Category: Russia

Russians Are Really beginning To Question American Adoptions…


Russian orphans adopted by sadistic torturers by Alexander Vatutin

To date, 17 Russian-born orphans adopted in the United States have died at the hands of their foster parents. Speaking in Moscow Monday, the Russian children’s rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov urged the American authorities to thoroughly investigate the latest instance of abuse of Russian-born adoptees in the United States.Three teenage girls in the case were victims of beatings and sadistic torture at the hands of the Leszczynski couple, Larimer, Colorado.

The man and wife, named Steve and Edelvina, are now facing criminal charges.Astakhov accuses American social services of neglecting duty and failing to promptly detect the abuse.Indeed, the uncovered mistreatment goes quite some time back.

One day last winter, one of the girls turned up for classes with a badly bruised face. It turned out that her foster mother had hurled a heavy boot at her. A subsequent inquest also reported other abuse techniques, such as making the girls walk on their hands, stay outdoors in biting frost or pouring rain, run barefoot to 25 miles, punch one another in the face and do multiple push-ups on steel nails. The arsenal also included threats to return the girls to their orphanages in Russia.

Symptomatically, the US authorities ignored the fact that all Russian adoptees under 18 remain Russian nationals and their status and progress must be regularly reported to Russian consular officers. In the Leszczynski case, the Russian side got its first word of trouble in the Colorado family from the American media. All Russia-US adoptions are now on hold, pending a formal bilateral agreement on the matter.

We hear from Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov: The proposed agreement should commit the adopting couples to regularly reporting the conditions and progress of their adoptees to American social services and Russian consular officers. It should also contain retroactive clauses for making a flawed adoption null and void. It is quite strange that Russia and the United States have so long fared without any such agreement.

It look like this is a never ending issue. Pavel Astakhov is very vocal about this problem and it looks to me if he had his way America would never adopt another child from Russia! Everyday that goes by makes his case stronger and stronger and the lack of ending the stalemate on “adoption rules” between America and Russia, are making him look very correct about the issues with America…

I also can not find any Western press about this case and that really bothers me. It has been noticed by Russia that no one cares about this horrific crime…

Article from a Russian News Source:  Voice of Russia.

Windows to Russia!

Medvedev Meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia…


Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow
Patriarch Kirill of all Russia…

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA  DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Your Holiness, I would like to sincerely congratulate you on this great holiday [the Assumption of the Virgin] and thank you for participating in the event that just took place, the consecration of an icon which is now once again above the gates of the Kremlin‘s Spasskaya Tower.

Of course this is a very special thing; it really is a miracle. It gives me great pleasure to take part in this event, as it is one that brings our country together. Indeed, it was the feat of those who decades ago risked their lives to preserve these icons for us. The fact that these icons were miraculously rediscovered is a very special thing for our country, for Moscow, and the Kremlin.

And despite today’s rain and quite unpleasant weather, it seems to me that this day will forever remain in our history. Today this really is long-awaited rain in Moscow, the rain Moscow was waiting for, that all Russia was waiting for, because the summer was very difficult.

The whole country helped extinguishing fires that broke out in the central regions and in the Volga Federal District. People helped using their own means, their own money, using everything they could. Everyone joined in, as we say in Russia.

The Russian Orthodox Church has not remained aloof from fighting this disaster: naturally the Church was with the people. I know that you personally worked actively in this regard and many priests participated in these affairs by supporting ordinary people.

Therefore, on behalf of all of us I would like to say thank you very much to the Russian Orthodox Church for these efforts, and express my admiration for ordinary Russians who came, donated their belongings, their money, or simply put their own forces and labour into extinguishing fires, sometimes people who perhaps did not even have a relationship with the affected regions.

That is what I wanted to say. Your Holiness, please go ahead.

PATRIARCH KIRILL OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA: I want to sincerely thank you, Mr President, for what took place today. Indeed, all this can be approached as the convergence of certain aspects of our history, or we can try to look at it from a different perspective.

The holy face of the Saviour appeared on Spasskaya [Saviour’s] Tower and this, of course, is a symbol. The fact that it rained today – and let’s remember that the Victory Parade also took place in the rain – is always an act of grace. We prayed hard for rain and now it pours; let the rain nourish our parched land.

