Archive for the ‘Sideline’ Category
Posted on November 15, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Russians in Georgia
“The 2008 South Ossetia War was a land, air and sea war fought between Georgia on one side, and Russia, and the break-away regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other. A civil war fought after the breakup of the Soviet Union left parts of South Ossetia in control of an unrecognized separatist government [...]
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 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 September 16, 2008 - by Venik
Poll: Is Sarah Palin ready to be the President?
In 1982, Palin enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College. After one semester she transfered to North Idaho College in 1983 and then to the University of Idaho the same year. Palin attended Matanuska-Susitna College in Alaska for one term and then returned to the University of Idaho, from where she finally graduated in 1987 with a [...]
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 [...]
Posted on September 13, 2008 - by Venik
Russian Separatists and Ivan the Terrible
Just ran into a funny article in The New York Times. Obviously, the article’s author did not try at all to be funny, which made it even funnier. In her Russia’s Recognition of Georgian Areas Raises Hopes of Its Own Separatists, Ellen Barry suggests, as you can see from the article’s title, that by recognizing [...]
Posted on September 7, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Georgian Losses in the War
During the five-day conflict, the Georgian army has lost dozens of MBTs, APCs, trucks, self-propelled artillery and other vehicles. Georgia also lost most of its Navy and Air Force. Majority of Georgian air defense assets were destroyed. Most of the equipment lost by Georgia was not not destroyed but rather abandoned by the Georgian army [...]
Posted on September 6, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Destruction of Tskhinvali
According to the UNOSAT report, at least 438 residential buildings in Tskhinvali were destroyed or seriously damaged. South Ossetian authorities estimate the damage to the country’s infrastructure at around USD 400 million. Russia allocated USD 500 million to be spent by the end of the year on reconstruction in South Ossetia. Additional funding for South [...]
Posted on September 6, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Victims in South Ossetia
According to the latest reports, more than 1,900 people have been killed in the August 7-12 attack on South Ossetia by the army of Georgia. Russian prosecutors so far have identified the remains of 134 dead residents of South Ossetia in addition to the 59 killed and 104 wounded Russian peacekeepers. Share on bebo Blog [...]
Posted on September 4, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Georgian Army Before the War
As the Georgian Defense Ministry sacked its Army chief and the Deputy Chief of General Staff, lets take a look at what the Georgian army once was, with the help of some American tax dollars. Watching these ridiculous displays of crispy US-made uniforms and Israeli multiple-launch rocket systems atop shiny Mercedes-Benz trucks, Saakashvili couldn’t wait [...]
