, from where they would be transported to "one of the social facilities in the city where an air raid allegedly by Russian aviation will be simulated".

The Telegram post on 12 May said: "Ukrainian special services are preparing a provocation in the Dnieper (Dnipro) region to accuse the Russian military of killing civilians."

There is no evidence for this narrative, which follows other similar claims by pro-Russian media.

In early April, the Russian ministry of defence said UK intelligence operatives were putting civilian bodies in basements in the Sumy region, who could then be portrayed in the West as victims of a "Russian massacre".

Again, there's no evidence that this happened.

A man recovering from injuries received by chemical weapons in Syria's Eastern Ghouta

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Moscow maintains neither it nor the Syrian government was responsible for chemical weapons attacks in 2018

Russia has a history of accusing its enemies of staging what it calls "provocations", by which it means attacks that can be blamed on Russia.

In some cases the claims are to cover for attacks committed by Russia or its proxies; in others the claims refer to future events that might not happen at all.

During the Syrian conflict, Moscow repeatedly accused the White Helmet civil defence group, the UK, the US, France and Belgium of preparing chemical attacks that they could then blame on Russia and Syria.

However, inquiries into chemical attacks during the war have concluded that the Syrian government was responsible for the attacks on Douma and Ghouta.

Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, the BBC reported on a number of false-flag events, including claims that a burned-out and bullet-ridden car was "evidence" of Ukrainian attacks on citizens.

However, closer inspection of the Russian separatists' own photos of the incident revealed that the bodies inside had surgical incisions consistent with being recently cut open for post-mortem examination, and were already dead at the time of the alleged attack.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine: The children's camp that became an execution ground
By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News, Bucha
Published7 hours ago

the basement in Bucha


Since Russian forces were pushed back from Kyiv at the end of March, the bodies of more than 1,000 civilians have been discovered in the Bucha region - many hastily buried in shallow graves. The BBC's Sarah Rainsford has been investigating what happened at a children's summer camp - now being treated as a crime scene.

*This report contains material some readers will find disturbing*

It is easy to miss the killing spot at first in the gloom. But in a cold, damp basement on the edge of the woods that made Bucha a popular get-away spot before the war, five Ukrainian men were forced to their knees and shot in the head.

To the right of the entrance, there are stones coated in blood that has turned dark red. Lying among that is a blue woollen hat with an exit hole in one side and its rim soaked in blood. In the wall, I counted at least a dozen bullet holes.

Forensics team marker in Bucha basement
Image caption, A marker left by a forensics team in the basement


A couple of steps away are the remains of a Russian military ration pack - an open can of rice porridge with beef and an empty packet of crackers. A name daubed in graffiti on a wall is a reminder that the scene is a children's camp. But when Russian troops moved into Bucha, just outside the capital, in early March, Camp Radiant became an execution ground.

The story of the summer camp killings is chilling but so is this detail: more than 1,000 civilians were killed in the Bucha region during a month under Russian occupation, but most did not die from shrapnel or shelling. More than 650 were shot dead by Russian soldiers.

Now Ukraine is searching for their killers.

* * * * *

Volodymyr Boichenko lived in Hostemel, just up the road from Bucha and near the airfield where the first Russian forces landed to try to overthrow Ukraine's government. When his sister Aliona Mykytiuk decided to flee before the fighting reached her, she pleaded with Volodymyr to join her. He was a civilian, not a soldier, but he wanted to stay and help. So he spent the days searching Hostemel for food and water to bring to neighbours, including children, who were trapped in their cellars by the constant shelling and Russian airstrikes.

A chatty 34-year-old, who had travelled the world in the merchant navy, Volodymyr phoned his family from Hostemel most days to reassure them he was safe. Aliona would wait nervously for his brief calls: she knew he had to move to higher ground to get a connection and if the shelling was heavy it was impossible to leave the bomb shelter. As supplies ran low, she urged her brother to try to escape but by then the roads were blocked.

Volodymyr drinking from a coconut
IMAGE SOURCE,BOICHENKO FAMILY
Image caption, Volodymyr Boichenko had travelled the world


The last time Aliona heard from him was on 8 March. Volodymyr wasn't the demonstrative type, but that day he told his sister not to worry about him. "He said 'I really love you,' and that was so painful to hear," Aliona sobs, rubbing her eyes hard but unable to stop the tears. "There was fear in his voice."

Four days later, Volodymyr was spotted by neighbours close to Promenystyi, as it's known here, or Camp Radiant. Then he disappeared.

In March, the fighting around Kyiv was intense and the small town of Bucha was at the epicentre. The withdrawal of Russian troops in early April revealed scenes that shocked the world: the bodies of residents slumped in the streets where they'd been shot.

Moscow tells anyone who will listen that the killings were staged, an idea that is as twisted as it is patently false. Determined to hold those responsible to account, Ukrainian investigators are busy collecting the hard evidence on territory now back under their control.

"We don't know what Putin's plans are, so we are working as quickly as possible in case he drops a bomb and destroys all the proof," says Kyiv regional police chief, Andrii Niebytov.

That evidence includes a field full of civilian cars pierced with multiple bullet holes, now piled up on the edge of Bucha. They are vehicles that were shot at when families tried to flee. One still has a length of white cloth at the window, hung to show the soldiers that its occupants were no threat. Step too close, and you catch the sickly smell of death.

Car with white ribbon and bullet holes
Image caption, A white flag did not prevent this car from being attacked


When the bodies beneath Camp Radiant were discovered on 4 April, Volodymyr Boichenko was among them. Aliona had spent weeks frantically calling hospitals and morgues. That day she was sent a photograph to identify. She knew it was her brother before it had even downloaded.

"I hate them with every cell of my being," Aliona cries, about Volodymyr's killers. "I know that's wrong to say about people, but they are not human. There was not one patch on those men's bodies that was not beaten."

Ilona and Alona, Volodymyr's sister
Image caption, Volodymyr's sister Aliona, with her cousin Ilona


The five men had been found crouching on their knees, heads down and hands bound behind their backs.

"We know they had been tortured," the police chief told the BBC. "The Russian army has crossed the line of how war is conducted. They were not fighting the military in Ukraine, they were kidnapping and torturing the civilian population."

Neither the Prosecutor's Office nor the SBU security service will disclose details of ongoing investigations, but some Russian military were so careless at covering their tracks that there are likely to be considerable clues to work with. Ukrainian territorial defence units have even discovered lists of soldiers at some abandoned positions. One appears to be part of a rota for litter duty, another includes passport details and mobile phone numbers.

Kyiv regional police chief, Andrii Niebytov
Image caption, Kyiv regional police chief, Andrii Niebytov, is working fast to gather evidence


With such a vast volume of work - more than 11,000 potential war crimes cases registered so far - Ukraine's security services have called on more digitally savvy civilians for help.

"I feel some call of duty," said Dmytro Replianchuk, a journalist at slidstvo.info who worked to expose corruption within Ukraine's law enforcement bodies before the war. Now he's joined forces with prosecutors, scouring the internet for extra data to help catch suspected war criminals.

"I understand it will be so hard and a lot of cases won't be solved. But in these weeks, it's important to find as much information as possible," Dmytro explained.

We found one potential clue among the litter at Camp Radiant - the wrapping from a parcel sent by a woman named Ksyukha to a Russian soldier whose own name and military unit are clearly marked. Unit 6720 is based in Rubtsovsk, in the Altai region of Siberia. It has been linked to Bucha before when soldiers from the town were caught on CCTV sending giant packages to relatives full of goods that they had looted from Ukrainian homes.

A parcel addressed to a Russian soldier - the address has been blurred
Image caption, A parcel addressed to a Russian soldier - the name has been blurred


We can't be sure yet whether soldiers from Rubtsovsk were based at the children's camp, or were there when the men were killed. The police first need to establish a more precise time of death.

"We are working on it, but it's not a quick thing," Mr Niebytov explains. "But that camp was a headquarters so there would have been a commander. The soldiers could not have executed anyone without the commander's knowledge. So we will first find the organisers and then look for the implementers."

Across the road from Camp Radiant, behind a church spattered with shrapnel damage, a corner of Bucha is slowly showing renewed signs of life. Young boys run around the yard, while a man fixes sheets of wood to windows shattered when the town was being shelled, constantly. And a little shop has just reopened to serve others now trickling back to begin their own repairs.

family in Bucha cemetery - a fresh grave is being dug
Image caption, Fresh graves are still being dug in Bucha


As neighbours cross paths, they discuss the days when Russian tanks rolled into their town, the soldiers who would shoot wildly and those who roamed the streets drunk, breaking into homes and stealing from them. And they remember the local man who escaped to their block of flats from the summer camp opposite, and who they had sheltered despite the risk.

Viktor Sytnytskyi didn't know Camp Radiant before, but all the details he gives match up. He's now in western Ukraine and told me his story over the phone, calling from his car so he wouldn't upset his mother.

It was early March when Viktor was grabbed by Russian soldiers on the street. They tied his hands and pulled his hat down over his eyes, then dragged him to a cellar that he's sure was on the grounds of the children's camp.

Mosaic of children dancing around a camp fire
Image caption, Camp Radiant is decorated with mosaics of happy children playing - now it's a crime scene


There, the Russians poured water over his legs so he would freeze, and they held a gun to his head.

"They kept saying, 'Where's the fascists? Where's the troops? Where's Zelensky? One of them mentioned Putin so I said something rude and he hit me," Viktor recalls.

He remembers being angry at his captors as well as terrified. He had worked in Moscow in the past with men from Siberia and was horrified that Russians could now treat him with such brutality. Even more so, when one of the soldiers revealed that he, too, was from Siberia.

Viktor told him he was sad things had come to this.

"The sad thing is that our grandfathers fought together against the Nazis and now you're the fascists," was the Russian's angry reply.

"He told me: 'You have until the morning to remember what you've seen, and if not, you'll be shot.'"

