Russia in Review, Jan. 26-Feb. 2, 2024

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 7 Things To Know Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summoned Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU) Valerii Zaluzhnyi on Jan. 29 to tell the general he was being fired. At the meeting, Zaluzhnyi was offered the post of secretary of the national security council, but he turned it down, according to The Economist.[1] Two days […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Invasion Has Thrown Its Space Scientists Out of Orbit” – Moscow Times

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

(Moscow Times – Vitaly Egorov – Oct. 25, 2023) Russia’s attack on Ukraine is fueled by a decidedly anti-Western ideology. But in contrast, Russia’s space scientists had been building international ties, entering into partnership projects, and seeking to expand collaboration with Western countries over the previous three decades. For many scientists, Feb. 24, 2022, came as a shock and caused […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Elizabeth Warren Demands Probes of Elon Musk, SpaceX After Ukraine Revelations” – Bloomberg

File Photo of Elon Musk, adapted from image at nasa.gov, with photo credit to Bill Stafford

“Warren calls on Pentagon to look into decision over attack Musk, other tech chiefs will meet with senators on Wednesday” “… Warren is demanding an investigation into SpaceX after Elon Musk acknowledged he had blocked Ukraine from extending the private Starlink satellite network for an attack on Russian warships near the Crimean coast. … Musk said. ‘… If I had […]

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Russia in Review, Sept. 1-8, 2023

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

7 Things to Know G-20 leaders began arriving in New Delhi on Sept. 8 for their annual gathering as negotiators struggled to bridge differences over the war in Ukraine in the group’s joint statement. While it remains unclear whether a final consensus can be reached, China appears to have dropped its initial opposition to language on Ukraine and Russia, according […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Lost partnerships destroying Ukraine’s space sector faster than Russian missiles, former space chief says” – Space.com

Antares Rocket on Side on Transport Vehicle As U.S. Flag Flies on Pole

“… The end of the Antares project is just one of the many blows Ukraine’s mighty space industry has sustained since Russian tanks first rolled into Ukraine …. The enormous Yuzhnoye State Design Office and Yuzhmash Machine Building rocket factory in Dnipro, where the Antares first stages were assembled, have been repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles. …[E]xact … damage … […]

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Russian Space Chief Praises U.S. After ISS Coolant Leak

International Space Station file photo, adapted from NASA image

(Moscow Times – Dec. 20, 2022) The head of Russian space agency Roscosmos on Tuesday praised Russia-U.S. cooperation at the International Space Station following a major coolant leak from a Soyuz crew capsule. “Say hello to the entire American team. They proved themselves to be very worthy in this situation and lent us a helping hand,” Borisov said, speaking to […]

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RUSSIALINK: “U.S. Flies Russian Cosmonaut to ISS Despite Ukraine War” – Moscow Times

International Space Station file photo, adapted from NASA image

(Moscow Times – Oct. 6, 2022) A SpaceX rocket carrying a Russian crew member blasted off from Florida Wednesday on a voyage that carries significant symbolism as war rages in Ukraine. Anna Kikina, the only female cosmonaut in service, is part of the Crew-5 mission, which also includes one Japanese and two American astronauts. “Let’s do this,” said Nicole Mann, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Says It Will Quit the International Space Station After 2024” – New York Times

International Space Station file photo, adapted from NASA image

“… [N]ew [Roscosmos] head [Yuri Borisov] announced … Tuesday [during a meeting with Putin] that Russia will leave the International Space Station after its current commitment expires at the end of 2024. … Putin’s response: ‘Good.’ … NASA did not immediately respond …. Speaking from orbit … [NASA astronaut] Kjell Lindgren …  said nothing had yet changed up there. … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “China and Russia team up to establish joint moon base” – Asia Times

File Photo of Surface of Moon with Earth in Distance, adapted from NASA image

China and Russia’s plans can be seen as a response to their exclusion from the U.S. Artemis Accords […]

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Fact-Check: Is Russia’s Economy ‘Nuclear Weapons and Oil Wells and Nothing Else,’ as Biden Claimed?

