No more Russian vodka till the terrorists have left the Kremlin

The remains of the Malaysian airplane that was shot over Ukraine.

The remains of the Malaysian airplane that was shot over Ukraine.

If you are a regular follower of Lords of the Drinks you know we like to keep things light around here. Also you will very rarely see a post written in the first person. Well, this post is gonna be different. Every since a boeing of Malaysian Airlines carrying 193 men, women and children from my country Holland (298 people in total) was shot down I have been struggling a little bit with myself and there are some things I have to get of my chest before I can continue to deliver your regular doses of drunken fun. In the next lines I will explain why I believe we shouldn’t blame Russians in general, but focus on mister Vladimir Putin and the former KGB agents who surround him. But first let’s start by raising our glasses in a salute to all the innocent victims that died in this disaster.

For you to understand my emotions and the things I’m about to say I want to take you back 2 days in time. In the late afternoon Dutch time I heard another airplane by Malaysian Airlines crashed. I have to admit that my first reaction was very mellow. Too bad for those people but actually it was a bit far from home. At least I thought it was. As it turned out the plane flew from our capital Amsterdam and was obviously carrying a number of Dutch people too. Still accidents happen, just a few years ago a plane with a lot of Dutch people on board crashed near Tripoli. It wasn’t till I heard that the plane was shot from the air that I was really blown away, simply shocked. I wasn’t sure how to react.

Finally the first feeling that came up was one of big anger and thirst for revenge. In a blind rage the only thing I wanted was to see blood spill of the ones responsible. Blow them to pieces like they blew our people up. That feeling was followed by immense sadness, knowing that violence would not undo what happened. The body count for Holland meanwhile kept rising from 60 to 80 to 154 to 189 and finally 193. It made me feel physically sick, as I had the feeling I had to vomit. Being so powerless sucks. I guess this is what Americans must have felt like at 9/11 or Spaniards with the train bombings in Madrid. So it took me a while to get my thoughts together and write down a rational story.

Back to Thursday evening. Quite soon it became clear that Russian separatists in Ukraine were behind the atack. Now before this incident one could argue if they were rebels or freedom fighters but since Thursday they can officially be labeled as terrorists. The situation in Ukraine is complex but I think we can all agree that shooting down a plane with almost 300 people on board who are in no way involved is just sick. We are talking young couples and families with kids. People who were looking forward to a wonderful holiday in South-East Asia or Australia. Their trip to paradise became a one-way ticket.

Shortly after Russian commander Strelkov ‘ it became clear this was in fact the Malaysian Airlines flight that dissapeared off the radar. The next reactions by both the separatists and the Kremlin made my blood boil. Everything was denied and they tried everything to put the blame on Ukranian forces. It’s possible to make a mistake, no matter how horrible, but at least have the balls to admit it. They did the opposite and this is not the only thing that makes me suspect foul play. At first Russian separatists denied to even have weapons that could should an airplane at a height of 10 kilometer. Shortly after it was proven that they did. This height is also important to debunk the theory that the Russians thought they were dealing with a Ukranian plane carrying goods, since they normally fly about 4 kilometers lower. If the cannoneer couldn’t see the difference in size and shape of the plane in his sight, the difference in height should have tipped him off.

I’m sorry this is starting to sound more and more like a conspiracy theory but let’s not rule out the possibility that this plane was shot down on purpose. And even though officially it would be the separatists who did this, since Putin is backing them up he is responsible. In fact I believe the ethnic Russians fighting in Ukraine don’t even dare to go to the toilet without the Kremlin‘s permission. Putin is an old KGB-man for whom the Cold War never really ended. People who dealt with him all say he is constantly playing power games. And for the ones who can’t believe he would go as far as killing almost 300 people, I would advise to read the book Blowing Up Russia: Terror from Within. It explains how men of Putin’s FSB (basically the old KGB under a new name) blew up buildings in Russia to create fear (for Chechens) and rise to power. The lives of several hundreds of Russians were a small sacrifice for the greater good. The book is strictly forbidden in Russia and co-author Alexander Litvinenko was murdered in a horrible way by the use of a radioactive substance.

But wait, there is more… We are still a blog about alcohol and in 2012 Putin’s goverment decided to raise taxes on spirits like vodka and cognac by 30%. Probably not a big thing for his rich friends but for poor Russians this was a disaster. Vodka is a part of life for most Russians, so you can imagine the inpact of this huge raise. And of course it was a huge blow for the liquor industry, as alcohol production also went down by 30%. Not a major crime like blowing up a flat or shooting down a plane but still a nasty move.

As far as the conflict in Ukraine is concerned  I stayed neutral for a long time. The whole situation looks a lot like the Yugoslavian War and there were no winners in that war. When some Ukranian and Russian nationalists are fighting over land the normal civilians lose. As I understood from friends from that region nobody wantspower games or a war. They just want to work and feed their families and that was hard enough as it was. The conflict is also too complex for someone from Holland to judge who is right or wrong. However, when one of the fighting parties shoots down a plane full of random people from my own country I am getting dragged into it, like it or not.

