MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti) President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday against foreign powers seeking to secure a military advantage over Russia and said any attempts to destroy the existing global strategic balance would be futile. Speaking in his annual State of the Nation address, Putin dismissed arguments that the proposed European missile shield is defensive only and described it […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – December 12, 2013) Russia intends to deploy a military force on its northern coast to engage in the fight for control over promising oil and gas reserves in the Arctic Ocean. Russia will send a military force to be set up in the Artic next year in order to […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) – Russia must be prepared to confront international rivalry in the Arctic, which is a priority of its geopolitical agenda, Federation Council International Affairs Committee Chairman Mikhail Margelov told Interfax. “This is a topical agenda considering the expected effects of global warming on the Arctic zone. It is necessary to maintain the combat potential of the […]
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MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) Investigators plan to formally charge a former Russian defense minister with negligence on Friday, according to a police source familiar with the situation. Investigators said last week they were opening a criminal case on negligence charges against Anatoly Serdyukov over claims he caused 56 million rubles ($1.7 million) of damage to the state by […]
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BRUSSELS. Dec 2 (Interfax) – The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) cannot be restored the way it used to be; the treaty became totally obsolete, which was declared back in 1996 when a decision on the parameters of its crucial modernization was made, Russian Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko told Interfax in Brussels on Monday. “An […]
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SOCHI. Nov 29 (Interfax) – The Russian state is spending huge money on modernizing its armed forces, and therefore all goals that have been set must be attained, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “The overall volume of the [Defense] Ministry budget in 2003 was 600 billion rubles, and this year, following the last adjustment of the budget, the expenditures on […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) – Experts of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) see no reason to speak about the militarization or a threat of military confrontation in the Arctic region. “This is taken as part of usual measures of each state to ensure its interests, including the military element,” RIAC president Igor Ivanov told a news conference in Moscow […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) – Russians are increasingly positive about the situation in the Russian Army now that a year has passed since Sergei Shoigu’s appointment to the post of defense minister, a poll conducted by VTsIOM shows. Shoigu was appointed defense minister on November 6, 2012 after President Vladimir Putin dismissed Anatoly Serdyukov from the post. The respondents, however, […]
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MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) Russian naval forces are set to make the Arctic a priority region, boosting combat training and scouting lesser-known areas of the icy territory in 2014, a navy spokesman said Monday. The Northern Fleet will conduct sailing and diving expeditions in the Arctic and develop a series of ice-class patrol ships to protect the country’s […]
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MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti) A spokesman for Russia’s state nuclear corporation said Friday that a facility for the disposal of Soviet-era radioactive waste is to be built in the country’s Far East. Officials said they made the announcement to quell media speculation that a site was being set aside for the dumping of nuclear waste from abroad. Those […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Tony Capaccio – November 13, 2013) The Pentagon won’t buy more Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned export company, after completing a $572 million contract signed in June, according to a Defense Department spokeswoman. “The department has re-evaluated requirements in consultation with Congress,” spokeswoman Maureen Schumann said in an e-mailed statement. “We currently do not have […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 203 – Roger McDermott – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – November 12, 2013) Since President Vladimir Putin appointed Sergei Shoigu to be Russia’s defense minister in November 2012, the defense ministry leadership has resorted to Soviet-era “snap inspections” of its Armed Forces to raise combat readiness and gain additional insight into the condition of […]
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(RIA Novosti – Aleksey Mukhin – November 5, 2013) A news conference Sergei Shoigu: A year as Defense Minister. Performance results was held at the RIA Novosti multimedia press center. During the event, General Director of the Center for Political Information and Valdai Club expert Alexei Mukhin presented a report on the activities of the Defense Ministry during […]
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MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) Russia is unprepared for a war in the Arctic, a government report says. The country, which has the longest Arctic border, would be unable to quickly respond to an attack in the area, the Regional Development Ministry said in an assessment of risks to economic interests in the Far North. Russia’s northern border checkpoints […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH – November 1, 2013) Many countries would like to tap into the Arctic’s vast hydrocarbon resources, but Russia is the only nation so far to have risked hefty investments in the region. Experts wonder whether Moscow will be successful in selling Arctic oil at $200 or more per […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 193 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Roger McDermott – October 29, 2013) As the anniversary approaches in November 2013, marking one year since President Vladimir Putin sacked Anatoly Serdyukov and appointed Sergei Shoigu as Russia’s defense minister, evidence is mounting to indicate that the change may not herald better times for the military. […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – October 29, 2013) At a NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels, the Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu offered the international community assistance in destroying Syrian