For the sociologist Anna Kulešova, the main outcome of propaganda is not enthusiasm or support for war. Rather, it ‘constantly distances people from moral judgement’, because this is far more beneficial to the authorities.
Message of peace from the Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol in the face of the risk of war between Moscow and Kiev. Ilarion appeals that the "united, hard-working and Orthodox" Donbass be spared. Monasteries should prepare to welcome the needy. The faithful must extend a hand to their neighbour.
Dmitry Trapeznikov has been appointed deputy premier of the Republic of Kalmykia. A former Shakhtar Donetsk ultras leader, he has been at the top of the separatist republic in Ukraine's Donbass. Protected by Putin's circle, the opposition criticises him for his poor qualities as an administrator.
The drastic steps taken against the latest pandemic wave are causing serious problems for foreign workers employed as domestic helpers, cooks or babysitters. Their representatives complain that people are being fired it they test positive, forced to sleep outdoors, and denied hospital care.
Kremlin-controlled fund refuses loan to Lukashenko regime. Belarus has maturing debts of $3.3 billion. The Belarusian dictator fuels Russian-Ukrainian tensions to secure Putin's protection.
The conflict between Moscow and Kiev reignites every century in a 'family fight', as the young Nikolai Gogol described it in the extraordinary novella 'Taras Bulba', coming from the Ukrainian countryside and taken under the protective wing of the great imperial poets in St Petersburg. The dream of Christians and all men of good will is that it is the pacifying embrace between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill will avert conflict.
Yet another trial for Putin's main opponent. The court meets in the prison camp where he is held; the detained blogger's lawyer excluded. The regime wants to keep the case out of the spotlight amid the crisis with Ukraine and the West: another sign of the "final state" of the Putin regime.
South Korean missionary groups active in Russia are the first target. A UN official who handles asylum requests in Moscow is another one. North Korea’s crackdown follows the arrest of one of its soldiers at its consulate in Vladivostok. In violation of UN sanctions, some 20,000 North Koreans are reportedly working in Russia.
In 2021 there were 100,000 more. The Republic of Tatarstan seems to be the only exception in the entire Federation. The drop in the birth rate continues. Young people are less committed and are not having children. Expert: "Families are not formed online".
It began in 2015, after Russia's annexation of the peninsula. The Islamic organisation Khizb ut-Takhrir was targeted. One of its representatives, Zekirja Muratov, sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for terrorism. Moscow wants to assert its undisputed sovereignty.
Today's headlines: India bans 54 more Chinese apps. Japanese beer giant abandons Myanmar. Internet under regime control in Cambodia. Palestinian man dies after clashes with Israeli soldiers. Kyrgyz farmers risk being left landless.
At the Angelus Francis spoke again about the crisis in Ukraine and called on the Virgin Mary to move “the conscience of the political leaders”. In the Gospel passage dedicated to the Beatitudes, the pontiff praises the “identity” of Jesus’ disciples who do not find joy “in money” or “material goods”, but “in the gifts they received every day from God: life, creation” and the desire “to share”.
The defection of Alexandrian priests to the Russian patriarchate seems unstoppable. The real “canonical war” within Orthodoxy is being played out today in Africa where Moscow's interests are as much spiritual as they are material, pastoral, political, liturgical and military.
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