Western perceptions of Russia are based on propaganda wrapped in lies, inside mounds of disinformation. So, what's the real Russia like? I went there to find out. The results were shocking.
Thank you John, for sharing these details of your Time in Russia. Reads like it was a very exciting experience for you. You should connect with Scott Ritter who also made a rediscovery visit to Russia and both of you had the same kind of reborn moments, using reborn in the sense of changing one's way of thinking and seeing things external to ourselves.
As I read your account, throughout it all I had the sense of deja vu, as if you were writing about the Skirpals in 2018. Russia was host to the World Cup in 2018 and the World was heading to Russia for the biggest event in World Football.
There was no way the British government wanted it's many passionate Football Fan-Citizens going to Russia and seeing with their own eyes what Russia and it's people are like.
How could the British government scare it's Free Citizens from Discovering Russia? That's where the Skirpal's came in.
When the story 1st broke, we were told only Russia had Novichok and it was so toxic, a pin drop would kill instantly. I distinctly recall that was the overall theme of US Western propaganda. Doing more research, I looked into why Russia wanted him that bad?
In December 2004, Skripal was arrested outside his house in Moscow's Krylatskoye District shortly after returning from Britain. In August 2006, he was convicted of spying for Britain and charged with High Treason, was sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison.
Prosecutors said he had been supplying MI6 with information since the 1990s and was paid $100,000 by MI6 for the information. He was eventually exchanged in a prison swap and ended up living right next door to the UK Chemical Weapons Facility.
Following the news closely at that time, it made no sense to me at all why Putin would wait 14 years to have Skirpal killed in the UK on the Eve of this World's BIGGEST GLOBAL Sporting event when the World would be flocking to Moscow?
If Putin wanted him killed he was in a Russian prison from 2006 until 2010. He could have been killed then.
The West knowing Putin is a Sports Fan and making everything about Putin, thought they hit him where it hurt him personally, they attempted the same thing, trying to ruin the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Western MSM Propagandists immediately started reporting citing US Intelligence reports the Sochi Olympics is targeted by terrorists so don't go.. There were no terrorists until later that year, with the 2014 US-CIA Coup/Regime change of the Democratically Elected Russian friendly government, installing a virulent anti-Russian government that started shelling the Russian speaking UKRAINIANS in the East bordering Russia rejecting the 2014 US-CIA Regime Change.
Those who weren't scared off by the US Propaganda and went to Sochi, including the Athletes, there were no terrorists and the majority reports the 2014 Sochi Olympics were the best run in the memories of the Athletes attending and having participated in previous Winter Olympics.
Totally agree John! Our son is in St Petersburg for last two years on fellowship at HSE…we visited him in Moscow a few years ago… you are spot on! Pass it on! We in the US are being duped!
“Many Russians continue to learn English, watch American entertainment and listen to our music.” As the biggest country music fan, I totally confirm that:)) Thank you for the great article John.
This is a gorgeous story. The resiliency of Russia in the face of unjust treatment and deception is admirable. Your description of your experience and the comparison to the differences in the 1990s and 2000s to the present is remarkable. Thank you. It inspires me to follow suit.
Regarding the Crocus attack, when the dust settles, I think the details will show ISIS-K, an MI6 / CIA backed and organized group distinct from ISIS in key ways, carried out a US sponsored attack with strong support from Turkey with coordination with certain Ukrainian government agencies and groups. In other words, the Crocus Mall attack was a US NATO effort carried out with the hope of making it look like a Muslim extremist group attacking Russia. It is much more than a Ukrainian effort. It is an act of war carried out by the US, which hoped to deceive enough people so the US could get away with the attack, without direct consequences. We shall see.
Regardless, thank you for having the bravery, curiosity, and tenacity to challenge the prevailing western narrative and see for yourself. I'm glad you had the opportunity and you chose to share it.
Excellent. And I fully agree both with your observations and your analysis. How sad it is, that in XXI century people still rely on some inane projections and fantasies, rather than seeing things for themselves.
Thank you very much for your article. It has been like a breathe of fresh air. Europe is sick very sick and few people admit it. María Luisa Albacar,Spain.
