Craig makes one bum move, unfortunately: He attributes some, at least, of the energy crisis to āthe war in Ukraineā, rather than to itās main - utterly cretinous - proximate cause: the Anglozionist empireās response to the SMO; which is to cut off Europeās energy supplies to spite its face.
Otherwise, Craigās pretty spot on.
I usually try to give Craig Murray some slack, because his heart seems to be in the right place.
However (Ha!) there are a few things I would like to point out:
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the deranged, almost psychotic hatred of Russia. I can only conclude that this is because the Russian revolution was truly a proletarian one (whereas the French and American revolutions were driven by the middle class); hence the ruling elites in Britain are terrified of Russia.
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the ācost of living crisisā is not because of Russiaās rather handy and well timed
invasion of Ukraine. Itās because weāve had 2 years of lockdowns and other total covid nonsense, which has trashed the world economy (which has all been done on purpose). -
likewise, as Rhis points out, Russia has not cut off energy supplies to Europe. Itās sanctions imposed by the American empire that have cut off energy supplies. Shooting yourself in the foot doesnāt adequately describe it. The Russians are so pissed off with the way they are treated (and who can blame them) that from now on they will probably refuse to supply energy and other essentials (particularly fertilizer) to western Europe. I donāt think that most Europeans yet realise the ramifications of this. When youāre all starving and freezing to death in the coming years, no doubt the scumbag politicians and media will tell you that you are āsaving the planetā and āgiving it to the evil Putinā.
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another likewise: Russia has never cut off grain supplies from Ukraine to the rest of the world. The supplies have been halted because Ukraine has heavily mined the Black Sea ports.
I could add a lot more things (not least about the Zelensky regime) but people like Craig Murray suffer from Russia Derangement Syndrome and itās a bit hard to reach them.
Craig certainly seems to think he knows a lot about āthe realā Russia; perhaps because of his days as a diplomat in Poland, perhaps because of still-live connections in the current F&CO. But whatever motivates him, I think heās seeing current Russia and its leaders through hopelessly distorting glasses. No total freedom from blind spots; anywhere! 
Rhis, I wonār detract from your thread here. I think Iāll start another thread about who is everyoneās āfavourite Russianā.
Russia is now portrayed by the politicians and Presstitutes as some kind of bankrupt, backwards non-entity.
Just look at the heritage that Russia has given to the world, in the Arts, Science, Literature, etc.
Iāll start with literature: has anyone heard of Dostoevsky or Solzhenitsyn?
Of course Iām a Putin bot, spreading evil propaganda to the pearl clutchers in the West.
Solzhenitsyn - warts and all - is one of the Russian greats by my reckoning. Read all his stuff, in English translation. āThe Third Circleā deserves itās Nobel. Even more than āCancer Wardā or āIvan Denisovitchā (which sent a huge tremor through Russian society when it was finally published, comparable in its effect on Russians with Shostakovitchās soul-wringing āLeningradā Symphonyā¦). And what dare any Westerner say about āThe Gulag Archipelagoā? Just read it, and be reduced to silence.
One canāt possibly - if one knows oneās arse from oneās elbow - belittle him. Not only a great writer, but an active huge-risk-taking, heroically-enduring patriot, from his earliest adulthood. Took active, front-line part in the defence of Russia during WW2. Stood out resolutely against long drawn out persecution thereafter. His steadfast rule: āDonāt believe them, donāt fear them, donāt ask anything of them.ā In correspondence with his friends, he always referred to Stalin as āGangsterā!
Until I track down that Favourite Russian thread here is Alina Somova. She was still a little unpolished at this stage. Russian ballet is many dimensions superior to the Western European variety.
As for Craigs article I sense rather a big BUT coming in part two, but would be pleased to learn Iām wrong.
Crikey, Alinaās good!
But is there anything in the world more ridiculous than a tutu? Even those Greek ceremonial guardsā costumes canāt match 'em for sillinessā¦ 
PS: erratum: bleedinā memoryās playing me up again. The title mentioned above should be āThe First Circleā. Sorry!
Karen, I enjoyed the ballet clip.
In the present climate of fear, hysteria and censorship, if I posted a āFavourite Russianā thread this board would probably be closed down by the psychos in the security services.
Talking of which, in the comments section of the Murray post that Rhis links to, someone has posted a long list of laws that have been passed in recent years, laws that give the state and security services jaw-dropping powers.
Donāt worry Rhis, it comes to us all.
Sometimes I wake-up in the morning and donāt know where I am; a bit like a 1960s rock star.
Cancer Ward would be one of my favourites by Solzhenitsyn, and the (very dense) The Devils by Dos.
You sound like the man in that Billy Connolly gag, Rob:
Cocky young manager, to insufficiently respectful welder on a gantry in a Glasgow shipyard: āDo you know who I am?ā
Welder: āOh donāt ye know yersel? Hey Jimmy, thereās a fecker up here disnae ken who is!ā
I find Murray completely tedious and deluded on Russia - so Iāll say nowt about that.
But on Russian culture - apart from the the literary colossi mentioned above (I read Denisovich at least once annually - short and sharp), Iād recommend Yevgeny Zamyatinās, We - pre-dating 1984, itās another dystopia - in it we have āOne Stateāā¦well worth your time Iād say.
Another big fave of mine here - of all the recordings Iāve heard of this fabulous piece by Prokofiev, Anne-Sophie Mutter really nails it imo, especially through the Animato/Andante assai/Allegro scherzando passages (commencing 9:53) - Mutterās deft pizzicato is simply exquisite.
I didnāt get very far with the comments Iām afraid. Youāre probably right about the inadvisability of the thread, so Iāll continue to use this one for a bit.
I followed your link the other day @RhisiartGwilym to the film Come And See, which I watched the first few minutes of. It looks like strong stuff. The other movies in that Saker thread were all of a very high standard, but Soviet/Russian film has been of world class all along, ever since Dziga Vertov.
The contemporary director Andrey Zvyagintsev has made some astonishing films recently eg The Return, Leviathan.
Turning to Solzhenitsyn: mixed feelings: couldnāt finish Cancer Ward, and the Gulag Archipelago defeated me tooā¦ but this was 40 years ago so I really I should try again. I loved One Dayā¦ and The First Circle.
As for tutusā¦ well, they are somewhat infantilising, but I think ballet is rather mechanical and formalistic, and the stiff outer garment stands in good contrast with the bodily movements. Iāve seen clips of Somova in more flowing costumes and somehow it distracts from the choreography. Sheās probably now heading towards the end of her career as sheās in her mid-thirties. I doubt I will see a live performance by the Mariinskiy but some good companies still tour the UK, or did so until recently.
There is a second-rank but still very good troupe from Krasnoyarsk who regularly toured the UK provincial theatres, and they did a fantastic Swan Lake a few years back, for example. Need I add that their tour this year was cancelledā¦?
Iāve been meaning to reread We, thanks for the reminder.
Slightly fuller reply above but if you think tutus are silly, and in some ways they are, do consider this recently released teaser for Bjorkās upcoming album. Itās a fungal theme, apparently.
I will slavishly buy it, in any case, because itās Bjork for goodness sake.
With regard to the tutus stuff, letās face it, ballet is very sexual. Male and female ballet dancers practically hump each other on stage; all set to nice music.
This clip is only 2 minutes long. It perhaps shows the ephemeral nature of it allā¦