That night, Viktor got lucky. There was heavy shelling and when he realised his captors were no longer guarding him, he ran for his life.

"I calculated that I had more chance of surviving under shelling than if I stayed in that cellar. They'd already put the gun to my head. What would it cost them to pull the trigger?"

* * * * *

From a common grave beneath the children's camp, Volodymyr Boichenko has now been given a proper burial beneath the cherry blossom in the old cemetery of Bucha.

After his funeral, Aliona says she finally saw her brother's face in her dreams again, as if he were comforting her.

Vladimir Boychenko grave


But she still has many questions. The cross on Volodymyr's grave is marked only with his birthday, not the date of his death, because the family have no idea when he was shot.

They may never know, unless the Russian commander who took over Camp Radiant can be found.

Like everyone in Bucha, though, they do know that civilians are not only caught up in this war. They are being targeted - by Russian soldiers who either don't know the rules of war, or don't care.

Photographs by Sarah Rainsford unless otherwise marked
Additional reporting: Daria Sipigina, Mariana Matveichuk and Tony Brown

[DaffyVina]

Marianna Vyshemirsky: 'My picture was used to spread lies about the war'
Marianna Spring
Presenter, War on Truth podcast
Published1 day ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-61412773


Marianna Vishegirskaya stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Vishegirskaya survived the shelling and later gave birth to a girl in another hospital in Mariupol days later
IMAGE SOURCE,AP
Image caption, The beauty influencer was accused of being an actor after this photo was published

A photo of a heavily pregnant woman fleeing a bombed maternity hospital became one of the most iconic images of the war in Ukraine. But its subject was targeted by an extraordinary Russian disinformation campaign and she received hate from both sides.

Wrapped in a duvet with her forehead bloodied, Marianna Vyshemirsky's image was seen around the world.

The photo above was taken in the aftermath of a Russian airstrike in Mariupol. It circulated online, on newspaper front pages, and was argued about at the UN Security Council.

But, having survived one attack, Marianna faced another onslaught - of disinformation and hate aimed at her and her family.

As Russia attempted to sow falsehoods about the attack, 29-year-old Marianna was falsely accused of "acting". Russian diplomats even claimed that she had "played" not one, but two different women.

Marianna Vyshemirsky smiling as she talks to the BBC on a video call.
Image caption, Marianna on a video call during her interview with the BBC


I've spoken extensively to her friends and relatives, but have been trying to interview my namesake for weeks. So when she finally appears on my screen on a video call, it feels a little surreal. She tells me about her harrowing escape, and about the online abuse that came after.

"I received threats that they would come and find me, that I would be killed, that my child would be cut into pieces," she says.

This is her first interview with a major western media outlet after being evacuated to her hometown in a part of Donbas controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

Marianna seems at ease, and is speaking to me without any preconditions, but a pro-separatist blogger is with her.

She tells me what it's like to find herself inside an information battle - all while giving birth to her daughter Veronika in a war zone.

"She chose to show up at a difficult time," she explains, "but it's better she arrived under these circumstances than not at all."

Listen to Marianna's story on War on Truth https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0btv73r from Radio 4, now on BBC Sounds

'Things were turned upside down'
Life in Mariupol was very different before the war. Marianna promoted beauty products on social media, while her husband Yuri worked at the Azovstal steel works.

"We had a quiet and simple life," she says, "and then, of course, things were turned upside down."

Her Instagram account shows her excitement at the prospect of becoming a mother.

Marianna posted this picture on Instagram in late February, asking her followers to guess whether her baby would be a boy or a girl
IMAGE SOURCE,INSTAGRAM


But by the time Marianna was admitted to hospital, Mariupol had become the most bombed city in Ukraine.

On 9 March, she was chatting with other women on the ward when an explosion shook the hospital.

She pulled a blanket over her head. Then a second explosion hit.

"You could hear everything flying around, shrapnel and stuff," she says. "The sound was ringing in my ears for a very long time."

The women sheltered in the basement with other civilians. Marianna suffered a forehead cut and glass fragments lodged in her skin, but a doctor told her she didn't need stitches.

What she did need, she explains, was to retrieve her possessions from the ruins of the hospital. She asked a police officer to help her back inside.

"Everything I had prepared for my baby was in that maternity ward," she says.

Anatomy of a lie
While she stood outside the hospital, waiting to recover her things, she was photographed by journalists from the Associated Press. They snapped her again as she descended the stairs exiting the building.

An injured pregnant woman walks downstairs in a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022
IMAGE SOURCE,AP


Those images quickly went viral. And that's when false allegations that the pictures were "staged" first appeared on a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel. Marianna's beauty blogging was used to suggest she was an "actor" who had used makeup to fake injuries.

These falsehoods were repeated and amplified by senior Russian officials and state media.

They even claimed that a photo of another pregnant woman on a stretcher was also Marianna, even though it's clear that the photos are of different people. The woman on the stretcher and her unborn child later died from their injuries.

This tweet from the Russian Embassy in London containing false information was taken down by Twitter
IMAGE SOURCE,TWITTER


Fleeing and without internet access, Marianna didn't see those images until days later.

By that point, her Instagram was inundated with accusatory and threatening messages. She found both the trolling and the false allegations shocking.

"It was really offensive to hear that, because I actually lived through it all," she says. But she refrains from directly criticising the Russian officials who spread the false information about her.

Instead, she criticises the Associated Press.

"I was offended that the journalists who had posted my photos on social media had not interviewed other pregnant women who could confirm that this attack had really happened."

She suggests this may help explain why some people "got the impression that it was all staged". But by Marianna's own account she was one of the last patients to be evacuated, and that was when the AP journalists arrived. The journalists interviewed other people at the scene. And they had nothing to do with the subsequent false story spread by Russian officials. We approached the AP for comment.

The search for Marianna
In the days after the attack, Marianna gave birth to Veronika in another hospital.

Marianna Vishegirskaya lies in a hospital bed after giving birth to her daughter Veronika, in Mariupol,
IMAGE SOURCE,AP


Like thousands of others, Marianna and Yuri were desperately trying to escape Mariupol. For weeks, it was largely impossible to make contact with them. Eventually Marianna's relatives told me the couple had got out of the city, but their whereabouts were unclear. Then in early April, they resurfaced in the Donbas region.

She filmed an interview with Denis Seleznev, a blogger who is a vocal supporter of Russian-backed separatists. There was speculation how free she was to say what she wanted.

Marianna says to me: "I had to describe the whole situation, as I saw it with my own eyes."

My conversation with her was also arranged via Denis. Marianna speaks to me from his home. He is present throughout our chat but doesn't interrupt. Marianna's relatives and friends have assured me she is now safe.

Piecing together the truth
Much of what she says in her interview with me undermines the Russian government's mistruths.

The Kremlin wrongly and repeatedly suggested the hospital that was attacked was Mariupol's hospital number one, and that it was no longer operational.

But the BBC's disinformation team identified the hospital where Marianna was - hospital number three.

map of hospitals in Mariupol


We contacted the Russian Embassy in London for comment.

Marianna confirms that the hospital was definitely treating her and other patients - contrary to Russian claims that it was not functioning as a health care facility.

Russia also claimed that the hospital had been taken over by the Azov regiment - the controversial Ukrainian nationalist group that has been linked with neo-Nazis, allegations they themselves deny.

Comments Marianna made in her interview with Denis were cherry-picked by Russian officials to claim soldiers forced Marianna and the other pregnant women to act as human shields.

But Marianna told me there were no Ukrainian military stationed in the building where she was. She says she saw Ukrainian soldiers in the oncology unit in the building opposite the maternity unit. It's unclear whether they were based there or not.

Nevertheless, Marianna's interview with Denis Seleznev was used by the Kremlin to suggest further falsehoods.

Russian officials have seized on her comments that she doesn't believe the explosions at the hospital were caused by an airstrike, implying that the damage was Ukrainian shelling.

"The typical sound a plane makes when it flies overhead is impossible to miss," Marianna tells me, saying that she did not hear one.

But here she is mistaken. The AP journalists documented evidence it was an airstrike, including video where a plane can be heard. At the scene both a soldier and a police officer say the attack was an airstrike.

Also visible in photos is a huge crater which munition experts say could only have been caused by an airstrike.

"I personally did not see this crater, but I saw the video of it," Marianna says. "In reality I can't blame anyone - because I didn't see with my own eyes where for certain [the explosions] came from."

Target for trolls
This fresh controversy sparked a new wave of online vitriol.

"Some people said that I was an actress, others said that I was lying about the fact that there were no air raids," she says.

Even some she regarded as friends don't believe her. Fellow beauty blogger Yaroslava lives in Russia and continues to believe state TV claims that Marianna was acting.

"I think that Marianna played her part. That Ukraine needed the Ukrainian military to blame everything on Russia." Yaroslava told me. She's since unfollowed Marianna on Instagram - and doesn't want to speak to her again.

"It's a pity when people I know believe in something that I haven't done," Marianna says.

But she brightens whenever the conversation turns to baby Veronika.

Marianna has returned to blogging and in a recent post told readers to stick around if they were interested in "cosmetics, nappies and the everyday life of a new mum".

Her message to those who want to send her hate was "go in peace".

But unwillingly finding herself at the centre of an information war - as the military conflict continues - has changed Marianna's life forever.

"You know, for now I'm not thinking about my hopes or making plans, because we don't know what tomorrow will bring."

[DaffyVina]

Solidarity with all those who suffer, from the war, and from telling the truth.

Ukraine war: The defiant Russians speaking out about the war
By Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent, Andriivka
Published3 hours ago

A man detained during a unsanctioned protest rally at Manezhnaya Square in front of the Kremlin,
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES


To Ukrainians it was clear from the very start of Russia's invasion that this was no "special operation" to liberate the Donbas region, as Vladimir Putin had declared. It was all-out war.