И да, в России не отменена западная культура - мы продолжаем смотреть ваши фильмы, слушать вашу музыку, нам интересна ваша история и политика. Мы открыты для общения и дружбы. И так будет всегда,пока есть Россия. Русские за мир
Great article. After three visits I can concur. I can’t wait to go back. BTW Star Media has an excellent YouTube channel with hundreds of Russian TV/movies . Good for language immersion too.
John, Did you have special connections in order to expedite a visa, etc? I would really like to visit Russia but have always been dissuaded by what appears to be a difficult visa process. One can visit via the boats from Stockholm but then the visit is restricted to a day or two at most. Can you enlighten me a little on what your experience was in this regard? Thanks!
Thank you for this account, John. Now I want to go to St. Petersburg again. I went there back in 1988 and I have precious memories.
About a year into the Ukraine war I started suspecting that we'll see a repeat of the great Western exodus to Russia during Catherine The Great's reign. The circumstances are quite similar, I think -- fast deteriorating standard of living and political pressure in the West while Russia thrives. Even the rabid hatred is similar. Your report about "American villages" seems to support my suspicions and that's good news.
I have Russian and Ukrainians in my Parish. They love each other and their views are split. War hits home for both. These families abroad have lost loves ones. They grieve because its pretty much given in Slavic culture of struggle and hardships are normal. This report is pretty much spot on. One of the things that foster distrust of Russian is that we have a programmed narrative of good guys wearing white hats and bad guys wearing black hats its pretty much about everything. Its in our cultural memory we advance wars on injustice by looking for the hero and champions. This happens because there is no real self examination and no struggle. Evil is personified against others. Not within our own hearts and minds. There is no independent reporting by the west there is only narratives Thank you for your insight.
What is Russia's Crime?( Even if it is possible for an entire country full of "individuals" to be guilty) Answer; Not completely conforming to the World that Satan with his minions have so desired, that is to say the eradication of Godliness in all forms, Simple But deadly. IMO
Excellent! Thank you for sharing that! Great to have an update. I visited Moskva in the summer of 1994-5, just after Gorbachev proclaimed apparent
Perestroika, on an aeroflot airline, and the soldiers on red sq were trying to prevent tourists from taking photographs of St. Basils cathedral and outside Lenin's mausoleum, that I kindly took them aside & had to remind them in Russian if they had forgotten that Mikhail Gobarchev introduced reforms and restructuring for freedoms especially to foreign tourists and this is what tourists do! Then they allowed us to proceed in doing the tourist bit! Lol.
Obviously many changes have taken place since then. What always impressed me was the underground subway train tunnels beautiful pristine, with beautiful paintings overlaid with gold leaf no body taking out their chisels to take it off and try and sell it, no graffiti whatsoever. The Babushka's and many people were so lovely and incredibly hospitable, the Babushka's on the metro buses would often take out a jam jar filled with home brewed 💯% proof vodka and some hard boiled eggs as a snack or for lunch. Because of the former communist regime under the U.S.S.R and pushing feminism and equality for women you would see these butch Russian women carrying brick, laying brick and using jack hammers on the road. Also lots of the older people hated and abhorred being under communist dictatorship and tyranny, some loved it. And they took me to the government state owned lavish buildings and homes then to their small high rise flat and say to me you tell me where is this equality as Karl Marx stated?! Lol. Also there was western confectionery one of a mars bar they were behind a locked glass cabinet. I was able to get some awesome wooden souvenirs, for my brother I got him like the matryushka nesting dolls it had from the outer to the inner Gobarchev, Brezhnev, Krushchev, Malenkov, Stalin & lastly Lenin. We thought it was hilarious as it was painted in charicature fashion. Also at that time the Russian mafia were getting very rich and had shops in Cyprus selling fur coats and it's warm and very hot in the summer there! Christians were heavily persecuted under the communist regime with many taken to the gulags-labour camps where they were severely tortured and some died and some miraculously escaped, just for having a bible or sharing the gospel. I learnt alot about how careful they had to be as anyone could be a spy, even if you were not a Christian but said anything that the regime considered wrong your neighbour your children at the state school could and would report on you. A lot like china and North Korea now. Interestingly communism always allowed the orthodox church to exist and do you know why? Because it was financially lucrative for & to the government.
