Re: Fwd: : DAVID MCR ****Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France Plan New Minsk Peace Talks

"'[email protected]' [email protected] [marxist]" <[email protected]> Tue, 10 Feb 2015 06:10:58 -0500
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As I receive this message from David, I am in Kyiv, Ukraine, and have been =
recently in Odessa.

I will be writing this up in some detail later.

But for now, I just want to report that much of what the left press says ab=
out the Ukrainian situation is as inaccurate as what much of the mainstream=
 media says about it.  I have been talking with people who were very deeply=
 involved in Maidan movement. It was truly a mass movement with mass suppor=
t.  All discussion of it as a "coup" is absurd--except perhaps in one sense=
. AS IN ALL mass movements of this kind, whether Tahrir Square, or Russia i=
n 1917, or France in 1848, the first government to come out of a revolution=
 (and that is the term some Kyiv participants use) is a conservative one.  =
In this case, many foreign governments also had some role.  So it could be =
seen as a coup against the revolution--but NOT against the former President=
 from the Party of the Regions.  He was ousted by a mass movement.

David's invocation of history is important, but it is also very much just a=
 piece of the story.  In my travels in Ukraine since 2010, I have been very=
 much impressed by the extent to which Ukrainians view Russia as an imperia=
l power.  They remember the struggles in 1918 and after as mixed struggles =
for independence and for socialism (and I would add that Lenin at least som=
etimes agreed with them).  They remember the early 1930s as a great starvat=
ion imposed on them by the Russians.=20=20

When David discusses the horrors that WWII brought to Russia, he should add=
 that these same horrors took place in Ukraine.  As did the alcoholism, dru=
g use, AIDS etc. then resulted after the ruling bureaucracy fell apart in t=
he late 1980s and early 1990s.  Indeed, that is why I have been spending so=
 much time here (and some in Russia)--to help them cope with drug use, HIV,=
 hepatitis C and so forth.  (I might add that the Russian take-over of Crim=
ea led to a draconian cut-off of methadone and other programs, and this has=
 now spread to the fighting zones of the east.  Many people have died of ov=
erdose as a result--in part because drugs from Russia are getting there--an=
d much suffering has occurred.  This is not as dramatic as the fighting, bu=
t should not be ignored--nor should the implications for gays and lesbians =
in these locations.

In terms of Putin and his actions, I think that invocations of the Russian =
fears of attacks are certainly germane. But so are the Ukrainian similar fe=
ars.  But I think that the key issue for Putin has been his fear of the rev=
olution spreading to Russia.  His tactics, including keeping a limited thou=
gh horrible war going in East Ukraine, have so far prevented the radicaliza=
tion of the revolution that the IMF and European and US austerity demands m=
ight otherwise have provoked.

I will write more on all of this later.  In writing this, I in no way want =
to express anything but a friendly disagreement with David.  He is a great =
man indeed. And he has a proper respect for cats.

best
sam

=20

=20

=20

-----Original Message-----
From: 'Hunter Gray' [email protected] [marxist] <marxist@yahoogr=
oups.com>
To: bearwithoutborders <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, Feb 10, 2015 5:36 am
Subject: [marxist] Fwd: : DAVID MCR ****Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany=
 and France  Plan New Minsk Peace Talks


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RE SENT


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-----Original Message-----
From: David McReynolds [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 01:14 AM
To: 'lee'
Subject: Re: ****Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France Plan New Mi=
nsk Peace Talks


Lee, one reflection I want to send this, hastily as it is written on my par=
t, to my "Edgeleft" list. Many of whom may have gotten it already from an e=
arlier posting tonight. The situation in Ukraine is too tragic not to speak=
 out while there is time. My cats are fine - thanks for asking.

David



On Tue, Feb 10, 2015 at 3:04 AM, David McReynolds <[email protected]=
om> wrote:


I don't mind at all and will add some comments of my own. Much of the Ameri=
can media (and many us in general) see the Ukraine in terms of the old Sovi=
et Union, either leaping to a defense of Russia or to total hostility to it=
 (as if we are refighting the Cold War).


There is no sense of history. Not even a longer range sense of European his=
tory in which at one time Sweden had an empire and Russia was a minor power=
 (some of the spices used in Swedish cooking reflect the old trade routes f=
rom Asia, across Africa, to Sweden), or the times when Poland occupied much=
 of what is now Ukraine and Russia.