But in Russia it's a crime to call it that.

Dozens of people have already been prosecuted under the "fake news" law, as it's known. They face up to 15 years behind bars for challenging the official line on Russia's invasion or criticising the military.

It's a dramatic increase in censorship in Russia, where Vladimir Putin has spent his two decades in power removing opponents, stifling free speech and silencing the independent media: a dismantling of democracy that is having devastating consequences here in Ukraine.

Vladimir Kara-Murza tried to warn of the danger.

Vladimir Kara-Murza
Reuters

The whole world now sees what the Putin regime is doing to Ukraine
Vladimir Kara-Murza
Russian opposition activist, now in custody

In a speech in the US in March, the Russian opposition activist lambasted Western leaders for seeking constant "resets" in relations with Mr Putin, allowing their countries to act as havens for tainted money and looking the other way even as Russia became ever less free.

"The whole world now sees what the Putin regime is doing to Ukraine," Mr Kara-Murza told the Arizona House of Representatives, a fortnight into the war. "The bombing of maternity wards and hospitals and schools. The war crimes. These are war crimes."

But in Russia uttering such words is also a crime now.

A month after his speech, Mr Kara-Murza was picked up by police in Moscow and later charged with "spreading false information" about Russia's military. He's still in custody. The law he is accused of breaking was passed in March, soon after the invasion.

And yet Ukrainian prosecutors have already registered more than 11,000 alleged war crimes. A Russian soldier has admitted in court to shooting a civilian. And the BBC has gathered its own evidence, including CCTV footage of the shooting of two civilians by Russian forces.

Those returning to salvage what they can from the wreckage of Andriivka have more, powerful testimony.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, many families fled Kyiv for nearby villages like this, thinking they would be safer away from the capital. Instead they spent weeks cowering in cold cellars as occupying soldiers drove tanks into their yards and dug trenches in their vegetable plots.

After the Russians withdrew, in April, the village elder says the bodies of 13 residents were found here.

"They had their hands tied behind their backs and had been shot in the head," says Anatoliy Kibukevych. He then names every one of the victims.

The main road - the route taken by Russian tanks ordered to seize Kyiv - is lined with the rubble of homes: heaps of singed bricks with metal bedframes or pots and pans oddly marooned in the middle of them. Painted pleas that read "Children!" or "People!" on garden gates have been pierced by shrapnel.

Andriivka composite image:
Image caption, Painted pleas in Andriivka: "People live here" (left) and "People live here - kids"


"Truth is the regime's main enemy," says Evgenia Kara-Murza, Vladimir's wife, from Washington DC, where she lives for safety reasons. "That's why I believe this regime is using this law to crush all dissent in Russia and to scare people into silence,"

"I'm sure Vladimir realised the risks were high. They have never been low for him," she says, with a reminder that her activist husband was poisoned twice in the past and nearly died.

But he kept returning to Russia and speaking out.

"He believes there comes a moment where you can't be afraid anymore and need to show to other people that they shouldn't be either."


When the war in Ukraine started, Lilia Yapparova felt compelled to cover it.

"I couldn't sleep, because people started to die… and I needed to be there," she told me in Kyiv, where for a while she was the only Russian reporter on the ground in Ukrainian-controlled areas.

There are only three even now - all women from independent media outlets. It's a tiny contingent compared with the Russian state TV correspondents who stride through eastern Ukraine in military clothing, "Z" patches on their arms in support of Russian soldiers, talking about "denazification" and the "liberation" of cities like Mariupol.

Ms Yapparova wanted to at least dent that solid wall of propaganda.

BBC Photo: Lilia Yapparova

I can't hide facts, but am I going to jail for that?
Lilia Yapparova
Russian independent journalist

"The only thing that matters for me right now is for the war to stop and for people from Russia to see what's really going on," she says.

But that's a battle of its own, on top of the danger of working on Ukraine's frontlines.

Meduza, the news site Ms Yapparova writes for, has been banned in Russia, like almost all independent outlets. Journalists and media have been labelled as "foreign agents" while Facebook and other social media are blocked.

Meanwhile, state TV channels have all switched to wall-to-wall coverage of Russia's "special operation".

"For now we lost the war with propaganda," Ms Yapparova concedes, describing how even people she knows personally are absorbing the official line. She feels a sense of responsibility for that, although the odds were stacked impossibly against her.

And now she knows that every word she writes from Ukraine - true stories about the shooting of civilians, mass graves, terrible destruction - is putting her at risk of prosecution for "fake news".

"I am ready for that. I am not covering my eyes. I see the law for what it is," the journalist says. "But I couldn't allow myself not to be here."

It doesn't stop her worrying, though.

"Constantly. It hurts sometimes to write because I can't hide facts, but am I going to jail for that? Anything can happen."


For Michael Nacke the danger is already real.

The young journalist left Russia before the war, escaping an environment that became increasingly repressive.

He is now a wanted man for telling the truth.

"I used the word 'war' instead of 'special operation'," he says of his "crime" as set-out by Russian investigators in a 91-page statement. "It doesn't matter which law they use against you, it's just to make you shut up."

The prosecution is based on an episode on his YouTube channel in which he discusses how Russian tanks fired on a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. The incident was widely condemned, including at an emergency session of the UN Security Council. But Moscow claims Ukrainian forces set the fire themselves so in Russia that makes reporting anything else illegal.

"The one thing that I understand after this is that the work I do really matters," Mr Nacke says of the criminal case against him. "I used to ask myself: 'Is my work effective to stop the war?' Now I see that it makes sense."


The risks and consequences of this war are far more severe for Ukrainians, as every shattered inch of Andriivka shows.

"We've been through so much. Fear and horror," Alina Petrovna tells me, as her son nails tarpaulin over the holes left in their roof by the shockwaves of heavy shelling. The elderly lady lived in the family vegetable cellar for 29 days after Russian troops took over her village. She was terrified.


Image caption, Evidence gathering: UN war crimes investigators interviewing residents of Andriivka

There are bullet holes in the front door where soldiers shot their way through to loot from them. The only thing they left untouched were her icons.

"Let the Russian people come and see what they did to us!" Her eyes fill with angry tears. "Fear and horror," she repeats.

But most in Russia will never even hear about such suffering. Because Vladimir Putin has not only launched a war on Russia's neighbour, he has declared a war on truth.

Follow Sarah on Twitter @sarahrainsford

[DaffyVina]

Колонка Алексея Навального о Путине в журнале TIME
23.05.2022, 16:37
TIME, навальный, Путин, СМИ
Путин вошел в топ-100 самых влиятельных людей в 2022 году по версии журнала TIME. Они попросили Алексея Навального написать об этом колонку из тюрьмы.

Ниже — оригинал текста Алексея:

Возможно, истинная миссия Владимира Путина в том, чтобы преподавать уроки. Всем — от мировых лидеров и мировых же экспертов до обычных людей. В 2022-м он был особенно хорош в этом.

Он вновь напомнил нам о том, что путь, начинающийся с «немного подделать выборы» всегда заканчивается диктатурой. О том, что диктатура всегда ведет к войне. Ох, как не стоило об этом забывать, верно?

Мировые лидеры годами лицемерно говорили о «прагматичной позиции» и выгодах в международной торговле. Цена войны: военная и экономическая помощь Украине, беженцы, санкции, — все это будет стоить в сотни раз дороже, чем приносили нефтяные и газовые контракты, на подписании которых было так принято пить шампанское.

Путин напомнил нам о «законе утки». Помните? Ходит, как утка, выглядит и крякает, как утка, — значит, это утка.

Так и здесь: уничтожил СМИ, организует политические убийства и пребывает в имперских иллюзиях — значит, это безумец, способный устроить кровавую бойню в центре Европы в ХХI веке. И не надо с ним обниматься на международных форумах.

Прямо сейчас Путине ведет урок на тему: как обнулить экономический рост своей страны за 20 лет.

Однако ответ на главный вопрос: как же остановить злобного сумасшедшего с армией, ядерной бомбой и членством в Совбезе ООН, нам всем предстоит найти самим.

[DaffyVina]

Russian diplomat quits over war in Ukraine
By Flora Drury
BBC
Published5 hours ago

Boris Bondarev's diplomatic passport
IMAGE SOURCE,BORIS BONDAREV
Image caption, Boris Bondarev has released a scathing public statement after quitting in protest at the war

A Russian diplomat has quit his job in protest at the "bloody, witless" war "unleashed by Putin against Ukraine".

Boris Bondarev, whose LinkedIn says he worked at the Russian mission to the UN in Geneva, told the BBC he knew his decision to speak out may mean the Kremlin now considers him a traitor.

But he stood by his statement which described the war as "a crime against the Ukrainian people" and "the people of Russia".

Moscow has not yet commented.

Russia has cracked down on those who are critical of or veer from the official narrative surrounding the war, which it refers to only as "a special military operation".

In the letter posted on social media and shared with fellow diplomats, Mr Bondarev explained he had chosen to end his 20-year career in the service because he could no "longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy".

"Those who conceived of this war want only one thing - to stay in power forever," he wrote.

"To achieve that, they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes," he continued. "Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died just for this."

The letter does not hold back over his former employer either, accusing Russia's Foreign Ministry of being more interested in "lies and hatred" than diplomacy.


Analysis box by Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor

As resignation letters go, this one was scathing.

Diplomat Boris Bondarev didn't hold back in his criticism of President Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov and the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

"The aggressive war…the most serious crime…warmongering, lies and hatred…"

It's rare to hear such words from a Russian official. In the three months since Vladimir Putin launched what he's still calling his 'Special Military Operation' in Ukraine (what most of the world calls Russia's war) there have been few signs of open dissent in Russian state institutions.

Embarrassing for the Russian authorities? Absolutely. They like to make our that the state machine here is fully behind President Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

But one resignation does not automatically mean that many more will follow. Mr Bondarev admitted to me that he's in the minority. He believes that, for now, most officials in the Russian Foreign Ministry back the official line and support the Kremlin's 'special operation.'

