kravietz 🦇

https://agora.echelon.pl/users/kravietz

I run an information security consulting company in the UK and EU. Long ago I studied chemical engineering, still interested in science and engineering (pro-nuclear and pro-renewables) and politics of EU and Eastern Europe. I mostly post in English, occasionally in Polish, which is my native language, sometimes also in Russian and Ukrainian. I've been to Russia and Ukraine a lot over the last ~20 years, actively supporting Ukraine's defense effort since 2014. I almost always follow back. I prefer to discuss any views as long as they are supported by arguments and evidence, I do ban for insults and hate speech. Once 2:486/23 on #Fidonet

#fedi23 #fedi24 #linux #freebsd #ukraine #poland #nuclear #renewables #infosec #russia #speleo #caving

OpenPGP: 6F7B6BB9A9B632555E1A03C132AF1F39C4EE03F2
Website: https://krvtz.net/
KeyOxide: https://keyoxide.org/hkp/6F7B6BB9A9B632555E...
Matrix: @kravietz:gnuradio.org

Public Key

npub1par9x23t2mmfwnfyqav06qvzjl7lntrypwc2l9sk9zg8w057yxtqzjc9c8

NIP-05 Address

kravietz_at_agora.echelon.pl@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsq73jn9g44da5hf5jqwk8aqxpf0l0e43jqhv90jctz3yrh860zr9sprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wdmksetjv5hxxmmdnd7fe0

Publishing to

relay.noswhere.com

Author Public Key

npub1par9x23t2mmfwnfyqav06qvzjl7lntrypwc2l9sk9zg8w057yxtqzjc9c8

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Last Notes

2024-09-14 12:49:07

No, this is no a new CAPTCHA, this is a new malware vector which tricks users to open #Windows command line and paste a command to download some harmful stuff.
Just reported by [Mohamed Aruham](https://x.com/aruhamm/status/1834284068227481682/photo/1) on Twitter.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/e5b0ebe1e27cd9654d198f19d0e2d8d5d93c2b2a74a02bfd1103a801bbbbe7ed.png?name=wyDCHijCUOa7Fw.png

2024-09-09 20:47:39

"Civil War" (2024) is a good movie even for just one scene - the one with the dumper truck and bulldozer (no spoilers...)
Hopefully it will help Western audience visualise how their discussion might look like when approached by Russian troops - or more likely "Wagner" mercenaries playing their role as another "people's republic" somewhere in Europe.
That's the same mentality as the guys in the movie...

2024-09-05 17:11:54

#Finland started pre-production testing in the #Onkalo deep geologic storage for spent #nuclear fuel.[^1] Onkalo is the first production-ready deep geologic repository in the world...
...but only if we account for nuclear fuel repositories, because many countries already had been running deep geologic storage sites other hazardous waste for decades. For example, #Germany has not one but two deep geologic repositories storing thousands of tons of arsenic, mercury and cyanide waste from chemical industry.[^2]
And nobody is freaking out about it or chaining themselves to the railways 😉
* [^1]: https://www.ans.org/news/article-6349/finland-begins-trial-run-of-onkalo-repository/
* [^2]: https://www.kpluss.com/en-us/our-business-products/waste-management/underground-disposal/

2024-09-05 08:22:03

**Tenet Media**, a conservative media company based in Tennessee, has recently come under fire for its alleged involvement in a covert Russian disinformation campaign. Founded in 2023 by **Lauren Chen**, a right-wing commentator, and her husband **Liam Donovan**, the company has been linked to $10 million in funding from Russian nationals working for the state-controlled media outlet RT.
According to the DOJ indictment, Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva funneled the funds to Tenet Media to push hidden pro-Kremlin messaging, aiming to amplify domestic divisions within the U.S. Tenet Media allegedly produced nearly 2,000 videos on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, discussing issues such as immigration and gender ideology. Prominent figures involved with Tenet Media include **Tim Pool**, **Dave Rubin**, and **Benny Johnson**, many of whom claim they were unaware of the #Russia connection.
The indictment revealed that nearly 90% of Tenet Media’s funding came from Russian sources, and neither the company nor its founders registered as foreign agents under U.S. law. The FBI and DOJ are continuing their investigation into this case, as it represents a significant foreign effort to manipulate U.S. public opinion.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-rt-employees-indicted-covertly-funding-and-directing-us-company-published-thousands
This is literally how Tim Pool (below) hysterically shouting "Ukraine is our enemy!!!" was funded 🤷
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/dcb87417fe4c1b00d2f5340b38c4f0191e933dfc075866624cfe41172376061b.png?name=WASI2ovvP6elXw.png

