- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with It requires unusual degrees of self-confidence, political power, and lawlessness for the generals commanding the winning side in war to hold themselves innocent of the killing which the troops under their command committed against the losing side or suspected sympathisers.    In Washington, in February of 1946, Associate Justice of the […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with Grief for his loss has prevented me from writing about Krissy (Kris, Kriska, Krisichka, Kiryusha from КРЫСА meaning “rat”). He is the cat to whom I belonged who died at our home in Moscow nine years ago, on December 9, 2011. The efforts of a Russian oligarch to kill me, and then, […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with In the November 25 session of the MH17 trial at Schiphol – the final one for this year —  presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis  ruled to accept only those investigations requested by the defence lawyers which are certain to incriminate Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Pulatov. Pulatov is the only one of the four accused to […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with Vladimir Putin liked to call the White House officials he met in mid-1999 by their first names,  except for Strobe Talbott of the State Department whom he called Mister Talbott.   That was when Putin was Secretary of the Security Council, and his direct US counterpart was the White House National […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with All that glisters isn’t gold. But as all Russian goldminers know, when it comes to the reputation of the mining company, its chief executive,  and its share price, glister will do just as well. That has been the view of Suleiman Kerimov (lead image, right) whose Polyus is Russia’s most important […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with Vkusville sounds half Russian, half French. Piquant, you might say – пикантный. The name can be translated into English as Taste Town. But for the name of a new chain of food stores this sounds so hackneyed that in your average American or British town you would expect to find there […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with Dutch and Russian state officials combined last week to turn the trial of the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 into a farce. Two Rotterdam police defenders, Sabine ten Doesschate and Boudewijn van Eijck, engaged by a Russian foundation to represent Lieutenant-Colonel Oleg Pulatov, one of the four accused,  pretended to […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with Demjin Doroshenko, a Ukrainian-Australian who says he was employed by the Ukrainian security service SBU at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 to report what the SBU intended in the western media, has replied to last week’s reports about his role. Responding to publication of a classified interview record […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

By Alexei Anpilogov, Moscow*  @bears_with A unique icebreaker will create a new geopolitical reality for Russia.Russia has large-scale plans in the Arctic – and the world’s most powerful nuclear icebreakers will ensure Russia’s presence in this crucial region. Three icebreakers of the LK-120YA Leader project will be built according to the strategy for the development of […]

- Print This Post Print This Post

by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with Alexei Kudrin (lead image) , officially Russia’s state auditor, is the irrepressible successor to President Vladimir Putin upon whom the oligarchs, the western secret services and the London and New York financial press agree. Their dream team for regime change comprises Alexei Navalny as president; Kudrin as either Vice President or […]