Oil Wells file photo, adapted from image at usda.gov

(Russia Matters – RM Staff – russiamatters.org – Dec. 28, 2021) Incorrect: While hydrocarbons play an outsized role in Moscow’s federal budget and its nuclear weapons may figure in GDP, Russia’s economy is more diverse than that, with oil and gas making up just over 15% of last year’s GDP by one Rosstat estimate. Russia provides other countries with more […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “NASA, Russia stress that space partnership remains strong after Nauka incident at space station” – Space.com

International Space Station file photo

“Following a serious incident at the International Space Station last Thursday … Russia and the U.S. have reaffirmed their partnership and shared next steps to move forward. … Russia’s long-awaited Nauka research module docked with the orbiting lab. But the new module soon hit troubles as, just a few hours after docking, its thrusters began to fire unexpectedly, pulling the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “General Says U.S. Military Should Consider a Deconfliction Line for Space” – Military.com

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

“A top [U.S.] commander … says it may be time to establish a ‘deconfliction channel’  … in space. The Pentagon and international partners are developing guidelines for operating in space, just as international norms govern maritime operations. Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt, … commander of SPACECOM’s Combined Force Space Component Command, said … protocols should include being transparent and predictable with […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian-Chinese pact to explore the moon is another sign the U.S. must change its approach to Moscow” – CNBC/ Frederick Kempe

File Photo of Surface of Moon with Earth in Distance, adapted from NASA image

“… Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, signed an agreement with the Chinese National Space Administration[] to create an International Scientific Lunar Station ‘with open access to all interested nations and international partners[,]’ … the most dramatic sign yet that Moscow sees its space future with China and not the United States, further underscoring … growing strategic alignment with Beijing. … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia and China in Talks About Building a Joint Moon Research Base” – CNS/ Dimitri Simes

File Photo of Surface of Moon with Earth in Distance, adapted from NASA image

“Looking to strengthen … space cooperation with China amid heightened geopolitical tensions with the United States, Russia is in talks with Beijing about the possibility of building a joint lunar research base. Dmitry Rogozin … head of … Roscosmos, held talks recently with … China National Space Administration[] director Zhang Kejian. He … [stated in an state television interview] that […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S., Russia Hold Talks on Space Security” – Wall Street Journal/ Michael R. Gordon

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

“Two space powers are at odds over goals, with U.S. seeking voluntary norms, Russia aiming for a treaty” “The U.S. and Russia … [are holding] their first space-security talks since 2013 … [addressing] how to guard against the increasing militarization of space. [The] Trump administration … hoped … the [Vienna] meeting … would lead to … voluntary norms … and […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Despite SpaceX Success NASA Will Pay Russia $90 Million To Take U.S. Astronaut To The ISS” – Forbes/ Jamie Carter

International Space Station file photo

“NASA plans to pay … Russian space agency [Roscosmos] to launch one of its astronauts – and Russian cosmonauts will likely travel to space from Florida next year. … [A]fter … two NASA astronauts went to the International Space Station … from U.S. soil for the first time in almost a decade … it’s definitely not the end of [U.S.-Russian] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “For Russia, SpaceX success is ‘wakeup call’ – AFP

File Photo of SpaceX Manned Launch, from image at nasa.gov with credit to Bill Ingalls

Russia has lost its long-held monopoly … ferry[ing] astronauts to the International Space Station following the flawless manned launch by U.S. company SpaceX. … [E]xperts said the launch should be a wakeup call for Roscosmos. […]

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Putin, Trump discuss by phone G7 summit, Covid-19, oil market

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

… Putin and … Trump have discussed in a telephone call the situation surrounding Covid-19, the Crew Dragon spacecraft launch, the Group of Seven (G7) summit, as well as the situation on the oil market, the Kremlin press service said. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s rocket man set for return to virus-plagued planet; Covid-19 was unheard of when Commander of International Space Station left earth” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy

International Space Station file photo

“The 22-year old space station, which conducts research and scientific studies into space 400km above the Earth, is one of the most prominent examples of U.S.-Russian co-operation, under … joint management of Russia’s space agency and … NASA …. Russia’s Roscosmos is determined to stick to its rocket launch and return schedule to keep the ISS functioning and fully equipped […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S.-Russian Crew Blasts Off for International Space Station” – AP

International Space Station file photo

“A U.S.-Russian space crew blasted off Thursday to the International Space Station following a tight quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos’ Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner lifted off as scheduled … from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan …. The International Space Station is currently operated by Russian Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronauts Jessica Meir […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Space crew to go to ISS on April 9 to skip some traditional pre-launch procedures because of coronavirus” – Interfax

International Space Station file photo

ZVYOZDNY GORODOK, Moscow region. March 12 (Interfax) – The members of a space crew scheduled to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 9 will have to skip a number of traditional pre-launch events as a measure to minimize the coronavirus spread risk, Pavel Vlasov, the chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center, told journalists on Thursday. To avoid […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia willing to cut Soyuz crews for US ISS flights” – Interfax

