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Russia’s Anti-American Fever Goes Far Beyond Soviet Era’s

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Thought the Soviet Union was anti-American? Try today’s Russia.

After a year in which furious rhetoric has been pumped across Russian airwaves, anger toward the United States is at its worst since opinion polls began tracking it. From ordinary street vendors all the way up to the Kremlin, a wave of anti-U.S. bile has swept the country, surpassing any time since the Stalin era, observers say.

The indignation peaked after the assassination of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, as conspiracy theories started to swirl — just a few hours after he was killed — that his death was a CIA plot to discredit Russia. (On Sunday, Russia charged two men from Chechnya, and detained three others, in connection with Nemtsov’s killing.)

There are drives to exchange Western-branded clothing for Russia’s red, blue and white. Efforts to replace Coke with Russian-made soft drinks. Fury over U.S. sanctions. And a passionate, conspiracy-laden fascination with the methods that Washington is supposedly using to foment unrest in Ukraine and Russia.

The anger is a challenge for U.S. policymakers seeking to reach out to a shrinking pool of friendly faces in Russia. And it is a marker of the limits of their ability to influence Russian decision-making after a year of sanctions. More than 80 percent of Russians now hold negative views of the United States, according to the independent Levada Center, a number that has more than doubled over the past year and that is by far the highest negative rating since the center started tracking those views in 1988. (Read more about the anti-American fever HERE)

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Russia Arrests ‘American Spy’ Gives Him 15 Years Jail Time

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This is the first picture of a Russian policeman jailed for 15 years for handing over Kremlin secrets to the CIA.

Roman Ushakov, 33, from Krasnoyarsk, was found guilty of high treason for allegedly receiving 37,000 euros from his American handlers – hidden in a ‘fake rock’.

The police major confessed to flying to Britain and other foreign countries to meet US agents after making contact with them via a CIA website . . .

He passed to the CIA the identities of around a dozen FSB agents who were posted to ‘closed’ towns and scientific research bases in Siberia where Russian strategic missiles are located, and uranium and plutonium is manufactured.

Ushakov began spying for the CIA in 2009 after being snubbed for a post with the FSB secret service, the court was told. (Read more about Russia arresting the ‘American spy’ HERE)

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Alaska Flights Cancelled over Ash from Volcano

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A volcano in Russia led to the cancellation of flights in Alaska over the weekend.

“We canceled two roundtrip flights between Anchorage and Bethel, and Anchorage and Nome after an advisory of low visibility,” Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Halley Knigge said.

Ash from Russia’s Shiveluch volcano was the culprit behind the flight disruptions Saturday, said Jeff Freymueller, a scientist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The volcano erupted Friday, shooting ash into the atmosphere some 30,000 feet. Winds blew the ash cloud across the Bering Sea and into western Alaska, Freymueller said. (Read more about the Alaska flights being cancelled over the ash from the volcano HERE)

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While Russian Anti-American Sentiment Grows to Highest Level Since Cold War, Putin Says War in Ukraine Would be “Apocalyptic”

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War Over Ukraine Would be “Apocalyptic”

By Adam Withnall. The Russian President Vladimir Putin has described war with Ukraine as an “apocalyptic scenario” in his first comments since the signing of a shaky peace agreement in Minsk.

With a ceasefire struggling to take hold and neither the Ukrainian government nor rebels withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline as promised, Mr Putin gave a confident interview on Russian TV.

Asked if the situation in eastern Ukraine and renewed calls for Russia to return the annexed territory of Crimea meant we could “wake up one day to discover a war has started”, Mr Putin said: “I think that such an apocalyptic scenario is unlikely and I hope this will never happen.”

Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine are to meet with those from France and Germany in Paris on Tuesday to discuss how the deal set out on 12 February is progressing. (Read more about what President Putin said about the war in Ukraine HERE)

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Moscow Times: Anti-American Sentiment Reaches 25-Year High in Russia

By Peter Spinella. Russians are more anti-American than they have been at any point in the past 25 years, according to a recent opinion poll.

More than 80 percent of Russians view the United States negatively, the exact inverse of how the public felt in 1992, respected independent pollster the Levada Center said in a statement.

More than 70 percent currently have a negative opinion of the European Union, according to the poll, which was conducted between Jan. 23 and 26.

Russia’s political relations with the West sank to post-Cold War lows last year as Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from neighboring Ukraine, and Russia and the West faced off in a series of tit-for-tat sanctions.

