Video - Captured Russian officer explains how 2-3k Russian officers w/ fake ID run Putin's proxy Ukraine forces.

Full video transcript in English here: http://t.co/X7yCGzF0Ym via @LUGANSK_TODAY

— Silver Surfer (@RobPulseNews) July 30, 2015

Video - The Honeymoon Is Over In the Crimea.

Video - Russian helicopter pilots preparing for Victory parade, will fly in very close formation.

Preparing for Victory Parade already in full swing. So helicopter from the Tver region went to the outskirts of Moscow Kubinka to continue preparation for the celebration in the general scheme of the Air Force. However, the flight turned out to be difficult.

Percussion Russian Ka-52 "Alligator" and Mi-28-H "Night Hunter" - machines, of course, all-weather and equally effective both day and night. But hurricane wind and snowfall in early April forced the pilots to demonstrate their skills on the way from Torzhok in Kubinka.

More than two dozen helicopters virtually all types will be presented at the anniversary of the Victory Parade. In addition to the Ma-28-N and the Ka-52, this latest modification of the Mi-8 with the index "AMTSH" and the famous Mi-24, and heavyweight champion of the Mi-26.

For the first time over Red Square they fly not in isolation, but as part of larger units. The distance between the helicopter rotor will not exceed 10-20 meters - even for experienced pilots is a challenge to their skill. Source.

Russia grants Kiev gas discount, but Kiev counts on the EU to fit the bill.

Russia grants Kiev gas discount, but Kiev counts on the EU to fit the bill. (RBTH).

The centrist newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree on the extension of discounted gas supplies to Ukraine. Moscow is ready to supply Kiev with gas at $250 per 1,000 cubic meters. The publication explains that this will allow Ukraine to acquire gas at a cheaper rate than directly from gas hubs in Europe.

However, Kiev, writes the newspaper, is not able to purchase reserve gas even at reduced prices.

The Ukrainian government is counting on the Europeans paying for its gas supplies: Kieve is holding talks with the European bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and other international financial institutions on the granting of loans for pumping natural gas into storage tanks in the summer period in order to create the necessary fuel reserves for the next heating season and ensure the uninterrupted transit of Russian gas to the EU.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes that Kiev’s current attempts to use European money to replenish Ukraine’s underground gas storage tanks are a repeat of the actions taken by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in 2009.

Russian experts explain that the super-reduced prices for Ukraine are principally due to political factors. “It appears that the European Union is now interested in the preservation of gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine. And the Europeans may allocate further credit to Ukraine for this,” says Mikhail Krutikhin, a partner at consulting company RusEnergy.

However, he stressed that the sides remained in fundamental disagreement on the issue of the gas contract.  Hmmm.........And there's still the unsettled remaining debt to Russia. Read the full story here.

Russian Pres Putin: 'try to take Crimea away and I will give you a nuclear war'.

Russian Pres Putin: 'try to take Crimea away and I will give you a nuclear war'. (TheAustralian).

As President Putin celebrated the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea on March 18 with an appearance at a concert outside the Kremlin, a group of retired Russian generals sat down in Torgau, Germany, with a group of their American counterparts. The assembled Russians once ran the interior ministry, the military directorate in charge of nuclear weapons, the GRU (Russian military intelligence) and the FSB (the main successor agency to the KGB). The American individuals present had similar backgrounds in the military, CIA and Defence Intelligence Agency.

Behind closed doors, over two days, the Russians delivered a series of blunt warnings from Moscow that reveal just how precarious Europe’s security has become over the past year, and how broad the gulf between the Kremlin and the West now is.

The US party at the Elbe Group talks appears to have been surprised to discover that Russian security experts believe that the US is bent on destroying their country — and that Russia is both entitled and fully prepared to use nuclear force to defend itself. That point of view reflects both Mr Putin’s assessment of Russia’s vulnerability and the KGB background shared by him and his closest advisers, according to Kremlin insiders.

Swaggering nuclear rhetoric has increasingly permeated Russian life. In a recent documentary, Mr Putin said that when he gave the instruction to annex Crimea, he also ordered that Russia’s nuclear forces be placed on full alert.

He has referred to Russia’s nuclear might many times since the Ukraine crisis began, including in remarks to a group of schoolchildren in August, when he reminded them that “Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers”, and “it’s best not to mess with us”.

Notes of the Elbe Group meeting indicate some areas where the Kremlin is open to dialogue, namely on the “future nature and composition” of the contested territory in eastern Ukraine which, the generals say, Russia wants to see become “an autonomous entity in a confederated Ukraine”.

