I wonder how many Obama T-shirts would sell for $30 in downtown Washington DC.
Hundreds of people in Moscow stood in queue at the city’s Central department store on Red Square on Monday to buy T-shirts with pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin on them. Manufacturers say 7,000 (each $30) were sold in one day, according to some reports.
Forget iPhones – 100s Of Russians (& Mickey Rourke) Line-Up For Putin T-Shirts
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/11/2014 10:48 -0400
While the West is used to long lines of people waiting patiently for the next big thing from Apple, it appears there is another ‘must-own’ item this summer. As Sky reports, hundreds of people have gathered in one of Moscow’s most expensive stores to buy T-shirts with Vladimir Putin’s picture on them. Somewhat amusingly, among the crowd was no lesser celebrity than Mickey Rourke who snapped one up.
Anna Trifonova and Ivan Yershov, known as the Anyavanya design duo, said their collection was inspired by Russia’s numerous victories on the international stage, such as the Sochi Olympics triumph, the world ice hockey championship and reunification with Crimea.
Their stall at Moscow’s prestigious GUM department store gathered crowds as some 7,000 new T-shirts went on sale. They sell for 1,200 roubles ($33). Putin fans can also buy an iPhone case for 600 rubles ($17).
In early June, some 5,000 Putin T-shirts sold out in one day.
The collection has 15 T-shirt prints, including Putin wearing military camouflage with the slogan “The politest of people,” and Putin on horseback, with the slogan “They’re not gonna get us”.
Putin Defies Western Warning, Will Send “Aid Convoy” To East Ukraine
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/11/2014 13:45 -0400
This may get messy.
Following days of loud warnings by the West that Putin should not take any moves to send “humanitarian” aid into East Ukraine, due to western fears that this would be merely a pretext for invasion, Putin said on Monday that Russia will go ahead and send an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine anyway.
As was reported earlier, Ukraine announced that Russia has amassed 45,000 troops on its border, following by the now-daily NATO threat that there was a “high probability” that Moscow could intervene militarily in the country’s east, so to many this is just the catalyst that the Kremlin could use to enter the civil war-ridden territory to support ethnic Russians, but ultimately to conduct yet another “Crimea.” As a reminder, despite the constant grumblings by the West and certainly Kiev, there is zero probability that the annexed territory will be relinquished by Putin. As a further reminder, it was the emergence of local mysterious “peacekeepers” that made the annexation of Crimea a quick and painless transition, one in which not a shot was fired. The concern is that that was merely the appetizer with the shale-rich Donbass region serving as the main course.
According to Reuters, European Commission President Barroso “delivered a blunt message in a telephone call with Putin on Monday. “President Barroso warned against any unilateral military actions in Ukraine, under any pretext, including humanitarian,” the Commission said in a statement.”
The Kremlin, in its own account of the conversation, made clear that Moscow would indeed send help to largely Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. We also doubt very much that Putin cared much if at all about any warnings uttered by the unelected Eurocrat.
“It was noted that the Russian side, in collaboration with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, is sending an aid convoy to Ukraine,” the Kremlin statement said, without saying when the convoy was going.
And now that Putin’s mind is made up, Ukraine has no choice but to accept, albeit with its so-called conditions:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he supported an aid mission but made clear it had to be an international effort under the aegis of the Red Cross, involving the European Union as well as Russia. Poroshenko said U.S. President Barack Obama had also backed the international plan when they spoke on the telephone on Monday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross made no immediate comment, although last weekend it issued a statement acknowledging receipt of an offer from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about organizing aid convoys.
Surely Russia will closely “heed” Ukraine’s conditions.
To be sure, NATO is displeased. Quote its Secretary General Rasmussen: “We see the Russians developing the narrative and the pretext for such an operation under the guise of a humanitarian operation, and we see a military build-up that could be used to conduct such illegal military operations in Ukraine,” he said.
And yet, Russia appears set to enter east Ukraine despite NATO objections.
It goes without saying that all it would take for a full blown escalation, one that not even the algo-driven market could ignore, would be a Russian casualty operating in Ukraine under a “humanitarian” umbrella, wether legitimate or due to a “false flag” attack, before the facade of artificial stability on Ukraine’s east border crumbles and what was until now a civil war morps into a full-blown international conflict.
Update 1: the readout of the Obama-Poroshenko phone call:
The President spoke this morning with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine. President expressed his strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two leaders agreed that any Russian intervention in Ukraine without the formal, express consent and authorization of the Ukraine government would be unacceptable and a violation of international law. President Poroshenko also noted the continued shelling of Ukraine’s territory from Russia. President Poroshenko updated the President on his engagement with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the effort to deliver multilateral humanitarian aid to the distressed populations in eastern Ukraine. The President noted the urgency of such humanitarian efforts and encouraged President Poroshenko to continue to exercise restraint and caution in military operations in order to avoid civilian casualties. In light of the ongoing violence and instability, the President and President Poroshenko agreed that all parties should prioritize diplomatic efforts toward finding a political resolution to the crisis.
Russians are smart
GEE T4C,
I will help you to put them on.
Work-in-Progress, thanks for the video! “Super cool!” 🙂