“Did you or any member of your household make an unofficial payment or gift when using [a public service] over the past 12 months?”

Bouquets of Flowers which are mandatory gift for school teachers on 1 September – are considered a gift?

The General opinion in Russia that petty corruption has decreased significantly.

It takes into account the difference in relation to the tests in different countries? As far as I know (from stories of expats) In Japan and South Korea, the tests are very important – in many cases people have to pass a test for IQ when trying to get a job. As a result, people specifically trained to pass these tests.

In Russia, the IQ tests are perceived as a funny curiosity – these tests are considered to be entertainment

Crimea has no equal in the concentration of natural and historical sites (palaces, parks, ancient cities, scarlet lakes, mountains, caves ) http://aquatek-filips.livejournal.com/1288395.html

From St. Petersburg it is interesting to visit to Ruskeala (the trip takes one day)

In 1 “The Syrian government will control a larger proportion of territory in a year’s time relative to today” you are formally right. The prediction made before the start of the offensive the forces of Assad against ISIS. After this offensive, Assad has lost part of the reconquered territories , but of the part reconquered territories kept under control. On other fronts the territory under the control of Damascus has increased too.

“Nicholas I carries more responsibility for modern Russia good and ill, than Stalin.”

And how Nicholas I determined the fate of Russia? It was an honest man of average abilities, who follow the course of events. Russia has not undergone a revolutionary transformation under the rule of Nicholas I

“In Russia, no one leaves their city to look for nature, except as a tourist”

Complete nonsense. Or is this a joke?

“He (Nicholas I) also created modern Eurasianism, ”

Definitely not

” He set up the Third Department, bureaucratically, the ancestor of the MVD and KGB.”

before Nicholas similar state organizations have existed for hundreds years in different countries

“He managed to get Britain and France to combine with Turkey and Austria against him by launching an attack to capture Constantinople via Bessarabia. (The ultimate aim was the conquest of India). This is the source of the continuing Russian reputation for political aggression.”

About India – propaganda nonsense.
As Nicholas has determined the fate of Russia in a greater degree than Stalin – I don’t understand

“People do not take cars for a spin along the Volga or into the desert just to look.”

Perhaps such travel in Russia is less common than in other countries, but in Russia there are definitely fans of such tourism.

Maybe a little popularity of such trips caused by low population density – to see the wild forest, no need to go far. Here’sa lake in forest within the administrative boundaries of St. Petersburg (near my home). In most large cities of the world, such wild places are absent

“Outside of Moscow is there anywhere in Russia even when out of recession that is prosperous enough to provide lots of jobs for a lot of Central Asian migrants?”

In St. Petersburg right now a lot of migrant workers

“But given German territorial ambitions (in 1917)”

When von Ludendorff was de facto ruler of Germany? It was impossible

“Nobody would have ever given the Germans their own oblast”

Currently in Russia there are Azovsky German National District ( Deutscher Nationalkreis Asowo) near Omsk and German Ethnic District (Deutscher Nationalrajon) in Altai

Based on these data, 75% of new citizens come from Christian Nations, and 24% from Islamic Nations.

Most likely it is the children from mixed families, or wives/husbands of citizens of Russia

I noticed that if you suggest that the varangians of kievan rus were swedes, both ukrainians and russians get angry.

For Ukraine will not say, but in Russia the fact that varangians were vikings is quite generally accepted. This is not only written in the textbooks, but also it is common place historical novels, movies, etc.

Peter I ranks only slightly above Lenin in insanity and cumulative leftist

Peter I – leftist?
О_o!
He, among other things, introduced in Russia the death penalty for homosexuality. Also Peter was the most hard Islamophob among the Russian tsars.

Peter I – leftist?

He was a Westernizer and extreme anti-traditionalist

Based on these criteria, all great rulers-modernizers must be considered leftists. Starting with Cyrus the Younger and Herod the Great

Romanovs were originally a Russian dynasty, who over the centuries mixed with non-Russian aristocrats who adopted the Russian faith and language with marriage. Rurikids were Scandinavians, who kept a rather pure Scandinavian bloodline (among the rulers of Kiev, at least) almost into the 12th century. While there were a lot of Baltic Germans in the Russian military and bureaucracy, “German” Romanovs didn’t mostly depend on German military units and weren’t seizing the throne with German troops.

In respect of Yaroslav the Wise, this is a ridiculous argument. Yaroslav came to power based on the Novgorod army. One of the episodes of that era – in the year 1015, the inhabitants of Novgorod massacred Scandinavian mercenaries of Yaroslav. Yaroslav in retaliation lured to a feast and massacred the Novgorod aristocracy. However, after that Yaroslav was forced to beg forgiveness from the residents of Novgorod.

As for Scandinavian/Slav – obviously the princes who give for their children Slavic names, did not consider themselves Scandinavians. Their “biological” origin is irrelevant

So Vladimir didn’t go into exile to Norway, didn’t gather a group of Norse warriors, and didn’t seize the Kievan thrown with those Norse warriors?

Is this a joke? Vladimir was never in Norway. But four of the Norwegian king, was at different times in exile in “Ancient Russia”

Sure, but the actual princes of Kiev, the rulers of the state, maintained a pure Scandinavian bloodline up to Vissivald/Vsevolod, who ruled from 1078-1093. Vladimir, for example, had numerous wives, some of whom were not Scandinavians, but his successor after a period of warfare ended up being his son by Ragnhild of Polotsk.

It happened because all brothers of Yaroslav (Vladimir successor ) were killed, or died. The ethnic origin of the mother for the inheritance had absolutely nothing

By the way co-ruler Yaroslav was his elder brother Mstislav (from another mother). Yaroslav tried to get rid of Mstislav, but Mstislav’s Ossetian troops utterly defeated the Scandinavian mercenaries of Yaroslav in 1024

As for Scandinavian/Slav – obviously the princes who give for their children Slavic names, did not consider themselves Scandinavians. Their “biological” origin is irrelevant

Well, one of these Scandinavians with a Slavic name, Vladimir, lived in Norway and gathered an army there with which he seized the Kievan throne. I guess he didn’t consider himself a Scandinavian but a Slav, right? Speaking of which –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldemar
Valdemar I of Denmark or Waldemar the Great (1131–1182)
Valdemar II of Denmark or Waldemar the Victorious (1170–1241)…..All of these were Ancient Russians because their name, right?