2024-09-03 18:04:27

#Ukraine incursion into #Kursk oblast' had one interesting added benefit, which was obtaining access to secret FSB archives in Sudzha. FSB was evacuating in such haste that they did not manage to destroy their archives, which were acquired intact and now journalist Dmytro "Apostol" Karpenko is publishing some of them.
As Estonian analyst Artur Rehi wrote on Twitter, the most interesting thing about the documents is the unbelievable amount of bullshit produced from the very bottom to the very top of FSB. The service whose main purpose is to collect accurate, actionable intelligence internally and abroad is mass scale producing fantasies, certifying them as "reliable intelligence" and inventing whole massive plots, on a scale that would probably beat Hollywood screenplay writers union.
One of the cases is based on confidential reports from agent "Mizer" who, according to the FSB document is a 1973 born male, living in Mokrushino in Kursk oblast' whose "operational value" is that he "can travel to subjects of Russian Federation, specifically Donetsk People's Republic" due to the job he's doing.
Attached is his hand-written report where he describes a rather delusional story of "youth camps" where ominous "Azov" soldiers train them into becoming assassins, all supervised by "instructors from France, UK, Belarus and Latvia" etc etc. The report is described as "reliable information", whereas any sane person would ask themselves how this knowledge could be acquired by a person that is only allowed to travel to DPR... which is certainly quite far and isolated from all the places where the "camps" are described to be happening. At the same time, the report very much looks like it's just rambling compiled from random stories taken from Russian TV, which were likely based on other such reports etc etc.
Plenty more documents are posted on "Apostle" Telegram https://t.me/ApostleDmytro/62 and on his YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dmytrokarpenko/videos
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/280413182d0520ca6e3d9ed07d6b34e520998428779d6e52dce1f6dcedb30e26.png?name=x7T81Nxze9JR1Q.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/2a92f18a1ece95647f8edd5efb3b0f9828cd4b0520e827aa2d3def4181f797fa.png?name=weatpPM9_Xt21g.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/6c83f9949180b0b4ef75eacf6adf4df077d83cef3ef76818090fecee193743a2.png?name=qmme7ntyQrjuIQ.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/b643a3e5fe7f3de3e71b2e5372d23b5e9710b5a774b6d0d5e71df963d1d5fe23.png?name=vD0OPGdmXzAGiQ.png

2024-08-30 09:30:28

Another grim but not infrequent story from #Russia - 27 years old Artem Buchin from Perm Krai killed a girl in 2022, he was sentenced and imprisoned but signed a contract with the army. As many other violent criminals, he joined "Wagner" group, fought in #Ukraine and was pardoned after six months. He signed a new contract, was wounded, returned home and killed his 27 years old fiance and 7 years old daughter. Cases of "special military operation veterans" killing their relatives and random people are frequent, because Russian ministry of defense recruited violent criminals in the first place. In cases of minor violence, such as robberies and beatings, Russian soldiers enjoy a kind of impunity especially if they are in active service. Violence is also widespread inside Russian army, with extrajudicial killings of soldiers and confiscation of share of their salaries by the commanders.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/c71ed2fa918d9311f9eac3b21b19b0ceb8ba8fc23192cd1629d341b241081072.png?name=9A2l62uLHypKgA.png