Thank you John, for sharing these details of your Time in Russia. Reads like it was a very exciting experience for you. You should connect with Scott Ritter who also made a rediscovery visit to Russia and both of you had the same kind of reborn moments, using reborn in the sense of changing one's way of thinking and seeing things external to ourselves.
As I read your account, throughout it all I had the sense of deja vu, as if you were writing about the Skirpals in 2018. Russia was host to the World Cup in 2018 and the World was heading to Russia for the biggest event in World Football.
There was no way the British government wanted it's many passionate Football Fan-Citizens going to Russia and seeing with their own eyes what Russia and it's people are like.
How could the British government scare it's Free Citizens from Discovering Russia? That's where the Skirpal's came in.
When the story 1st broke, we were told only Russia had Novichok and it was so toxic, a pin drop would kill instantly. I distinctly recall that was the overall theme of US Western propaganda. Doing more research, I looked into why Russia wanted him that bad?
In December 2004, Skripal was arrested outside his house in Moscow's Krylatskoye District shortly after returning from Britain. In August 2006, he was convicted of spying for Britain and charged with High Treason, was sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison.
Prosecutors said he had been supplying MI6 with information since the 1990s and was paid $100,000 by MI6 for the information. He was eventually exchanged in a prison swap and ended up living right next door to the UK Chemical Weapons Facility.
Following the news closely at that time, it made no sense to me at all why Putin would wait 14 years to have Skirpal killed in the UK on the Eve of this World's BIGGEST GLOBAL Sporting event when the World would be flocking to Moscow?
If Putin wanted him killed he was in a Russian prison from 2006 until 2010. He could have been killed then.
The West knowing Putin is a Sports Fan and making everything about Putin, thought they hit him where it hurt him personally, they attempted the same thing, trying to ruin the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Western MSM Propagandists immediately started reporting citing US Intelligence reports the Sochi Olympics is targeted by terrorists so don't go.. There were no terrorists until later that year, with the 2014 US-CIA Coup/Regime change of the Democratically Elected Russian friendly government, installing a virulent anti-Russian government that started shelling the Russian speaking UKRAINIANS in the East bordering Russia rejecting the 2014 US-CIA Regime Change.
Those who weren't scared off by the US Propaganda and went to Sochi, including the Athletes, there were no terrorists and the majority reports the 2014 Sochi Olympics were the best run in the memories of the Athletes attending and having participated in previous Winter Olympics.
My latest: http://rayjc.com/2024/04/02/war-crimes-we-see-and-say-nothing/
Totally agree John! Our son is in St Petersburg for last two years on fellowship at HSE…we visited him in Moscow a few years ago… you are spot on! Pass it on! We in the US are being duped!
“Many Russians continue to learn English, watch American entertainment and listen to our music.” As the biggest country music fan, I totally confirm that:)) Thank you for the great article John.
This is a gorgeous story. The resiliency of Russia in the face of unjust treatment and deception is admirable. Your description of your experience and the comparison to the differences in the 1990s and 2000s to the present is remarkable. Thank you. It inspires me to follow suit.
Regarding the Crocus attack, when the dust settles, I think the details will show ISIS-K, an MI6 / CIA backed and organized group distinct from ISIS in key ways, carried out a US sponsored attack with strong support from Turkey with coordination with certain Ukrainian government agencies and groups. In other words, the Crocus Mall attack was a US NATO effort carried out with the hope of making it look like a Muslim extremist group attacking Russia. It is much more than a Ukrainian effort. It is an act of war carried out by the US, which hoped to deceive enough people so the US could get away with the attack, without direct consequences. We shall see.
Regardless, thank you for having the bravery, curiosity, and tenacity to challenge the prevailing western narrative and see for yourself. I'm glad you had the opportunity and you chose to share it.
Just the explanation I have been looking for. The reason for loving Russia! If you visit you will understand. Let Russia capture your soul!
Worked in Russia in 2005, across in Sakhalin. Loved Russia. Loved the people. Would go back in a heartbeat!
Excellent. And I fully agree both with your observations and your analysis. How sad it is, that in XXI century people still rely on some inane projections and fantasies, rather than seeing things for themselves.
Thank you very much for your article. It has been like a breathe of fresh air. Europe is sick very sick and few people admit it. María Luisa Albacar,Spain.
Спасибо,Джон. Отличная статья.
