Op-ed: 

What Happened In Moscow...A Different Perspective 

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots / Right Side Patriots Radio

The Op-ed posted here is this authors opinion alone,and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.com or Google.

“The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings including in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours.” - U.S. embassy public advisory alert sent out this past March 7th warning American citizens in Russia to “avoid large gatherings,” due to intel regarding “imminent plans” for an attack by “extremists.” This alert was also sent to Russian authorities as per our “duty to warn” policy even though Russia already had intel of it's own to that effect.

And so the twists and turns in the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in over 20 years is, as expected, channeling the usual heading known as the “blame game” with Putin first claiming ISIS terrorists were the perpetrators of the attack than switching his story to blame Ukraine instead. And not surprisingly, with Putin's main concern always being to hold onto his iron grip of power, he's now even lobbing accusations against we who tried to warn him of what was expected to come...which sadly it did.

So while our intelligence is, at least for now, going with Putin's ISIS story line...Putin continues to state that he's putting additional countrywide...too little, too late... “security measures” in place. And this comes after his having issued a statement that the four perpetrators of the concert attack have been found and are being detained by the Basmanny district court where they face a maximum sentence of life in prison...and isn't it odd that they're not facing a death sentence. But then again this comes from the man who then tried to switch the narrative by saying that, “They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.”

No Vladimir, I don't think so.

And while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has rightfully denied both his and Ukraine's involvement in the concert attack...what I believe was a well planned internal massacre masquerading as a terrorist attack...now sees upwards of 140 people having been killed and countless others wounded...the blame in Russian intelligence eyes, at least for public consumption, remains with the “Islamic State Khorasan” or “ISIS-K” as it's more commonly known. So why this focus...because the “Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia” remains, as per Putin, working to identify what they call the “entirety of this terrorist group's support base.” Simply, why would Putin keep the focus thereif he really wants people to believe that Ukraine (or even the U.S.) was involved. In my opinion Putin would not unless this murder of innocents was all pre-planned to either “divert and deflect” the truth away from him via a cover-up so vile that it could change the entirety of not only the Russia v. Ukraine War, but of his regime and Mother Russia herself.

But, before I get into specifics regarding Vladimir Putin, know that “ISIS-K” is the very same terrorist group that murdered 13 American service members at “Abbey Gate” in Kabul during the Biden initiated 2021 U.S. military pullout from Afghanistan. You know the pullout I speak of where Biden not only left a number of Americans behind, but also some of our allies, our Afghan helpers and their families, as well as millions of dollars of key U.S. military equipment behind as well...equipment now in the hands of the Taliban...equipment now being used against the Afghan people themselves and others when need be. So why would “ISIS-K”  now suddenly choose to cause havoc in Russia knowing that her leader is more aligned with known terrorist countries...think Iran, North Korea, etc...than he is with the West. Simply I do not believe that “ISIS-K” was the perpetrator of the Moscow concert attack especially when their stated enemies are the Taliban and the West.

And while what I just stated regarding “ISIS-K” is still something to keep in the back of one's mind as terrorists, at times, need no reason to do what they do...so too is the fact that Putin himself knew in advance of a possible “imminent attack” yet he willingly chose not to add additional security but to pull security away from the “Crocus City Hall”...one of Russia's largest suburban concert halls...a concert hall belonging to a group of companies owned by the Azerbaijani-Russian construction tycoon and billionaire oligarch Aras Agalarov (who happens to own a home/property here in South Florida and is friends with Donald Trump), thus leaving the venue with but minimum security at best. And if that name sounds familiar it's because back in 2016 Agalarov “allegedly” offered Trump’s team supposedly “damaging information” from the Kremlin about Hillary Clinton which led Trump Jr. to hold a meeting at their Manhattan offices, which in turn was the beginning of the Trump witch hunt. An interesting side note if nothing else.