2024-08-28 16:29:06

If anyone feels like pulling 30 GB of data, here's #NorthKorea government website `cloud.star.net.kp` dump that has been just published
https://gofile.io/d/nLSE4n

2024-08-28 10:04:12

You can't see any better response to #Russia "peace proponents" that what #Germany Foreign Office has just posted on Twitter:
> There has been no lack of efforts in the last two years by the international community and by the #Ukraine to get Putin to end the Russian war of aggression. But his answer is always: more suffering, death and destruction.
> 1 March 2022 — When peace in Ukraine was negotiated in Istanbul, Putin responded with the most brutal crimes against the people of Bucha and Irpin.
> 2 Summer 2023 — When several African countries wanted to enter into peace talks, they had to leave Moscow disappointed. During earlier talks in Kyiv, they were greeted with the explosions of Russian missiles.
> 3 June 2024 — When around 100 delegations from all over the world, from Argentina to Qatar to Thailand, met in Switzerland to discuss peace based on international law, Putin responded with waves of bombs on Ukrainian power plants.
> 4 July 2024 — When the international community called on Russia to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at the UN General Assembly, Putin did nothing of the sort and instead once again fired on targets in the region around the nuclear power plant and throughout Ukraine.
> 5 July 2024 — Nevertheless, Ukraine invited Russia to the next peace summit. But Putin's reaction was swift: missile terror, violence, death and a clear rejection of diplomacy.
> Nevertheless, people are still screaming for peaceful negotiations. That it was the West's fault that Russia invaded, and that the war is still being carried out. That Ukraine is supposedly not interested in negotiations.
> This list proves once again what not only the Ukrainian government, but leaders from all over the world always say. Russia is not interested in peace talks. Russia is only interested in one thing, to prolong this war and to win it by any means necessary, and to overwhelm the country and its people with war and terror.
Original: https://x.com/AuswaertigesAmt/status/1828725371228856677 (in German)
Translation: https://x.com/deaidua/status/1828731994953453970 (in English)

2024-08-27 10:20:59

#Germany ministry of economy came up with a plan which is clearly genius in its simplicity:
> In the future, companies should adjust their production to wind strength and the duration of sunshine. This means that when it is very sunny and windy, they should produce a lot. When there is no wind, for example, they should produce less.
For some reason, the bourgeo... ahem, industrial circles didn't seem to be impressed 🤔
Source: https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/voellig-gaga-solar-plan-von-habeck-behoerde-empoert-wirtschaft-66cc48052e96240be0bb9f17?t_ref=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F#fromWall (in German)
#EnergieWende #renewables

2024-08-25 10:52:50

#Telegram is a tricky ecosystem from security perspective, because it's quite diverse and complex:
1. Public groups and chats are widely used by both #Russia and #Ukraine. These include both publicly available and "private" (invite-only) chats neither can be really considered secret because...
2. ...group chats can't be end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), so their contents are readable to at least Telegram operators, probably as easily as running a single SQL query.
3. Telegram bots don't support E2EE either.
So here's an important distinction: while Telegram is great and highly usable for disseminating public or semi-public information (unencrypted public or invite-only groups), it's quite poor for highly confidential communications. Yet, especially the Russian side uses it a lot for just that - there are reports of "secret groups" used for front-line command or control, correction of fire or as a channel for communication with spies and collaborators in Ukraine. Except these "secret groups" really aren't, at least not in OPSEC and cryptographic sense (groups can't use E2EE in Telegram).
This is one purely marketing win for Telegram, because even mainstream journalists notoriously confuse these concepts.
Yes, it is technically possible that a Russian operator opens an actual "secret chat" with each of his collaborator, but it's highly impractical and I doubt majority of them do it.
Which is further confirmed by the panic caused by detention of Durov in Russian military channels 🤷
In any case, France taking over Telegram infrastructure is still highly speculative - the main point of the arrest is almost complete lack of moderation in Telegram, even for the most severe CSAM (child abuse) content.
While in Russia arrest of Durov would likely lead to his genitals being connected to a field telephone in order to convince him to hand over the infrastructure (that's why he ran away from Russia in the first place), in #France he will be likely just subject to a regular, boring law enforcement process that ends with a trial and suspended sentence, at best, if he agrees to improve content moderation. Part of the panic in Russia is that Russian routinely project the practices of their own law enforcement onto everyone else.

