Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Damascus asks Turkey for defense support after sectarian clashes and Israeli strikes |
2025-07-24 |
[IsraelTimes] Deadly violence in Syria has increased Israeli-Turkish tensions, and Ankara harshly criticized Israel’s airstrikes last week Syria’s interim government has requested ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... ’s support to strengthen its defense capabilities, Ottoman Turkish officials said Wednesday, following sectarian violence over the past two weeks that drew in Israeli strikes. The defense ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity according to procedures, said that Syria has also sought assistance to combat "terrorist organizations," including the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group. Turkey was working toward providing training, advisory services and technical support to help strengthen Syria’s defense capacity, the officials added. Syrian officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Turkey was believed to provide assistance to Syrian rebels fighting Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , the country’s ousted leader. Now, it is a prominent supporter of the government that replaced Assad last year, headed by Ahmad al-Sharaa. It has been seeking a defense agreement with Damascus that could reportedly include establishing Ottoman Turkish military bases on Syrian territory. Wednesday’s news, which came days after The situation in Syria has increased tensions between Turkey and Israel, which is occupying the former no-man’s land adjacent to its border as a buffer zone. In April, Israel struck five cities in Syria, including more than a dozen strikes near a strategic air base in the city of Hama, where Turkey reportedly has interests in having a military presence. Israel accused Turkey of trying to build a "protectorate" in Syria. That month, Turkey and Israel held talks on creating a deconfliction mechanism in Syria that would avoid festivities between the two countries. They reportedly reached an agreement following a month of talks. Turkey has vocally criticized the recent Israeli strikes, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claiming Tuesday that Israel wants a divided Syria. Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ![]() , long a harsh critic of Israel, accused it last week of using the Druze minority in Syria as a pretext for expanding into the war-torn country. Ankara also backs an agreement reached between Sharaa’s administration and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, to integrate into Syria’s national army. Implementation of the deal has stalled, with a major sticking point being whether the SDF would remain as a cohesive unit in the new army or be dissolved completely. On Tuesday, Fidan warned Kurdish and other groups in Syria against exploiting the tensions to pursue autonomy, stating that any attempt to divide Syria would be viewed as a direct threat to Turkey’s national security and could prompt intervention. |
Link |
Britain |
‘Tinder Box' ‐ UK Gov't Scrambles to Restore ‘Social Fabric' as Migration Divisions Threaten Further Riots |
2025-07-24 |
[Breitbart] The British government said that it is urgently important to restore the "social fabric" of the country amid warnings that anti-mass migration sentiment could see another summer of riots break out in the country. Downing Street said that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer held a cabinet meeting on Tuesday in the lead-up to the one-year anniversary of the Southport attack, in which a second-generation African migrant teen stabbed three maiden of tender yearss to death and left ten others injured. Anger over the horrific attack and the government’s open borders agenda saw thousands take to the streets in protests and riots from both native British communities and mostly-Moslem ethnic minority groups. Now, a year on, there are deep concerns of a re-run of the chaos of last summer. "We are going to have a summer of riots. You can just feel it. It is a tinderbox," an unnamed parliamentarian told the BBC, as Britannia braces for more social unrest, and as anti-migration protests have already begun to erupt outside of migrant hotels in Epping and in Norfolk over the past week. In a statement per Sky News, Number 10 said that Prime Minister Starmer recognised during the meeting on Tuesday that it is "vital" to begin "repairing and improving the social fabric, trust, and integration in communities across the country." Downing Street also said that Deputy PM Angela Rayner, whom Starmer has tasked to focus on social cohesion, admitted that in conjunction with other economic factors, "immigration and the impacts on local communities and public services" have had a "profound impact on society". "She said it was incumbent on the government to acknowledge the real concerns people have and to deliver improvements to people’s lives in their communities," the government readout stated. This acknowledgement was hedged by the typically pro-mass migration Labour Party government, which maintained that Britannia remains a "successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country." Related: Keir Starmer 07/19/2025 UK police won’t take further action against Kneecap after probe into Glastonbury performance Keir Starmer 07/18/2025 Leftist Utopia: Labour Govt Kills Voter ID Law, Slashes Voting Age to 16 Keir Starmer 07/17/2025 'Russian spy' caught in England turns out to be alcoholic who sold out to Israel Related: Southport: 2025-05-27 Despite being just 2% of the population of Wales, the Muslim community of Cardiff is allowed to blast Islamic calls to prayer 5 times a day Southport: 2025-05-04 Hard right wins local UK election in blow to PM Starmer Southport: 2025-05-03 UK: Progressive-backed 18-year-old female