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Bondarev said he had "not seen any alternative" than to resign: "I don't think it will change a lot, frankly, but I think it may be one little brick into the bigger wall which would eventually be built. I hope so."

Mr Bondarev revealed that the invasion had initially been met by colleagues with "happiness, delight, euphoria" at the fact Russia had "taken some radical steps".

"Now they're less happy with that, because we're facing some problems, with the economy first of all," he told the BBC. "But I don't see that many of them would repent and change their views.

"They may become a little bit less radical, less aggressive quite a bit. But not peaceful.," he said.

In contrast, Mr Bondarev said in his open letter he had "never been so ashamed of my country" as he was on 24 February, the day the invasion began.

It is unclear if he is the first diplomat to resign from the mission, although no one else has spoken out publicly.

Mr Bondarev is under no illusions that Moscow will now see him as a traitor, but notes he hasn't "done anything illegal".

"I just resigned and spoke my mind," he said. "But I think I have to be concerned about my safety of course."

[DaffyVina]

3 Months of War

After the Russian military (with support from Belarus) attacked Ukraine, I started posting the News here
My aim was largely to ensure that people with restricted access to the news, especially those whose access is limited by totalitarian regimes, might have a way to know accurately what was happening in the war.
This is not a long-term solution to free access to this information, for that access to information without state censorship and propaganda (or indeed large scale corporation censorship/ propaganda) is needed. A starting point is reducing internet based restrictions:

To Access the BBC News in Russia:
• Download the Psiphon app from the AppStore or Google Play Store
• Look for the dedicated BBC site on the Tor Browser www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion Note that this URL only works using the Tor Browser or the Onion Browser (on iPhones).
• If access to the apps is restricted then send a blank email to get@psiphon3.com or gettor@torproject.org. An email will be sent in response with a direct and safe download link

The BBC has also launched two new shortwave frequencies broadcasting World Service English news for four hours a day to Ukraine and parts of Russia:
• 15735 kHz from 14:00 GMT to 16:00 GMT
• 5875 kHz from 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT

To Access Twitter’s onion service:
https://twitter3e4tixl4xyajtrzo62zg5vztmjuricljdp2c5kshju4avyoid.onion while using Tor Browser or a similar tool.
While you could already access Twitter’s ordinary website via Tor, the newly launched version adds more layers of protection.

From account: @torproject There are specific guides:
Russian users, you can defeat Tor censorship by getting a Tor bridge from our official Telegram bot: https://t.me/GetBridgesBot. Or use Snowflake. We wrote a step-by-step guide for you.

Здравствуйте! Похоже, ваш Интернет-провайдер блокирует Tor. Подробнее об этом см. OONI reports of Tor blocking in certain ISPs since 2021-12-01 - Russia - NTC 2.6k

Tor Browser включает инструменты обхода блокировок. О том, как использовать мосты Tor, можно прочесть здесь (на русском языке):

МОСТЫ | Как стать переводчиком для Tor Project 7.8k
TOR ДЛЯ МОБИЛЬНЫХ УСТРОЙСТВ | Как стать переводчиком для Tor Project 4.1k

Если у Вас заблокированы вебсайты Tor Project, получить доступ к документации и другим ресурсам проекта можно, воспользовавшись следующими зеркалами:

Поддержка Tor 1.1k
Руководство пользователя Tor Browser 512
Сервис GetTor 863 - только по-английски
Запуск собственного моста Tor 1.5k - только по-английски
Блог Tor Project 160 - только по-английски
Основной вебсайт Tor 953
(НОВОСТИ НА 22 ДЕКАБРЯ) В настоящее время мосты, встроенные непосредственно в Tor Browser, в России заблокированы. Вам нужно получить работающий мост.
Это можно сделать пятью способами:

отправить сообщение Telegram-боту Tor;
запросить мост, используя инструмент Tor Browser - Moat,
отправить email по адресу bridges@torproject.org;
посетить страницу https://bridges.torproject.org 12.5k.
или подключится с помощью Snowflake.

(НОВОСТИ) Как получить мост с помощью Telegram-бота
Подключитесь к @GetBridgesBot 7.6k в Telegram.

Наберите /bridges

Скопируйте всю строку полностью. Ниже рассказано, как вручную добавить мост в Tor Browser.

Как получить мост, используя инструмент Tor Browser - Moat

Российские пользователи могут запрашивать мосты через механизм “запросить мост с torproject.org 1.2k”, встроенный в Tor Browser. Просто выполните следующие три шага:



Как получить мост с веб-сайта Tor Project 10.7k
Зайдите на страницу BridgeDB 10.7k

Решите капчу.

Скопируйте все строки полностью. Ниже рассказано, как вручную добавить мосты в Tor Browser.

Как получить мост по email (только для владельцев аккаунтов Gmail и Riseup)

Отправьте email по адресу bridges@torproject.org с почтового аккаунта Gmail или Riseup.

Оставьте поле темы пустым. В теле сообщения напишите “get transport obfs4”.

Скопируйте все строки полностью. Ниже рассказано, как вручную добавить мосты в Tor Browser.

Если эти мосты не работают, обратитесь за новыми мостами по адресу frontdesk@torproject.org.

Полученные мосты нужно вручную добавить в Tor Browser.

Использование Snowflake
На компьютере
Чтобы использовать Snowflake, выберите “Настройки сети Tor”, когда вы запускаете браузер Tor в первый раз.

В разделе “Мосты” поставьте галочку в поле “Использовать мост” и выберите опцию “Выбрать встроенный мост”.

В выпадающем меню выберите “Snowflake”.

После того, как вы выбрали эту опцию, вернитесь на верх страницы и нажмите “Соединиться”, чтобы сохранить новые настройки.

Android
Чтобы использовать Snowflake, нажмите на значок настроек при первом запуске Tor Browser.

На первом экране вы узнаете о состоянии сети Tor.

Нажмите на пункт меню ‘Конфигурация моста’.

Нажмите на опцию “Использовать мост” и выберите “Snowflake”.

Тем, кто пользуется Tor Browser на компьютере
При запуске Tor Browser выберите «Настройки сети Tor». Откроется соответствующее окно.

Перейдите к разделу «Мосты». Поставьте галочку в поле «Использовать мост».

Выберите «Указать свой мост». Введите полученные мосты (по одному мосту в строке).

Для сохранения изменений нажмите «Соединиться».

Если Tor Browser уже запущен:

В меню с тремя полосками (≡) выберите «Настройки».

В левом столбце выберите «Tor».

Выберите «Указать свой мост». Введите полученные мосты (по одному мосту в строке).

Для сохранения изменений нажмите «Соединиться».

Пользователям Tor Browser для Android
На стартовом экране Tor Browser нажмите значок настроек. Вы увидите текущее состояние сети Tor.

Нажмите «Конфигурация моста».

На следующем экране можно выбрать между использованием встроенного моста или настройкой имеющегося моста. Включите опцию «Использовать мост» и выберите «Указать мост».

Добавьте полученные мосты.

Если вам нужна помощь в установке или устранении неполадок браузера Tor, или вы хотите проверить достоверность источника загрузки браузера Tor, мы запустили в Telegram канал поддержки русскоязычных пользователей Tor: @TorProjectSupportBot 278.

This guide and other discussions are on: https://forum.torproject.net/

There is more support from @TorProjectSupportBot


On a similar theme, I found this article from: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-censorship-vpn-reporting/31737775.html
https://www.svoboda.org/block

Russia has recently joined the ranks of other authoritarian countries in blocking RFE/RL local news sites. We encourage readers in Russia to subscribe to the Telegram channels of RFE/RL's Russian and Ukrainian services or this website's Telegram channel in English, as well as to our newsletter, The Week In Russia, for continued access to our reporting.

Here are some other ways to continue to access RFE/RL's reporting not only in English but also in Russian, Chechen, Tatar, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and other languages:

VPNs

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool that allows a person to mask their location and identity by linking up with a computer server in a different location. It also is an encrypted or secure tool, meaning once a user activates a VPN it’s very difficult (though not impossible) to intercept the data and information that goes back and forth.

VPNs have exploded in popularity around the world amid concerns about Internet security. The result is a plethora of options -- some sophisticated, some simple, some costly, some inexpensive or free -- that people can download and use. One thing to keep in mind: In some countries like Russia, VPNs are being increasingly outlawed as authorities try to crack down on the free flow of information.

Readers can use a VPN, such as nthLink or Psiphon, which are free solutions supported by the Open Technology Fund. VPNs will give readers access to blocked social media platforms. Here are some more detailed instructions in Russian that also include a few other free VPN alternatives. https:// www. current time. tv/ block

The Open Technology Fund is a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that was set up to “increase free expression, circumvent censorship, and obstruct repressive surveillance as a way to promote human rights and open societies." It was originally established by Radio Free Asia, a sister organization of RFE/RL. In 2019, the fund was spun off into its own nonprofit corporation. It receives funding from the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a federal agency that also provides funding to RFE/RL, which is also an independent nonprofit corporation.

TOR ONION SITES

The Onion Router is free and open-source software that allows people to use the Internet, send e-mail, or do just about anything online anonymously. The software directs Internet traffic through a so-called overlay network scattered around the world, making it difficult to trace Internet activity to the user.

The software was originally developed by U.S. government scientists in the 1990s to help protect intelligence communications. Its license was later released to the public and taken over by private sector Internet freedom advocates, with funding from the U.S. government, Human Rights Watch, and others. The nonprofit that maintains the TOR software is now headquartered in Seattle.

Readers should consider downloading the Tor browser to anonymously and securely access RFE/RL's onion sites.

