Julian Macfarlane
NEWS FORENSICS
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Murder in Moscow
The late Gen. Moskalik
On Friday, April 25, at around 10:40 a.m. Moscow time, an explosion occurred near a residential building in Balashikha, a town in the Moscow region. A parked Volkswagen vehicle blew up just as 58-year-old Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was exiting the building. —English Pravda
More terrorism.
The terrorist drone attacks on civilians in Russia, including Donbas and Novorossiya have made the Russian people angry. Very angry. Madder than they have been since the late 90x.
Right now, as I work on Article 3 of my “Putin series”, I was struck by the importance of Chechen terrorism in Russia in driving Russia’s development and changing its direction as a sovereign nation, undermining the naive Atlanticism which had been taking hold in Russia as a result of Gorbachev’s and then Yeltsin’s policies.
The Chechen War, which had started partly as a result of CIA machinations, lasted from 2000 to 2009, with the active phase involving Russian forces over a three year period from 2000 to 2003. In some sense, it was another proxy war.
The SMO has now lasted three years as well.
But it will take longer to resolve the issues of Ukraine even after Ukrainian forces are effectively defeated – as much as 5 years longer to establish a new political arrangement. It is a big country, and there will be low-level violence probably for years just as was the case in Chechnya. In the end, however, there will be a new political order and most of Ukraine will return to Mother Russia.
Will Mother Russia allow its wayward children in Western Ukraine, on the borders of Poland and the NATO states a measure of independence? Maybe — but probably under supervision, Russia keeps the car keys. And the really bad kids — the NeoNazis —will go for therapy in the dystopias of Europe and Canada and the US.
Whatever Europe and the US want now is irrelevant, not that the US and Europe are going to be relevant in any sense beyond 2030. Lavrov’s job is to keep the Americans talking for the time being. As long as the Ukraine is unresolved, it will make it more difficult for the US to start a new war against Iran or China, which complicates the chances of a better future.
However, the Russian people will not forget. They will not allow compromise.
But they have time. Revenge is best served cold.
At this point, we are looking at a much longer and protracted process which will take years.
That said, in the near future, a lot more blood will be spilt.
And Moskalik will be avenged.
(Below: Moskalik, pictured here in 2018, was thought to have been walking near the car that exploded.)
Coda
The Wikipedia page on Moskalik notes: On 26 April, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest and confession of a 42-year old Russian national who formerly lived in Ukraine, for planting the explosives on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence in exchange for $18,000. He was subsequently charged with terrorism.[13][14]
Chappy and Ichi’s Birthdays
Their birthdays are coming soon — almost at the same time. Chappy will be 2. Ichi will be 14. I am really happy these two get along so well. As everyone knows, longevity depends most of all on two things — love and activity. Ichi gets a LOT of active playtime now and Chappy, as you can see, loves him.
I may not be able to do much anymore. I certainly cannot save the world but if I can make a small difference, even to small lives, I am happy.
On another note, I am working hard to finish Putin Article 3 and hoping that I make connections that others have overlooked.
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