Russia

Vladimir Putin Is Hoarding Gold To Prepare For Economic War

Russia has taken advantage of lower gold prices to pack the vaults of its central bank with bullion as it prepares for the possibility of a long, drawn-out economic war with the West. The latest research from the World Gold Council reveals that the Kremlin snapped up 55 tonnes of the precious metal – far more than any other nation – in the three months to the end of September as prices began to weaken. Vladimir Putin’s government is understood to be hoarding vast quantities of gold, having tripled stocks to around 1,150 tonnes in the last decade.

Russia prepares nuclear surprise for NATO

On September 1, 2014 the US State Department published a report, in which it was stated that for first time since the collapse of the USSR, Russia reached parity with the US in the field of strategic nuclear weapons. Thus, Washington admitted that Moscow regained the status that the Soviet Union had obtained by mid-70’s of the XX century and then lost. According to the report from the State Department, Russia has 528 carriers of strategic nuclear weapons that carry 1,643 warheads.

Russia’s bombers to conduct regular patrols in the Gulf of Mexico

Russia’s long-range bombers will conduct regular patrol missions from the Arctic Ocean to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, the military said Wednesday, a show of muscle reflecting tensions with the West over Ukraine. A statement from Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu came as NATO’s chief commander accused Moscow of sending new troops and tanks into Ukraine — a claim quickly rejected by Russia. Shoigu said the tensions with the West over Ukraine would require Russia to also beef up its forces in the Crimea, the Black Sea Peninsula that Russia annexed in March.

Russia To Declare U.S. A ‘Threat’ And ‘Adversary’ In New Military Doctrine

For those that have been watching the growing tensions between the Russia, Europe and the US, this latest salvo is disturbing to say the least. As reported by FT.com, a new Russian military doctrine is to be released next month, which will openly designate the United States as a “threat” and/or adversary, which is guaranteed to escalate the growing distrust which many see as a return to the “cold war” era.

Ukraine accuses Russia of sending in tanks, escalating crisis

Ukraine’s military accused Russia on Friday of sending a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops into the country’s east to support pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces. Thursday’s cross-border incursion, if confirmed, is a significant escalation of a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people since the separatists rose up in mid-April and would call into question Russia’s commitment to a two-month-old ceasefire deal. The truce has looked particularly fragile this week, with each side accusing the other of violations after separatist elections last Sunday condemned as illegitimate by the West.

Russia Test Fires Intercontinental Missile From Submerged Nuclear Submarine

A Russian Northern Fleet nuclear submarine on Wednesday fired a test intercontinental missile from the Barents Sea to the country’s far eastern Kura Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “Within the frameworks of testing the reliability of marine strategic nuclear forces, the Tula [nuclear submarine] launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea to the Kura Range [in Kamchatka],” the statement says. The RSM-54 intercontinental ballistic missile Sineva (NATO code name SS-N-23 Skiff) is part of the D-9RM launch system.

Russia Conducts Full ‘Nuclear Triad Drill’, Launches Topol-M ICBM

While east Ukraine, aka the Donetsk Republic, was voting over the weekend in what the west pre-emptively classified as another sham vote as its outcome would merely push east Ukraine even closer to the Kremlin, Russia was busy conducting its most comprehensive Nuclear preparedness drill in recent history, one involving the entire “nuclear triad” consisting of strategic bombers; submarines and an the ICBM shown below on Saturday morning. As reported earlier by the Barents Observer, the silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast. A few minutes later, the dummy nuclear warhead hits its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far eastern corner, the Ministry of Defense reports.

Russia Test Fires Bulava Sea-Based Ballistic Missile

Russia has successfully test-fired a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from the Borey-class Yury Dolgoruky nuclear-powered submarine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The missile was launched from the submerged submarine at a location in the Barents Sea and hit a designated target at the Kura test range on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, the ministry said in a statement. According to the statement, it was the first operational test launch of Bulava in line with the program of combat training.

For the first time, Russia has more deployed nuclear warheads than the United States

For the first time, Russia, which is in the midst of a major strategic nuclear modernization, has more deployed nuclear warheads than the United States, according to the latest numbers released by the State Department. Russia now has 1,643 warheads deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers. The United States has 1,642, said the fact sheet released Wednesday.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Will Get 80 New Warships to Repel NATO

Russia will construct a second naval base on the Black Sea and reinforce its fleet with 80 warships to ward off what it sees as an increasing NATO presence in the waters around the recently annexed Crimean Peninsula, the head of the Russia’s Black Sea fleet said Tuesday. A new base in the city of Novorossiisk will be built be 2016, and by the end of the decade Russia’s Black Sea force will tally 206 ships, Admiral Alexander Vitko was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS. “With Crimea’s return to Russia, the relevance of this base has increased due to the fact that NATO ships are consistently present in the Black Sea,” Vitko told President Vladimir Putin, who visited the construction site of the new base in Novorossiisk on Tuesday.

Russia threatens to retaliate against U.S. military

Russia has delivered a behind-the-scenes threat to retaliate if airstrikes carried out by the U.S. or its allies target the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle Eastern security officials told WND.

Russia Holds Massive Military Drill: 155,000 Troops, 4,000 Tanks, 632 Aircraft, 84 Ships

At what point is a drill more than just a drill? Maybe when it is so massive it could be confused for an invasion force, involving a mindblowing 155,000 troops, more than the armies of most sovereign nations, 4,000 armoured vehicles, 632 planes and helicopters and 84 vessels. Those are the staggering numbers taking [3]part in the Vostok-2014 strategic exercises, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, and whose main priority is ti “demonstrate that the degree of combat preparedness in Russian troops has risen.

Russia to fully renew nuclear forces by 2020

Russia is set to renew the country’s strategic nuclear forces by 100 percent, not 70 percent as previously announced, according to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. “The formation of the technical basis for strategic nuclear forces is going at a faster rate, and in fact, we will renew not 70 percent of the SNF, but 100 percent,” Rogozin told Rossiya TV channel. The deputy premier, who’s responsible for the Russian defense industry, also declared that in 2015 the army and the navy are to switch 30 percent of their weapons to “cutting edge” technology, and by 70 percent in 2020.

Far-Eastern Russian Volcano Spews Ash Over 40 Kilometers

The Karymsky volcano on the far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula has emitted an ash plume reaching 3,000 meters high, and the cloud has drifted over 40 kilometers from the volcano, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday. The volcano has been assigned a “yellow” aviation code for “signs of elevated unrest,” the ministry said in a statement. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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