Images of The Death of Russia

Something to play with is the fact that the events of 4/10 certainly affected the youth of Russia in many ways, especially directors like Sergey A. who made the Russian remake of the film Godzilla (2018). The pathos and damage done by the kaiju, along with the origins are by far superior to the alleged Roland Emmerich version of the film that was supposed to appear in 1998. Based on the bootleg copy that was running around at COMICON San Diego, we are certainly better off without it...

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President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins at the 4/10 memorial service, ca. 2021

Although among the least effected nations by 4/10, receiving only one strike and having a death toll estimated to be in the low to mid ten thousands, the psychological impact on Ireland as a result of 4/10 was immense. It was the only nation that received a nuclear strike that wasn't a party in the Second Russian Civil War, a part of the former USSR, a member of NATO, or a host of US military bases. Many had assumed that its long-standing policy of military neutrality would spare the country, including Taoiseach John Bruton, but these assumptions would be completely destroyed along with Shannon Airport by a Russian missile. In the days following the blast, the entirety of the counties of Limerick and Clare, as well as portions of Tipperary, Kerry, and Galway, would be completely evacuated due to the fear of radioactive fallout, and although these fears did not come to pass due to the height at which the missile detonated, many chose to stay in their adopted homes elsewhere in the country, with Wexford and Wicklow in particular receiving massive increases in their population.

As a result of the Shannon Strike and its aftermath , the ruling Fine Gael-Labour-Democratic Left coalition government would be heavily defeated in the 1997 general election by a resurgent Fianna Fáil lead by Bertie Ahern in a campaign that mainly focused on the failure of the previous government to protect Ireland from a nuclear attack, and for Ireland to join the NATO alliance, both to ensure that the state would be better protected, and as a sweetener to the Unionist community in Northern Ireland for any potential reunification proposal. This came to a head in November 2004, after a referendum on NATO membership was passed by over 70% of the electorate that May, with Ireland formally joining NATO along with Albania. Turkey, however, threw a spanner in the works by initially refusing to ratify Ireland membership bid, citing alleged Irish support for the PKK and Ireland's condemnation of the Turkish occupation of both the former Iraqi Kurdistan and of Northern Cyprus, although an impassioned speech by the then President Mary MacAleese citing the human and psychological trauma that both Ireland and Turkey faced on 4/10 swayed enough in the Grand National Assembly to barely ratify Ireland's membership bid.

Today in Ireland, many remember 4/10 as the day Irish neutrality died, but for those from Clare and Limerick, the memories are instead of those of a mushroom cloud rising over the Shannon, and of the forced evacuations that followed. Even nearly 30 years later, many those that were evacuated have refused to return, citing the trauma of seeing the mushroom cloud, or in the case of Clare, being the very target of the bomb. Limerick City in particular has seen a demographic crash, with the city today being only home to some 35 thousand people, with the county as a whole only being home to barely over 100 thousand. Clare has seen a similar situation, with only 60 thousand residents.
 
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The palaces of Catherine and Peterhof in the region of Saint Petersburg. Both palaces survived the Second Russian Civil War in relatively good condition (although they suffered looting and windows smashed by blast of the nuke against St. Petersburg.
They are some of the few tourist spots in Russia (more like the only ones outside Novgorod and Pushkingrad) and their architecture has been used along with photos and paintings for the reconstruction of the Winter Palace and other buildings in Saint Petersburg.
 
One thing that has baffled many American observers is that former American President Bill Clinton is actually beloved and well-respected in Russia even as we pass the 30th anniversary of the events of 4/10. Consider that rather than take a hardline stance and use nuclear weapons on major cities throughout Russia, he showed both mercy and deference. One need only look at his visit to Saint Petersburg in 2009, to show how much he is still well-revered....

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The Motherland Ukraine statue in Kyiv. Originally a statue commemorating the Soviet victory in WW2, the Soviet emblem on the shield was removed during the decommunisation of the monument in the early 2000’s.
 