Prince Igor (son of Rurik) had a son Svyatoslav (Slavic name)

Prince Svyatoslav’s sons:
Yaropolk (Slavic name);
Oleg (Scandinavian name);
Vladimir (a Slavic name)

The throne was inherited by Vladimir, who gave his daughters and sons the following names:

Vycheslav,
Svyatopolk,
Izyaslav,
Mstislav,
Jaroslav
Vsevolod,
Predslava,
Premyslova,
Mstislav,
Stanislav,
Sudislav,
Svyatoslav,
Boris,
Gleb,
Pozvizd,
Dobronega

The only Scandinavian name is Gleb. The other names are Slavonic (the name Boris is Turkish, but are borrowed from the Slavs, the Bulgarians). Please give an example of a dynasty of Scandinavian rulers, who in three generations give their children Slavic names. Or give an example of a Scandinavian king, which had 16 children, but only one son with Scandinavian name

For the rest of your thesis, detailed answer tomorrow evening, no time now

Absolute coincidence that the rulers of Kiev had a basically pure Scandinavian bloodline for 200 years since Rurik came to those lands.

The mother of Vladimir – slave Malusha. Brother of Malusha – Dobrynya ( Slavic name).
“Pure Scandinavian bloodline” Lol

Absolute coincidence that the pure Scandinavian rulers of “Ancient Russia” had a purely Slavic name for 200 years since Svyatoslav (grandson of Rurik).

I see that Russian svidomism has met reality and disapproves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great

So we can expect a lengthy discourse of Russian svidomism from the same guy who didn’t even know that Vladimir spent time in Norway, where he gathered his Norse troops to seize the throne.

Dear friend! Especially for you:

“Vladimir fled to Scandinavia… But in the Scandinavian sagas no mention of the stay of Vladimir in Sweden or Norway (Скандинавские саги ни словом не упоминают о пребывании Вальдамара Старого в Швеции или Норвегии)… Vladimir overseas was a short time. In 977 or 978 early on, he returned to Novgorod with the Varangian guard .”

Karpov, A. Y., “St. Vladimir”

The only source telling us about these events – the Primary chronicle.
“When Vladimir in Novgorod heard that Yaropolk killed Oleg, then got scared and fled across the sea. And Yaropolk put his Posadnik in Novgorod and owned one Russian land… Vladimir returned to Novgorod with the Varangians and …began to rule in Novgorod.”

(“Когда Владимир в Новгороде услышал, что Ярополк убил Олега, то испугался и бежал за море. А Ярополк посадил своих посадников в Новгороде и владел один Русскою землею… Владимир вернулся в Новгород с варягами и …стал править в Новгороде.”)

As you can see about Norway not a single word. Vladimir was almost certainly in Sweden (with which the Ancient Rus was connected most closely, and which was closer).

Dear AP! For the benefit of your crusade against “Russian svidomism “, use scientific work, not Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a cesspool, where any freak can Express nonsense

Actually, it would be incorrect to admit that relations were particularly close even before 978. Yaroslav, like his predecessors, used sometimes Scandinavian, sometimes Polish or Polovtsian exiled potentates with their followers as part of his retinue.
I’m afraid talk of “Finno-Ugrian” haplogroups is pseudoscience.

If Muslims take over Europe, expect to see Hitler rehabilitated; he’s quite popular with them. Given today’s level of elite Russophobia, if it weren’t for Hitler’s antipathy towards Jews, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him given more favorable treatment: “What do you call killing 27 million Russians between 1941 and 1945? A good start!” [sarc]

Do you have a better term for grandiose historical ideas that are believed by people belonging to a certain nation but not widely shared outside that country’s borders? Just because many Russians take their svidomist ideas for granted, and some Russian scholars have even constructed elaborate defenses of their svidomism (ideas, naturally, not widely held outside Russia itself), does not make those ideas true.

Svidomist are obsessed with a certain idea, and that they ignore the facts. Explore a vivid example

rulers of Kiev had a basically pure Scandinavian bloodline for 200 years since Rurik came ….Other than Russian svidomists, scholars consider “Malusha” (e mother of Prince Vladimir) to be the Scandinavian Malfried.

Slave girl Malusha (not Scandinavian name), sister of Dobrinya (not Scandinavian name), her father Malk of lubech (not Scandinavian name again). But she pure- Scandinavian- bloodline because…because Russian princes in accordance with the АР idea should be pure- Scandinavian- bloodline.

However there is a version that Malusha – Malfred!

“On this Malfred (mentioned in the chronicle for the year 1000) was built a lot of guesswork. Some researchers saw it as one of the wives of Vladimir the Saint, while others identified her with the mother of Vladimir – Malusha. From the point of view of the principles of naming, it is more likely that the first Malfred was the mother of Vladimir Svyatoslavich.”

But alas:

“her name is etymologically was not actually Scandinavian.
In most of Scandinavia, the first known possessor of this name was Queen Mal(m)Frid, daughter of Mstislav the Great (and wife of Sigurd the Crusader).
Mention of other Malfrid relate only to the significantly later time, to XIII-XIVвв.
Most probably at the origin of this name was German and originally had the form of Amalfrida. …. In the case of Mal(m)Frid we are dealing with a very interesting example of indirect penetration of the German name on Scandinavian soil — a name that comes to Scandinavia via Russia. The first owner name Malfred in Russia didn’t have to be German. It could happen from any place, where it was strongly influenced by German traditions.”

Litvin, Uspensky “Names of the Russian princes in X-XVI centuries”. page 247-249

There are svidomist who believe that Rurik – Slav. And there are svidomist who believe that Dobrynya – pure-bloodline-Scandinavian. In both cases, the Wrapper is different, but the essence is the same.

Why on earth Stalin gets 3? The Satan should’ve gotten – 0

Industrialization and victory in WWII greatly outweigh his sins

“Slave girl Malusha (not Scandinavian name), sister of Dobrinya (not Scandinavian name), her father Malk of lubech (not Scandinavian name)”

Although not much is known about her the consensus seems to be that Malfried was the daughter of a Scandinavian:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malusha

Explain please, how a slave whose name was not Scandinavian, brother which is called non-Scandinavian name, and whose father has not a Scandinavian name , can be considered the daughter of a Scandinavian?

