Over the past day only, Russian forces targeted 583 Ukrainian troop and military equipment concentration areas, 41 command posts, and 76 artillery and mortar units, including three Grad MLRS batteries, the ministry of defence stated.

Russian and Donbass troops continue to advance amid the special op in Ukraine. Meanwhile, they are also engaged in demining territory around the Azovstal plant in Mariupol following the surrender of Ukrainian radicals.

Over the weekend, the Russian and Donbass forces completely seized the compound, and a total of 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers and Azov neo-Nazi fighters laid down their arms.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220523/live-updates-ukrainian-forces-shell-settlement-in-kherson-region-killing-two-civilians-1095708872.html

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BY Dmitry Bokarev

The COVID-19 pandemic, which swept the world in 2020, hit all sectors of the economy, but tourism was possibly hit the hardest. Tourism was the first to suffer from quarantine restrictions, as it is directly dependent on the freedom of international communication and yet is not a strategically important industry for most states. However, there are countries for which the flow of foreign tourists is a key source of income, and the decline in tourism due to border closures has dealt a serious blow to their economies.

For example, the Kingdom of Thailand, home to some of Southeast Asia’s most popular resorts, is one such country. In 2019, tourists brought in more than $62 billion to Thailand, or about 20% of the country’s GDP. It is worth noting that out of about 40 million foreigners visiting Thailand in 2019, more than 1.4 million came from Russia, thus making Russia fourth on the list of tourist-sending countries to Thailand. This country is one of the favorite destinations for Russians.

In 2020, the pandemic broke out, people stopped travelling to Thailand and Thailand stopped receiving visitors, and from April to September 2020, the country’s level of foreign tourism revenue was at close to zero. An economic crisis developed in the country and mass protests erupted.

Realizing that the country cannot do without tourism, in late 2020 the Thai government allowed foreign holidaymakers willing to undergo a lengthy quarantine to enter the country.

During 2021, restrictions were gradually lifted: by the end of the year, vaccinated nationals of certain countries were allowed to visit Thailand without quarantine. Of course, in 2021, tourism has not yet brought as much money to the country as it did before the pandemic, but the flow of tourists has started to grow, including from Russia.

In January 2022, the Russian Federation ranked first in terms of tourist traffic to Thailand for a while. A total of 23,000 Russians visited the country in January – about 20% of the total monthly tourist flow. In February, 17,500 Russians visited Thailand.

At the end of February 2022, Russia’s military special operation in Ukraine began and unprecedented Western economic sanctions. This included delays at airports around the world for aircraft leased by Russian airlines. Consequently, some Russian airlines have started refusing to fly abroad.

Many Russian tourists who were stranded abroad during the February events found themselves trapped in host countries for long periods of time waiting for special flights to be organized to bring them home.

The fluctuation of the ruble, the disconnection of a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system and the suspension of Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia abroad have created additional difficulties, leaving many Russians abroad strapped for cash.

As a result of all this, several thousand Russians were also “trapped” in Thailand at the beginning of March 2022. The Thai authorities decided to support their country’s guests by providing free visa extensions, lowering hotel rates, and offering Russians the Chinese UnionPay payment system for financial transactions.

Despite the fact that Thailand is one of the main south-east Asian allies of the US, the main initiator of the Russian sanctions pursuit, Bangkok has not imposed sanctions against Russia that could spoil Russian-Thai relations and has not yet been added to the list of Russia-unfriendly countries, which starting in March 2022 now includes 48 states. The Thai leadership justified its position by arguing that an escalation of the conflict could have unpleasant consequences for the entire world, which is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, and therefore the conflict over Ukraine should be resolved through diplomatic means.

The situation is now gradually stabilizing: the ruble has levelled out, and Russian airlines with a non-leased fleet are flying abroad. In general, the Russian Federation is resisting sanctions in such a way that Russians have not even stopped vacationing at Thai resorts yet. For example, flights from Russia to Thailand are operated by Thai own planes as well as by Arab companies. Flights from Moscow to Phuket via Dubai (UAE) or Doha (Qatar) are available every day. Therefore, despite the sanctions, numerous Russian tourists are once again preparing to fly to Thailand and Thailand is preparing to welcome them. Moreover, it is preparing for a significant increase in Russian tourist arrivals.

