countdown

Friday, 7 November 2014

NATO plans large-scale military drills in Eastern Europe

   KIEV, November 7 (Ukrinform). --- The North Atlantic Alliance plans to hold large-scale military exercises involving thousands of troops in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.
   This was stated by General Hans-Lothar Domrose, Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, TASS reported.
   "Previously, we conducted maneuvers involving 25,000-40,000 soldiers in the western NATO countries alone, and I can imagine that in the future we will also organize a similar event in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States," the Die Welt newspaper quoted Domrose as saying.
   He said that the alliance was creating rapid reaction forces numbering 5,000-7,000 troops that can reach the combat area within two to five days.

   The action plan on increasing NATO combat capabilities was approved at a summit in Wales on September 5 this year.

Thursday, 6 November 2014

Russian Missile Cruiser To Hold Fire Drills In South China Sea Ahead Of Putin's Visit To Beijing

Russian missile cruiser Moskva is moored in the Ukrainian Black Sea port 
of Sevastopol in this May 10, 2013 file photo. Reuters
   The Russian missile cruiser Moscow, also known as Moskva, will hold drills on air defense and the use of “rocket, artillery and torpedo weapons” in a rare visit to the South China Sea, the Russian defense ministry announced Wednesday in a statement. The training exercises will also include practicing damage control tasks, according to the statement.
   Moscow, an 11,500-ton cruiser, left Singapore after a short port call to conduct the drills in an unspecified area of the South China Sea. The Russian missile cruiser, which was launched in 1979 and commissioned in 1983, left a Russian naval base in Sevastapol, Crimea, on Sept. 6, and made port calls in the Greek ports of Corfu, Lefkada, Zakynthos and Argostalion. In mid-October, the Moscow crossed the Suez Canal into the Red Sea on its way to the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka, where it docked on Sept. 23.
   Moscow’s rare fire drills in the South China Sea will be followed by a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing this month. During his visit, Putin, who was named the world’s most powerful person by Forbes in a report Wednesday, is expected to sign a bilateral cybersecurity agreement with China, the United States Naval Institute, or USNI, said in a report, adding that it is unclear if the deployment of the Moscow to the South China Sea and Putin’s Beijing trip are connected.
   “That area of the South China Sea hasn’t been a core Russian operating area but it’s part of this expanded push from Russia that we’re seeing,” USNI quoted Eric Wertheim, an American naval expert, as saying. Wertheim believes that the Moscow’s deployment is a rare show of surface presence in the region by Russia.
   Over the past year, Russia's military operations have had an increased focus on its aviation and submarine fleets rather than its surface fleets, the USNI report said, citing U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert.
   On Wednesday, Russia successfully test-fired an intercontinental missile from a submerged Northern Fleet nuclear submarine from the Barents Sea to the Kura Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the country's far east. This is the second such test of a missile by Russia in a week after it successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile on Oct. 29.

NATO F-16 Jets Intercept Russian Spy Plane, Latvia Says

   NATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the latest in a spate of similar incidents that have grown in frequency during the conflict in Ukraine.
   F-16s based in the Baltic region intercepted a Russian IL-20 surveillance plane, Latvia’s army said today on its Twitter account. The encounter took place near Latvia’s territorial waters, according to a separate tweet.
   The increased activity coincides with wrangling between Russia, the U.S. and the European Union over the future of Ukraine, where a September cease-fire is wobbling. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization tracked Russian military planes that included fighter jets, long-range bombers and tankers over the Baltic region, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean for three days in late October.
   NATO says interceptions in 2014 have now reached 100, three times last year’s total. The alliance pledged in September to bolster the defenses of frontline states in eastern Europe in response to Russian actions in Ukraine.
   The tensions haven’t been confined to northern Europe, A Russian hydrographic ship was detected on Nov. 4 in Portugal’s exclusive economic zone and was escorted by a Portuguese navy ship, Radio Renascenca reported yesterday on its website, citing Portuguese Defense Minister Jose Pedro Aguiar Branco. 