Only no need to embarrass this discussion by referencing Wikipedia. Wikipedia is garbage.

Shakhmatov version does not have the popularity among historians . Using your method ( find the “right” version, no matter how marginal, and accept it as a proven fact) it’s easy to find other explanations

“The most famous East Slavic pre-Christian name is the name of the drevlyan Prince Mal….. The female variant of male name of Mal
is the name Malusha known as the name of the housekeeper Princess Olga: “Vladimir was the son of the housekeeper Malusha”. And as the father of Malusha was Malk, Malusha derived from the name of the father…. Name qualification Malk of Lyubech can attest to the fact that the father was from a Slavic tribe lubeca, or from Liubech or Lübeck.
http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/lichnye-imena-povesti-vremennyh-let-kak-otrazhenie-kartiny-mira-srednevekovogo-cheloveka#ixzz4cmoNhaOn”

I have no doubt that you can find Russian (and Ukrainian) svidomist scholars who insist that Malfried was a Slav. Unfortunately, as in the case of Ukrainian svidomist theories, your ideas and theirs aren’t really believed much outside your country.

So show us the article of Western scholars (not Wikipedia!!!), where it is alleged that Vladimir and Yaroslav were purely Scandinavian rulers with pure Scandinavian bloodline, and Malusha Dobrynya was the Scandinavians and so on. For some reason (the machinations of Russian svidomists?) Western scientists only talk about the Scandinavian origin of the Russian princes after Igor.

Also explain why “Scandinavian rulers” many generations had Slavic names, Slavic titles (князь, боярин), worshiped Slavic gods? Western scientists explain this fact by the assimilation of the Rurik descendants . But you have another explanation?

The problem is that the more accepted theory is that the Scandinavian name came first and the Slavs made up a Slavic version.

That is, the names Jaroslav, Yaropolk, Svyatoslav, etc. are derived from Scandinavian languages? Cool hypothesis. Please give examples of the use of these names by Scandinavians.

The problem is that the more accepted theory is that the Scandinavian name came first and the Slavs made up a Slavic version.

That is, the names Jaroslav, Yaropolk, Svyatoslav, etc. are derived from Scandinavian languages? Cool hypothesis. Please give examples of the use of these names by Scandinavians.

As for the names of the rulers:
1. The numerous Waldemars across Scandinavia itself tell us that Scandinavians liked Slavic names.

The numerous Olegs, Rjuriks and Glebs among Russian Princes itself tell us that Slavic liked Scandinavians names. For example Rurik Rostislavich Grand Prince of Kiev in XIII century, Oleg Ivanovich Prince of Ryazan XIV century. In such a case, based on your logic, we should assume that all holders of Scandinavian names are Slavs?

You do realize that these people also used Scandinavian names when interacting with their own people. Yarosalv was Jarisleif, for example.

Jarisleif is not Scandinavian name it is a Slavic name, which was written by Scandinavians. Similarly in Russian chronicles the Scandinavian name Helge turned to Oleg, Hakon in the Jakun, etc.

In the absence of other non-Russian sources, I’ll have to use wikipedia.

In Russian, such “methods” of analysis famous as folk-history.

Western sources note that Vladimir moved to Scandinavia (exact location, Sweden or Norway, not specified but his troops seemed to have been from Norway) and used Norse troops to seize the throne.
Yaroslav was the son of Vladimir and a woman (Ragnhild) whose origins were undisputably Scandinavian. His core forces consisted of Scandinavians in his various conflicts.

4 Norwegian King (Olav Trjuggvason, Saint Olav, Magnus Olavsson, Harald Sigurdarson) were in exile in Russia, and regained the throne with the support of Russian Princes. These Norwegian Kings by your logic the Slavs?

The greatest Scandinavian King Cnut the Great was the son of the Danish King, and daughter of a Slavic prince. Against enemies (mostly other Scandinavians) he used Slavic warriors. Cnut the Great by your logic – Slavs?

When Slavs in Novogord killed his Norse allies because they had been abusing Slavs, Yaroslav slaughtered the Slavic nobles.

And then he begged citizens of Novgorod for forgiveness.

If you think that Yaroslav was a Slav, the Svidomism is strong in you, indeed.

Yaroslav’s sons names:
Vladimir
Izyaslav
Svyatoslav
Vsevolod
Vyacheslav
Igor

Yaroslav undoubtedly was a Slav (though Scandinavian origin). He, among others, public affairs, amounted to a compendium of laws. Guess what language?

A story about “Stalin school for saboteurs ” complete trash. But svidomist killers could be hired by the secret services of Russia (combine the elimination of the traitor with subtle trolling – a great idea). The killers in this case, certainly didn’t know who hires

or who end up stealing far too much for their station, such as … former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

Serdyukov very much reduced corruption in the Army (and greatly raised the quality of army). While Serdyukov has aroused very strong hatred of the military (which was forced to make a fare work instead of stealing and drinking vodka). This was the reason for dismissal Serdyukov (after he reformed the army), rather than his own corruptive actions

What I hear here is the exact type of formula set by mafia type groupings throughout the world.

What your hear here is the exact type of formula set by all states throughout the world. Exception? May be ISIS

The greatest Scandinavian King Cnut the Great was the son of the Danish King, and daughter of a Slavic prince. Against enemies (mostly other Scandinavians) he used Slavic warriors. Cnut the Great by your logic – Slavs?

While Cnut did use some Polish troops he did not depend on Polish troops nearly as much as did Vladimir and Yaroslav on Norse troops.

