Ukraine's European Revolution?

[Sheilbh]

I'd guess a skeletal eagle.

Yeah, that makes sense. Definitely think the one at the left is Israel, perhaps with a Canada-rat?

No idea on Japan.

[garbon]

One site suggests vulture for US and then that Japan is a rat (skull).

[Grey Fox]

Like I said.

Man, you guys have really turned on the ignore this week.

[grumbler]

Did somebody just post something?

[mongers]

Or maybe NATO with Latvia hanging on?

That's a good guess.

[Razgovory]

From EUOT:

Wait a second, isn't Russia and China in the G20?

[Syt]

http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/730880

Putin, CIS leaders watch military drills on countering nuclear strike

The exercise involved strategic bombers, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of the Pacific and Northern Fleets, and strategic land-based mobile missile systems

MOSCOW, May 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin together with the leaders of a number of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries on Thursday watched scheduled Russian military command and control drills.

The military in the exercise demonstrated to the Commander-In-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces the engagement of separate missile and artillery forces and military units, aviation and air defense for the destruction of ground force groupings and rebuffing a massive missile and air strike of the enemy, as well as delivering a massive retaliatory counter-strike by nuclear deterrence forces and rebuffing the enemy's nuclear strike by the missile defense system of the city of Moscow.

The drills were organized to check the Russian Armed Forces' command and control system, the reliability of transmission of training orders and signals from the Russian National Defense Control Center to military districts to the command posts of military formations and units, to the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), to the aerospace defense forces and long-range aviation command.

The exercise involved strategic bombers, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of the Pacific and Northern Fleets, strategic land-based mobile missile systems, combat power of the aerospace defense.

The drills also involved missile and artillery forces of the Southern and Central Military Districts.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev were watching the exercise together with Putin from the Russian National Defense Control Center.

[Viking]

The true reason for invading Iraq.



Coalition necromancers have resurrected Tiamat and now after years of brainwashing the coalition are preparing to unleash the beast. Will their hubris unleash this monster on god-fearing Russia? Is Putin Marduk reborn? What will the Russian Orthodox Church think about Putin being Marduk reborn?

[Ed Anger]

Raistlin would kick Putin's ass.

[Syt]

Yes, I like checking Russian news outlets. Know thy enemy and all that. Also, amusing what kind of alternate reality they propagate.

Still, hadn't caught that on Austrian news:

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/730925

Russia files note of protest with Austria over desecration of monument to Soviet warriors

Moscow demands from Vienna to eliminate the damages and punish those guilty



MOSCOW, May 8. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has filed a note of protest with Austria regarding the desecration of the monument to Soviet warriors-liberators in Vienna, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Thursday.

"Upon this fact, a protest note has been filed with the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs with an insistent demand to the relevant Austrian authorities to take urgent measures and eliminate the damages at the memorial complex, establish and punish those guilty and prevent similar incidents in the future," the commentary says. "Taking into account the international legal liabilities of Vienna stipulated by the Treaty for the re-establishment of an independent and democratic Austria, signed in Vienna on the 15 May 1955 and the recurrent acts of vandalism, we urge again the Austrian authorities to take relevant measures for providing reliable protection of the memorial on Schwarzenbergplatz".
How the monument was desecrated

The monument to Soviet warrior-liberator in downtown Vienna has been desecrated overnight to Thursday.

Unidentified offenders have painted the Ukrainian flag on the granite cube before the stele, covering the plate with the monument's name and names of its authors.

The memorial, which several years ago was renovated by the Austrian authorities, has become target for vandals multiple times. The last time it happened in April 2012, when the monument was poured with red paint.

On Thursday, Austria celebrates the 69th anniversary of the end of World War II. Vienna was liberated by Soviet troops on April 13, 1945. Thus, the vandals, who painted the Ukrainian flag, have insulted over the memory of warriors of the Second and Third Ukrainian fronts, who participated in Vienna's liberation.

The monument at Schwarzenbergplatz:

[derspiess]

Soviet liberators

[Syt]

It's amusing how the Russians always get all huffy when a Soviet war memorial is vandalized. Yeah, sure, you removed the fascists. But it's not like you replaced it with something vastly superior.

That said I'm in favor of keeping the memorials for historical reasons and some of them are not too ugly.

[DGuller]

Soviet liberators

Actually, Austria is probably in unique position here.  The Soviets removed the Nazis from their lands without actually replacing them with themselves.  Of course, the extent to which Austria was an unwilling partner of Germany could be debated;  if it wasn't that unwilling, then it couldn't be "liberated" in the first place.

[Viking]

@syt - spray painting the ukrainian flag, a successor state of  the soviet union, on the memorial to the soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd ukrainina fronts might be considered fitting. Anyways Russia complaining about treaty from 1955 while ignoring the budapest memorandum from 1995 is chutzpah.

@DGuller - more complicated than that. All occupation zones were removed from austria on the condition that austria remain neutral and NOT part of germany. The alternative was partition like germany. In any case, the russians had already stolen every thing that could be stolen and raped everybody that could be raped.

[Syt]

"First victim of Hitler" was the official doctrine in Austria, and the Allies supported it. Austria saw much less de-nazification than Germany, and a lot of officials remained in place.

Also, Austria was still occupied until 1955, when it agreed to "everlasting neutrality" in exchange for a full return of its sovereignty. It was after the fall of the USSR that Austria could finally get into the EU (because the Soviets insisted that they should never, ever be in any form of alliance/union with Germany again).