International Space Station file photo

(Interfax – Oct. 31, 2019) The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, has said it is prepared to reduce the crews manning the Soyuz spacecraft to make room for U.S. astronauts travelling to the International Space station (ISS). Rogozin said Nasa head Jim Bridenstine had spoken to him about accommodating US crews on the Soyuz in 2020-2021, the […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Robot FEDOR returns to Korolyov” – Interfax

International Space Station file photo

MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax) – The Soyuz MS-14 landing capsule carrying the humanoid robot FEDOR, which returned to the Earth on Saturday, has returned to Korolyov. “I am back in Korolyov together with the landing capsule,” FEDOR wrote on Twitter, and posted a video showing the process of his extraction from the capsule. “I am glad to meet with specialists […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia, an Early Space Pioneer, Never Regained Its Lead; The U.S. leapfrogged the Soviet Union by landing a man on the moon 50 years ago this month, and kept its place ever since” – Wall Street Journal/ Ann M. Simmons

International Space Station file photo

“Russians still brim with pride over being the first nation to send a human into space.  Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin … circling the Earth in 1961[] remains a national hero whose story is taught to Russian schoolchildren. But ever since the U.S. leapfrogged the Soviet Union by landing a man on the moon 50 years ago this month, Russia has […]

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Blacklisted Russian Space Chief Says ‘Victim’ Of Trump-Congress Rivalry

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

(Article ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Jan. 9, 2019 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/blacklisted-russian-space-chief-says-victim-of-trump-congress-rivalry/29699713.html) The head of Russia’s Roskosmos space agency, an official who has been targeted by U.S. and European Union sanctions, has criticized President Donald Trump and U.S. lawmakers over the cancellation of his planned visit to NASA facilities in the United States. Dmitry […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian, US Officials Say Space Cooperation Remains Strong” – AP/ Washington Post

International Space Station file photo

“Russian and U.S. space officials hailed the joint work of their programs Monday and said cooperation remains strong despite political tensions …. Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin and Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA’s human explorations and operations, said after a conference marking the 20th anniversary of the International Space Station that their agencies plan to collaborate on developing a moon orbiting […]

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Nuclear Near Miss: Remembering the ‘Man Who Saved the World’

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – September 21, 2018 – russiamatters.org/blog/nuclear-near-miss-remembering-man-who-saved-world) Next week marks 35 years since America and Russia narrowly avoided fighting a nuclear war—the kind that “cannot be won and must never be fought,” in the words of Ronald Reagan. It wasn’t the first time the two nations lived through such a close call, and stories […]

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The Hole Truth: U.S.-Russia Space Dustup Threatens Rare Frontier Of Cooperation

International Space Station file photo

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Matthew Luxmoore – MOSCOW – Sept. 14, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/the-hole-truth-u-s–russia-space-dustup-threatens-rare-frontier-of-cooperation/29489976.html) On August 29, disturbing data from a Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) reached the mission control centers in Houston and Moscow. The shuttle was losing oxygen, flight operators noted, and pressure inside […]

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RUSSIALINK: “NASA may ask Russia for additional Soyuz seats due to delayed U.S. ships’ certification – source” – Interfax

International Space Station file photo

MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax) – The United States may fail to certify its manned spaceships before August 2020, in which case NASA will need additional seats on Russian Soyuz ships, according to the United States Government Accountability Office. “Additional delays could result in a gap in U.S. access to the space station as NASA has contracted for seats on the […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Rogozin, U.S. ambassador agree politics should not hinder space cooperation” – Interfax

International Space Station file photo

MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) – Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman have met in Baikonur to discuss the future of bilateral cooperation in space projects, the state corporation’s press service said in a statement. [Rogozin] has had a working meeting with NASA Deputy Administrator William Gerstenmaier and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman; the […]

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Ten Signs Putin and His Russia have Serious Problems

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 21, 2018) Vladimir Putin and his country are in far deeper trouble than the Moscow media he controls or than the Western media which all too often relies on what the Putin outlets say and views his standing and that of his country almost exclusively as a derivative of what the […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Political Tensions Could Rob the U.S. of the Russian Rocket Engine It Desperately Needs; The United States has become increasingly reliant on the RD-180” – Popular Mechanics/David Grossman

