Disturbing News from Russia 8/20

http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3391079&startrow=41&date=2003-08-19&do_alert=0 ^

[Truth666]

Disturbing News from Russia

PUTIN CALLS KURSK BATTLE ANNIVERSARY NATION-WIDE HOLIDAY http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3391986&startrow=21&date=2003-08-19&do_alert=0

VLADIMIR PUTIN: LIBERATION OF EUROPE BEGAN WITH BATTLE OF KURSK http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3392159&startrow=21&date=2003-08-19&do_alert=0

---- STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RUSSIA'S FAR EAST (Sakhalin region and Kamchatka) http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3391079&startrow=41&date=2003-08-19&do_alert=0

Sakhalin governor and Mi-8 helicopter missing http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3393614&startrow=21&date=2003-08-20&do_alert=0

AFGHANISTAN IS A THREAT TO CENTRAL ASIA http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3391398&startrow=31&date=2003-08-19&do_alert=0

[Saturnalia]

How exactly is this disturbing? Kursk was the greatest tank battle of the war and
marked the point at which the German forces were in a defensive position for the rest
of the war. No disrespect towards western Allied forces, but the Soviets lost a LOT
in that war, both in population and resources.

[vannrox]

Putin was correct. Please kindly reread your history.

[laconic]

Yes, I have to agree with the prior posters. Kursk was a massive tank battle (not to minimize D-Day, but the number of combatants and casualties paled by comparison) and broke the back of any possible German advance into Russia. After Stalingrad, Hitler was stymied; after Kursk, he knew he was finished.

[laconic]

Yes, I have to agree with the prior posters. Kursk was a massive tank battle (not to minimize D-Day, but the number of combatants and casualties paled by comparison) and broke the back of any possible German advance into Russia. After Stalingrad, Hitler was stymied; after Kursk, he knew he was finished.

[RogueIsland]

How exactly is this disturbing? Kursk was the greatest tank battle of the war and marked the point at which the German forces were in a defensive position for the rest of the war.

I believe the poster was referring to the news item further down about Sakhalin.

[xp38]

I remember a saying that the battle of Stalingrad insured that Hitler could not win the war (hence potential stalemate) but that the battle of Kursk made it certain he would lose it. There is a quote from some German general about him seeing more and more Russian tanks pouring onto the battlefield after 3 days of relentless battle that he realized the Germans had lost the war.

[Truth666]

You're right, sorry. Nothing disturbing about the battle of Kursk.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Uh, and this post is for what?

[reed_inthe_wind]

ten out of eleven German war casualties occurred on the eastern front.

[RKV]

If you were to read that an American state governor was dead or missing and presumed dead in a helo crash, you might get the significance. It appears that the equivalent has occurred in the Russian far east.

[Truth666]

It's disturbing that the Sakhlin governor is missing during the state of emergency.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Ahhh, I got the jest...Sort of like Ron Brown going down in a plane crash just before he was to testify against Clinton... We all saw the clip of Clinton coming out of the Church...

[xp38]

I never said anything about what Putin had said. I was commenting on the historical importance of the battle. I sure wouldn't use the word liberation but I wouldn't deny the significance of the battle of Kursk either.

[Orangedog]

Kursk differed from D-Day mainly because it wasn't planned. The largest tank battle in history happened by chance because neither side was expecting to encounter the other at that time and at that place. I think Midway would be a better comparison, even though the carriers never were withing visual range of each other. Regardless, the Germans lost big at Kursk.

[Redbob]

I think the point of your headline should not be so obscure that all the comments have to do with speculating as to what you meant.

[Fellow Traveler]

Two things as many have noted the Battle of Kursk was a significant event on the eastern front. What has not been noted is that this Summer is the 60th anniversary of that battle.

Was the state of emergency declared and then the governor of Shakalin helicopter went down? Or, did the helicopter go down and then the state of emergency get declared?

[dfwgator]

Yes, Stalin was indeed a monster, we all know that. But the average Russian soldier wasn't fighting for Stalin or for Communism, they were fighting for the "Rodina" (motherland), most were just conscripts who had no choice but to fight the Germans. These were the Germans who had killed their families, who had promised to enslave the Russian people had they won the war. Sometimes I am glad that the Germans had to face punishment from the Russians, as opposed to the US who treated the Germans much better than they deserved to be treated.

[bryanbig]

If you read the articles, they appear to be unrelated. The state of emergency seems to be the same as our terrorist prep drills in the states, and unrelated to the missing helo.

Now, it IS Russia, so who really knows...

[biggerten]

The state of emergency was declared yesterday as part of the ongoing war games/naval operations taking place in Russia's far east. It is NOT a real state of emergency, just part of the exercise.

What is interesting is that this part of this exercise (the state of emergancy declaration) is to emulate a large influx of refugees from a war in North Korea.