By John Helmer, Moscow The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing to release Privatbank, the largest commercial bank in Ukraine, from independent tests of its solvency and capital adequacy, and allow a bailout of the bank with Ukrainian public funds, backed by the IMF. The Ukraine mission of the IMF has also revealed this week […]

by John Helmer - Friday, June 6th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Nudelman is the real name of Victoria Nuland, co-author of the February 21 coup d’etat in Kiev; and author of the four-letter expletive by which she disposed, almost, of Germany’s objections to the war against Russia which has followed. In Yiddish, Nudelman is generally thought to refer to the culinary trade […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow The US Navy’s current Russia containment tactic in the Black Sea has been unable to negotiate refuelling from naval or civilian fuel tankers while under way at sea, and requires port calls for fuel every seven days. The Navy has announced that its missile cruiser, USS Vella Gulf, put into the […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, June 1st, 2014
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“Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail…This weekend, Ukrainians voted by the millions. Yesterday, I spoke to their next president. We don’t know how the situation will play out, and there will remain grave challenges ahead, but standing with our allies on behalf of international order, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, May 29th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Radoslaw Sikorski (Radek for short) commenced his campaign to be elected High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union in 2009. For openers, he engaged an American graduate student to pronounce him “a strong contender for the position”, “steely-eyed”, and “a dark horse candidate”. Five years is […]

by John Helmer - Monday, May 26th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Russian Customs reports this week that imports of steel pipes from Ukraine have dropped by 50% or more, compared to 2013. Steel industry sources in Moscow are predicting the Russian market may have closed to Ukrainian steelmakers, as Gazprom and Rosneft, the largest buyers of pipes, are directed by the Kremlin […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Hercules can thank the lucky stars on Mount Olympus that his name isn’t used these days for the clinical condition of megalomania turning homicidal, accompanied by manic-depressive swings, transvestism, sadism, etc. A number of generals in the last world war – George Patton, Curtis LeMay – thought they were herculean in […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow If the programme of US sanctions cuts Russian military industries off from imports from the Ukraine, the new costs imposed on the Russian side may turn out to be less than the price of the sacrifice on the Ukrainian side. According to Russian military sources, that’s because, starting last year the […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, May 18th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow The oligarchs of Ukraine, who control the eastern regions’ principal assets, employment, tax base, and income, are at risk of being politically and financially squeezed to death. Unless they can quickly become Maoists — at least according to Mao Zedong’s Red Book saying: 枪杆子里面出政权 (“Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, May 14th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow If the presidential election goes ahead on May 25, half the voters of eastern Ukraine will not vote. Of the half who do, half will vote for the frontrunner and US-backed candidate, Petro Poroshenko. The other half will divide between three or four candidates, including the Communist Party’s Petro Simonenko, the […]

by John Helmer - Friday, May 9th, 2014
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