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Kalina Piwowarsky – main character from the popular high fantasy anime-inspired Russian cartoon, aimed at primarily teens and young adults, “Надеяться/Nadeyat'sya” or ”Hope” available on the popular American streaming platform, MoviPlx (pronounced “Movie-Plex).​

Kalina is an 18 year old warrior woman and a zephyrer, manipulator of wind and air currents, native to the massive “Great Jurisdiction of Baclium” an empire of many forests, mountains, lakes, and rivers and just as many, if not more, ethnicities of humans not to mention orcs, dwarves, goblins, and most prominently fae or fairyfolk. However, in recent years the Bacli Peoples and nation have fallen into an completely catastrophic civil war with the death of “the Great Judge of the Nation” Dragomir Cech (a benevolent autocrat with a great love for the many peoples of his realm) in what seems to be a bloodstained coup by the leader of the Judiciary Guard Bogdan Lahush in a supposed plot by Dragomir’s sister Gorana who is also Bogdan’s domineering lover. Cech had been keeping the peace between the various groups of the Jurisdiction for thirty years by that point as ancient tensions were slowly bubbling to the surface. Cech’s death put the country into a disarray as local governors and military commanders declared for either the coup plotters or the remains of the legitimate government, that quickly fled to a far flung province called “Broania”, which spiralled out of control.

The following civil war, which Kalina and her small hometown of Čierrany find themselves in, called “the Trials of Torment” by some is currently host to all sorts of atrocities as local warlords and factions either jockeying for power or are attempting to carve out their own ethnic or religious state. But like the title of the series, hope still remains as a neighbouring tribe of fae have come to Čierrany’s aid when a particular bloodthirsty warlord starts to brutalise the town leading to the townsfolk fighting back and the deaths of Kalina’s parents in the fighting.

The arrival of fae warriors send the warlord’s forces into a panick and they flee, one month later as a fae warrior girl named Valeska Morosov and her kin continue to help the townsfolk repair the damage to the town a spark of friendship, and perhaps something more, between Kalina and said fae is formed as Valeska helps a Kalina struggling with PTSD to take care of her three younger siblings. As of the most recent episode the eldest of Kalina’s siblings the 13 year old Mircea teases Kalina about how she gets flustered whenever Valeska is around. In any case Kalina and Valeska both vow to gather up a party, then an army, to put an end to the Trials of Torment and many fans worry if the girls are up to the task as Baclium’s neighbours of “the Eskurg Kingdom”, “the Republic of Spionga”, and “the Astua Coalition” circle like vultures waiting to tear part a decomposing corpse. The story of Надеяться is not just based on the Second Russian Civil War but draws heavy inspiration from the breakup and disintegration of Yugoslavia.

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Valeska Morosov, Kalina’s burgeoning love interest and fae warrior who is also a talented pyrosparker who as the name suggests is an individual who manipulates fire and electricity.​
 
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Speaking of films and Bill Clinton, who do you think best played Bill Clinton in the films that have been made about the collapse of the Russian state? I would have to say that Dennis Quaid as Bill Clinton, with Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and David Morrissey as Gordon Brown, in the Special Relationship (2010) is probably the best portrayal so far:


As for the portrayal of current Russian politics, I would point to The Romanoffs (2018) (Netflix) starring Diane Lane, Aaron Eckhart, John Slattery and Christina Hendricks. If anything, they both capture the feel and surreal atmosphere of the current unity and division within the Russian people:

 
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NYPD helping an injured woman away from the scene of Veterans Day attack on November 11, 1995. The death toll was 43 civilian.

NYPD 1990s by John Rizzuto

The Veterans Day parade was halted after an attack and prompting a lot of NYPD officers on the screen to investigates the attack, it's became clearer that the attack was linked to the Al-Qaeda networks in Dagestan. The attack has been condemned widely from the United States government, Muslim community, Canada, UK, and the international. As a result, the Veterans Day Attack is seen as a signal for US military intervention in Dagestan.

turkish soldiers stand ready during the war in cyprus, 1970s with locally  made hk g3s and aegean camouflage pattern, based on american frogskin |  laststandonzombieisland

Turkish army stand ready for the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. Tragically, this conflict was deemed as "Turkey's Vietnam War" as the casualties was highest in the NATO members. Even at home, Turkish citizens protests against the unpopular war.
To this very day, the government still debate whether to renew the membership or continuing the hostile toward the NATO.
 
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NYPD helping an injured woman away from the scene of Veteran Day attack on November 11, 1995. The death toll was 43 civilian.

NYPD 1990s by John Rizzuto

The Veteran Day parade was halted after an attack and prompting a lot of NYPD officers on the screen to investigates the attack, it's became clearer that the attack was linked to the Al-Qaeda networks in Dagestan. The attack has been condemned widely from the United States government, Muslim community, Canada, UK, and the international. As a result, the Veteran Day Attack is seen as a signal for US military intervention in Dagestan.

turkish soldiers stand ready during the war in cyprus, 1970s with locally  made hk g3s and aegean camouflage pattern, based on american frogskin |  laststandonzombieisland

Turkish army stand ready for the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. Tragically, this conflict was deemed as "Turkey's Vietnam War" as the casualties was highest in the NATO members. Even at home, Turkish citizens protests against the unpopular war.
To this very day, the government still debate whether to renew the membership or continuing the hostile toward the NATO.
That should be Veterans Day, not Veteran Day...
 