File Photo of Atlas Rocket on Launch Pad

“The burgeoning private space industry might find itself caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions …. Russian lawmakers have drafted a law that would ban cooperation … on building rocket engines, including … the crucial RD-180. … [that] powers the Atlas V, the launch system maintained by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint company owned by both Lockheed Martin and […]

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Cooperation in Space Can Still Bridge Differences Between U.S. and Russia

International Space Station file photo

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Pavel Luzin – August 29, 2017) Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of History and Political Science at Perm University Pavel Luzin holds a PhD in political science. He is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of History and Political Science at Perm University. In 2013-2014 he was a at the Institute of World Economy and […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with Valentina Tereshkova

File Photo of Valentina Tereshkova in Space Suit with Helmet Open, adapted from image at starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov

(Kremlin.ru – March 6, 2017) Vladimir Putin extended his birthday greetings to Valentina Tereshkova, pilot cosmonaut, the first woman in space, Hero of the Soviet Union, and State Duma deputy. The President issued an executive order awarding the Order For Services to the Fatherland I Degree to Ms Tereshkova, deputy chairperson of the State Duma Committee for Federal Organisation and […]

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RUSSIALINK TASS: “Russian-US experiment to simulate outer space mission named SIRIUS”

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

“A series of joint experiments by NASA and the Moscow-based Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) to simulate a flight to the outer space was named SIRIUS, an acronym for Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station. …”

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NEWSWATCH: “Russia, U.S. Mulling Joint Mission to Venus” – Space.com/Mike Wall

Planet Venus file photo, adapted from image at nasa.gov

“Russia’s space program and NASA are working together on a mission to Venus that would investigate some of the scorching-hot planet’s biggest mysteries, including, perhaps, whether it harbors life. An international team of scientists tasked with fleshing out the main goals of the mission, which is known as Venera-D, is wrapping up its work and will deliver its final report […]

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Toilet breaks down again in U.S. segment of International Space Station

International Space Station file photo

MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax) – The toilet has broken down again in the U.S. segment of the International Space Station (ISS), a source from the rocket and space industry told Interfax. “According to preliminary reports, the separator pump has had a malfunction. The toilet is not being used for now,” he said. The astronauts will have to use the toilet […]

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Why the U.S. Needs Russian Rocket Engines to Spy on Russia

File Photo of Atlas Rocket on Launch Pad

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Eli Lake – June 6, 2016) When President Barack Obama came into office, the fact that Russia sold the U.S. the rocket engines it needed for launches was a feature of U.S. foreign policy, not a bug. Obama was trying to reset the U.S. relationship with Moscow, and that meant finding areas where the two former […]

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Grounded: Economic Crisis Hobbles Russian Space Program

International Space Station file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – March 25, 2016) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev tried to put a positive spin on it, but the numbers were hard to ignore. Just two years ago, in the emotional high that followed Crimea’s annexation, Russia’s 10-year space program was promised a full 3.4 trillion rubles (then around $70 billion). By the time […]

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NEWSWATCH: “EU, Russia may nuke asteroids. Blowing up comets and asteroids with nuclear bombs is just one way to save the planet from an Armageddon-style impact, say scientists.” – The Daily Telegraph (UK)

File Image of Earth Orbit and Asteroids

The Daily Telegraph covers the prospect of the EU and Russia launching nuclear missiles against asteroids or comets that threaten the earth. The European Commission funded Russian scientists to develop plans to save the world from rogue asteroids by blowing them up with nuclear weapons.  … Russia’s top space research institute teamed up with missile and rocket engineers to look […]

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U.S.-Russian Relations on The High Frontier

International Space Station file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – December 4, 2015) In the summer of 2000, a Soviet-designed Proton rocket was rolled out to its launch pad at Site 81 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a former military black site hidden on the sprawling steppes of Kazakhstan from which the Soviet Union embarked on its conquest of space in the late […]

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Russia’s Satellite Nuclear Warning System Down Until November

Space in Low Earth Orbit with Partial Sun

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 1, 2015) Russia has delayed the launch of a new military satellite system by four months, news agency TASS reported Wednesday, leaving Moscow nearly blind in the event of a nuclear missile attack till at least November. Russia’s decaying constellation of Soviet-designed early warning satellites was left nearly blind last year, when one of […]

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McCain Nixes Pentagon Plan to Use More Russian Rocket Engines

John McCain at hearing; adapted from defense.gov image

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 15, 2015) The United States will not allow domestic space companies to use more Russian rocket engines despite requests from the Pentagon, news agency Reuters reported, citing a letter written by U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee John McCain. In a response to a letter from U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter […]

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