We have simply ignored the fact that long before Stalin, Napoleon burned Mo=
scow, that there are no natural barriers of mountains or broad rivers that =
protect Russia. We generally forget or never knew that the Soviet Union los=
t 27 million people in World War II and had every city and village, every d=
am, airfield, railroad station, and factory destroyed on a line from Lening=
rad in the North through the outskirts of Moscow (if you fly in, I suspect =
you will still see the anti-tank emplacements between the airport and Mosco=
w) to Stalingrad in the South.


Stalin no doubt wanted to bring his version of "socialism" to Eastern Europ=
e but he also wanted buffer zones. We have forgotten that Finland, which wa=
s allied with Hitler, and had troop in the field against the Soviets, was l=
et alone after the war (though Stalin took some important bits of Finnish t=
erritory) because it was truly neutral, that the Soviets left Austria (whic=
h had been under four power post-war rule) once it was agreed Austria would=
 be truly neutral. We have forgotten (or never knew) that Stalin did not in=
corporate East Germany

into the Soviet Bloc until the West rejected the Soviet effort to unite Ger=
many as a neutral, demilitarized state.


And it is abundantly clear that US and British commentators have no sense o=
f the desolation of the former Soviet Union after the collapse of the USSR.=
 The spread of AIDS, the appalling rate of alcoholism, the loss of national=
 identity, the demoralization of the veterans from the Afghan War. If Putin=
 is popular it is because he has given Russians some sense of pride.


There is much about Russia which I deplore - often bitterly. The homophobia=
 of Putin, the corruption of the government, the rule by oligarchs (not so =
different from here or Britain), the lack of a vital and democratic civil s=
ociety.


But to see in Putin a man who is trying to rebuild the old Soviet "empire" =
is worse than folly. To fail to grasp the fear Russia has of NATO (why in G=
od's name didn't we dissolve NATO when the USSR collapsed?) - all of this d=
rives me nuts. To hear, day after day, the distortions by our commentators,=
 the failure even to remember something as simple and basic as the fact the=
 party which was ousted in the coup (a corrupt party - both main parties we=
re and are) had its voter strength precisely in the Eastern part of Ukraine=
.


We must not give up - there are no "good guys" in this bloody mess which ha=
s taken over 5,000 lives. But in God's name let us realize that Germany and=
 France want to achieve a settlement (as I think Putin does) but the US war=
 party seems determined to see more dead and dying.


Peace,

David McReynolds
New York
former chair, War Resisters International (and on this matter expressing my=
 own views, not those of any organization)=20





On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 6:03 PM, lee <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi David,
Hope you don't mind my occasional nitpicking.
BBC reporting ain't what it used to be.
Here are a couple of gems I picked up out of this potpourri :
From amidst the analysis of Jonathan Marcus, BBC Diplomatic correspondent i=
n Munich :
"The level of frustration many Western countries feel against Russia's poli=
cies has been palpable. Mr. Hammond (UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond) f=
or example branded President Vladimir Putin as "some kind of 20th Century t=
yrant."=20
Doesn't seem to fit with other reporting today as in Tyler Durdin.....the q=
uotes by Germany's SP party leader Gabriel, M. Sarkozy in France, etc.
End box contained some remarkable statements :
"More than a million Ukrainians have fled their homes since  April 2014, wh=
en the rebels seized a big swathe of the Luhansk and  Donetsk regions follo=
wing Russia's annexation of Crimea."
More correctly, those millions fled mainly due to continuous shelling by ro=
ckets and missiles of their cities and towns on the part of the Ukrainian m=
ilitary -- not as seems implied by rebels seizing land. Land which in any c=
ase was not seized but defended by it's inhabitants.  Additional reasons fo=
r flight might have been lack of food and water in some areas, cutting off =
of administrative support (like pensions) by Kiev government, sudden homele=
ssness due to shelling, fear on part of women and children whose husbands h=
ad gone off to join the militias.=20
Finally.....