2024-08-23 18:55:42

The last coal mine in #Donetsk stopped working, symbolically marking another step in #Russia "liberation" of #Donbas. In 2014 it started with Russian organised crime taking over profitable businesses and taking apart others for scrap metal. Many mines stopped working and were flooded, rendering them irreversibly unusable. Then, Russians complained about "poor economic situation" in Donbas which was one of the most profitable regions of #Ukraine🤷
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/def4870ac9d4c2ba0104e222b5658a524a76ab4ff9b0c91dde70dbf304109d2a.png?name=sgdPqMUW9zDFxw.png

2024-08-22 10:43:37

- reply

1) They're 85% manufactured in China
2) You can't regulate because this will increase cost
3) The cyber security aspect is just a fraction of lack of regulation in this aspect, but see 2)

2024-08-21 09:06:26

Cervical cancer incidence per 100k residents in #Denmark - the first cohort to be offered #HPV #vaccine was 2008, which corresponds to 25-29 age group in 2021. I don't think this chart needs much commentary...
Source: @ProfPHansen.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/f69c29a75ed201ef5ce2d82cb02907517021b6e0481899dd322684913e41ff31.png?name=D6F4lSQa12zCqg.png

2024-08-19 12:22:33

U.S. Man Wanted for Child Pornography Possession Confirms Joining Russian Military
> Russia’s Defense Ministry on Monday published an interview with a former Massachusetts city councilman who is wanted in the United States on child pornography charges, an apparent confirmation of previous reports that he fled the U.S. and enlisted in the Russian army. Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former city councilman in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is believed to have fled the United States in January in violation of a court order while awaiting trial in Rhode Island for possession of child pornography.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/19/us-man-wanted-for-child-pornography-possession-confirms-joining-russian-military-a86069

2024-08-17 21:09:47

#Russia vs #Ukraine engagement rules
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/78c1a3eea46a0cca1b2919da6d3f7056c1f2cf25a683fab95c22c16d981c68b2.png?name=r0IgieZDg7aeSQ.png

2024-08-16 15:03:18

#Kursk oblast #Glushkov bridge today. Its importance is that the area surrounded by Seym river is connected to the rest of the oblast by only three bridges and the river is difficult in crossing. This single bridge makes supplies and reinforcements impossible for a Russian group of around 700.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/2c81dd572ad815361416c099019ed1ef4f0e347418c0975bde0330148161b47d.file?name=-ObVzO0uCVoHWg.file

2024-08-16 14:07:39

What cryptocurrencies make with people's brains 😂
> Russian tourist who 'tried to rape a cow' is gored by the animal and has to be rescued by stunned Thai police. Evgenii Kuvshinov, 26, is said to have stripped off and sidled over to a male bull before turning his attention to a female tied to a wooden fence in a field in Surat Thani, southern Thailand , yesterday afternoon
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13749603/Russian-tourist-tried-rape-cow-gored-animal.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=social-twitter_mailonline
> My Work: Crypto Cash Out & Facebook Marketing. Offering personal training. Based in Thailand / from Moscow
https://www.instagram.com/evgeniy.kuvshinov/reels/