Now, with the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine heating up and U.S. lawmakers renewing a push to supply weapons to the Ukrainian military, popular opinion of the West is not likely to improve anytime soon in Russia. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Report: Crime, Anti-American Harassment in Russia Grows

By Bill Gertz. Anti-American sentiment and criminal activities have increased in Moscow since Russian forces took over Ukraine’s Crimea and continue to destabilize eastern Ukraine, a recent State Department security report reveals.

Security threats in Moscow and Russia include petty crime, physical attacks, activities by organized crime groups, corrupt law enforcement and security officials, widespread cyber crime, and economic espionage, according to the Feb. 6 report produced by the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a State Department group that supports American businesses abroad.


“The social and political unrest in Ukraine has led to increasing political tensions between the Russian Federation and the U.S. and other Western nations,” the report, based on reports from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said. “As a result, anti-American and anti-Western sentiment appears to be increasing, especially in certain media outlets” . . .

The report said U.S.-Russia ties were “greatly strained” after Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Embassy reports indicate a number of Americans were verbally harassed and physically assaulted in the last part of 2014 . . . (Read more from this story HERE)

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Vladimir Putin: Russia’s Army is Unstoppable

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By Paul Hosford. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said that his country’s military is unstoppable.

Interfax quotes Putin as making the remark in the buildup to next week’s Defenders of the Fatherland Day.

“No one should have the illusion that they can gain military superiority over Russia, put any kind of pressure on it.

“We will always have an adequate answer for any such adventures.”

He said that the country’s soldiers had proven themselves. (Read more about Putin saying the army is unstoppable HERE)

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Putin the ‘Wife Beater’

By Allan Hall. Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘terrified’ of growing old and has undergone a facelift to give him a ‘young, dynamic appearance’, according to a documentary.

The German programme also claims that the 62-year-old beat his former wife Lyudmila, and has ‘incredible delusions [of] control’ after surviving five assassination attempts in recent years.

Other more bizarre claims include how he sleeps in late and works only in the afternoon after breakfasting on cottage cheese.

He then takes hot and cold baths, followed by a session in a gym filled with expensive American sports equipment to hone his figure.

Biographer Ben Judah told the documentary: ‘Putin is afraid of physical decay, he is afraid of ageing.’ (Read more from this story HERE)

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Fools Trust the Obama Administration, While Experts Correctly Fear Rising Threats From Russia and Iran

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New York- February 18, 2015. Informed foreign policy and economic experts rightly fear one gathering threat today even more than genocidal attacks by the purported Islamic State and its shadowy network of affiliates–Russia could soon provide military and diplomatic cover to Iran as that nation contrives to topple the monarchy in Saudi Arabia, and subsequently extends control by force over other energy-rich Arab kingdoms, including United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

Russia and Iran each have far longer histories as independent nations than America does–over many centuries, they have been enemies, rivals, and friends. In recent months, and particularly since 2008, ties among Russia and Iran have strengthened for defensive reasons, to blunt pressures emanating from the United States and from the European Union.

Going forward, Russia’s potentially muscular protection for Iran (whose Muslim population chiefly are Shia) is particularly irksome for Saudi Arabia, where a majority of the populace is Sunni–no series of workshops or teach-ins will soon reconcile this doctrinal schism.

Worse, given Iran’s demonstrated propensity to meddle throughout the Middle East since 1979, Russia’s growing support for Iran may accelerate attempts by Iran to de-stabilize the energy-laden, eastern province of Saudi Arabia, where a substantial proportion of the population is Shia.

Given recent events in Yemen, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels quickly seized control over large portions of a country touted as a success story and strong ally by the Obama Administration as recently as last September, Saudi officials watch Russia’s engagement with Iran, America’s retreat from the Middle East, and America’s fomenting of regime change since 2008 everywhere except Iran with profound concern. (Read more from “Fools Trust the Obama Administration, While Experts Correctly Fear Rising Threats From Russia and Iran” HERE)

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Machine Gun Granny Ready to Fight Russian Backed Rebels (+video)

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This Ukrainian grandma packs a punch!

Newly trained Kateryna Bilyk, 68, said she decided to take up arms after seeing the horrific carnage left behind when Russian-backed separatists clashed with pro-Ukraine fighters, Central European News reported.

“I wanted to set an example to show young people that no matter how old you are, you can make a difference, and that was why I decided to sign up,” said the mother of three and grandmother of five.