"Much of the recent fighting has been focused on the strategic  town of Deb=
altseve. The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that rebels  had made "numer=
ous attempts" to storm government positions in the area  over the past 24 h=
ours, having subjected them to "massive shelling".
"It said rebels had sustained heavy losses, though the claim  could not be =
verified. The past day of fighting also claimed the lives  of 12 Ukrainian =
soldiers and 12 civilians, according to Ukrainian and  rebel sources."
The above is another way of saying the the rebels have pretty well surround=
ed the Ukrainian troops in another indefensible situation. Whatever the los=
ses of the rebels may have been, the army will sustain much greater losses =
even though some will manage to get out and save their skins, something tha=
t the rebels let or even encourage  the ordinary recruit do pretty easily.
Meanwhile, there's the Tribune de Gen=C3=A8ve --  which my neighbor kindly =
puts on my door knob each morning. Forces me to realise how a "normal" -- a=
nd rather conservative -- Swiss paper reports things. It's been very consis=
tant.  This morning brought a large photo of Porochenko in Munich, holding =
half a dozen "passports of Russian soldiers killed in the Donbass".  Russia=
n passports must be fairly easily found in Ukraine, and yes, Russians fight=
ers have been killed there. Many, often of Ukrainian background, have come =
and joined up. So -- until someone finally manages to get a photo of those =
reported thousands of Russian troops and their equipment, half a dozen pass=
ports will have to do.
Also -- in the accompanying TdG article this morning, for the first time I =
noted Angela being described as an "ex-East German".  We may be seeing that=
 more often......
And so it goes. How are your cats?
Peace, Lee








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<font color=3D'black' size=3D'2' face=3D'arial'><font size=3D"2">As I recei=
ve this message from David, I am in Kyiv, Ukraine, and have been recently i=
n Odessa.<br>
<br>
I will be writing this up in some detail later.<br>
<br>
But for now, I just want to report that much of what the left press says ab=
out the Ukrainian situation is as inaccurate as what much of the mainstream=
 media says about it.&nbsp; I have been talking with people who were very d=
eeply involved in Maidan movement. It was truly a mass movement with mass s=
upport.&nbsp; All discussion of it as a "coup" is absurd--except perhaps in=
 one sense. AS IN ALL mass movements of this kind, whether Tahrir Square, o=
r Russia in 1917, or France in 1848, the first government to come out of a =
revolution (and that is the term some Kyiv participants use) is a conservat=
ive one.&nbsp; In this case, many foreign governments also had some role.&n=
bsp; So it could be seen as a coup against the revolution--but NOT against =
the former President from the Party of the Regions.&nbsp; He was ousted by =
a mass movement.<br>
<br>
David's invocation of history is important, but it is also very much just a=
 piece of the story.&nbsp; In my travels in Ukraine since 2010, I have been=
 very much impressed by the extent to which Ukrainians view Russia as an im=
perial power.&nbsp; They remember the struggles in 1918 and after as mixed =
struggles for independence and for socialism (and I would add that Lenin at=
 least sometimes agreed with them).&nbsp; They remember the early 1930s as =
a great starvation imposed on them by the Russians.&nbsp; <br>
<br>
When David discusses the horrors that WWII brought to Russia, he should add=
 that these same horrors took place in Ukraine.&nbsp; As did the alcoholism=
, drug use, AIDS etc. then resulted after the ruling bureaucracy fell apart=
 in the late 1980s and early 1990s.&nbsp; Indeed, that is why I have been s=
pending so much time here (and some in Russia)--to help them cope with drug=
 use, HIV, hepatitis C and so forth.&nbsp; (I might add that the Russian ta=
ke-over of Crimea led to a draconian cut-off of methadone and other program=
s, and this has now spread to the fighting zones of the east.&nbsp; Many pe=
ople have died of overdose as a result--in part because drugs from Russia a=
re getting there--and much suffering has occurred.&nbsp; This is not as dra=
matic as the fighting, but should not be ignored--nor should the implicatio=
ns for gays and lesbians in these locations.<br>
<br>
In terms of Putin and his actions, I think that invocations of the Russian =
fears of attacks are certainly germane. But so are the Ukrainian similar fe=
ars.&nbsp; <b>But I think that the key issue for Putin has been his fear of=
 the revolution spreading to Russia</b>.&nbsp; His tactics, including keepi=
ng a limited though horrible war going in East Ukraine, have so far prevent=
ed the radicalization of the revolution that the IMF and European and US au=
sterity demands might otherwise have provoked.<br>
<br>
I will write more on all of this later.&nbsp; In writing this, I in no way =
want to express anything but a friendly disagreement with David.&nbsp; He i=
s a great man indeed. And he has a proper respect for cats.<br>
<br>
best<br>
sam<br>
</font>

<div> <br>

</div>



<div> <br>

</div>



<div> <br>

</div>



<div style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----=
Original Message-----<br>

From: 'Hunter Gray' [email protected] [marxist] &lt;marxist@yaho=
ogroups.com&gt;<br>

To: bearwithoutborders &lt;[email protected]&gt;<br>

Sent: Tue, Feb 10, 2015 5:36 am<br>

Subject: [marxist] Fwd: : DAVID MCR ****Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany=
 and France  Plan New Minsk Peace Talks<br>

