Archive for the ‘Russia’ Category
Posted on November 11, 2008 - by Venik
Medvedev’s Missile Myth. Or Not…
In his recent article in the Moscow Times entitled “Medvedev’s Missile Myth“, Alexander Golts – a Russian defense analyst (without technical education or military background, as seems to be the rule for Russian military “experts”) popular among Western journalists in Moscow – expressed the following idea: “Imagine the following scenario: After the standoff between the [...]
Posted on November 8, 2008 - by Venik
Obama, Biden Complicate Relations with Russia
Paradoxical as this may sound, the victory of pacifist Obama over his saber-rattling Republican opponent makes the Kremlin very concerned. One reason for this is simple: an idiot in the White House was good for Moscow. Russians joke that Dubya was their best president ever. Indeed, Russians have Bush – not Putin – to thank [...]
Posted on November 7, 2008 - by Venik
Saakashvili’s Endgame
As waning wartime patriotism in Georgia gives way to realistic assessments of the facts, Saakashvili can now see the end of his political career rapidly approaching. As predicted, the situation in Tbilisi is developing rapidly and Saakashvili may be expected to make his endgame early next year, probably soon after Obama’s inaugural speech in Washington. [...]
Posted on November 4, 2008 - by Venik
Russia’s Financial Crisis and Beluga Caviar
I just ran across a rather amusing article in the Financial Times by Robert Skidelsky. The point of his rant is nicely summarized in the last paragraph: “Russia needs to scale down its geopolitical ambition to its real weight – that of an emerging economy with only 3 per cent of the world’s gross domestic [...]
Posted on October 24, 2008 - by Venik
Combat Aviation 2030
Years of working in the aerospace industry presented me with opportunities to talk to many aviation specialists and this article is a digest of their opinions and my own comments. This article is a subjective look at what the future of combat aviation may or should be in the next 20-30 years, but not necessarily [...]
Posted on October 23, 2008 - by Venik
Jane’s is Jumping to Conclusions
Reuters ran a story on the recent study by Jane’s Strategic Advisory Services. I have a Jane’s subscription, but I couldn’t find the report on their site and so I will rely on the few passages quoted by Reuters. “A central problem is that of a Russian political and military leadership commitment to a Cold [...]
Posted on October 3, 2008 - by Venik
Pirates, Tanks and Conspiracy Theories
An Israeli-owned cargo ship, sailing under Belize flag with Russian and Ukrainian crew, carrying to Kenya Soviet-made main battle tanks for the army of Sudan is being boarded by Somalian pirates; the ship is surrounded by US Navy cruiser and destroyer, as well as by two Royal Navy frigates, as the Russian Navy dispatches its [...]
Posted on September 18, 2008 - by Venik
Condi Rice is Becoming Isolated, Irrelevant
In her recent highly-publicized (by her aides) speech, Dr. Rice continued developing her thesis of Russia’s supposed political isolation. If one takes seriously Rice’s assertion that “Russia’s invasion of Georgia has achieved – and will achieve – no strategic objective”, a logical question arises: then what is the Department of State getting so worked up [...]
Posted on September 18, 2008 - by Venik
The War in Georgia: Who Said What
The difficulties Russia encounters dealing with Saakashvili’s propaganda machine are caused primarily by the West’s desire to believe the Georgian side of the story. Why does the West want to believe Saakashvili? Probably because the alternative to believing Georgian propaganda is to admit that for the past five years the West has been propping up [...]
Posted on September 17, 2008 - by Venik
The West Distances Itself from Saakashvili
The visit of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (from here forward known as Hoop for the sake of brevity) and twenty six NATO representatives to Georgia was largely uneventful. As before, NATO gave Saakashvili no plans, schedules, or guarantees. Georgian president’s appeals to accelerate NATO membership program for his country fell largely on deaf ears. However, [...]
Posted on September 15, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Events in Georgia
Here’s a small collection of photos from a variety of sources detailing the recent events in Georgia. Some interesting photos of the Russian Su-25 damaged by a Georgian man-portable SAM. Also photos of the Russian “Mirage” corvette that sank a Georgian missile boat with one of its P-120 Malakhit anti-ship missile – the first ever [...]
Posted on September 14, 2008 - by Venik
Operational Analysis of the War in Georgia
The excellent operational analysis below was originally posted on Militaryphotos.net forum on August 25 by “dux_bellorum” – the forum’s member from Sweden. The analysis was written by an unnamed source from the US. I read this article on the day it was posted and found it very interesting, although I am fairly certain that quite [...]
Posted on September 14, 2008 - by Venik
Aeroflot Boeing 737 crash kills 88
A Boeing 737 airliner – Flight 821 operated by CJSC Aeroflot-Nord, a subsidiary of Russia’s leading airline operator Aeroflot – crashed in bad weather on approach to the airport in Perm, near the Ural mountains. The aircraft was en-route to Perm from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. All 82 passengers and 6 crew member aboard were killed [...]
Posted on September 13, 2008 - by Venik
International Monitors in Georgia
According to AP, some Western (American) diplomats are accusing Russia of stalling negotiations over sending international observers to Georgia. “For three weeks now, we have been fighting on how to deploy these extra 80 monitors without delay,” the Western official said. “Everyone but Russia has said they should be able to get into all of [...]