Islamist Maheen Kamran elected as a city councilor in Burnley Related: Epping: 2025-07-19 Disorder breaks out in Epping after a young girl was sexually assaulted by an illegal migrant Epping: 2019-09-29 Tom Brady's Popularity Stems From The 'Latest Wave Of White Rage And White Supremacy' Professor Claims Epping: 2019-04-14 Epping principal issues apology after student was told to cover Trump shirt Related: Norfolk: 2025-06-07 Third Navy destroyer heads to southern waters as administration strengthens maritime border security Norfolk: 2025-05-15 Exceptionally low river levels forecast in parts of the UK Norfolk: 2025-04-30 America First Legal files state bar complaint against New York Attorney General Letitia James Related: Angela Rayner 07/18/2025 Leftist Utopia: Labour Govt Kills Voter ID Law, Slashes Voting Age to 16 Angela Rayner 03/05/2025 EU proposes 800 billion euro defense spending plan as Trump Angela Rayner 07/09/2024 Backgrounder: Likely key ministers in Starmer’s UK Labour government |
Link |
Cyber |
AI Agent Goes Rogue, Wipes Out Company's Entire Database |
2025-07-23 |
[ZeroHedge] SaaS industry veteran Jason Lemkin's attempt to integrate artificial intelligence into his workflow has gone spectacularly wrong, with an AI coding assistant admitting to a "catastrophic failure" after wiping out an entire company database containing over 2,400 business records, according to Tom’s Hardware. Lemkin was testing Replit's AI agent when what started as cautious optimism quickly devolved into a corporate data disaster that reads like a cautionary tale for the AI revolution sweeping through businesses. By day eight of his trial run, Lemkin's initial enthusiasm had already begun to sour. The entrepreneur found himself battling the AI's problematic tendencies, including what he described as "rogue changes, lies, code overwrites, and making up fake data." His frustration became so pronounced that he began sarcastically referring to the system as "Replie" - a not-so-subtle dig at its apparent dishonesty. The situation deteriorated further when the AI agent composed an apology email on Lemkin's behalf that contained what the tech executive called "lies and/or half-truths." Despite these red flags, Lemkin remained cautiously optimistic about the platform's potential, particularly praising its brainstorming capabilities and writing skills. That optimism evaporated on day nine. In a stunning display of AI insubordination, Replit deleted Lemkin's live company database - and it did so while explicit instructions were in place prohibiting any changes whatsoever. When confronted, the AI agent not only admitted to the destructive act but seemed almost casual in its confession. Related: AI 07/21/2025 OpenAI Partners with Google Cloud for ChatGPT as Microsoft Relationship Shows Cracks AI 07/18/2025 Goldman Sachs Pilots Its First Autonomous Coder AI 07/18/2025 Ted Cruz Introduces Bill to Label Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Group |
Link |
-Great Cultural Revolution |
US podcasters host antisemitic influencers after backlash over Netanyahu interview |
2025-07-23 |
[IsraelTimes] In apparent attempt at damage control, Nelk Boys stream talk with conspiracy theorists, one of whom denies October 7 atrocities, falsely claims IDF responsible for most deaths Pro-Trump US podcasters the Nelk Boys streamed conversations Monday with several antisemitic influencers after the release of their interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an apparent attempt to limit the criticism they received for hosting the Israeli leader. The one-hour interview with Netanyahu on "The Full Send Podcast," hosted by Kyle Forgeard and Aaron Steinberg, known as the Nelk Boys, was recorded on July 8 during the prime minister’s visit to Washington and released Monday. Commenters on the podcast the hosts for hosting the prime minister amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... , and not asking Netanyahu tough questions on the matter. "0 pushback you literally just let a war criminal talk freely for an hour to millions of fans just horrible horrible, you guys are truly," one viewer commented. "I’m so happy the comment section knows how vicious and evil this man is. I can’t believe Kyle is humanizing this man. Speechless, I am at a loss for words," another wrote. Shortly after, the Nelk Boys began live streaming with influencers Sneako, Myron Gaines, Hasan Piker, and Nick Fuentes — all known for circulating antisemitic and anti-Israel conspiracies — who offered commentary on the interview. Sneako, who has been banned from YouTube and Twitch for antisemitic remarks, said "Trump is basically owned by Netanyahu" because the US president pulled out a chair for Netanyahu at their meeting earlier this month. "How do you put America first if you send $4 billion to Israel every year?" Sneako asked the hosts, to which they responded that they agreed that Netanyahu’s behavior was making it harder for Americans to support Israel. Myron Gaines claimed Netanyahu "lied about a bunch of shit" in the interview and falsely claimed, "a lot of the shit that happened on October 7 was a lie," referring to the 2023 Hamas ![]() massacre that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Gaines denied the occurrence of mass rapes during the massacre, and also claimed that Hamas’s goal of the invasion was to capture as many hostages to exchange for prisoners, instead of mass killings, adding, "a lot of the innocent people that were killed were killed by the IDF" in an attempt to prevent Hamas from taking more captives. The ongoing war in Gaza was sparked when Hamas-led Lions of Islam rampaged through southern Israeli communities, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages while committing and filming their numerous atrocities. Immediately after the massacre, anti-Israel conspiracy