Thank you for appreciating the modest efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church. You mentioned the people who participated in extinguishing fires. In our institutions which collected humanitarian aid and organised deliveries for firefighters, something special was happening. People kept coming there, young people who, instead of going to the disco, all of a sudden felt they were to come to these places, and they did, and donated what they had, and drove their cars to delivered humanitarian aid.

As one of high-ranking clergy in charge of this effort said: we have all changed. All of us were somehow cleansed by this fire. May God grant that the difficulties that befall our Fatherland make us stronger, and that Russia keep regenerating.

With all my heart I wish you God’s help and strength in your noble service for the benefit of Russia.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you, Your Holiness.

Windows to Russia!

Big Automobile Business Likes Russia!


Ford Will Build a Second Plant in Russia
Ford Motors plans to build a second auto plant in Russia, according to Reuters, citing Ford European vice president Jim Tetreault.
Tetreault said the site for the new plant will be chosen next year. He also said the capacity of the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, will be brought up to 125,000 vehicles to meet the demand for Ford cars in Russia. That plant current produces 75,000 cars per year, and almost half of the Fords sold in Russia are imported. Tetreault did not specify what models would be made at the new plant. Experts suggest that the Fiesta family car and Kuga crossover SUV may be chosen.

Why are they building another plant in Russia?

The Russian market kept Ford from going belly up!
Ford made money in Russia last year and the years before. Ford sells all cars it made in its Russian Plant to Russians and can sell more. It even imports cars from outside of Russia to keep up with the demand. Ford lost money in the USA.

Looks like the rumor could be true, Ford is slowly moving overseas!

GM to Launch Carmaker in St. Petersburg Nov. 5 2008
General Motors will launch a plant in St. Petersburg on November 5, 2008, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko announced when delivering the annual address to the Legislative Assembly of the city, RIA Novosti reported.
“The second automobile plant, General Motors, will be launched November 5,” the governor said, reminding that laying the foundation stone of Hyundai has been slated for June, when St. Petersburg hosts the Economic Forum.

One of the global carmakers, General Motors, will launch in St. Petersburg the plant worth roughly $300 million with the annual capacity of 70,000 cars. Captiva off-highway vehicles are amid the models to be made by GM in that city of Russia.

General Motors is represented in Russia already. The company has a joint venture with local automobile giant AvtoVAZ. GM-AvtoVAZ was set into motion September 2002 and it currently makes Chevrolet Niva off-highway vehicles and Chevrolet Viva cars.

Goodyear Building Plant in Yaroslavl?
For the first time in three years, a foreign tire-maker may build a plant in Russia. The U.S. company Goodyear is considering a $200-250-million project in Yaroslavl Region to produce up to 5 million car tires a year. Goodyear executives met with regional governor Sergey Bakhrukov at the end of last month and asked him to allot them a plot of land. Sources say that Bakhrukov set aside about 70 ha. for the company. That land has no infrastructure, however. In addition, according to sources, Bakhrukov has asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to provide Goodyear with investment benefits, and the president has already asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to look into the question. Ernest & Young consulted Goodyear on the project.
Goodyear, the Yaroslavl administration and the Ministry of Industry and Trade were unavailable for comment Friday evening, but Igor Karavaev, deputy general director of OAO SIBUR – Russian Tires, which controls the Yaroslavl Tire Plant that “the project really is being discussed” and “SIBUR is one of the participants in that discussion.”

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. owns 60 plants in 26 countries. It sells the most tires in the United States and second most in Europe. The company is made up of six divisions: British Dunlop Tyres, American Kelly-Springfield Tire Company и Lee Tire and Rubber Co., Slovenian Sava Tires, German Fulda and Polish Debica. It produces the Assurance, Fortera, Wrangler, Eagle, Nordic and Ultra Grip brands. There are two Western tire plants already operating in Russia. They are the French Michelin, built outside Moscow in 2004, which makes 2 million tires per year, and the Finnish Nokian Tires plant in Leningrad Region, which produces 4 million tires per year and may potentially increase its capacity to 10 million. The Japanese Bridgestone Co. considered building a plant in St. Petersburg, but rejected the idea.

