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Russia and North Korea forge ‘year of friendship’ pariah alliance

March 12, 2015 Comments off

theguardian.com

Neighbouring regimes declare closer co-operation as Kremlin’s role in Ukraine conflict and Kim Jong-un’s pursuit of nuclear weapons deeply rankle with west

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been invited to Russia as part of the two countries' 'year of friendship'.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been invited to Russia as part of the two countries’ ‘year of friendship’. Photograph: KNS/AFP/Getty Images

Russia and North Korea have announced they will deepen economic and political ties under the banner of a “year of friendship” – a development that could further complicate the west’s attempts to deal with an increasingly belligerent Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un’s recalcitrant regime in Pyongyang.

The prospect of closer co-operation between Putin’s Kremlin and a pariah state with realistic nuclear ambitions will dismay the US, Britain and other countries hoping to pressure Pyongyang into ditching its ambitions to become a nuclear power, and to dissuade Russia from fuelling the

war in Ukraine.

North Korean state media said the two countries had agreed to make 2015 a “year of friendship” to mark the

Read more…

Categories: China, Russia Tags: , ,

The Assassination of Boris Nemtsov: More a Shock Than a Surprise

March 1, 2015 Comments off

theatlantic.com

People gather at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, with St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin walls in the background, in central Moscow. (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Hours after Boris Nemtsov was slain on Friday night near the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to seek justice: “Everything will be done so that the organizers and perpetrators of a vile and cynical murder get the punishment they deserve,” he said in a condolence message to the 55-year-old Nemtsov’s mother. Whether Putin is being sincere is something only he and his closest advisors know. But Russia’s recent history inspires little confidence that Nemtsov’s killers, whoever they are, will be brought to justice.

Nemtsov was a high-profile politician, having served as Read more…

Categories: Russia Tags: , ,

Putin stockpiles gold as Russia prepares for economic war

November 13, 2014 Comments off

telegraph

putin goldRussia has taken advantage of lower gold prices to pack the vaults of its central bank with bullion as it prepares for the possibility of a long, drawn-out economic war with the West.

The latest research from the World Gold Council reveals that the Kremlin snapped up 55 tonnes of the precious metal – far more than any other nation – in the three months to the end of September as prices began to weaken.

Vladimir Putin’s government is understood to be hoarding vast quantities of gold, having tripled stocks to around 1,150 tonnes in the last decade. These reserves could provide the Kremlin with vital firepower to try and offset the sharp declines in the rouble.

Russia’s currency has come under intense pressure since US and European sanctions and falling oil prices started to hurt the economy. Revenues from the sale of oil and gas account for about 45pc of the Russian government’s budget receipts.

The biggest buyers of gold after Russia are other countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States, led by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

In total, central banks around the world bought 93 tonnes of Full Article Here

Categories: GOLD, Russia Tags: , , ,

No snow in Siberia? Locals marvel – and worry – at the ‘snow shortage’

December 19, 2013 Comments off

siberiantimes.com

These extraordinary pictures give graphic new evidence of climate change.

Recently, experts have sounded warnings about the impact of climate change, with one warning that the energy-rich Yamal Peninsula in Siberia could be flooded due to a rise in sea levels – along with some famous cities. Picture from Barnaul, Western Siberia, courtesy Sergey Scherbin, Barnaul.fm

We highlight December images taken in recent days in two Siberian cities Krasnoyarsk and Barnaul showing scenes that locals insist are unprecedented in living memory. The startling pictures from Krasnoyarsk show an almost total absence of snow yet as every school child around the world knows, snow is what Siberia is all about.

No more, it seems. The images of the River Yenisei with ducks splashing in the water, and grass in the parks, could be from autumn rather than deep in the winter in a city where December temperatures have gone as low as minus 47C, and the daily mean in minus 13C at this time of year, with plenty of snow on the ground.

As in many areas of Siberia this winter, the thermometer is reluctant to plummet to customary bone-chilling temperatures. Last night when we checked outside, it was a mere minus 3C. Day time temperatures lately have been warmer. As mother-of-two Anastasia said from Krasnoyarsk: ‘I’m reading a book to my children and I hear the tapping of the rain in my ear. Rain? Rain??? Rain in the middle of December? In Siberia?’  Full Article Here

Categories: Russia Tags: , ,

New Russian Air-to-Air Missiles Will Field Almost Perfect Accuracy

December 19, 2013 Comments off

thediplomat.com

New Russian Air-to-Air Missiles Will Field Almost Perfect Accuracy
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

 

Russia’s new T-50-variant Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (PAK FA) may feature the most accurate air-to-air missile system ever devised. The new system specifically targets the ability of skilled fighter pilots to engage in violent maneuvers to break missile locks in older-generation technology, based on a radar system held within the nose of the missile.

The new missile, pegged the K-77M, was described by Russia Today as an “absolute killer.” It notes that what sets the K-77M’s technology apart from its counterparts is the implementation of a “active phased array antenna (APAA)” which essentially solves the lock-on problem by addressing the radar’s “field of view” problem.  Previously, this limitation allowed pilots to swing their jets out of the range of a tailing guided missile when in close proximity, evading the scope of the radar’s view. The K-77M essentially implements a solution similar to the Raytheon’s Patriot surface-to-air (SAM) missile system, according to Russia Today.