And so the scheduled performers the night of the attack were the Russian “heritage” rock group “Piknik” (“Picnic” in western-vernacular)...a group inspired by western “progressive rock” bands but with a classic Russian twist, and who for this concert were to be accompanied by a symphony orchestra. And “Piknik” was set to play the first of two sold-out concerts when four gunmen in combat gear first opened fire by shooting concert attendees at point blank range while at the same time setting off numerous smoke bombs. Now here is where it gets not only a bit interesting but possibly why I believe this particular concert was targeted, and it falls in line with why I also believe that Vladimir Putin had if not a direct hand in the attack itself, he at least had a hand in covering up the attack's truth.

First some background info on the Russian band “Piknik.” The band's lead vocalist and guitar front man Edmund Shklyarsky, is of the Catholic faith...as opposed to the predominate and Putin favored Russian Orthodox faith... and is not a current “booster,” as he calls it, of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine even though, at first, he supported Putin's “Special Operation” into Ukraine. Also know that Ukrainian authorities had previously banned “Piknik” from performing in the country because the group had played a number of concerts in Russian occupied Crimea including in Sevastopol, and who later released the song “To the Memory of Innocent Victims”...a song about those who were politically oppressed under communism. A quite surprising side note for a man who actually received a degree from Leningrad Polytechnic in the construction of nuclear power plants I'd say.

And the reason I bring up Edmund Shklyarsky's Catholic faith is twofold. First, recently deceased Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who vocally condemned Vladimir Putin and who died in an Arctic prison under mysterious circumstances...was for many Russians not only still running “posthumously” to replace Putin as president, but Navalny was also of the Catholic faith. And second, the Catholic faith is now growing in number amongst young people in Russia, and it's young people who, like young people almost everywhere else, that do make up the bulk of Russia's concert goers.

Could the gathering that night of what was thousands of predominately young people... those most likely to oppose Putin at the ballot box...have been the actual planned target of the attack all along...an attack as payback for Putin's 12% loss in votes...a loss to one demanding 100% loyalty...a loss happening even in a “rigged election.” Something to at least think about as nothing is beyond the whelm of the former head of the KGB, the man now calling himself president instead of what he actually is...a bonafide dictator. 

Remember, dictators need absolute power in order to help perpetrate ongoing fear which in turn helps keeps the masses in line, and hence themselves in sole control. And in Putin's Russia there's no place for freedom itself nor even for the entertaining of free thoughts for his is a regime that demands absolute control over one's everyday lives and thoughts...no variations from the accepted norm allowed...ever.

And what better way to keep fear ongoing than to allow a pre-planed attack of violence to take place against those most likely to be perceived as a threat to the regime in power. And what better way to mask it than with Putin's pretty words said...words to the affect that, and I quote,“Those who provided them with transport, planned escape routes from the crime scene, prepared caches, caches of weapons and ammunition... means it's obvious that we are faced not just with a carefully and cynically planned terrorist attack, but with the organized mass murder of peaceful, defenseless people. The criminals were cold-blooded and purposefully going to kill, shoot our citizens at point-blank range — our children.” So said Vladimir Putin in his very own words.

And Vladimir Putin is the very man I believe not only knew that the attack on the concert hall was going to take place and when, he might even have helped in the planning of it courtesy of not only his deliberately pulling security out of the venue instead of his increasing it, but because his above stated words themselves, in my opinion, give it away. How so? Because how else would Putin have known that the victims were going to be shot dead at “point-blank range” instead of randomly being fired upon as is the usual case in mass shootings...how else indeed. Remember, some of the victims were followed into what they thought was the safety of the bathrooms, were picked out and shot dead at “point-blank range” while others were simply ignored. Sounds to me like some were selectively targeted to be killed.

Simply, why would a man as vile and ruthless as Vladimir Putin stop something whose aftermath would surely see a rise in the Russian people's collective fear, the very thing needed to help keep him in power, while at the the same time allowing Putin to place blame on the very enemies he is at war with...as in outwardly Ukraine and in the shadows the U.S.? Why indeed?