Yaroslavl Region is relatively close to carmakers in both Leningrad and Moscow Regions. Goodyear already has experience there, since Yaroslavl Tire Plant has produced Goodyear tires on the off-take system (in which Goodyear sells them itself and the plant receives only a production commission). SIBUR – Russia Tires is likely to oppose the American company’s plans. “The state should support domestic producers first of all and create condition s for the innovative development of Russian enterprises,” Karavaev asserted. He noted that the People’s Republic of China requires foreign tire makers to form joint enterprises with local tire-makers. The rapidly expanding car assembly plants in Russia will have to be localized by at least 30 percent in the future. Therefore, if Goodyear is unable to finalize the project in Yaroslavl, it will be highly motivated to continue it in another region of Russia. Goodyear executives say unofficially that other regions are under consideration.

Renault to Make New Model in Russia!
Renault plans to assemble its new Sandro model, a five-door hatchback based on its budget model Logan, at its Avtoframos plant in Moscow. The Logan is also assembled at the Avtoframos plant. Assembly of the Sandro, with both gasoline and diesel engines, will begin in late 2009. The company has not said how many of the new car it plans to produce. Sources say that it may make 80,000-100,000 vehicles per year, which would use half of Avtoframos’ capacity. One source says, however, that the plant’s capacity will be increased next year to 190,000 vehicles. Officially, Renault plans to increase the plant’s capacity from the current 80,000 vehicles to 160,000.
Renault has been talking about expanding the capacity of Avtoframos and creating another model based on the Logan since 2005. The expansion at Avtoframos is estimated to cost $150 million. They note at the Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade that Avtoframos has yet to make amendments to its investment agreement for the industrial assembly of automobiles.

Observers say that the Sandro is likely to cost between $13,000 and $15,000, that is, more than the Logan. It would thus compete with AvtoVAZ models such as the Lada Priora (starting price $13,000), Kalina ($12,000) and Lada 110 models ($11,000). That price segment is one of the most popular in Russia. Renault owns a blocking (25-percent) package in by AvtoVAZ. A seven-passenger station wagon based on the Logan is made by AvtoVAZ.

French-Japanese Alliance to Build a Carmaker in Russia!
Another two car giants chose Russia for car assembly. French PSA Peugeot Citroen and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Co. have clinched a deal to set up a respective venture.
An automobile plant, which foundation stone will be laid in Kaluga June 10, will be making Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Citroen mid-size off-highway vehicles and mid-size cars of Peugeot and Citroen brands. The capacity is estimated at roughly 160,000 cars a year.

The initial plans were that Peugeot Citroen would independently construct the plant. But Mitsubishi is needed for a few models, which it makes for the French consortium. The matter at stake is all-wheel drive C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007.

Mitsubishi announced January 24, 2008 that it concluded an agreement on industrial assembly of cars in Russia with the RF Economic Development Ministry.

Quite a few of automobile giants have recently decided to launch car assembly in Russia. The Leningrad and Kaluga regions are the most favored whereabouts for that undertaking. Of interest is that Volkswagen has chosen both regions for Russia’s expansion.

Toyota Motor Corp. inaugurated its facility in St. Petersburg past fall. Suzuki and Nissan are also amid the companies that have decided to have plants there.

They all have one thing in mind…….

MONEY!

Windows to Russia!

Putin Truth and Tell – Part 2…


Putin Talks Over Lunch...

Putin is on a two thousand kilometer trip that has allowed him time to do some relaxing. On this trip he is expressing what he feels and thinks. Putin is being Putin again…

Putin stressed that opposition movements – all of whom stand for the rule of law – must also stick to the law and obtain official permission before staging a rally…

“What is a lawful state? It is abiding by the law. What does the current legislation say on the [opposition] march? You should get permission from local authorities. Have you got it? Then you can go out and demonstrate. If not, you have no right. If you went out without a right to do so – expect a baton to the skull. That’s it!” he said…

The comments referred to the so-called Dissenters March in support of Article 31 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. About ten times now, human right activists and the opposition have attempted to stage rallies on the last day of each month that has 31 days. However, each time the gathering ends up with clashes with police and arrests, as Moscow authorities banned the demonstration at the capital’s central Triumfalnaya Square and the protesters insist they want no other site to stage their rally…

“Yes, I have heard on a number of occasions that they were protesting on Triumfalnaya Square but were dispersed. I ask: why were they dispersed? Because they were allowed to demonstrate in one place, but gathered at another instead. I say, but why did they go to the other place? I still cannot understand this,” Putin said…

“They have something to say, right? Am I right? They want to criticize the government. Well, in London, people are assigned places to gather for protests, and if they protest where they are not supposed to, they come in for a trouble. Not permitted but still came? Get it! And nobody sees it as wrong! If their goal is to say something, they should do it a different way,” he said.