И да, в России не отменена западная культура - мы продолжаем смотреть ваши фильмы, слушать вашу музыку, нам интересна ваша история и политика. Мы открыты для общения и дружбы. И так будет всегда,пока есть Россия. Русские за мир
Great article. After three visits I can concur. I can’t wait to go back. BTW Star Media has an excellent YouTube channel with hundreds of Russian TV/movies . Good for language immersion too.
John, Did you have special connections in order to expedite a visa, etc? I would really like to visit Russia but have always been dissuaded by what appears to be a difficult visa process. One can visit via the boats from Stockholm but then the visit is restricted to a day or two at most. Can you enlighten me a little on what your experience was in this regard? Thanks!
Thank you for this account, John. Now I want to go to St. Petersburg again. I went there back in 1988 and I have precious memories.
About a year into the Ukraine war I started suspecting that we'll see a repeat of the great Western exodus to Russia during Catherine The Great's reign. The circumstances are quite similar, I think -- fast deteriorating standard of living and political pressure in the West while Russia thrives. Even the rabid hatred is similar. Your report about "American villages" seems to support my suspicions and that's good news.
. . I'm Happy 🧸 .
I have Russian and Ukrainians in my Parish. They love each other and their views are split. War hits home for both. These families abroad have lost loves ones. They grieve because its pretty much given in Slavic culture of struggle and hardships are normal. This report is pretty much spot on. One of the things that foster distrust of Russian is that we have a programmed narrative of good guys wearing white hats and bad guys wearing black hats its pretty much about everything. Its in our cultural memory we advance wars on injustice by looking for the hero and champions. This happens because there is no real self examination and no struggle. Evil is personified against others. Not within our own hearts and minds. There is no independent reporting by the west there is only narratives Thank you for your insight.
What is Russia's Crime?( Even if it is possible for an entire country full of "individuals" to be guilty) Answer; Not completely conforming to the World that Satan with his minions have so desired, that is to say the eradication of Godliness in all forms, Simple But deadly. IMO
Excellent! Thank you for sharing that! Great to have an update. I visited Moskva in the summer of 1994-5, just after Gorbachev proclaimed apparent
Perestroika, on an aeroflot airline, and the soldiers on red sq were trying to prevent tourists from taking photographs of St. Basils cathedral and outside Lenin's mausoleum, that I kindly took them aside & had to remind them in Russian if they had forgotten that Mikhail Gobarchev introduced reforms and restructuring for freedoms especially to foreign tourists and this is what tourists do! Then they allowed us to proceed in doing the tourist bit! Lol.
Obviously many changes have taken place since then. What always impressed me was the underground subway train tunnels beautiful pristine, with beautiful paintings overlaid with gold leaf no body taking out their chisels to take it off and try and sell it, no graffiti whatsoever. The Babushka's and many people were so lovely and incredibly hospitable, the Babushka's on the metro buses would often take out a jam jar filled with home brewed 💯% proof vodka and some hard boiled eggs as a snack or for lunch. Because of the former communist regime under the U.S.S.R and pushing feminism and equality for women you would see these butch Russian women carrying brick, laying brick and using jack hammers on the road. Also lots of the older people hated and abhorred being under communist dictatorship and tyranny, some loved it. And they took me to the government state owned lavish buildings and homes then to their small high rise flat and say to me you tell me where is this equality as Karl Marx stated?! Lol. Also there was western confectionery one of a mars bar they were behind a locked glass cabinet. I was able to get some awesome wooden souvenirs, for my brother I got him like the matryushka nesting dolls it had from the outer to the inner Gobarchev, Brezhnev, Krushchev, Malenkov, Stalin & lastly Lenin. We thought it was hilarious as it was painted in charicature fashion. Also at that time the Russian mafia were getting very rich and had shops in Cyprus selling fur coats and it's warm and very hot in the summer there! Christians were heavily persecuted under the communist regime with many taken to the gulags-labour camps where they were severely tortured and some died and some miraculously escaped, just for having a bible or sharing the gospel. I learnt alot about how careful they had to be as anyone could be a spy, even if you were not a Christian but said anything that the regime considered wrong your neighbour your children at the state school could and would report on you. A lot like china and North Korea now. Interestingly communism always allowed the orthodox church to exist and do you know why? Because it was financially lucrative for & to the government.