Nonsense
Primary chronicles :
« Yaroslav collected one thousand Varangians and forty thousand other soldiers, and marched against Svyatopolk. When Svyatopolk learned that Yaroslav was on his way, he prepared an innumerable army of Russes and Pechenegs and marched out toward Lyubech128 on one side of the Dnieper, while Yaroslav was on the opposite bank. Brothers stood over against each other on both banks on the Dnieper, but neither party dared attack. They remained thus face to face for three months. Then Svyatopolk’s general rode out along the shore and scoffed at the men of Novgorod, shouting, “Why did you come hither with this crooked-shanks, you carpenters?129 We shall put you to work on our houses.” Vhen the men of Novgorod heard this taunt, they declared to Yaroslav, “Tomorrow we will cross over to them, and whoever will not go with us we will kill.” Now it was already beginning to freeze. Svyatopolk was stationed between two lakes, and caroused with his fellows the whole night through. Yaroslav on the morrow marshaled his troops, and crossed over toward dawn. His forces disembarked on the shore, and pushed the boats out from the bank. The two armies advanced to the attack, and met upon the field. The carnage was terrible. Because of the lake, the Pechenegs could bring no aid, and Yaroslav’s troops drove Svyatopolk with his followers toward it. When the latter went out upon the ice, it broke under them, and Yaroslav began to win the upper hand. Svyatopolk then fled among the Lyakhs, while Yaroslav established himself in Kiev upon the throne of his father and his grandfather.»

Scandinavian mercenaries made up a fifth of the forces of Yaroslav. The outcome of the war decided by the Novgorod army, not the Scandinavians. The participation of Scandinavians in the decisive battle is not mentioned at all

He (Yaroslav) had to rule over them (men of Novgorod), after all.

Really? It is rather the men of Novgorod rule
«Then Yaroslav fled with four men to Novgorod, and Boleslav entered Kiev in company with Svyatopolk. When Yaroslav arrived at Novgorod in his flight, he planned to escape overseas, but the Posadnik (mayor) Constantine, son of Dobrynya, together with the men of Novgorod, destroyed his boat, protesting that they wished to fight once more against Boleslav and Svyatopolk. They set out to gather funds ….»

Pravda Yaroslava exist – the Ruska Pravda, …w itself was very Norse in type. It replaced vengeance killing with the collection of weregild, brought about Scandinavian-type jury trials, etc. If Yaroslav was a Slav, why were his laws Norse?

Nonsense
Collection of «weregild», jury trials and so on was a common features of the barbaric laws (such as Salic law) reflecting the views of early medieval tribes about justice. Of course Pravda Yaroslava is a fully Slavic laws, as a write Slavic language, and used Slavic terms. In this law there is Absolutely no privilege for Scandinavians (in contrast to the Salic law which established special rights of the Germans).

But strong Russian Svidomite claims Yaroslav was a Slav, and a Russian too

Yaroslav was undoubtedly a Slav. Of course the Scandinavians sometimes had Slavic names, and the Slavs had sometimes Scandinavian names. But when a whole dynasty of Rurikovich (in the era of Yaroslav) consisting dozens of people had almost exclusively Slavic names – this dynasty is undoubtedly Slavic. The origin in this case plays no role, as it doesn’t matter the pure-blood-line German origin of Nicholas I or Queen Victoria

Since the state they were exiled to (Rus) was a Scandinavian state

Nonsense
The state where the ruling dynasty has exclusively Slavic names, all aristocratic titles – Slavic, laws – Slavic, the written language is Slavic. Books that have been written for the princesof the Slavic language, too. Troops in the vast majority – Slavic. And, icing on the cake, in Kiev was installed (by Prince Vladimir) state cult of Slavic gods, with human sacrifice. For the sake of the Slavic gods, the pagan priests killed….Scandinavians.

I would therefore argue that while geographically-speaking Russia (at least the most populated part of it) is in Europe, culturally it has never shared a common history or, even less so, a common culture with the West.

It’s certainly not about modern Russia. The history which is taught in Russian schools is the history of Europe (and the history of Russia of course). In the school course describes in detail the ancient world and of medieval Catholic Europe. But about the Eastern civilization (India, China) and Byzantium said very little.

To Byzantium the attitude is particularly bad, the word “Byzantium” in the Russian language has become synonymous with treachery, cruelty and decadence.

This attitude towards different civilizations can be seen on the example of Historical reenactment. In this area in Russia, many fans of the Vikings, the Franks, the crusaders, the Swiss, etc. But to Byzantium – zero interest.

Similarly in literature – published many books on the material of medieval Catholic Europe (fantasy, historical novels). About Byzantium, there is nothing

Scandinavian mercenaries made up a fifth of the forces of Yaroslav.

Your post proves my point. The core professional soldiers were the 1,000 Scandinavians, the 4,000 Slavic Novgorodians were the assembled militia, carpenters and such.

As can be seen from the text of the chronicle, the « core professional » Vikings played such a minor role that in the description of the battle they not mentioned at all. The war was won by the troops of Novgorod

You also ignored Yaroslav’s reliance on Scandinavians in his war against Mstislav. Why?

Maybe because Yaroslav’s Scandinavian mercenaries were soundly defeated?

It was a common feature of Germanic barbaric laws. It wasn’t a Slavic thing.

Similar rules in “Polish truth” (Poland) and the “Statuta Konrádova” (Czech Kingdom)

And, icing on the cake, in Kiev was installed (by Prince Vladimir) state cult of Slavic gods,

Oops.
Before Christianity Vladimir followed the Norse, not Slavic pagan religion. A real |Slav, right?

Primary Chronicle:
« Vladimir then began to reign alone in Kiev, and he set up idols on the hills outside the castle with the hall: one of Perun, made of wood with a head of silver and a mustache of gold, and others of Khors, Dazh’bog, Stribog, Simar’gl, and Mokosh…»

Perun, Khors, Dazh’bog, Stribog, Simar’gl, and Mokosh – do you really think that is Norse, not Slavic pagan religion? 😉

In retrospect Russia should have done in Northern Caucasus what Europeans did in North America, and re-populate the region with Orthodox Christians.

To a very large extent, that’s exactly what happened. The Muslim tribes of the Western Caucasus in the majority migrated to Turkey (1864 – 1867), so the dominant religion was Christianity.

Now we have a millions-strong radical Muslim population in Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria, AND we have millions of them emigrating to traditionally Orthodox parts of Russia.

“Millions-strong Muslim radical” is a very strong exaggeration. But of course in Russia a serious problem with radical Islam

Its not an exaggeration since the overall number of these “tribes” or ethnicities is several millions and basically all problems related to radical Islam and terrorism in Russia have their roots in North Caucasus.

Radical Muslims among them a minority. During the invasion of the Wahhabis in Dagestan in 1999, the radicals had to fight battles with militia of local “tribes” .

However for terrorist attacks support minority is quite enough.