NATO Conducts 'Iron Sword' Exercises In Lithuania

   (RFE/RL) --- Around 2,500 troops from nine countries are taking part in NATO exercises in Lithuania code named "Iron Sword." The two-week exercises were originally planned as a purely Lithuanian operation, but were expanded in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine. NATO says Russia supports separatists in eastern Ukraine with troops and equipment, which Russia denies. (Reuters) 

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Poland Prepares For Russian 'Confrontation' In New Defense Strategy

   (RFE/RL) --- Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has signed into law a new national defense strategy that addresses an "intensifying policy of confrontation" by Russia and threats to regional security from the conflict in Ukraine.
   The 57-page strategy document replaces a plan drawn up in 2007. The new plan involves defense, political, and economic structures on all levels.
   It says Russian has become a negative factor for regional security because of the "rebuilding of its power status at the expense of its surroundings" and Moscow’s "intensifying policy of confrontation" as shown by its seizure of the Crimea Peninsula from Ukraine.
   Komorowski told journalists in Warsaw on November 5 that things have "changed for the worse to the east of Poland’s borders, where an area of instability has emerged."
   He said strengthening Poland’s defenses against the threats now posed by Russia also will contribute to NATO's defense capabilities.

Monday, 3 November 2014

November 3, 2014 --- World War 3?

Nuclear Russia on inevitable war, Putin calls US late on terrorism

   (Examiner.com) --- Is World War 3 truly something the US should be preparing for this 2014? Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, has been vocal this week in a new speech stating that the US is to blame for the chaos currently erupting across the world, and that global war is “inevitable” as a result. The Inquisitr also reports this Sunday, November 2, 2014, that Putin is saying it is not a nuclear Russia that Americans should be fearing, but Islamic radicals — and that the US is late on waking up to international terrorism.
   In a proclamation that some are calling a precursor to World War 3 and Vladimir Putin’s most direct statement ever toward the West, Russia is clearly ready to stop the alleged “games” with the US nation. While speaking publicly at the Valdai Conference earlier this week in Sochi, Putin touched upon a variety of matters, most of which argue that American imperialism is to blame for current strife.
   “Russia will no longer play games with the United States and engage in back-room negotiations. Russia is prepared for serious agreements, but only if these agreements are conducive to collective security … Russia has no intention of building an empire of their own, but will not go fishing in the murky waters created by America’s ever-expanding “empire of chaos," said Putin.
   Putin went on to say that although a nuclear Russia has no personal aims to establish a powerful empire, they will not allow themselves to be dominated by the US, either. Perhaps one of the harshest claims Putin makes is that he believes another global war — World War 3 — will be nearly “inevitable” in the future. The leader asserts that Russia will be ready if and when that momentous time comes.
   “Russia does not wish for the chaos to spread, does not want war, and has no intention of starting one. However, today Russia sees the outbreak of global war as almost inevitable, is prepared for it, and is continuing to prepare for it. Russia does not war, nor does she fear it… But those who manage to drag Russia into this process, through disregard for her interests, will be taught the true meaning of pain."
   As posted by Common Sense News this week, Vladimir Putin is beginning to lose some support in Russia, as some view the political figure as prompting a “war party” leading to a possible World War 3 among the people. Yet while some activists see Putin and the nuclear powers of Russia as a greater threat than the extremists within the Islamic state, the foreign leader obviously thinks otherwise. He states that the true threats are these radicals, and that the US is heavily at fault for taking steps following the Cold War that “threw the system into sharp and deep imbalance.”
“A unilateral diktat and imposing one’s own models produces the opposite result. Instead of settling conflicts it leads to their escalation, instead of sovereign and stable states we see the growing spread of chaos, and instead of democracy there is support for a very dubious public ranging from open neo-fascists to Islamic radicals.”
   The Russian leader also called the US nation and its government out for not waking up to the issues of terrorism, particularly that of the Taliban and al Qaeda, until the day 9/11 devastated America. Vladimir Putin noted that it wasn’t until America was hit home did it finally take a stance against this looming threat. He finally alleged that these terrorist organizations have been indirectly “sponsored” by America, encouraging these radical movements to turn their weapons toward the Soviet Union instead.
   “Only after horrific terrorist attacks were committed on US soil itself did the United States wake up to the common threat of terrorism. Let me remind you that we were the first country to support the American people back then, the first to react as friends and partners to the terrible tragedy of September 11. During my conversations with American and European leaders, I always spoke of the need to fight terrorism together, as a challenge on a global scale. We cannot resign ourselves to and accept this threat, cannot cut it into separate pieces using double standards.”
   A final fear surrounding World War 3 and its prospect this week was Vladimir Putin nearly launching a “secret” attack against Denmark this summer 2014. The Epoch Times shares this week that a “nuclear” prepared Russia invaded Bornholm, a Danish island, several months ago while it was hosting an annual conference with numerous political officials and reporters.
   According to the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, military jets from Russia were flying low and heading toward the Bornholm gathering when they suddenly turned around and presumably returned. The press release affirmed that few details about the near-attack were released, but nonetheless called the incident the biggest military exercise that Russia has conducted over Baltic territory in over 20 years. A risk assessment analysis has also determined that tensions between the US and Russia will continue to escalate in the coming years, bringing conflict — and a potential World War 3 — to a head.
   “Over the next few years, the situation in eastern Ukraine will highly likely turn into a new frozen European conflict, and the Ukraine crisis will continue to strain relations between Russia and the West … Russia has demonstrated willingness to use military force to prevent non-NATO states in the post-Soviet space from forming close ties with the West ... Russia will not risk an open military confrontation with NATO, but there is a risk that the Soviet nation might initiate intimidating military pressure on especially the Baltic countries, for instance in connection with a major international crisis with the West.”
   Do you believe World War 3 may be on the horizon, or are Vladimir Putin’s speeches and statements merely empty words? The Russian leader also sparked significant debate back in October after subtly threatening both Europe and the US with its military might, remarking that the country has nuclear powers — over 5,000 weapons — and the capabilities to use them effectually.
   “We hope that our partners will realize the recklessness of attempts to blackmail Russia, and will remember the risks that a spat between major nuclear powers means for strategic stability,” concluded Putin in a statement to a Serbian media outlet.