English website: https://www.rferlo2zxgv23tct66v45s5mecftol5vod3hf4rqbipfp46fqu2q56ad.onion/

Current Time: https://www.currtv242aqatxhyqfyh3mtq2ubzxz7crvj7aon3zccrnwatc5gugvqd.onion/

RFE/RL's Russian Service: https://svobod7mjzb3hwxhgcnx7ui2ffd4p5zulftzkzdlmpaztuuoxnlpwhyd.onion/

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service: https://www.radiosvcr452z5oklfrl5tgh7phn7vkekdppsxeit74veqff4pq4eoid.onion

RFE/RL's Belarusian Service: https://svabodmmmsdce3rmzoor5cw3byj6rqss4q6bh2yfhux2dbmobnpg5ead.onion/

How to download the Tor browser:

On Windows, MacOS, Android, Linux: https://www.torproject.org/download/

On iOS: https://onionbrowser.com/

If the sites are blocked, you can send an empty e-mail to gettor@torproject.org and you will be sent a browser bundle via e-mail.

Where Tor is blocked, bridges help readers access the Tor network. Readers need to request a bridge via one of the following ways:

-- Sending "/bridges" to the dedicated Telegram channel @GetBridgesBot and then adding the bridges lines received manually via copy and paste in the Tor browser [Settings > Tor > Bridges > Provide a bridge]

-- Requesting a bridge via e-mail at bridges@torproject.org and then adding the bridges lines received manually via copy and paste in the Tor browser [Settings > Tor > Bridges > Provide a bridge]

-- Connecting through Snowflake from within the Tor browser [Settings > Tor > Bridges > Select a built-in bridge > Snowflake]

To input requested bridges on:

Desktop: Settings > Tor > Bridges > Provide a bridge

Android: Config Bridge > Provide a bridge I know

iOS: Bridge Configuration > Custom Bridges

The Tor Project maintains a Telegram channel for user support in English and Russian: @TorProjectSupportBot.

Mirror Sites: In case you've noticed any strange links on our Russian sites:

You might have noticed longer, unusual links on our Russian-language sites. We use so-called “mirrors” of our sites distributed across multiple locations to make it much harder for the authorities to block access.

A mirror site is pretty much what it sounds like: an exact replica of a website or a set of files on a computer server that is housed on another computer server. Mirror sites are used when governments or regulators order a site to be blocked or censored so that readers can still access the original content.

If you would like to share our content with colleagues or friends who do not use a VPN, we recommend using these longer mirror links.

Sometimes mirror links can stop working because the authorities have blocked them, too. Just in case, download this extension for Chrome and Firefox. It will provide you with a working mirror link.

RFE/RL App

Our apps have technology to circumvent censorship. You can find them in the Google and Apple app stores. If you have an Android phone and app stores are blocked in your country, you can download the app here.

The text from https:// www. currenttime.tv/ block is copied below:

Как обойти блокировку?
В некоторых странах власти начали блокировать наши сайты. Если это произошло в вашей стране, то без инструментов для обхода блокировок вы не можете заходить на наш сайт напрямую и открывать ссылки на наши материалы из соцсетей.

Вот что можно сделать, чтобы читать нас и после блокировки:
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I'm not going to be able to continue to update posts regularly, so I wanted to give anyone still reading a chance to continue to access free internet.

Solidarity with all who suffer & Strength to all peacemakers.

[DaffyVina]

From Navalny.com

Речь Навального на апелляции
24.05.2022, 19:190

Сегодня суд оставил в силе приговор Алексею — 9 лет строгого режима.

Мы публикуем полную расшифровку последнего слова Навального в суде.

https://youtu.be/7tIXegVoZx4

— Спасибо большое. Уважаемый суд, вы будете меня перебивать? Я хотел бы уточнить, потому что обычно во время последнего слова меня перебивают. Я вас не слышу или вы просто молчите?

— Алексей Анатольевич, мы вас слушаем внимательно.

— Спасибо большое. Я, честно говоря, на прошлом суде уже даже говорил, что я уже не хочу выступать с последними словами, мне уже вот здесь эти последние слова. Знаете, я так примерно прикинул: 17 января я вернулся в Москву, меня сразу арестовали, и с тех пор я выступаю. Это мое шестое или седьмое последнее слово, что превращается в какую-то немножко комедию. Хотя это, конечно, очень хорошо характеризует происходящее в нашей стране, но тем не менее это смешно, когда человек за полтора года выступает с седьмым последним словом. Однако во время моего последнего «последнего слова» произошел для меня очень воодушевляющий факт, который говорит о том, что надо все-таки их произносить.

Как было устроено наше судебное заседание? Здесь был актовый зал, в моей тюряге, точно так же тут сидела судья, защита, прокурор и технический специалист суда. И штука в том, хитрость, понимаете, — вы же все очень хитрые, и ваша власть очень хитрая и находчивая. В тот день, когда я произносил последнее слово, технического специалиста суда не было. А вот наш майор, который здесь занимается всякой технической фигней, — его переодели в гражданку и посадили на место технического секретаря суда. И что он делал? Когда я выступал с последним словом, каждый раз, когда я говорил слово «война», он нажимал на кнопку, и я это видел, потому что на экране передо мной загорался просто перечеркнутый красный микрофон, говорящий о том, что микрофон был отключен. И он сидел такой довольный, и судья была довольна, и вся ваша система была страшно довольна тем, что у вас есть кнопка, и вы можете на нее нажать, и публика, журналисты, кто угодно не услышат, что же такое я скажу после слова «война».

Конечно, это меня бесило страшно. Ты планируешь, говоришь какие-то важные вещи, тут бах, на кнопку нажимают с такой ухмылочкой — и тебя не слышно. Конечно, бесило. Но, с другой стороны, в чем был воодушевляющий момент? Я подумал и потом понял. Потому что у вас есть все: власть, вы захватили власть в стране, у вас телевидение, все эти продажные журналисты, — все у вас есть, и вы боитесь, что вам какой-то зэк что-то скажет. Настолько боитесь, что приставили специального сотрудника, переодетого в гражданку, чтобы он нажимал на эту самую кнопку. Вы так сильно боитесь этих слов, вообще слова правды, что, конечно, его нужно произносить. К чему я постоянно призываю всех остальных, ну и сам по мере возможности что-то делаю.

Оговорка относительно вашего уважаемого суда. Я лично против вас ничего не имею. Я с вами не знаком. Вполне вероятно, что вы хорошие люди, прекрасно относитесь к детям и, скорее всего, даже получали пятерки в институтах, особенно по уголовному процессу. Но когда я говорю «вы», я обращаюсь к суду, конечно же, сейчас, но я имею в виду всю вашу власть: имею в виду Путина, его Совет Безопасности из старых маразматиков, Государственную Думу, где сидят одни жулики, Совет Федерации, где сидят одни старые жулики, всю вашу власть. Вы же выносите мне приговор именем Российской Федерации, поэтому, когда я к вам обращаюсь, я обращаюсь к той самой Российской Федерации, захваченной сейчас теми самыми жуликами, мошенниками и, конечно, убийцами, в нынешнее, настоящее время.

Мой приговор предполагает, что я оскорбил суд и я не уважал суд. Знаете, вы сами отлично понимаете, что никто в России не уважает суд. Это в принципе такой орган, который не имеет ни малейшего уважения нигде. Его действительно боятся, потому что какие-то люди в черных мантиях абсолютно беззаконно, как происходит со мной и с многими другими людьми, постоянно могут, действительно, отправить тебя за решетку, поэтому их боятся. Но не уважает российский суд никто, и я его действительно не уважаю.

Но вот эта статья об оскорблении суда — это не научный подход. Если была бы статья о презрении к суду и презрении к этой власти, вот она бы мне отлично подошла, потому что я презираю ваш суд, я презираю вашу систему и презираю вашу власть. И я, самое главное, — что на самом деле, как мне кажется, и является преступлением по сути в ваших глазах, — я эту систему не боюсь. Я не боюсь эту систему. Безусловно, мне не хочется сидеть в этой клетке, вместо того чтобы заниматься какими-то полезными вещами и смотреть, как растут мои дети. Но человеку жизнь дается не для того, чтобы он боялся чокнутого бункерного деда и эту систему, которую он построил. Поэтому я вас не боюсь! И, опять же, всех остальных призываю не бояться. В конце концов, ну что с вами сделают? Ну в клетку посадят. Но ваша система держится именно на страхе, поэтому вас бояться нельзя, бояться вас — это преступление против своего собственного будущего, преступление против своих детей, преступление против своего народа.

Поэтому важно сейчас... Потому что я включаю телевизор — мне показывают, как кто-то там убивает русских, притесняет русских или еще что-то делает с русскими. А именно вы, ваша система, ваш Путин и ваши чиновники являются врагами России сейчас, предателями русского народа и убийцами русского народа в буквальном смысле. За последние годы никто не убил больше русских людей, чем ваш Путин.

— Алексей Анатольевич, прошу вернуться к предмету судебного контроля. У нас обжалуется итоговое судебное решение Лефортовского районного суда.

— Я ровно это и делал. Я поэтому и уточнял: вы, пожалуйста, не станьте той самой кнопкой, которая пытается меня заткнуть. УПК не регулирует, что я говорю в последнем слове. Я говорю про суд, я говорю про приговор, я говорю про основания, которые послужили тому, что мне был вынесен — и не только мне, таким, как я, выносятся эти абсурдные приговоры.

Если хотите ближе к делу — давайте, хорошо. Вам не нравится, когда я говорю про войну, — тогда я буду использовать эту войну, идущую сейчас, она важнее в сто раз, чем мой приговор, как метафору для ваших судов и для ваших судебных процессов. Потому что эта война, как и ваши суды, полностью, на сто процентов построена на вранье, на каком-то супернаглом вранье. Ни одного слова правды, ни одного. Как в приговоре нет ни одного слова правды, так и война эта идет. Я же телевизор целыми днями здесь смотрю, это, на самом деле, важная часть наказания — ты должен все время смотреть телевизор. И несколько месяцев назад, три месяца подряд, в каждом репортаже, в каждом сюжете, в каждом репортаже, в каждом выпуске новостей говорили: какая ерунда, что мы введем войска на Украину! Да не может такого быть! Это же американцы врут.