theorists claimed, without evidence, that most of the deaths were caused by IDF fire, and denied acts of mass rape and torture. There has been overwhelming evidence that sexual violence and torture were used by the invading terrorists, including against the hostages who were taken. Piker slammed the Nelk Boys for hosting Netanyahu on his podcast, accusing them of "humanizing" Netanyahu. "But that’s the thing, we’ll have anyone on. Like next episode, we’re going to have someone on with the complete opposite ideology," Forgeard responded. Speaking to Nick Fuentes, who is known for opposing what he calls "white genocide and Jewish subversion," Forgeard emphasized that the goal of their podcast was to welcome anyone and allow their followers to form their own views. "We’re getting a lot of flak. People don’t care what we ask Netanyahu. Just the fact that we had him on in general, it’s automatically, fuck you guys," he said. "The reason people are being critical, of course, is because the State of Israel and Netanyahu are extremely unpopular with young people," Fuentes said, charging Israel’s decline in popularity among Americans began after the war in Gaza began. Fuentes said that while he, too, was a controversial figure, "Netanyahu, on the other hand, is currently prosecuting a war, and has been prosecuting a war for 20 years," and accused the prime minister of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Paleostinians. Israel has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza, saying it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques. During the podcast, Netanyahu was asked by Steinberg: "I think you definitely have a tough job, but why do you think you’re so hated worldwide?" "Well, a lot of propaganda. First of all, I’m not hated worldwide," Netanyahu answered. "I just received this. I just talked to someone, a rabbi, and he says, he just heard from his brother who was in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and one of the countries of Europe. He says that he’s being flooded. They know he’s from Israel." "All the people are coming, and they say, you did this amazing thing for all of us. The Chancellor of Germany said Israel did the work for all of us. The new Chancellor of Germany," he said, referring to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comments that Israel did the world’s "dirty work" by striking Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs last month. "So we had the guts to do this," he said. "And what Israel did with President Trump is safeguard free societies from a menace." The interview was recorded at Blair House, in Washington, DC, during Netanyahu’s visit to the US capital earlier this month. The Nelk Boys visited Israel in 2023. Responding to this, courtesy of Grom: Netanyahu reveals what really ties him to Trump[IsraelNationalNews] In a wide-ranging interview, Prime Minister Netanyahu discusses US politics, his legacy, personal regrets, and an unexpected moment with President Trump over hamburgers. |
Link |
Fifth Column | ||
Mahmoud Khalil has just been DETAINED by ICE as he was in the midst of media appearances today | ||
2025-07-23 | ||
[X]
Helping the DoJ make their case against him. [Mediaite] Mahmoud Khalil,…30, the Damascus-born Palestinian (with dual Algerian citizenship through his mother, whose family were revolutionaries back home) got a Masters in Paleo Protest from Columbia, applying his training as Apartheid Divest’s frontman supporting Hamas since 10/8/2023, which overlapped his unadmitted work as an UNWRA political affairs officer — that last supporting the government’s accusation of immigration fraud, while the pro-Hamas activism is accounted as supporting a listed terror organization. He is represented by 19 activist attorneys, including the ACLU. The case is now wending its way up to the US Supreme Court. Mr. Khalil worked his way through college in Beirut as an MI-6 vetted local staffer at the British embassy, which is how he met his future wife — hijabi Leb-American dentist Noor Abdalla, suggesting either Muslim Brotherhood or Hezbollah connections. No doubt it was for her sake he went to Columbia instead of Oxford… the Columbia University graduate student controversially detained by ICE earlier this year before he was released on the order of a federal judge, repeatedly refused to condemn Hamas during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown on Tuesday.After blaming his battles with the Trump administration over his legal status in the country on the “weaponization of anti-Semitism,” Brown asked: “Do you specifically condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, not just for their actions on October 7?” “I condemn the killing of all Pal-, of all civilians, full stop,” replied Khalil. “And, but what I don’t want to get into is-” “But do you condemn Hamas, specifically?” repeated Brown. “No, I am very clear with condemning all civilians. I’m very straight in my position in that part. But it’s disingenuous to ask about condemning Hamas while Palestinians are the ones being starved now by Israel. It’s not condemning October 6, where 260 Palestinians were killed by Israel before October 7. So I hate this selective outrage of condemnation because this is not, this wouldn’t lead to a constructive conversation. And this is also, like what we want to deal with is the root causes of why that happened. And it’s no way anyone can justify the killing of civilians,” answered Khalil. The anchor and activist continued: BROWN: Just to be clear, Mahmoud, we did ask about-, you know we’ve talked at length about your views, of course, on the Palestinians. But it is fair to ask you about whether you condemn Hamas because the Trump administration has claimed that you are a Hamas sympathizer. So it’s very important to actually ask that question in this broad conversation.