“For example, how about inviting …Andrey Ivanovich Kolesnikov [Kommersant‘s correspondent] and a couple or more TV crews from the West and the East, taking out a Jolly Roger banner and saying out loud ‘Screw the government!’ and repeating it till you get what you want? You know what’s good about today’s world? You can say things round the corner of a public toilet, but they will be heard by the whole world because TV crews will be there! So why not just say whatever there is on your mind and call it a day?” the PM ranted…

But the goal is very different there, Putin said. “The goal is to defy current legislation, to say ‘We want a legal state for somebody else, not for ourselves. As for us, we will do what we want, and will provoke you to kick our asses!’ So they splatter themselves with red paint and say that the powers that be are anti-people and suppress human rights,” he said…

According to the premier, by holding banned rallies, the opposition provokes the police to use force against them…

“If the aim is provocation, it will always be a success. But is if the aim is to inform the international and Russian public, there is no point in provoking and breaking the law,” he stated. “If the aim is to make authorities compromise and they do so, there will be another cause for a provocation. And this will keep going for ever,” he added…

Darn I like this guy, he is a straight shooter. You know where you stand with him and if you step over the line, you know where you are then also…

Windows to Russia!

Looks Like Truth and Tell Time by Putin…


RIA NovostiRussian Prime Minister Vladimir PutinPutin slams West for deceiving Russia

12:34 30/08/2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused western countries of using unfair political methods including deceit and breaking promises to obstruct the process of “resetting” relations between Russia and the West.Read More >>>

Putin has been expressing himself a lot more recently. The problem is that he is correct…

I see an presidential election coming…

Windows to Russia!

Medvedev Video on The Khimki Forest…


Dmitry Medvedev announced this decision in his blog. The President instructed the Government to suspend the implementation of the resolution on the motorway construction through the Khimki Forest and to conduct further public and expert discussions on the issue.

Windows to Russia!

Russia: Siberian Traffic Officers Tell True Ladies, How To Drive! (Ouch)


Hello,

Seems that men in Russia get in trouble with women as much as they do in America, especially when they provoke the women with a, ’Driving Rules for a True Lady’ manual…
Traffic police in Siberia have risked incurring the wrath of the fairer sex with a new guidebook telling women how to bring their driving up to scratch. The controversial document, ‘Driving rules for a true lady’, claims female drivers flirt with passing males, park in the middle of the street and only use the rear view mirror for putting on make-up.

The booklet, which has a pink cover, aims to draw attention to female motorists’ most common mistakes.

But despite its lack of political correctness, police in Krasnoyarsk say they don’t want to cause offense, but are trying to make the roads safer.

They came up with the idea after noticing the number of road accidents caused by women is growing rapidly.

“Women certainly are just as good drivers as men are,” said a police officer. But he added that they suffered a great deal of trouble because of stilettos and tight skirts, which restrained body movement.

However female drivers have complained at being singled out. They say they don’t see why a similar booklet wasn’t made for men, who are accountable for more then a half of all accidents on the road.

“It’s a pretty offensive text and they seem to have written it for idiots, not responsible drivers,” says one driver, Maria. “When someone is at the wheel their gender is irrelevant. They either follow the rules or they don’t.”

Another said: “This is banality. Especially the color. I think women are the most careful drivers.”

But Nadezhda, another Krasnoyarsk driver, said the booklet won’t change anything, because some women drivers “think they are beyond the rules”.

Krasnoyarsk police’s ’Driving rules for a true lady’:

#1. A true lady never breaks traffic rules because she respects the law.

#2. A true lady uses rear-view mirrors to check the road, not her appearance.

#3. A true lady won’t start a race against a male driver.

#4. A true lady will make way for another car when rules call for it – even if it means making way for a man.

#5. A true lady shall never use a mobile phone without a hands-free kit, even to learn the latest news on sales and discounts.

#6. Keeping her car fit is as important for a true lady as taking care of her looks.

#7. A true lady doesn’t flirt at the wheel and doesn’t get distracted by the looks of passing men. She knows it’s in bad taste.

#8. A true lady never sees the middle of the road as “a convenient spot to park the car”.

#9. A true lady always keeps her papers in order and in one place.