Sunday, 2 November 2014

Russia Hastily Tested All Three Kinds of Its Nuclear Weapons – European Media

   (Censor.NET) --- Russia has over 72 hours tested its entire nuclear triad consisting of strategic bombers; submarines, and ICBM.
   Censor.NET writes about it citing BarentsObserver, whose profile is Russian-Norvegion relations.
The test area covered a territory from the Atlantic to the Kamchatka Peninsula with the epicenter in the Barents Sea region.
   Russian nuclear triad includes silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile, Tu-95 strategic bombers, and submarine based ballistic missiles (SLBM). At 09:20 a.m. (Moscow time) on Saturday, a silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast.
   The Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation confirmed the launch, stating that a few minutes later the dummy nuclear warhead hit its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far eastern corner. The Ministry adds that the Topol-M missile has an "extremely high accuracy of target destruction." The distance from Plesetsk to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky exceeds 6000 km, which is only a thousand kilomeeters less than the distance to New York City.
   European media have reported numerous cases of intrusion of Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers into Atlantic flight zone, in particular over Norway, Britain and Portugal. NATO countries had to scramble fighters to intercept the bombers, which did not maintain radio contact.
   Barents Observer published the NATO statement that unapproved flights of Russian bombers pose a risk to civilian air traffic.
   Тhe third arm of Russia's nuclear triad, the submarine based ballistic missiles (SLBM), were tested on Wednesday, when "Yury Dolgoruky" launched a Bulava missile from submerged position in the Barents Sea.    The launch was also confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation. In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly advised the West "not to put pressure on Russia" and reminded about the presence of nuclear weapons in Russia.