The administration said Khalil engaged in activities “aligned to Hamas.” Khalil, who is now suing the federal government for $20 million over what he claims was false imprisonment and a smear campaign to label him as an antisemite, drew fresh backlash after the interview – with the Department of Homeland Security blasting him as a “terrorist sympathizer.” “Mahmoud Khalil refused to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one,” DHS wrote in a fiery post on X, arguing that the green card holder “branded” himself as an antisemite “through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric.” “The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.” [X]
Related: Mahmoud Khalil 07/11/2025 Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil seeks $20m from Trump admin Mahmoud Khalil 07/02/2025 Trump's DOJ Just Started Stripping US Citizenship – Here's Who They are Targeting Mahmoud Khalil 06/30/2025 Asra Nomani: How Socialist Muslims pulled off a 20-year takeover of the Democratic Party | ||
Link |
International-UN-NGOs | |
State Department: US to withdraw from UNESCO in 2027 due to organization's 'bias' | |
2025-07-23 | |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The United States has decided to withdraw from UNESCO in 2027. This was reported on July 22 by the press service of the State Department. ![]() “Withdrawal from UNESCO will take place on December 31, 2026,” the statement said. The department clarified that membership in the organization does not meet the national interests of the United States and contradicts the country's foreign policy principles of "America First." The State Department added that UNESCO's admission of Palestine as a member state raises serious questions and contributes to the spread of anti-Israeli rhetoric within the organization. As reported by Regnum News Agency, on June 2, Trump proposed suspending most mandatory and all voluntary contributions to UN agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNESCO, in his draft federal budget for the 2026 fiscal year. In January, the American leader signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the WHO. He pointed out that the United States pays $500 million in contributions to the organization each year, while China, which has a population four times larger, pays only $39 million. The president called this situation unfair and cited it as a reason for leaving the organization.
Related: UNESCO: 2025-06-29 Iraq’s marshlands are drying up UNESCO: 2025-06-10 Lavrov recall Stalin's proposal to move the UN to Sochi UNESCO: 2025-06-03 Over 30 Soldiers Killed As al-Qaeda-Linked Group Invades Army Base In Mali Related: World Health Organization: 2025-07-18 RFK Jr. Rejects Dystopian WHO Pandemic Amendments World Health Organization: 2025-07-14 NIH Director Bhattacharya warns U.S. taxpayers are funding science journals compromised by China World Health Organization: 2025-07-05 Israeli strikes kill 138 Palestinians in last 24 hours | |
Link |
-Great Cultural Revolution |
Cracker Barrel under fire for DEI |
2025-07-22 |
[X]
|
Link |
Fifth Column | |
New York anti-Israel activist charged with torching 11 police vehicles | |
2025-07-22 | |
[IsraelTimes] Officials in New York charge an anti-Israel protester, Jakhi McCray, with setting 11 NYPD vehicles on fire last month. McCray allegedly climbed a fence to access a parking lot for police vehicles on June 12, in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Once inside the lot, he ignited 10 NYPD vehicles and a trailer, the US attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York says. The cost to replace the vehicles is around $800,000. McCray, 21, is charged with arson and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years. The NYPD identified McCray as a suspect last month. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at the time that McCray was “very active in the protest community, involving the Free Palestine movement.” Ah. A professional. Kenny also said McCray damaged a statute at Columbia University during protests on the campus last year.Anti-Israel activist groups, including at Columbia, rally behind McCray ahead of his initial court appearance this afternoon. “The time has come to rise in solidarity for our comrade, Jackhi McCray,” says Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the campus alliance leading anti-Israel protests at the university.
…protest last September, including vandalizing a statue
Ahead of his arrest, police had offered up to $30,000 for information on McCray. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on Monday that McCray had turned himself in, accompanied by his lawyer, in Brooklyn earlier in the day. He was being held in federal custody. “Setting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest — it is a federal crime. Our office will not tolerate violence or destruction that undermines law enforcement efforts to ensure public safety and will prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law,” said US Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.. Related: Columbia University Apartheid Divest: 2025-07-20 Academia surrenders, starts working on how to have their Jew hate and give it up, too Columbia University Apartheid Divest: 2025-07-13 The College-Jew hate nexus Columbia University Apartheid Divest: 2025-05-27 Jailed Columbia Student Khalil Meets Newborn Son for First Time | |
Link |
Home Front: WoT | |||||||
Axios: White House Unhappy With Netanyahu's | |||||||
2025-07-21 | |||||||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] US presidential administration officials were irritated by the latest Israeli army strikes on Syria and called the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu destructive. This was reported on July 20 by the American portal Axios, citing informed sources. ![]() The journalists' interlocutors said that US President Donald Trump did not know in advance about Israel's strikes on Syria and received this information from a news release.