<br>






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<div><font color=3D"#0000ff" size=3D"2" face=3D"Verdana"></font>&nbsp;</div=
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<div>RE SENT</div>



<div><br>

</div>




<div><font color=3D"#0000ff" size=3D"2" face=3D"Verdana"></font>&nbsp;</div=
>


-----Original Message-----<br>

<b>From:</b> David McReynolds [<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]=
?">mailto:[email protected]</a>]<br>

<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, February 10, 2015 01:14 AM<br>

<b>To:</b> 'lee'<br>

<b>Subject:</b> Re: ****Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France Plan=
 New Minsk Peace Talks<br>

<br>



<div dir=3D"ltr"><font color=3D"#0b5394"><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-se=
rif"><b>Lee, one reflection I want to send this, hastily as it is written o=
n my part, to my "Edgeleft" list. Many of whom may have gotten it already f=
rom an earlier posting tonight. The situation in Ukraine is too tragic not =
to speak out while there is time. My cats are fine - thanks for asking.<br>

<br>

David<br>

</b></font></font>

<div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br>



<div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 10, 2015 at 3:04 AM, David McReynold=
s <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">david=
[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>

<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border=
-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);border-left-width: 1px;border-left-style: s=
olid;">

<div dir=3D"ltr">

<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">I do=
n't mind at all and will add some comments of my own. Much of the American =
media (and many us in general) see the Ukraine in terms of the old Soviet U=
nion, either leaping to a defense of Russia or to total hostility to it (as=
 if we are <span>refighting</span> the Cold War)</font></b></font>.<br>

<br>

</div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">Ther=
e is no sense of history. Not <span>ev</span>en a longer range sense of Eur=
opean history in which at one time Sweden had an empire and Russia was a mi=
nor power (some of the <span>sp</span>ices used in Swedish co<span>oking</s=
pan> reflect the old trade routes from Asia, across Africa, to Sweden), or =
the times when Poland occupied much of what is now Ukraine and Russia.<br>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">We h=
ave simply ignored the fact that long before St<span>alin</span>, Napoleon =
burned Moscow, that there are no natural b<span>arriers</span> of mountains=
 or broad rivers that protect Russia. We gen<span>erally</span> forget or n=
ever knew <span>th</span>at the Soviet Union lost 27 million people in Worl=
d War II and had every city and village, every dam, <span>ai</span><span>rf=
ield</span>, <span>ra</span><span>ilroad</span> st<span>ation</span>, and f=
actory destroyed on a line from Leningrad in the N<span>orth</span> through=
 the outskirts of Moscow (if you fly in, I suspect y<span>ou</span> will st=
ill see the a<span>nti</span>-tank emplacements between the airport and Mos=
cow) to St<span>alingrad</span> in the South.<br>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">Stal=
in no doubt wanted to bring his version of "socialism" to Eastern Europe bu=
t he also wanted buffer zones. We have forgotten that Finland, which was al=
lied with Hitler, and had <span>troo</span>p in <span>th</span>e field agai=
nst the Soviets, was <span>le</span>t alone after the war (though St<span>a=
lin</span> took some importa<span>nt</span> bits of Finnish <span>te</span>=
<span>rritory</span>) because it was <span>tru</span><span>ly</span> neutra=
l, that the Soviets left Austria (which had been under four power post-war =
rule) once it was agreed Austria would be truly neutral. We have forgotten =
(or never knew) that Stalin did not <span>incorpor</span>ate East Germany<b=
r>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">into=
 the Soviet Bloc until the West rejected the Soviet effort to unite Germany=
 as a <span>neutr</span>al, demilitarized state.<br>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">And =
it is abundantly clear that US and British commentat<span>ors</span> have n=
o sense of the desolation of the former Soviet Union after the collapse of =
the USSR. The spread of AIDS, the appalling rate of alcoholism, the loss of=
 national identity, the demoralization of the veterans from the Afghan War.=
 If Putin is popular it is because he has given Russians some sense of prid=
e.<br>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">Ther=
e is much about Russia which I deplore - often bitterly. The homophobia of =
Putin, the corruption of the government, the rule by oligarchs (not so diff=
erent from here or Britain), the lack of a vital and democratic civil socie=
ty.<br>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">But =
to see in Putin a man who is trying to rebuild the old Soviet "empire" is w=
orse than folly. To fail to grasp the fear Russia has of NATO (why in God's=
 name didn't we dissolve NATO when the USSR collapsed?) - all of this drive=
s me nuts. To hear, day after day, the distortions by our commentators, the=
 failure even to remember something as simple and basic as the fact the par=
ty which was ousted in the coup (a corrupt party - both main parties were a=
nd are) had its voter strength precisely in the Eastern part of Ukraine.<br=
>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">We m=
ust not give up - there are no "good guys" in this bloody mess which has ta=
ken over 5,000 lives. But in God's name let us realize that Germany and Fra=
nce want to achieve a settlement (as I think Putin does) but the US war par=
ty seems determined to see more dead and dying.<br>