As can be seen from the text of the chronicle, the « core professional » Vikings played such a minor role that in the description of the battle they not mentioned at all. The war was won by the troops of Novgorod

Ironically, the Norse sagas don’t mention Novgorodians at all but mention the 1,000 Scandinavians. And they are more detailed about Yaroslav’s life than are the Chronicles – so, a better source
see: Yaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition, written by Samuel Hazzard Cross, Speculum, University of Chicago Press.

The authors of these sagas did not even know who was the enemy of Yaroslav: « The
saga confuses to some extent the names of the contending Russian princes, who are
referred to as Burizleifr, Jarizleifr, and Varnlaf (Vartilaf). The name Burizleifr applies
obviously to Svyatopolk… » (Yaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition, written by Samuel Hazzard Cross, Speculum, University of Chicago Press). The wife of Vladimir in the sagas is Olga and so on. «Saga has manifestly unhistorical haracter of much of its narrative» Alas the sagas are not reliable source on the history of «ancient Russia». A reliable source remains the Primary Chronicle, what the article « Yaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition » says right: «In these accounts, we find confused reminiscences of the actual course of events as outlined by the Russian Chronicle» (Yaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition, University of Chicago Press)

A Russian Svidomist will likely believe the story that carpenters were more important in a battle than were seasoned professional soldiers. But objectively, the Scandinavians were the core and the civilian militia were the adjuncts.

Alas, the “actual course of events as outlined by the Russian Chronicle” (Yaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition, University of Chicago Press) argues otherwise
Of course in reality, the Novgorod army was recruited from the nobility. As to the fighting qualities of the «Vikings»: in 1187, the Novgorod Karelians (possibly with the help of Novgorod Slavs) completely looted and destroyed the capital of Sweden

They sailed into Lake Mälar from the sea,
whether calm or stormy it might be,
Once their minds to the idea did turn,
that they the town of Sigtuna should burn,
and so thoroughly they put it to the flame,
that it since then has never been the same.
There Archbishop Jon was killed,
a deed that many a heathen thrilled

Which is irrelevant with respect to our discussion about Yaroslav relying on Scandinavian troops.

As we know from the “actual course of events as outlined by the Russian Chronicle” ((Yaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition, University of Chicago Press)), the Vikings badly served Yaroslav – all the time suffered defeats. However if you believe that the use of Scandinavian mercenaries turns Yaroslav in the Scandinavian, his brother Svyatopolk turns out to be a Pecheneg, and another brother, Mstislav – Ossetian. Multicultural family heh heh

It was a common feature of Germanic barbaric laws. It wasn’t a Slavic thing.

It was a common feature of any barbaric laws. It was a universal barbaric thing

Primary Chronicle:
« Vladimir then began to reign alone in Kiev, and he set up idols on the hills outside the castle with the hall: one of Perun, made of wood with a head of silver and a mustache of gold, and others of Khors, Dazh’bog, Stribog, Simar’gl, and Mokosh…»
Perun, Khors, Dazh’bog, Stribog, Simar’gl, and Mokosh – do you really think that is Norse, not Slavic pagan religion?

We are discussing Vladimir’s religion, not the religion of Kiev. I provided a non-Russian Svidomist source showing that Vladimir followed the Norse Gods. You write about the idols he had built for Kiev’s people. Is this how you admit that you were wrong?

The primary source (Primary Chronicle) claims that Vladimir worshipped the Slavic gods (like his ancestors). Other primary sources on this issue does not exist. Found through Google opinion of madman (devoid of any evidence) is not a source at all.

“Ex-soldier of the Ukrainian battalion “Donbass” Sergey Jerzewski (colleague Parshov) stated that Voronenkov murder is personal revenge, by Parshov. Parshov was not recruited by anyone.
“I don’t think he was recruited by the (Russian secret services). Maybe someone put him up to it. He was not cunning, thoughtful. And he didn’t have Pro-Russian views”, he “hated Russia.”

https://vz.ru/news/2017/4/4/864759.html

The generally favored solution amongst Russian nationalists is to replace the current hodgepodge of oblasts, republics, krais, autonomous republics, okrugs, autonomous okrugs, and whatnot, with their varying levels of autonomy, with the Tsarist era guberniya system.

Completely unrealistic idea. Attempts to implement this approach will lead to deep conflict and possible to civil war.

A relatively realistic way is to gradually equalize all parts of Russia in rights (for example of the States of the USA)

Does anyone propose formally expelling Chechnya and making it a client state to keep an eye on it?

And what’s the point?
Nationalists dream to expel Chechnya (and also Dagestan and Ingushetia) from Russia, to deport all the natives of these republics, and fenced off by a wall. This idea is quite crazy, but the logic is clear.

But what’s the point to create a “client state”?

what’s the point to create a “client state”?

For stability.
A Chechnya with no Russian involvement would probably end up a regional base for ISIS-like groups. Am I wrong?

For this (at least for the near future) it is better to leave Chechnya as part of Russia. Exterminate the Islamists, using brute force, is almost impossible in a foreign country

However, as territories that were only definitively conquered in the 19th century, like Central Asia, they do have a point that a Russia with Chechnya but without, say, Belorussia is a fairly strange construct.

The proclamation of the “Reconquista” is even more strange idea. The only result will be a rapid rapprochement of Belarus with NATO.

It is necessary to solve the internal problems of Russia – then the integration with Russia ( for Belarus, Ukraine, etc.) will look better than rapprochement with the EU.

Promotion of aggressive policies will only harm Russia (protection of the Russian population in the conditions of the neo-Nazi coup in Ukraine – a very different case)

Authors of the source are all legitimate academics blah-blah-blah

“by the middle of the 10th century the Rus had assimilated with the native Slavs and lost their distinct identity…. Even by 907, the Rus appear to have adopted native religious beliefs, swearing to uphold the treaties by the Slavic gods Perun, a thunder god, and Veles, a chthonic deity etc. etc”

Northmen. The viking saga 793–1241 ad. John Haywood

Read through Google ( I’m too lazy to drag down the whole text here) . Self-education is always useful

For a summary of the obvious similarities between Russka Pravda and Germanic Scandinavian laws read this link to the book Law in Medieval Russia. Scroll to page 53, the section “Germanic Contacts.”