However, they also show the detailed thinking behind the nuclear bluster. Among the “key messages delivered by Russian participants” was a warning that any military move by the West on Crimea would trigger a Russian response, possibly involving nuclear force. “The United States should also understand it would also be at risk.”

The Russian delegation said that any NATO build-up in the Baltics would prompt an increase in Russia’s “nuclear posture”, according to notes drawn up by a US participant. The warning is baldly recounted: “Russia will use its nuclear weapons against NATO.”

When discussing possible Russian action in the Baltics, it reported: “Russian members mentioned a spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military.” Hmmmm.....I'm convinced Putin believes he can survive a nuclear showdown with the West and emerge victorious.Read the full story here.

"CHANGE" - Putin Pulls Out of Post-Cold War Arms Treaty.

"CHANGE" - Putin Pulls Out of Post-Cold War Arms Treaty. (FT).

At a time when European officials concerned about Russian aggression in Eastern Europe are openly calling for the creation of a Pan-European army, Moscow has announced it will cease all involvement in a major arms control treaty that was signed at the end of the Cold War.

The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was an agreement signed in 1990 between the 16 North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries and six Warsaw Pact countries. It set caps on the number of soldiers, tanks, artillery pieces and other non-nuclear military assets that could be stationed in Europe.

State-run media reported that the decision to “withdraw completely” from the treaty was announced by Anton Mazur, head of the Russian delegation arms control talks in Vienna.

Russia’s withdrawal decision is very nearly a formality. Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007 suspended Russia’s observation of the treaty after the other signatories would not agree to changes, in the form of an “adapted” treaty. Russia had felt those changes were necessary because of a realignment of global power away from Russia after the Cold War.

“For years, the Russian side has been doing its best to maintain viability of the regime of control over conventional arms, it initiated talks on adapting the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, it ratified the agreement on Adapted CFE Treaty,” Mazur said,according to the Kremlin-owned news service ITAR-TASS. “Regrettably, NATO countries have preferred to dodge CFE provisions by means of the alliance’s expansion and use any pretexts to prevent the Agreement on Adapted CFE Treaty from coming into effect. This course pursued despite our repeated warning about its harmful impacts on the regime of control over conventional weapons led to the unavoidable result — Russia’s suspending the CFE Treaty in 2007.”

Russia had continued to participate in “consultative” meetings with the signatories. However, Mazur said the Kremlin now sees further participation as “pointless from both political and practical points of view and as excessively costly from the financial and economic point of view.” Hmmmm......Change you can believe in. Read the full story here.

Video - Russian Army - We're back !!! (In Russian).

 Source Dep PM Rogozin : As happy as a kid in a candy store: 

Ну как-то так... https://t.co/UgVVDdAms7 Действительно возвращаемся

— Dmitry Rogozin (@Rogozin) March 19, 2015

Russia placing Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad and Tu-22M3 Backfire C Bomber, Missile Carrier to the Crimea

Source

Russia placing Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad and Tu-22M3 Backfire C Bomber, Missile Carrier to the Crimea.(BBC.ru)

Sources in the Russian Defense Ministry told Tass and RIA Novosti about the transfer of Tu-22M3 capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in the Crimea.

It is noted that this transfer will take place "during the check carried out by the sudden readiness of the Armed Forces."

On the relocation of Russian bombers on the peninsula in the autumn reported the US Congress in a letter to President Barack Obama.

On Monday, the military command in Moscow announced another spot checks readiness of the Northern Fleet. According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the check will be held until March 21. Hmmm........'Flexibility and Change' More on the Backfire Bomber here.

Belarus Sends Servicemen to Russia for Strategic Command Exercise.

Two partners in 'crime' 

Belarus Sends Servicemen to Russia for Strategic Command Exercise. (SP).

Belarusian servicemen will participate in a joint strategic command and staff exercise with the center command office of the Russian Armed Forces, the country’s defense ministry reported.

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will start strategic command-staff exercise with the central bodies of military control on March 17. In order to participate in this event the operational team of officers of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces arrived,” the ministry statement read.

The strategic training will be held amid a snap combat readiness exercise of the Russian Armed Forces in the Arctic region which began on March 16. It includes 38,000 military personnel, 3,360 units of military equipment, 41 warships, 15 submarines, 110 aircraft and helicopters.

Russia's Arctic Soldiers May Be Rewarded With Free Homes in Crimea and other desirable locations in southern Russia.

Russia's Arctic Soldiers May Be Rewarded With Free Homes in Crimea and other desirable locations in southern Russia.(MT).

