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Northcom: Russian Cruise Missile Threat to U.S. Grows

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MISSLERussia is developing a long-range cruise missile that poses a new threat to the United States, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command warned this week.

“Russia is progressing toward its goal of deploying long-range, conventionally-armed cruise missiles with ever increasing stand-off launch distances on its heavy bombers, submarines, and surface combatants, augmenting the Kremlin’s toolkit of flexible deterrent options short of the nuclear threshold,” Adm. William Gortney, Northcom chief who heads the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said Thursday.

“Should these trends continue, over time NORAD will face increased risk in our ability to defend North America against Russian cruise missile threats,” he said in prepared testimony to the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces.

A defense official said the missile that concerns the Northcom commander is the Russian KH-101 cruise missile which Russia has developed as a weapon to attack critical infrastructure in the United States, such as the electrical grid.

The comments highlight what defense officials and military analysts say is the growing threat of long-range cruise missiles. (Read more from “Northcom: Russian Cruise Missile Threat to U.S. Grows” HERE)

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Moscow: Fire Breaks out at Novodevichy Convent

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The bell tower of Moscow’s historic Novodevichy convent, a Unesco world heritage site and the burial place of many prominent figures, has been threatened by a fire that broke out on Sunday night. Flames from construction scaffolding around the bell tower, which has been under renovation, rose high above the Moscow skyline as firefighters struggled to protect one of the city’s most beloved landmarks.

Law enforcement sources told Russian news agencies that the fire had started in the scaffolding about 30 metres above the ground, and moved up to the top of the tower, which is more than 70 metres high. According to the Moscow branch of the emergency situations ministry, the fire started at 10.41pm local time.

Firefighters were containing the blaze and “there is no danger of the fire spreading”, Alexander Gavrilov, first deputy director of the Moscow branch of the emergency situations ministry, told journalists at the scene shortly after midnight. No one was injured and the interior of the bell tower was not damaged, he said.

State news agency RIA Novosti later reported that the fire had been almost completely extinguished.

Gavrilov declined to comment on the fire’s possible causes. But the city’s cultural heritage department told news agency Interfax that the renovation work on the tower was being conducted in violation of safety regulations, which likely caused the fire. The department had previously noted violations but could not dismiss the construction contractor because the convent is under federal control. (Read more from “Moscow: Fire Breaks out at Novodevichy Convent” HERE)

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Russian Jets Run ‘Attack Scenarios’ on NATO Ships

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Russian fighter jets have been using NATO ships in the Black Sea as target practice to run “attack scenarios,” a situation that NATO military officials say they are aware of and prepared to defend against if necessary.

In the latest sign of provocation against Western forces by Moscow, Russia is ordering its newest Su-30 multi-role fighter jets to track NATO forces and run mock attack drills to simulate penetrating NATO’s anti-air systems, according to Sputnik, a pro-Moscow news agency.

A NATO military officer said that regional forces are “closely monitoring” the Russian movements and are prepared to defend themselves if necessary.

The Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), which is stationed in the Black Sea, “is closely monitoring Russian air and surface activity, and no interactions with Russian ships or aircraft have posed any threat to the safety of the group since the ships entered the Black Sea,” the military official said. “The group is very capable of defending itself and is well protected by a variety of state-of-the-art defensive systems” . . .

SNMG2 “is in the Black Sea conducting regularly-scheduled maneuvers and exercises with Allied national Naval forces,” the officer explained. “This activity is within international norms and will take place in Allied and international waters. All major NATO exercises are announced well in advance and information on our activities is routinely published on public websites.” (Read more about the ‘attack scenarios’ on NATO ships HERE)

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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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