Dear friend! It’s sad that you have not read this section until the end. Otherwise you’d see the conclusion:

“The earliest law of other Slavic peoples, where there is no reason for assuming any significant Germanic influence, appears to be quite similar to Old-Russian law”

(book “Law in Medieval Russia” Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge, section “Germanic Contacts”, p 56)
Also from the same the section:

“Also, the Viking element, although very visible, must have been The earliest law of other Slavic peoples, where there is no reason for assuming any significant Germanic influence, appears to be quite similar to Old-Russian lawsmall in quantitative terms and was quickly absorbed into the Russian population and Russian culture.”

“The Russian signatories of the 945 treaty, although clearly Vikings, judging by their names, did not swear by Thor, but by Perun the Slavic god of thunder, indicating that the Varangian retinue of the Kievan prince had already adopted the religion of their Slavic surroundings”

and so on.

As you can see science in the West, too, is dominated by “Russian svidomism”. But I’m sure you will soon overtake traditional science and rigid adherents of this science, thanks to your revolutionary negationist theories.

Supposedly he let a lot of Islamists out of prison back in 2011 when the protests started so they would discredit the opposition.

Freed prisoners was what the opposition wanted.

I don’t know, does it happen in Russia? (“It’s still like Alabama in 1925, racist white cops are hunting down blacks for fun”)

Its agenda has long been forgotten. Currently in Russia the prevailing view – that white heterosexuals are the victims of racial discrimination in America

For me the question is why did they suffer more losses than the Germans.

The main reason is simple – the German industry was far superior to the Soviet. The Wehrmacht was armed with much better weapons.

Ukrainians, Belarusians and Caucasians were considered to be much less loyal to the USSR.

Strange point of view. Belarusians fought a despeate guerrilla war against the German occupation .
“Caucasians” – the unification of a very, very different peoples

True, but it’s a bit more complicated. Not all partisans were locals, and many villages were neutral and not friendly towards the Soviets. Soviet partisans often conducted raids …

The same thing happened in the occupied territories of “true” Russia.
Probably the same thing happened everywhere where fought a guerrilla war.

The Buryats aka the Eskimo and other circumpolar peoples were made fun in the Red Army, yet they were the best fighters. These valiant people conquered China (Manchus) and an eye should be kept on them.

Buryatia is the Mongols. They (along with other mongolskij tribes) really conquered China, but in the era of Genghis Khan and his descendants.

Some Soviet weapons were better. The T-34 and KV-1 tanks were

It is a myth. In 1940, the Soviet Union conducted comparative tests of the Pz III (purchased from Germany) and T-34, and came to the conclusion that the Pz III is superior to the Soviet tanks . The test results were so disappointing that the military is expected to stop production of the T-34, but instead to produce a copy of the Pz III .

“The study of the last examples of a foreign tank shows that the most successful among them is the German medium tank “Daimler-Benz T-3G”… He has the most successful combination of mobility and armor protection at a small combat weight – approx. 20t… It says that the specified tank at a comparable T-34 armor protection, with a more spacious fighting compartment, excellent mobility…. the main disadvantage of this type of tank is it’s armament of 37mm gun.
But according to the Sept. the intelligence report, these tanks already remade by armor up to 45-52 mm and armament 47mm or even 55mm gun…
I think that the German army has a tank that has the best combination of mobility, firepower and armor protection, backed by a good review with jobs crew member…
Need not wasting a minute to continue work on the tank “126” (copy of Pz III ) to bring all of its characteristics to the level of German cars.
13/IX-40 Fedorenko“.

After the war the German generals were lying about the combat quality of the Soviet tanks to justify their own defeat. The quality of other types of weapons of the Soviet army was also greatly inferior to the enemys weapon

T-34 was the best tank in the world until 1943

No (see comment above). T-34 from the beginning of the war was greatly inferior to the German tanks in fighting qualities.

Wermacht was armed not with better weapons most of the time, but with more weapons.

Not all types of weapons. For example the Soviet Union produced more tanks and aircraft. But the quality of German weapons in most cases was much better

iirc Soviet losses in the battle of Berlin were about as high as American losses in the entire war

Soviet losses in the battle of Berlin – 70 000 (killed)
American losses in the entire war – 400 000

don’t think you have any idea what you’re talking about.

I have idea.
When historians turned to the military documents of the era ( not to the memoirs of German generals, and postwar Soviet propaganda) the myth about superiority of T-34 collapsed like a house of cards.
T-34-76 (compared to Pz III) had a larger caliber gun and thicker armor. However, the Pz III had a cumulative shells and APDS (T-34 did not have such shells ) that completely balanced the superiority of the Soviet tank in gun and thickness of armor. In the rest the German tank was superior. Pz III shot faster, Pz III shot more precisely, the Pz III had the best optics, had a better radio, better maneuvering, it was more reliable, etc.

However in 1941 the battle between the tanks were a rarity. In 1941 the Germans had numerous anti-tank guns equipped with APDSI and cumulative shells. Because of this, the Germans easily destroyed T-34. The Soviet Union not had such weapons – first piercing projectiles in the USSR were made only in 1942 (for the sake of 4,000 tons of tungsten was obtained from China). Production сumulative shells in the USSR was established only at the end of the war

Of course Hitler would have none of it and the Germans designed the Panther, which pretty much copied the main idea of the design of T-34

Is this a joke? Compare

Heinz Guderian, who knew something about tanks

Heinz Guderian was a bad General (this is the assessment of military historians), but a talented writer. About the T 34 Guderian in his memoirs shamelessly lied, for obvious reasons.
The Germans early in the war captured a huge number of T-34, but almost did not use them. That is, the fighting qualities of the T-34 did not cause enthusiasm among the Germans

If the Panzer III was so outstanding, why did German AFV development focus on the Panzer IV, V (Panther) and VI (Tiger I and Tiger II)?