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Eduard Rossel, Siberian politician notable for being amongst Alexander Lebed's main civillian allies during his campaigns in Siberia, being the highest-ranking civilian politician in the regime that he would set up. Initially notable for organizing a short-lived "Ural Republic" prior to the National Salvation Front replacing him with a more pliable governor and throwing him in prison, Rossel would serve Lebed first as Governor of Yekaterinberg Oblast (an office he was restored to after Lebed's coup) and later as the first Foreign Minister of the Siberian Federation, an office he would hold from 1996 until 2010.

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Anton Bakov, Siberian politician notable for being the main leader of the monarchist movement in the Siberian Federation. While he would initially, like Rossel, be amongst the civilians of the "Ural Clique" (as they would be known due to being initially involved with the Ural Republic project) within Siberian politics, Bakov would fall out with Lebed over how he would push for Siberia to adopt a monarchy, either from another branch of the Romanov family or in personal union with Russia. His Monarchist Association of Siberia would win 9.5% of the vote and 11 seats in the latest Siberian election.
 
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After War Gundam X, a 1996 anime series and said to be one of the best in the long-running Gundam franchise. Set in the After War era where a mass dropping of space colonies killed at least 99 percent of the population, it was during the 4/10 bombings that it became infamous; the director, seeing the "repeat of Hiroshima", almost considered killing off the main characters. But Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator and previous director of Gundam series, and already suffering from depression years before 4/10, surprisingly requested Shinji Takamatsu the director not to do it, and Takamatsu heeded his advice, encouraged by the cast and staff. He rewrote the series as an allegory to the dangers of nuclear annihilation, but not only much of the main cast survive, but the villains were defeated and not killed and another apocalyptic war was avoided.

The series was brought into North America and dubbed in 2001, and despite the dark themes of the series, it was well-received by the North American audience. An attempt to ban the series in the post-Russian states was heavily criticized and was discontinued. The series would create a new sequel anime named Gundam X: After the Moonlight, aired in 2005, and although it is not as well-received as the original X, it is still relatively well-regarded; the After War timeline is only other non Universal Century timeline aside from Gundam SEED that received an animated TV sequel.
 
One of the stranger things , ever since the 1996 NBA Exhibition matches from Moscow to Vladivostok, basketball has become extremely popular in Russia, but as Shaquille O'Neal, Lebron James and Allen Iverson have all pointed out on ESPN, it has developed its "own style". Russian basketball is definitely more violent than the American NBA:

I can attest to the fact that we elbow people in their faces almost on instinct when we play basketball and hence why I've only played a few times and otherwise just watch (on the incredibly rare occasion I am somehow involved with basketball game lmao).
 
One of the stranger things , ever since the 1996 NBA Exhibition matches from Moscow to Vladivostok, basketball has become extremely popular in Russia, but as Shaquille O'Neal, Lebron James and Allen Iverson have all pointed out on ESPN, it has developed its "own style". Russian basketball is definitely more violent than the American NBA:

Wrestball. looks like Rugby and Basketball had a baby.
 
Wrestball. looks like Rugby and Basketball had a baby.
Now you know why "Basketball" is easily the most popular sport during the Summer Olympics. Consider that fans get really hyped up during matches. Just consider how things went in 2012 when the Chinese and Russian teams "let the hands fly" during the London Summer Olympics. Heck, the rivalry between Moscow and Saint Petersburg is downright vicious.....

 
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Another weird pop culture development has been the #Gopnik embrace of Eminem (a.k.a. Marshall Mathers). When Eminem toured in 2003, many foreign observers were shocked about how many youth were fans of the rap star, and had actively learned English after watching his movie 8-Mile (2002). It is also the reason that Eminem's film Have Gun, Will Travel (2005) was considered a major hit.

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Here is a photo of Dr. Dre visiting Eminem while in Saint Petersburg.

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And from his concert in Chelyabinsk.
 
Here is a Russian TV show called The Day After (2013-2023), which shows a Russian zombie apocalypse, which kills off the men infected, but turns the women into black-eyed and beautiful, cannibalistic monsters:


Who here watched on TNT/RT , the Walking Dead crossover with Dr. Jenner, Michonne and Rick Grimes speaking with their Russian colleagues?
 
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