Russia/Ukraine War

Join host Lori Spencer from the U.S., Kevin Michelizzi in #Crimea, and Dr. Mike Krupa in Poland for this X (formerly Twitter) Spaces live broadcast. Get the latest analysis on the June 23 missile attack on a civilian beach in #Sevastopol, the terrorist attacks on two Orthodox churches and a Jewish synagogue in #Dagestan, and how the cancellation of Western-run YouTube channels about life in Crimea and the closure of the #Russia visa processing center fit into a narrative control package from the United States. Also, hear an update from Dr. Mike Krupa about a new anti-war #EU political coalition forming in the European Union. Join host Lori Spencer from the U.S., Kevin Michelizzi in #Crimea, and Dr. Mike Krupa in Poland for this X (formerly Twitter) Spaces live broadcast. Get the latest analysis on the June 23 missile attack on a civilian beach in #Sevastopol, the terrorist attacks on two Orthodox churches and a Jewish synagogue in #Dagestan, and how the cancellation of Western-run YouTube channels about life in Crimea and the closure of the #Russia visa processing center fit into a narrative control package from the United States. Also, hear an update from Dr. Mike Krupa about a new anti-war #EU political coalition forming in the European Union. Join host Lori Spencer from the U.S., Kevin Michelizzi in #Crimea, and Dr. Mike Krupa in Poland for this X (formerly Twitter) Spaces live broadcast. Get the latest analysis on the June 23 missile attack on a civilian beach in #Sevastopol, the terrorist attacks on two Orthodox churches and a Jewish synagogue in #Dagestan, and how the cancellation of Western-run YouTube channels about life in Crimea and the closure of the #Russia visa processing center fit into a narrative control package from the United States. Also, hear an update from Dr. Mike Krupa about a new anti-war #EU political coalition forming in the European Union. Join host Lori Spencer from the U.S., Kevin Michelizzi in #Crimea, and Dr. Mike Krupa in Poland for this X (formerly Twitter) Spaces live broadcast. Get the latest analysis on the June 23 missile attack on a civilian beach in #Sevastopol, the terrorist attacks on two Orthodox churches and a Jewish synagogue in #Dagestan, and how the cancellation of Western-run YouTube channels about life in Crimea and the closure of the #Russia visa processing center fit into a narrative control package from the United States. Also, hear an update from Dr. Mike Krupa about a new anti-war #EU political coalition forming in the European Union. Thanks for watching! Support my independent journalism with a one-time donation or monthly patronage at http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com

On Episode 33 of "Strange Bedfellows" I reported on the mysterious disappearance of my friend Russell "Texas" Bentley, who vanished from #Donetsk on April 8th. After 20 days of speculation as to whether Russell was dead or alive, it has now been confirmed by his wife Lyudmila that he was indeed murdered. The 64 year-old Bentley, an American citizen, left his #Austin, #Texas home in 2014 to fight for #Russia in the #Donbass region of #Ukraine. He joined the armed forces of the Donetsk People's Republic and served numerous combat missions. After aging out of military service, Russell worked as a reporter for #Sputnik television news. On the day he disappeared, Russell was on his way to investigate the scene of a Ukrainian shelling in his capacity as a journalist. He never returned. His white Niva car was later found burned and blown up at the brick factory in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk, almost at the front line. Inside were Russell's remains. His body was incinerated. Collected fragments were taken for DNA analysis to make a positive identification. After days of being stonewalled by local authorities, Russell's widow Lyudmila released a video statement in which she made a desperate appeal directly to Russian president Vladimir #Putin for help. After Lyudmila's video appeal to the president, "the matter was taken up at the top" by Moscow military authorities, who quickly arrested members from the 5th Tank Brigade of the Russian Federation. The still-unnamed alleged killers were said in a statement posted April 28th by Lyudmila on Russell's official Telegram channel to be "werewolf extortionists." ("Werewolves" are soldiers with loyalties to Ukraine inside the Russian armed forces.) The soldiers were apparently intending to rob Russell Bentley, thinking him a wealthy American, before killing him and attempting to dispose of his body. A criminal investigation has been opened into Bentley's violent and mysterious death. What we now know provides more questions than answers. On this edition of Maverick News we have a new interview with Russell's widow Lyudmila and her attorney with the latest details on the case. Join us tonight at 9 Eastern. please help support the show with a donation at: http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com Many thanks to the Maverick News Channel for hosting this program. http://MaverickNews.ca