So what to do now as we mourn our 193 deaths in Holland? Well it’s easy to react in violence. But that’s the language of Putin, a language he speaks like no other. I have heard some people say we should kick all Russians out of Holland or better yet the EU. In my opinion this is the stupidest thing we can do. There are plenty of bright Russian minds studying abroad who are not happy with their goverment either. So don’t hate them but embrace them. Let’s not forget they had to deal with Putin and his regime a lot longer than we have. I hope one day these young and educated Russian generation will break the democratic dictatorship in their country. For now I would settle for kicking out all Russian diplomats and stop buying any Russian products. Since my budget already didn’t allow much caviar, I will make sure my vodka is from Poland, Finland or Ukraine when I salute my fallen nationals. Cheers, may you rest in peace!

Micky Bumbar

 

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12 thoughts on “No more Russian vodka till the terrorists have left the Kremlin

  1. Do not let to fool you! There is no Russian hands on this blood. There is no any motivation for any pro-russian to make this. Lots of facts tells us another… This is pro-US activity engineered to expedite armed movements around Ukraina, Donbass, Russia and so on… keep calm, pray for lost people, say “Hello” AGAIN to US.

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    • I can’t say I trust the CIA agenda more than Putin’s agenda… But in this case the evidence is quite clear that the atack came from Russian separatists. Even if it was an accident the way they robbed wedding rings from dead bodies and frustrated the process after the crash is disgusting!

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      • “robbed wedding” ? you know, this is fake! Check this at 1:00 youtube com/watch?v=Ilt8DLuu5Og (full article in RU is here russian.rt com/article/42013)
        Lot of lie come to _deface the real facts_. Do not let them fool you.

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    • What a bullshit, Alex. Whole situation in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine was stage-managed and sponsored by the Kremlin – mercenaries, weapons, money, everything. Russia has blood on its hands for Ukrainian people killed during this conflict and, with high probability, for crashed Boeing as well. It’s very interesting to see how many Russians became active on western resources screaming “it was a US provocation”. Lame excuse, guys.

      My condolences to the families of all victims, let’s wait for results of investigation.

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      • Thanks a lot Oleg… It’s a bit sad that a tragedy like this had to happen before the West actuall started giving a shit about Ukraine but hopefully it will be a turning point and we can avoid more pointless deaths.
        Greetings,
        Micky

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      • “Situation in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine was stage-managed and sponsored by the Kremlin – mercenaries, weapons, money, everything” what a bullshit, Oleg?!
        In this case, what is the aim of this incident, my friend?

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      • Who knows what the aim was… Provocation for Putin’s own sick fun, maybe they were just drunk and wanted to shoot smt, maybe it was an accident or maybe (and this is my personal favorite) they tried to pin the atack on the Ukranians in order to have an excuse to send in the real Russian army.
        Fact is that Ukraine has been most cooperative these days as where Russian only frustrated and slowed down the investigation. In the words of Obama: what do they have to hide???
        Micky

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      • Who knows the aim of crazy dictator… Currently, official version sticks to the point that jet was downed with a surface-to-air missile. Ukraine doesn’t have and never used such weapons in the east because terrorists don’t have any kind of air crafts. But terrorists have “Buk” systems (received from Russia or stolen from Ukrainian military units) and widely used them against Ukrainian military jets – you could easily find articles, photos and videos from many sources about it. Besides, jet was crashed above the territory controlled by the Russian terrorists.

        Don’t you think, it’s quite obvious who could do this? US again, ah? And what for? With some purpose or accidentally – I’m afraid we’ll never know about that. But anyway, Russia again involved in a horrible murder of innocent people – directly or indirectly, and we shouldn’t forget about it.

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      • 25th on calendar… So, have we find out the truth?
        Have we find the truth about accident in 11 of September?

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  2. My friend… this is not truth: “Fact is that Ukraine has been most cooperative these days as where Russian only frustrated and slowed down the investigation. In the words of Obama: what do they have to hide???”
    Absolutely vice versa. Plane falls to Ukraininan theretory, so the Ukrainian is responsive to allow access.

    “used them against Ukrainian military jets – you could easily find articles, photos and videos from many sources about it”. Yeap, and I have found also a lot of fakes again. youtube.com /watch?v=aW-ptzSjDzU

    have u seen fahrenheit 9/11?

    Oleg, think wider, look to macro, and you will understand much more. A lot of shit going from news media now, and you are the person, who are used to start 3rd WW.

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    • You have a very sick mind bro… What’s so difficult to admit Russians did this? It’s not like I say you did it personally. The propaganda is quite disturbing for people who lost loved ones!

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