Russian soldiers who serve in the rough and inhospitable Arctic could be compensated by the state with real estate in Crimea, or other desirable locations in southern Russia, a Defense Ministry official said Thursday.

Russia is pursuing a major military expansion in the Arctic that aims to reoccupy abandoned Soviet positions and assert Russia's territorial claims in the resource-rich North.

“Naturally, military personnel service in remote Arctic garrisons can count on quality accommodation in Russia's central and southern regions,” the Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Pirogov, director of the Defense Ministry's housing department, as saying Thursday.

The Defense Ministry has been working to increase the standard of living for its soldiers by building them modern housing and increasing wages for contract soldiers in the hopes of attracting more quality applicants for volunteer service.

Pirogov said that in the last two years, over 2,000 servicemen from the Northern Fleet — upon which Russia's new Arctic command is being built — have been provided with housing in central and southern Russia.

Arctic military personnel may qualify for brand new apartments in the Crimean city of Sevastopol and in Sochi, Pirogov was quoted as saying. Other less exotic locations include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Smolensk, Tver and other areas with developed infrastructure, he said. Read the full story here.

Russia Has Right to Place Nuclear Weapons in Crimea.

Russia Has Right to Place Nuclear Weapons in Crimea.(SP).

Moscow has the right to place nuclear weapons in Crimea, but is not currently planning to do so, the head of the Department for Nonproliferation and Control of Arms of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Ulyanov said Wednesday.

"Obviously, Russia has the right to place nuclear arms on its territory, if it considers it necessary, in any region. I am not aware of any presence of nuclear weapons in Crimea, I do not know anything about plans of placing them there, but in principle we presume that we have this right, obviously, but Kiev, of course, believes differently," Ulyanov said at a press conference in Moscow.

Last December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia reserves the right to place nuclear weapons on any part of its territory, including in Crimea. Later the same month, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland vowed that Washington and its allies would respond to possible stationing of nuclear weapons in the peninsula. Read the full story here.

Five Russians of Chechen origin suspected of planning an attack arrested in Beziers

Five Russians of Chechen origin suspected of planning an attack arrested in Beziers.(Liberation).

The five suspects of Chechen origin, were taken into custody.

Five Russians suspected of preparing an attack were arrested Monday night in Béziers (Hérault), according to the prosecutor of the city, Yvon Calvet.

The five suspects of Chechen origin, were placed in custody and searches took place, do we have the same source. "Products were found during the searches" , explained Yvon Calvet, without specifying their nature. One of those arrested live Béziers and another "probably" in Montpellier, said the magistrate.

Investigators are trying to find the addresses of three other individuals placed in custody. The investigation was entrusted to SRPJ Montpellier. More here.

Chechnya declares public holiday to support huge anti-Charlie Hebdo rally http://t.co/cGRc6qRYxJ pic.twitter.com/Y6uMkpJCew

— The Independent (@Independent) January 20, 2015

Hmmm......Related?


Hundreds of thousands have flooded the streets of Chechen capital of Grozny in a rally against the publication of the Prophet Muhammad by Charlie Hebdo magazine. The demo, dubbed “Love to Prophet Mohammed,” was organized by region’s clerics and united muslims from various regions of Russia.

Video - 'We love the Prophet' Massive anti-Charlie Hebdo protest hits Grozny.

Hundreds of thousands have flooded the streets of Chechen capital of Grozny in a rally against the publication of the Prophet Muhammad by Charlie Hebdo magazine. The demo, dubbed “Love to Prophet Mohammed,” was organized by region’s clerics and united muslims from various regions of Russia.

Thousands in anti-Hebdo rally in #Chechnya as print run hits 7 million http://t.co/396NVTiaQd via @MailOnline #CharlieHebdo

— eSHEIKH (@eBama) January 19, 2015

pic.twitter.com/reHKFiebA5

— туровский (@danya_turovsky) January 19, 2015

ойой pic.twitter.com/Hs43GbiO1w

— туровский (@danya_turovsky) January 19, 2015

Grozny may be in Russia, but its huge anti-Charlie Hebdo demonstration happening now looks like a Hezbollah war rally pic.twitter.com/BXQ7NQjqfV

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) January 19, 2015

"CHANGE" Gazprom may liquidate representative office in Minsk.

"CHANGE" Gazprom may liquidate representative office in Minsk. (Tass).

Trunk gas pipelines running across Belarus pump Russian natural gas to the country’s westernmost region of Kaliningrad and further to Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland.

Russian energy giant Gazprom may consider the issue of liquidating its representative office in Belarus at its board meeting on January 29, the company said in a statement on Monday.