— Алексей Анатольевич, у нас предмет судебного контроля — приговор Лефортовского районного суда города Москвы от 22 марта 2022 года. Слушаем ваше несогласие с вынесенным итоговым судебным актом Лефортовского районного суда Москвы.

— Именно, вот вы просто уже, понимаете… Все-таки выступление в суде. Посмотрите, у вас висит там дяденька, если вы посмотрите по правую руку на стене. Я не могу разглядеть, кто это. Наверное, уважаемый юрист. Насколько я помню, потому что я тогда сидел в «аквариуме», по левую сторону тоже висят какие-то известные люди, и в основном они прославились тем, что не просто бормотали в микрофон, а говорили какие-то важные вещи, выступали с речами в суде. И я сейчас делаю ровно это. Я выступаю с речью в вашем суде, и я, действительно, использую войну как метафору своего судебного приговора. Несмотря на то, что я использую что-то большое для описания чего-то маленького, а можно наоборот. Поэтому я прошу, несмотря на то что вы страшно боитесь, что я тут что-нибудь наговорю, все-таки не работать той самой кнопкой, потому что кто вам поручил это делать — к нему тогда предъявляйте претензии за то, что я здесь говорю. Поэтому вы можете просто меня остановить и выключить, но я собираюсь… я скажу все, что я собираюсь сказать.

Так вот. Месяцы вранья, просто месяцы. А потом щелчок, ввели войска — и просто забыли об этом, понимаете? Память золотой рыбки. И ваша власть пытается сделать так, чтобы все наше население, весь наш народ были как золотые рыбки, в том числе в отношении судебных процессов, в том числе в отношении законов, которые вы меняете каждый день, в том числе чтобы забыли о том, что был закон, который запрещал мне участвовать в выборах, закон имени Навального. Это все абсолютнейшая ложь. Все факты, которые приведены в приговоре, такая же ложная дрянь, как и все те факты, которые используют разжигатели войны, или наоборот. Я, когда слышу по телевизору про НАТО, мне уже просто хочется хохотать, потому что я не золотая рыбка, я помню, как в 2013 году в городе Ульяновске открывали базу НАТО и ульяновский губернатор рассказывал, как хорошо, что мы открываем здесь базу НАТО для работы в Афганистане, потому что это так классно, потому что это будут рабочие места, НАТО нам очень дружеский блок. А знаете, кто еще очень сильно выступал за базу НАТО? Рогозин Дмитрий Олегович. Знаком вам такой человек? А сейчас эти люди пытаются нам доказать, что мы здесь должны устроить кровавую баню, для того чтобы противостоять НАТО. Одновременно с этим в НАТО вступают Финляндия и Швеция, и это уже какая-то ерунда. И я говорю об этом, потому что это, конечно, очень определяюще для всего, что происходит в России, в том числе для российской судебной системы. Потому что наглое вранье в каждом суде. Игнорирование того, что было сказано вчера, просто по щелчку, как будто и не говорили. Вы все переобуваетесь в воздухе на 180 градусов не просто часто, а постоянно. Наша власть, наши суды, наш Путин делают зигзагообразное движение в воздухе, потому что каждый раз ты должен переобуться, чтобы люди забыли о том, что ты врал еще совсем недавно.

— Алексей Анатольевич, у нас предмет судебного контроля — это приговор Лефортовского суда города Москвы. Мы слушаем в последнем слове ваше суждение касаемо вашего несогласия с вашим осуждением, приговором Лефортовского районного суда города Москвы. Пожалуйста, вернитесь к предмету судебного контроля в апелляционном порядке.

— Во-первых, предмет нашего контроля — это приговор, действительно, Лефортовского суда и причины, по которым такой приговор был вынесен. И причины, почему ваш суд происходит или нет, вы отлично знаете. И они заключаются в том, что у власти сейчас в России сумасшедшие богатые люди, которые в том числе устроили войну, в том числе для того, чтобы проводить судебные процессы в тюрьмах, потому что на фоне войны на это уже никто не посмотрит. Поэтому, уважаемый суд, у вашей профессии есть плюсы — неприкосновенность и неприкасаемость, большая зарплата, квартира в Москве. Но, наверное, в вашей работе есть и какие-то минусы. В частности, если лотерея выдала вам такой несчастливый билет, как огласить мой приговор, вам придется меня послушать, извините, пожалуйста. Если вы не хотите меня слушать, вы можете просто меня выключить и тем самым сделать еще одну процессуальную ошибку. Еще немножко, потерпите, пожалуйста.

Я хочу сказать, что эти ваши процессы, в том числе в отношении меня, — они бессмысленны. Что вы ими хотите добиться? Вы хотите получить какой-то контроль? Вы получите, действительно, кратковременный контроль. Вы хотите остановить прогресс России, вы хотите бороться с наступающим поколением? Что вы хотите сделать? Краткосрочно вы можете запугать кого-то, безусловно, вы разорите сейчас какое-то количество людей, поломаете много судеб, но в целом то, что вы делаете, что делают ваши люди, — это бессмыслица, это просто исторический нонсенс, и, безусловно, вы все потерпите историческое поражение. Как вы потерпите историческое поражение вот в этой тупой войне, которую вы начали, которую начал ваш Путин, потому что у нее нет ни цели, ни смысла.

Вообще непонятно, зачем вы ее ведете. Для чего мы ведем эту войну? Чтобы заставить их сделать что? Мы взяли просто сорокамиллионный народ, объявили: «Они нацисты!» — и начали их бомбить. Что они должны сделать, чтобы от них отстали? Вот представьте себе ситуацию: живет в городе Харькове человек, скажем даже, судья, судья в городе Харькове — миллионный город, огромный город. Он живет себе в большом городе, прекрасно работает судьей, собирается с утра отвести ребенка в детский сад, а потом поехать кого-то судить. И в один прекрасный день, 24 февраля, например, его объявляют нацистом, ему в дом прилетает ракета, убивает его ребенка, и он бегает, как ненормальный, и не понимает, что ему нужно сделать, чтобы от него отстали вы и ваша власть. И я, безусловно, в том числе готов сидеть здесь в тюрьме, чтобы доказать всему миру и самому себе, самое главное, что не все в России такие чокнутые, ненормальные, извращенцы и кровопийцы, которые просто непонятно за что, непонятно для чего убивают людей и сами гибнут. Вы знаете, что здесь, во Владимирской области...

— Алексей Анатольевич, мы вынуждены вас вернуть все-таки к предмету судебного контроля и напомнить, что мы слушаем ваши доводы и ваше несогласие с тем приговором суда, который восстановлен 22 марта 2022 года. Вы осуждены и признаны виновным в совершении четырех составов преступления, предусмотренного частью 4 статьи 159 УК РФ и статьей 297 УК РФ. Вернитесь, пожалуйста, к тем суждениям, в чем именно вы не согласны с приговором суда.

— Уважаемый суд, большое спасибо за это мудрое напоминание. Понимаете, я же обычный человек. Я не судья, у которого все очень логично и правильно настроено. Я говорил о том, что я хочу сказать, о своем приговоре, в меру своей способности к суждению. И моя способность к суждению — она и определяет то, что я говорю. Как могу, так и говорю. Знаете, «не стреляйте в пианиста, он играет как может». Так и здесь. Для меня действительно важно сказать здесь и объяснить суду, что у нас поломано все, включая систему правосудия, ровно для того, чтобы начинать потом такие войны. И эти войны, помимо того что, естественно, мы убиваем невиновных людей непонятно за что, — мы уничтожаем тем самым русский народ. Как я уже сказал, во Владимирской области, где я сижу, — здесь все руководство Росгвардии погибло, четыре подполковника, они мертвы. То есть понимаете, это одновременно скрывается и одновременно абсолютно все об этом знают. А почему их убили? Потому что один сумасшедший вцепился в эту Украину. Непонятно, что он хочет сделать, я не знаю, что он хочет с ней сделать. И этот сумасшедший вор нанял больного человека, который командует Росгвардией, и это, между прочим, не мои слова. Это слова бывшего начальника службы безопасности президента Коржакова, который, характеризуя генерала армии Золотова, сказал: «Я не могу назвать его дебилом, потому что он имбецил». И когда один вор нанимает имбецила для того, чтобы вести войну… Да, они убьют много кого на этой войне, но их самих там всех убьют.

— Алексей Анатольевич, хочется все-таки услышать ваше последнее слово по поводу приговора Лефортовского районного суда города Москвы. Еще раз вас призываю: вернитесь к предмету судебного рассмотрения в данном судебном заседании.

— Ваша честь, да не надо меня даже призывать. Я не то что вернуться… Предмет рассмотрения — это вот эта решетка в буквальном смысле. То ли я в него вцепился, то ли меня…

— Алексей Анатольевич, вы осуждены по четырем составам преступления, предусмотренного частью 4 статьи 159 УК РФ и статьей 297.