<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">Peac=
e,<br>

</font></b></font></div>



<div><font color=3D"#0b5394"><b><font face=3D"trebuchet ms,sans-serif">Davi=
d McReynolds<br>

New York<br>

former chair, War Resisters International (and on this matter expressing my=
 own views, not those of any organization) <br>

</font></b></font></div>

</div>



<div class=3D"HOEnZb">

<div class=3D"h5">

<div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br>



<div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 6:03 PM, lee <span dir=3D=
"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote=
:<br>

<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border=
-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);border-left-width: 1px;border-left-style: s=
olid;">


<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Hi David,</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Hope you don't mind my occasional ni=
tpicking.</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">BBC reporting ain't what it used to =
be.</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Here are a couple of gems I picked u=
p out of this potpourri :</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">From amidst the analysis of Jonathan=
 Marcus, BBC Diplomatic correspondent in Munich :</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;"><i>"The level of frustration many We=
stern countries feel against Russia's policies has been palpable. Mr. Hammo=
nd (UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond) for example branded President Vlad=
imir Putin as "some kind of 20th Century tyrant." </i></span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Doesn't seem to fit with other repor=
ting today as in Tyler Durdin.....the quotes by Germany's SP party leader G=
abriel, M. Sarkozy in France, etc.</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">End box contained some remarkable st=
atements :</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;"><i>"More than a million Ukrainians h=
ave fled their homes since  April 2014, when the rebels seized a big swathe=
 of the Luhansk and  Donetsk regions following Russia's annexation of Crime=
a."</i></span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">More correctly, those millions fled =
mainly due to continuous shelling by rockets and missiles of their cities a=
nd towns on the part of the Ukrainian military<i> -- </i>not as seems impli=
ed by rebels seizing land<i>. </i>Land which in any case was not seized but=
 defended by it's inhabitants<i>.&nbsp; </i>Additional reasons for flight m=
ight have been lack of food and water in some areas, cutting off of adminis=
trative support (like pensions) by Kiev government, sudden homelessness due=
 to shelling, fear on part of women and children whose husbands had gone of=
f to join the militias. <i></i></span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Finally.....<i><br>

</i></span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;"><i>"Much of the recent fighting has =
been focused on the strategic  town of Debaltseve. The Ukrainian military s=
aid on Sunday that rebels  had made "numerous attempts" to storm government=
 positions in the area  over the past 24 hours, having subjected them to "m=
assive shelling".</i></span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;"><i>"It said rebels had sustained hea=
vy losses, though the claim  could not be verified. The past day of fightin=
g also claimed the lives  of 12 Ukrainian soldiers and 12 civilians, accord=
ing to Ukrainian and  rebel sources."</i></span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">The above is another way of saying t=
he the rebels have pretty well surrounded the Ukrainian troops in another i=
ndefensible situation. Whatever the losses of the rebels may have been, the=
 army will sustain <b>much </b>greater losses even though some will manage =
to get out and save their skins, something that the rebels let or even enco=
urage&nbsp; the ordinary recruit do pretty easily.</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Meanwhile, there's the Tribune de Ge=
n=C3=A8ve --&nbsp; which my neighbor kindly puts on my door knob each morni=
ng. Forces me to realise how a "normal" -- and rather conservative -- Swiss=
 paper reports things. It's been very consistant.&nbsp; This morning brough=
t a large photo of Porochenko in Munich, holding half a dozen "passports of=
 Russian soldiers killed in the Donbass".&nbsp; Russian passports must be f=
airly easily found in Ukraine, and yes, Russians fighters have been killed =
there. Many, often of Ukrainian background, have come and joined up. So -- =
until someone finally manages to get a photo of those reported thousands of=
 Russian troops and their equipment, half a dozen passports will have to do=
.</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Also -- in the accompanying TdG arti=
cle this morning, for the first time I noted Angela being described as an "=
ex-East German".&nbsp; We may be seeing that more often......</span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">And so it goes. How are your cats?</=
span></div>




<div><span style=3D"font-size: large;">Peace, Lee</span></div>


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