 

Remember, ever since the “Iron Curtain” went down there has been an influx of Russian nationals into the U.S. and they are some of the biggest boosters of both capitalism and freedom. And with many still having family in Russia they are able to tell them the truth about a regime trying to hide the fact that Russia is a dictatorship where freedom is not allowed and where the west is continuously lied about. And Putin knows this to be truth, and truth is what all good dictators fear the most of being exposed. Expose the truth and in time the aforementioned dissatisfied 12% grows to 20%, then 50%, and more leading to a possible second “Russian Revolution”...that is if Putin's own war weary military doesn't get to him first.

So while Vladimir Putin continues spewing that “ISIS-K” and/or either Ukraine or the U.S. is to blame for the attack, I think the U.S./Ukraine scenario can safely be put to rest for neither have anything to gain from being party to such an attack. Nor do I think ISIS itself...nor any of its sub-groups...had anything to do with this attack even though ISIS and its offshoots are always the first to take credit for attacks they actually didn't do, after all publicity is everything even in terrorist circles...nor do I think that any Russian “splinter groups” had anything to do with it either. And why...because the fact remains that Putin's hold on power is indeed slipping and what better way to regain what is lost than to create an act so vile that it installs in the masses a fear of things getting even worse if he, a man of war who rules with an iron fist, were to lose power.

Just something to think about...and with that case closed.

 Copyright © 2024 / Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All rights reserved.

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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, A Bridge Way Too Far.

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!                                             

 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 26th, from 7-8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'What Happened In Moscow...A Different Perspective'; 'A Bridge Way Too Far'; and important news of the day. Hope you can tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click 'LISTEN LIVE' starting at 6:50 pm EST with show beginning at 7pm EST.

 

Op-ed:

On Lies Told, War Crimes, and What Ifs 

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots / Right Side Patriots Radio

“This war will be written in the history books,”

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 4/23/22

Simply, Vladimir Putin screwed up for Russia's president...and I use the word “president” figuratively not literally...never expected Ukraine to put up such a fight in the name of freedom, liberation, and self-determination nor did he ever expect to see NATO stand united behind a country that's not even a NATO member.

And in his thinking that Ukraine would cower in fear and quickly surrender when up against the Russian army, what Putin forgot when planning his war was the cardinal rule that elections do indeed have consequences. And in the case of Ukraine those consequences can be summed up in two words, Volodymyr Zelensky, a leader the West has not seen since the days of Ronald Reagan. And while President Trump saw no new wars happening on his watch courtesy of his rightful “America First” policies, it was Reagan alone who had the courage to publicly demand that then Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev “tear down this wall”...in reference to the Berlin Wall separating the then two Germany's.

And while many believe that Putin's goal in regards to Ukraine is but his first step in remaking modern day Russia into the old style, much feared Soviet Union...a pre-Reagan Soviet Union that is...what Putin really wants, I believe, is for Mother Russia to stand alone and unchallenged as the world's number one dictatorial super power. And it's this very goal which now seems to go against both the wants and needs of the Russian people themselves...a people who are starting to lean more decidedly towards the west in their wanting to be a part of capitalism's success.

And how do we know this? As more and more Russians learn the truth about Putin's war and the atrocities being committed against innocent Ukrainian civilians; and as they themselves are becoming economic victims of a war Putin still claims is being perpetrated in their name; Russians are fighting back against Putin and his self appointed hierarchy via once unheard of, let alone seen, anti-war protests in Russia's streets. Now willing to risk arrest, imprisonment, and even death in support of their Ukrainian “brothers and sisters,” if you will, as well as in an effort to try and oust the man who sees the past as Russia's future, we also know that some Russian troops deployed in Ukraine are refusing to fight against a people and a country they have no qualms with.

So much for Vladimir Putin's lies that this incursion into Ukraine was solely about his stopping NATO’s eastern expansion, coupled with both a permanent freeze on any further growth of NATO's military infrastructure and a ban on intermediate-range missiles in Europe, for the truth is that Putin is trying hard to take back the very country who fought long and hard to become a sovereign nation. And this is seen not only in Ukraine's rising death toll that some rightfully equate to genocide, but in the seemingly overwhelming devastation...actually annihilation...being inflicting upon southern Ukrainian cities like Mariupol.  