— Статья 159 УК РФ будет неоднократно применена в отношении тех лиц, о которых я говорю. Вместе со всякими другими статьями. Потому что эти люди, вот ровно для того, чтобы красть, мошенничать, грабить и убивать, — они и держат в тюрьмах таких, как я, ровно поэтому все это и происходит, ваша честь. Вот смотрите, к вопросу о статье 159-й. Вам, наверное, будет интересно. Раз уж вы требуете от меня про 159-ю статью. Я о ней постоянно думал знаете когда? Девятого мая. Девятого мая зэки, как положено, сидели в комнате, очень торжественно... Нам показывают парад. И на параде едет танк «Армата». И нам снова говорят, что танк «Армата» самый лучший, русские войска там… Я думаю: сейчас двадцать второй год, я смотрю танк «Армата». Я в двадцать первом году смотрел танк «Армата», и в двадцатом, и в девятнадцатом, и в восемнадцатом, и в семнадцатом, и в шестнадцатом. Мне кажется, с пятнадцатого года нам показывают танк «Армата». А на войне почему-то я вижу в основном танки Т-72 и немножко более современных, а «Арматы» никакой и близко нет. Так вот статья 159-я: может быть, потому что наш верховный главнокомандующий — вор и сумасшедший, наш министр обороны — вор и пиарщик…

— Алексей Анатольевич, 22 марта 2022 года вы были осуждены Лефортовским районным судом города Москвы за совершение мошеннических действий, за оскорбление. Пожалуйста, призываю вернуться к предмету судебного контроля в суде апелляционной инстанции. Вы еще ни одного довода нам не озвучили конкретного о несогласии с вынесенным итоговым судебным решением Лефортовского районного суда города Москвы. Ваша защита выступала очень четко, обозначили все наши доводы, хочется услышать вашу позицию непосредственно по обжалованному судебному акту.

— Ваша честь, мои адвокаты на воле, потому что выступают очень четко, а я всего лишь зэк за решеткой, потому что не способен выступать четко. Уж я выступаю как могу, мне немножко осталось, просто это важные вещи. Важная вещь заключается в том, что приговор Лефортовского суда выносится именем Российской Федерации и выносится именно таким образом, что власть в Российской Федерации захвачена теми людьми, которые на протяжении многих лет врут нам, в частности, про виды вооружений, устраивают войны, убивают других людей и своих людей, устроили кровавую баню из русских и украинцев. И последствиями этого всего вот эти процессы, как в отношении меня, будут в огромном количестве, и я хочу, чтобы они прекратились. И если я могу хотя бы своим словом сделать хоть что-то, чтобы хоть кого-то убедить, сделать хоть что-то, чтобы прекратить это все, я буду это говорить.

Я уже близок к завершению, не останавливайте меня больше. Уважаемый суд, я смотрю на вас, и в вашем лице я вижу ту самую «именем Российской Федерации»… Путин, Чемезов, Шойгу, все эти Голиковы, Христенки, все, про кого мы проводили расследования, — все они в вашем лице передо мной. И я хочу сказать одну вещь: как же без вас было бы хорошо! Как же без вас было бы классно жить в нашей стране, потому что впервые за сотни лет у нас ни врагов, ни войны, все нормально, денег море, нефти куча, газ дорогой, вообще Россия — прекрасная, богатая страна без вас. Поэтому я хотел бы, чтобы вас всех не было и чтобы идеология России… Идеология — громкое слово, просто чтобы правила нашей жизни были «живи и дай жить другим». Чтобы все оставили всех в покое, чтобы мы отцепились от Украины, от всех остальных, чтобы вы, судьи, отцепились от обычных граждан, чтобы Росгвардия занималась делами, чтобы ФСИНовцы действительно преступников охраняли, а не политзэков, чтобы полиция занималась расследованиями преступлений, а не ловила людей за лайки, чтобы вас не было и чтобы все друг от друга отстали, и тогда мы будем жить наконец-то хорошо.

Но пока вы есть. И, конечно, самая уместная цитата из самой знаменитой книжки относительно вас, которая сейчас постоянно используется, которая много раз использовалась в таких же ситуациях за многие годы до этого, — «нынче ваше время и власть тьмы». Любопытная особенность, что прямо сейчас я вижу в вас, в вашей власти, что вас это, в общем-то, даже не задевает. Когда вы слышите эту фразу, вы понимаете про себя, что вы власть тьмы и сейчас ваше время, но вы не то что не переживаете — наоборот, это вас воодушевляет, вы такие: «Да! Мы власть тьмы, мы самые крутые, это наше время». И вот в этом ваша суть, что вы все злодеи, понимаете это и упиваетесь этим. Но я хочу сказать, что, конечно же, ваше время будет не всегда и ваше время пройдет. И когда вы все будете гореть в аду, дрова в ваш костер будут подкидывать ваши деды, которые не хотели, чтобы вы использовали их портреты для того, чтобы устраивать новые войны в XXI веке. У меня все, спасибо.

It's Navalny appeals
24.05.2022, 19:19
Today, the court upheld the sentence of Alexei - 9 years of strict regime.

We publish the full transcript of the last word of the Navalny in court.

https://youtu.be/7tIXegVoZx4

- Thank you very much. Dear court, will you interrupt me? I would like to clarify, because usually during the last word I am interrupted. I can't hear you or are you just silent?

- Alexey Anatolyevich, we are listening to you carefully.

- Thank you very much. To be honest, I even said at the last trial that I no longer want to speak with the last words, I already have these last words here. You know, I roughly calculated that on January 17, I returned to Moscow, I was immediately arrested, and since then I have been speaking. It's my sixth or seventh last word, which turns into a bit of a comedy. Although this, of course, characterizes very well what is happening in our country, but nevertheless it is ridiculous when a person in a year and a half speaks with the seventh last word. However, during my last "last word", a very encouraging fact occurred for me, which suggests that we should still pronounce them.

How was our court hearing arranged? There was an assembly hall here, in my prison, just like a judge, a defense, a prosecutor and a technical specialist of the court sat here. And the thing is, cunning, you know, you're all very cunning, and your power is very cunning and resourceful. On the day I had the last word, there was no technical specialist from the court. But our major, who is engaged in all sorts of technical crap here, he was dressed as a civilian and put in the place of the technical secretary of the court. And what was he doing? When I spoke the last word, every time I said the word "war," he pressed a button, and I saw it because on the screen in front of me, just a crossed-out red microphone lit up, indicating that the microphone was turned off. And he sat there so pleased, and the judge was pleased, and your whole system was terribly pleased that you have a button and you can click on it, and the public, journalists, anyone, won't hear what I'm going to say after the word "war."

Of course, this infuriated me terribly. You plan, you say some important things, then bang, they press the button with such a smirk - and you are not heard. Of course, it was infuriating. But, on the other hand, what was the uplifting moment? I thought about it and then I understood. Because you have everything: power, you have seized power in the country, you have television, all these corrupt journalists , you have everything, and you are afraid that some zek will say something to you. You are so afraid that they put a special employee disguised as a civilian to press this very button. You are so afraid of these words, the word of truth in general, that, of course, it must be uttered. Which I constantly encourage everyone else to do, and I do something myself as much as possible.

Disclaimer regarding your esteemed court. I personally have nothing against you. I don't know you. It's likely that you're a good person, have a great attitude towards children, and most likely even got high-fives in institutions, especially in criminal proceedings. But when I say "you", I appeal to the court, of course, now, but I mean all your power: I mean Putin, his Security Council from the old marasmatics, the State Duma, where only crooks sit, the Federation Council, where only old crooks sit, all your power. You are sentencing me in the name of the Russian Federation, so when I appeal to you, I appeal to the very Russian Federation, which has now been seized by those same crooks, fraudsters and, of course, murderers, in the present, present.

My sentence suggests that I insulted the court and I did not respect the court. You know, you yourself understand perfectly well that no one in Russia respects the court. It is, in principle, a body that has no respect anywhere else. He's really scared because some people in black robes are absolutely lawless, as happens to me and to many other people, they can always, really, send you to jail, so they're afraid. But no one respects the Russian court, and I really don't respect it.

But this article about contempt of court is not a scientific approach. If there was an article about contempt for the court and contempt for this power, it would work perfectly for me, because I despise your judgment, I despise your system, and I despise your power. And I, most importantly — which I think is actually a crime in your eyes — I'm not afraid of this system. I'm not afraid of this system. Of course, I do not want to sit in this cage, instead of doing some useful things and watching my children grow. But a person is not given life to be afraid of a crazy bunker grandfather and this system that he has built. So I'm not afraid of you! And, again, I urge everyone else not to be afraid. After all, what's going to happen to you? Well, they will put you in a cage. But your system is based on fear, so you can't be afraid, to be afraid of you is a crime against your own future, a crime against your children, a crime against your people.

So it's important now... Because I turn on the TV and they show me someone there killing Russians, harassing Russians, or doing something else to Russians. Namely, you, your system, your Putin and your officials are the enemies of Russia now, traitors to the Russian people and murderers of the Russian people in the literal sense. In recent years, no one has killed more Russian people than your Putin.

- Alexei Anatolyevich, please return to the subject of judicial control. We are appealing against the final court decision of the Lefortovo District Court.

- That's exactly what I did. That's why I clarified: please don't be the button that's trying to shut me up. The Code of Criminal Procedure does not regulate what I say in the last word. I'm talking about the court, I'm talking about the verdict, I'm talking about the grounds that served what I was handed down — and it's not just me like me who are handed down these absurd sentences.

If you want to get closer to the point, come on, okay. You don't like it when I talk about war, then I'm going to use this war going on now, it's a hundred times more important than my verdict, as a metaphor for your trials and for your trials. Because this war, like your courts, is entirely, one hundred percent built on lies, on some super-brazen lies. Not a single word of truth, not one. Just as there is not a single word of truth in the verdict, so this war is going on. I watch TV all day here, it's actually an important part of the punishment — you have to watch TV all the time. And a few months ago, three months in a row, in every report, in every story, in every report, in every news release, they said: what nonsense that we will send troops to Ukraine! It can't be! It's the Americans lying.

- Alexey Anatolyevich, the subject of judicial control is the verdict of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow of March 22, 2022. We are listening to your disagreement with the final judicial act of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow.

