http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/russia-news/ en-us Mon, 6 Oct 2008 04:18:09 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098440/posts Now that the Republic of Georgia has been moved off the front pages, it is time to assess what was really behind Russia's heavy-handed invasion of that pro-Western fledgling democratic country. Clearly Russia precipitated the war by using its proxy thugs in South Ossetia to force a confrontation through repeated provocations with Tbilisi. Aside from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hatred of President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, was this payback for Kosovo or a signal to those border states from the Baltic to the Black Sea to reverse their pro-Western trend? Perhaps, but if it was, it didn't work. Poland,... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098440/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 04:18:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098400/posts Ehud Olmert is off to Moscow today in what may well be his last overseas visit as prime minister. He will arrive at the Kremlin bearing a valuable gift - or more accurately, a concession - one the Russians have been adamantly demanding as their due. Olmert will turn over to the Russians nine acres, known as Sergei's Courtyard, inside the Russian Compound in the heart of downtown Jerusalem. The courtyard is named for and dominated by a sumptuous guest house constructed in 1890 for aristocratic pilgrims by grand duke Sergei Alexandrovich, then president of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society... jpost.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098400/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 03:11:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097947/posts Source of Money Outflow Hasn’t Drained Under the CBR estimate, Russia’s foreign exchange assets amounted to $562.8 billion as of September 26, having shown the growth first time since late August. Regardless, the capital outflow continues, it may reach $45 billion from early August and the quarterly net capital outflow will be probably posted in the third quarter. Russia’s foreign exchange assets grew by $3.4 billion to $562.8 billion September 19 to 26. They widened first time over a month; overall, they narrowed by $23.1 billion in the first three weeks of September. The assets lost $34.7 billion vs. the... Kommersant http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097947/posts#comment Sun, 5 Oct 2008 14:16:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097877/posts Not since 1984, just before the fall of the Soviet Union, has Russia ventured to launch dozens of nuclear bombers for an exercise in which Tu-95 Bear bombers will fire live cruise missiles. Exercise Stability 2008 will take place Oct.-6-12 over sub-Arctic Russia uncomfortably close to the US state of Alaska, and Belarus. DEBKAfile's military sources report that the exercise is part of a month-long war game described by Russian air force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik as "practicing the strategic deployment of the armed forces including the nuclear triad." As part of the exercise, our sources reported exclusively on Oct.1,... DEBKAfile http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097877/posts#comment Sun, 5 Oct 2008 10:44:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097556/posts MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia blamed Georgia on Saturday for an explosion that killed Russian soldiers in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. A senior Russian peacekeeping officer was among seven soldiers killed on Friday when a car blew up at the Russian peacekeepers' base in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, the Russian military said. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted South Ossetia's Interior Ministry as saying a total of 11 people had been killed, including civilians. The RIA agency quoted a military spokesman as saying Colonel Ivan Petrik, the Russian peacekeepers' chief of staff, had been killed in his office. Reuters via Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097556/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 20:09:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097363/posts The question whether marriage as an institution should be abolished is now being debated all over Russia with a violence and depth of passion unknown since the turbulent early days of the Revolution. Last October a bill eliminating distinctions between registered and unregistered marriages and giving the unmarried consort the status and property rights of the legal wife was introduced in the Tzik, or Central Executive Committee. So much unforeseen opposition to the proposed law developed that the Tzik decided to postpone its final adoption until the next session, meanwhile initiating a broad popular discussion of the project. Since that... TheAtlantic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097363/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 14:08:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097354/posts MOSCOW: The Russian president said in a speech Thursday that the financial crisis in the United States should be taken as a sign that America's global economic leadership is drawing to a close, reiterating an argument that leaders here have been making for some time, though investors in recent weeks have been fleeing Russia and depositing money in U.S. Treasury bills. International Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097354/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 13:55:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097350/posts The bear is back. That's what all too many Russia-watchers have been saying since Russian troops steamrolled Georgia in August, warning that the country's strongman, Vladimir Putin, was clawing his way back toward superpower status. The new Russia's resurgence has been fueled -- quite literally -- by windfall profits from gas and oil, a big jump in defense spending and the cocky attitude on such display during the mauling of Georgia, its U.S.