“I have lived here all my life and we survived the Nazi occupation and the Soviets, and I believe in standing up for what’s right and making sure we never see occupation again,” said Bilyk, of Zhidaev.

Nataliya Ishenko, an army spokeswoman, said the assault rifle-wielding grandma had received the same training as other young recruits and passed all the marksmanship tests. (Read more about the Ukraine grandma who is ready to fight Russian rebels HERE)

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Mitt Romney: Still Wrong on Russia

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In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney possessed no real foreign-policy experience. But that didn’t stop him from attacking President Barack Obama as weak on national security. With Osama bin Laden dead and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan poised to wind down, Romney looked elsewhere for a place where Obama was failing: Russia.

It all started in March 2012, when a hot mic caught Obama telling then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more “space” to negotiate on missile defense after the November presidential election in the United States. After news broke of this hush-hush assurance, Romney pounced, branding Russia “without question our number one geopolitical foe” in an interview and accusing Moscow of “fight[ing] every cause for the world’s worst actors.” When pressed, he claimed that Russia posed a greater threat than Iran, China, or North Korea. In an essay published on Foreign Policy‘s website the next day, Romney went so far as to say the president was “ingratiat[ing] himself with the Kremlin.” Few in the national security community took his accusations seriously. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back,” Obama joked during a debate several months later.

As he gears up for yet another presidential run, it’s clear to Romney that his 2012 position has been vindicated. Last March, he authored an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in which he argued that Obama has been a “failure” on Russia. That has become a rallying cry echoed by top foreign-policy voices in the GOP, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Sen. John McCain. Romney now says that Obama demonstrated “naiveté with regards to Russia” and that the president’s “faulty judgment” contributed to President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to use military force in Crimea.

Romney, though, wasn’t right then, and he isn’t right now. The Crimea invasion, as Obama has said, was the act of a cowed “regional power” — and a declining one at that. The days when Moscow could challenge the United States on a global scale are long gone. Russia is boxed in by sanctions and wracked by a collapsing economy, thanks in part to plummeting oil prices. Romney’s attempt to claim victory on all things Russia is misplaced, and it will certainly undermine his foreign-policy credibility if he chooses to run once again. (Read more about Romney being wrong on Russia HERE)

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Hero Cat Saves Baby From Freezing to Death

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Masha, a long-haired tabby cat, saved the life of a baby abandoned in the streets of Russia — after she climbed into the box he was discarded in and kept him warm, health officials said.

“The baby had only been outside for a few hours and thanks to Masha … he was not damaged by the experience,” a hospital spokesman told Central European News.

The whiskered hero even meowed to get the attention of a passerby.

“She is very placid and friendly, so when I heard her meowing, I thought that perhaps she had injured herself,” said Obninsk city resident Irina Lavrova. “Normally she would have come and said hello to me. You can imagine my shock when I saw her lying in a box next to a baby.”

Masha is a communal cat who is looked after by local residents. When she found the baby — who appeared to be in great shape — she immediately took to him as if he were her own, according to CEN. (Read more from “Cat Saves Baby from Freezing to Death” HERE)

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Boy Gets 3D Printed ‘Storm Trooper’ Prosthetic Arm (+video)

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By Alex Heigl. Liam Porter is 7 years old. He lives in Augusta, Georgia, and recently, he got a new arm.

Born without part of his left arm, Porter had a traditional prosthetic when he was younger, but his mom Ryan told the The Augusta Chronicle that it was cumbersome for a growing boy.

“It didn’t really move,” she said. “So to a little kid, it was nothing but dead weight. He did a lot without it.”

His new arm, though, is an improvement in every way.

Not only is it lighter and easier to move, it’s also aesthetically modeled after the armor worn by the Imperial Stormtroopers in Star Wars. (Read more about the boy who received the 3D printed prosthetic arm HERE)

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Russian Battle Robots Near Testing for Military Use

By The Moscow Times. Machine-gun wielding battle robots are going to be tested in Russia’s Astrakhan region for use by the country’s Strategic Missile Forces, the Interfax news agency reported Friday.

Major Dmitry Andreyev, a representative for the Defense Ministry’s Strategic Missile Forces, was cited as saying that preparation for the testing is currently in its final stage.

The trials will be focused on “exploring mobile and stationary robotic systems, including those that are responsible for the formulation of remote-controlled means of stealth technology and signaling,” Andreyev said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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