Gazprom’s subsidiary Gazprom Transgaz Belarus is also located in Minsk and supplies natural gas for Belarusian consumers. Trunk gas pipelines running across Belarus pump Russian natural gas to the country’s westernmost region of Kaliningrad and further to Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland.

The Belarusian gas transport system operated by Gazprom Transgaz Belarus comprises over 7,870 km (4,890 miles) of gas pipelines, 13 compressor stations, 3 underground gas storage facilities, 224 gas distribution stations, 27 automobile gas-filling compressor stations and 7 gas metering stations.

Video - Kadyrov: 'Allah Akhbar' Chechnya For Putin

Video - LIVE: Cameras facing Donetsk airport amid continued fighting.

Live camera in the Northwestern part of Donetsk (Kievskiy district), pointed towards Donetsk airport. It is believed Kiev has pulled its forces from the vicinity of the airport after intense fighting broke out on Tuesday.



Live camera in the northwestern part of Donetsk, covering Kievskiy district that had recently become a scene of heavy shelling. The camera is pointed in the direction of affected areas.

Column Ukrainian tanks goes to the airport



In Donetsk in the fighting between the army and the Ukrainian militia forces destroyed Putilovsky bridge near the airport.

MT @Conflict_Report: Between Jan 13 and 14 Ukraine SHRANK by another 300 km² on official ATO map. Noticed by @MarQs__ pic.twitter.com/SFfyYmUUrC

— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelKelleyBI) January 18, 2015

Video - Ukraine - English speaker in Donetsk describing the sounds of a tank battle just 5 hours ago

HT And Source:

VIDEO: English speaker makes video in #Donetsk describing the sounds of a tank battle just 5 hours ago. #Ukraine https://t.co/cylR7qbOQO

— Military Studies (@ArmedResearch) January 18, 2015

Novorossiya Declares State Sovereignty

Novorossiya Declares State Sovereignty.( Eurasianunion)

The source is official site of the organs of Donetsk Peoples Republic and it does look official, but authenticity still needs to be confirmed.

A quick translation with help of yandex.ru follows:

December 12, 2014

Declaration on State Sovereignty of Novorossiya

Adopted by the Congress of deputies of all levels 12 December 2014

On the basis of principles of international law and the UN Charter, including the right to self-determination, and the will of the people to the formation of a sovereign state, clearly expressed in the referendum of may 11, 2014, the Congress of deputies of all levels adopts the present Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Novorossiya and proclaims the formation of the Union of Sovereign Republics of the state of Novorossiya.

1. Novorossiya is proclaimed as the state Union of Sovereign Republics, in recognition of the continuity of the Contract for the formation of the USSR from December 30, 1922. Members of the Union of Sovereign Republics are any administrative-territorial formation of the USSR in any form recognized on behalf of the people and support the Agreement on the establishment of the USSR from December 30, 1922, as amended on December 12, 2014.

2. The bearer of sovereignty and the only source of state power is the people of Novorossiya. People have the right to armed defence of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Union of Sovereign Republics, the free possession of weapons, the formation of the people’s armed police, the direct election of its commanders, and the formation of armed militias in the event of war and the threats to its sovereignty.

3. Novorossiya cancels all political ties with the former state of Ukraine, is not and does not aspire to be part of a common political space. Novorossiya as a free and independent state has the authority to declare war, conclude peace, contract alliances, engage in international trade, and to take any other action which is entitled to any independent state.

4. Novorossiya is in a close, friendly, equitable, and, with common consent, in union’s relations with the Russian Federation. The state language of the new Russia is the Russian language. Read the full declaration here.

HT Source:

Declaration on State Sovereignity of #Novorossiya translated by @ofehr_en via @Steiner1776 http://t.co/zku6i4zZcp pic.twitter.com/cQOiNyQXnh
— Conflict News (@rConflictNews) December 14, 2014

Video - Confirmation Russia places Iskander Ballistic Missiles on border with Ukraine (Ukrainian)

Related: Russia moves at least 6 "Iskander" (SS-26 Stone) to the border of Ukraine.

Video - US Expert Warns of Russian Invasion Threat: Georgetown professor Phillip Karber fears Spring attack

Ukraine should get ready for a possible full scale military invasion by Russia according to military expert and Georgetown University professor Phillip Karber. In an interview with Ukrainian news service TSN, Karber warned that Ukraine’s regions that border with Russia are particularly vulnerable. He highlighted the importance of Ukraine beefing up defenses along its north eastern border. Hmmm....I would say the 'invasion' would come in Winter, not Spring.