My friend and fellow Austinite Russell "Texas" Bentley has been missing since April 8. Despite rumors and speculation about his mysterious disappearance, Russell's fate is still a mystery. On the day he went missing, Russell and his wife Lyudmila had been in line at a local government building in #Donetsk to deal with some administrative documents, when he went to go help civilians injured in a nearby attack by Ukrainian forces. But when his wife went looking for him she only found his car, with his baseball cap, glasses, and his phone, which was shattered. On April 16th his wife wrote on Russell's Telegram account that she had received "reliable and confirmed ironclad information" that her husband was kidnapped "and continues to be illegally detained by the tankers of the 5th Brigade of the Russian Federation Armed Forces." She pleaded with Russell's friends and supporters to appeal urgently to the governments of the Donetsk People's Republic and #Russia, the FSB, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs, to help her locate her husband, adding "perhaps, there is not much time." His wife posted again on Thursday, April 18th: "Today is the 10th day since Russell disappeared. To this day, I do not know his whereabouts,” she said. On Friday, reports began to emerge that seemingly confirmed our worst fears. Sputnik, who employed Russell as a war correspondent, released a statement written by Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russia Today TV, stating that Russell (call sign "Texas") was dead. Russell's former combat unit, the Vostok battalion, and a local official in #Donetsk also confirmed his death yesterday, adding that their information came from Russell's wife. The U.S. State Department has not confirmed this information, however. In a statement Friday, a spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen missing in the Donetsk region in #Ukraine. Our ability to verify reports of incidents regarding U.S. citizens in Ukraine is extremely limited." The mystery deepened when Russell's wife and some of his friends spoke out today, saying that they could not -- and would not -- confirm that he was in fact deceased. Our Maverick News correspondent in #Crimea, Kevin Michelizzi, is a personal friend of the Bentleys and told us this morning he was furious about the premature reports of Russell's demise, adding that most of what we've been told is #FakeNews. This afternoon Russell's wife Lyudmila posted on Russell's official Telegram channel that "I have not seen him alive, nor his body, nor his remains. That's a fact. And yes, there is some insider information that is very not good." She thanked "the Wagner group guys for finding out what happened, how that happened, who they were, how many of them there were and their motive..." "I still hope for real operational professionalism and decency from all involved agencies," she said. Since leaving his #Austin, #Texas home ten years ago to volunteer for the Russian armed forces against what he called "the #Nazis in Ukraine," Russell was willing to lay down his life for a cause he believed in: the struggle against #fascism. Even though Russell had aged out of the armed forces a few years ago, he was still not afraid to put himself in dangerous situations; often running directly towards active combat zones to cover battles as a journalist, or to provide first aid to civilians injured by the constant shelling in Donetsk -- as he did in the moments before his mysterious disappearance on April 8. In an interview exactly one month before he vanished, Russell told journalist Patrick Henningsen on TNT Radio that Donetsk was swiftly becoming a hotzone of combat activity once again as NATO soldiers were infiltrating the area -- which may provide some clues as to his violent kidnapping and perhaps, his murder. At this point, it is probably safe to say we won't be seeing our friend "the #Donbass Cowboy" again. Who killed Russell Bentley? Was it the Ukrainians, who had his name on their infamous kill list? Was it the #DPR, who reportedly suspected him of being a #NATO spy? Was it Pro-Ukrainian Russian "Werewolves" who had a personal score to settle? Or perhaps a shadowy NATO special forces unit who black-bagged him? We may never know. All we do know for sure is that Russell "Texas" Bentley's life -- and his ultimate sacrifice -- was not in vain. Those of us who knew and loved him will miss his war stories, his guitar picking, his wry wit, and his encyclopedic knowledge of history. Although Russell and I were on opposite sides of the political spectrum (I'm a #libertarian; he was a #communist), we shared much in common: a deep love for our native Texas, our musical tastes, our #cannabis activism, and our mutual hatred of fascism. Tonight, Episode 33 of "Strange Bedfellows" is a tribute to my friend Russell. As today is 4/20, the annual #marijuana holiday, I couldn't think of a more appropriate time to bring you some selected highlights from my last interview with Russell on July 14, 2023. Here, he tells his fascinating life story, in his own words. If you never had the pleasure of getting to know Russell "Texas" Bentley, maybe tonight's show will make you wish you had. And if you did know "Tejas," this incredible conversation will serve as a remembrance of the beautiful human being we have apparently lost to the horrors of war. If you enjoyed this interview, please help support the show with a donation at: http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com Many thanks to the Maverick News Channel for hosting this program. http://MaverickNews.ca