Russia Today explains the technology in more detail: “An active phased array antenna consists of Full Article Here

Categories: military, Russia Tags: , , ,

Russia, Egypt Ink $2 Billion Weapons Deal

December 18, 2013 Comments off

freebeacon.com

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov / AP

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov / AP

 

Russia has agreed to provide Egypt with more than $2 billion in military equipment under a new major arms deal, according to Russian language press reports.

The Egyptian military could purchase up to $2 billion worth of attack planes, air defenses, and short-range anti-tank missiles, according to the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, which quoted sources in Moscow’s Defense Ministry and elsewhere.

The deal was announced days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu concluded a series of high-level meetings in Egypt.

The boost in ties between Moscow and Cairo comes as U.S. and Egyptian ties disintegrate following the Obama administration’s decision to cut military aid to the struggling nation following a coup in July.

Russia has also grown closer to Iran in recent weeks.

Egypt will likely obtain weaponry that it had been denied by the United States, according to Read more…

Categories: Egypt, Russia Tags: , , ,

Russia Warns America ‘We Will Respond With Nukes’

December 12, 2013 Comments off

infowars.com

Deputy PM says Moscow “preparing a response” to U.S. plans for missile shield in Europe

Paul Joseph Watson

Addressing the threat posed by plans by the United States to install a missile defense system in Europe, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin today asserted that Russia would respond with nuclear weapons if it was targeted by conventional American missiles.

Image: Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin (Wikimedia Commons).

Rogozin’s comments arrive just a day after President Vladimir Putin called on Russia to upgrade its weapons systems in order to repel U.S. plans to institute the EPAA missile shield in Europe, which is ostensibly designed to counter Iran’s nuclear build-up yet is also firmly pointed at Russia.

Asserting that Russia was “preparing a response” to the U.S. missile defense system, Rogozin warned, “They may experiment with conventional weapons on strategic delivery platforms, but they must bear in mind, that if we are attacked, in certain circumstances we will of course respond with nuclear weapons.”

The Obama White House has refused to mothball plans for the missile defense shield despite the Bush Read more…

Categories: Russia, United States Tags: , ,

New Russian Submarines Are So Silent That The U.S. Navy Calls Them “Black Holes”

December 2, 2013 Comments off

thedailysheeple.com

Michael Snyder

Nuclear-Explosion-2013-450x236Did you know that Russia is building submarines that are so quiet that the U.S. military cannot detect them?  These “black hole” submarines can freely approach the coastlines of the United States without fear of being detected whenever they want.  In fact, a “nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles” sailed around in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks without being detected back in 2012.  And now Russia is launching a new class of subs that have “advanced stealth technology”.  The U.S. Navy openly acknowledges that they cannot track these subs when they are submerged.  That means that the Russians are able to sail right up to our coastlines and launch nukes whenever they want.  But instead of trying to find a way to counteract this potential threat, the Obama administration has been working very hard to dismantle the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal.  In the end, we could potentially pay a great price for this utter foolishness.

A recent RT article discussed these new super silent “black hole” submarines.  To say that they are impressive would be a massive understatement…

Russia has launched its new state-of-the-art Novorossiysk submarine, which set sail from a St Petersburg shipyard to become the first Read more…

Categories: military, Russia Tags: , , , ,

Russia’s Far East hit by biggest floods in 120 years

August 18, 2013 Comments off

rt.com

Up to 100,000 people may be evacuated from flood-hit regions in Russia’s Far East. Water levels at local reservoirs have already reached historic highs, and officials say the floods raging in the area are expected to continue rising even further.

Floods are currently affecting over 32,500 locals living in over 5,000 homes. Over 17,000 residents have already left the area over the disaster.

Viktor Ishayev, Russia’s Minister for the Far East, said that “in the worst-case scenario up to 100,000 people could be evacuated” from the Amur, Khabarovsk and Jewish Autonomous Regions.

Dozens of bridges have been swamped by the waters, complicating the evacuation.

The area adjacent to the Amur River is experiencing its Read more…

Categories: Flood, Russia Tags: , , ,

Sunburned in Siberia: Heat Wave Leads to Wildfires

August 17, 2013 1 comment

kitsapsun.com

Russia_amo_2013206_lrgAn intense heat wave in Siberia has contributed to an unusual flare up of wildfires across the fragile and carbon-rich landscape. Smoke from the fires is lofting high into the atmosphere, and is drifting toward the Arctic, where soot can hasten the melting of snow and sea ice.

The Siberian city of Norilsk, the most northerly city in the world with a population greater than 100,000, recorded temperatures above 83F over eight consecutive days starting on July 18, according to blogger Chris Burt of Weather Underground. During that timespan, Burt reported, the mercury hit 90F, breaking the record for the hottest temperature recorded for the city. For comparison the average July high temperature in Norilsk is a comparatively chilly 61F.

Norilsk isn’t an isolated example, but rather sits amid a sea of abnormally hot temperatures and smoky conditions in north-central Siberia. According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, from July 20 through July 27, temperatures were about 30F above average across a large swath of this vast, sparsely populated region.

The warm weather has contributed to a spike in wildfires. As of July 29, wildfires continued to burn at least 22,200 acres in Siberia, according to news reports. Heavy smoke from them grounded commercial flights in Omsk, a city in Read more…

Categories: Fires, Russia Tags: , , ,