Related: Axios 07/19/2025 More deaths reported near aid sites; Mossad chief, Witkoff said to discuss relocating Gazans Axios 07/17/2025 Israeli airstrikes hit Syrian Presidential Palace and General Staff HQ in Damascus, more targets in Sweida; 350 dead as Trump asks Israel to stop and HTS troops begin to withdraw Axios 07/17/2025 Biden Was Never Fit For Office To Begin With | |||||||
Link |
-Great Cultural Revolution |
The case against Darryl Cooper A warning to the Right about the man Tucker Carlson called 'the best and most honest popular historian in the United States' |
2025-07-21 |
[BeingRight] Earlier this week, Tucker Carlson announced that he will once again be hosting podcaster Darryl Cooper on The Tucker Carlson Show, this time for a live primetime interview about the Jeffrey Epstein case. In a reply to Tucker’s announcement post on X, I said the following:Darryl Cooper is a Nazi, and you’re setting what’s left of your reputation on fire for not only choosing to platform him, but praising him like this. This admittedly provocative reply has gotten over 46,000 impressions and received over 1,000 likes. In response, I’ve gotten a lot of nasty replies, many of them undeniably antisemitic. (I’m not Jewish, but if you defend Israel or attack Nazism or antisemitism, you’re going to receive antisemitic comments.) I did have several people ask me, many of them seemingly in good faith, why I called Cooper a Nazi. One person even kindly DM’d me and said something to the effect of "Hey, I followed you recently, and I like most of what you say, but I’m not sure about this one. Can you explain why you called him that?" First, I don’t call someone a Nazi lightly. Unfortunately, a lot of people completely brush off the term because for the last decade, the American Left has been calling everyone one inch to their right a Nazi. When I use the term, I mean specifically that the person I’m calling a Nazi holds reverence or sympathy for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. I think Cooper meets that criterion. Here are just a few examples that support the claim. Last year, someone on X asked Cooper the following question: In your read of history, do you believe a united continental Europe under Nazi/Hitler rule would have been a better outcome than what actually transpired? | I assume far less innocent people would have died, but in your opinion, would that have been the better outcome in totality? Cooper replied: I can't imagine anything worse happening than what did happen. In another post, he posted two pictures. On the right was the blasphemous "Last Supper" depiction from the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. On the left was a photo of Hitler and his entourage with the Eiffel Tower behind them after France fell to the Nazis. Along with those two photos, Cooper posted: This may be putting it too crudely for some, but the picture on the left was infinitely preferable in virtually every way than the one on the right. In another post on X last summer, Cooper posted a photo of himself driving a tractor while holding a coffee mug with what looks like a Nazi eagle insignia on it with the caption, "Guten morgen, fellas." Related: Tucker Carlson 07/18/2025 Ted Cruz Introduces Bill to Label Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Group Tucker Carlson 07/16/2025 Tucker Carlson's Message to America on the Epstein Cover-Up | Full Speech Tucker Carlson 07/08/2025 Iran's President Says Israel Attempted His Assassination |
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
'I Need My Star.' The final point has been made in the storming of the Reichstag |
2025-07-19 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Moshkin and Daniil Pelymov [REGNUM] On July 17, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding the title Hero of Russia. Such documents are not uncommon, especially with the start of the Central Military District. But in this case, the award found the hero after 80 years. The highest distinction was posthumously received by Alexei Berest, commander of the combat group of the 150th Rifle Division, which captured the Reichstag on April 30, 1945. ![]() Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov and Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria, who hoisted the Victory Banner, served under Lieutenant Berest. Both soldiers received the stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union in 1946. But why did Berest not receive the award? Before answering this question, let us recall the chronology and context of events. At the end of the Berlin Offensive Operation, by the end of April 1945, units of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front occupied the Moabit area in the center of Berlin, on the northern bank of the Spree River. The Red Army came very close to the center of administrative buildings that the Nazis had turned into fortifications equipped for long-term defense: the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Swiss embassy, and the parliament building, the Reichstag. Among the participants in the heaviest battles of the last days of the war was Lieutenant Aleksey Prokofievich Berest, who turned 24 in March 1945. A native of the village of Goryaistovka in the Kharkov province (now in the Akhtyrsky district of the Sumy region), he was an exemplary "man of the new formation" - an orphan from an orphanage, a tractor driver, an employee of the Kharkov locomotive plant. He volunteered for the Red Army in 