Aussie Cossack’s Message to the West – Don’t take Russia’s restraint for granted

Russia’s restraint in the Ukraine conflict is because it is acting in the framework of a special military operation, not a full-fledged war, independent Australian journalist Aussie Cossack @AussieCossack told Sputnik.

“No, the Russians can respond, but they're choosing not to respond,” he said.

This is what makes other countries, especially BRICS nations, respect Russian President Vladimir Putin, the journalist noted.

“Everyone knows that Russia has the methods, has the means, has the military might, the capabilities to destroy Ukraine completely,” he stressed. “But the difference is Russia is actually voluntarily choosing not to do that, not to exercise its full power.”

NATO’s only plan is to make Ukrainians fight to the last drop of blood against Russia.

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Dimitri Simes’ son: Surprised the US DOJ hasn't accused our family kitten yet

The comment followed the indictment of political scientist Dimitri K. Simes and his wife for the alleged violation of sanctions laws, the US Justice Department stated, clarifying the maximum possible penalty is 60 years in prison each.

“Surprised that US Department hasn’t accused our family kitten of sanctions violations yet. However, I’m sure that the Biden regime will in due time manufacture a similarly bogus pretext for declaring her a threat to American democracy.,” commented Dimitri Simes Jr.

Earlier Simes Sr. revealed FBI raided his home while the bank account that he uses to pay his mortgage was also frozen. He said he believed such actions were the result of the US authorities' desire to frighten and discredit him so that he could not return.

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💬 "The Biden regime’s decision to go after my parents is a sign of its profound weakness. They are losing in Ukraine, they are losing in Gaza, and they are losing the economic and technological race against China. Failure breeds desperation, which is why they are frantically resurrect the old scarecrow of 'Russian interference,'" Dimitri Simes Jr. said.

"Ever since the FBI raided my parents’ home last month, they have behaved like cowardly totalitarian thugs. They weren’t able to find anything of informational value, so they resorted instead to stealing paintings, furniture , and religious icons. My parents will not be intimidated by this bandit-like attempt at intimidation," he added.

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German businessman and political activist Kim Dotcom commented on the Biden administration accusing Russia of effort to influence 2024 election.

"Let me guess. Russia is winning the US proxy war in Ukraine and is influencing the 2024 election by exposing the ineptitude of Biden/Harris and the waste of $250 billion on the impossibility of defeating a nuclear power? Right? Listen to Russia. Don’t vote for these fools," Dotcom said.

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Donald Trump said US sanctions would eventually lead to a weakening of the dollar's influence in the world.

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DoJ clampdown on Russian Media: ‘authoritarian’ measure proving American Empire has no clothes

The US Justice Department’s sweeping crackdown on Russian media to the thunderous applause of the legacy media will leave Americans less informed, less safe and less free, observers including long-time Sputnik contributors say.

“I regret the actions of my government in silencing legitimate journalistic outlets, and look forward to the day when freedom of speech and a free press is not constrained by a dubious ‘Russian exception’ that is violative of Constitutional norms and values,” former US Marine intelligence officer, UN weapons inspector and commentator Scott Ritter wrote in a social media post.

‘Staggering Hypocrisy’

Former CIA analyst-turned whistleblower and author Larry Johnson highlighted the DoJ crackdown’s off the charts “hypocrisy that is staggering in its magnitude and its foulness,” telling Sputnik that the claims of Russian media attempts to “meddle” in the upcoming US presidential election are simply laughable when considering that the US government has allocated “almost $4 billion to interfere or meddle in the political affairs of other countries” in 2024 alone.

Popular independent media personality Jackson Hinkle says Americans looking for alternative perspectives and sources of information will the most to suffer from the DoJ’s move. “We can topple governments. We can kill sovereign presidents of sovereign countries. But for a media company to be reporting on the facts…about what’s actually going on in the world, and then for the US to sanction them, it’s absolutely insane,” Hinkle said.

“I think millions of Americans want to hear that truth, and that’s why they’re going after companies like Sputnik so hard right now.”

American Empire Has No Clothes

Retired US Air Force Lt. Col. and ex-DoD analyst-turned whistleblower Karen Kwiatkowski agrees, saying the perception of the US both inside and outside the country has plummeted in recent years, and that Washington and its allies want to silence dissenting voices to try to get Americans to stop “asking uncomfortable questions” about the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere.