At the end of April 2022, there was a meeting between representatives of the Russian tourism business and representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in Moscow. The meeting focused on the Thai leadership’s decision to reduce quarantine restrictions on entry to the country as much as possible, bringing conditions closer to what they were before the pandemic. Speaking at the event, TAT Deputy Director Ravivan Sangchan said her country was looking forward to Russian tourists and would welcome every guest. TAT representatives also said that talks were already underway between Thailand and Russia to allow Russian MIR cards to be used for payments in Thailand. Participants at the event expressed the hope that the flow of tourists from Russia to Thailand will soon reach the level of 2019.

On May 1, 2022, the above-mentioned changes to Thailand’s quarantine restrictions came into force. Vaccinated persons now only need to present a certificate of vaccination to enter, while unvaccinated persons need to present the result of a PCR test, and neither need to undergo quarantine.

Several conclusions can be drawn from the information above. First, the large-scale economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the collective West have not yet produced the effect that their authors hoped for: to reduce the standard of living of the population enough to create maximum social tension in Russia, up to and including an internal political crisis, mass unrest and the destruction of the state. Judging by the number of Russian holidaymakers heading to Thailand’s resorts, this level of social tension in Russia is still a long way off. Second, creating total isolation for the Russian Federation and once again fencing it off from the world with an “iron curtain” proved to be too difficult: in today’s multipolar world, Russia was able to find ways to maintain communication with the regions it was interested in. Third, the influence of the West, primarily the US, even on its Asian allies, is no longer unlimited either: as mentioned above, Thailand is one of the main US allies in Southeast Asia. However, Bangkok did not go against its national interests for the sake of Washington: Thailand needs to urgently rebuild its economy after the coronavirus crisis, and it cannot do so without a revival of the tourism industry. And as long as Russia provides Thailand with a large inflow of tourists, the country is unlikely to join sanctions even under pressure from Washington, setting an example for other states to follow.

Dmitry Bokarev, political observer, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

READ MORE:

https://journal-neo.org/2022/05/25/thailand-s-tourism-industry-and-russia-s-vacation-season-amid-international-sanctions/

SEE ALSO: the carnival of NATO psyops….

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GuNote: it's time for the West to tell Zelenskyyyy-y to pack his bags (before he gets killed by his own troops)....

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As the Russian proverb says: “You can give the wolf the best food, but he would hanker for the wood.” This folk wisdom has a disapproving, judgmental connotation. The main allegorical meaning is that the true essence will always reveal itself, despite anyone’s best efforts to change it.

This is what is happening today in Turkey’s relations with Kiev, despite Ankara’s multiple attempts to establish not only business but also political relations with the current Ukrainian regime. In particular, via Ankara’s demonstration to Kiev of its opposition to Crimea’s accession to Russia, or by jointly playing the Crimean Tatar card against Russia, or even in jointly producing the Bayraktar UAVs.

However, the “neo-Nazi wolf” bristling at Russia wants more and more subjugation from Turkey and has therefore lately been actively playing a very unfriendly tune against the latter on Washington’s strings. Here are just a few examples.

The other day, Yuriy Panchenko, a well-known columnist in Ukraine, in an article for the online publication European Pravda, under the White House’s prompter, broke into accusations that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was allegedly “blackmailing” NATO into lifting sanctions for buying Russian S-400 in exchange for a change of position on Finland and Sweden’s membership in the alliance. At the same time, Panchenko drew comparisons between Turkey’s position and Hungary’s demarche, which threatens to veto the EU’s sixth package of sanctions against Russia, primarily over the oil embargo. To sting the Turkish president more, he also expressed the view, clearly dictated from the US, that “Ankara is also trying to capitalize on the sanctions by planning to increase the flow of Russian tourists.”

Earning Washington’s pieces of silver, another Ukrainian politician, Rada MP Maxim Buzhansky, came up with another anti-Turkish version on May 19, according to which, by blocking Sweden and Finland from joining NATO, Turkey is allegedly trying to achieve EU membership and intends to exchange EU membership for NATO enlargement.

