DON’T GO RUSSIAN TO JUDGMENT: Last we heard, no charges had been filed – but folks in Rappahannock County, Virginia took notice when a large number of FBI special agents reportedly raided the home of Russian-born American foreign policy adviser Dimitri Simes. The 76-year-old Simes was a long way from his Virginia home at the time – he was in Russia where he says he has been since October 2022. Simes is the former president and CEO of the Center for the National Interest. The New York Post notes that his name was mentioned over 130 times in the 2019 Mueller report on possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election – for which he was a Trump advisor. Simes currently hosts a current affairs show on Russian State TV called “The Big Game.” He reportedly told Russia’s Sputnik International that he thought the raid was a move to try and convince him not to return to the United States – and said the FBI incursion into his home was observed by a large group of civilians – who he presumes were Ukrainian-Americans because – well, because. Russian Media Monitor, Julia Davis, reported that Russian talking heads compared Simes to Scott Ritter – which, apparently, they think is a compliment.
HE SOUNDS NICE: Another Russian-American-Russian was in the news this week. Stanislav Krapivnik who apparently was Russian born – then moved to the U.S. and became an Army officer and is now back in Moscow – appeared on State TV sharing his well-reasoned geopolitical views. Once again, Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis posted some clips, this time of Krapivnik kvetching about Americans saying “These are not people, these are animals.” He also said that: “If we (meaning Russians) want to end this war, we need to completely destroy Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Not defeat, but total destruction. Not taking them prisoner. There should be corpses, mountains of corpses!” Krapivnik said. Newsweek says that Krapivnik, who served in the U.S. Army, “defected to Russia in the ‘90s.” We are not sure that “defected” is the right word – but it is pretty clear he didn’t think he could “Be All He Could Be” in the U.S. Army. Whew.
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