-backed neighbor to the south. Many now believe that the powerful Russian bear of the Cold War years is coming out of hibernation. Not so fast. Predictions that... Washington comPost http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097350/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 13:45:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097336/posts Moscow - A Russian military chief was one of those killed in Friday's car-bomb blast in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia, Interfax news agency reported Saturday, citing a military spokesman in Moscow. Colonel Ivan Petrik, who was the commander of the Russian troops in South Ossetia, was fatally wounded in his office when the 20- kilogram bomb went off next to a Russian army base. The spokesman was confirming a report in Saturday's Kommersant newspaper. Seven Russian soldiers were killed in the attack and seven injured. DPA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097336/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 13:10:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097224/posts MOSCOW — A car bomb in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali killed seven Russian peacekeepers and two others on Friday, raising tensions in the separatist enclave days before a scheduled pullback of Russian troops from Georgian territory. President Eduard Kokoity of South Ossetia said he had “no doubt” that Georgian special forces were behind the explosion. The acts, he said, “undermine international efforts to stabilize the situation and torpedo the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan.” The blast comes six days before a Russian deadline to pull back from the so-called buffer zone outside South Ossetia, returning a large swath of land to... New York Times via Spartan Truth http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097224/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 04:41:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097171/posts Their progress watched closely by increasingly jittery western militaries, dozens of nuclear bombers will take part in the exercise. Tu-95 Bear bombers will fire cruise missiles at targets in sub-Arctic Russia for the first time since 1984. While Russia insists that the war games are not meant as a gesture of aggression, the West is growing increasingly uneasy about the scale of the manoeuvres. The aerial exercises, which will take place close to American airspace in Alaska, are part of a month-long war game known as Stability 2008 that Russia claims is the biggest for 20 years. The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097171/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 02:43:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097160/posts The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is a little bipartisan body, which currently has six members. All but one, voted to terminate Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to Russia and also wanted to end VOA radio broadcasts to Georgia and Ukraine. Ignoring Congressional warnings, the BBG eliminated Russian radio broadcasts just 12 days before Russia invaded Georgia last August. They still refuse to resume them. One of the BBG members who voted to stop VOA from broadcasting radio to Russia was Senator Biden's former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, who now helps Biden with his vice presidential campaign.... FreeMediaOnline.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097160/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 02:30:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097092/posts Russia's foreign minister has called for joint international action to halt pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa. "Russia aims to stop the outrageous actions of Somali pirates," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. A Russian warship has already been despatched to Somali waters following last week's seizure of a Ukrainian ship laden with 33 Russian-made tanks. The pirates are demanding a $20m (£11m) ransom for the vessel which is surrounded by US navy warships. On Thursday, the European Union agreed to establish an anti-piracy security operation off the coast of Somalia to become operational in November. Mr Lavrov said the... bbc http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097092/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 00:02:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096661/posts A car bomb blast near Russia's peacekeeping headquarters in South Ossetia has left six military personnel killed and four others injured. The explosion took place on Friday near the command post of the Russian peacekeepers in Tskhinvali, the capital of the independence-leaning republic. The car, with some quantities of arms in it, was seized earlier in a nearby village, said South Ossetia's press department, AP reported. Press TV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096661/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:14:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096758/posts Regulators shut down Russia's benchmark stock exchange, RTS, for an hour after shares plunged. Stocks had opened lower, after a torrid trading session on Thursday in the US amid fears over the success of a federal bailout plan to stave off a recession. The RTS index dropped 7.1% to 1,070.5 points before trading was halted. The MICEX exchange - where most of Russia's trading takes place - plunged by 6.9% to 916.7 points. Mining company Norilsk Nickel dived by 12.2%, state-owned oil major Rosneft by 7.1% and private oil company Lukoil by 6.1%. Stocks in the US plunged in the... Daily Express http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096758/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 17:13:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096962/posts In Reykjavik, Iceland, on October 12, 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev seriously discussed the possibility of the two countries completely eliminating their nuclear weapons. An agreement could not be reached, but the Reykjavik Summit laid the groundwork for treaties aimed at eliminating intermediate range nuclear missiles and making deep cuts in each country's strategic arsenals. The result is that the number of nuclear weapons has been cut in half—down from 65,000 to 26,000 since the height of the Cold War. However, the U.S. retains 10,685 nuclear bombs and Russia is estimated to have around... Reason http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096962/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 21:03:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096761/posts Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of sending military personnel to fight against Russia in Georgia. Mr Putin said that Ukrainian specialists operated anti-aircraft missile systems used against Russian aircraft during the August war. Russia has said Ukraine helped arm Georgia before the war, but Mr Putin said missile sales may have been conducted after the war already stated. And he said the systems were operated by Ukrainians. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said a parliamentary panel in Ukraine would investigate allegations of arms sales. She said that under Ukrainian law the president and his Security Council is... Daily Express http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096761/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 17:15:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096110/posts Putin and the Polite PunditsArthur Herman October 2008 E-mail This Article to a Friend Subject: Putin and the Polite Pundits Yes, I would like to receive periodic updates and information via e-mail from Commentary. Recipient Addresses: Separate each address with a comma.Your E-mail Address:Message: E-mail This Article to a Friend Thank You A link to "Putin and the Polite Pundits"has been emailed to your friends. Most E-mailed articles: Obama's LeftismJews and Their DNAHow to Manage SavageryPutin and the Polite PunditsObama’s “Talking” Cure On September 1, the leaders of the European Union, having already warned Moscow several times of its... Commentary Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096110/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 21:24:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096016/posts ROSTOV-ON-DON, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Two soldiers were killed and three injured in separate attacks by militants in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia on Thursday, the local Interior Ministry said. A ministry spokesman told RIA Novosti said that unknown assailants had opened fire on ministry troops who were in a Lada car on the Caucasus highway near Ingushetia's largest city, Nazran. Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded in the attack. In a separate incident, a motorized column of military servicemen was involved in a road accident near Nazran. When soldiers left their vehicles, militants opened fire... rian.ru http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096016/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 19:27:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095934/posts There are 9 parts to this video and it is a must watch for everyone as it explains the useful idiots that abound in America today. Part 1 of 9Part 2 of 9Part 3 of 9Part 4 of 9Part 5 of 9Part 6 of 9Part 7 of 9Part 8 of 9Part 9 of 9 YouTube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095934/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:51:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095494/posts The Russian army draft starts on the first day of October. According to the presidential decree of September 28 more than 200,000 young Russian men are eligible for military service this year. Compared to previous draft, held in the spring, the number of young men eligible for army service has almost doubled. This is due to a change in legislation, before which 26 categories of young men were eligible for deferment of service. Now this number has been reduced to 21. rt http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095494/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 03:10:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095289/posts MOSCOW - Celebrated political cartoonist Boris Yefimov, who drew brutally satirical images of the Soviet Union's foes in the service of Josef Stalin, died Wednesday. He was 108. Yefimov's death was given wide coverage on Russian state television. No cause was given. His cartoons spanned virtually the entire history of the communist state, from shortly after the 1917 revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Among his most memorable drawings was one showing a wretched-looking Hitler, who is said to have ordered Yefimov shot if the Nazis captured Moscow in World War II. Instead, Yefimov was sent... Yahoo - AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095289/posts#comment Wed, 1 Oct 2008 23:05:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095264/posts GORI, Georgia — With his signature mustache, medal-encrusted Soviet marshal’s uniform and determination to be addressed as “Comrade,” the Stalin impersonator Jamil Ziyadaliev should perhaps be out of work in Georgia, a country still reeling from a war with Russia. But Mr. Ziyadaliev, 64, an avuncular father of two who dresses as Stalin even on days off, insists that business has seldom been better. He is a frequent hired guest at weddings, where he dances to Soviet Katyusha music from World War II. The benefits of looking eerily like the former dictator, he boasts, include free meals, free car repairs... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095264/posts#comment Wed, 1 Oct 2008 22:41:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095188/posts Comments comparing Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, and a decision to have dinner in Ukraine have put Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt on Russia's black-list. In the past, Bildt has received criticism at home for having ties with Russia that are too close for comfort. But following statements in August at the height of the conflict between Russia and Georgia, the foreign minister learned that Moscow had decided to roll up the welcome mat. In criticizing Russia's rationale for invading Georgia, Bildt likened the behaviour to that of Adolf Hilter and Nazi Germany. "No state has the right to intervene... thelocal.se http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095188/posts#comment Wed, 1 Oct 2008 20:52:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095136/posts MOSCOW — Moscow says four warships carrying out the Russian navy's first deployment to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War will make a side trip to the Mediterranean. The nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great and three accompanying ships are expected to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean on Sunday. Naval spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo says the ships will call at the Libyan port of Tripoli and also visit several other unspecified Mediterranean ports before heading to Venezuela. Russian news reports have said the squadron is expected to visit the Syrian port of Tartus, which hosted... Canadian Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095136/posts#comment Wed, 1 Oct 2008 19:43:29 GMT