Because the arms race. The Soviet Union in 1944 was replaced the T-34-76

by T-34-85

and tank KW

by tank IS-2

The shells fired from Panzer III were bouncing off of T-34, making it unimportant whether it could fire faster or more accurately

This fairy tales (composed after the war by defeated German generals)
“cumulative shells played an important role in the tank troops of the Wehrmacht….
As an example, the 3rd armored division, which operated in may 1942 at Kharkov: third tank battalion, 6th tank regiment of the division had 5 tanks “Pz.II”, 34 tanks “Pz.III” with 50-mm and 6 “Pz.IV” with 75-mm gun. In the period from 12 to 22 may, the battalion destroyed:
5 tanks, KW is immobilized using cumulative shells
36 tanks “T-34” destroyed: 24 tanks by 75-mm cumulative shells , and 12 tanks “T-34” by 50-mm armor-piercing shells of tank “Pz.III.”
16 tanks “BT” destroyed by shells of 50 mm guns
5 tanks “MK.II” ( “Matilda”) disabled…”
Isaev A. V., “Ten myths of the Second World War”

“50-mm gun tanks “Pz.III”… successfully punched through side armor of the “KV-1” (thickness 75 mm) using a piercing projectile from a distance of …300 m,
and punched through the frontal armor of “KW-1″ (thickness 105 mm) with a distance of 40 m.”
Isaev A. V., “Ten myths of the Second World War”

Armor of the T-34 is much inferior to the armor of the KW-1

T-34 was the best tank in the world until 1943

The results of testing tanks T-34 and KW by the US military at the Aberdeen proving grounds, 1942.
http://english.battlefield.ru/en/tank-development/27-medium-tanks/95-t44.html

“General comments
From the American point of view, our tanks are slow. Both our tanks can climb an incline better than any American tank. The welding of the armor plating is extremely crude and careless. The radio sets in laboratory tests turned out to be not bad. However, because of poor shielding and poor protection, after installation in the tanks the sets did not manage to establish normal communications at distances greater than 10 miles. The compactness of the radio sets and their intelligent placement in the tanks was pleasing. The machining of equipment components and parts was, with few exceptions, very poor. In particular, the Americans were troubled by the disgraceful design and extremely poor work on the transmission links on the T-34. After much torment they made a new ones and replaced ours. All the tanks mechanisms demand very frequent fine-tuning…..
Сomparing American and Russian tanks, it is clear that driving Russian tanks is much harder. A virtuosity is demanded of Russian drivers in changing gear on the move, special experience in using friction clutches, great experience as a mechanic, and the ability to keep tanks in working condition (adjustments and repairs of components, which are constantly becoming disabled). This greatly complicates the training of tankers and drivers.
Judging by samples, Russians when producing tanks pay little attention to careful machining or the finishing and technology of small parts and components, which leads to the loss of the advantage what would otherwise accrue from what on the whole are well designed tanks.
Despite the advantages of the use of diesel, the good contours of the tanks, thick armor, good and reliable armaments, the successful design of the tracks etc., Russian tanks are significantly inferior to American tanks in their simplicity of driving, manoeuvrability, the strength of firing (reference to muzzle velocity), speed, the reliability of mechanical construction and the ease of keeping them running.
The head of the 2nd Department of the Main Intelligence Department of the Red Army, major-general Khlopov
”

Furthermore if Panzer III and IV were better designs than T-34, why would the Germans bother designing Panzer V and VI? To attract more investors?

1) Because technically simple T-34 was produced in huge quantities, the result was (to late 1942) the defeat of the Wehrmacht. German tanks were better, but the numerical superiority of Soviet armored forces were more important. The Germans tried by new tanks to turn the tide of war

2) Because the Germans were expecting (rightly) that the Soviet Union rearming its army with more advanced tanks (as happened in 1944 – The Soviet Union replaced the T-34-76 by T-34-85 and tank KW by tank IS-2)

Heinz Guderian was a bad General (this is the assessment of military historians)

Which military historians?….
He was later largely successful in Russia as long as the circumstances were reasonably favorable.

http://topbloger.livejournal.com/14260584.html

“Alexey Isaev: For example, I became extremely skeptical of Guderian. It’s possible to say that the darling of the public. But as a tank commander he was, shall we say, not the sharpest knife in the table. And when he directly commanded the troops, always Encirclement (which he did in 1941) was leaky. So it was near Minsk and Bryansk under, everywhere had closed the Encirclement. … as the commander of Panzer group, and Panzer army later, I will say that Guderian not enthusiastic.
This is a man who, in his memoirs, modestly talks about his failures. Therefore, following a decade of study including German documents, he has been a disappointment. Manstein is a man who really showed throughout the war the high level of professionalism. But still the tank commanders one and two in Germany were …. but Kleist and Hothт. People who for months and years, quite successfully led to battle tanks. Therefore, we should not ever judge a person according to his memoirs. … for example, Hothт, wrote memoirs, a weak, but nevertheless he was the man who came to Minsk, Smolensk, Moscow and Stalingrad and Hothт is definitely a professional tank commander. But Guderian in literature was more successful …. From a literary point of view is very nice to read, but this does not always coincide with reality.”

Guderian is Moltke the younger of WWII

We always hear how devastating the summer 1941 was for Russians and how Stalin was to blame for essentially decapitating the army. Yet, we never hear that militarily the Russians even then performed considerably better than French did in 1940.

The Soviet military command was a lot lot better than the French military command. Soviet troops (unlike the French) always constantly counterattacked against the Germans, which ultimately led to the failure of “Barbarossa”. If in 39-40 Soviet generals commanded the French army, the Germans would have been defeated in Belgium

About “decapitating the army” the Soviet myth. Terror has affected a relatively small number of officers. Military talents of the majority of victims are questionable.

Hitler beat Stalin but both monsters killed people in the millions and both were far deadlier than anyone who came before, in centuries.

In the case of Stalin – not millions.

http://polit.ru/article/2007/12/11/repressii/
“…In fact, the number of prisoners for political reasons (for “counterrevolutionary crimes”) in the USSR in the period from 1921 to 1953, i.e. after 33 years was about 3.8 million people… during this period ( 1921 to 1954 ) has been convicted 3 777 380 people, including to capital punishment – 642 980, to the contents in camps and prisons for a term of 25 years and below – 2 369 220, into exile and expulsion – 765 180 people“.

Of course it’s possible to start to count “victims of famine”. But in this case, Stalin will be a great humanist, in comparison with the rulers of the British Empire.