#Russia's top security agency said Monday it has broken up what it called a "terrorist cell"in southern Russiawhose members had provided weapons and cash to suspected attackers of the #Moscow #Crocus concert hall. The Federal Security Service, or #FSB, said that on Sunday it detained four suspected members of the cell in the Russian province of Dagestan in the North Caucasus. The agency alleged that the suspects detained in Dagestan were involved in channeling funds and providing weapons to the gunmen who attacked the concert hall on Moscow's western edge on March 22, killing 144 people in the deadliest attack on Russian soil in two decades. The agency said the suspects are foreign nationals, without specifying their nationality. The suspected attackers of the Moscow concert hall arrested hours after the March 22 raid are citizens of the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan. The detention of four suspects in #Dagestan follows the arrest of the four suspected gunmen and seven others who were accused of involvement in the attack. An affiliate of the Islamic State (#ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack.President Vladimir #Putinacknowledged that "radical Islamists" conducted the raid, but alleged - without providing evidence - that #Ukraine and the West were involved, despite Kyiv's vehement denials. On tonight's edition of Maverick News we will tell you what we know (and don't know) about the Moscow terror attacks thus far, and try to separate fact from fiction. Join us LIVE at 9 PM! Thanks for watching! Support my independent journalism with a one-time donation or monthly patronage at http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com

Earlier this month, #Canada stunned the world when the nation's Parliament honored a Ukrainian former Nazi Waffen-SS soldier and gave him two standing ovations, in the presence of #Ukraine's president #Zelensky. How has the #NaziGate scandal's ripple effect impacted NATO's commitment to the Ukraine war effort? Are the Western allies starting to realize that funding and arming Nazis isn't a good look, especially during an election year in the United States? Will Canadian Prime Minister Justin #Trudeau be forced to resign over the scandal? I discussed this with Regis Tremblay (a former resident of Canada who now lives in Crimea) on a recent episode of his podcast. Support my independent journalism at: http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer Subscribe on Rumble for UNCENSORED videos YouTube won't let me show you! http://Rumble.com/LoriSpencer My blog: http://LoriSpencer.WordPress.com Join as a monthly member at: http://Patreon.com/LoriSpencer http://BuyMeACoffee.com/LoriSpencer Buy me a Gift from my Wishlist! http://GiftApp.com/RealLoriSpencer

Two weeks after a #Republican revolt ousted House Speaker McCarthy over #Ukraine war spending, the United States of America is still without a Speaker of the House. This is truly an unprecedented moment in our history. The lack of progress by Ukraine to push Russian forces back has created an opening for some members in Congress to question why the U.S. should keep sending money. A flank of Republicans, led by former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 race for the White House, is increasingly opposed to sending more money overseas. That faction was pivotal in getting $6 billion in Ukraine funding stripped from the last-minute 45-day funding bill that prevented a government shutdown in early October. Likewise, some European allies, including #Poland, have begun to pull back on their support for the war, citing the need to prioritize their own defenses. On Sunday after the temporary spending bill was passed, President Joe Biden warned that the cuts could hit Ukraine at a critical time. “We cannot under any circumstances allow America’s support for Ukraine to be interrupted,” Biden said, urging Congress to negotiate an aid package as soon as possible. The tide of American public opinion is turning against the war in Ukraine, and the never-ending flow of money and weapons to fund a losing war at a time when Americans are struggling to keep up with inflation and a cost of living crisis at home. Recent polls show that President #Biden is in trouble, swiftly losing support among #Democrats while #Trump edges a lead of 3-5%. Then there's the wild card -- #Kennedy, an independent antiwar candidate who has pledged to negotiate #peace between Ukraine and #Russia as a top priority of his administration. #Trump has also promised to end the war "within 24 hours" if elected next year. Clearly, this is a message voters want to hear. In this election year, has the unpopular war in Ukraine become a metaphorical stone around Biden's neck, dragging him down to defeat? Watch my conversation with Regis Tremblay! Support my independent journalism at: http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer Subscribe on Rumble for UNCENSORED videos YouTube won't let me show you! http://Rumble.com/LoriSpencer My blog: http://LoriSpencer.WordPress.com Join as a monthly member at: http://Patreon.com/LoriSpencer http://BuyMeACoffee.com/LoriSpencer Buy me a Gift from my Wishlist! http://GiftApp.com/RealLoriSpencer