2024-08-15 16:17:09

Ten years ago on 14 August 2014 two journalists Shaun Walker and Roland Oliphant were in #Donbas and posted what they saw with their own eyes - a column of #Russia military vehicles with official Russia army markings crossing from Russia into #Ukraine.
That was months after Ukraine had been saying on February 2014 it was no "little green men" or "self-defense" but GRU soldiers who blocked Ukrainian military in #Crimea. And it was not "self-defense" with "weapons found in old storage" who invaded Donbas, but regular Russian army, only with their markings cowardly removed.
If Europe and USA responded to that invasion decisively instead of pretending to believe the Russian fables about "guerillas", we would live in a very different world and 24 February 2022 would likely never have happened. Western "deescalation" had exactly the opposite effect in this case.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/ad66e8856103062a5f60825adb0930cd6a5f0d56a06f25b88be7e4bf408e6ded.png?name=l3HZb6uSZdbZEw.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/c00204225fe934b502b9034fa9305f87bc9e4f679f8c8def7bb90b230973594a.png?name=xLNLZx3hmCjJSw.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/924eabf5b146007448029344f6e4b9ec023c90b38adf41e414b708051ded3d64.png?name=ereTKf-lmbzA0g.png

2024-08-15 11:09:47

#Germany ex-BND chief August Hanning believes the Nord Stream sabotage was a joint #Poland and #Ukraine operation.
> „There were agreements between Zelensky and Duda to carry out the attack“, claims the ex-BND boss. Despite an arrest warrant in the case of the blown-up Nord Stream pipelines, it is still unclear who exactly is behind the attacks. August Hanning, president of the BND until 2005, believes in an „agreement between the highest leaders in Ukraine and Poland“.
https://www.welt.de/politik/video253016536/Nord-Stream-Pipelines-Es-gab-Verabredungen-zwischen-Selenskyj-und-Duda-den-Anschlag-auszufuehren-sagt-der-Ex-BND-Chef.html?wtrid=socialmedia.socialflow....socialflow_twitter
Funny how German authorities can't prosecute Gazprom-sponsored "environmental foundation" because "documents have disappeared" but demonstrates extremely advanced capabilities to make such accusations while presenting no evidence 🤔

2024-08-14 17:39:52

#Germany electricity production CO2 intensity with and without #nuclear - last year, Germany's average annual intensity was ~400 gCO2eq/kWh while France's was ~50. But if Germany kept nuclear power running, it's average annual emissions would drop four times to ~100 gCO2eq/kWh.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/c1df83ece63ad00f7b82e7bc342818ab85b38eabd6830abf76de26daf3db8e3d.png?name=Gn6rqVJkrntfUg.png

2024-08-14 17:06:34

#Poland minister of internal affairs Tomasz Siemoniak:
> Without revealing any more details, I can inform you that last week another person connected with carrying out, attempting and planning acts of diversion on Polish territory was arrested. I would like to underline the excellent cooperation of Internal Security Agency, Polish Police, Fire Brigade HQ and security services of allied countries. This is a matter of great importance for the safety, life, health and property of Polish citizens.
Source: https://x.com/MSWiA_GOV_PL/status/1823686881764134991

2024-08-13 06:31:54

IAEA observers were allowed by #Russia to the base of the Zaporizhzhia #nuclear power plant cooling tower and concluded the fire started around 10 m above the ground, at the cooling water sprinklers level. But they were not allowed _there_ by Russians, for "security concerns". At the base they did not find either remains of tyres or drone, which per TASS started the fire, but they found molten plastic.
This means Russians two days ago most likely brought some plastic rubbish or plastic barrels with some flammable fluid like diesel oil or kerosene. The observers also distinctly note "absence of sulphur smell" and I'm not sure what to make of it, maybe they're hinting that no pyrotechnics was used to stage the "fire"?
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-243-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

