Late last night, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were at Joint Base Andrews near Washington DC to welcome several American spies returning from their failed assignments in Russia. The press corp was out in force, posing stupid and inane questions (it was painful to watch). Biden tried to answer, but quickly lost his train of thought, so Kamala kicked in with trite comments about American ‘greatness’.
Beyond the news hype, what is the deeper significance of yesterday’s historic swap between Russia and the U.S. / Germany? Those two NATO allies have returned a total of 16 human assets, while Moscow only got 8 Russian adults and two Russian children abducted by Slovenia, also a NATO member.
Media attention has focused on two convicted U.S. spies (Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan), especially because of Gershkovich’s cover as a Wall Street Journal reporter in Moscow, a position he used to spread disinformation and to try to extract Russian defense secrets.
Less attention, however, is given to the fact that 12 Russian citizens and traitors were the bulk of those 16 that the West received. (The final two released include a convicted German terrorist and a German drug dealer nabbed in transit via Russia. For a full list of all 24 people involved in the swap, see the end of this article).
What a peculiar situation — the U.S. and Germany expended great effort over the course of several years to extract 12 Russian citizens. Why? In one way or another, each of the 12 served the interests of NATO — seeking to destabilize Russia by organizing meetings in support of Zelensky’s brutal regime, spreading disinformation about the conflict in Donbass, trying to incite ethnic hatred inside Russia, passing defense secrets to NATO, and much more.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and deputy chairman of the Defense Council, said that he wished “traitors to Russia would rot in a dungeon or die in prison”, but that exchanging them was necessary to bring “our own people” home.
Among the CIA’s top Russian assets is Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has spent more than two decades cooperating with U.S. and British secret services to spread disinformation about Russia and to worsen relations with the West. He also worked closely with Senator John McCain and his foundation promoting Russophobia.
Another released U.S. asset is Ilya Yashin, a Russian liberal politician who openly applauds Zelensky’s regime and who fails to condemn Kiev’s long list of human rights violations and war crimes, including repression against Orthodox Christians, assassinations of journalists, terror attacks against civilians, Ukrainian military occupation of parts of the the Donetsk region, and more.
As someone who petitioned the U.S. government in late 2019 to help return three abducted American children living in Norway, (and only met indifference), I’m furious with yesterday’s swap. Why does the U.S. government labor so hard and spend vast resources to bring to the West those despicable Russians who have betrayed their own people and the entire human race?
Well, the answer is quite clear. Over the past 25 years, the U.S., Germany, and other NATO states have invested heavily in recruiting and financing disgruntled Russian citizens to betray and destabilize their country. By securing the release of these 12 Russian traitors, the U.S./ NATO want to send a message to other operatives inside Russia who haven’t yet been apprehended — “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back; if you get caught, we’ll secure your release and bring you to the West”. In short, it’s an effective ploy to help recruit new traitors inside Russia.
Nevertheless, history’s verdict will be harsh on these Russian traitors who choose to serve the U.S. government’s war machine that rages across the globe — in places such as Donbass, Syria and Gaza —- destroying many innocent lives.
One more interesting facet of the swap that’s not getting much attention is how it’s being exploited as a PR event for Kamala Harris, with the New York Times already crediting her with helping to arrange the swap. Overall, the Democrats look victorious.
Why would Putin give such a gift to the Democrats with less than 100 days before the presidential election? Perhaps this is a sign that the Kremlin favors Kamala over Trump, whose wild rhetoric about making peace in Ukraine in “24 hours” makes him look delusional and unhinged. His irascible mind can change suddenly, leading to more war. Who wants to deal with such an unpredictable leader?
From Moscow’s point of view, Kamala is an interesting option. As a leader of the young generation of American liberals whose priorities don’t include Ukraine, there’s a chance that Kamala will strike a deal with Moscow to avoid being dragged down by Kiev’s sinking ship.
The last thing Kamala wants is to start off her presidency with major losses in Ukraine where the front lines are collapsing as the Russian army moves inexorably forward. If Kamala is wise, then she’ll start with a clean slate, and jettison Biden’s failed legacy in Ukraine.
Finally, Kamala is a George Soros protege, but his son Alexander is now in charge. The 93-year old George has an intense hatred for Russia due to his huge financial losses there in the late 1990s, as well as Putin’s resistance to his globalist policies. Alexander Soros will have other priorities, and hopefully he will understand that Russia can’t be defeated and Ukraine is a losing venture.
Liberal solidarity aside, villains such as Soros don’t want to be associated with losers such as Zelensky. Soros and other oligarchs are first and foremost businessmen. They pushed NATO governments to invest hundreds of billions into Zelensky and he has failed to deliver. Eventually they will cut their losses and stand by as the Ukrainian dictator goes down the drain.
Then they’ll move on to the next globalist project, ordering their pliant media to erase mention of their failed Ukrainian venture from public view and memory.
FULL LIST OF THOSE SWAPPED
Convicted U.S. spies
Evan Gershkovich
Paul Whelan
German citizens
Rico Krieger (convicted terrorist)
Patrick Schoebel (accused drug dealer)
Russian traitors and U.S./ German assets
Alsu Kurmasheva (also has U.S. passport)
Vladimir Kara-Murza (also has UK passport)
Ilya Yashin
Lilia Chanysheva
Ksenia Fadeeva
Vadim Ostanin
Andrei Pivovarov
Oleg Orlov
Sasha Skochilenko
Demuri/ Dieter Voronin (also has German passport)
Kevin Lik (also has German passport)
German Moyzhes (also has German passport)
Alleged Russian intel operatives
Artem Dultsev
Anna Dultseva (plus her two children)
Mikhail Mikushin
Roman Seleznev
Vladislav Klyushin
Vadim Konoshchenock
Vadim Krasikov
Pablo González Yagüe
I just wrote a comment, hit the Post button, and was then taken to an article you wrote in 2021 about the Spanish Flu.
Did you receive my comment written after your prisoner swap story?