On September 22, as Ukrainian president #Zelensky was visiting #Canada, a special honor was given in Parliament to a man named Yaroslav Hunka. President #Zelensky -- and all 338 members of the Canadian Parliament -- rose to their feet and honored this 98 year-old Ukrainian with not one, but two standing ovations. Little did they know he was a Nazi collaborator in #WWII (or so they said). As it turns out, Hunka served with pride in the dreaded #Waffen-SS, #Galicia division -- a unit known for its especially savage brutality in war crimes of the #Holocaust. How did this former Nazi find safe haven in Canada all these many decades? How could Prime Minister Justin #Trudeau, and every member of Parliament NOT know his background? Now that the Speaker of the House of Commons has resigned, who will be next? And what will be the ultimate impact of this incident in the future of this war between #Ukraine and #Russia? We unpack that and more in this #No2NATONo2War panel discussion with George Galloway, Patrick Henningsen, and Niall McCrae. Original air date in the U.K.: September 28, 2023. If you enjoyed this highlight, watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us3DHcOakgo&t=6s Support my independent journalism at: http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer Subscribe on Rumble for UNCENSORED videos YouTube won't let me show you! http://Rumble.com/LoriSpencer My blog: http://LoriSpencer.WordPress.com Join as a monthly member at: http://Patreon.com/LoriSpencer http://BuyMeACoffee.com/LoriSpencer Buy me a Gift from my Wishlist! http://GiftApp.com/RealLoriSpencer

Our “Best of Maverick News” series continues with this classic from the archives. (Original air date: March 5, 2023) In Part 2 of our interview with #Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy, he gave a detailed history of how Ukrainian nationalism first emerged hundreds of years ago, why they developed an unholy alliance with #Nazi Germany in the 20th Century, and later worked hand-in-hand with Western intelligence services such as the CIA and Britain’s MI6. Tonight, in Part 3, we discuss the prevalence of #Nazism in #Ukraine in the 21st Century, starting with that often-asked question: “how can President #Zelensky be a Nazi if he’s Jewish?” We learn why Ukraine officially celebrates Nazi war collaborators such as Stepan #Bandera as national heroes today, why they still have racial purity laws and teach eugenics race theory in schools. Ambassador Polyanskiy also explains how all of the Ukrainian #Nazis escaped prosecution at #Nuremberg after #WWII: they were recruited and protected by Western intelligence, who used them to fight the #USSR during the #ColdWar. And what about the notorious “kill list” Ukraine publishes online of it’s enemies, marking those they’ve killed as “liquidated?” Ambassador Polyanskiy is on the list, along with numerous other American, British, and Canadians. We talk about the recent addition of NBC News correspondent Keir Simmons, whose name was placed on the Ukrainian state-linked ‘Mirotvorets’ (Peacemaker) hit list for his reporting in #Crimea. We asked Ambassador Polyanskiy to respond to allegations of Russian interference in American and Canadian elections (aka the “#Russiagate” hoax). Russia recently introduced a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council calling for an independent investigation of what happened to the Nord Stream pipelines. We ask Ambassador Polyanskiy to explain Russia’s position on the #Nordstream explosions: mechanical malfunction or sabotage? We go back in time to the last time the US blew up a Russian pipeline carrying natural gas to Europe — in 1982, when the CIA sabotaged the Trans-Siberian Pipeline, and ask the Ambassador his thoughts on it. Was the Trans-Siberian pipeline sabotage a blueprint for Nordstream, exactly 40 years later? Finally, Ambassador Polyanskiy addresses the nuclear warmongering, and clarifies Russia’s doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons. * Your donations make this show possible. Support my independent journalism at http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com