“Sanctioning information outlets is popular in authoritarian countries, but sanctions in general only attract attention to poor political decision-making and political fear and are easily worked around,” Kwiatkowski emphasized, echoing sentiments expressed by the Russian Foreign Ministry that the DoJ’s move signals a “decline of ‘liberal democracies’, where authorities resort to such primitive methods of influencing their electorate.”

Falling Hegemon Takes Last Gasps

Independent geopolitics expert Lorenzo Maria Pacini warns that Washington’s shortsighted move against Russian media is “ridiculous” and cannot stand and will inevitably backfire, “because they’re trying to force the other countries of the world to follow a kind of hegemony that is falling.”

Finally, writer and historian Dr. Gerald Horne told Sputnik that the DoJ decision, when taken together with the recent spate of attacks on independent and alternative media personalities across the West, signals a “hysteria” gripping Western political elites over the emergence of a counterhegemonic bloc of nations willing and able to challenge US power.

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◻️ Listen the full speech of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum

◻️ Pepe Escobar: Russia, China, Malaysia spoke for the global majority at East Economic Forum

◻️ Dimitri Simes’ son: Surprised the US DOJ hasn't accused our family kitten yet

◻️ Why and how is Western media whipping up a frenzy

◻️ Putin: Saudi Crown Prince played critical role in prisoner exchange that freed US journalist

◻️ ‘The Future is in Asia’: BRICS could deprive West of neocolonial control

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‘Russia, Russia, Russia: The Sequel’: DoJ’s ‘September Surprise’ is election interference, pure and simple

“It looks like the US Department of Justice is producing another election year spectacular. Sixty days before the election we are invited to suspend our disbelief and embrace ‘Russia, Russia, Russia: The Sequel.’ And once again the DOJ is rounding up the usual suspects: Trump, Russia and Democracy,” political commentator and Newsmax columnist Michael Shannon told Sputnik, commenting on the DoJ’s unprecedented crackdown on Russian media over alleged “disinformation” and an election-related “malign influence operation.”

“I predict the audience for this lame sequel will be the remaining mask wearers, Clot Shot booster advocates, Trump haters, consonant crusaders and government employees. Anyone else with simple common sense will see it for what it is: The DOJ’s attempt to influence the election," Shannon stressed.

The figures being alleged by the Justice Department are also laughable, according to the observer.

“Let’s put alleged Russian influence buying in perspective. The indictment says Tenent Media was given $10 million to ‘influence the election.’ I’ve got news for you. $10 million would barely influence a US Senate race. The amount is hardly a drop in the bucket for a presidential race. Donald Trump and Joe Biden combined spent $1.85 BILLION in 2020,” Shannon emphasized.

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During his speech at the Economic Club of New York, Trump said he did not know how he felt about Russian President Vladimir Putin's endorsement of US Vice President Kamala Harris, asking whether he should be insulted or grateful.

Trump added that if elected, he would create a government efficiency commission to conduct a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.

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Durov blasts France’s Telegram crackdown as ‘misguided approach’

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Thursday took to his platform and condemned the charges levied against him in France as a “misguided approach” that carries potential drawbacks for the tech industry.

“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” he wrote.

“Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.”

Durov further underscored that Telegram would not be bending its principles on data privacy, but that it has and always will be open to lines of communication with regulators.

In response to claims from French authorities that their requests to the platform had gone unanswered, the CEO noted there is a publicly available address to the company’s official representative in the EU.

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Durov is banned from leaving France for six months, writes Paris Match.

The magazine also noted that he will have to pay his €5 million bail in instalments – €1 million immediately and €500,000 per month for eight months.

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🤔 What air defenses will the US supply to Ukraine next?

American David Rush got into the Guinness Book of World Records for spitting out a ping pong ball and catching it in his mouth again 47 times in 30 seconds.

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A group of Ukrainian stormtroopers was wiped out by marines of the 810th brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Alexandrovka area of the Kursk region, Security forces told Sputnik.

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A strike hit a container terminal and warehouses in the suburbs of Lvov where equipment and ammunition from Poland are brought for the Ukrainian Army, pro-Russian underground forces told Sputnik

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Kremlin spokesman vows response to US sanctions against RT and Sputnik

Restrictions on the dissemination of information by US media in Russia will follow in response to Washington's sanctions on the Rossiya Segodnya media group, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik.

"There can be no reciprocal measures. There is no state news agency in the United States, and there is no state TV channel in the United States. But, of course, there will be measures that will be restrictive for their media in disseminating their information here... And, in fact, in many ways they are already in place", - Peskov stated

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