Anti-Russian rhetoric

[Digby]

Reports of multiple explosions in St Petersburg, or explosions on more than one train carriage in St Petersburg. Not unusual for initial reports to be somewhat muddled, but it also sounds like 10 dead so far, perhaps worse to come.

Putin is in St Petersburg presently and has basically said they're not ruling anything out as a cause. It does sound a bit homemade ,why, and whether it's linked to Putin being there will have to wait.

[Digby]

Up to 50 injured, no details on how badly

[Sandydragon]

No shortage of potential attackers all things considered.

[Digby]

Another unexploded device found

[canta_brian]

Live updates on BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-39482126

Expect the "truth" will follow on counterpunch given time.

[Zhivago]

No shortage of potential attackers all things considered.

Indeed. Chechnyan, Ukrainian, ISIS, FSB. Any more?

[Sandydragon]

No shortage of potential attackers all things considered.

Indeed. Chechnyan, Ukrainian, ISIS, FSB. Any more?

FSB, ho hum.

Actually that probably covers it, barring the lone wolf highlighting some other issue.

[Adder]

Suprisingly little space on the news for such an attack.

[Digby]

Suprisingly little space on the news for such an attack.

Assad moved quickly to take the headlines

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Nobody can read that many words at once. Come on. Lift your game.

Even the Sarge would take a few days to plough through that.

Finished.

A short summary for those of you with less endurance. It is a pile of shyte.

[Digby]

So we're shortly going to have the Russian forgone conclusions, or elections as they call them. It's a great place Russia, and yet the Kremlin and all the layers of corruption that layer down from the Kremlin don't half cause some problems.

Warm smell of colitis rising up though the air, up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering blight, such a lovely place, such a lovely place....

[Digby]

Blimey, one little post and they've started killing on our lands again.

[Digby]

Boris said we (England) could boycott the World Cup this summer if it's shown Russia had carried on trying to kill people in the UK, that was later clarified by Boris' office to mean FA officials rather than the England team itself, that was later clarified by No.10 to suggest Boris should shut the feck up and doesn't speak for the UK in the unwise circumstance of him speaking.

We didn't do much when the offed Litvinenko, so I doubt Russia is in much fear of a strong and stable UK

[rowan]

England much prefers open, democratic societies . . .

[Digby]

Sergei Skripal now linked in fairly substantial fashion to Christopher Steele, Steele of course being a founding partner or Orbis and thus the author of the report on Trump and Russia that's much famed/cited.

[rowan]

The report he was paid to write by the Clinton team, you mean?

[Digby]

I understood Steele thought he was writing the report for a law firm or similar, though the end client was initially some Republicans and then once Trump won their primary the control of the work was taken up by the DNC, or certainly some Democrats. Any which way the end client wasn't it would seem pertinent to the contents of the report, though whilst I can understand a protection of sources I can understand others saying absent of citing sources it loses some credibility.

[rowan]

Would be a really smart move for Putin to do something like this just before elections, and less than a 100 days out from the FIFA World Cup. But the story is beginning to fall apart already. The detective involved was poisoned inside the Skripals' own home, while the doctor who treated them outside was not effected. So there was no drive-by spraying in the street, as reported. Only someone with access to the Skripals' house could have done this.

[Sandydragon]

Russiansecurity services don’t break into houses any more then?

The RT propaganda that this was an opioid overdose is laughable.

[rowan]

It's not a question of what Russiansecurity do. It's simply a question of how they managed to get the story completely wrong in the first place. This guy was in a Russian prison for 13 years. Actually, not that much for spying as a double agent. Then they released him and he goes and lives peacefully in Britain. No motive. Very dubious timing.

[Stones of granite]

Anyone who thinks that the timing of this, just before a Russian mock election, doesn’t understand anything about Putin and his relationship with his “electorate”. The mocking and sarcasm broadcast by the Russian media explains this exactly. He wants Russians to know that he his the kind of strong leader, merciless to Russia’s enemies, that they desire and worship.

Don’t confuse this with a democracy where a government pulling such a stunt would be brought down. On the contrary, it builds him up.

[rowan]

Only if you believe what you read in the warmongering Western propaganda aka mainstream media. Russians on average are a lot more politically astute than Westerners, and a great deal more cynical as well. Anyway, aside from the timing (which I'm not reading much into, personally), we have a confused narrative and total lack of motive. Putin himself pardoned the fellow.

[Sandydragon]

It's not a question of what Russiansecurity do. It's simply a question of how they managed to get the story completely wrong in the first place. This guy was in a Russian prison for 13 years. Actually, not that much for spying as a double agent. Then they released him and he goes and lives peacefully in Britain. No motive. Very dubious timing.

News stories change as facts emerge. That’s how these things break and the media don’t have all the Information. I know you CT lot love to make a big deal out of that but it’s always been a bit desperate.

No motive? Utter cock, and not so much of a release but a swap.

[rowan]

Well, they're now saying it happened at a pub & restaurant. Having sampled the food at more than a few such establishments in Britain, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out there was no nerve agent at all, but instead just a particularly severe case of the nation's diabolical cuisine . . .

[Stones of granite]

Only if you believe what you read in the warmongering Western propaganda aka mainstream media. Russians on average are a lot more politically astute than Westerners, and a great deal more cynical as well. Anyway, aside from the timing (which I'm not reading much into, personally), we have a confused narrative and total lack of motive. Putin himself pardoned the fellow.

I spend quite a lot of time with Russians, I’m perfectly well aware of their political attitudes, although, like other nationalities they don’t all agree. The colleague I pay most attention to studied at a Soviet Military Academy, speaks half a dozen languages fluently (including Portuguese and Mandarin) and describes his former career as a wireless operator in the Soviet Air Force. Wireless operator. Aye, right.