#10. A true lady keeps to her lane and uses indicator signals when she wants to change.

Looks like the traffic cops in Krasnoyarsk are looking to get in trouble! What do you think, Would this go over in America or the UK? 🙂

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

From Russia: The Depression on a Global Scale!



Hello,Windows to Russia!

I talked about last year that the word Depression would be brought up after the first of the year. Guess what? I have in the last week seen reference to the coming depression amongst all the major news sources and even seen several podcasts about the Global Depression that we are going toward.

I really wish this was not true but I also will not fool myself…

This year will see a major economic breakdown followed by worldwide riots, as people who have lost everything rebel against the situation, where those in power save themselves at the expense of everyone else.

This is according to the forecast by Gerald Celente of The Trends Research Institute of New York, who successfully predicted the panic of 2008.

The global crisis will only get worse according to Celente and turn into the greatest depression in modern history.

He compares the world economy with the cruise liner Titanic. The ship is sinking, he says, and spaces on the lifeboats are few.

Even now people who suffered from the global crisis are ready to resort to violence, as the reports from Iceland, Latvia and Lithuania indicate. As the meltdown continues, the situation will only get worse.

I got a lot of hate mail over the fact that I expressed the word “Depression” before the end of 2008 and many think that if you do not think or say it that it will never happen.

It is going to get rough…

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

The Church: That God Has Not Forgot!





When Sveta and I travel, we look at everything. Well we found this beautiful Church. We think it is Orthodox…

In Russia back in the old days. The churches were all closed. They were boarded up and sometimes blown up. This church was 400 km from Moscow, so that is maybe, what saved it from being blown up?

We thought that you might like to see a church from the past. Still has paintings on the wall, but very faded. The roof is caving in slowly. There are trees growing on the roof.

If any one has a idea of what era and what religion this church is let me know. From what we see in Russia it is Orthodox.

We wish we had the money to buy it, we would fix it up and enjoy it, make a museum out of it…

You can feel God is still there, when you stand in the middle of it.

Windows to Russia!

Russia Says Victor Bout is not a Criminal…


Viktor Bout…

The Russian businessman Victor Bout has committed no crime according to many Russian sources…

The crime committed was by the USA Government…

The USA government agencies were happy to employ Bout’s services in the past, while now they accuse him of illegal arms deliveries.

It seems that Victor Bout was a major USA arms deliverer, prior to the invasion of Iraq. The USA lacked the sufficient number of transport planes to transfer military cargoes to the troops. So they hired people like Bout to deliver their goods…

At that time in history it was more important to deliver cargoes to the troops, than to worry about what kind of person the deliverer would be. So in effect no questions asked and money under the table…

“The Bout case is an unfriendly gesture initiated by the US and may hurt the reset of bilateral relations!”  Said, Russia’s Foreign Ministry official Vladimir Kozin.

Kozin also believes that suspected arms smuggler Viktor Bout is innocent, that’s why Moscow is rendering him “firm support”.

Viktor Bout was arrested in Thailand under a USA request in the spring of 2008 which accused him of trafficking weapons. The very same thing he had done for years, for America…

Never I say Never Trust the American Government and do their dirty work. They will get you in the end, to silence you…

Windows to Russia!

  • Russian says Bout “ballyhoo” may hurt reset with U.S. (reuters.com)
  • Viktor Bout Case: “It Was the Privatization of Warfare” (emptywheel.firedoglake.com)
  • ‘Merchant of Death’, Viktor Bout, will finally face justice (telegraph.co.uk)
  • Viktor Bout case: US concern over possible freedom (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
  • Viktor Bout moved to high-security Thai prison (sfgate.com)
  • Viktor Bout moved to high-security Thai prison (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
  • Viktor Bout, Suspected Russian Arms Smuggler, To Be Extradited To U.S. (huffingtonpost.com)
  • US-Russia await Thai court ruling Friday on extradition of alleged top arms dealer Viktor Bout (foxnews.com)
  • Viktor Bout: five passports, half a dozen languages and alleged friend to all sides (guardian.co.uk)
  • U.S. to extradite Viktor Bout from Thailand (sfgate.com)
  • Thailand to extradite suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout (guardian.co.uk)
  • ‘Merchant of Death’: Who is Viktor Bout? (channel4.com)
  • Viktor Bout case: US concern over possible freedom (sfgate.com)