The Ukrainian president himself stepped in to fuel the anti-Turkish hysteria, blatantly condemning Turkey in an interview with Greek ERT in early May for welcoming Russian tourists. At the same time, Zelensky not only gave Ankara an ultimatum, but also openly called on this and other tourist countries to sponsor the Ukrainian economy, which even the Turkish newspaper dikGAZETE has written about.

Readers of the Turkish newspaper En Son Haber were angered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ultimatum and his words about Russian tourists. They called on Turkish businessmen to stop selling drones to the Ukrainian leader. The attitude of the people of Turkey towards the Ukrainian president and his policies is clearly illustrated by the discussion in the pages of this publication. Reader Rick, for example, expressed his indignation as follows: “What an ungrateful little man. Should Turkey ask you what to do next?” Another reader continues: “We have a saying: if you coddle a donkey too much, it imagines itself to be a racehorse. The world has surrounded Zelensky with a little too much attention and he now takes it for granted. It’s as simple as that.” “Who do you think you are? You don’t know how to run a state and thousands of people have died because of it. Their blood is on your hands,” stressed Altan Khalil Yilmaz.

On May 2, a former Turkish MP of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Shamil Tayyar, sharply retorted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks about Russian tourists in Turkey.  “Stupid comedian!” the ex-parliamentarian summed up on his Twitter.

In addition to Kiev’s blatantly anti-Turkish information campaign, it should also not be forgotten that Ukraine has blocked 21 Turkish vessels in the port of Odessa to use them as living shields, the media reported. In particular, the Turkish Aydınlık told its readers: “According to information we have received, 21 of the ships that were not allowed to leave the port of Odessa belong to Turkey. Ukraine does not want these ships to leave, citing the “danger” of mines left at sea. Russia has opened a security corridor, but Ukraine is still not letting them through. But the main objective is different. If the foreign ships leave, the Ukrainians will be an obvious target – and Odessa will soon fall. For this reason Ukrainians do not allow foreign ships to leave, including 21 Turkish ships.” The newspaper reveals another reason why Ukrainians are not letting the Turkish ships out: they hope they will come under attack if the Russian military launches an operation in Odessa, which could cause tensions in Turkish-Russian relations.

The Ukrainian president’s statements and policies have irritated even Turkish nationalists. “When he (Volodymyr Zelensky) takes into account the attitudes and positions of the countries of the world in the Ukrainian-Russian war, Zelensky should use a very respectful tone towards the Turkish people, the Turkish state and the government of the Republic of Turkey,” Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahçeli said, as reported by NTV on May 12. The head of the organization, which includes the Grey Wolves, noted that Turkey is the only country that wants to resolve the situation peacefully — through the Istanbul Peace Project.

The understanding of the neo-Nazi basis of Kiev’s policy has become increasingly entrenched in Turkish society. Turkish historian Mehmet Perinçek, who has personally spoken to people in liberated Ukrainian cities, in contrast to the West’s informational support for Kiev, told RT that Russian-speaking Ukrainians had lived under a “neo-Nazi dictatorship” for eight years. “I have spoken to various people from the liberated cities. They have really been living under a neo-Nazi dictatorship for these eight years,” he said. Ukrainians told the Turkish historian that they were prevented from celebrating Victory Day and speaking their own language, and that children in schools were forced to hate their neighbors. “I have heard this personally from ordinary people in Melitopol, Berdyansk, Mariupol. During this dictatorship, people disappeared, went missing — this was all before the Russian special operation,” he said.

As well as verbally attacking Turkey, Kiev is not averse to using financial accusations in its relations with Ankara, to which it has just spoken of its boundless sympathy, and on February 3 it even signed 8 bilateral agreements on various aspects of politics and economics. For example, in late April, Volodymyr Krakovetsky, director of public relations at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, appealed to the Ankara police, accusing the Turkish defense company of allegedly embezzling US $5 million from the Ukrainian state budget, the media reported. According to Cumhuriyet, it was a deal between the Ukrainian authorities and the firm Aka Arms Defense to buy 5,000 helmets and body armor kits (each costing $1,050). Kiev paid for the purchase with 11 different transfers, including in cryptocurrency. However, Kiev’s accusations have not been confirmed.

Valery Kulikov, political expert, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

READ MORE:

https://journal-neo.org/2022/05/26/on-washington-s-request-ukraine-has-now-turned-against-turkey-as-well/

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