And when last week's developments are added into the mix, as in Putin's possible incursion into the Transnistria region of Moldava...an area backed and armed by Moscow... the proof of Putin's true intentions becomes clear. So what are those intentions? One just needs to look at Putin's envisioned map below to understand that with Putin now saying he only wants Ukraine's south, which to him includes said region of Moldava, Ukraine loses all access to both the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea along with their ports. 

 

Simply, access to the Black Sea itself is crucial to Ukraine's economic survival in relation to commerce, trade, and even military operations for without that access, and with Russia's ally Belarus to the north coupled with his successes in the east and west, except for Poland and a tiny bit of Romania, Ukraine becomes dangerously landlocked by Russia. And if Poland or Romania were ever in Putin's sights could NATO be counted upon to go against Putin as both are NATO members? I think not as NATO would still be cowering in fear of Putin's using nuclear and/or chemical weapons.

 

And this might have been Putin's plan all along, for southern Ukraine not Kyiv has always, I believe, held the key to Ukraine's possible defeat...defeat via economic suffocation...while Russia gains even more access to the Black Sea, Ukraine loses all access they had.

So Putin's war...the war he still calls a “special operation”...is indeed about true Soviet-style territorial expansion...in this case retaking satellite countries Russia lost with the end of the Cold War along with his seeking revenge on NATO, the very organization he perceives as standing in his way. In fact, about a week or so ago right after the Russian navy's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, sank while being towed back to port after having been struck by Ukraine's Neptune missiles, Russian news commentator Olga Skabeyeva stated to her viewers that they need to “recognize” that Russia was not only “fighting against Nato infrastructure, if not Nato itself.” And to stress her point even further she added that, “One can safely call what it has escalated into is World War Three. That’s absolutely for sure.”

Now remember that in Putin's Russia what is reported on state television must first be ok'd by Russia's propaganda ministry before being said on air. So if it's reported on air that Putin is now fighting World War III...even if it's in his own mind alone...the question then becomes why can't or won't NATO accept that as fact and act accordingly...as in give Zelensky the needed fighter planes that he's been asking for? And know the answer is really quite simple... it's because NATO still cowers in fear of Vladimir Putin's musings about using atomic and/or chemical weapons if need be. And this alone allows the fear of possibilities being stronger for NATO than the reality of what most likely is empty threats by Putin, the man who relishes in using old Cold War tactics like fear to dictate to NATO what they can and cannot do.

And yet while Ukraine and her people are paying an overwhelming physical price in both “blood and treasure,” Zelensky's forces, comprised mostly of self-organizing and self-mobilized volunteers, are holding strong, thus leaving what Putin hoped would be but a 5-day easily won war, to face the chaos of war itself empowering Ukraine and not Russia. So while the Russian army is forced to fight on, the Russian people are truly growing weary of war especially now that Russian forces have begun attacking Ukraine's entire eastern front after Ukrainian troops in Mariupol, last Sunday, rejected Putin’s ultimatum that they surrender or face “total destruction.” 

 

So as the fighting continues on unabated, talk of Putin having committed war crimes continues to circulate in the West, but as the old saying goes “talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words.”

And to that end the question remains, will Vladimir Putin and his generals ever be tried for war crimes let alone be convicted of said crimes? And here being the only time I have ever agreed with Joe Biden on anything, we see his “mop-up team” continuing to quell Biden's words that he believes, as do I, that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. And while the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in the Hague (the ICC) recently stated that an investigation into “possible” war crimes being committed in Ukraine is on the table, and that evidence is being gathered to try and bring the perpetrators to justice, the fact remains that proving war crimes took place in Ukraine is not as cut and dry as it seems. 