“A cruel tax and trade-usurious exploitation of the peasantry (in India) had caused widespread hunger . If 1825-1850. the famine twice struck the country and claimed 0.4 million human lives, in 1850-1875 famine killed 5 million, in 1875-1900. — 26 million.”
(ИСТОРИЯ ВОСТОКА IV Восток в новое время (конец XVIII — начало XX в.) Книга 2)

Remember Mahatma Gandhi: “Hitlerism and Churchillism are in fact the same thing”

That’s very good.

Not very good. The author accuses the USSR in the mistaken pursuit of quantity at the expense of quality. But for the Soviet Union (with a hastily created industry, and unskilled labor) it was not possible to produce the same high quality products as the Germans. In the end, the Soviet Union produced a lot of inferior tanks (so that the numerical superiority compensated the lack of quality) – strategy that fully worked, and led to the victory.

And in the article, a lot of juggling. For example, the author believes that the Arab-Israeli war – proof of unfitness for action of Soviet tanks. But how then should be assessed the extermination of the latest Saudi “Abrams” by Houthis (armed with Soviet weapons )?

Absolute numbers. The Irish potato famine with 1 million victims killed about 20% or so of the Irish population. In contrast, the 3-4 million famine victims in Ukraine were “only” about 10% of that Republic’s population, and the 3+ million victims in Russia those years was a smaller percentage.* The million or so who were shot were a smaller % still.

In 1932 in Ukraine 782 000 were born and 668 000 died, in 1933 – 359 000 were born and 1309 000 died (data from Центральное управление народохозяйственного учета Госплана СССР). 1309 000 – 668 000 = 641 000?

1309 000 – 668 000 = 641 000?

Clarification: a natural death rate for years that preceded famine 1932-1933 in Ucraine – 524 000 persons. In 1932 in Ukraine 668 000 died, in 1933 – 1309 000 died

Then number of victims of famine in Ucraine roghly
(1309 000 – 524 000)+( 668 000 – 524 000) = 831 000

Here’s a decent source, one of very many:
http://www.melgrosh.unimelb.edu.au/documents/SGW-UkranianFamine_mortality.pdf

That is, the author tries to use demographic interpolation to prove covert (unfixed in documents) deaths of millions of people.
This approach offers great opportunities to expose covert repression during the demographic transition.
In the future, probably political passions calmed, and it will be possible to find out who is right in the number of victims of hunger .
At this moment, the more likely that Western historians exaggerated the number of victims of famine for political purposes (as they definitely made with the number of victims of Stalin’s terror) and the number of registered deaths gives a correct assessment.

No significant modern researcher either in the West or in Russia takes the official death register as the actual number of victims. This is something you personally do.

For example V. Zemskov and A. Shubin definitely takes the official death register as the actual number of victims

A. Shubin :
“Even according to Ukrainian researcher S. V. Kulchytsky, “it is impossible not to see that the statistical authorities to properly fulfill their professional duty locking from month to month stunning mortality”.
The Registrar phlegmatic recorded the mortality of the whole period of the famine. If you count deaths 1931 “background”, then the excess number of deaths in 1932-1933 is 1489,1 thousand. In 1931, before the famine in Ukraine died 514,7 thousand people, in 1932, when the famine was just beginning – 668,2 thousand. In 1933 the officially registered mortality was 1850,3 thousand. …There is evidence that the registry office in the midst of famine did not capture all deaths. But what is the number of unaccounted for deaths? Because in general, the Registrar recorded an unprecedented peak of mortality. This in itself suggests that the leadership of the country did not intend to “hide” the tragedy, even from myself. The underestimation of mortality could be due to local initiative .
It is also unclear what number of died from hunger and not for other reasons related to the deterioration of the social situation.
The number of victims may be slightly less (not all died of starvation), and some more (there may be some underreporting in the civil registry offices). Objective assessment of victims in this way is in the corridor of 1-2 million”

I previously gave the wrong figure – In 1933 the officially registered mortality in Ukraine was 1 850 000 , not 1 350 000. I apologize for this error

A. Shubin https://www.booklot.ru/authors/shubin-aleksandr-vladlenovich/book/10-mifov-sovetskoy-stranyi/content/2755582-skolko-jertv/ , 2006

V. Zemskov – http://eot-canada.ca/wp-ru/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/viktor-zemskov-politicheskie-repressii-v-sssr-1917-1990.pdf , 2009

Shubin is a leftist activist

Totally agree. And I do not share views оf Shubin. But in this case (famine 1932-33), Shubin spoke quite reasonably.

You questioned Western scholars’ objectivity

Yes. “Western scholars’” work on this topic – party propaganda, like Soviet “The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union “. Of course the works Shubin is also party propaganda (from other political positions).

you use Shubin? Really?

I pointed out that your statement “No significant modern researcher either in in Russia takes the official death register as the actual number of victims” is wrong (regardless of the rightness/wrongness of Shubin)

Dynamics in Russia are remarkable analogous, though unlike the Chinese, I don’t think we’ve even progressed to the point of having our own term for SJWs.

99% of the population of Russia knows nothing about the existence of SJW. PC-fans of all shades will be in Russian called “толераст” (this is probably the most accurate analogue of word “baizuo”)

BTW, Crimea and now Donbas are the first two chapters in Putin’s own ‘Triune’ program

Dobass – no. Putin is making great efforts to return Dobass in Ukraine. However likely his efforts will fail, and Kiev nationalists (with their trade blockade https://www.ft.com/content/276f3fd8-098c-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43) will make Donbass a part of Russia

Who would have thought back in 2014 that we’d all be here? Back around the time of the Sochi Olympic Games we already knew the western media loved to throw mud at Putin and Russia but did any of us think it would go this far? The coup in Kiev; the blind eye turned on genuine neo-Nazi private militias carrying out massacres; the failed attempt to bring Donbass to heel; the tank battles and artillery duels; Givi & Motorola and all the rest. Then came the Trump hysteria that has already surpassed what Tom Clancy and Dan Browne could together come up with after a month of sweat lodge sessions and magic mushroom journeys. Just stand back from the perspective of 2014 and look in wonder at it all.

I’m not a Spencer fan, by the way, I think he’s likely …a Russian agent

He kill for Putin?

Much as the Russian court was speaking French

It is a myth. The aristocracy were mostly fluent in French, but the primary language of the aristocracy (despite the myths) was Russian (in particular letters were for the most part written in Russian –)