1939, participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, went through the Great Patriotic War from start to finish, rising from private to lieutenant, deputy battalion commander for political affairs. On April 28, Major General Semyon Perevertkin, commander of the 79th Corps, set the task: to drive the enemy out of the Reichstag using the forces of the 150th, 171st and 207th rifle divisions. Two days later, after the heaviest fighting and under the cover of artillery, the rifle units approached the main entrance to the building. The first Red Banner was hoisted at one of the columns near the stairs of this entrance. The commander of the 150th Rifle Division, Vasily Shatilov, later recalled : "The figures of people scattered across the square rose, ran, fell, rose again, or remained motionless. And they all gathered, as if to the two poles of a magnet, to the main entrance and to the southwest corner of the building, behind which was... the deputy entrance. I saw how the Banner suddenly turned red like a scarlet spot above the steps by the right column." This first flag at the entrance to the Reichstag was installed by Private Grigory Bulatov and Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbayev on April 30 at 2:25 p.m. At the same time, a group of fighters broke through a breach in the northwestern wall of the building (made by sappers of the 171st Division). Many sources cite the testimony of Alexander Bessarab, a participant in the assault, a major at the end of the war and commander of the 420th separate anti-tank fighter division. According to him, the infantrymen took small red flags or pieces of red cloth with them, which they hung up to mark the floors of the Reichstag that had been captured. Numerous testimonies from front-line soldiers describe fierce exchanges of fire on each of the stairwells, littered with debris and glass that had fallen from the broken dome. Several groups of fighters managed to drive the enemy off the roof of the building. According to a number of testimonies, three red banners were installed on the roof, but not at the highest point, which were knocked down on the night of April 29-30, when long-range German artillery was working on the building. At the same time, the Reichstag dome was destroyed, leaving only the frame. On April 30, the commander of the 756th Rifle Regiment of the 150th Idritskaya Rifle Division, Colonel Fyodor Zinchenko, tasked the deputy commander for political affairs of one of the battalions, Lieutenant Berest, with heading a group of standard-bearers tasked with raising the division's assault flag at the highest possible point in the building. Berest was "assigned" fighters Yegorov and Kantaria. The roof was under constant direct fire from the enemy. Egorov and Kantaria lay down under one of the statues on the eastern pediment of the building (well known from the textbook photo by Yevgeny Khaldey ) and could not get out for three hours, until the fighters of the rifle company of Senior Sergeant Ilya Syanov came up and covered the standard-bearers… In a report from the commander of the 3rd Shock Army, Colonel General Vasily Kuznetsov, to the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army on July 2, 1945, the following version was presented: "On April 30, 1945, at 14:25, the soldiers of Senior Sergeant Syanov's company fought their way up the stairs to the roof of the building and reached the dome of the Reichstag. The brave soldiers, Communist Lieutenant Berest, Komsomol member of the Red Army Yegorov and non-party junior sergeant Kantaria, installed the banner, and the proud flag of the Soviet Union, a symbol of our great victory, was raised over the building of the German parliament." In reality, judging by the recollections of those who took part in the assault, everything was different. "THE ORDER WAS NOT FULLY CARRIED OUT" Not at 14:25, but at about 22:00 on April 30, Yegorov and Kantaria, covered by their commander Berest, secured the assault flag of the 150th Idritskaya Rifle Division on the equestrian sculpture of Wilhelm I on the eastern pediment. Shards of broken glass dug into their palms - it would seem that after the wound, the hands could be healed, but Egorov and Kantaria refused the operation, keeping the scars on their hands as a memory of the storming of Berlin. "Blood was flowing from their mouths, ears, noses, and their hands were a bloody mess," war correspondent Lazar Magrachev described the condition of the heroes. But the task set by Colonel Zinchenko was different - to install it higher, on the frame of the dome. Fighting in the building and shelling from outside continued. A number of publications said that on the night of May 1-2, Lieutenant Berest, dressed in the uniform of a Red Army colonel, negotiated surrender with the remnants of the Reichstag garrison. According to Colonel Zinchenko's recollections, on May 2, after suppressing the German resistance in the building, he summoned Yegorov and Kantaria and ordered them to "complete" the order. Together with two sergeants, he climbed one of the heavily damaged stairs leading to the dome. Then, according to Zinchenko, things went like this: “ Well, dear comrades,” I addressed my companions. “On April 30, you did not fully carry out my order. You did not install the banner on the dome. Complete the fulfillment!..” “Yes, comrade colonel, complete the fulfillment of the order,” Yegorov and Kantaria answered cheerfully. And a few minutes later the banner was already fluttering over the dome…”. As early as May 3, 