And this is no matter that under international law the “purposeful targeting of civilians” as well as “assaults that cause disproportionate civilian casualties” when military targets alone were the stated objective, have indeed taken place in Ukraine...something we have all witnessed every time we turn on the TV, pick up a newspaper, or simply peruse the internet.

“The expectation for prosecuting someone for war crimes and crimes against humanity is to be able to demonstrate individual responsibility and be able to demonstrate that they are directing or responsible for a policy of committing these crimes. And that can be very difficult, especially when you don't have the cooperation of the state from which that kind that person originates, which we would obviously not have in the case of Russia.”

These are the words of Marti Flacks, director of the “Center for Strategic and International Studies Human Rights Initiative,” who recently stated that prosecutors need three things to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable. First, evidence must be presented showing that serious international crimes have taken place; second, that a venue with a jurisdiction to try the crimes can be secured; and third, that identification of defendants must occur, as in an individual or individuals must be named as the ICC does not and will not try states. In other words, Vladimir Putin himself would carry the full brunt of any charges levied while Russia along with her military would not charged.

And while Vladimir's Putin's actions in regards to Ukraine surely do meet the first two criteria...meaning his actions ordered would now have officially been deemed “atrocity crimes”...as in but not limited to “genocide” and/or “crimes against humanity”...and with a needed trial venue being fairly easy to secure...it's the third criteria that could take years to happen for naming Putin as the defendant could lead to serious ramifications. How so...because it would involve Mother Russia herself...as in the Russian people or even the military...turning on and turning in Vladimir Putin for trial, something I'm not sure the Russian people, the military, let alone those in the Russian government are ready to do just yet.

Simply, for Russia to arrest and then surrender Putin to ICC prosecutors would most likely take a new Russian Revolution of sorts...an actual regime change not unlike the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Not an easy task to accomplish, especially while the war is still ongoing, never mind the fact that many in Russia's military still hold a strong personal allegiance to Putin and would put down even a mere musing of revolution. And remember, Putin himself must be present at trial as the ICC also does not and will not try individuals in “absentia.”

So where exactly do we stand now in regards to Vladimir Putin ever being brought to justice let alone trial? As I'm writing this article know that the physical evidence of Putin's wrongdoings is surely being collected what with media footage showing the reality of all one really needs to know; folks are being interviewed to help corroborate eyewitness testimony; what's referred to as “contextual information and documentation”...which explains both the circumstances and severity of where the alleged crimes were committed...has already been partially cataloged; and yet Vladimir Putin still holds the world in the grip of fear of both nuclear and chemical weapons. And this is especially true after last Wednesday's announcement by Russia’s Defense Ministry that it had conducted the first test launch of its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile...a nuclear weapon that Putin claims will "provide food for thought for those who try to threaten our country."

Translation: even putting threats aside we know that Vladimir Putin has committed numerous war crimes; and we also know that if an arrest warrant was issued by the ICC that all 123 members of the “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court” would then be “obligated” to turn him over to said ICC if he were to be caught...a slim possibility for sure. And even though Ukrainian fighters continue to hold their ground against Putin's illegal incursion into their sovereign nation, Putin understands that as long as he holds onto power and avoids physically being present before the court, it will be difficult for him ever to brought to justice.

Remember, a trial of this magnitude would drag on for years before any verdict is reached. And how do we know this...because the ICC case regarding the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea is still ongoing. Now if only our government would turn over what it has on both Ukraine and Putin...information that surely would help the prosecution...maybe then Vladimir Putin would be brought to justice. But with Biden in the White House and with Obama pulling his strings, we know that will never happen and for obvious reasons. Sadly, case closed.

Copyright © 2022 / Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All rights reserved. 

 

*************************************************************************************         For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, The Meme and The Mirror.

 

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 26tth from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori will discuss 'On Lies Told, War Crimes, and What If's'; 'The Meme and the Mirror'; and other important news of the day. Hope you can tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com. Click 'LISTEN LIVE' starting at 6:50 pm EST with show beginning at 7pm EST.