chemical weapons and expressed his hope to resume Russia-NATO dialogue on ABMs in Europe. Last week, Brussels hosted a meeting of the […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, October 14, 2013) Almost one-quarter of government spending in Russia is to become classified within the next three years, according to findings by a Moscow research institute that will raise concerns of decreasing economic transparency in a country already plagued by corruption. Vedomosti business daily said in a report Monday, citing a study by the […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 8, 2013) The Russian Federation’s annual spending on the nuclear arms complex is to be increased by more than 50 per cent in the next three years, says the appraisal report by from the State Duma Committee for Defense on the draft federal budget for 2014 and the planning period of 2015 and 2016. It […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 26, 2013) President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff has credited Russia’s 1993 constitution with making it possible to “preserve the sovereignty and unity of Russia.” “The constitution has made it possible to preserve the sovereignty and unity of Russia. It has made it possible to step back from a very dangerous point and put political processes […]
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(RIA Novosti – SOCHI, September 23, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday named Russia’s priorities during its presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of former Soviet states. The CSTO Council, the organization’s supreme ruling body comprising leaders of the six member states, gathered in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. Kyrgyzstan handed […]
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(Interfax – September 23, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has acknowledged that security and the armed forces are a priority for state spending and social needs will have to take their place in the queue, Interfax news agency reported on 23 September. “I hope that after we complete the reorganization and restructuring of the armed forces, on which we’re […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Litovkin, special to RBTH – September 17, 2013) Petr Veliky, the most powerful ship in the Russian navy, recently crossed the Northern Sea Route for the first time. Although the event was virtually unnoticed amid the escalating military conflict in Syria, pundits believe its implications are also important for international security. The […]
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(Interfax – STOCKHOLM. September 21, 2013) The Kremlin chief of staff has argued that foreign military intervention can neither democratize countries ruled by dictatorial regimes nor resolve domestic conflicts. “There hasn’t been any more democracy and freedom where military recipes were used, let’s not be hypocritical about that,” Sergei Ivanov said at the Global Strategic Review 2013 conference in Stockholm […]
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(Interfax – MURMANSK, September 19, 2013) The strengthening of any country’s military forces in the Artic is in most cases not targeted against any of the neighbors, Russian Foreign Ministry charge d’affaires Anton Vasilyev said. “If we don’t take into account strategic nuclear weapons, which are an element of a different, global strategic dimension, it’s difficult to speak about any […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 18, 2013) Russia should be preserved within its current borders at any cost, said 93% of citizens polled by the Public Opinion Foundation in September. Some 57% of 1,000 respondents polled over the phone said there was a threat to Russian territorial integrity. Such answers were mostly given by citizens older than 60 (69%), vocational school […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 16, 2013) Russia will reopen a military base in the New Siberian Islands, an Arctic archipelago north of Yakutia, to secure control of the strategic region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday. “Our forces left the area in 1993, and in the meantime it has become a very important point in the Arctic Ocean, […]
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(Interfax – September 16, 2013) Possible U.S. military intervention in the Syrian conflict will look even more odious in the context of the agreement to subject Syrian chemical weapons to international monitoring, State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter. “Kerry is reassuring Netanyahu: the U.S. keeps its finger on the trigger! But a strike against Syria […]
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(Interfax – September 11, 2013) The overwhelming majority of Russians (84 per cent) know or heard about the military conflict in Syria that has been continuing for over two years, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 11 September quoting a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation among 1,500 people in 43 constituent parts of Russia on 31 August-1 […]
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(RIA Novosti – Carl Schreck – WASHINGTON, September 11, 2013) The White House has vowed that no American boots will be on the ground in Syria, but a Russian proposal to seize and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons would almost certainly require an international security force, experts said Wednesday. “Boots on the ground will be necessary. The question is: ‘Where will […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, September 9, 2013) As the United States and Russia lock horns over the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the former Cold War foes are still wrestling with the remnants of their own massive chemical stockpiles that they have been working to eliminate for two decades. “They are terribly expensive to maintain and provide good […]
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(RIA Novosti – Carl Schreck – WASHINGTON, September 4, 2013) U.S. officials are likely cautious about disclosing to Russia comprehensive intelligence about an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria and see little chance of convincing Moscow to accept outside military intervention in the civil war there regardless of the facts on the ground, US national security experts said Wednesday. […]