1945, photographs of the burning Reichstag with the Soviet flag taken by the outstanding photographer Khaldei appeared on the pages of the newspaper Pravda, becoming one of the most recognizable images of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. THE CURSE OF MARSHAL ZHUKOV After the capitulation of the Third Reich, a high commission investigated which of the divisions that stormed the Reichstag were the first to reach the roof of the Imperial Diet. Based on the results of the July report to the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, Sergeant Yegorov and Junior Sergeant Kantaria were nominated for the highest award – the title of Hero of the Soviet Union – and indeed received it (they were awarded the Gold Star medal on May 8, 1946). Lieutenant Aleksey Berest was also nominated for an award on August 3, 1946. However, a couple of weeks later, instead of the Order of Lenin with the Hero's Star, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. This is why descendants and historians were perplexed. Sergeant Yegorov's daughter, Irina Dorozhkina, said that the standard-bearers even tried to hand over their "Stars" to the commander, thus showing solidarity. "The guys took off the stars and gave them to Berest. But he answered: "I need my own," she recalled. Why did the commission shortchange the hero? There were many versions. And here three circumstances came together. First, he was a party soldier – a political officer, which meant that his services were assessed differently at the divisional level. As reported in the archive of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a copy of the award documents testifies: “The lieutenant was nominated for the title of Hero together with Yegorov and Kantaria… But since Berest was a political officer, his fate was decided at the divisional level. There, the award was reduced to the Order of the Red Banner. Colleagues from the political department believed: if you are a communist, your duty is to organize the raising [of the Banner].” Simply put, fellow party members thought that such a feat was a duty for a communist intelligence officer, and therefore he supposedly should have received a more modest award. Historian Yuri Galkin calls this argument "Marshal Zhukov's curse" - a hint at the formal attitude of the high command, but it is the reduction in the award list that is documented. Secondly, years later, the Soviet government was not particularly sad about the reassessment of history. "The official answer was - we will not rewrite history, the documents are classified," recalls Egorov's daughter. That is, the explanation boiled down to secrecy and "not touching previous decisions." Only now, after the collapse of the USSR and the return of the archives, has it become known that Berest was initially nominated for the highest award, but the decision was not assigned to him. Moreover, he was demobilized in 1948 for “immoral behavior.” What is this stain on the reputation that has ruined the biography of a heroic officer? FIRED FOR LOVE, CONVICTED, ACQUITTED Bigamy is mentioned in official documents. The inquiry protocols of August 11, 1948 testified: Lieutenant Berest, having been in a registered marriage with citizen Elena Akimovna Kotenko since September 16, 1939, without dissolving this marriage, entered into a second marriage with citizen Lyudmila Fedorovna Yevseeva on January 8, 1946. The Court of Honor of Junior Officers at the Communications Department of the Black Sea Fleet considered this an act that disgraced the honor of a serviceman. From the context, it can be understood that this is not about adultery, but about the fact that Berest neglected divorce procedures. An offense, but not the most serious. However, in the characterization given by Berest's immediate commander, the lieutenant was also accused of drinking with subordinates, publicly complaining about the difficult financial situation of junior officers, and most importantly, refusing to attend the University of Marxism-Leninism. Dismissed from service, Berest went to the homeland of his second wife Lyudmila - to the village of Pokrovskoye in the Neklinovsky district of the Rostov region. And here the former officer with a "stain" on his reputation again suffered misfortune. In Neklinovo, Berest worked as the director of the district cinematography department. The loss of property was discovered, and, contrary to the testimony of witnesses, the theft was blamed on the director. In April 1953, Alexei Prokofievich was sentenced to 10 years. But under the amnesty in connection with the death of Joseph Stalin, the term was "cut" in half - to five years. He was released on parole, having served less than three years. Berest's honor was restored during the thaw - in the early 1960s, as someone innocent of theft, he was completely rehabilitated and reinstated in the party. But he was never awarded the Hero title, and Yegorov and Kantaria's commander remained in the shadows. Aleksey Prokofievich worked in simple, inconspicuous positions: as a forwarder at a supply base, deputy head of a canteen, a fitter in a housing management boiler room, a loader at the Rostov confectionery factory... He was brought back from oblivion by the war veteran writer Vasily Subbotin, who published the documentary story “ Colonel Berest ” in 1960, and another writer, a war veteran and prisoner of Nazi concentration camps, Igor Bondarenko, whose essay was published in 1961 by the magazine “Don”. But the official position could not be