- Exactly, here you just are, you know... Still, a statement in court. Look, you have an uncle hanging there if you look at the right hand on the wall. I can't see who it is. Probably a respected lawyer. As far as I remember, because I was sitting in the "aquarium" at the time, some famous people were also hanging on the left side, and basically they became famous for not just muttering into the microphone, but saying some important things, making speeches in court. And that's exactly what I'm doing now. I'm giving a speech in your court, and I'm really using war as a metaphor for my judgment. Even though I use something big to describe something small, and you can do the opposite. Therefore, I ask, despite the fact that you are terribly afraid that I will say something here, still do not work with the same button, because who instructed you to do this - then make claims to him for what I am saying here. So you can just stop me and turn me off, but I'm going to... I'll say whatever I'm going to say.

So there's that. Months of lies, just months. And then a click, they brought in troops and they just forgot about it, you know? Memory of a goldfish. And your government is trying to make sure that all our population, all our people are like goldfish, including with regard to lawsuits, including with regard to the laws that you change every day, including that they forget that there was a law that forbade me to participate in elections, a law named after Navalny. This is all an absolute lie. All the facts cited in the verdict are as false nonsense as all the facts that warmongers use, or vice versa.

When I hear about NATO on TV, I just want to laugh, because I'm not a goldfish, I remember how in 2013 a NATO base was opened in the city of Ulyanovsk and the Ulyanovsk governor told me how good it is that we are opening a NATO base here to work in Afghanistan, because it's so cool, because it will be jobs. NATO is a very friendly bloc for us. And you know who else was very much in favor of the NATO base? Rogozin Dmitry Olegovich. Do you know such a person? And now these people are trying to prove to us that we should arrange a bloodbath here in order to confront NATO. At the same time, Finland and Sweden are joining NATO, and this is some kind of nonsense. And I say this because it is, of course, very decisive for everything that is happening in Russia, including the Russian judicial system. Because brazen lies in every court. Ignoring what was said yesterday, just at a click, as if they hadn't been spoken. You all change your shoes in the air at 180 degrees not just often, but constantly. Our authorities, our courts, our Putin make a zigzag movement in the air, because every time you have to change your shoes so that people forget that you lied not so long ago.

- Alexei Anatolyevich, the subject of judicial control is the verdict of the Lefortovo Court of Moscow. We listen in the last word to your judgment regarding your disagreement with your conviction, the verdict of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow. Please return to the subject of judicial review on appeal.

- Firstly, the subject of our control is the verdict, indeed, of the Lefortovo court and the reasons why such a verdict was pronounced. And the reasons why your trial is happening or not, you know perfectly well. And they consist in the fact that there are crazy rich people in power in Russia now, who, among other things, staged a war, including in order to conduct trials in prisons, because against the background of the war, no one will look at this anymore. Therefore, dear court, your profession has advantages – inviolability and untouchability, a large salary, an apartment in Moscow. But, probably, there are some disadvantages in your work. In particular, if the lottery gave you such an unhappy ticket as to announce my verdict, you will have to listen to me, sorry, please. If you don't want to listen to me, you can just turn me off and thereby make another procedural error. A little more, please be patient.

I want to say that these processes of yours, including with regard to me, are meaningless. What do you want them to achieve? Do you want to get some control? You're going to get, really, short-term control. Do you want to stop Russia's progress, do you want to fight the coming generation? What do you want to do? In the short term, you can intimidate someone, of course, you will ruin a certain number of people now, break a lot of destinies, but in general, what you are doing, what your people are doing is nonsense, this is just historical nonsense, and, of course, you will all suffer a historical defeat. How will you suffer a historic defeat in this stupid war that you started, that your Putin started, because it has neither a purpose nor a meaning?

It's not at all clear why you're doing it. Why are we waging this war? To get them to do what? We took just forty million people, announced, "They're Nazis!" and started bombing them. What should they do to get behind? Imagine the situation: a person lives in the city of Kharkiv, let's even a judge, a judge in the city of Kharkiv – a city of one million, a huge city. He lives in a big city, works fine as a judge, is going to take the child to kindergarten in the morning, and then go to judge someone. And one day, on February 24, for example, he is declared a Nazi, a rocket flies into his house, kills his child, and he runs like crazy, and does not understand what he needs to do to make you and your power fall behind him. And I, of course, am also ready to sit here in prison to prove to the whole world and to myself, the most important thing is that not everyone in Russia is so crazy, abnormal, perverts and bloodsuckers who simply do not understand why, it is not clear why they kill people and die themselves. You know that here, in the Vladimir Region...

- Alexei Anatolyevich, we are forced to return you to the subject of judicial control and remind you that we are listening to your arguments and your disagreement with the verdict of the court, which was restored on March 22, 2022. You were convicted and found guilty of committing four elements of the crime provided for in part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 297 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Please go back to those judgments on which you disagree with the verdict of the court.

- Dear Court, thank you very much for this wise reminder. You see, I'm an ordinary person. I am not a judge who has everything very logical and correctly configured. I talked about what I want to say, about my sentence, to the best of my ability to judge. And my ability to judge is what determines what I say. As best I can, I say so. You know, "Don't shoot the pianist, he plays as best he can." So it is here. It is really important for me to say here and explain to the court that everything in our country, including the justice system, is broken precisely in order to start such wars later. And these wars, in addition to the fact that, of course, we kill innocent people for no clear reason, we thereby destroy the Russian people.

As I have already said, in the Vladimir Region, where I am sitting, the entire leadership of Rosgvardia died here, four lieutenant colonels, they are dead. I mean, you know, it's both hidden and absolutely everyone knows about it at the same time. And why were they killed? Because one madman clung to this Ukraine. It's not clear what he wants to do, I don't know what he wants to do with her. And this crazy thief hired a sick man who commands Rosgvardia, and this, by the way, is not my words. These are the words of the former head of the security service of President Korzhakov, who, describing the army general Zolotov, said: "I cannot call him a moron, because he is an imbecile." And when a thief hires an imbecile to wage war... Yes, they will kill a lot of people in this war, but they themselves will all be killed there.

- Alexei Anatolyevich, I would still like to hear your last word on the verdict of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow. Once again, I urge you to return to the subject of the court hearing in this court hearing.

- Your Honor, don't even call me out. I'm not that coming back... The subject of consideration is this grid in the literal sense. Either I clung to it, or I...

- Alexei Anatolyevich, you were convicted of four elements of the crime provided for in part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 297.

- Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be repeatedly applied to those persons I am talking about. Along with all sorts of other articles. Because these people, just to steal, cheat, rob and kill, they keep people like me in prison, that's why all this is happening, your honor. Look, to the question of Article 159. You're probably going to be interested. Since you're asking me to talk about Article 159. I was constantly thinking about it, you know when? The ninth of May. On the ninth of May, the Zekes, as expected, sat in the room, very solemnly ... We are shown a parade. And an Armata tank rides in the parade. And we are again told that the Armata tank is the best, the Russian troops are there... I think it's the twenty-second year, I'm looking at an Armata tank. In the twenty-first year I watched the Armata tank, and in the twentieth, and in the nineteenth, and in the eighteenth, and in the seventeenth, and in the sixteenth. It seems to me that since the fifteenth year we have been shown the Armata tank. And in the war, for some reason, I see mainly T-72 tanks and a little more modern ones, and there are no Armatas. So here's Article 159: Maybe because our commander-in-chief is a thief and a madman, our defense minister is a thief and a PR man...

- Alexey Anatolyevich, on March 22, 2022, you were convicted by the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow for committing fraudulent acts, for insulting. Please call for a return to the subject of judicial review in the court of appeal. You have not yet voiced a single argument to us specifically about your disagreement with the final court decision of the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow. Your defense spoke very clearly, outlined all our arguments, I want to hear your position directly on the appealed judicial act.

-- Your Honor, my lawyers are at large because they speak very clearly, and I'm just behind bars because I can't speak clearly. I'm performing as best I can, I'm a little bit left, it's just important things. An important thing is that the verdict of the Lefortovo court is pronounced in the name of the Russian Federation and is pronounced in such a way that power in the Russian Federation has been seized by those people who for many years have been lying to us, in particular, about types of weapons, arranging wars, killing other people and their own people, arranging a bloodbath of Russians and Ukrainians. And the consequences of all this, these processes, as in relation to me, will be in huge numbers, and I want them to stop. And if I can at least do something with my word to convince someone to do something to stop it all, I will say it.

I'm close to completion, don't stop me anymore. Dear court, I look at you, and in your person I see the very "name of the Russian Federation"... Putin, Chemezov, Shoigu, all these Golikovs, Khrystenki, everyone about whom we conducted investigations – all of them in your person in front of me. And I want to say one thing: how good would it be without you! How cool it would be to live in our country without you, because for the first time in hundreds of years we have no enemies, no war, everything is fine, there is a lot of money, a lot of oil, expensive gas, in general, Russia is a beautiful, rich country without you. Therefore, I would like all of you not to exist and for the ideology of Russia ... Ideology is a big word, just so that the rules of our life are "live and let others live." So that everyone leaves everyone alone, so that we unhook from Ukraine, from everyone else, so that you, the judges, unhook from ordinary citizens, so that Rosgvardia is engaged in cases, so that the Federal Penitentiary Service really guards criminals, and not political prisoners, so that the police investigate crimes, and do not catch people for likes, so that you are not and so that everyone lags behind each other, and then we will finally live well.

But for now, you are. And, of course, the most appropriate quote from the most famous book about you, which is now constantly used, which was used many times in the same situations many years before, is "now your time and the power of darkness." A curious thing is that right now I see in you, in your power, that you, in general, are not even offended by this. When you hear this phrase, you realize to yourself that you are the power of darkness and now is your time, but you are not only not experiencing – on the contrary, it inspires you, you are like: "Yes! We are the power of darkness, we are the coolest, this is our time." And that's your point, that you're all villains, you understand that and revel in it. But I want to say that, of course, your time will not always be there and your time will pass. And when you all burn in hell, wood in your fire will be thrown by your grandfathers, who did not want you to use their portraits in order to arrange new wars in the XXI century. I have everything, thank you.