The problem with separatists in Donbas is that they have agency and are not simple extension of Putin's will. Many of them are not even (quasi) state actors, but non state actors, though there are fewer of those now, after there was some internal clean up.

Much like say Kurds (or any other number of factions) in Syria - while their backers can influence them to an extend, they still have their own agendas that they prioritise. And if Kiev can't (or won't) work with them, Donbas is not going to get solved. So Kiev really needs to get it's act together, rein in their own non state groups (they did that to an extend - the rape mansion got closed down few years ago for example) and go ahead with Minsk style steps.

Unless ofc we are considering some sort of one sided military scenario, but even those are less plausible now (if Russia allows them to happen ofc), with locals setting up their own officer schools, repair shops and the like.

^ Why delete?

I wouldn't have, it's all over the news here in the UK.

What happened?

Was about demonstrations in Moscow, i deleted the post because the videos showed too much violence or so i thought. But they are all over the internet as mentioned. Probably not in RT of course.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-r...-idUSKCN1UU0G1

The BBC footage showing what a growing number of people are calling 'Russian democracy in action'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49218726

To put it simply: Covert Sptsnaz training :)

Tzars and peasants - was it ever different in Russia? I don't think so.

^ How can you say that when it is estimated that Putins personal wealth stands somewhere in the region of a meagre $200 billion?

Ahh, those, yea they were so well covered by western media (in a very specific one sided way but still) that I forgot to mention it, my entire twitter feed was full of virtue signalling on that front, even had a discussion on them just over a week ago with an expert on constitutional law.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ming-a-reality
This article may be of interest. In short - Russia is making progress in moving from trade in USD to trade in local currencies.

Importancy of those clowns on protest actions is well-illustrated by the fact that an event " Шашлыки live" in Gorky Park this weekend was visited by over 300 000 people even in far from good weather while unauthorised protest action attracted less than 6000... As our classic has once told about Decabrists : " They were too few and they were too far from people ..." However, mentioning Decabrists in context with modern hipster-protest-clowns is to give the latter too much credit. Anyway the size and importancy of these actions is exaggerated in Western press just as actions of nationalists in Georgia are exaggerated by our press. With all my dislike to modern power in Russia (due to several reasons) - modern "opposition" does everything to earn my disdain rather than to make me their apologist.

My attention this weekend was toward Tank Biathlon - and especially toward our ladies crews diving T-80UE-1 for the first time in these competitions - that was a thing I've been watching on our TV :-) "Girls Und Panzer" come alive ))
This video is a true eye-candy for every sofa-militarist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUngtBRogWM

Interesting that for most part these girls aren't professional tankists - they are military personnel of course but have other specialities - medics, comms etc and they deliberately volunteered to participate ( either for fun and for bonuses of course ) when MD announced they'll allow women crews.

http://atominfo.ru/newsz/a0009.htm
Rosatom's investment strategy to 2035 includes construction of only 19 reactor blocks with 21,4 GW power output.

Thanks for the warning.

If anything this is good news, as RBMKs are (finally) getting replaced by gen 3+ reactors instead of having life extensions. And while RBMKs are pretty cool to visit I would rather have 3rd/3rd+ gen reactors or better still 4th gen reactors replacing them (and other 2nd gen).


And those gen 3+ reactors are pretty safu. You can read more here:
https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/worksho...1a-maltsev.pdf