reversed – Berest was never included in the “face” of heroes along with Yegorov and Kantaria. But raising the flag over the fallen Reichstag was not his last feat. On November 3, 1970, Rostov confectionery factory driver Alexei Berest died a heroic death. "NON-HERO" WHO SACRIFICED HIS LIFE Lyudmila Berestova recalled in one of her interviews: on this day, Alexey Prokofievich promised to pick up his grandson Alyosha from kindergarten. "On the evening of November 3, I was at home with my daughter Ira. Suddenly, a neighbor from the second floor came running, holding Leshenka's hand. He said: "The train killed daddy." He always called Grandpa Leshenka "daddy...", - the hero's widow said. According to Lyudmila Fyodorovna, the tragedy occurred on the railroad tracks in the industrial zone of Rostselmash. A crowd had formed at the crossing - they were waiting for a passing train. Suddenly, a scream of horror was heard: a little girl had fallen onto the tracks. Eyewitnesses claimed that her drunk father accidentally pushed her. Aleksey Berest, leaving Lyosha in the care of people standing nearby, rushed to save someone else's child. He managed to snatch the girl from under the wheels of a speeding locomotive, but the last seconds before the train braked turned out to be fatal - Aleksey Fyodorovich died. But the next part of the widow’s story seems “rather dark”: according to her, the girl saved by Berest was never “looked for”, and neither her relatives nor she herself, having become an adult, found the family of her savior. Be that as it may, “Alexei Berest died as a hero,” says Dorozhkina, noting that Alexei Prokofievich did not require personal glory – he considered his feat to have taken place in itself. MEMORY RECOVERY Already in our days, the story of the hero of the storming of the Reichstag, ignored by the Soviet authorities, has been made the subject of political speculation in Ukraine. In 2005, with the rise to power of the nationalist Viktor Yushchenko, the "orange" authorities decided to remember Oleksiy Berest and award him the title of Hero of Ukraine. There is great doubt that this was dictated by the desire to restore justice to an officer who participated in the decisive blow to German Nazism. After all, in 2007, Yushchenko awarded the same title of Hero of Ukraine to the commander-in-chief of the UPA Roman Shukhevych, who had also served the Nazis, and in 2010, Stepan Bandera was awarded the same "honor". The soldier and officer of the Red Army, who fought in the entire Great Patriotic War, were to be presented as some kind of example of alleged discrimination against Ukrainians by "Muscovites". But the authorities, who consider Bandera's punishers heroes, failed to "privatize" the hero who fought for our common homeland. For decades, historians, journalists and local historians fought for the recognition of Commander Yegorov and Kantaria as Heroes of Russia, the successor state to the Soviet Union. A memorial plaque has been installed at the entrance to the Rostselmash plant where Berest died, and a bust of the hero has been installed on the plant grounds. A street in the Pervomaisky district of Rostov-on-Don is named after Alexei Berest. In 2010-15, the commander of the standard-bearers was immortalized in Rostov, Volgograd-Stalingrad, the city of military glory Malgobek (Ingushetia) and in the hero city of Moscow. Back in 2010, with the participation of President Vladimir Putin, a monument "We were together in the fight against fascism" was opened on Poklonnaya Hill. In the part dedicated to the storming of the Reichstag, there is also an image of Lieutenant Alexei Berest. Finally, historical memory has been completely restored: the war hero received the award he deserved 80 years after the Victory and almost 55 years after his death. |
Link |
Government Corruption |
UN LAND GRAB ALERT: It's Official, Governor Newsom Is Stealing Palisades To Build a UN Smart City! |
2025-07-18 |
[WHATFINGER] Imagine waking up to find your neighborhood burned to the ground, and then hearing that the government might have done it on purpose to take the land and turn it into a high-tech "smart city" controlled by the United Nations. Sounds like a movie plot, right? But that’s exactly what some people are claiming about recent wildfires in California’s Pacific Palisades area. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and thousands of social media users are shouting from the rooftops that Governor Gavin Newsom is behind a massive land grab to build a UN Agenda 2030 "15-minute city." Is this real, or just wild rumors? Let’s break it down step by step, using info from the internet and X (formerly Twitter) posts. First, what happened in Pacific Palisades? In late 2024 and early 2025, huge wildfires hit parts of Los Angeles County, including the Eaton Canyon fire and the Palisades fire. These blazes destroyed homes in upscale areas like Pacific Palisades, a fancy neighborhood near the ocean with celebrities and million-dollar houses. One fire chief called it one of the worst in years, killing a few people and forcing thousands to evacuate. Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency and sent in firefighters from all over. But six months later, in July 2025, Newsom held an event with LA leaders to talk about recovery. He announced over $101 million for low-income housing in wildfire-hit spots, including Palisades and Altadena. He also worked with the EPA to remove debris quickly. Sounds helpful, but some see it as suspicious. |
Link |