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(Interfax – August 30, 2013) The Syrian Armed Forces might possess S-300 surface-to-air missile systems in addition to S-200, Buk-M1-2, Buk-M2E, Pantsir-S1E, S-125 Neva and S-125M Pechyora systems, which would allow Damascus to successfully respond to U.S. air and sea missile attacks, a Moscow military source familiar with the situation said. “Syria’s air defense systems are able to appropriately respond […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Kislyakov, special to RBTH August 29, 2013) News of American decorations being given to Russian servicemen and reconnaissance officers at that could in no way be called ordinary. Meanwhile, the current geopolitical situation and potential threats to the global community attest to the need to strengthen international military peacekeeping forces […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, August 27, 2013) While the United States and Russia might be engaging in a war of words over Syria, Edward Snowden, adoption and gay rights, the differences are not stopping the two countries from joining together with Canada in an anti-terror exercise this week. Fighter jets from the joint US and Canadian North American Aerospace […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 19, 2013) Military investigators have decided not to open criminal a case that could have seen former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov charged with abusing his position to misappropriate government funds, a news report said Monday The allegations have only deepened the haze of suspicion surrounding Serdyukov, who was fired by President Vladimir Putin in […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 145 – Roger McDermott – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – August 6, 2013) Moscow’s highly ambitious military rearmament plans to 2020 always appeared destined to encounter major setbacks linked to the capacity of the domestic defense industry to deliver the modernization of weapons and equipment for the Armed Forces. However, on July 31, within […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm, Opinion Page Editor – August 2, 2013) Russians have had trouble shaking off one stereotype for centuries: razgildyaistvo, or negligence and carelessness. Razgildyaistvo, some say, is as Russian as long, cold winters a Russian institution of its own making. How accurate is this stereotype? Prominent historian and journalist Leonid Mlechin perhaps put […]
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(Russia Beyong the Headlines – rbth.ru – August 1, 2013) For the first time, Russia will honor the Russian soldiers who died during World War I. State Duma Chairman Sergey Naryshkin who also serves as both chairman of the organizing committee to mark the centennial of the beginning of World War I and president of the Russian Historical Society […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Kislyakov, special to RBTH – July 24, 2013) Military exercises have revealed what is really going on in the Russian army. For the first time, army heads have admitted to drawbacks identified during the drills and are reporting on their progress in bridging the gaps. Another phase of the largest challenge inspection […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 17, 2013) What do these three things have in common: tanks, abortions and instant coffee? They are all things that Russia exports, performs or consumes more than any other nation. Esquire magazine’s Russian-language edition on Monday released a list of 24 things for which Russia is a statistically proven world leader. One standout is […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 17, 2013) President Vladimir Putin observed the Armed Forces perform the largest military exercises since Soviet times Tuesday, the latest in a series of surprise drills around the country this year aimed at examining the army’s combat readiness following military reforms. The surprise maneuvers in the Far East, which started late […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 16, 2013) Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said he was concerned with the high number of armed conflicts around the world and that he proposed the creation of a global peace movement. “Something is not working in the world, the arms race is on again. Either protest movements or conflicts between tribes and entire nations are […]
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(Interfax -MOSCOW. July 15, 2013) The Russian Defense Ministry will make the situation in the armed forces more transparent for NATO colleagues, said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov. “We will continue enhancing the transparency of our armed forces,” Antonenko said after a meeting with foreign military attaches. He said NATO officials have complained on many occasions that the Russian […]
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(Interfax – PROKHOROVKA, July 12, 2013) The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet identified 4.6 million Soviet soldiers, whose remains are buried in Russia and abroad, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. “A total of over 32,000 burial sites of over 7 million people are registered by the ministry. A total of 2.6 million are known by surname. Unfortunately, the […]
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(Interfax – July 12, 2013) The European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) stipulates reinforcing seaborne components, which will eventually develop into the backbone of the U.S. global missile defense network, consultant of the Russian Strategic Research Institute director, expert board member of the Russian presidential administration’s interdepartmental working group for liaison with NATO in missile defense Vladimir Kozin said. “The U.S. […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) The financial cost of corruption uncovered in the Russian Armed Forces this year has soared 450 percent from last year to over 4.4 billion rubles ($130 million), the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Thursday. “The amount of damage inflicted on the state by corruption crimes this year rose by five and a […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – July 10, 2013) Military officials disclose plans online for the development of the army and navy. Striking changes have started taking place in Russia’s armed forces since Sergei Shoigu took over as defense minister. For example, last week the military posted what until then had been top-secret […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG – July 9, 2013) The Russian government has just approved the next three-year budget that runs to 2016 that has cut spending on education and health in favour of boosting it on reequipping the armed forces. Relations between Russia and the west are probably at their lowest ebb since the fall of […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 5, 2013) The development of Russia’s armed forces should not deprive the national economy and public sector of financial resources, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “The defense programs should be reasonable and should not be a heavy burden on the country’s economy and public sector,” Putin said at a Russian Security Council meeting dealing with the […]
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