In part 2 of our interview with Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Russian Federation, we take a deep dive into the history of Ukrainian nationalism -- the roots of the current conflict between #Ukraine and #Russia. Ambassador Polyanskiy explains that the #UkraineWar didn't start in 2022, or even in 2014. It started hundreds of years ago. Polyanskiy details the FULL story of how the Ukrainian nationalists came to collaborate with #Nazi Germany before #WWII -- an incredible story you've probably never heard before. He outlines the 10 core principals of Ukrainian nationalism: what they believe, why they consider Russians their enemy, and the deep #Russophobia that led them to slaughter tens of thousands of Russians during #WWI and the Russian Civil War period of 1919-21. The ethnic cleansing of #communists following the #Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Jews, Hungarians, and Poles was again repeated during the #Holocaust of #WWII by the #NazisInUkraine. The Ukrainian nationalists were the original #Nazis, years before there was a Nazi Party in Germany; long before anyone ever heard of Adolf #Hitler. "Ukrainians were some of the first promoters of this racial theory," Polyanskiy explains. "It just so happened that the Germans were thinking along the same lines at the same time, and had the same enemies. So they were destined to be natural allies." Their slogan was -- and still is -- "Ukraine for Ukrainians," enforced by strict racial purity laws (which still exist in Ukraine), eugenics, and enforced careful breeding to create their own "master race." All other inferior races must be exterminated. Ambassador Polyanskiy explains how Nazi war criminal Stepan #Bandera became known as a national hero in today's Ukraine, and his work for Western intelligence services (Britain's MI6 and the CIA) after World War II and during the Cold War. "Many Westerners do not understand this history," #Polyanskiy says. "But it is vital to our understanding of where we are today, and why this conflict is happening now." Watch part 2 of this incredibly interesting interview below. Part 3 premiers Friday, September 8. (See all interviews with Ambassador Polyanskiy in my Dmitry Polyanskiy playlist on YouTube.) If you'd like to help support my independent journalism, you can chip in here. http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com

On this “Best of Maverick News” episode we welcomed Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations from #Russia for an in-depth interview. In Part 1, we talk about the era of #Gorbachev, #Reagan, and #Perestroika; the fall of the Soviet Union, and those hopeful post-Cold War years when it seemed that the United States and Russia could at last enjoy peace and friendship with each other. “I thought it was the moment of our common triumph,” Ambassador Polyanskiy says of the end of the Cold War a generation ago. “Winds of Change…like that song by the Scorpions when they performed it in #Moscow. We had very high hopes. We thought that #NATO might be dissolved, or that there would be no more NATO expansion. But, as it turns out, we were deceived by the West. This sense of victory was stolen from us.” “We believed in empty promises,” Polyanskiy explained. “Most of those promises were coming from the United States, who wasn’t going to keep them.” “We did everything in our power to avoid the situation in #Ukraine that’s happening now,” the Ambassador said, “we did not ever want this to escalate militarily.” Ambassador Polyanskiy stresses that the conflict didn’t begin in 2022. It started long before the Maidan coup of 2014. Western meddling in Ukraine began in the early Cold War period, when the CIA and Britain’s MI6 worked with Ukrainian nationalist #Nazi collaborators such as Stepan #Bandera attempting to create regime change in Soviet Russia — these efforts continue to the present day. Despite the Cold War ending more than 30 years ago, “The United States never abandoned the dream of tearing Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics away from Russia, and creating a sense of emnity between nations that once were all brothers,” he says. “To fully understand why Russia is doing this Special Military Operation, you really must understand the roots of the problem,” Polyanskiy said. “So that we can work together to solve this crisis.” * Your donations make this show possible. Support my independent journalism at http://StrangeBedfellowsPodcast.com