2024-08-12 12:35:42

As I have written many times, #renewables are only as clean as is their manufacturing.
The #lithium mine protests in #Serbia are a vicious cycle - people don't trust it will be mined to proper environmental protection standards (Serbia is not yet in EU), with without actually mining it in EU while preserving these standards, you can't really claim renewables life-cycle is actually clean.
Many pro-renewables environmentalists dismiss these protests as "NIMBY" but it's not really fair and represents a rather ignorant attitude where renewables are clean as long as manufacturing happens "somewhere else", where you don't really see it and don't ask questions about its environmental footprint.
https://www.politico.eu/article/huge-lithium-mining-protest-triggers-crisis-meeting-in-serbia/
Physical context: due to very low energy density, renewables in principle require plenty of mined resources and processing per kWh of energy produced. This is physics and there's no shortcuts here - **if you want more renewables, you need to accept increase in mining and heavy industry by up to 3000%.**
This aspect has been conveniently not discussed in public because in case of PV, for example, 85% of the whole supply chain (mining, processing, manufacturing) is concentrated in just one country - China.
But the fact that a new PV panel or battery arrives from China all shiny and plastic-wrapped doesn't mean it was cleanly produced - quite the opposite, China's energy mix is largely based on coal and its environmental protection record is rather poor.
So it is absolutely desirable for more mining and processing to happen inside EU and US, where high environmental standards are preserved (also labour protection, absence of slave labour etc). And of course, this will also come at a higher price tag - but there's no shortcuts here, any CO2 and pollution emitted "where we don't see it" will come back anyway because we share the same atmosphere with China.

2024-08-12 09:21:05

One #Poland marginal political activist posted a statement that #Ukraine #Kursk operation cancels its "just and defensive war" and turns it into an "aggression" and therefore the West should stop supporting Ukraine.
As a reminder, when in February 1945 the Allies, including Soviets, entered Italy and Germany, I don't think anyone had even a slightest temptation that Allied defense effort had just turned into "aggression" 🤔
P.S. as I finished writing that another one popped up - this time "stop the war" initiative 🤦
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/0b7fa25deb69c271a215956edc385fb4c96375f7f8b35444cc849c3508ab4ed8.png?name=j9ynn92Y4ikjUQ.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/0bc5f4a86997762c9810e26f1e7f5cc1cd7d63b03b5167ae375b268760181211.png?name=YgAfa1alwp2BTQ.png

2024-08-10 22:03:09

Daily wisdom from Noam #Chomsky - of course it's a joke, but representative.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/28d8376478bf4e5a5b0c78ca1f41409eb41a06b148cc6eae703fc04f23a91aeb.png?name=dhwTQcVZK0LoyA.png

2024-08-02 10:25:48

#Russia media boasting about downing of #Ukraine #F16 using a photo from actual F-16 crashed in Kansas (USA) in 2014.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/43ee940dc61990062c385e0e7c8cc7146697a8c12b38ae3168addddc98724c52.png?name=VK995ELFnI8w8g.png
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/ed646c105a658c0f7ed22c2ec0e2afe90093b37354ae66fef8db5f0ecc1c8e94.png?name=i25Jm-3qARcOWQ.png

2024-07-07 08:25:50

Collection of various estimates of #Russia losses in #Ukraine, which also sheds light on the semantic confusion of what different experts define as “losses”. Some speak of “irreversible losses” meaning soldiers killed *and* wounded so seriously that they never return to battlefield, some only mean killed. This chart demonstrates the relation between these two but also shows that all estimates are generally consistent within their defined confidence intervals.
https://akkoma-media.obj.krvtz.net/akkoma-media/e19537fc5c5bd1dfcef48eba085f5b70b743318cfc9603c8d5e8d8f25614167b.png?name=WlfrSAxtixr6QQ.png

2024-05-16 11:01:31

Outcome of #Putin visit to #China in terms of economic agreements signed:<li>✅ Agreement on supplies of Russian topinambour and beef by-products, particularly beef cartilage and stomachs to China</li><li>✅ Creation of a new nature reserve “Land of big cats”</li><li>✅ Cooperation between TASS and Xinhua news agencies</li><li>❌ Construction of Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline was not agreed</li>
To me, these indicate an extremely close and strategic partnership between China and Russia, especially the beef cartilages are going to change the course of the world 😂
Source: https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2024/05/16/putin-ugovoril-si-tszinpina-pokupat-rossiiskii-topinambur-i-govyazhie-hryaschi-a130877